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It is more like an oversized IKEA process than a do-it-yourself house project, able to be assembled in a short period of time with just a few workers using simple instructions and correspondingly uncomplicated tools to execute its surprisingly elegant plan.

Designed by Finnish students from the Alto Wood Program, this emergency shelter does their regional material of choice (wood) and their program’s namesake (Alvar Alto) proud, with a practical but comfortable and dynamic interior.

Meanwhile, setting it up is a cinch – modular plywood panels, prefabricated and shipped to site, attach via wooden dowels and nylon straps that (remarkably) negate any need for metal fasteners or electric tools and actually form an airtight seal at joints.

A space-saving galley kitchen attaches to a mixed-use dining, living and working area, while spare lofts above semi-private bedrooms double as storage or extra sleeping spaces. The roof also extends to shelter a limited zone of exterior square footage as well.

After five years of transitional occupancy, its recyclable materials can be scrapped and reused entirely, re-purposed as a whole or form the basis for expansions and additions into a longer-term residence.

Finally, despite its built-in half life, this is no temporary shelter in any traditional sense – it was run structural tests to make sure this model home will hold up in everything from heavy winds and severe storms to earthquakes (essential in certain post-disaster scenarios).

“The Aalto University Wood Program is a one year intensive program on wood and wooden architecture based in Espoo, Finland.”

“The focus of the program is the 1:1 scale design-build project – this years, a transitional refugee shelter to be deployed in a cold climate.  As the amount of people living in emergency situations around the world increases, the students of the Wood Program are committed to making a difference in their lives through good design.  A design competition was held in the fall semester, after which the entire program worked together with a team of engineering students to develop and complete the shelter.”

“The shelter will be exhibited at the beginning of May in Fiskars and from May 28-29 at the World Village Festival in Kaisaniemi, Helsinki.”

The post Post-Disaster Prefab 5-Person Home first appeared on Dornob.

Cross The Threshold To Simplicity

Everyone’s witnessed the anguish, frustration, and tears brought on by the popular DIY furniture that originated in Sweden. The instructional drawings are sketchier than a toddler’s crayon version of a family portrait, and oftentimes the illustrations just don’t match the hardware. On top of all that, there are always a few fasteners left over, and you can never get back those five hours it took to put together a three-shelf bookcase.

By contrast, Threshold DIY furniture comes with instructions that eerily address your impending stress. The opening paragraph states, “Congratulations on your latest Target purchase. Now what? Don’t start sweating over this box of parts. This will be easy. We did the hard work for you. All you need to do is follow our simple instructions and you’ll be on your way to transforming your room in no time. Good luck, though we’re confident you won’t need it.”

Sounds good, but the real proof is in the box. These step-by-step instructions include drawings and text, making the process significantly smoother. Regular tools like screwdrivers and drills are commonly required, although an Allen wrench (included in the box) is sometimes needed. Above all else, the best thing about Threshold is the fact the work that typically causes the most anxiety — like attaching hinges and making sure they’re perfectly aligned — is already done for you.

Tables And Shelves

The extended Threshold furniture collection consists of chairs, sofas, sectionals, and porch pieces that require no assembly at all, but their selection of tables and shelving units includes scads of DIY options. From coffee, end, and bedside tables to dining, kitchen, and pub tables in all kinds of shapes and sizes, Threshold has you covered. The same goes for their shelving options: buy a set that’s low to the ground, ceiling height, or in-between, all in styles ranging from rustic and traditional to sleek and ultramodern.

Perks And Pluses

Besides their simple assembly and wide selection, many items in Target’s Threshold line offer free shipping online and free same-day pick-up at local stores. Deep discounts are also common on both in-store selections and those that are only available online. If you misplace hardware, it’s promptly shipped to you upon request, and most of the diagrams and instructions are readily available online. If you really want easy access to all these helpful resources, you can even follow Target’s Threshold items on social media platforms or download their app. Alternatively, you can always just contact their customer service at a toll-free number or chat with a customer service representative on the web.

