In the 1950s, Malcolm McLean developed a modular design that would simplify the loading and offloading of ships, boxing up goods for easier loading and unloading between trains, trucks and boats The standardization of cargo containers revolutionized the modern shipping industry. Today, though, an increasing number of the world’s 20,000,000+ containers are being adapted to new uses, transformed into homes and offices, schools, shops, stages and more.

Proponents of containerized architecture note that the units are generally inexpensive — for many shipping companies, it is easier to sell off unpacked modules than return them to points of origin. Containers are built to be robust and strong, resistant to weather and fire and able to convey heavy loads around the globe. They are also made to be stacked easily on top of one another, which can be useful in creating multistory cargotecture.

Aesthetically, painted metal containers evoke that ever-popular industrial look a lot of people seek out in converted factories with exposed materials. Container reuse can be sustainable, too, particularly when one considers the energy-intensive process of melting them down for recycling. Some container architecture projects take advantage of the mobile and modular nature of the cargo containers used to build them.

For those inclined toward do-it-yourself approaches, the proliferation of online guides offers a starting point to buying and building container homes. As more individuals and companies engage in creative reuses, standardized methods are evolving, too, for making modifications that meet building codes and streamlining processes like permitting and code compliance, together paving the way for future container-based projects.

Shipping container architecture, however, evokes strong reactions from skeptics as well. “The shipping container is to today’s avant-garde architecture what the pipe railing was to the early International Style,” writes design critic Theodore Grunewald, “an industrial objet trouvé; a totem fetishized more for its aesthetic qualities and poetic and symbolic associations than its practicality.” He cites Dr. Richard Williams, a professor of contemporary visual cultures, whose also has reservations: “They’re great for doing what they were designed to do, which is transporting stuff. A simple technology, they have helped facilitate global trade like no other. But they’re designed for things, not people. Dark, damp and airless, boiling in the summer and freezing in the winter, they’re hopeless living and working spaces.”

There is truth in these criticisms. Without significant modifications for controlling indoor climates, for instance, metal container shells make for poor insulators. In some cases, the answer is to more extensively retrofit them, though of course that adds time, cost and environmental impacts. It is worth keeping in mind that (like any design solution) containers will work (or not work) differently in different places. The standardization of containers and their ability to travel the world doesn’t mean that they provide equal architectural benefits around every port of call.

As with any material or building unit, there are going to be specific project, client and site needs and considerations. Individual containers come in standard sizes, which can be an advantage and a disadvantage depending on the desired program and layout requirements. The world is full of buildings made from unusual materials, including hay bales, tires, soda cans and beer bottles — availability and location play a role in where and how each of these works as well. In places where containers are cheap and the climate is ideal, adaptations can be easier and well worth doing.

A lot of container criticism is also aimed at more pie-in-the-sky ideas, like modular buildings with interchangeable parts. These more ambitious and concept-driven designs, including container skyscrapers and mobile city-to-city apartments, may or may not make it off the drawing board.

On the more practical side, though, ever more companies are evolving repeatable and modular solutions, including materials and methods of insulation, plumbing and electrical wiring specifically designed to work with container structures. Such solutions can make it easier to assemble and outfit cargotecture much more quickly than one might erect a non-prefab alternative. In construction, speed and prefabrication is helpful in reducing energy, time and labor inputs.

Meanwhile, municipal authorities and commercial construction firms recognizing these benefits continue to build large cargo container projects, including emergency shelters as well as group homes, community centers, industrial parks and office complexes. To an extent, the cycle is self-reinforcing as well: as more projects get completed, it becomes easier and more efficient for other container architects and DIY builders to start similar projects of their own.

It starts with a chair or a table, an old nightstand or vintage traveling trunk, but from there, these artifacts evolve in the hands of sculpture Ted Lott, who transforms them into complex works of miniature architecture. His goal, in part, is to illustrate the craftsmanship behind both furnishings and home construction. In many of his works, he peels back the typically unseen layers of domestic architecture, usually hidden behind layers of drywall and cladding.

“During most of our history shelters were made of local materials,” he explains, like “timber, stone, hide, grass and mud [that] provided protection from the elements. However, with the coming of the industrial revolution, locally sourced materials gave way to industrially produced ones, 2×4’s and nails replaced timbers and elaborate joinery. Today, in America and all over the world, balloon frame construction is a primary means by which shelter is created from wood.”

He uses a bandsaw and scale sawmill to make miniature lumber. Then, he says, “by combining a diminutive version of this building system with chairs and other objects pulled from the everyday domestic environment I honor the logic and engineering brilliance of stud frame construction, taking what we usually only see when we pass by construction sites, and exaggerating it in a way that renews our vision and understanding.”

