The House Arc, a Prefab Shelter for Leisure or Relief With its curved lines and steel exterior, the House Arc may resemble an old Airstream trailer, but its design was inspired by a bike rack. Joseph Bellomo, the founder of Bellomo Architects in Palo Alto, Calif., which designed the modular housing system, said an earlier project to create a bicycle storage system for cities called Bike Arc revealed the strength of steel tubing and a curvilinear design. So he and a design partner, Taraneh Naddafi, applied the approach to an easy-to-build kit shelter that can be used as relief housing after natural disasters or just as a backyard getaway. The 150-square-foot structure, which will be on view this weekend in Menlo Park, Calif., as part of Sunset magazine's Celebration Weekend, has floor-to-ceiling sliding doors, a shading trellis and sides that can be clad in a variety of materials, including Western red cedar (pictured). Solar panels, built-in furniture and plumbing can also be added, and the cost of the dwelling ranges from $55,000 to $75,000, though Mr. Bellomo said the price would lower with mass production. So can the flat-packed House Arc be put together like an Ikea bookshelf? "I don't think a normal husband and wife could pull it off," Mr. Bellomo said. It needs an assist. Information: bikearc.com/houseArc.html.