Container Homes That Open In 90 Seconds. Push Button Houses by Adam Kalkin.

Architect Adam Kalkin's Push Button homes are fascinating. A shipping container that unfolds with the push of a button in 90 seconds to reveal a living space complete with a bedroom, a bathroom, kitchenette, and living area.

The first Push Button House was originally displayed at Art Basel Miami in 2005. Built in a standard shipping container, the home, by architect Adam Kalkin, expands like a flower blossoming to reveal a modern and minimal living space.











Kalkin’s concept uses hydraulic power to lift and lower the sides of the shipping container, expanding the usable living space.



photographs by Peter Aaron.

The Push Button House was adapted by Illy for use as a temporary café at the Venice Biennale in June of 2007, and at the Time-Warner Center later that year (images courtesy of Tree Hugger).






His Push Button House 2, a revised version of his Push button House 1 was documented in the 12 minute short, shown below, by Snag Films.

Push Button House 2:


Part performance piece and part sculpture, the Push Button is an engineering and artistic feat that captured the attention of both the artistic community and public as a bold, yet playful vision on the intersection of art and technology.

This award winning short film has been featured at over a dozen international festivals including AFI Dallas, Newport Beach Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, and featured preview footage at the Museum of Modern Art.

Adam is also the owner and designer of Quik House, a series of purchasable and customizable prefab shipping container homes.



Kalkin’s Push Button Houses are one of many shipping container concepts and homes that he has designed. See all his amazing work here.

Images courtesy of Adam Kalkin and Peter Aaron

IKEA Portland and Ideabox Launch Their First Collaborative Prefab Home, Aktiv.

Oregon-based Ideabox has collaborated with IKEA to create a new prefab collection which debuted this month at the Portland Home & Garden Show.





The collaboration introduces "Aktiv", the first in a new line of prefab houses designed by ideabox and appointed by IKEA.




Working with IKEA designers, ideabox designed aktiv around IKEA systems. In the kitchen, IKEA offers a lot of flexibility in kitchen cabinets. Ideabox designed the layout, and their clients can select the colors. IKEA appliances offer state-of-the-art cooking, so they included an induction cooktop and convection oven.




A counter depth refrigerator keeps food fresh, and cabinet faced dishwashers provide seamless functionality. Proven by millions walking on them in IKEA stores, aktiv offers IKEA flooring, a perfect match for active Northwest lifestyles.



For those IKEA fans, the pure delight of walking and imagining their way through an IKEA store quickly turns to the daunting task of assembly when they get home. However, when your ideabox aktiv arrives, all of the cabinets, countertops, and flooring are installed.




The bath features a “huge” two sink vanity and four drawers along with a storage cabinet. The bedroom features the amazingly functional IKEA built-in series of closet systems.




Think of it as your own personal euro designer flat -only where you want it. Every bit an ideabox, from the energy efficiency to the cool assembly of materials, aktiv by ideabox truly is modern living made remarkably easy.



Jim Russell (above), owner and principal at Ideabox, has a background in energy, having worked for Oregon's Department of Energy and Energy Trust at Oregon. He's passionate about delivering energy-efficient homes — as long as they have a design edge. "We want our homes to be so rockin' cool that people just want them," Russell said. "No Birkenstocks, no flannel, no granola."


above: Jim Russell, ideabox owner, stands in front of the Aktiv at the Portland Home and Garden Show

The home gets a boost in its quest for maximum energy efficiency in part due to its small footprint. Aktiv is compact at 745-square-feet and carries an all-inclusive price tag of about $86,000. From order to delivery, an Ideabox home takes about eight weeks, with two to three of that in building time.

The exterior of the Aktiv in Portland:




The landscaping for the project was done for Ikeabox by Schutlz and Long Landscape Architecture of Portland. Recycled asphalt replaces gravel and water-efficient dwarf plants are fed by a drip irrigation system.



images and info courtesy of ideabox, Sustainable Business Oregon and photographer Cathy Cheney

Check Out The Tetra Shed. A Modern Modular Office Pod Available Next Month.

A Mod pod that rocks. Available as of January 2012 is yet another modular office pod from the UK (they are big on garden sheds and modular pods). The tetra shed® by architect David Ajasa-Adekunle of Innovation Imperative is a new modular building system which, as a single module, has been designed to be a modern garden office.



The tetra shed® is available with external finishes in any RAL colour or clad in either copper, zinc, corten steel or marine plywood.







Inside, the tetra-shed can be internally lined in either birch faced plywood or plasterboard.





A double module layout has also been designed to create a larger office for larger gardens.



Clusters of up to 6 modules have primarily been designed as additional work, rest and play space for homes. Larger tessellations can be used for a range of applications such as classrooms, exhibition space, corporate events, tourism & leisure facilities and retail space. Designed to exceed the building regulations, tetra shed® is suitable for permanent year-round use.
additional images courtesy of sinbad design

Tetra Shed