This post appeared in a previous blog and is here for posterity’s sake.
stock-in-01, originally uploaded by FREITAG ®
Check out the store by Freitag in Zurich made out of recycled shipping containers (pdf):
The FREITAG SHOP ZURICH is completely built from rusty, recycled freight-containers. Lovingly they were gutted, reinforced, piled up and secured. Zurich’s first bonsai-skyscraper: Low enough not to violate the city’s restriction on high-rise buildings. High enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine.
Constructed out of 17 shipping containers, this is the first container project which actually make sense; Freitag’s main product is taking recycled vinyl truck wrappers and turning them into bags, so using recycled shipping containers as a module is fitting.
And they have a Flickr account: here are <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredag/sets/72157594143794733/"Construction Photos, pilling photos, and Stocking Photos.
“this is the first container project which actually make sense”
I 100% disagree with this statement. I know that there have been numerous theoretical and academic projects which have utilized the shipping container and its re-use as a source of concepetual trajectory and, I have seen the re-used container in several real (built) and practical (functional) variations that were quite successful and made sense.
Wasn’t that temporary museum on the Hudson River done with shipping containers? I would call that project 300% more successful than the freitag shop since it did more than just stack boxes. Eventually, the vogue for shipping containers will die down and I for one won’t shed a single tear. I did more engaging stuff with my legos when I was a kid…
That temporary museum was successful, but not more successful. I would say that both the Frietag store and the temporary museum had more relevance than most “i like the idea of using shipping containers” projects because in the former, Frietag’s business is based on shipping materials, and in the latter because, supposedly, the crates were able to also house the work that was displayed (though I believe that WAY more containers were used in the museum than necessary in terms of storing work for travel… but I could be wrong).
I would say that typically the suggested use of the containers has little to do with anything but the “fad” of it. Remember that I work in an architecture school, so I see a LOT of “ooh, shipping containers!” mentality. In actuallity, the dimensions of a shipping container make a relatively awkward module, and have limited functionality for living, unless you alter the hell out of them. And then, well, what’s the point?