Confrontées à des milieux très rudes, les civilisations nomades ont mis au point, avec une rare économie de moyens, des constructions extrêmement ingénieuses qui utilisent des techniques que réinvente aujourd'hui l'architecture contemporaine : abris mobiles, éléments préfabriqués démontables, structures tendues, dômes. Habitats nomades présente un large échantillonnage de ces constructions disséminées à travers le monde : huttes, igloos, tentes noires, tentes en nattes, yourtes, tentes des zones subarctiques, tipis, roulottes... Mais ces demeures ne sont pas seulement des abris, elles jouent également un rôle symbolique crucial dans la vie de leurs utilisateurs. Et, à travers ces véritables exemples d'anarchitecture, c'est tout un mode de vie, toute une conception de l'espace et de relations sociales radicalement différentes des nôtres qui se révèlent à nous...

Habitats nomades, Denis Couchaux, Editions Alternatives, collection anarchitecture, septembre 2004.

MOTS CLÉS : Editions Alternatives | Denis Couchaux | Makhnovtchina | Nomadisme | Néo-nomadisme | Nomades | Habitat |

As slums were cleared after the Blitz, there was a pressing need for housing. Successive governments championed prefabrication as a speedy solution. The resulting bungalows with slightly pitched roofs, pretty gardens and all the mod cons became home to hundreds of thousands of people around the country, often those who had not previously had the luxury of hot running water or a fridge. No wonder, then, that they became so loved. These squat little homes were meant to last just a decade -- a mere stopgap as the country got back on its feet -- but many of the prefabs are still standing, with residents often fighting to hold on to them. There has been growing public interest in these fast-disappearing houses, and the communities they fostered... The book recounts residents' first hand experiences -- from the first time they laid eyes on their prefabs to their attempts to hold on to their little castles beyond their designated temporary timeframe. The authors look at the success of post-war prefab housing in the wider context of British social housing. The book also looks at architectural innovation and imaginative design in the field of prefabrication and clever solutions being put forward to solve the housing crisis of today. Fewer and fewer prefabs remain -- but you can still spot them here and there, sitting cosily among their big brick-built neighbours, a lesson in thoughtful design, community building and what it means to have a house to call your own.

Prefabs, Elisabeth Blanchet Sonia Zhuravlyova, Editions Historic England, juillet 2018.

MOTS CLÉS : Editions Historic England | Elisabeth Blanchet | Sonia Zhuravlyova | Makhnovtchina | Nomadisme | Nomades | Habitat | Architecture | Bidonville | Préfabrication | Préfabriqué | Bungalows | Angleterre | Royaume-Uni |

At the end of the Second World War Winston Churchill promised to manufacture half a million prefabricated bungalows to ease the housing shortage; in the end more than 156,000 temporary 'prefabs' were delivered. Nicknamed 'Palaces for the People', and with convenient kitchens, bathrooms and heating systems, they proved popular and instead of being demolished as intended they were defended by residents who campaigned to keep their family homes and communities. Nearly seventy years later, as the last of these two bedroom homes are being demolished, Elisabeth Blanchet tells the story of these popular dwellings and their gardens and shows the various designs that were produced. Through the stories and memories of residents, she also reveals the communities who were pleased to live in the prefabs.

Prefab Homes, Elisabeth Blanchet, Editions Shire Publications, octobre 2014.

MOTS CLÉS : Editions Historic England | Elisabeth Blanchet | Makhnovtchina | Nomadisme | Nomades | Habitat | Architecture | Bidonville | Préfabrication | Préfabriqué | Bungalows | Angleterre | Royaume-Uni |

Economiques, faciles à construire et s'intégrant parfaitement dans leur environnement, les unités d'habitation mobile revêtent les formes les plus diverses : des tentes de nomades aux constructions événementielles mobiles pensées jusque dans les moindres détails, en passant par le légendaire minibus de Volkswagen et les conteneurs constituant les modules de base dans l'architecture préfabriquée moderne. Mobile Architecture présente de manière chronologique plus de 60 projets et réalisations sous toutes les latitudes. Signées par certains des architectes, ingénieurs et designers les plus renommés du monde, ces " maisons " témoignent de l'évolution du concept de mobilité vers une forme d'habitat promise à un bel avenir. Mobiele woningen zjin goedkoop, eenvoudig te bouwen en passen zich gemakkelijk aan hun omgeving aan. De ontwerpen zijn verbluffend divers en lopen uiteen van nomadententen tot ingenieuze spanconstructies voor evenementen, en van het legendarische VW-busje tot modulaire prefab containerarchitectuur. Mobile Architecture toont meer dan zestig modellen uit verschillende periodes en landen. Ze zjin ontworpen door enkele van de meest gerenommeerde architecten, ingenieurs en designer ter wereld en laten zien hoe het idee van mobiliteit zich heeft ontwikkeld tot een moderne, op de toekomst gerichte leefstijl.

Mobile Architecture : Habitat Nomade / Homes on the move / Thuis Onderweg, Donato Nappo Stefania Vairelli, Editions Könemann, octobre 2010.

MOTS CLÉS : Editions Könemann | Donato Nappo | Stefania Vairelli | Makhnovtchina | Nomadisme | Nomades | Habitat | Habitat mobile | Société | Sociale | Architecture | Microarchitecture |