This probably wouldn’t fly in my neighborhood, but it’s a fascinating look, sort of like the Sydney Opera House, which is to some extent the single word Why? Still, one of the goals of artists is to attain an unique look in order to stimulate new thoughts. And this work by LOT-EK is certainly out of the ordinary:
© Danny Bright via DesignBoom
Yep, those are shipping containers. From LOT-EK:
21 steel containers are collected and stacked. The stack is then cut diagonally along both the top and bottom, creating a striking profile that invokes Williamsburg’s industrial past, while providing a sculptural nod to the rapidly changing neighborhood. The house is located in a typical corner lot in Brooklyn, measuring 25×100-feet. Transforming the containers’ assembly into a single-family residence, the diagonal cut generates a very enclosed and private monolith from the surrounding streets. The diagonal also modifies the conventional ground-floor rear yard type and use, allocating private outdoor space at each level of the house. Large glass doors allow access to each deck, offering light and cross ventilation at all levels. A steel stair along the north wall connects all outdoor spaces.
Lloyd Alter on Treehugger.com is torn:
We complain about shipping container architecture all the time on TreeHugger, usually prefaced with that tired phrase “jump the shark” and this 5000 square foot house they built in Brooklyn is just completely nuts. We say that shipping container architecture doesn’t make sense, and this doesn’t either. But there is something about this house and I like it. …
But wow, it’s got drama. Like all of LOT-EK’s container buildings, you can tell that there is an architect at work here. And it’s interesting that the clients for this house have a bit of drama themselves, running popular Brooklyn restaurants that our Brooklyn-dwelling editor and photographer describes as a “total little empire that is almost too rustic-hipster-cool, but the quality is undeniable and they were there early so it doesn’t feel painfully trendy.”
© Danny Bright via DesignBoom
For Lloyd, it fails the functional test, but its sheer novelty has captivated him. More from Lloyd on Treehugger.com.
