Karrie Jacobs, author of The Perfect $100,000 House: A Trip Across America and Back in Pursuit of a Place to Call Home spoke at the Art Institute of Portland on Monday, October 23. While Jacob's primary qualification for "perfect" seems to be a classical modernism exemplified by Eichler, it was inevitable that her search for economy would lead her to uncover some unconventional and worldchanging architectural practices and trends.
She began her quest studying Anderson|Anderson's Fox Island House. Explaining the design and construction method, one of the Anderson's explained: "The trick was to avoid any expensive materials." This seems intuitive, perhaps, but is a clear break from current trends in architectural aesthetics. After a brief visit to the Kalkin House, Jacobs dismissed most container-based architecture as "uninsulated," though the quikHouse, coming in at $76,000 asserts that it is insulated: "All exterior walls are insulated to R-30."
Jacobs found Rocio Romero's Camp Series intriguing. She found Earthships amusing - maybe even enchanting, but somehow unattainable. It is in the desert Southwest that we glimpse the possibility that inexpensive, financially sustainable architecture may not take on the clean lines of mid-century modern. I suspect that it is for this reason that Jacobs skimmed past the potential of alternative low cost materials such as adobe, straw, earth, etc in favor of the prefab modular which she, in the end, finds being built right in her backyard - in Brooklyn - to be installed in East New York.
Jacobs explained that her quest led her not to a single perfect house, but to a set of principles. These include an endorsement of the design/build method, sunlight more important than square footage, quality of materials, and "Less is the new more."
Portland offers the unique model of high-density single family housing - the minihouse and the 1/2 lot skinny house - which Jacobs did not specifically address. These preapproved house plans are not models of efficiency in themselves, but as an urban model, provide an alternative to excessive sprawl.
