|
Costa Rican architect presents lucrative concept for future low-cost housing
Benjamin Garcia Saxe’s last project - the simply titled ‘Bamboo House’ - was a major hit with WAN readers when it was published last May, with users labeling it ‘humble yet strong and sensitive’ and ‘a very poetic solution of environmentally friendly architecture’. The insightful designer has now shared details of his most recent scheme, ‘Containers of Hope’, which seamlessly transforms two disused shipping containers into an aesthetically pleasing private home.
Located in San Jose, Costa Rica this residential project was the result of a close collaboration between Saxe and clients Gabriela Calvo and Marco Peralta, who went on to construct the building themselves. By situating the two containers side by side and using sections of recycled metal to make an adjoining roof, Saxe has created a sense of openness within the internal volume whilst providing a cross ventilation which is said to have eliminated the need for air conditioning.
The architect ponders: “Perhaps this project begins to expose the importance of design as a tool to provide beauty and comfort with a very low budget ($40,000) in the 21st century, whilst using creativity to not only redefine a scrap material such a disused shipping container, but perhaps to even show that there are viable, low cost, passive alternatives of temperature control to adapt to a very intense tropical climate.”
|