“Through this process we point to the complex interaction of necessity, artistry, economy, function and beauty present in the original objects, while highlighting the possibilities of transformation and growth that are a requirement for the continuation and evolution of life.” (h/t Colossal)

These traffic safety cones manage to rise above their innate urban utility by virtue of some – dare we say ‘iconic’ – conic characteristics.

Wat Rong Khun (White Temple) in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand is truly a work in progress: construction began in 1997 and is, at press time, ongoing with no end in sight. Nevertheless, tourists are welcome to visit the Buddhism-themed art exhibit designed and owned by eccentric Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat but park VERY carefully… or else! Flickr members jay joslin (moonbird) and Bill Vriesema (bvriesem) snapped some of the White Temple complex’s many spooky skull-headed traffic cones in May of 2012 and July of 2015, respectively.

Black Is The New Orange

When it comes to those most solemn of occasions, a garish day-glo orange traffic cone simply will not do. In keeping with the primary function of safety cones, however, the example above sports a bone-white (sorry) central section with contrasting black lettering and a cross. Presumably “funeral cones” displaying Greek Orthodox crosses, Stars of David, the Islamic Star & Crescent and the Flying Spaghetti Monster lie await in storage. Flickr member Andreas-photography captured this rather funereal funeral cone from Essex, UK, in October of 2008.

A Cone With a Peel

Expect something magical when visiting the Downtown Disney District at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA… or at least, expect unexpectedly cute safety cones. This cleverly designed cone evokes the old trope of careless cartoon characters slipping on banana peels – does that ever even happen in real life? Flickr member junaidrao captured this banana peel cone poolside in May of 2017.

Here’s another a-peel-ing safety cone, saved for photographic posterity in front of the Jamba Juice kiosk at Downtown Disney District. Flickr member Sam Howzit was impressed by its presence in December of 2015. We hope Sam didn’t spill his juice (or himself) while trying to get the perfect shot.

Conic Image Search

TIL Google has their own traffic cones… and they’re WAY cheesier than anyone could imagine! OK, points for representing the primary colors of the omnipresent search engine’s logo (well, kinda) but geez, guys, with all your moolah is this really the best you could do? Flickr member Simon Law (sfllaw) couldn’t resist recording this group of Google chromes, er, cones in Mountain View South, CA, back in November of 2006.

Gold @ Gray’s

So the “How to Enjoy Traffic Cones” reception was a thing, who knew? Someone knew enough to customize some traffic cones, mind you, because boring old orange plastic cones would look so out of place at a swanky “reception” featuring traffic cones, amiright? Flickr member chashama Inc. photo-documented the October 2nd, 2009 collaborative exhibition held near the former midtown NYC location of Gray’s Papaya at Eighth Avenue and 37th Street.

“Invariably unique, eye-catching and unpredictable, traffic cones are almost art. Like sculpture, their primary function is to be looked at.” So stated Erik Sanner, event organizer and King Kone. Can we call him that, cuz that would be awesome, just like these golden safety cones. Flickr member Nick Normal caught one of the blinged-up beauties with the sadly-departed Gray’s Papaya in the background. Thanks Nick, now we’re hangry!

Beltway Lament

Indeed, no one should be judged by the color of their, uh, anything but this cone from The Nation’s Capitol proclaims its protest publicly… and pointedly. Flickr member Daniel Lobo (Daquella manera) caught this cone standing up for non-human rights way back in 2009… years before folks started hating on orange.

Corny Cones

How sweet it is… both Candy Corn and this group of traffic cones apparently tinted to match the much-reviled perennial Halloween “treat”. Flickr member Bill Couch came across this curious crop of Candy Corn traffic cones in October of 2009 while seeing the sights of Washington D.C. In related news, Candy Corn traffic cones are a sight worth seeing in Washington D.C.

Flickr member thisisbossi snapped a Candy Corn cone in Washington D.C.’s historic district of Kalorama Triangle, and on October 31st yet! The close-up shot doesn’t indicate whether this was a solitary example or part of a larger group of cones. Either way, you wouldn’t want to lick it – tooth decay would be the least of your problems.

Dick or Jerry?

Obviously, the trio of bright orange safety cones above was meant to be deployed near dangerous levees in Holland… according to my wife, Morgan Fairchild. Yeah, that’s the traffic ticket! Seriously though, where would one actually use cones bearing such an “interesting” legend? A local Pride Parade, perhaps? Flickr member Capes Treasures‘ link to a presumed proprietary website comes up 404 so we’ll have to settle on the ol’ leaky Dutch seawall explanation. Mind yer fingers!

