posted 07-26-2003 09:35 AM               

“I’m looking for housing that is affordable, and modern. I know there must be innovative, well-designed housing out there. I just can’t seem to find it!”
Tracey R., from the Dwell discussion board

Our love for modernist housing is being rekindled as many more people deliberately depart from traditional housing. People want homes that are distinguished by their openness and livability through the use of innovative design, materials and construction methods. And they want modern homes whose cost is comparable to more traditional housing available in their community.

Affordable modernism is no longer an oxymoron! Small, entrepreneurial companies eager to address this emerging market are offering modern housing products. However, the market remains small, and it can be difficult for consumers to find housing that matches their desires. Similarly, it is hard for developers and others in the housing industry to evaluate consumer demand for modernist housing. There is no one best place online to find them all: modern housing designers or developments, consumers or communities.

Modernist House Net* is a service that helps connect the public interested in modern housing to a range of providers, including architects, developers, builders, lenders, and realtors, among others. Our goal is to make modernism more affordable. Modernist House Net looks forward to a future in which modernist housing is widely available because it is affordable to a majority of home buyers, and it is easy to find in their community.

To realize our mission and vision, Modernist House Net will initially focus on three broad strategies:
• conduct outreach to and education for consumers to introduce them to the options for modern housing, thereby demonstrating to producers the size of the market for affordable modernism;
• develop a cooperative marketing infrastructure, including conducting market research about consumer demand, for producers of modernist housing; and
• link Modernist House Net members to each other in geographically-defined markets, connecting modern home buyers to producers -- designers, developers, contractors and realtors, among others.

All of these strategies will reinforce each other, thus continually expanding the market for producers as well as consumers. In the implementation of each of these strategies, Modernist House Net will exemplify the values that distinguish successful communities of interest in emerging markets: transparency, accountability, openness, fairness, cooperation and civility.

The principle benefit for consumers and producers alike is that they will be able to find each other through Modernist House Net. For example, a couple interested in building a modern house will be able to more easily find an architect or stock plan to suit their needs. As the Modernist House Net community grows and becomes more diverse, consumers will similar interests in a geographic market will be able to organize demand for a modernist housing development, while architects or manufacturers will be able to work with local developers to meet localized demand.

Modernist House Net is a community of consumers and producers of modern housing dedicated to this mission and vision, as well as strategies and values. Membership is free and open to anyone who is interested in modernist housing. Membership includes a free subscription to the Modernist House Net e-newsletter.

You are invited to join Modernist House Net by participating in our charter discussions on the Dwell discussion board (http://interverse.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000229.html). Be sure to invite your friends and colleagues. Feel free post this invitation in any appropriate forum.

For the time being, Modernist House Net is an informal community organized in the Dwell forum. In the near future, Modernist House Net will begin work on it’s primary strategies, including establishing an organizational identity, structure and website.

Come to our Open House now to make our new community a place you’d want to live.

*Modernist House Network is a working name, until a final name is decided upon.

posted 07-27-2003 06:46 PM            

I haven't read this entire thread, just skipped through a few spots, but I can toss out a few questions/suggestions:

Modernist vs. Modern. Is it an important distinction? (I like modernist design, but sometimes feel that it is just a subset of modern design in general)

Things I'd like to find in a modern(ist) association:

- directory of builders capable of using modern methods + materials

- design/build firms (directory + profiles)

- architects/builder teams (directory + profiles)

- materials directory (for instance, I am STILL looking for galvalume roofing suppliers/installers in MN).

- help with addressing local building codes that fail to take non-traditional housing into consideration

- lendor directory (those willing to bankroll non-traditional housing loans)

- case studies

posted 07-28-2003 04:27 AM               

Several of us on the Dwell board have been discussing the creation of an association to advance the cause of affordable modernist housing by demonstrating the size of the market for architects, builders, developers, lenders and other producers.

You can read the genesis of this idea, which led to the "open house" invitation that starts this thread, by reviewing the "National Modernist Housing Association" thread, http://interverse.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000173.html .

