In previous stories Ch ch ch Changes and A Flat World MHM reported on two participants in last year’s MoMA exhibit called Home Delivery: Fabricating The Modern Dwelling.

Another exhibit participant is Instant House from Larry Sass, a professor at MIT. His project is intriguingly different in both design and construction from the two we’ve highlighted before.

Sass has harnessed the precision of modern laser cutters to engineer pieces that fit together rather than being nailed or screwed together. The result is an alarmingly simple method of assembling a house that may be even more structurally sound than conventional site-built houses which depend on measuring and fitting during construction.

In fact, Sass along with five MIT students was able to assemble the first full-scale version of Instant House in just two days – and they only used rubber mallets.

The intended application of professor Sass’s Instant House is where the story takes on a matter of great import. Sass wants to apply his methods to re-build New Orleans. In an upcoming story MHM will report on Sass, his house design, and plans for building a systematized version of his house in New Orleans.