New York's MoMA has always been thorough in their multicultural exhibits, and their newest installation, which explores the phenomenon of mass-produced architecture in the suburbs, has been long in the making. Lacking samurai armor or connections to dead languages, "Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling" is definitely one of the more novel meditations of setting and culture at any museum. Sure, any New Yorker can hop on a train from Grand Central to Westchester. But for the uninitiated (or for those who won't spring $20 for a round-trip train ticket), the MoMA exhibit is far more revelatory, recasting pre-fab living as an exotic beast in its own right.

Through archival footage, photography, and blueprints, the exhibit traces pre-fab housing back to its main engineers -- including Frank Lloyd Wright. And with assistance from five local architects and construction firms, the MoMA has turned the very creation of these houses into real-time art. But more enthralling than literally watching paint dry on these full-scale replicas might be the speculative alternatives, including one that foretells an American future that's embraced a rather Chinese method of population control.