Topic of the week: More architecture!

Architect Michelle Kaufmann is an American hero. She's the first person to finally begin to fulfill Frank Lloyd Wright's dream of cheap quality homes, a goal Wright pursued with his "Usonian" homes but never quite took off due to rising costs.

In 18 months Kaufmann designed six versions of her prefab "Glidehouse", making use of recyclable, energy-efficient materials. It's designed to accommodate solar panels and looks and feels like a quality home, except the price ranges from $81,000 (one bedroom) to the low $200,000s (three bedrooms, two stories), and it only takes a month to build. It was put on public display for the first time last weekend in Menlo Park, California, and already there are 18 buyers waiting with land and plans.

A lot of prefab buzz is going around on the net these days. I hope more people are getting tired of living in expensive, soulless boxes!

About the Glidehouse debut: