Repetition versus Montage: Prefabricated industrialized building of the 1960's - in the light of the 'new industrialization'

Prefabricated industrialized montage building of the 1960's was characterized by REPETITION. Social demands for maximum productivity were fulfilled through production of large series of identical building components, resulting in an architecture of repetition. But repetition also expressed architectural vision: growth, rationality, creation of universal systems as 'neutral' frames for multi-facetted lives. Architectural potential in the concept of repetition was never fully explored. Systems of production gained power and superseded vision. Similarly, the present situation can be characterized through the concept of MONTAGE. Increasing preoccupation with individualization and changeability points at an adaptable architecture, and opens up industrial production systems for differentiation of standard building components. The concept of montage implies the bringing together of different elements and the possibility of change over time.