
Last week,
Construmat, the leading construction fair held in Barcelona, Spain, every two years, attracted some 153,000 visitors. Amongst the most interesting works exhibited was the
Casa Barcelona,an innovative, social and sustainable housing proposal....

There are few inventions more elegant than a wood strip canoe; they are light, fast and flexible. Martin Liefhebber of Breathe Architects, who has been doing green design since before the term was invented, was inspired by the lean elegance of the canoe in his design for the new aerieLOFT, premiering at the
Green Living Show....
Construmat, one of the biggest construction trade fairs in Europe, held this week in Barcelona, Spain, has chosen sustainable construction as one of the main remedies to successfully tackle the crisis in the sector this year, as well as other challenges of the future....

Images from
1:1 architects
We previously covered the
Re-Growth Pod, the concept of a prefabricated dwelling that can be delivered quickly after a disaster, can in the short term stand alone, and in the longer term, "from little things big things grow." It had the virtue of acting as a fireproof safe room with a two hour rating.
Now it is past the concept stage, as we see the prototype being installed. ...

So many great ideas for small space design come out of trailers and boats. Here is another: a trailer that folds out like a fan, a series of flatpack elements that turn a tiny trailer into a multiroom dwelling, where the walls can move according to the requirements of the moment.
...
All images Lars Behrendt
Architect's models used to be as accurate as possible; now that there is computer modelling, they seem to be becoming more expressive and a lot more fun.
Lars Behrendt has designed this tower out of 55 shipping containers, evidently for the purpose of choosing the winning numbers of a lottery....

What can one say about Hemeroscopium House in Madrid, by Antón García- Abril? It was built in just seven days, out of seven massive structural elements. And yes, that thing cantilevering out the front on top is a swimming pool....

Here is an interesting idea for the rebuilding of fire-ravaged Australia that might be appropriate in other parts of the world that are subject to wildfires. It is a precast concrete prefab dwelling unit that can stand alone or act as the core of a rebuilt dwelling. In time of need, it can act as a safe refuge- it has a two hour fire rating. ...

After seeing
Mocoloco's pictures of the BSq. office in a shipping container we noted that we would catch up with it later, and indeed we have. And it is worth seeing; where it gets a bit tight in a container for living spaces, it works very well as a landscape designers' office for two. ...

How much space do you really need? Norwegian architects Bredeland and Kristoffersen designed this 7 square meter (~70 square feet) cabin for an exhibition in Berlin a few years ago....

Designers Site-Specific and Buatalah Studio were asked to design an exhibition around the theme of ‘Green Home Effects’ for a Bangkok home show. According to Site-Specific's website, "to build an earth-friendly house is not as simple as placing some solar panels on your roof."
...

It is tough doing modern design inexpensively; simple detailing requires careful craftsmanship when you don't have baseboards and drywall goop to cover up your defects.
Markus Wespi Jérôme de Meuron architects appear to have pulled it off in this small house in Caviano, Switzerland....

credit: Harry Wakefield of
Mocoloco
Being unable to attend the Interior Design Show in Toronto this past weekend, we rely on the kindness of
Harry at MocoLoco to bring us
BSq. Landscape Design's modified shipping container, which will be their "mobile, off-grid professional design office."...

System 3 house at
Home Delivery
Just as the industry goes into the tank, there has been a veritable outpouring of words about modern prefab. Recently we read
Architectural Record on Green Prefab; now we have Sarah Williams Goldhagen with a long article in
the New Republic. The last paragraph nails the problems and the opportunities:
For quality affordable mass-produced housing to be built, we need to create different conditions for a mass market. A new legislative structure must clear away the obstacles presented by non-standard, municipally controlled building codes and create enforceable national standards for prefab-friendly, environmentally responsible manufacturing and construction practices.
...
Felix Heidgen and Thomas Nagy of RMJM in Princeton, N.J.
There are a lot of shipping containers sitting around Newark, New Jersey; AIA Newark and Suburban and the Young Architects Forum put on a competition to figure out how to use them for multiple family housing on a big empty lot.
“So often, those with limited means feel they are being sequestered and forced into something substandard,” [organizing architect] Mr. Stone said. “Why would they want to live in shipping containers if no one else does?” And then it occurred to the architects: “We should figure out how to create housing so cool that everybody would want to live in it.”...
The single-module PowerPod from Powerhouse Enterprises uses both passive and active solar strategies.
Every issue of Architectural Record comes with a long, dry article that you get professional development points for if you survive to the end. The January issue's points are really easy, coming from an interesting and comprehensive article by Allyson Wendt on prefabricated housing, with an emphasis on how it is (and can be made more) green.
...

PACO is a tiny little cube, only 3 meters square (just slightly bigger than the Micro Compact Home) but complete with everything you need. It can hook up to the established service infrastructure or stand on its own with solar, wind, water recycling and bio-toilet....

"Kokage" means shade of a tree. Hirokazu Suemitsu and Yoko Suemitsu of
SUEP have designed a house built from structural partitions that spread out like a tree to carry a canopy that acts as the roof. Each "tree" also is part of the mechanical system of the house, carrying cool water from the ground up to the top. ...
all images from James Westwater
In New York City a lot of artists live in warehouses, almost in boxes; James Westwater tries to make it greener and more comfortable with his Homeless Chateau. It is designed to be used inside, but provides some privacy and security. He says that it has "cooking and toilet facilities" but both are pretty sketchy in a small unventilated space.
...
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the
if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.