No matter what time of year it is, make a resolution to give Target’s DIY Threshold line a try. After you easily and proudly complete a couple DIY pieces, those memories of the countless hours you spent cursing Swedish design will quickly fade.

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A new prefabricated mobile home called the M.A.Di is aiming to do exactly that. Sure, there are plenty of houses in the world designed to fit on the back of a truck for transportation to new locations — but most of them don’t snap up into place at the tug of a crane like something in a children’s pop-up book or fully assemble in a mere six hours with only three people present. The M.A.Di takes portability to a whole new level, especially considering its size and complexity.

Standing just under five feet high when it’s packed down flat, the M.A.Di unfolds into a two-story, 21-foot-tall A-frame house, with an earthquake-resistant steel outer shell wrapping around its roof and two exterior walls. This shell provides most of the home’s structural integrity, though it also comes fully insulated and finished on the inside with either wood paneling or another material of the buyer’s choice. The walls and floors are pre-equipped with electric wiring, plumbing, and HVAC systems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usbyJLOiFbE

You don’t even need to dig or pour a foundation to prepare for the M.A.Di’s arrival. The modular home can simply be anchored to the ground using a screw pile system, and when you’re ready to move, you can simply unscrew it, fold the house back up, and either store it in a warehouse until your next location is ready or put it back on a truck. Add solar panels, a water source, and greywater recycling, and the home will be totally off-grid.

The M.A.Di comes in five sizes: 290, 495, 603, 753, and 904 square feet. If you prefer, you can start with a smaller home and simply add more modules to make it as large as you need it to be. Each one comes with a kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and living room on the ground floor and one or more bedrooms on the upper floor. It’s finished with polyurethane foam to make it waterproof, insulated with high-density rock wool, and features either PVC or aluminum window frames.

“The M.A.Di system offers many typological solutions that vary according to the aggregation of multiple modules and/or the use of different materials,” say the manufacturers. “The availability of modules of different sizes and the ability to place them side by side, both laterally and in depth, allows you to create valuable agglomerations. The high standardization of the production process and its dry-assembled structure allow savings in terms of economic resources and time. This product is eco-friendly, modular, removable, safe, and cozy.”

“The external walls are not structural, they can be blind, with windows or glass. In the standard production, exterior walls are finished with fir-wood slats in the color required by the customer, but there are innumerable types of finishes from plaster, to aluminum or fiberboard panels, or swamp reed, etc. The restroom and the kitchen are fully customizable, as you can install any product available on the market.”

Created by Italian architect Renato Vidal and manufactured by wood specialists Area Legno in Italy, the M.A.Di takes about 30 to 40 days to complete from the date of order, starting at $25,295 for the smallest module and $73,385 for the largest (before any additional customization). Currently, the homes are only for sale within Italy, but the company aims to bring it to the rest of Europe and North America sometime soon.

The post This Foldable Modular Living Unit Pops Into Place in Less Than a Day first appeared on Dornob.

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The UK-based company has created a series of different-sized, highly portable structures that load onto the back of a tractor-trailer like standard cargo. What looks like a plain white box hides a surprisingly sophisticated engineering marvel. The truck transports this box to its destination, backs up to the building site, and activates the quick-deploy mechanism. Suddenly, the sides of the box pop out, self-adjusting legs come down, roof surfaces slide out or fold up, and stairs pivot down to the ground to allow access. With its cargo now fully supported by the earth, the truck simply drives away. The units can also be delivered using a helicopter or ship.

That means no builders, cranes, foundations, or any other mainstays of construction are required. Looks like the automated workplace revolution is coming sooner than we thought. Deployment takes just a few minutes and works the same way in reverse, folding itself back in to be moved again as needed. The unit expands to three times its folded size, measuring about 688 square feet with 215 square feet of storage space for your furniture and belongings. It’s fully equipped, pre-powered, and can be customized to include any combination of folding partitions, doors, windows, service pods, and floor plans.

If you want to go off-grid, you can add optional bolt-on modular pods for power systems, water storage, water treatment, air conditioning, and other necessities. All of these elements are designed to be upgraded or replaced easily, so its components will never be obsolete. Securing all the parts before and after transport requires no more than a hand-held, battery-powered drill. Despite how light it looks, the structure’s chassis is made of heavy steel, so there’s no danger of it being swept away by high winds. Ten Fold technology uses counterbalanced folding linkages that open and close with almost no power but can still resist massive forces.