We are expanding this discussion to include many more people, including you, to verify and refine our approach. Please read through this thread, and give us your reaction.

Will this new network be a solution to a problem that you have, or is shared by others? If so what and how? Do you think that the initial strategies that we propose to pursue will address your problem? Is there anything else we should be addressing to make modernism more affordable?

If you agree with our statement, say so in this forum. If you want to help us on any particular activity, let us know. If you have questions about where this idea came from, please review the previous thread http://interverse.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000173.html ( -- it's long, but a good read!) before posting your question here.

Thanks for your thoughts, and helping to make modernism more affordable.

posted 07-28-2003 06:45 AM               

Here in the Dallas area, such an option does not exist. But given the success of Dwell and other magazines (and discussions with friends and neighbors that feel the same way) I know the market is there.

In general, I am hoping this new organization can be a place where developers and builders can learn enough about the demand for modern housing that they feel confident that they can break out of the McMansion mold and still be successful.

I see it as a place where architects, builders and manufacturers of new and innovative building supplies can discuss the potential (and cost) of new materials so that when a builder is putting together a bid, they don't feel like they have to add a 30% premium because they feel uncertain of the cost of using a new product.

More specifically, I am looking for a developer (or design/build firm) wanting to put together a small subdivision between Dallas and Denton where I can find my dream home.

posted 07-28-2003 07:36 AM               

You might try Miracle Steel for galvalum roofing in Minnesota. They are based in MN and I have been working with them on specs for a building that will have a galvalum roof.

http://www.miracletruss.com .

A search on steelroofing.com picked up this link for galvalum
http://http://www.steelroofing.com/where.htm?state=Minnesota

I would also talk to the builders of farm and agricultural buildings. Galvalum is pretty popular for those uses. Good luck.

posted 07-29-2003 08:32 PM            

...which is exactly the kind of content I'd like to see on the 'network' in terms of non-traditional building systems.

posted 07-31-2003 07:41 AM               

Incubus,

I have been by this house, known as the Hall-Dorval house. If you'd like more information on it you may want to check out the following links:

http://www.moskowarchitects.com/halldorval

http://www.maxmatic.com/truegrit.htm

I like the way it blends modern with a New England barn vernacular.

posted 08-12-2003 01:41 PM               

messageboard?
product directory?

posted 08-12-2003 02:40 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by lavardera:
Speaking of affordable, the cover story house in the Sept03 issue of dwell was under 50$/sqft. That seems incredibly inexpensive. It does say the owner and friends did a good bit of work on it, but still. Its a great little house to boot.

---

SEE! I told ya so!

posted 08-12-2003 05:56 PM               

One thing I would like to see (as a user of architecture rather than a maker) is a nice honkin' big FAQ section. Or something like a diary of someone going through the process of getting their modern(ist) house built. The whole process feels so overwhelming to me as I try to get a house built that I need guidance (and pharmaceuticals).

Even a board as friendly as Dwell's can still be intimidating to speak on (or maybe that's just me.) So something like the Dummy's Guide to Getting a House that Isn't Crappy would be good.

posted 08-12-2003 08:12 PM            

Message boards are nice.

A Blog would be great if you could get a dedicated team of authors.

posted 08-12-2003 09:25 PM               

As far as a big kiss - that would be for Gary who pushed this thing to life - make it a big wet one!

Incubus - what is a Wiki-based directory/FAW ? Do you have a link to a good example?

posted 08-12-2003 09:27 PM               

Sounds cool....Huh?

I think a message board is key. This would be one great way for the supply side of the market to communicate to the demand side.

I think collecting some crude set of data from potential consumers on what they want would be important too. It would really help define the market for modern housing.

While a lot of info about building products could be shared on the board, a product directory with comments from users would also be great since the information would be more permanent and easier to access. And I could add financial products too. Perhaps there are a handful of mortgage lenders out there that think modern houses are a good investment. We would all want to know who they are.

posted 08-12-2003 11:04 PM            

A WIKI is a system for creating a FAQ (and other types content repositories) that allows anyone to edit it. It works better than it sounds.

http://wiki.org/

posted 08-13-2003 06:21 AM               

Seriously, while this whole thing may never have existed if I hadn't mentioned it, I owe a great deal of thanks to Greg, to Marshall, and to everyone else who have participated in bringing it to life. You've all been instrumental in making this a reality. Thanks!

