An idea whose time seems to have arrived is the use of stockpiled shipping containers as modular units for building homes. Because of the balance of trade in the United States, these hefty steel boxes are piling up in ports around the country and posing a storage problem. Several architects and builders are taking advantage of this surplus to recycle the containers.

According to David Cross of www.sgblocks.com, "a container has 8000 lbs of steel which takes 8000 kwh of energy to melt down and make new beams etc... Our process of modifying that entire 8000 lbs of steel into a "higher and better use" only takes 400 kwh of electrical energy (or 5%). Granted it takes a bit more "muscle" but we call this Value-Cycling which we feel is that next step up from Re-cycling."

Each container measures 8 feet wide by 40 feet long by 9 feet tall. SG Blocks sells the finished structural systems (also called SG Blocks) for $9,000 to $11,000 per unit. The finished units have one or two walls removed and include the necessary support columns and beam enhancements.

According to KPFF Consulting, a structural engineering firm in St. Louis with extensive experience working with shipping containers, the units are stronger than conventional house framing because of their resistance to "lateral loads" -- those seen in hurricanes and earthquakes -- and because steel is basically welded to steel. The roof is strong enough to support the extra weight of a green roof — which has vegetation growing on it — if the owner should want it.

As for their energy efficiency, they claim that when the appropriate coatings are installed, the envelope reflects about 95 percent of outside radiation, resists the loss of interior heat, provides an excellent air infiltration barrier and does not allow water to migrate in.

One idea that has occurred to me is that this system might benefit from the use of SIP's (Structural Insulated Panels) for the roofs, rather that standard truss framing. SIP's are very well insulated, install quickly, and use much less wood than convention roofs.

Shipping containers are self-supporting with beams and stout, marine-grade plywood flooring already in place, thereby eliminating time and labor during the home-building process. Cross said construction costs are comparable to those in conventional building. Four to seven units are used in a typical home, he said.

Instead of nailing the siding they use "Super Therm", a ceramic paint made by Superior Products of Minnesota; it can be used as a paint, an adhesive, an insulator, a fireproofing material and an acoustic barrier. With this ceramic paint, they claim the insulation capacity is equal to a conventional house.

Adam Kalkin, of www.architectureandhygiene.com , has also become enamored with shipping containers as an architectural solution. The idea to do something with shipping containers came to Kalkin, a New Jersey resident, when driving to New York City, where he saw sky-high stacks of the unused cargo containers in the shipyards he passed.

"The cargo containers, with a life span of about 20 years when used for their original purpose, have an “infinite life span” when stationary and properly maintained," Kalkin says. “To me they are like a treasured antique: they may not be inherently valuable, but the history and the storytelling add value.”

Environmentalists have embraced the design, applauding the recycling inherent to Kalkin's designs. And advocates for affordable-housing like the design, since according to Kalkin, "the total cost of a house—between $150,000 and $175,000 after the buyer settles upon the various options—works out to be between $73 and $90 per square foot, about half the cost of the conventional $200 per square foot for reasonable quality, new construction in the Northeast.”

Kalkin has recently opened a factory—“a hangar at a little airport in New Jersey”—to manufacture Quik Houses. “There are a lot of elbows flying in this process, and this is the best way to protect the quality of the house, to keep the accounting transparent, and to make sure I am not unwittingly responsible for heinous crimes to the built environment.” Once the factory is fully functional, Kalkin plans to export many of his products, commenting that “the possibilities of working on a world scale are exciting.”

Twenty-one thousand containers hit American shores every day of the year. Containers can be shipped to the interior of the country via trains and trucks. Shipping containers are like Lego toys and the modules can be assembled in thousands of ways.

In general it is a good thing to recycle materials that otherwise have no further use for their intended purpose, and this is true here. As for whether one can make a comfortable house out of these metal boxes, the biggest question is: insulation...it is essential, but there are many ways to insulate these containers, so this is not a big concern. Another concern that many people would have is whether a metal box would have adverse health effects because of EMF (electro-magnetic frequencies) generation or propagation. Some people are sensitive to these while others are not.

