Living Is .Be Whatever That Means
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.26.07
We love living with less and mobile housing, having a small footprint and not being tied down. The miniHome was great for this but needs a tractor; the portabach needs a crane and a trailer.
Living is.be combines the best of an RV (easily mobile) with the efficiency of a popup camper (folds down for less wind resistance) and the comfort of a multistorey townhouse. It even has a hot-tub sized bath on the upper level.
Not much of a description on the website, but it appears to be built with an aluminum frame, while the pop-up is made from an insulated, quilted fabric much like a duvet. The rigid roof hinges up to create lots of space and includes two big walk-out sized velux-type skylights.
The lower level appears to be filled with all of the tanks and technology to be independent of water and sewer, ( you would need a lot to fill that tub)
All added on top of a standard truck frame, a "faux chassis" on top of the real chassis, so it is possibly convertible for other uses.
setting up the roof
and having a bath
drying off while in the kitchen
There appears to be a hatch and passage to the cabin of the truck.
So it is all a little rough around the edges but an interesting mix of ideas and odd mix of priorities (huge tub, minimal kitchen) but looks like a lot of fun and a lot of independence. ::Living Is.Be via ::Coolhunter
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It looks like a garbage truck.
it's a nice concept but seriously, i doubt you could find many people willing to live in it.
I cannot believe this is real! I absolutely LOVE it! What I wanna know is, "How much does it cost?" and, "How many MPG does it get?" But seriously, I would SO live in this thing. It is awsome. "Does it come in BLUE?" lol. I can honestly say that THIS is my dream home. To be free . . .
Living in New York, my space is not much larger than this! It's just like living on a yacht, which is very posh, isn't it?
Living in New York, I see a LOT of people who would be EXTREMELY happy with this. And in the future, one thing we'll have a surplus of is gigantic truck frames that we can't afford to put more than a gallon of gas in at a time.
Interesting Article.
Using a UniMog as a platform for this is definitely a cool idea. If I could afford a Mog this would definitely be the ultimate recreational abode, as the Mog can go just about anywhere.
Building the shell out of aluminum is allright for weight, but I'm sure a traditional (but supersized)Alaskan style of Camper would be better suited for the Mog. Also, the Mog can be used in so many useful configurations, It would be nice to be able to separate the unit quickly from the chassis to use the Mog for other things.
Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unimog for more info on this vehicle.
The UniMogs I've seen have smaller(180HP?) deisel motors so fuel consumtion is probably not a huge deal.
The big issue with this vehicle is that it probably likes the road less travelled, meaning, no freeways to get to your next place of rest. The road noise is probably borderline deafaning on paved roads at speed as well.
Still, a really cool way to convert an older mog into an RV/home/Utility Vehicle without sacraficing ground clearance or where you would like to live.
That moveable truck/house surely saves energy. If applying those same principles to new houses would be even better.
That moveable truck/house surely saves energy. If applying those same principles to new houses would be even better.
Great idea with that house/truck combi. Though, applying the same ideas to new houses would probably appeal to even more people.
Great idea with that house/truck combi. Though, applying the same ideas to new houses would probably appeal to even more people.