Manic Monday - ship

Today's word from Mo at "It's A Blog Eat Blog World" is SHIP
Of course I wanted to do something innovative and one of the first thoughts I had was shipping containers. That's different, right?


But then I ran into something even more unusual: shipping container homes.

Architect and artist Adam Kalkin's 12-container house. Esto photo by Peter Aaron

Yup, this is a house made of shipping containers. Ain't it a beaut!

Here's another:

Seatrain House in downtown Los Angeles was completed in 2003 by the architecture firm Office of Mobile Design, principal architect Jennifer Siegal. Photo by Undine Prohl, courtesy of Office of Mobile Design

Here's further information if you think you might like a shipping container home:

In this era of scouring the earth for the magic bullet in home building, few ideas can compete with the weird, pragmatic beauty of the used shipping container. Cheap, strong and easily transportable by boat, truck or train, these big steel structures now litter the ports of America as mementos of our Asian-trade imbalance. (Many more full containers arrive on our shores than depart, so ports either ship them back empty -- to the tune of about $900 per -- or sell them.)

Hurricane proof, flood proof, fire proof, these metal Lego blocks are tough enough to be stacked 12-high empty -- and thus can be used in smaller multistory buildings. Used containers (which can be picked up for $1,500 to $2,000) often have teak floors and sometimes are insulated. The bright orange, blue and rust corrugated boxes may not appeal to everyone. But contemporary hipsters find them not just the ultimate in postmodern appropriation but aesthetically pleasing as well.

A handful of architectural firms around the world -- from New York to New Zealand -- have built prototypes or plans for shipping-container homes. Most of these designers develop each house or project as a one-off, but one prefab factory has begun pumping out little container homes that are not meant for the military encampment or the disaster relief camp. Rather, they are meant for the discerning homeowner avid for something new.

The Quick House is three bedrooms and two bathrooms built in 2,000 square foot plan. This prefab is designed by Adam Kalkin (see his 12-container home above). The basic kit comes with five modified containers witch [sic] you can modify such as a stainless steel kitchen with appliance and fireplace, mahogany door package, custom designed carpets…

At $76,000 it’s one of the cheapest and quickest prefab houses currently on the market.

Not bad, huh? I'd consider it.

Here's a video about container houses: