Alternative Housing: The Shipping Container HomeM. Martinez-Garciafeatures include plumbing for shower, sink andtoilet, air conditioning and heating, electricalsystem and lighting, wiring for telephone andInternet connections, and insulated walls andceiling (Falcon Containers, <strong>2014</strong>).The Next-Gen ContainerHome: Mobility andMechanizationfirst-gen <strong>shipping</strong> <strong>container</strong>s are transported topermanent or temporary locations to serve aspermanent or interim housing, the next-gen<strong>container</strong> home moves with its owners. LOT-EK’s Mobile Dwelling Unit (MDU) (See Figure 7)was developed according to LOT-EKrepresentative Ada Tolla, as a “concept for atransportable house – aimed at a more dynamicand globalized work environment.” TollaFigure 7: Mobile Dwelling Unit (MDU) by LOT-EK - lot-ek.comWhile the first generation of <strong>container</strong> housingseems largely focused on environmentalsustainability and adaptability, the nextgeneration of <strong>container</strong> housing brings to thetable features such as flexibility betweentemporary and permanent use, supertransportability,and mechanization. Whereasexplained to NAR, “The intention is for thehouse to be shipped to different destinations –through the standard <strong>shipping</strong> <strong>container</strong>networks – and installed for a stretch of time.We had in mind business people, tech inventor,professors, etc. In this sense, the client is a typemore than an actual client. The appeal is thePage <strong>10</strong> of 22
Alternative Housing: The Shipping Container HomeM. Martinez-Garciatransportability, the modern and self-containeddesign, and the efficiency of space.” The MDUcreated for the University Art Museum (at theUniversity of California - Santa Barbara) wasdesigned to “travel with its dweller to the nextlong-term destination, fitted with all live/workequipment and filled with the dweller’sbelongings” (LOT-EK, <strong>2014</strong>). The MDU caneasily be configured for permanent residency.Another example of the next gen <strong>container</strong> isIndustrial Zombie’s fully mechanized <strong>container</strong>17units. From its Push Button House , featuringpop-up/drop-down living, sleeping, andbathroom quarters, complete with ambient18lighting, to its GOPRO multi-story structure offour full-sized <strong>container</strong>s – each on-end andconjoined – Industrial Zombie’s <strong>container</strong>buildings truly demonstrate how quickly andeasily a <strong>container</strong> house or compound can bemobilized and quickly functioning throughmechanization.Impact on Real EstateIndustryGiven the nearly one way flow of goods comingto the United States and excess supply ofISBUs, the growing green movement, and thecost and time savings associated with <strong>shipping</strong><strong>container</strong> <strong>homes</strong>, the <strong>container</strong>-housing trendwill likely continue to gain momentum. Howmuch momentum is hard to say; after all, thereare some downsides to <strong>container</strong> <strong>homes</strong>.Despite the fact that <strong>container</strong> giants likeHapag-Lloyd and OOCL are usingenvironmentally sensitive products such aswater soluble varnishes (Hapag-Lloyd, <strong>2014</strong>),tin-free paints and bamboo flooring (OOCL,<strong>2014</strong> ), some ISBUs have been treated withpesticides and chemicals (Glink, <strong>2014</strong>) toprotect shipped contents. Then, there arezoning issues and local regulations to consider.And, unless the homeowner has a decentbudget, the <strong>container</strong> home will remain lookinglike just that…a <strong>container</strong>.NIMBYNot unlike mobile <strong>homes</strong> and the cookie cutter<strong>homes</strong> of the 1950s, <strong>container</strong> <strong>homes</strong> have theirshare of critics – one of them being Gary Imhoffof DC Watch, a neighborhood watchdogorganization. In response to the <strong>container</strong>apartment building planned for DC’s Brooklandneighborhood, Imhoff is reported as saying,“Prefab <strong>shipping</strong> <strong>container</strong> houses can be madeto look nice in architect’s plans. So can trailerparks. But I suspect that a few decades of wearwill quickly turn them into slums” (Neibauer,19<strong>2014</strong>). Another critic’s arguments areunderstandably fueled by images of an infamousbuilding constructed in Mankato, Minn., in theearly 1970s (Hood, 20<strong>12</strong>). In 1972, Valley View20Apartments were constructed using 20 mobile<strong>homes</strong>, stacked four stories high, on a concreteframe (Adkins, 2013). The property, referred toby journalists as one of the nation’s ugliestbuildings, later fell into disrepair and wasultimately purchased and demolished by the city(Adkins, 2013).17 www.inzombie.com/" \l "!push-button-house/c20ct18 www.inzombie.com/" \l "!gopro/co9y19 www.startribune.com/local/yourvoices/181679951.html20 mobilehomeliving.org/stacked-mobile-<strong>homes</strong>-highrises-of-the-past-present-and-future/Page 11 of 22
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