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The Sinister Brutalism of Shipping Container Architecture
- kiba 7y agoOK, maybe shipping containers aren't exactly the modular cheap things we can transform into living spaces...but to imagine it creating a dystopia?
- vinceguidry 7y agoYeah, when you look at how slums are usually built, it's hard not seeing containers making things any worse. Drop a bunch of old containers into a tent city and all of a sudden it's much harder for the authorities to bulldoze.
- dredmorbius 7y agoTo be clear: you're suggesting this is an improvement -- bulldozer-proof slums afford utility to the residents? (I'd tend to agree.)
- vinceguidry 7y agoOh yes, certainly, thought that was clear.
- Jagat 7y agoThere's a video series of a guy who tried to do this in California in the middle of a desert and his cost went north of $100k. (Paperwork alone was $25k IIRC). Watching that series reminds you of what a huge bureaucratic nightmare looks like. Search for "Modern home project" on YouTube.
- sixdimensional 7y agoI almost started a tiny home business. However, during market research, I discovered the biggest problem with tiny homes is zoning laws. That really threw a monkey wrench into my plans. Have been considering what it would take to get zoning laws preventing tiny homes changed in less popular locales.
- davidw 7y ago> Have been considering what it would take to get zoning laws preventing tiny homes changed in less popular locales. Statewide legislation is probably the way to go. Doing it city by city is a huge slog, and I don't think anything's likely to happen nationwide for a while (but who knows). Network with like-minded people: * YIMBY groups in your area * Strong Towns: https://www.strongtowns.org/ https://www.strongtowns.org/
- erentz 7y ago+ Example of such a statewide legislation: https://www.curbed.com/2019/7/1/20677502/oregon-yimby-single-family-zoning-nimby-rent-control https://www.curbed.com/2019/7/1/20677502/oregon-yimby-single...
- davidw 7y agoI pushed hard for that one... we turned up 5 YIMBYs in our not-so-big town on a Friday morning to talk with our state representative, and had a lot of people put in calls to our state senator - both Republicans who ended up voting in favor.
- mjevans 7y agoYou'd probably have better luck subverting existing regulatory infrastructure that closely matches your use-case. Instead of tiny homes, try thinking within the regulatory box of "classifies as an RV or towed camper". That might allow you to bypass some of the other limitations you were facing.
- PorterDuff 7y agoIf it's the house I was watching, the amount of house infrastructure within the house cracked me up. A house in a house, full slab, plus the inevitable California fire suppression system. It wasn't even that cool looking. But...I really liked the idea of the above ground septic drain field.
- im3w1l 7y agoI guess it must be because houses are so expensive so people go "what's another $25k?" and costs are allowed to drift upwards? Really crazy that it's that bad.
- Jagat 7y agoFor those wondering, here's the first part of the series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA5fh29rhLs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA5fh29rhLs
- TheRealSteel 7y agoI didn't even realise it was going to be about Edinburgh or Fringe when I read the title, but the first thing that came to mind was the hostel there charging up to 25£ per night to sleep in a shipping container. I just arrived here but don't think I could've handled it when the weather wasn't perfect, especially at 45AUD per night.
- joeyrideout 7y agoWas I the only one who nodded in agreement thinking about Docker orchestration woes when reading the title? >:)
- cosmodisk 7y agoGuilty as charged! :)
- reneberlin 7y agoI came here to say the same :) And yes, i insist - it can become a huge unforseen and brutal clusterfuck to manage containers :)
- qroshan 7y agoShipping, Container and Architecture are all prominent Software terminology. In fact, any HN reader who didn't think that should be perma banned ;)
- quickthrower2 7y agoand Brutalist design!
- peterwwillis 7y agoSo an academic doesn't like reusing industrial machinery for living in. Does he also hate rowhomes? Tokyo apartments? College dorm rooms? A Manhattan studio? There are many places in the world where you get a drab, rectangular living space, with less room than a shipping container, yet people are thankful for it. Shipping containers may be the answer to what I consider a plague on the average American: minimum-sized homes. You can't live in a tiny home in America, because all homes are regulated to be a minimum size, rooted to a concrete slab, with a bevy of other regulations. So you have to choose between throwing your money away on renting, or buying an overpriced, unnecessarily large home. A shipping container is small, incredibly strong, and unlikely to fly away under strong winds. They're also modular, which makes them adaptable. And they can be stacked, creating multiple floors without any extra engineering. You could easily expand your home's footprint whenever you could afford it! For people who just want affordable housing, they're kind of amazing. Who cares if they don't look pretty? Build a facade! We did it in the 1950's with formstone, when people thought brick looked cheap and ugly. Maybe the editor can slap some fake bricks on the outside of the container and call it retro-modern.
- rumanator 7y ago> So an academic doesn't like reusing industrial machinery for living in. Does he also hate rowhomes? Tokyo apartments? College dorm rooms? A Manhattan studio? This isn't an academic's whim. Shipping containers are not designed or adequate for residential use. This does not change if you enumerate other examples of awful living conditions.
- peterwwillis 7y agoNothing about a shipping container is particularly inadequate for residential use. It's an empty box, exactly like the empty shell of a stick-built American house. You wouldn't live inside a stick frame house just because it has four sides, you have to keep building onto and into it until it's done.
- blacksmith_tb 7y ago
- babesh 7y agoI have been following a youtube couple building a shipping container home. It isn't as simple or cheap as you think. You need to deal with rust, sealing floors that have chemicals, cutting out windows, etc... I wonder if they can do that only because they live somewhere with no building regulations. In contrast to that, our local school additions were a snap. They were prefabs that just needed to be dropped onto slabs. I think there is a definite hipster trendiness to some uses of containers. It's the typical hype, trough cycle where it's being used in novel ways but also not so good effective ways in other cases. https://youtu.be/i8qtI15Ntws https://youtu.be/i8qtI15Ntws
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago>It isn't as simple or cheap as you think. You need to deal with rust, sealing floors that have chemicals, cutting out windows, etc... And once you're done with that you run into humidity and ventilation issues. There's a reason people generally only use them for storage containers. If you want a building you can occupy there's cheaper and easier ways to do it.
- im3w1l 7y agoWhat would be cheaper and easier?
- saalweachter 7y agoPrefab, modular housing.
- WalterBright 7y agoAS I recall the paint used on a shipping container is toxic and difficult to remove to make it habitable.
- rhinoceraptor 7y agoAlso, shipping containers are like a soda can, they're built to be very strong, with as little material as possible. If you cut a hole in the side, it dramatically weakens it, so you need a lot of structural reinforcement.
- twic 7y agoI'm glad to see the Freitag store mentioned - that really is quite fun: https://www.freitag.ch/en/store/freitag-flagship-store-zuerich https://www.freitag.ch/en/store/freitag-flagship-store-zueri... https://www.zuerich.com/en/visit/attractions/freitag-tower https://www.zuerich.com/en/visit/attractions/freitag-tower
- olefoo 7y agoHeadline should have been "The sinister brutalism of shipping container architecture". I mean come on. Know your audience.
- dang 7y agoAgreed. Belatedly changed.
- simplecomplex 7y agoThe Sinister Brutality of New York Times Articles on Hacker News
- EdwardDiego 7y agoChristchurch utilised shipping containers for rockfall/ruin collapse protection, (and with modifications of course) temporary offices and accommodation after the 2011 earthquake. They really filled a gap.
- aaron695 7y agoI like the cargo cult of the fake shipping container look. Panelling to make it look like a shipping container.
- magwa101 7y agoWatched a youtube video of a very capable builder creating a container "home" in Yucca Valley. Total joke.