Modernlover: Yes! It CAN be done, and hopefully, as we bring together the elements of the market for modern houses, it will become more and more common to see modernist houses built for reasonable prices. As I've said, the key to making modernism more affordable is to make it more available.

Gary

posted 08-18-2003 05:39 PM               

I spent some time over the weekend going through some of the relevant threads on this site and collected most of the brainstorms that participants had on how to do a website that could relate to the Modernist House Net mission. I've appended that list below.

As you can see, it's quite long and in no particular order. But it may be the start of a functional specification for a website, i.e., what users see and do.

For the effort to proceed, it would probably be best to rank these in order of importance, since obviously not all of these ideas can be implemented all at once. (We could sure use the survey tool now.)

Marshall

--

Member sign-in, collecting email address (at a minimum, and with a consumer-centric privacy policy)

Searchable directory of products and prototypes, communities and concepts -- i.e., resources. Lots of different directories are possible, what will be most useful?

Directory of members (whatever role) is not publically searchable, but is searchable by same or related role (i.e., consumers could find other consumers by geography, architects could find manufacturers by targeted cost per square foot)

FAQs about modernist housing products and processes, and questions that are independent of producers, like financing (FAQs could be authored traditionally or through a member-based WIKI)

Weblog (blog) to make transparent topics of general but complicated and evolving importance, such as building a modern house, start to finish

Threaded discussions on topics related to modernist housing

Links to other online resources that can help consumers and producers of modernist housing

Searchable directory of individuals and companies participating in the online community (producers cannot search consumers that have not identified them as a preference, can only search each other)

Editable profiles of individual and company preferences for participating in the online community

Aggregated profiles of actual use of the system (but not personally identifiable use)

Data entry and editing on product directory and profile information for users that have permission.

Photos need to be easily uploadable and viewable

Glossary of terms used in our industry, forms the basis of a taxonomy to describe our industry

Bibliography of printed resources related to the topic

Assessment tools, to help consumers in different market segments get to a narrower product choice based on their specific attributes.

Survey tools, to collect topical data (normally what a survey does) but also preference/profile data.

Automated funds processing for the site, for donations or payment for services (such as advertising).

Classified advertising, both for posting and searching entries

Consumer reports charts, comparing specifications of products/services in a class

Develop the equivalent to Step 1-2-3: call to action, "word of mouse" campaign, get involved in deeper ways (like being a content editor)

News has to be top level (it's a fast moving field)

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) tool, to compare design/build options (including traditional)

Raw text search for all contents on site

Publish virtual tours of products (inside and out). People have to "experience" modernist products.

Calendar of events, such as open houses, industry conferences, etc.

CMS (content management system), meaning that the administrator can delegate authority for creation and management of content to others.

GIS (geographic information system), for projecting maps of where things are (like modernist housing developments)

Private forums based on user attribute (role, geography, etc.)

Enewsletter signup, either by registering on system or by submitting valid email address via footer form (can it be tagged by the actual page content?).

Login by user name and password, gives customized content to site

Rating system, so that the good producers rise to the top.

Community resources for people, like government grants, how to work with (around) local building/zoning codes

Case studies, things that have worked and could have worked better.

Keywords, assigned to content so it is easier to relate content in the site as it gets deeper.

