Three Talented Designers

With these three we have an artist, a photographer and a digital craftsman. And of course budding young almost-architects. Kate Beckley, Erik Bishoff and Paul Harman bring exciting new skills and passions to our growing staff.

Click here for more on me, Kate, Paul and my new home-away-from-home, PIVOT Architecture.

Second Glass LLC

These folks make office partitions, shower stalls, doors and windows out of recycled auto glass. It is beautiful stuff from a local (PDX) vendor. I have to question the amount of "product" it takes to treat and secure this saftey glass. Regardless, the resulting effect is gorgeous and quite innovative.

It does seem that they, at least, ascribe to LEED standards:

From our office and converting facility in Portland we recover damaged and junk windshields and remanufacture them into a range of high quality uses. Windshields take a lot of landfill space. And new glass manufacturing contributes to global warming. Second Glass is a good example of the classic goals in waste elimination - reduce, reuse, recycle.

We are proud to ascribe to The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encouraging and accelerating global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.

Fore more information visit:

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Second Glass Online - Official Website
Second Glass Video - Avery J. Productions Blog
Special Feature: Best Prodcuts of 2007 - Builder News Magazine

Ecology of Absence

Full of thoughtful commentary and images of beautiful and unusual abandoned buildings. It was fun to peruse! I've always been drawn to empty buildings. Each one is a mystery, full of stories, waiting to be discovered.

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Ecology of Absence

Cities rethinking one-way streets.

As gas prices rise and pedestrian/bicycle traffic rates increase, many cities, like the city of Danville Illinios and Eugene Oregon are reconsidering one-way traffic in their downtown areas. Slowing traffic and restoring two-way streets makes our urban centers safer, commercial store fronts more visible, and reduces traffic noise.

The city of Richmond Virginia breaks down the benefits of two-way streets vs. one-way steets on the Urban Richmond Blog as follows:

Reasons for converting to 2-way streets:


• Slower traffic speeds.
  
• Decrease “Vehicle Miles Traveled” by eliminating indirect routes (driving around the block to get to your destination).
  
• Increased access to businesses.
  
• Possibly: safer for pedestrians.

Reasons for maintaining 1-way streets:


• Conversion is very costly.
  
• 1-way streets allow for more cars, thereby decreasing congestion.
  
• Easier than 2-way streets to time stoplights (timed lights improve traffic flow and decrease idling (& therefore pollution)).
  
• Fewer turn prohibitions.
  
• More on-street parking.
  
• Possibly: safer for pedestrians.

One factor they leave out is bicycle safety. Turning left across two lanes of one-way traffic can prove deadly to cyclists. However, with a two-way street, bikes can maneuver into the vehicle lane to make turns, only having to cross one lane of oncomming raffic. This makes the maneuver easier for the cyclist while, simeultaniously making the bicycle more visible to vehicles.

I think this a key factor. Especially here in Eugene where bicycle traffic is very-much on the rise.

For more information:

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Many cities changing one-way streets back - USA Today
10th Avenue now goes both ways - Eugene Register Guard
Eugene looks for direction on wavering Willamette - Eugene Register Guard
One-Way vs. Two-Way Streets: Let the Debate Begin
- The Urban Richmond Blog
Bike vs. Vehicles: Collision of Cultures - Eugene Register Guard
Studies Refute DOT’s Claim That One-Way Avenues Are Safer - StreetsBlog.org

Building Codes Division take saction to support water conservation

Government agencies can be slow moving to support new technologies and trends in green design and building. Its great to know that the state of Oregon is on a faster-track than many as it joins a small group of states that are working toward allowing builders and homeowners to install wastewater conservation systems.

For more information, visit the BCD website at http://www.BCD.Oregon.gov or download their recent news release in .pdf format here.

...and Yay Oregon!

Good news for Downtown Eugene!

Some news is good news and this news is great news for Downtown Eugene. After years with little development along Eugene's boarded-up Broadway strip, a pair of developers are making plans to break ground in the immediate future.
Finally... progress!

For more information, visit the following:

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Downtown plans gain traction - The Register-Guard
Downtown Eugene Re-Development - KVAL CBS 13
Next up: City planners endorse proposal for student apartments - The Register-Guard
Developers vie for Eugene property - Daily Journal of Commerce
New Developments are Coming to Downtown - KEZI 9
BEAM Eugene - www.beam-eugene.com

Hole in the ground housing

Two months ago I was working on an Urban Park's Charrette with a group of University of Oreogn Landscape and Architecture students. The proposal was to replace the famous (infamous?) Downtown Eugene pit with a greenspace.

How things have changed.

My new employer, PIVOT Architecture, has teamed up with a local developer to put a six-story student apartment building on the site. Competing with a number of other groups, the PIVOT plan is in (a sort of) 2nd place running with WG and TBG Architects just down the street.

For more information visit the following:

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Council chooses developer - Register Guard
Sears Pit Proposals - Eugene Weekly
Filling the Sears Pit - Register Guard
Two proposals for site rise to top - Register Guard

Affordable housing benefits everyone

Prairie View - Eugene, Oregon
By Randy Nishimura
and Erik Bishoff

Each month, Eugene’s chapter of the American Institute of Architects invites architects, associates and students to meet and explore the ways that design and community intersect.

A recent presentation and discussion on low-income housing drew double the usual number of participants, including several students from the University of Oregon’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts. Thanks to a handful of truly enterprising nonprofit leaders, the quality of affordable housing in Eugene and Springfield is something the whole community can take pride in.

A trio of experts spoke: Jim McCoy, development director of the Housing & Community Services Agency of Lane County; Susan Ban, executive director of ShelterCare and vice president of the Metro Affordable Housing Corporation; and Terry McDonald, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul. They described their respective agencies’ unique approaches to the challenges of developing low-income and affordable housing in our community.

Royal Building - Springfield, OR
Affordable and mixed-income projects such as St. Vincent de Paul’s Royal Building in downtown Springfield, Metro Affordable Housing Corp.’s WestTown in downtown Eugene and the forthcoming West Eugene Prairie View Housing Project are examples of what good design can do for a neighborhood.

Each of these developments gives back to the community. By integrating commercial space, shared green areas, live/work units and attractive design, and by bringing the surrounding infrastructure up to date, everyone benefits. Housing is provided to those in need, neighbors benefit from shared amenities, and local businesses gain an increased customer base. This has especially been true for projects located downtown, conveniently near public transportation, retail shops and services.

Developing these projects was not without challenges. Despite the fact that our community espouses inclusivity, neighboring property owners initially resisted some low-income housing developments. Yes, this community wants low-income and affordable housing, but it would be naïve to believe that it has always enthusiastically supported and invited affordable housing into all of its neighborhoods.

It is a testament to the tenacity of the projects’ supporters that the Eugene and Springfield developments have been realized at all. Their high quality is a big reason, and evidence of the skills of the design teams that have been involved. It is certainly attributable to the creativity of the developers. Since the completion of the most outstanding projects, there has been greater acceptance of affordable and mixed-income housing because of the quality of their design and the amenities they provide.

WestTown on 8th Avenue - Eugene, OR
That being said, statistics paint a fairly grim picture. While it was not a surprise to hear at the presentation that Eugene and Springfield rents are high and affordable housing is scarce, it was surprising to find how quickly trends are accelerating in the wrong direction. Over the past 20 years, market-rate housing costs have increased at twice the rate of local wages. Combine these trends with a large student population filling low-rent housing every fall, and you end up with low rental vacancy rates and inflated rents across the board.

Additionally, there are fewer subsidies, tax credits or bond programs available to organizations wishing to provide affordable housing than there were in years past. Those financing programs that are available are complex to administer and demand the kind of experience and savvy that only agencies such as HACSA, St. Vincent de Paul and Metro Housing possess.

Eugene and Springfield are not meeting the demands for affordable housing. More and more residents are finding themselves burdened by high rent, spending more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing.

So where to go from here?

Local designers and professionals made their own concerns and interests known: More affordable housing must be integrated into our community because the demand is here now. The developments would ideally be located close to places of employment. They would incorporate multiple uses, such as retail and other commercial space, live/work arrangements, green areas and housing units of various types.

They would be readily accessible by public transit. They would be constructed following principles of sustainable design. Above all, new low-income and affordable housing would be attractive, ennobling places to live for those who would call them home.

Affordable housing demands are at an all-time high, so the challenge is plainly there for us to meet head on.
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Randy Nishimura, AIA, is a member of the American Institute of Architects, Southwestern Oregon Chapter, board of directors and current chairman of its program committee. Erik Bishoff is a master’s of architecture candidate at the University of Oregon school of Architecture and Allied Arts.

For More Information:

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Green Communities: The Royal Building - GreenCommunitiesOnline.org
Metropolitan Affordable Housing Corp. - MetroAffordableHousing.org
Affordable housing benefits everyone - Eugene Register Guard
Prairie View Housing - PIVOT Architecture

Housing Websites (Precedents galore)

A pair of gems, University of Oregon Professors Michael Fifield & Mark Gillem, put together this gem of a competition just last year. The resulting website is jam-packed with information and presentations by a myriad of talented designers.

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I'm just two weeks from graduation and I just discovered a site that could been a big help over the past three years. HousingPrototypes.org is a fairly dry site but it is packed with precedents organized by architect, location, or housing type.

Studio Booklet Pages

As part of our final (one week away) we were asked to design a summary page for our final project. A pair of possible designs are presented here. The final page will be approximately four inches by eight inches.

Am I done yet?

I don't know that I'm done yet... I'm not done yet... but I need to put my final presentation boards and booklets together in the next... 10 days! Yeah, flaws and all, I have to be done.

Several Days of SketchUp

Finally the townhouse units, located at the west side of the property, are complete. Well, 95% complete. Next step will be to put the finishing touches on the courtyard design and the commercial space. Oh... and the street edge. Oh... and the garage.


Once the SketchUp model is done I can finish up my construction documents, details, renderings and putting together my final presentation. This is a good thing!

* 22 days to go *

The New Zoo Part 2

I spent a good portion of the Sunday and all of today re-designing and rendering my live-work units on the Southwest corner of the Eastlake Zoo site. Although it was a rewarding change and they're looking better than ever, I'm still feeling pretty far behind.

* 25 days to go * impending sense of doom *

The New Zoo

Putting it in context and moving right along...
Designed for the corner of Eastlake & Lynn and the Eastlake Zoo Tavern.

Builing Facade 2.0

A few tweaks to the boulevard building on my project have resulted in an improved facade on the residential floors & roof. With 30 days until our final review, it is finally time to go into production/presentation mode. (relief)

Builder Humor

Mark Gillem's "America Town" lauded for excellence

Dr. Mark Gillem, Professor of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of Oregon, has been one of many teachers that I have held in high regard during my academic career. But Mark always stood out not only for his dedication and hard work but for his generosity and genuine care for his students.

I knew it from the first day of Mark's studio in Spring of 2006... I was in for something grand. Since that time I have had the opportunity to work on a number of projects with Mark and have benefited a great deal from every experience.

Mark's book "American Town: Building the Outposts of Empire" has just been acknowledged by the Environmental Design Research Association for one of its 2008 EDRA/Places awards.

Go Mark!

Solar heat pump serving 38 blocks... wow!

Bonnie (my wife) has been so supportive of me during my time in grad school that she even finds research materials for me. Studio has turned me into a production-automaton and I rarely have a chance to look up from my work for less than the bare-necessities and I'm WAY behind in the news cycle. Luckily, Bonnnie occasionally serves up nutritional little tid-bits like this from time to time.

Sunnyside school is focus of neighborhood energy plan City of Portland - Office of Sustainable Development

The developer behind the North Pearl District energy plan is hatching a new idea to heat and cool as many as 500 homes in Southeast Portland’s Sunnyside neighborhood with energy from the earth.

John Sorenson’s proposed community-owned Sunnyside Neighborhood Energy utility, SunNE, would be centered at Sunnyside Environmental School, where a central plant would replace the school’s 1917 oil-burning boiler with a solar-powered geothermal heat pump. The plant would then connect to a network of underground pipes circulating through the surrounding 38 blocks.

"This concept has never happened – a district energy plan centered on a public school..."

Orange Splot LLC & Sabin Green

I'm home!

I haven't had a chance to explore this project as much as I'd like, but a recent feature in Sunset (northwest) magazine Green like us discusses co-housing in Portland Oregon. For years Bonni & I have been dreaming of creating some sort of co-housing community with friends in the Pacific Northwest. My education at the UO School of Architecture has driven many of the co-housing principles home and when I graduate (Masters in 3 months!) I hope to work for a housing firm that shares said principles.

Orange Splot's Principles for design:

• Involve construction or renovation of smaller, functional, and beautifully designed homes
  
• Use less land per house by arranging multiple residences on the same lot
  
• Provide shared interior and exterior common spaces for community to happen
  
• Be constructed of salvaged and sustainably produced building materials whenever possible
  
• Include units more affordable than are typically produced in the market
  
• Use design to make it easy and fun for neighbors to share resources, thereby fostering a happier, less resource-intensive lifestyle
  
• Incorporate durable construction materials to minimize the need for ongoing maintenance/replacement
  
• Re-utilize existing structures whenever possible
  
• Be located and designed to make it easy to live without a car
  
• Provide opportunities for participation in design by the future residents, especially with respect to interior and exterior common spaces
  
• Incorporate artwork, salvaged materials and quality craftsmanship to make projects beautiful and unique

Refreshing! Sustainability through design, materials, shared spaces, and compact spaces, not just sexy technologies.

I hope to explore these related websites more soon!
Homes & Gardents - Sabin Green - The Oregonian
Green in Portland - Sunset Magazine
Orange Splot LLC - Company Website
Communitecture Architecture (Mark Lakeman) - Company Website
The Sabin Green Group - Slideshow
City Repair Project - Official Website
Peninsula Park Commons (Eli Spevak) - Cohousing Communities Directory
Share-It Square - StreetFilms.org

Just For Fun

Virtual Final Presentation - Bish & Peter

Our final presentation in Minimal Dwelling is Monday.
(a'la SketchUp)

Courtyard Prescedents

Project: The Vaux & The Merrick
Architect: AMAA & Shapiro-Didway
Location: Northwest Portland, Oregon

Temporary Housing Project

Click image for a larger view
For Professor Fifield's Minimal Dwelling Class
Temporary Housing
The ideas behind our temporary structures are as follows. A bundle of materials is sent to a site in need of emergency housing. Local materials like concrete block or mud brick can be used for the foundation and the shipped materials are lightweight, affordable, and low impact environmentally. The shipping container itself, a canvas bundle bound with cable, can be used as part of the structure so no packing materials are needed.

Thanks to project partners and UO Architecture classmates Wyatt Hammer & Eric Lindstrom.

Rebuilding Cities: Paris Race Riots

Riot Activity as of Nov. 4 2005
Resources useful to our research on the 2005 Paris Race Riots for UO Architecture Seminar: Rebuilding Cities.

