Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake of KieranTimberlake Associates wrote "Refabricating Architecture" in 2004 as part of a Research Fellowship awarded to them by the AIA in 2001. In this book, they examine the design and construction technologies and processes currently used in the building industry and then propose that architects and builders need to rethink the construction process to take advantage of modern advances in manufacturing, information sharing, and mass customization. They argue that today's architects have relinquished responsibility for assembly, product development, and materials research, resulting in a segmentation between design and construction that inhibits advances in the building industry.Because this book is relatively brief, it presents some compelling ideas and examples but doesn't really go into a whole lot of detail how to go about implementing these changes. Like many architects interested in prefabrication, they argue that the automobile, aerospace, and shipbuilding industries provide good models for efficient and progressive manufacturing processes. Kieran and Timberlake are able to clearly and simply explain all the advantages that these model industries hold over the construction of but their proposed application to the building industry remains loose and idealistic. In the end it's the big ideas in this book that inspire a rethinking and "refabrication" of architecture.
