Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Of course you don't have a real unique item. But what are the advantages of mass production with few models and variants? Simplified planning, simplified workflows, fewer errors due to routine, simple logistics, volume discounts on purchases. This is great when you produce red cars with radios and trailer hitches for three days and then black cars with navigation systems without trailer hitches for two days. But if I sometimes have a navigation system in a console and sometimes a radio, sometimes a seat with manual adjustment and sometimes with electric adjustment, if I sometimes have to install a rear parking sensor and sometimes not and sometimes a camera... then I have many differences that also affect previous steps. This requires considering all possibilities in planning and making room for things that might not be installed. This requires that at every station one pays close attention to what should be installed now instead of 15 exactly identical units in a row. This makes logistics significantly more complex, because I can't just take any wiring harness but must have exactly the right one. Then I have more complex planning again, more complex workflows, more complex logistics.

I always find it a bit funny when everyone wants to build in the "Bauhaus style" but gets anxious when serial building is mentioned. Serial building was the goal of the Bauhaus. And even if you want more ornamentation, Sears had a large selection of catalog homes in the USA at the beginning of the 20th century under the slogan Sears Modern Homes, which were delivered as kits. And they still stand today.

Apart from that, the GDR panel buildings were constructed over half a century ago under conditions of scarcity using post-war technology. I do not understand why serial construction in 2022 and beyond is expected to lead to the same result.

Exactly. Henry Ford the dilettante had no idea.

I didn’t even know that Henry Ford also worked as a property developer... thanks for closing a knowledge gap. Which settlements did he build back then?

The counterpart to Ford is the Plattenbau. Dozens of exactly identical houses in one place, with Ford it was "any color as long as it's black." Nobody wants that anymore nowadays, neither the people living in them nor the people who have to look at the uniform mess.

Just search for "Quartier Heidestraße Berlin" / "QH Straight" ... maybe nobody wants it, but it is still being built in abundance. Just because the façades are no longer made of precast concrete parts, the monotony in multi-family house construction is more prevalent than ever. ... oh no, in Quartier Heidestraße the façades ARE REALLY made of precast concrete parts ... "Robertneun Architects have set an extravagant accent with this building. The ensemble with natural concrete façade combines all facets of metropolitan mixed-use ..."

Apart from that, the GDR panel buildings were constructed more than half a century ago under conditions of scarcity with post-war technology. Why anyone would think that serial construction in 2022 and beyond should lead to the same result is beyond me.

We also currently have conditions of scarcity, which is what this thread is about ;) I am not fundamentally opposed to creating the conditions for serial construction and, for example, harmonizing state building codes as well as moderately reducing the number of somewhat sensible regulations in development plans. But in articles like these, serial construction always sounds like a miracle technology that would solve all our problems if only it were applied. But on the one hand, prefabricated houses have long existed, and in reality, the trend has moved away from the standard house toward the pseudo-unique, like with cars. With corresponding consequences for the supposed advantages. And on the other hand, the advantages in reality are obviously not so compelling that relevant providers would completely dominate the market. Regardless of whether wood, concrete, or brick is behind it, there are generally enough providers.