Links:
In Wake of Paris Riots, Public Housing Authorities Build More, Better Projects - Architectural Record
Timeline: French riots - BBC News
Economic Despair, Racism Drive French Riots* - National Public Radio
City of Lights: City of Flames - Affordable Housing Institute
2005 Civil Unrest in France - Wikipedia.org
Social Situation in the French Suburbs - Wikipedia.org
Villa Nouvelle - Wikipedia.org
Pairs Fires Hilight Housing Shortage - BBC.com

Maps:
Large Map of Riot Locations - BBC News
Map of Riot Locations - National Public Radio

Articles:
In wake of Paris riots, public housing authority builds more, and better, projects to stem disaffection.
Architectural Record Jan2007, Vol. 195 Issue 1, p14-14

Le Paris flambe.
Economist 12/1/2007, Vol. 385 Issue 8557, p64-65

Newer Eastlake Neighbors

Click the image for a larger view. Click the text for a related website with more information on each Eastlake property.

2300 Eastlake

2324 Eastlake

1500 Eastlake

1811 Eastlake
Photo By: THOMAS JAMES HURST / THE SEATTLE TIMES

2245 Eastlake

Eastlake - Thesis/Intent Revisited

Hypothesis
The Eastlake community is at a turning point. As real estate rates increase affordable housing is disappearing and many home buyers and renters are being forced to look elsewhere for housing. Meanwhile, the diverse living and working conditions of a slow-growth, working class community, with multiple small business and property owners, is at risk. As multiple smaller properties are purchased by large developers they are being consolidated and renewed with large office blocks and condominiums. The resulting changes to the fabric of the Eastlake threatens the existing character and culture resulting in the gentrification of its native and historic inhabitants.

Thesis
They key to maintaining the culture and variety of Seattle’s Eastlake is in providing and preserving a diversity of living and working conditions within the existing fabric and scale of the community. These goals can be achieved in a number of ways.

1. Provide a diversity of housing types for a variety of incomes including affordable housing.
   
2. Provide a diversity of commercial building types and functions to attract and employ a variety business types and people.
   
3. Design in ways that are sympathetic to a variety of transportation types including bus, light-rail, commercial vehicles, automobile, bicycle and pedestrian.
   
4. Create structures that fit the existing fabric both in scale (massing), materials, and character.
   
5. Create spaces that provide opportunity for community and human interaction.
   
6. Provide support in the form of shared local services.
   
7. Environtmental/Green Design
   
8. Create places of pause by providing spaces where individuals can find inspiration and refuge from daily life. Make it humane!

SOURCES INCLUDE: Eastlake Neighborhood Plan

The American Flophouse Revisited (Boards)

Click image for a larger view
Its refreshing to see how much can be accomplished in a short time when working with a capable team. Thanks again to classmates Eric Lindgrin & Wyatt Hammer.

The American Flophouse Revisited (Research)

The following notes are derived from The HOME House Project : the future of affordable housing, by David J. Brown and Designing for the Homeless: Architecture that Works, by Sam Davis.

The idea of shelter is as core to America’s understanding of freedom and citizenship as are the rights defined within the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Even so, we as a country do not observe shelter, even in its most basic form, as a right afforded to everyone. This lack of support occurs at all levels, be it federal, state, city, or social, further exacerbating the issue of homelessness in America. We wish to find out what causes homelessness, who are the homeless, and how can architecture help?

What causes homelessness?
- Destruction of post-war housing projects
- Labor mobility
- Pursuit of jobs
- Movement to non-union states
- Outsourced labor
- Shortage of affordable housing
- Increasing gap between minimum wage and a living wage
- Growing population
- Gentrification of downtowns
- Longer lifespan of chronically ill
- Dwindling number of mental health facilities
- Weakening family ties
- Drug epidemic

Who does the design of shelter matter to?
- The homeless
- Those who work with them
- The neighboring community
- Society at large

Emergency short-stay shelter is a critical first step, but there is also a need for transitional housing for those who can return to the market economy, and permanent housing with support services for those who cannot.