There is no doubt that these containers can be used to fabricate very strong shells that would withstand substantial abuse from the ravages of nature.

Talk about bending over backwards to please someone! This hybrid flexible kitchen faucet from Paini is all about pleasing you with its futuristic design, ergonomic shape and utility that makes it simply delightful. This irresistible kitchen faucet is flexible enough to make all your tasks easy and simple and ensuring that you can reach wherever you want with it. The design is elegant, modern and perfect for that “space-age kitchen”. Adding to the whole coolness, it sports LED indicators that illuminate to signify water temperature. The faucet is available in black, white and gray. - via HomeDosh

a

Futuristic hybrid Faucet from Paini: Bendy and Trendy!

Last time I wrote about Stefan’s book and how I bought one. Here he is again, in a short blurb on TED, where he runs through some of the things he has learn in his life so far. Oh, a kind person has compiled what Stefan has learn in a nice little cheat sheet that [...]

This weekend the (apparently) world's largest art colony invites you to have a look around and maybe purchase an artifact or two. (via kcrw)

Concrete "Firebowl" - $4,200.00 CAD with fire

"I happen to think anthropology is a brilliant background for looking at finance, firstly, you're trained to look at how societies or cultures operate holistically, so you look at how all the bits move together. And most people in the City don't do that. They are so specialised, so busy, that they just look at their own little silos. And one of the reasons we got into the mess we are in is because they were all so busy looking at their own little bit that they totally failed to understand how it interacted with the rest of society.

Gillian Tett- Assistant Editor- Financial Times


Posted by Ed Cotton

This is the first coffee table I've seen in ages that I actually like. Pretty cool, though not cheap at $3,500.

Via Inspire Me, Now!

Such legendary negativity. There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only a very few of them. And possibly only one profession is phonier. Advertising design, in persuading people to buy things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, in order to impress others who don’t care, is probably the phoniest field in existence [...]

• P&G’s Innovation Culture
  Good case on how the idea of a 'Blue Ocean Strategy' can be applied: "The heart of a company’s business model should be game-changing innovation. This is not just the invention of new products and services, but the ability to systematically convert ideas into new offerings that alter the very context of the business."
  (tags: Innovation P&G Blue Ocean Strategy applied research)

One of 13 entries to date... write wry & win a Ballistic Rose for your permanent collection here.

marieke staps is dutch product designer who is the creator of the ‘soil lamp’. unlike most lights, staps’
uses free and environmentally friendly energy sourced from mud. the metabolism of biological life
produces enough electricity to burn the led light on the top. by adding a touch of water to the base of
the lamp, the natural life force in the dirt conducts electricity through copper and zinc, powering the
small bulb.

http://www.mariekestaps.nl

'light, light'
image © designboom

japanese company idesign created 'light, light' a table lamp that doesn't need a light bulb.
by using an electro luminescene sheet, produced by elfin as a light source they have created
this new type of lighting. it is also thin, lightweight and generates very little heat.


image © designboom


image © designboom



'light, light' illuminated

more:
http://www.elfin.jp

on now at the instituto tomie ohtake, sao paulo is the first solo exhibition of designer karim rashid in brazil.
it is the institute's hope that by showcasing rashid's work, they will generate a discussion about the aspects
of contemporary design and its impact on daily life. upon entrance into the exhibition you are greeted by a large
painting-like, computer graphic, 300 square metres in size which acts as a backdrop to the furniture on display.
this virtual component within the exhibition gives visitors the opportunity to encounter the designer as a
life-size avatar, playing between reality and the artificial, something which is prominent in rashid's work.

the exhibition is an international cooperation with munich's design museum, die neue sammlung. it is curated by
german art historian and critic dr. albrecht bangert in collaboration with brazilian-born designer and architect
camila tariki of karim rashid's new york studio and organized by instituto tomie ohtake. most of the pieces on
show are from the munich collection.











designboom interview

karim rashid
karim rashid at milan design week 2008

rashid global: http://www.rashidglobal.net
instituto tomie ohtake: http://www.institutotomieohtake.org.br
die neue sammlung: http://www.die-neue-sammlung.de

Mainly through the efforts of Illiac Diaz, a charismatic entrepenuer/actor/model/athlete, the Philippines has been home to some very innovative public works utilizing earthbags. Illiac discovered the benefits of this technology several years ago at Nader Khaili’s CalEarth Institute in Hesperia, California, and has been promoting earthbag building in the Philippines ever since.