So, are these actually going to become a reality in the near future, or are they just optimistic concepts? Ten Fold has already made six early prototypes, including a working, full-scale one, and a demonstrator model is due for completion in September 2017. The company is seeking out manufacturers all over the world to meet early demand, with delivery expected in the USA and Europe by next year. The price of each unit will depend on the size, complexity, and add-ons requested by the customer, as well as the cost of delivery to the site. Basic models are likely to start around $130,000.

To get a better idea of how these units unfold and what’s possible with this innovative technology, check out the Ten Fold Engineering website.

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The model was designed and assembled by 49-year-old Erik Varszegi, one of four “master” Lego builders in the United States. It took the specialist 70 hours just to plan out the 125-pound (without its internal steel frame) statue’s construction — the actual building process required two extra sets of hands and a whopping 292 hours of labor! In total, 25,375 bricks in five different colors were used to complete the project. While most of Lady Liberty’s body is sand green, her base is sand yellow, and the flame on her torch boasts a warm golden hue. Plus, a few reddish and brown blocks were used to make up the observation windows on her crown.

According to Varszegi, who has spent the last 22 years building Lego models, the biggest challenge he faced during this project was faithfully recreating the back of the statue. He explains, “If I had to pick a most difficult part of the model, I’d have to say the whole backside of her. Very little in the way of photographs exist online of Lady Liberty. Seems like people only like shooting her from the front.”

On the replica, Museum Director John Gray had this to say: “The image of the Statue of Liberty is inspiring to so many of us. She embodies all of the complicated ideas that form our American history and drive our nation’s future. We try to always have a major object in the museum’s Constitution Ave. lobby to send a message about what is happening in the rest of the building and that’s what the Statue of Liberty does for us. For many visitors, she’s a great photo opportunity and we’ve seen lots of selfies snapped there.”

The original Statue of Liberty was designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and built by Gustave Eiffel (the same man who created the iconic tower in Paris). Though it was fashioned from copper, Bartholdi’s original intention was to have her made from gold. In fact, he also planned for her to be used as a lighthouse.

Since its completion in 1886, the iconic sculpture has gone on to inspire many artworks and artifacts. A handful of these items can be found in the Museum of American History alongside Varszegi’s Lego model. Miniatures, rugs, and even menorahs pay tribute to Lady Liberty and reflect our 100-plus year fascination with her.

“The Statue of Liberty remains an enduring symbol of America, and this model invites our visitors to think about what it means to be American and invites them to engage in the stories of the country,” explains John Gray.

The post LEGO Statue of Liberty Built for National Museum of American History first appeared on Dornob.

Ki Ecobe is a socially and environmentally conscious shoe that’s completely assembled by you, the user. Its individual components can be taken off, replaced, and interchanged in matter of minutes, whenever you want! When you’ve worn your pair down to uselessness, simply take them apart and recycle them.

To some, the Ki Ecobe may seem needlessly complicated at first. Why would anyone want to assemble their own shoes? Believe it or not, this process is surprisingly easy. The shoes consist of five parts: “Ki” strap, inner boot, outsole, insole, and shoelaces. Each part slides into or wraps around another, allowing the entire shoe to be put together in less than five minutes. Ordinary footwear manufacturing requires at least 30 minutes of assembly time per pair, three times as many people, and a heck of a lot more pollution.

The shoe’s creators explain, “Ki Ecobe started from the question, ‘How can we make shoes that benefit both nature and people while eliminating the use of harmful adhesives?’ With good intentions to benefit nature and people together, we sought the answer to this question in various angles. There were many difficulties, but we found the recyclable green elastic material that has similar properties as rubber when injection molded. We also eliminated the difficulties in developing the mold for injection molding through outstanding engineers.”

