Portable Living

Video: Channel Exclusively 2016, Unbelievable House Truck Transforms, 21 March 2016, accessed 15 April 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV1IRqmBDcE>.

Recently, a friend uploaded this video to facebook with a caption along the lines of "this is so cool, I want this!" Although I dismissed this particular animation as unrealistic with its scale, brick construction and level of hydraulic mechanics being financially not viable, structurally not feasible and spatially not supportive of furniture or other necessities in compact state, I found the video quite thought-provoking for a number of reasons.

Firstly, upon reflecting on changes that could be made to the design depicted in this video, I dissected how a similar idea could in fact be affordable both in its construction and its mechanics, be lighter for transportation and also support inbuilt furniture. I found further videos depicting real-life 'house trucks', all unique and many very luxurious. 

Aside from being pretty cool (also represents the current gap between smart technology as an idea and as a solution), this got me thinking about re-inventing the idea of home and what this could mean for urban sustainability.

Imagine if, instead of setting up permanent buildings, buildings were transportable. Maybe you'd take your car to work in the morning or maybe work would come to you. Land would not have to be destroyed to accommodate housing development however a new roadwork system would certainly be required. Living is suddenly far more affordable since the price of land is what carries the unaffordable cost of breaking into the housing market at present. Maybe we become nomads, seasonal migrators like the Aboriginal ancestors of the land before us but in a far more westernised luxury way, moving from place to place with the seasons and the availability of foods.There are no longer cities so the issue of urban growth is a thing of the past. However, although each unit takes up far less room than a standard lot, we cannot build up, ultimately presenting the same space issues. 

Even with light-weight construction and relying on manual fold-out, this form of housing may be neither affordable for everyone or realistic at a city scale. Which got me thinking further back to a video I saved back in January on how to construct a granny flat for less than $10,000. The builders open up the granny flat as essentially a flat pack of prefabricated panels on site and construct it within only a few hours. The video can be found at this link: http://www.domain.com.au/news/build-a-granny-flat-for-less-than-10k-20140831-10amu2/ 

Video/Images: Walsh, A 2014, Build a granny flat for less than $10k, Domain, 1 Sep 2014, accessed 19 January 2016, <http://www.domain.com.au/news/build-a-granny-flat-for-less-than-10k-20140831-10amu2/>.

Aside from the remarkable speed and waste minimisation that comes with pre-fabricated construction, what struck me about this video was the impermanence of this little home. Not only is this building without foundations but it was constructed on wheels for ease of transportation. Prefabricated construction presents an opportunity for more affordable living but also a new way of thinking about homes - portable houses, adaptable houses, modular houses. That can be moved or renovated or expanded quickly as required for a growing population whilst minimising environmental damage caused by construction.