Diaz is the Executive Director of My Shelter Foundation which has collaborated with various other governmental and industrial organizations to build new schools and clinics throughout the Philippines. He is quick to point out the many economic and sustainable advantages of this method of building, since the main component is abundant and natural earth. In hurricane-prone areas, such as the Philippines, earthbag buildings can withstand the ravages of nature better than most other systems. And with thicker walls, they are more thermally stable.

Here are several pages where you can find out more about the humanitarian works of Illiac Diaz: earthbagbuilding.com/articles/filipino, earthbagbuilding.com/projects/school, earthbagbuilding.com/projects/clinic.

• Lines and Bubbles and Bars, Oh My! New Ways to Sift Data
  This articles very nicely supports the new concept of my latest course I will be offering in Design Management this fall: Business Modell Visualization.

  In my role as a Professor for Design Management I carefully monitor the development of skills design students show when they leave our faculty. Beside usually excellent hands-on skills in graphic, product, and communication design very often the graduates lack appropriate skills to integrate their thinking particularly into business contexts. However one of the most powerful skills design graduates (shal) have is to visualize their thinking and accordingly frame their ideas into powerful charts and illustrations that are easy to comprehend.

  This NYTimes article concisely explains what kind of new approaches, tools, and web applications are out there only to be discovered and used.

  (tags: data visualization design busines models business_models businessmodels education)

Craig Alun Smith's WANK chair is a metaphor of the interdependent relationship between the first and third world and speaks to the war for oil in Iraq. You may have noticed the white chair is missing a leg (possibly due to a roadside bomb) and is bleeding oil....

Craig's summary of this work: "In reality WANK is a joke, a commentary on the current state of design and the trend of designers to create pointless 'one line' design objects and pass them off as art". WANK is also currently on display at the Winnipeg Art Gallery as part of the 2 Chairs exhibition.

+ othergallery.com

We are pleased to announce a new promotion for November and December of 2008 - Order Design Prints in Nov or Dec 08 and receive double your Design Prints back on your qualifying Construction Print Order in 2009. Its our Kick the Crisis promotion and this is how it works:

Anybody who buys Design Prints in November or December 2008 will be eligible for a rebate equal to twice the value of the Design Prints if they order the corresponding Construction Prints before the end of 2009. So if you purchase a set of Small Design Prints in November for $100, and purchase Construction Prints in 2009 your prints will come with a rebate of $200. If you buy regular Design Prints for $200 and follow up with a Construction Print purchase in 09 they will come with a rebate for $400. Its double your design prints back! I hope that's not too confusing, its really quite simple. If you are kicking around the idea of building in 2009 or even 2010 or 11 then make sure you order Design Prints for the house you want in November or December 08 and purchase your Construction Prints by the end of 2009 to earn the rebate.

Jump over to our site to read the details. Well, actually we just copied all the details from our site and posted them here, but you should go and read the fine print on the offer.

Kick the Crisis Promotion

Technorati Tags: modern house

• Egonomics and the 'Recognition Economy' | Conference Documentation
  In general I find the conferences organized by Trendbüro Hambug quite corporate and too often the same players (aka speakers) show off. However Tim Leberecht from frog design pointed me to a slideshare summary on the key findings of the German Trend Day 2008 conference. Have a mind on your own and browse the slides:

  "In May this year, frog design founder Hartmut Esslinger spoke at the German Trend Day in Hamburg. The Trend Day is an influential annual forum that gathers thought leaders from business, media, and academia to discuss emerging social and cultural trends. This year's theme was "Identity Management," and other speakers besides Hartmut included Richard Florida, Danny Choo, and David Bosshart."