The outsole comes in in three different colors, but you’ll have a much harder time choosing from the 15 available color options for each the strap, boot, and laces. That all adds up to just over 10,000 possible color combinations, meaning every pair of Ki Ecobe modular shoes will be completely unique from the rest. Use the inner boot by itself, and you’ve got an instant slipper that can be thrown into the washer at any time for quick and easy cleaning. The plastic outsole is 100 percent recyclable.

While the Ki Ecobe’s “super early bird” backer deal of $69 for a pair is no longer available, there’s still time to claim the standard early bird pricing of $79. When they hit the market, the shoes will retail for $99, and their individual parts will range from $2 (for the laces) to $30 (for the inner boots). The company’s crowdfunding campaign ends on July 30th, and the shoes are expected to start shipping this November — just in time for holiday gifting!

If you’re worried that Ki Ecobe’s release will be delayed for any reason, you shouldn’t be. The company already seems to have worked around the major obstacles: “Shoes are one of the products that are difficult to develop due to the great variety of style, color and size. Fortunately, however, we have already overcome these difficulties and have completed product development, secured production facilities and shipping channels, and expect few to no problems shipping them all over the world as soon as the funding is completed.”

The post Modular Shoes Take Sustainable Style to a New Level first appeared on Dornob.

The ÖÖD is a compact prefab house that can be used as a private residence or hotel room. This rectangular unit was designed and created in Estonia and has been finished in a coat of mirrored glass to protect the privacy of its inhabitants while giving them an uninterrupted view of their surroundings. This outer layer also insulates the structure and helps it maintain a comfortable interior temperature.

Inside, you’ll find some modern heated flooring, wooden ceilings, a spacious bathroom, a built-in kitchenette, and a custom bed that hides a pull-out mattress for additional guests to sleep on. Each ÖÖD also features a large touch-screen television, Wi-Fi, and a Bose sound system. In total, its interior spaces occupy a mere 200 square feet, making it the ideal short-term getaway or Airbnb unit. Alternatively, you could install the ÖÖD in your own yard and use it a guest house, studio, or home office!

The ÖÖD’s chief selling point is its remarkable eight-hour set-up, which requires no prior building experience on your part. Each unit is shipped to the destination of your choice and can be purchased individually or in bundles to create an instant hotel. The company website reads, “Our standardized solutions, quick and flexible construction process and high quality design product allow anybody to start his own hotel business just in days. For investors and ÖÖD hotel room owners the ÖÖD solution will provide needed market data and sales support via own booking system to maximize their revenues. Whereas for travelers, the ÖÖD hotel concept will provide the high quality housing and guaranteed level of services at any location where the ÖÖD hotel rooms are available.”

In Estonia, where they’re manufactured, the ÖÖD doesn’t even require a building permit. It’s not clear whether this convenience would hold true in Europe, the UK, or North America, or whether the units would need to be hooked up to utilities like electricity, water, and a sewer system — if so, you would definitely have a harder tome just plunking them down wherever you wanted. Many people have also expressed concern over the home’s mirrored exteriors, which could potentially harm passing birds. There are a few coatings out there that help birds avoid flying into glass, but ÖÖD doesn’t specify if it incorporates any of them.

An individual ÖÖD will run you about $36,000 USD, though it could easily pay for itself if you decide to open your own Airbnb!

The post Assemble This Luxurious Mirrored Prefab House in Just Eight Hours first appeared on Dornob.

This eclectic line of side tables from designer Cédric Canaud use a variety of materials and finishes to make a big impact. The series, called À Partir du guéridon – or From Pedestal – incorporates interlocking panels to create easily assembled, easily movable pieces of decorative and functional furniture.

Each pedestal table consists of two panels made of raw pine sandwiched between two sheets of colorful paper. They have slots that let the two pieces fit together perfectly.

Once the column is assembled, a circular or rectangular surface made of cork or imitation granite. The surface sits atop the column to create a narrow table that’s perfect for plants or small decorative items.

The two-sided panels have a different color or design on each side, letting you customize the look of your table simply by turning it. The tabletops are interchangeable, adding another layer of customization.

