Once used to haul freight and cargo—and located the world over, from Costa Rica to South Africa and Japan—these hardy steel boxes find a second life in creative spaces.
Though this Texas garden retreat and guesthouse is only 8' x 40', it features all the comforts of a larger house: floor-to-ceiling glass doors and windows, heating and air-conditioning, a green roof, bamboo flooring and wallcoverings, a small sink and shower, and a composting toilet. Large window inserts make the cozy space feel expansive.
Earthworld Architects & Interiors, based in Pretoria, the South African capital, was hired to design a coffee shop for the Foghound Interactive Coffee Company outside Johannesburg with used shipping containers. The 3,165-square-foot shop, which includes a showroom for the company's coffee machines, was completed in July 2014.
One of the main draws of Kevin Freeman and Jen Feldmann’s house in Houston, Texas, is its connection to the neighborhood, which is why the front porch was a must. “Homes that have a door but no outside space say, ‘I’m not interested in you,’” designer Christopher Robertson explains. “This says, ‘I’m here to be part of the community.’” The greenspace adds permanence to the structure, even obscuring the formal qualities of the shipping containers that comprise it.
Designed by Jason Halter and Christos Marcopoulous, this sleek 320-square-foot MEKA home, constructed in New York, is made of cedar paneling set over a steel shipping container.
Architect and designer Todd Miller didn’t just use a shipping container for this home in Brisbane, Australia—it appears like he used an entire shipping company, since it took 31 containers to build this industrial but inviting home, which features a massive graffiti mural on the back wall.
Finished in 2013, the 3,660-square-foot Casa Incubo near San Jose, Costa Rica was built from stacking and sliding four shipping containers to create a residence and gallery for photographer Sergio Pucci (who took all the photos of his new home). Set on flat ground, the two-story structure ended up being much easier for architect Maria Jose Trejos to complete than a typically constructed home, saving roughly 20 percent of the cost of a standard concrete block design.
Docomomo US announces the winners of this year's Modernism in America Awards. Each project showcases exemplary modern restoration techniques, practices, and ideas.
Today, we kicked off this year’s annual Dwell on Design at the LA Convention Center, which will continue through Sunday, June 26th. Though we’ve been hosting this extensive event for years, this time around is particularly special.
By straightening angles, installing windows, and adding vertical accents, architect Aaron Ritenour brought light and order to an irregularly shaped apartment in the heart of Athens, Greece.
From the bones of a neglected farmstead in rural Scotland emerges a low-impact, solar-powered home that’s all about working with what was already there.
Join the Discussion