How can architecture help?
1. Create facilities that sustain the dignity of those who have fallen on hard times
2. Well designed facilities can encourage those who are usually reluctant to seek services
- Many homeless have had previous experiences in other oppressive facilities such as prison or mental-health centers
3. Can help to manage modest budgets to create safe and welcoming places
4. Can play a critical role in overcoming communities’ reluctance to homeless facilities
- In order to be successful, homeless facilities must be:
- situated in residential and commercial areas
- near public transportation
- near jobs, social services, and schools
- The consensus among social workers is that the more remote the facility, the less effective it will be
5. Help policymakers and general public understand that it costs more to care for a homeless family in a shelter than in permanent housing, and that building permanent supportive housing for mentally ill homeless pays for itself through the reduction in services.
6. Create choice for the homeless

Choice and self-determination are the cornerstones of dignity; giving a homeless person a diversity of spaces within a single facility aids in restoring this dignity

Who are the homeless?
- 40% are families, the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. These are single parents, often young women and their children.
- 22% are employed. Some of these homeless earn minimum wage while others earn substantially more.
- 10% of homeless are seniors, but their numbers are steadily growing. Their reliance on fixed incomes limits their accessibility to market-rate housing, while many have no income at all and also suffer from poor health.
- 10 to 25% are continually homeless
- 10% live in rural communities
- 30% of the homeless are substance abusers. For some substance abuse contributed to their homelessness, while other began using in response to the despair of being homeless
- 30% of the homeless have some form of mental illness, including depression. These people are also some of the most resistant to using shelter facilities - those who distrust authority, cannot abide by rules, and feel threatened by group living

This last group, those resistant to traditional methods of facility treatment, is who we want to focus on for our design project.

The American Flophouse Revisited (Goals/Statagies)

Goals
We want to design a new approach to the traditional flophouse, one that meets contemporary standards for safety while supplying very low-cost temporary housing to those individuals who will not use the services of group shelter facilities.

In proceeding with this particular area of housing, we understand that this type of shelter is not ideal when observing long-term goals of homeless rehabilitation. For many homeless, the traditional movement from assisted living in highly organized facilities to transitional housing and then to market-rate homes is an effective strategy and has worked well in many cities. This being said, there remains a significant portion of homeless who will not use these services, due in large part to previous experiences in other institutions, be them mental, correctional, or otherwise. Simple accommodations, for an individual, that provide shelter from the weather and some level of safety and security are the paramount concerns.

Strategies
1. Develop a core module for the individual that supplies a place for rest, some storage for personal belongings, and a sense of privacy.
2. Develop an arrangement of these modules that maximizes the use of a given space, while supplying necessary egress space and restroom/washroom needs.
3. Develop a materials palette for these modules that will make them affordable to construct, easy to move and erect, and resistant to abuse
4. Develop a way to maximize ventilation and daylighting of these modules while providing some form of safe enclosure at the top.

Midterm Review - Axon & Review Summary

AXON - FACING NORTHWESTClick image for a larger view
This is probably the most "telling" image expressing what I'd like to do with the site.

The ~40' x ~90' courtyard space extends North-South to bring in as much southern light as possible. The units on the south are ~15' x ~30' live-work townhouses. The eastern-most live-work townhouse is 2-stories to allow more light to enter the courtyard while the other three are three stories.

The near (east) row of buildings facing the street are ~15' x ~40' commercial at the ground with ~15' x ~30' studio apartments above. The upper two floors are two-story lofts (also with a ~15 x ~30' floorplate).

It was suggested, during my midterm review, that a "rentable" space be provided for visiting relatives. I feel that a studio unit or two could be reserved for this type of use.

It was also suggested that the idea of preserving Zoo Tavern be abandoned as employees and customers are not likely to return after a year of demoliton and construction. While I agree that this would likely be the case I do feel that a commercial space can be designed to accommodate a new Zoo Tavern or similar business. The other commercial spaces will be equipped to house, ideally, small retail stores, groceries, and/or eateries.