” À PARTIR DU GUÉRIDON is a range of trolleys / racks extending the experiments of the collection «Jouer la matière», which  was launched in early 2014 with the project «La corbeille». These trolleys are made of panels/chassis  of raw pine wood, sandwiched between two sheets of colorful pasted paper, imitating wood, marble, glass or slate.”

“Easily assembled, the two panels fit one into the other to build a column. Continuing this method of installation, assembling two columns together builds a larger version, which looks more like an easy to move piece of furniture. Ideal in the living room, next to a chair, as a coffee table or as a side table for plants, these columns, whether as individuals or as numerous installations, provide an easily mountable landscape-removable, adjustable and interchangeable.”

“A plate will sit on top of the whole thing to provide a flat surface to support objects. These trays are available in two materials – cork and foam imitation granite – and in two versions, a circle 20cm in diameter used on the two options, single or double column and a rectangle 35x20cm for double columns. Each panel is double sided, so depending on the panels, the geometric panel changes color or the pattern produced changes depending on your will. The double face: “Turn your trolley and it will change color.”

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Flatpack furniture has been a huge benefit for folks who want attractive furniture but don’t have an unlimited budget to buy designer pieces. The Frida stool and side table from Zanocchi & Starke are beautifully simple designs with simply beautiful construction.

The stool and table each come in four pieces: two interlocking base pieces, a flat top, and a butterfly screw that holds it all together. Each of the base pieces feature Lego-like pegs that slot into holes in the tops, providing stability that is hard to come by in other flatpack furniture.

When you’ve fitted all of the pieces together, the butterfly screw twists in through the base pieces. It keeps everything together and provides a cute little punch of color. And unlike most other DIY furniture, the Frida can be taken apart and put together again in your new place without losing any of its structural integrity.

“Frida is a flat pack furniture, very easy and intuitive to assembled. A single butterfly screw locks all the structure rendering the product immediately recognizable and adding a unique colorful touch.  Whoever puts hands onto the quick and simple mounting process will have no trouble at all, getting it steady and still in no time. No instructions are to use. No skills are required.”

“Zanocchi & Starke is an award-winning multidisciplinary design and architecture studio, founded in 2013 in Torino by the italian architect Andrea Zanocchi and the brazilian product designer Carolina Starke. The projects of Zanocchi & Starke come from their common passion for design, attention to detail and fusion of different professional and cultural experiences.”

“The daily interaction between people and the product is the starting point of all our work. We do not simply create objects or spaces to be used, but also able to let people happy having them around. We enjoy working with different materials, experiment and combine different manufacturing processes, whether artisanal or industrial.”

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While itself worth noting, shift your focus from this design to the means of its production: its parts were prefabricated, then transported and assembled in just two days.

But that is not the whole story, either – the real power behind this idea from The Cloud Collective is that the 3D software behind the structure can be easily adjusted and adapted to different specific needs. It is not just mass production, but mass personalization.

CNC-milled panels and simple parts can be reorganized around different plans and catered to particular sites and individual needs. This specific variant was created initially as a temporary retreat on the outskirts of a rural theater festival, but contextual applications and deployment possibilities are virtually endless.

The accordion shape is dynamic and gives the bed a sense of being private despite the small space, but is also another demonstration of the various shapes possible using this production approach.

“The model Abé is specially designed (and named after Abelard and Heloise) for a couple. Located on a isolated hill it functioned as a great retreat from the hustle and bustle of the Oerol theater festival [www.oerol.nl] on the island of Terschelling, The Netherlands.”

“Waking up with wavy grass, blue skies, seagulls and curious sheep. All characteristics of the Hermit Houses building system were combined to make it happen. The custom design, easy prefabrication, two-day transport and buildup and out-of-the-box self-sufficient installations.”

“Abé is just one of many possible Hermit Houses. Special 3d software in combination with the optimized building system allows for custom designs at minimum costs. It incorporates and optimizes the complete production line: from custom design to presentation, building documentation to CNC mill production.”

“In the near future this software becomes available online for DIY enthusiasts to create their own houses and order construction kits and accessories. The Hermit Houses will be one of the first to bring mass-customization to architecture.”