The intellectual property rights of all content is protected under a Creative Commons license that encourages long-term network development

posted 08-18-2003 08:21 PM               

Gary

posted 08-19-2003 06:14 AM               

Gary

posted 08-19-2003 08:00 AM            

There is absolutely no reason or need to make a person's email address visible/searchable to anyone else.

posted 08-19-2003 09:26 AM               

[This message has been edited by marshallmayer (edited 08-19-2003).]

posted 08-19-2003 09:40 AM               

I will do what I can, but we need to start stepping up to the plate to determine who can do what and who will volunteer their time.

posted 08-19-2003 03:55 PM               

The list should be several hundred strong. The press release should be written in the correct J-school format and faxed or emailed. Though I am not sure how receptive the print media is to emailed press releases.

posted 08-20-2003 06:40 AM               

As I've said before, I'm willing to help in whatever capacity I can, except that I am in no position to contribute monetarily, at this time.

Promotion of the website can take several forms, some of which a few of us have already used, to a limited extent; i.e., email, message board postings, etc. Another is to get our site listed in search engines. With some, this is rather straightforward; you just submit the site, for example, to Yahoo. With others, the process may vary and may be a little more arduous. You can also pay for submission services, in which your site is submitted to many search engines at once, though I don't know how effective these services are. The thing about search engine submissions is that they don't result in immeditiate feedback, and you really have no way of knowing which search engine responses are coming from. Greg's suggestion of asking Dwell for a reciprocal arrangement, whereby we give them free advertising on the site in exchange for a free ad in their Marketplace section is a great idea. However, I wonder how Dwell will receive such an idea, though, as the minimum cost for a single insertion of an ad in the Marketplace section is over $1,800, currently, I believe. The thing about bartering advertsing is that you have to acheive parity in order for the deal to be fair to both parties. Since our site doesn't even exist, yet, and since Dwell is a national publication with over two years of publishing history and a subscriber list of over 150,000 people, they may not perceive the deal as being nearly as advantageous to them as it is to us. Then again, if one supposes that our network can eventually acheive a circulation status comparable with Dwell's, they may be far-sighted enough to realize its potential and take a gamble on it. But, we must realize that advertising is the staple of Dwell's existence; ad revenue is literally what makes up the staff's paychecks. So, in effect, we are asking Dwell to give up a precious commodity (every scrap of advertising space they have each month must be sold to keep their ledger in the black) in exchange for promotion that may or may not help them, depending upon how well we can promote the site. Hopefully, Marshall, with as much marketing experience as he has, can lead us in solving this dilemma to everyone's satisfaction, and do so as economically as possible.

Gary

posted 08-20-2003 07:03 AM            

quote:

---

Well, I guess you guys are way ahead of me on how to handle email addresses. I'm not sure how the "behind the scenes" technique Incubus describes works, exactly, but, if it does, fine.

---

I feel bad that I can't explain this very well! Let me try one more time.

The web site has information about you. Let's say your real name, your username, and your email address.

A person should have to show their username, but their realn name and email address should only be exposed voluntarily.

So, let's say person A wants to email person B. Person A clicks on person B's profile. On the profile page there is a link that says EMAIL PERSON B. Person A clicks on this and is taken to a page with a form (like the REPLY form on this site). The page does not show person B's email anywhere. Once person A is finished filling out the form, they hit SEND and the WEB SITE then looks up that person's email address and sends it to them.

This allows person A to send an email to person B without person B having to show anyone his/her email address. Now, if person B wants to, they can certainly reply via plain ol' email to person A and take up the conversation that way.

posted 08-20-2003 09:49 AM               

The internet is PASSIVE. Waiting for someone to read a message on a board is not too efficient.

Incubus: Bloggers are cool, but not too many people are hip on them right now. Most architects, designers, and builders are busy working and not surfing the net, looking for new organizations to join.

Gary: I would not bank on ad bartering. What do you have to offer Dwell? Let say Dwell gave you a small ad in the back of the magazine... how effective would that be?

Search engines? Passive.

There come a time where the rubber needs to meet the road. The promo plan needs to be diverse AND proactive with press releases, ad swapping, bloggers, word-of-mouth, search engine submissions, and several other things.

You also need something to promote. Other than a few lists and a manifesto, there's not much to offer. At this point, there is nothing to promote.

posted 08-20-2003 12:30 PM            

The purpose of a blog is to get content and basic interaction (comments) up and running quickly and easy. A site is nothing without content and a blog is just an easy way to get there.

posted 08-20-2003 08:51 PM               

I just left an Eichler in San Jose for Chicago and am finding it impossible to find a home that I would remotely want to live in. I've been looking for eight months.

