Square 1-Design/Build/Consulting
Commercial
Cargotecture
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Architectural innovation
Architect Paul Rudolph once called the mobile home the 20th-century brick; the shipping container may well be taking its place in the 21st. Like heavy Legos, shipping containers made of steel or aluminum can be used as an inexpensive, and stronger than average, building block. Resistant to such forces as hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes, containers are naturally suited to such humanitarian projects as post-disaster housing and community centers, but their versatility has also captured the imagination of designers and architects worldwide who have used them for everything from high-rises to rustic cabins. In fact, there are enough cool container structures around to constitute a movement: Some call it "cargotecture."
Container Communities
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Container Cityâ„¢ is fast, innovative, and highly versatile system that provides stylish and affordable spaces for a range of uses.
Devised by Urban Space Management Ltd, the Container Cityâ„¢ system re uses shipping containers linked together to provide high strength, prefabricated steel modules that can be combined to create a wide variety of building shapes and can be adapted to suit most planning or end user needs.
This modular technology enables construction time to be reduced by up to half those of traditional building techniques while minimalising on site disruption and remaining significantly more environmentally friendly.
This low cost approach to building has been commended by both Government and Private Sectors for its design and the economical way in which it recycles industrial products.
Pop-Ups
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Major retailers like Google, Ikea, Starbucks, Illy, Puma, Subway, and Musto have used containers.
London's "Boxpark" shopping mall has been built from 60 shipping containers.
Recycled containers save "embodied" carbon cost linked to construction of new buildings.
"There are about 400 established architectural projects making use of shipping containers around the world," says Slovenian architect Jure Kotnik, who has written two books on the subject and is curating an international exhibition on "container architecture" currently on display at the AIA in Seattle.
"From Volvo, Puma, Rolex, Nike to Ikea -- loads of big names have been turning shipping containers into shops or spaces that they think will enhance their brand image," says Kotnik. "I think in part because it is a universal symbol ... it's also become increasingly cool."