Update 6/15/2010: Puma City Revised for World Cup 2010!

Realizing this site might be a little overweight in the container architecture department, I'm going to blog this and try to abstain in the next few weeks.  But Puma City, like the Freitag Flagship Store in Zurich (only less banged up looking), is another illustration of industrial design and adaptive reuse combined. The 11,000 sf retail installation was designed by LOT-EK and uses three levels of forty-foot containers stacked four units wide to create an incredibly dynamic design. 

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Wow, check out this stunning, prefab home located in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.  Just like the Marfa Weehouse, a home we talked about a long time ago, this home was designed by Alchemy Architects.  The Johnson Creek weeHouse is a 2,200 sf retreat home consisting of the main living area for daily activities and a small tower for less intenstive activities, like sleeping.  The two parts are connected by a patio bridge and the entire home is surrounded by the heavily wooded site.   

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This building in Cambridge, England is not only called “Creative Exchange,” but it functions as one, too.  Designed by 5th Studio, the structure has a purposely small footprint and smart design that allows natural light to flood into interior spaces.  The interior spaces are open and function more flexibly than a typical office so occupants can collaborate and share ideas.  Similarly, the top floor has a working garden that also facilitates congregation and interaction among the occupants.  Other than the few private workspace areas, everything is quite open and communal at Creative Exchange. 

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Well, if you didn’t have a reason to visit Las Vegas in January 2009, maybe we could give you one now.  Builder is teaming up with LivingHomes and KieranTimberlake to place this beautiful, green prefab on the exhibit floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center at the International Builders’ Show (IBS) 2009.  The modern 2000 sf prefab will be built with steel-wood modules and an abundant list of sustainable materials.  Its ostensible purpose, I believe, is to show the industry that modular construction can be financially accessible, sustainable, and optimal for eliminating construction waste and debris. 

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The Greentainer Project in Gandino, Italy is yet another expression of container architecture, albeit this time it’s for a more whimsical application.  The project used one, standard-sized, 40-foot container and transformed it into a structure that’s mobile, flexible, and self-sufficient.  In its current form, Greentainer is perfect for multiple uses and almost infinite locations, plus the rooftop solar panels provide all the energy necessary to run the heating and cooling system, lights, and other devices.  So you could potentially use it for a party, event, grand opening, art show, or any other scheme you can come up with. 

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