Designed to serve as an ersatz kitchen for those living without, this seven-in-one design features a cutting board, an induction hob, a pot and pan, a wrap for utensils and cutlery, a dish rack, all tucked into a portable box.

While it may sound like a dystopian product for a generation that can’t afford houses, it could come in handy for those sharing kitchens at places like the Royal College of Art, where designer Yu Li created it.

But the target, says the designer, “the end users are millennials, young professionals who don’t have sufficient kitchen space. They might be sharing the kitchen with others – facing the situation of ‘kitchen traffic’ – or living alone in a studio with a kitchenette.”

The back pulls out to be used as a tray, which can also be turned into a drying rack. The induction hob has a timer and temperature controls. “The idea is to trim the original kitchen space down to a few minimal elements so space can be designed simpler, neater and transformed into other purposes to increase the space utilisation.”

As more and more novel apartment units get built in which some spaces are shared, this could be at least a temporary solution, if not a real answer to the systemic problem of home affordability. That, or it could be a great camping (or glamping) companion.

Product-tested by a husband-and-wife team of architects in their own abode, ‘A Cat Thing‘ was developed to let pet owners construct an endless array of feline crawling, hiding and resting spaces for their furry friends.

The design consists of four modules — room, living room, balcony and ramp — that can be endlessly stacked, joined and rearranged to make new buildings.

The prefab modules can also be packed flat for shipping and storage, then deployed on demand. The use of recyclable cardboard makes them light and easy to assemble, and non-toxic (safe for feline occupation). Inspired by origami, the system requires no special connectors or tools to construct mega-structures.

The design duo started experimenting with help from their own cats, Chacha and Lily, seeing how they responded to different units and configurations. And as any cat-lover knows: this species seems to love boxes.

“The relationship with cats is a mutual one, so the design for ‘room collection’ should be adjusted to the behavior of the felines. in the future, ‘A Cat Thing’ aims to redefine the products we use with our pets daily,” say the designers, who are “looking forward to bringing more style, attitude, quality and sustainability” to future designs.

Rising up from its corner lot like a ship on a wave, this shipping container home in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is a stunning private residence made from sliced, diced and strategically reassembled cargo boxes.

The cut containers were flipped and reassembled to avoid waste, reusing various angled sections generated through diagonal slicing (images by Danny Bright). Moving through the home, the logic of these cuts becomes increasingly clear.

Designed by LOT-EK, a firm famous for its industrial-style containertecture, the corrugated facade is spliced with vertical windows along the sides. Along the front and back, container ends open up for larger views and terraced roof access — there are outdoor spaces at each level, given privacy thanks to the angled cuts. Below, those same cuts provide a natural opening for the building’s sunken entry, garage and cellar.

Social living, dining and kitchen spaces are on the first floor. The inside is also shaped by the slice angles, forming spaces like a media room with bleacher seating and a projector. Upper levels include bedrooms, play areas and other private spaces.

No stakes to pull up or new foundation to pour for owners of his prefabricated dwelling, an open-plan home designed to be built, taken apart, moved and reconstructed on demand. Its factory-made components can be shipped between sites, assembled in under eight hours and taken apart just as quickly. Disassemble, reassemble — it’s that easy.

Most campers and other mobile micro-homes come with a built-in problem: they can only be so large and still move easily from one site to the next. Designed by Kodasema, an Estonian collective, this house aims to bridge the gap between conventional domiciles and portable retreats.

The so-called KODA features a lofted bedroom, open-plan living space and requires only a 270-square-foot site for deployment. “When choosing where to live however,” note the architects, “we may take risks. It can be difficult to make major changes to a conventional home as inconvenient and extensive repairs are often involved, or even full demolition and reconstruction.” In short: their solution is efficient, economic and also ecological, optimizing use of time and materials while allowing for flexibility.

“In our minds KODA can become whatever you want – a city-center home, a lakeside summer house, a cosy café, an office, workshop or studio or even a classroom.” Like any home, water, sewer, internet and electrical connections will depend on the site, though it can generate its own power through rooftop solar (and his minimal energy requirements thanks to quadruple-paned glass).

The design puts communal spaces (living room and kitchen) out front and private areas (bathrooms and bedrooms) toward the back. It also can be tweaked to an individual needs.

“Its clever design provides the inspiration to make best use of every square inch of space and envisage how the built-in components, even the walls, can be adjusted to meet their purpose most effectively.” (Photos is by Paul Kuimet)

Packing and shipping artwork is a delicate and costly process, unless your intention is to create new pieces by allowing them to break along the way. Starting in 2005, artist Walead Beshty began a decade-long project, sending works of art to galleries around the world with an important twist: the key element of their creation happened in transit.

Beshty would construct glass boxes to fit inside the cardboard shipping containers, matching their interior dimensions (no padding or other protection). Curators then unpacked the finished works, usually cracked but not totally destroyed (being constructed from shatter-proof glass).

Each piece was given a descriptive name including the date of shipment, tracking number and box dimensions, then put on display (resulting in titles like: FedEx® Large Box ©2005 FEDEX 139751 REV 10/05 SSCC, Priority Overnight, Los Angeles-New York trk#795506878000, November 27-28, 2007). In some cases, the glass contents are reshipped, changing form again and again as they move between exhibitions.

The net result is a work that tells the story of its own travels, particularly a period between leaving the hands of the artist and being received by a museum or collector. The displays vary, but in some cases the battered boxes become pedestals for the finished sculptural displays.

But beyond this fixation with the story behind the art, there is another element that drove Beshty: the “perversity of a corporation owning a shape” – as it turns out, FedEx has managed to copyright the dimensions of their box designs.

“They are basically a unit of space owned by a corporation in which to ship objects,” explains the artist. This idea of a company being able to “own” an empty volume of air designed to transport goods seemed surreal, and was another factor motivating this unusual mobile art project.