  (tags: conference trends slides frogdesign)

I was really delighted this afternoon to find a new rolu post waiting for me in my feed reader. I clicked on over (because rolu posts are best enjoyed on their own page) and was absolutely blown away. With all due respect to the many other fine blogs I enjoy reading, to me rolu|dsgn has the most original, interesting, and brilliantly told architecture and design related posts on the web. This latest piece is something special, and I cannot recommend strongly enough that you give it a look.

The post describes an almost daydream of a vision, one of Minneapolis skyways converted to chic modern cabins, that was actually turned into reality by the firm CITYDESKSTUDIO. It's a great story of people connecting through common love of design, of seeing interesting things in unusual objects, and turning inspiration into reality.

Here's a quick look at the project. Read the rolu post for the details.





First sea container homes, now this. Wonderful!

I enjoyed browsing CITYDESKSTUDIO's work on their site. They've done a lot of nice projects. For some reason their kitchens really appeal to me. They're bright and cheerful and clean. I'm a morning person, and kitchens are morning person places. I can easily see myself in any one of them, having banana pancakes and hot tea, and reading rolu posts on my laptop (though I very seriously caution you against mixing maple syrup with keyboards). Take a look at a couple of examples:






Did you see the blue Eames chair? It's like they're reading my mind.

By the way, Matt was incredibly kind to mention Future House Now in his post. I'm not writing this gushing praise as a reciprocal gesture, but I must admit it pleases me endlessly to be included in such a good story in any way.

The rolu blog is my favorite site on the web. I say that in all honesty. If you haven't given it a look yet click on over and say hi. You will not be disappointed.

Image credits - CITYDESKSTUDIO site

The title of this quick post came up in a recent discussion I had with a business partner. After further reflection, I find this very true. It is applicable to all forms of strategy including design. So let me reword this: A good design strategy is like a good movie. A beautiful [...]

alissa and carly at coe and waito have launched a beautiful new series of ceramics. their existing collections have been smash hits and i have a feeling these pieces will be welcomed with the same enthusiasm. i love their coral vase (above) and the sweet scalloped bowls below. they would both be perfect for holiday gifts and they’re all between $56- $200 so there’s something for everyone. click here to check out their new collection and place and order.

while the mp3 is the leading music format, there is still a passionate collection of vinyl record collectors
out there. while not all of these collectors are professional dj’s, a large majority are men. and while most
contemporary turntables are designed for men, the ‘diamond’ turntable by scheu ananlog is designed
for woman. the sleek design combines a curvy form and frosty record holder in a very non-traditional
turntable. while the main model comes in a very feminine pink, it is also available in black and wood grain.
despite the 3,900 euro price tag, there may even be a few guys waiting in line to buy one.

http://www.ladylikescheu.com







via luxist

• B_E_E | New Zealand | Branding Cleaning Products
  More and more I find that simple, clear & intenlligently designed concepts are the most convincing ones in our world of increasingly plurivalent and confusing messages: I'll make it all white!
  (tags: brands branding brandchannel typography design)

(This post was updated and edited. The original was published on the 19 Dec, 2005!) John Maeda, formerly from MIT Media Labs, and now RISD President, spoke about how “good art makes our mind blink”. This is so true, and if we further extrapolate this, I would say “good design makes our mind blink”. [...]

At this year’s Wireless Japan Expo, Fujitsu and NTT DoCoMo debuted some new RakuRaku (easy easy) handsets made for aging users who are concerned about their health and want to keep both good records and good communication with health care professionals.

With the F884iES users can place their fingers over the camera lens, which can determine their heart rate simply by scanning minute movements. This information, along with that from the built-in pedometer, can be input into a personal “health diary”.

Read the rest of the post at the CScout Japan site.

Recently St. Lucie County in Florida announced that it has teamed up with Geoplasma to develop the United States’ first plasma gasification plant. The plant will use super-hot 10,000 degree fahrenheit plasma to effectively vaporize 1,500 tons of trash each day, which in turn spins turbines to generate 60MW of electricity - enough to power 50,000 homes! Cutting down on landfill waste while generating energy is a pretty win-win proposition, and the plant will also be able to melt down inorganic materials to be reused for other applications, such as in roadbed and heavy construction.

(more…)