Absolutely Prefab

From contemplation spaces to liveable homes, architect-designed prefabs to collect and keep, courtesy of Wallpaper* and entrepreneur Robbie Antonio.

- Jonathan Bell

The very first Wallpaper* House was revealed back in issue 30, designed by Swedish architects Natasha Racki and Håkan Widjedal. Inspired by the sleek simplicity of the American Case Study House programme and set in the modest, secluded beauty of a Swedish archipelago, the design marked the start of our ongoing obsession with the perfect space. Over the next 16 years, we returned again and again to the ideal of the dream house, briefing architects, building prototypes and exhibiting ideas that embodied the Wallpaper* ethos.

Now, we’re finally bringing those visions to life. Revolution is a company casting its net wide among the global architectural community, reeling in designers of all churches in the hope of striking it lucky in the nascent designer-prefab market. Armed with blueprints prepared by some of the world’s most celebrated architects, Revolution aims to reinvent home-buying, presenting private clients and big developers alike with a portfolio of striking residences that fuse low build effort with high design.

Robbie Antonio set up Revolution in 2015. The Philippines-based property entrepreneur learned his craft in the family business, Century Properties, where big brands were spliced with system-built tall towers to create mega-structures that ticked all the boxes for a label-hungry local market. Revolution is rather more down to earth, with an increased emphasis on the importance of good design and diverse contributors from all four corners of the earth. To date, Antonio has secured residential concepts from Marcel Wanders, Marmol Radziner, Tom Dixon and Fernando Romero, among others.