The M-House Is a Folding, Fully Relocatable, Sustainable Home – And a True Transformer

The M-House is one of the most famous and, dare we say it, timeless works by esteemed architect and artist Michael Jantzen. Designed and built in the mid-2000s, it was conceived as a personal experiment into the versatility of prefabricated constructions, one that would bring enhanced versatility and, at the same time, elevate the whole concept to the level of a work of art. It is a timeless, and strangely practical study on alternative housing, one that is more than worth your time – if you’re into prefabs.

For starters, the M-House is an actual construction, not just a CG render. Jantzen developed a prototype for it and then built it in the backyard of his California home. In 2008, it went on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as part of the exhibit called Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling.

At one point, Hollywood A-list actor Brad Pitt was in talks to buy the unit, won over by the promise of never-ending permutations to the original design, but he eventually backed out of the deal when he allegedly didn’t know where to put it. According to Jantzen himself, the house was sold at auction through Phillips de Pury to an art collector in Korea, but he can take inquiries on other units or variations on the original.

The M-House is impressive because it can be anything you need it to be. The M in the name stands for “modularity,” and the construction is based on the M-vironment system, which consists of a frame grid of seven interlocking steel, concrete and composite cubes, to which you attach a series of rectangular composite wood panels. The steel frame sits on adjustable legs, attached to load bearing foot pads.

The panels are attached to the cubes by means of hinges, and you can move them around or change them according to your needs or desires, creating a myriad of permutations. It’s a transformer house in every sense of the word, because you can open it up or close it off to take the weather into account, or current needs.

Some areas in the house are insulated, while others have glass walls, while the panels themselves can be made airy or solid to block out the sun or heavy winds. The M-House has a kitchen and a bedroom, a bathroom and a lounge, and you can add more spaces to these by simply shifting the panels. If you need to, you can simply pack up the whole structure and relocate it, since it wouldn’t require a foundation in the first place.

Since the M-House was designed as a feasible living solution, Jantzen imagined it as sustainable and durable. The steel and concrete make it fire-resistant and resilient, while a rainwater collection system and alternative energy resources would make it more sustainable and cheaper on a monthly basis. The initial investment is an entirely different story.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this definitely applies to the M-House as well. The design is striking at best, and ugly at worst because of the interchangeable panels and the very silhouette of the structure that is its hottest selling point. You could say that the striking design is a natural consequence of trying to make a prefab into an artwork, and it seems it’s not without supporters.

Way back in 2011, Fast Company reached out to Jantzen in the hope of finding out how much he’d charge for one such building, even a smaller M-vironment-based cabin. His answer was that, “At this point they should be thought of and are sold as functional art pieces,” which is a very elegant way of saying that these units are too expensive for us normies. But window-shopping is free of charge.