Modular units by Finch Buildings, a Dutch company, are 95 percent recyclable

The dream of attractive and affordable modular housing might be fading in New Amsterdam, but it's found a champion in "old" Amsterdam. Netherlands-based architect Jurrian Knijtijzer founded his company, Finch Buildings, to produce just the kind of configurable, flexible, and high-design homes that modular-lovers fantasize about.

The Finch module is a basic 13-by-33-foot box built of sustainable timber that can be stacked seven stories tall and connected horizontally or vertically to form larger structures. Each basic room can be further subdivided with additional walls, or outfitted with a modular kitchen or bath.

Knijtijzer envisions his module as a basic eco-friendly building block for everything from homes to offices, kindergartens, or clinics. And the company already has two large-scale projects rising in Amsterdam, including startup offices as well as housing for students and refugees.

"I like to say we are the Tesla of housing," said Knijtijzer in an interview with Mark Magazine.

That's a bold statement, but it is true that Finch's structures are more sustainable than the average modular experiment. Each building is made of sustainably farmed wood (95 percent of the structure is recyclable), with the company planting a new tree for every one they cut down.

Finch Buildings crafts modular boxes as a flexible solution with durability [Mark Magazine]

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