It seems to me that any forum devoted to modernism should include some sort of preservationist activity. Every modern home I come across here has been bought by a builder as a teardown before I even have a chance to bid on it. Soon the city that's famous for its architecture will be void of any homes with architectural merit that came after Frank Lloyd Wright. For instance, of the ten Keck and Keck's I've tried to track down, only two still exist. Ten years from now, retiring baby boomers will all want a one story modernist gem to save their arthritic knees while reminding them of their optimistic fifties childhood. Unfortunatly, at the current rate, there won't be any left.

posted 08-21-2003 06:49 AM               

"Passive" advertising includes everything you've mentioned, aside from press releases (which I've already mentioned and recommended, by the way) and word-of-mouth. All of the methods you've mentioned have already been considered for use, and we will be using them.

Architects, designers and builders may not be surfing the net all day, but they don't have to be. That's the beauty of the internet: it can be used whenever one has the free time to do so; it is not a "real time" medium. In other words, there is no immediacy required. It's not like television, in which everyone has to be watching when the content is aired, or they miss out. People check their email to varying degrees of frequency, also, but they can still be reached whenever they get around to it. There is no urgency involved in what we are doing, either. We intend to build this website, and the organization behind it, over a long period of time, so it will be here whenever the participants are ready for it.

Advertising is a process that requires time and exposure, Joe. It doesn't happen all at once, but over a period of weeks, months, and even years. It is a gradual process, and in the case of the internet, a very gradual process. But, like I said, there is no urgency involved, here; the existence of the network doesn't depend upon a large number of people being reached immediately. It is an entity that will grow slowly, but steadily, over a long period of time. By placing advertising messages in places where they will be noticed by those we are attempting to attract, we will doing the optimum job of promotion possible. The response will be a trickle, at first, and will accelerate as more people become involved. It isn't like a car dealership, where you have an inventory of thousands of cars sitting on the lot, that must be sold by a given date. There is nothing time sensitive about what we are doing. It is simply a matter of placing our message where it most likely to be seen and digested by those we wish to attract. To that end, we will target any and all publications, both online and offline, that appeal to our audience. These can and will be approached via emailed and "snail" mailed press releases, among other media.

As for advertising in Dwell, an ad in their Marketplace section can reach up to 300,000 people (150,000 subscribers, plus "pass-along" circulation). Accordingly, though, such an ad isn't cheap: over $1,800 for a single insertion (one issue), with the rate dropping for multiple insertions, of course. I think that Dwell would be a great place to advertise, in the future, but, for now, it is a bit out of our reach. However, this doesn't preclude the possibility of exposure in Dwell. Press releases, and even articles, can get us what is sometimes called "editorial advertising," in which a product or service is mentioned in the magazine's editorial content, as opposed to its advertising. Sometimes, this can even be more effective than running an ad, because people tend to be resistant to advertising, but they tend to trust a publication's editorial content more. As for what we have to offer Dwell, versus what the value of their ad space is, this is a question I have already addressed in the other thread on this subject, recently. Basically, it is my belief that, unless Dwell perceives the future value of ad bartering with us, it is highly unlikely that they would consider the trade to be equitable, as they are holding all the cards, so to speak. You are correct in pointing out that we have nothing to offer them at this time, and this stands in sharp contrast to what they have to offer us: advertising in a nationally distributed magazine with a market of 150,000 subscribers, many of whom have read Dwell for over two years. Since advertising revenue is the life blood of any magazine, including Dwell, we'd be asking Dwell to risk a lot of money on the supposition that our grassroots organization will eventually become large enough and influential enough to make Dwell's investment pay off for them. I have no doubt that we can eventually acheive that, but I do doubt that Dwell's publishers are willing to gamble thousands of dollars on it, at least until we have a viable presence that is attracting attention.

Gary