Now Silicon Valley Wants To Disrupt The Way We Build Buildings

This is what’s known as “backward integration,” when a company at the end of the supply chain seeks to shape its products “upstream.” (Compare Netflix, which first rented and streamed TV shows, then started making them.) With both design teams and factories under its umbrella, Katerra hopes to consolidate a messy system into an efficient one-stop shop. It wants to become the Starbucks or Zara of construction, churning out apartments like so many lattes or jumpsuits.