Plugin House: Modern Prefab Architecture

An inspirational handbook of innovative solutions to the urgent housing problems facing densely populated urban areas around the world.

A manifesto for a new age of architecture, Plugin House presents innovative, sustainable, and community-­driven solutions to the global housing crisis. Challenging conventional architectural practices, the book champions the prefabricated house as an affordable and practical way to address homelessness, housing scarcity, or gentrification. An empowering model for small studios and self-­builders worldwide, Plugin House proposes an architectural revolution using houses that can be built quickly with limited tools and experience.

The book presents a diverse array of Plugin House projects by international architecture studio People’s Architecture Office (PAO), brought to life by photography of these structures in situ. Located primarily in China and the United States, the projects shine a spotlight on the shared issues underlying the global housing crisis and the transformative ideas that can be replicated or adapted to different contexts around the world.

Essays address varied aspects of the housing crisis and are interspersed with contributions from leading figures in the world of art and architecture. Personal stories—each a mini graphic novel—shed light on barriers to accessible housing and potential ways to overcome them.

Illustrated assembly manuals demonstrate how Plugin Houses are put together, and a comprehensive atlas of each Plugin House to date details their design and construction. A visually striking and inspiring handbook, Plugin House boldly paints a vivid picture of a new architectural paradigm, igniting a call to action for architects and urban planners worldwide.