Thursday, December 9, 2010

shipping container houses

Some days ago, a post on a popular Chinese site got many people's attention--a shipping container home in Beijing controlled by cell phone. Here is a video explaining how it works.

source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrjPPkLN7fw&feature=related





Building houses with shipping container is not a new idea around the world in the architecture field. By building a little shelter/house with recycling shipping containers, the cost is cut low and it's easy to build. There are tons of used shipping containers around the world that are not being used for any purposes, and this is a wonderful idea for reusing materials for building. Shipping container homes have been used as temporary shelter for construction workers, private staying for vacation and even apartments.
There are many problems of shipping container homes such as insulation that prevents them to be used for long term. However, architects are working very hard to discover new ways of designing and using those shipping containers for them to function the best as architecture.

Here are some of my favorite examples of how shipping containers have been transformed into houses:
1. container city II
http://www.containercity.com/container-city-two.html
This project is completed in 2002 by architect Nicholas Laceya and Partners and engineer Buro Happold. The installation time was only 8 days and they turned 30 shipping boxes into studio spaces.
I like how the designer shifted the direction of different containers to create a fun space with different colors. The circle windows and bright colors reflect the artists who work here.

2. Port a Bach
http://www.port-a-bach.com/
This is definitely my favorite shipping container holiday home! It is transportable and fun.

As I search around the web, I even found student dorms and hotels made out of shipping containers.All these wonderful designs inspire us to think more about recycle materials and space efficiency! 

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