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.

Across the globe, populations of older people are growing dramatically, and few plans are in place to properly care for them. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) says 8.5 percent of people worldwide are over 65, and that number will jump to nearly 17 percent by 2050. The need for supportive long-term housing and healthcare has never been more urgent, especially for those with dementia. But elder care is modernizing, and in many cases, that means doing away with the concept of the institutional nursing home.

IKEA is getting in on the game by partnering with construction company BoKlok to launch low cost flat-pack housing for people with dementia. The Swedish retailer has been working on these “SilviaBo” homes since 2015, designing them with a host of sensitive features. They’re meant to be arranged in small communities with gardens and clubhouses that encourage socializing and spending time outdoors.

Named after Sweden’s Queen Silvia, the homes are a modified take on BoKlok’s other affordable flat-pack units. They’ll feature kitchen appliances with old-fashioned knobs and buttons instead of digital controls, bright red shower railings, doors and other components that can easily be seen. There are no mirrors or dark-colored floors in the bathroom, which can confuse people with dementia. The company says these are just a few examples of the 50 slight changes made to the SilviaBo home.

“In March 2017, the first two SilviaBo homes began to be assembled – a quick timeframe made possible thanks to the focus and effort of everyone involved. It’s a process of assembly, as also key to the affordability of a BoKlok home is a highly efficient system of industrialized construction in which truck-sized housing modules – complete with finished interiors including flooring and even cabinets – are produced in a factory. They are then hauled to each site and lifted into place to form the houses.”

IKEA is reportedly ready to start putting the houses into use. A small pilot community with six apartments was trialled outside Stockholm, but residents haven’t moved in yet due to an ongoing permit dispute with neighbors. The houses will rent through BoKlok’s “Left to Live” payment model, which allows residents to pay what they can afford after taxes and living expenses.

You could receive delivery of your brand new home on the back of a truck, watch as they plop it down on the building site, press a button and allow it to self-deploy within minutes. That kind of instantaneous residential building process is now a reality thanks to a recent proliferation of pop-up prefab housing, built off-site and then assembled in a tiny fraction of the time it takes to build a conventional structure. Energy-efficient, modern and often surprisingly stylish, some of these homes are even designed specifically for cash-strapped millennials who can’t afford market-rate apartments.

LaunchPod Solar-Powered Prefabs for Millennials

The idea of the LauchPod is to fill the gap between people with low enough income to quality for social housing in the United Kingdom and people who can afford standard housing. In fact, it was designed with millennials in mind. Each 280-square-foot modular home rents for less than the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment (which is $1,300) and can be set up in a single day. They’re energy efficient, made of cross-laminated timber and can be stacked into apartments 20 stories high. Each one includes a kitchen and lounge, bedroom, bathroom and verandah with higher than average ceilings and storage under the built-in beds. Since they have underfloor heating and are solar-powered, residents pay just about $13 a year in electricity. The first houses were installed at a site in Richmond, a town southwest of London by housing association RHP and law firm Legal & General.

M.A.Di: Folding Modular Living Unit by Renato Vidal

Ever heard of a folding house before? The M.A.Di House by Renato Vidal features an A-frame envelope that can pop up from its flat, folded shipping configuration with help from a crane, taking less than a day to install. It doesn’t need a foundation and its modular form makes it possible to expand it from its individual 290-square-foot size all the way up to 904 square feet. Its signature opening and closing movement is enabled by massive steel hinges on the inside. And if you ever need to, you can literally pack up the home and store it for a while before assembling it in a new place.

Wikkelhouse: Cardboard Home Can Be Built in One Day

The Wikkelhouse is made of 24 layers of pressed cardboard finished in waterproof foil and wood paneling, with individual 54-square-foot segments snapping together on the building site. Construction for the standard-sized Wikkelhouse, which is finished with plywood on the inside, can be completed in just one day, and the individual modules are customizable, so you can add interior walls, built-in counters and various other elements. The company has assembled the Wikkelhouse in all sorts of environments, including on a floating platform in Rotterdam’s Red Apple Marina.

Ten Fold Engineering House Self-Deploys in Mere Minutes

Press a button, and these structures by Ten Fold Engineering will self-assemble from a portable container to a standard house within just eight minutes. The process is pretty fun to watch, too; the company just released footage of ‘the real thing’ in action on April 22nd, 2018. The only requirement to install one of these structures is stable ground. The units can be stacked for more space, and all of the partitions, doors and windows are modular, and can be arranged according to the user’s preference. They can be connected to the grid or equipped with clean energy tech like solar power and self-contained water treatment.

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Drag And Drop Housing 12 Prefab Designs With Chic Modern Style

Japanese makers of minimalist household goods and apparel at MUJI began designing and developing a series of small prefab homes a few years back, one of which is now slated to hit the market later this year.

At just under 100 square feet, the first model to hit the sales floor is a simple but elegant module wrapped in charred timber with floor-to-ceiling fenestration on one side. This traditional blackened-wood cladding technique helps finish the wood, protecting it from fire and decay.

Inside, bright wood paneling and solid walls on three sides make for a cozy interior and flexibility to situate the structure facing choice scenery. The smooth floor is designed to be easily cleaned for those trekking in and out. Outside, a small covered deck extends the space.

The relatively low cost (around $27K USD) includes both materials and labor (construction) costs. The structure is intended to serve any function needed, from weekend getaway or supplemental room to autonomous housing unit for fans of simple homes and small-space living.

“It’s not as dramatic as owning a house or a vacation home, but it’s not as basic as going on a trip,” explains MUJI. “Put it in the mountains, near the ocean, or in a garden, and it immediately blends in with the surroundings, inviting you to a whole new life.”

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)