You see them all the time as polished finished products, but for those looking to try the ultimate do-it-yourself home-building project, these videos will help show you how various ISO container houses were really built in different environments and at various budgets and scales. From timelapses and diagrams to interviews and walkthroughs, they will help introduce you to what someone attempting a similar endeavor could or should expect along the way.

In this HGTV segment, you can get an overall sense of how the Seattle architects of Cargotecture shifted two containers to create a livable container retreat of their own. The result is as much an experiment and demonstration model as a working residence, and a good introduction to what is possible and what can be problematic.

In this timelapse footage and subsequent tour, you can see a whole multistory house, designed by David Fenster (filmed by FairCompanies) for the Redwoods in the Santa Cruz mountains, coming together in a single day. The structure celebrates the industrial aesthetic of its containerized components, but also reflects the difficult reality of moving building materials out to such a remote location.

Part of the building is cantilevered over one side, supported by a hollow concrete column below (that in turn also contains an outdoor shower). The layout uses the space between shipping containers to let in light and widen spaces beyond containers while also framing views. The steel shells also make the building more robust, resistant to natural disasters like falling trees and forest fires.

The Kuziel Residence consists of a series of shipping containers set around a central space on concrete foundations, taking a half-year in total to build – the video above shows photos throughout the process. On the builder’s website, you can “read about the idea, all required prep-work, creation of the foundation, six months long endeavour of making of a chassis, build of the timber roof structure and pouring of lots of concrete for floor slab, work on the house exterior and interior and [all the other] things happening along the way.”

Perhaps one of the most audacious shipping container structures ever attempted, this dream ‘Sea Can’ home of Bill Glennon will have 31 total containers when it is completed, using solar for heat and electricity and boasting a windmill as well. Amazingly, some containers are turned vertically, creating turret-style protrusions making the whole thing look like a modern-day castle in its early stages. In the first film, Bill introduces the project. In the second, he gives a brief tour of the interior and explains some of the passive and other sustainable strategies going into the design. In the third, you can see how massive the almost-finished project turns out to be.

Meanwhile, a series of videos from ContainerHomes.net shows the step-by-step process of constructing a small-sized, single-shipping-container abode DIY-style in Costa Rica, highlighting the actual tools and time required for such an undertaking. After all, a container is made of metal and can require a great deal of additional work, particularly when it comes to adding doors and windows, even if it is in a location that does not require a foundation or insulation. Unlike some of the other video series shown here, this is a start-to-finish look at a low-budget cargo home solution, including a walk-through of the modest final product.

Not sure where to look next for inspiration on what or how to build your own cargo container home? Here are 30 additional cargo container homes, 30 container offices, 20 cargo city and container shelter concepts, and some additional cargotecture. Whatever you do, keep in mind that building codes vary between cities, states and countries, and climactic demands also impact what degree of finish your shelter may require.

In a remarkable 24-hour collaboration, a series of artists banded together to build a replica of the infamous house from the Wizard of OZ – that ill-fated structure that carried Dorothy Gale so far from Kansas.

This fast-paced process employed by the Resisting Entropy team was intentional, designed both to show what dedicated teamwork can accomplish in a limited amount of time but also meant to emulate the chaotic conditions of a wild twister.

No Place Like Home was hosted by the owner of Asymmetric Arts in Rockland Maine, Jared Cowan (special thanks to contributing artist Eric Leppanen for the tip – full list of artists below).

Also part of the plan: the installation was created piecemeal, then put together into intermediate sections before being transported to the site and assembled as a whole.

Starting with a previously-gathered scrap pile, each artist drew what they needed along the way, imbuing the separate sections with individual twists and quirks.

In the past, Resisting Entropy has brought together artists to create a series of independent works, but No Place Like Home gave them a curious and novel combination of individual liberty and a cohesive goal.

Contributing artists included: Jared Cowan, Andy White, Bethany Engstrom, David Allen, Eric Leppanen, Trelawney O’Brien, Alexis Iammarino, Siglinde Langholz, Owen Cartwright, Greta Van Campen, Susan Smith, Jonathan Laurence, Ashley Seelig, Sean Taylor and Kelsey Floyd. “Resisting Entropy is an exercise in creating collaboratively within a condensed timeframe and shared space. Participating artists are presented with a large volume of discarded materials and over 24 hours, live and work together to transform the volume into unique and unpredictable artworks.”

