Why standardisation can liberate design
When we talk about prefab housing, a common fear arises:
“Won’t standardisation make everything look the same?”
This fear confuses standardisation with sameness. A well-designed system doesn’t constrain creativity – it can actually liberate it.
Consider the classical Chinese garden: a world of whimsical charm and deep artistry, where no two gardens are alike. Far more than a mere outdoor space, it was a personal universe: a library for the scholar, a studio for the artist, a quiet retreat for meditation, and a gracious setting for hosting friends, enjoying music, and staging opera. Most importantly, it was a world in miniature, crafted by its owner to be a spiritual haven. In essence, designing such a garden was akin to designing a complete, contemporary dream house.
13 Dec 2025 · 3 min · Shu Guo