Elon Musk lives out of tiny 375-square-foot prefab trailer - Page 8 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

freebeard · 09-30-2021, 05:11 PM

I was thinking a disruptive technology with housing-as-a-service designed in. It could nibble away at the edges as an invasive species.

But looking at the news, it sounds like the pharma corps have captured the minds of the residents and the government response is to send in the helicopters.

Piotrsko · 10-01-2021, 10:09 AM

The black ones or the invisible helicopters?

CR: back in the day when empty shipping containers were really cheap, did anybody convert them to housing where you're at? Since they're structural as all get out, you could go common floor plan and stack them maybe 4 high

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 10-01-2021, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

CR: back in the day when empty shipping containers were really cheap, did anybody convert them to housing where you're at? Since they're structural as all get out, you could go common floor plan and stack them maybe 4 high

I've seen them being used mostly for commercial venues, yet some rich folks also repurposed them for housing. Didn't really see it being used so often for affordable housing. Aluminium containers similar to a box-truck body have been more often used, either for temporary accomodations at job sites or some other special purposes. Most people here still prefer a brick-and-mortar house and see anything else as too much of a makeshift. The cost of transporting a shipping container also tended to offset the economy that most budget-conscious folks would expect.

freebeard · 10-01-2021, 08:25 PM

The problem with shipping containers is you may not be able to leach out whatever has soaked into that wood floor ever again.

I'm convinced that it should be possible to build a house in a hole from the dirt excavated from it. In medieval times they made cement by admixing sticky rice and pork blood in as an amendment. A bio-concrete.

Searching on the term 'origami shelter' I found this: http://www.archdaily.com/781664/orig...luminum-sheets

That is extensible to the size of a shopping mall.

Piotrsko · 10-02-2021, 10:06 AM

Ive got acrylic paint sealers that will stop most everything.

I note this origami phase youre in.

freebeard · 10-02-2021, 03:35 PM

Else plane 1/4-1/2" off the top. They're pretty thick to take some weight.

Nothing against shipping containers. Here's this, two shipping containers with a edge zenith icosahedron weather cover:

The origami phase follows on from geodesic peel patterns and U-V texture mapping.

freebeard · 10-02-2021, 04:44 PM

A discussion with my neighbors reminded me of the Spartan Carousel:

Saprtan was a step up from Airstream (IMHO) in that era. It's a flat box, but the top edge is properly rolled so the seam is on the vertical surface. Modern trailers fail here.

The kitchen is task-oriented. I'd only fault the location of the refrigerator. It needs to move next to the window so an open door doesn't block the passageway. But I digress ....light and airy interior:

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018...960s-cool.html

It makes my place look like a U-boat.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 10-03-2021, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebeard

I'm convinced that it should be possible to build a house in a hole from the dirt excavated from it.

You mean something like a trench shelter? I have already considering building something like that, at least as a basement for a house.

freebeard · 10-03-2021, 11:06 PM

Depending on the topography, leveling the site (cut and fill) may produce an excess of fill dirt usable for walls.

A rammed earth floor would reduce whatever level results by another foot or so. You can double-dig the floor and make it twice the thickness.

I don't know if you follow the construction of the Austin Gigafactory, but what they did there was, having marginal subsoil conditions, they dug dry wells and back filled them with crushed rock. This was compacted in lifts so the poured footings for their columns rested on a solid cylinder of rock. Then they threw up the upper floor and roof framing, and finally came back in to finish the slab on grade.

You could follow the same plan for a Hobbit house. Multi-story, ground level entrances inside a mound of living roof.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 10-04-2021, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebeard

I don't know if you follow the construction of the Austin Gigafactory

No, I didn't.

Quote:

You could follow the same plan for a Hobbit house.

I have seen pictures of some Hobbit house designs. Not really my cup of tea, but maybe done properly it could be an interesting approach. With a green roof where I could even attempt to plant something other than just grass.