How an American Dream of Housing Became a Reality in Sweden

As an architect, someone believes that the solution to America’s housing shortage is to build more houses quickly. However, the way homes are currently built in the United States hinders speed. The architect looked to modular housing projects in Europe from the 1950s and ’60s for inspiration. A housing initiative called Operation Breakthrough was discovered in the archives, which built thousands of units in the US from 1971 to 1973. This initiative aimed to quickly increase the housing supply to drive down prices. Productivity in home-building has declined by half since 1968, leaving the country with a shortage of affordable housing. The article explores the idea of industrialized, modular housing as a potential solution to the housing crisis in the US.