o the everyday homeowner, the term "prefab" connotes cost-saving dwellings – trailer parks and mobile homes. But New York's Museum of Modern Art, always the provocateur, is looking to challenge these perceptions in its original new two-part exhibition, Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling.

The exhibit's true innovation is not limited to its thought-provoking historical survey of prefabrication, although that is a major component. What sets it apart from other such architectural explorations is its insistence on putting its principles into practice, not in a gallery setting, but in a real world environment. The MoMa has commissioned five architects, chosen from a pool of over 400, to erect actualized prefab dwellings in a vacant lot adjacent to the museum.

By moving the exhibit out of the gallery it becomes more than a collection of abstract ideas, but rather a tangible reality, one that can be viewed and explored. Patrons have the ability to enter the houses and imagine themselves living in these futuristic freshly-assembled abodes.

But the assembled houses are an extension of the gallery exhibition, so they are best not to be viewed in isolation. It all begins on the MoMa's sixth floor, where viewers can take a look at the historical roots of pre-fabricated home designs. Here the curators intend to show how these designs can be traced back to some of the most innovative architects, such high-profile Richard Rogers, Le Corbousier and the omnipresent Frank Lloyd Wright.