Week 1. The Two Precedents of Shipping Container Architecture and 3 Short Statments

Containers of Hope. Home by Benjamin Garcia Saxe:

With the budget of $40,000, this 93 square metre(1000 square foot) container house was built. It contains two of used shipping containers (two 12 meter units) with a raised clerestory windows in the middle of the house. It is located in San Jose, Costa Rica. 

Benjamin says: "It was important for me to provide them with the sunrise, the sunset, the spectacular views, and overall try and create a feeling of comfort and home. A roof between the two containers, made from the scrap pieces of metal taken to make the windows, not only creates an internal sensation of openness but also provides a cross ventilation which is surprisingly sufficient enough to never have to turn the air conditioning on."

Caterpillar house by Sebastian  Irarrazaval:

This house is located on  a hillside in Santiago, Chile with the view to the Andes Mountains. The shipping containers are used for this house in order to reduce the overall cost and the time of construction. It is a 350 square metre (3,800 square feet) house with 12 used shipping containers (five 12 metre units and six 6 metre units and one open-top shipping container). The cool natural air that comes from the mountains, which passes through windows, doors, and a ventilated facade cools down the house so any air conditioning units are  unnecessary.

Similarities:

- Both houses have used used shipping containers

- Total cost of construction was a lot less than other house constructions (brick, concrete buildings)

- Great ventilating systems are used. Air conditioning is not necessary 

- Blends with the natural environment

- Both have converted into clean, modern, open to nature houses

- Multiple shipping containers are used

- Curtain wall windows are used

Differences:

- Size differences

- One is built on the flat ground the other on a slope

- Some part of Caterpillar house is not sitting on the ground. It is floating in the air

- Caterpillar house has both indoor and outdoor areas.

- Containers of hope has projected out clerestory windows in the middle part of the house.

With the idea of hanging a container house on a steel bar, I can build a house on a slope or on the ground so it can prevent the water coming into the house. As Thailand is very humid, air circulation is crucial. As shipping containers have a structure that can provide a great ventilation system, shipping containers will suit well in Bangkok, Thailand. Considering the low terrain of Bangkok, it is important to build the container house higher than the usual houses in Bangkok to prevent the flooding.

Bangkok has a fertile land with the Chao Phraya River however, unlike the northen Thailand, the central area is a lowland and the water is drained by the Chao rivier. It is hot and humid all year and during the rainy season, which is May to October, it rains almost everyday with around 35 degrees. During November to April, it is around 30 degrees and it does not rain much. As Bangkok is in a lowland area, flood is very common and in 2011, urban inundation has lasted for 6 months due to the vast amount of rain. It is said that it rain the most in the last fifty years.

3 Short statements:

- Home is a place where you can express and be yourself without being self-conscious.

"Cooper sees the house as a symbol of the self." Home: The territorial core. Geographical Review

- Home is a place where you feel pleased and the most comfortable at.

"My childhood home… I observe myself in these places, but mostly the places and me seem as one…  Here in this imaginary terrain painful memories are leached of their power. I feel comfortable and secure. I am at home. Sleep comes quickly." :Understanding home: a critical review of the literature. The Sociological Review

- Home is a place where you feel most secured and breathe freely.

"The concept of security include both psychic security and physical security or protection. And these are obtained in the home" : Home: The territorial core. Geographical Review

Reference:

Passively-cooled Caterpillar House built from shipping containers . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.gizmag.com/caterpillar-house-shipping-containers/28141/. [Accessed 02 March 2015].

22 Most Beautiful Houses Made from Shipping Containers. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.homedit.com/22-most-beautiful-houses-made-from-shipping-containers/. [Accessed 02 March 2015].

Social Design Magazine. 2015. Benjamin Garcia Saxe/Containers of Hope | Social Design Magazine. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.socialdesignmagazine.com/en/site/architettura/benjamin-garcia-saxe-containers-of-hope.html. [Accessed 02 March 2015].

ArchDaily 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/394846/caterpillar-house-sebastian-irarrazaval-delpiano/51cbbbe8b3fc4be56b00003a_caterpillar-house-sebasti-n-irarr-zaval_sergio_ricaroruga_077-jpg/. [Accessed 02 March 2015].

Containers of Hope, a $40,000 Home by Benjamin Garcia Saxe | HomeDSGN. 2015. Containers of Hope, a $40,000 Home by Benjamin Garcia Saxe | HomeDSGN. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.homedsgn.com/2011/06/16/containers-of-hope-a-40000-home-by-benjamin-garcia-saxe/containers-of-hope-42/. [Accessed 02 March 2015].

Topographic map Bangkok. 2015. Topographic map Bangkok. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en-gb.topographic-map.com/places/Bangkok-9209604/.


Topography of Thailand. 2015. Topography of Thailand. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.hellosiam.com/html/thailand/thailand-topography.htm

Bangkok - The topography, Many parts of the city below sea level!!!! / Sri Lanka salt water intrusion - Earth Changes and the Pole Shift. [ONLINE] Available at: http://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/bangkok-the-topography-of-many-parts-of-the-city-below-sea-level