Repurposed building materials are all the rage, and with good reason: recycling saves money and keeps usable stuff out of the landfill. Shipping containers--those rectangular boxes that ride on the back of tractor trailers--are ideal for creating upcycled homes. But that's only the beginning of what these giant building blocks can do.
1. Container Bar - Austin
Source: austincontainerbar.com
Created by the brilliant mind behind some of the City's coolest bars, this shipping container structure is proof positive that Austin will always be awesomely weird.
2. Sleeping Around - Antwerp
Source: thedaily.triitme.com
Sleeping Around is a 21st century hotel. Created from over 20 shipping containers, this pop-up hotel can pick up and travel almost as quickly as its guests. In addition to modern, well-appointed rooms, the hotel features a breakfast/lounge container and a sauna container. It's currently stationed in Antwerp.
3. Railway Station - Netherlands
Source: dezeen.com
Using a cross-section of shipping containers, Dutch studio NL Architects not only created a sun-filled place to wait for your train, but a lovely cafe as well.
4. Experimental Commune - Switzerland
Source: inhabitat.com
In 2012, a group of students from the Geneva University of Art and Design turned 8 shipping containers into something that can only be described as half performance art, half funky commune. According to the students--who ate, slept, and bathed together in the commune--the thematic modular units were meant to be an exploration of lifestyle choices.
5. Muvbox Restaurant - Montreal
In just 90 seconds, this shipping container restaurant goes from box to solar-powered bistro. The MUVBOX mission is to create a network of unique mobile concepts based on a recycled steel container. Variations on the original already exist in New York, Toronto and Paris.
6. Del Popolo's Pizza Truck - San Francisco
Source: psfk.com
Pizza baked on a wood-fired oven is some of the most delicious in the world, but an oven that size won't fit in most food trucks. That didn't stop Jon Darsky. Working with four designers, Darsky fit a 20-foot shipping container on to a heavy-duty delivery truck, tossed in a giant oven that cooks pizza to perfection in about one minute, and Del Popolo's was born.
7. Starbucks - Chicago
Source: fastcompany.com
Built of shipping containers, this LEED-certified (that means really eco-friendly) drive-through Starbucks gets Chicagoans their java in a jiffy.
8. Floating Swimming Pool - Berlin
Source: wikipedia.org
Called the Badeschiff (which means "bathing ship") this public swimming pool is actually a semi-submerged shipping container. It allows Berliners the feeling of bathing in the River Spree, even though the river itself is far too polluted for human use.
9. Snoozebox - UK
Source: snoozebox.com
Portable hotel seems too cute for this architectural marvel--it's more like a pop-up event center! Snoozebox can be fully operational and ready to welcome guests within days of arriving at almost any event or location around the world. The rooms are modern and the design is completely off-grid, no utility connections required!
10. Children's Activity Center at Skinners Playground - Melbourne
Designed by Phooey Architects, this unique Children's Center is made from four strategically placed shipping containers. The upcycled Center has both open and private spaces that serve a variety of functions including study, painting, dancing and lounging about.
11. Boy Scout Cabins - Catalina Island
Source: fastcompany.com
Boy Scouts are taught to explore the world with a 'Leave No Trace' mentality, so when it came time to revamp the organization's 30 year-old campground on Catalina, it's no surprise they turned to eco-friendly shipping containers.
12. OceanScope Observatory - South Korea
Source: openbuildings.com
Located at the historic sunset spot of Incheon city, this upcycled structure provides residents with an elevated place to observe the sun at its finest moment of the day.
13. Urban Farm Unit - Brussels
Source: designboom.com
Big cities desperately need access to fresh food, but often lack the space for traditional farms. Both problem are solved with this 'Urban Farm Unit' created inside a shipping container with a greenhouse roof. It's small enough to be moved easily, but big enough to grow a serious amount of food.
14. Amin Library - Indonesia
Source: designboom.com
This colorful library was built from 8 shipping containers that cost a mere 820 dollars a piece! Since community gathering places are scarce in Batu, the library contains a small free clinic in addition to 6,000 books.
15. Boxpark - London
Source: boxparkshoreditch
Billed as the world's first pop-up mall, Boxpark is a pedestrian-friendly retail and dining center in central London. Unlike massive indoor shopping malls, that require a good pair of shoes to get from one end to the other, these shipping container stores are compact and stacked closely together for maximum efficiency.
16. Elementary School - Durbanville, South Africa
Source: gvct.co.uk
With a very tight budget, Tsai Design Studio was able to create this colorful elementary school for very little cash by using a 40-foot shipping container. The Vissershok Container Classroom now offers rural primary school children a safe place to learn, grow their own vegetables, and get lots of exercise.
17. Boxing Gym - Cape Town, South Africa
Source: fightforpeace.net
Future Champs is a state-of-the-art satellite boxing gym made out of shipping containers in the Philippi Township of Cape Town. It provides sporting equipment, training facilities and support to empower young men and women through boxing.
18. Cargo Canvases - Belgium
Source: weburbanist.com
At the North West Walls Street Art Festival this year, graffiti artists were given a rather large canvas to work with: 22 shipping containers that had been painted white and stacked into interesting shapes. The results were breathtaking.
19. Skate Park/Student Housing - Belgium
Source: designboom.com
Hub 01 is mobile housing terminal based on three principles; mobility, personalized student rooms and educational design. The modular community features a living wall, solar panels, a wind turbine, and yes, even a vert ramp or two. If all dorms were this awesome and versatile, students might stay on campus longer!
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