Despite the wind-strewn look, the structural design had to be carefully checked: “The base structure had to be strong enough to not fall due to a strong gust of wind.  No one is allowed in the building due to safety concerns but people can get close enough to look into the windows therefore some of the crew focused on structural integrity.  The design of the roof on the other hand had to be light and airy so that a crew of four or five could lift each section into place. Notice the skeleton of the roof structure, made with the thinnest boards possible.”

What if high schools replaced shop classes with results-driven, full-scale architectural projects, where the goal was to collaborate and make something substantial for the entire community? If it sounds idealistic, perhaps it is – the reality on the ground can be full of setbacks and surprises, as this film illustrates in evocative detail. The title of the documentary in perhaps intentionally open-ended, because, unlike the phrase’s cinematic inspiration (Field of Dreams), what will happen if you build something is never quite clear until you try.

Directed by Patrick Creado, If You Built It is the compelling story of a one-year design/build program set in a small American town – a story that is both inspirational and heartbreaking. Its protagonist teachers are enthusiastic visionaries who are exceptionally driven. Its director shows these strengths but is unafraid to also highlight their steep learning curve, right alongside that of the students, who struggle at first to understand what two outsiders want to teach them and why.

Studio H, a collaboration of designers/builders Emily Pilloton and Matthew Miller, is named for its focus on “humanity, habitats, health and happiness”. Its mission is born of a noble desire to enable people to change where, how and how well they live, all through design.

Of course, working with a community as outsiders is challenging, as this pair learned when they moved to Bertie County, North Carolina, for the first year of their program. Their mission: to start small and build up to a student-decided project for the community, which turns out to be a farmer’s market inspired by contextual farm architecture.

In the press, idealized renderings and carefully-staged architectural photographs often gloss over the gritty reality of designing and building projects, as well as the slow change in thinking that comes with learning to design. Likewise, a look at highly-funded architectural programs and never-to-be-built college-student projects can make it easy to forget we have an opportunities to educate high school students everywhere through designing to build.

For anyone not educated in design, this movie provides  a unique window into how it can be taught and how understanding design processes can help us see unrealized possibilities in our everyday lives and built environments. For the broader public, the documentary also provides fascinating insights into the present and uncertain future of rural America.

In the end, the film is neither a tale of outright success or total failure, but it does show how even the best intentions may not work in every situation. In a key flashback, we are shown scenes of a home built for charity by Miller as a thesis project that ultimately failed in practice but also provided him critical real-world feedback on projects where the owner is just a passive recipient. Anyone interested in the intersection of architecture and education should watch If You Build It and sign up for screenings to share it with students.

A synopsis: “IF YOU BUILD IT follows designer-activists Emily Pilloton and Matthew Miller to rural Bertie County, the poorest in North Carolina, where they work with local high school students to help transform both their community and their lives. Living on credit and grant money and fighting a change-resistant school board, Pilloton and Miller lead their students through a year-long, full-scale design and build project that does much more than just teach basic construction skills: it shows ten teenagers the power of design-thinking to re-invent not just their town but their own sense of what’s possible.”

Build with Chrome is the new, fast and simple model-maker in town, and this one lets you create structures faster than digital SketchUp or physical LEGOs ever could.

Of course, this Chrome Experiment project would not be complete without Google Maps integration, allowing you to deploy your creations around the world and interact with others.

Architecture seems the most obvious, but infrastructure, ships and other complex shapes are all ultimately possibilities as well.

Like SketchUp (previously owned by Google), the tool set is relatively simple, except in this case the learning curve is even faster, making it possible for anyone to participate with ease.

Users can select blocks, change colors, rotate with a key click, drop them into place then keep on stacking, then save or reset at any time. From private estates to pirate ships, anything is possible.

If you’ve always wanted to design modern buildings, but don’t have any plans to attend architecture school, LEGO has just the tool you’re looking for. The toy company has revealed a LEGO Architecture Studio kit aimed at adults with an interest in design, which includes over 1,200 white and transparent blocks in 73 shapes along with a 272-page guide book full of architecture designs and tips from leading contemporary architects.

Endorsed by REX Architecture, Sou Fujimoto Architects, MAD Architects, Tham & Videgård Arkitekter and Safdie Architects, the set features techniques, examples and hands-on exercises to strengthen your design sensibilities. It could also be used by working architects to build models.

While there are some sample designs in the book, the idea is for you to put your imagination to work and come up with your own masterpieces. Among the topics explored in the book are modules and repetition, creating surfaces, working in a context, mass and density, and symmetry.

The set retails at $149.95 and will be available for purchase on the LEGO website on August 1st.