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Graas says that he doesn’t even know how many configurations the set can make – that’s entirely up to the user. It’s a refreshing take on DIY, a segment of the market in which people are typically handed the materials and a set of instructions and told exactly what to make and how to make it.

The post Grown-Up Tinker Toys Let You Build Your Own Everything first appeared on Dornob.

A jumble of hot-pink aluminum tubes come together to form a stool using an ancient ‘burr puzzle’ method of assembling the pieces. You-De Chen and Chin-Hua Lin have modernized the wood burr puzzle, in which six wood pieces in two different shapes are joined in a particular way to create extremely strong joints. In the new version, fourteen pieces of metal in four shapes form a more complex type of joinery.

This results in an even stronger structure than a conventional burr puzzle, which is a symmetrical, three-dimensional unit of notched, interlocking pieces. A six-piece burr, also known as a ‘puzzle knot’ or ‘Chinese cross,’ is the most common type.

This stool is more than just a practical piece of furniture; the process is just as important as the finished result. The user takes on the assembly of the piece both as a fun challenge and a means of gaining a deeper appreciation for its construction (in contrast to the not-so-fun challenge of putting together furniture from a certain Swedish retailer.)

It’s available via 1stDibs starting at $3,500.

“Chin-Hua Lin and You-De Chen explored and have adapted the traditional Chinese mortise and Tenon technique in connecting wood method in the ‘burr puzzle’ stool. The main principle of a ‘burr puzzle’ is assembling wood pieces in specific order and limiting each of the pieces movement only by the notches of the wood, which eventually creates a firm and solid connection. The entire 42 x 54 x 82 cm stool is assembled only using the metal mortises.”

About Chin-Hua Lin:

“Chinhua Lin is a keen observer of human behavior and has a strong sense of empathy, leading her designs to emphasize the human experience and sensation. Her interest in understanding material fabrication and her skill in production helps her bring out the best performance in materials. Lin’s material exploration includes textile manipulations that bring sensational experience to people. Lin’s previous work has won the Red Dot Award, Best of the Best, which has been featured in publications including designboom, Design Milk, Artsy, and also exhibited in Design Miami and Gallery All. Lin holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design from Tatung University, Taiwan.”

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What do you really want out of a home? How much space do you actually need? And what does the micro-crisis of underwater mortgages mean for the notions we have about our ideal dwellings? These kinds of questions were addressed from foundation to finish in this project, drawing on fundamentals of sustainable design without compromising essentials or sacrificing core luxuries.

The E.D.G.E. (Experimental Dwelling for a Greener Environment) byRevelations Architects stripped away associations, fads, trends and styles, starting over with basic questions of function before tackling form. It shows how an idea is only part of the equation – execution is all-important.

First, the footprint is a mere 340 square feet, set on a simple concrete foundation. Second, modular boxes make up each piece of the whole, from two end-of-unit sub-structures housing mechanical systems, including a kitchen in one and bathroom in the other, to space-specific furniture.

Third, the entire system is easily assembled and disassembled, pre-constructed in parking lot before being de-constructed and shipped to the fair site for display. Fourth, transforming furniture makes the main space into a layout-flexible area for living, dining and gathering.

Finally, a series of rainwater-collection and solar-generation strategies are augmented by thermally-insulated doors and windows and a sun-friendly orientation. But the beauty is not in any one of these moves, all familiar to many green home designs, but the frill-free application in a logical, piece-by-piece manner that still looks comfortable and sits well in the landscape.

“Frustrated by the floundering American housing market, Revelations Architects developed the E.D.G.E.(Experimental Dwelling for a Greener Environment). This experimental minimalist structure aims to meet basic human needs while still providing a qualitatively rich life. William Yudchitz, the architect, sees the E.D.G.E. as a launching point and educational tool to transform today’s values and the way we create our homes.”

“In the last few decades the average size of a house in the United States has increased dramatically. Stylistically, nostalgic versions of faux-history and borrowed typologies from other regions are the norm. In an effort to reverse this trend Revelations Architects focused on what they felt were the basic functions of life: eating, bathing, sleeping and communal fellowshipping.”

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