Ground Floor

“The Wet Floor Sign That Wanted To Be a Traffic Cone” would make a great children’s book, according to Flickr member J.G. Park. Since turnabout is fair play, somewhere there’s an orange traffic cone plopped in the middle of an accidental puddle at some supermarket. The wannabe cone was snapped in 2016 while prompting double-takes from folks in Columbia, Missouri.

I Coneface

Whomever drew the scowling visage on the orange traffic cone above needs to be in an artist’s studio, not outside directing traffic or working on some anonymous construction project. Flickr member Rob Swystun zoomed in for an up close & personal view in May of 2012 while prowling the gritty city streets of Winnipeg, Canada… and you can bet he’s not sorry.

The Denver International Airport has long been a hub of conspiracy theories, a number of which seem to be confirmed by signs put up by the DIA on walls blocking off areas under renovation.

Some theories hold that the DIA is the home base of the Illuminati, New World Order or Reptoids, citing everything from the layout of the airport and its runways to various bizarre murals, sculptures and engravings (argued to be secret codes or alien messages).

There have also been questions about extensive excavations of areas that seem to serve no obvious purpose, not to mention an array of really disturbing artworks (from militaristic paintings to giant glowing-eyed horse).

Tapping into this legacy, new marketing billboards reference lizard people, alien overlords, UFO sightings and other occult and extraterrestrial phenomena — maybe (OK: absolutely) this means the conspiracies are a fun joke, but of course, some will think they’re just hiding in plane sight.

A plastic fantastic, life-size LEGO teardrop trailer made from over 200,000 assorted LEGO bricks boasts electric power, running water and a fold-up bed.

Given enough LEGO bricks, plenty of time and a LOT of patience, one can construct just about anything. Of course, really big things like, say, life-size vehicles, demand exorbitant amounts of LEGO bricks. In the case of this Guinness World Record-winning “largest caravan built with interlocking plastic bricks,” the number of bricks required comes to exactly 215,158. Give or take a couple of extras to step on in the dark.

“Caravan”, by the way, is the British term for tow-able travel trailers. The term is being used here (and at Guinness) because the trailer’s public debut took place at the British National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire. A total of 12 modelers worked for over two months and racked up more than 1,000 man-hours to construct the trailer, which appears perfectly authentic – from a distance, at least.

Closer in, there’s an “8-bit-ish” look to the trailer and its many accessories, a consequence of its unique construction. Step inside and the brick brilliance rises to another level: a two-element oven range and frying pan “cooks” a brick breakfast of eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes, soon to join a vase of fresh-cut flowers on the kitchen table.

A LEGO milk carton chills in the ‘fridge while off in the bathroom, matching toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste await beside the functional sink. After dinner, relax with a game of chess – it isn’t just the castles that are made of bricks.

This LEGO teardrop trailer can support such a roomy, well-equipped lifestyle because it’s, well, life-sized at 3.6 meters (11.8 ft) in length and standing 2.2 meters (7.2) in height. Plastic or not, the trailer’s anything but fragile, tipping the scales at a hefty 1,200 kg or 2,645 pounds. It’s not all LEGO, though: construction involved layering LEGO bricks over a conventional trailer chassis. This method results in a “practical caravan” that showcases the innate strength and versatility of LEGO’s plastic bricks.

One caveat restraining the designers was that only standard, off-the-shelf LEGO components could be used. Even so, the trailer looks – and works – much like a factory standard classic T@B 320 teardrop trailer. That includes fully-functional electric lighting, plumbing that provides running water, and folding seats that do double-duty as a bed.

This unique LEGO “caravan” made its public debut at the British National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, where it took pride of place at the Caravan and Motorhome Club collection. Bright Bricks, a renowned LEGO building specialist (yes, such a thing exists) constructed the trailer for the National Caravan Council’s “Freedom to Go” campaign.

“Freedom to Go is delighted to have the LEGO caravan on display at the National Motor Museum,” stated Dan Connolly, Freedom to Go’s Campaign Director. “The LEGO caravan was built with the intention of building awareness of leisure vehicles and the great adventures you can have with them,” he added.

A nifty video from Freedom to Go illustrates (with time-lapse effects and an integrated brick counter) how the Bright Bricks team built the trailer. Good thing they documented the process… if YOU had to assemble something from a quarter-million LEGO bricks, would you want to do it again?