Midterm Review - Floorplate Diagrams

Getting it all to fit together has been something of a challenge. I'm attempting to work in 15x30' modules but a 15 foot wide stuio with a 3' set of stairs leaves only about 10' of wall-to-wall space once utilities and wall thicknesses are accounted for. I may have to expand a bit to 16 or 18 foot units. This will diminish the density a bit but as long as I am over 40/acre I'll be happy.

The site is about 102' by 120'. Current unit count of 23 unites on 12,240 sf (or 80 units per acre) is certainly quite dense.

It might be beneficial to separate the units to allow air/light to pay between but the party-walls certainly make things more affordable in both construction and maintenance. (not to mention the heating/cooling benefits).

Midterm Review - Massing Model

The site is on the NW corner of Eastlake and Lynn in Seattle on the site of the Eastlake Zoo Tavern. This model shows my concept model at the center facing Northeast. The freeway is aproximately two blocks up the hill to the east and Lake Union is downhill three blocks to the west. The shadows are currently set for 5pm on October 20th.

Key elements of this model are the buildings to the north and south of the Eastlake Zoo. The northern building runs flush to the property line providing a 40' wall to the north. The southern building, across Lynn, is a new 40' condominium building called the Eastlake Lofts. (Unfortunately... it looks like that name is already taken...)

Midterm Review - Site Sections

SECTION FACING WESTThe intent is to provide a compressed entrance from the street that will provide an "explosive" feeling when entering the courtyard. A green canopy and colorful materials in the courtyard should provide a strong contrast against the grey Seattle streets.


SECTION FACING SOUTHI'm concerned that 40' is a bit tight but with only 100' to work with it would be difficult to widen the courtyard while still providing 20+ units (~60/acre) on site.

Midterm Review - Basic Unit Diagram

Exploring the potential for a 15' x 30' modular.

It appears that a 10.5' wide living space leaves things a bit cramped. I am thinking that increasing the height to 12' would allow for a loft space that may make the space more livable. Expanding the width is also problematic as I was hoping to have an even number of units along Eastlake. 20' modules would lower the unit count considerably and create problems in modular construction (usually limited to 14' or 16').

(Although creating a modular would be fun, perhaps its not realistic)

Prescedents

Project: Puzzle Loft
Architect: Kyu Sung Woo Architects
Location: New York, New York

Project: The Eastlake Lofts
Architect: Unknown
Location: Seattle, Washington

Project: Z-Box
Architect: Dan Hisel Design
Location: Lynn, Massachusettes

Project: Sarti Residence
Architect: Unknown
Location: Seattle, Washington

Project: Equinox Condos
Architect: David Sarti
Location: Seattle, Washington (Eastlake)

Project:Engawa House 1 & 2
Architect: Tezuka Architects
Location: Tokyo, Japan

Project: Z-Glass
Architect: Tumbleweed Houses
Location: Sebastopol, CA

Despark Hotel

I discovered the Despark Hotel while searching for information on Historic Flophouse design and Japanese Capsule Hotels. These appear to be concrete sewage pipes converted into minimalist hotel rooms. An ingenious use of recycled materials but I'm not sure how secure I would feel sleeping in a giant cylandar with only a small portal for light when the door is closed.

Babel Fish Translation:

Reopening
With the season opening on May those park hotel starts 4 as a new form of hospitality equipment in the public area already 2007 into its third season.
As offer to everyday life refugees, culture travelers, cyclists... or those the one little distance to the daily surrounding field and a new "inspirative" environment to individual horizon the extension search, would like to offer those park hotel with its on substantial reduced luxury, temporary, comfortable, uncomplicated at home.

All love and until soon.
Gunda Wiesner and Andreas's bunch

(I love Babel-fish-type translation... always good for a chuckle)

For more information:
Despark Hotel - Official Website