Home shipping

Do you have an inordinate amount of shipping containers? Are you trying figure out what to do with all them? In the unlikely event that the answer to this question is “Yes, ” you’ll be pleased to learn that they’re far more practical than you may have imagined. And if, as is more likely, the answer is “No, ” then good news! You can grab yourself a decent size shipping container for just over $1, 500.

Shipping containers are flood and fire proof, making them a great home-building material. Ranging in length from 20 to 30 feet, shipping containers are typically only used for 10 to 15 years, but they can last much longer. It is estimated that there are 24 million empty shipping containers in the world that will not be used for cargo again. But, as the saying goes, one man’s retired shipping container is another man’s crazy high-end modular home. What? That’s not a saying?

Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Square Footage: Unknown

The exterior walls of the Decameron Design Shop are just as colorful as the Brazilian neighborhood in which it resides. Renowned architect Marcio Kogan built the low-cost shopping facility using two rows of stacked containers, placing the six containers adjacent to downtown. Translucent sliding doors reveal a smattering of products along the walls when during hours of operation, and to isolate the storefronts from the office, Kogan implemented a garden courtyard near the rear of the property. It’s vibrant and bold, with a center lounge area that’s probably more inviting than your living room.

Location: Flagstaff, Arizona

Square Footage: 2, 000

Adorned with a rooftop terrace and a construction time just under a year, Eco Design Studio’s desert home is one of the few residences on our list representing a student-designer collaboration. The mint-green dwelling sports an industrial design, with concrete floors and a walnut finish, along with tools for collecting solar power and harvesting rainwater. A slew of dual-pane aluminum windows provide ample natural light throughout the year, but it’s the home’s five separate decks that give it astonishing views of the surrounding San Francisco Peaks.

Location: San Jose, Costa Rica

Square Footage: 1, 000

This inexpensive home was created by architect Benjamin Garcia Saxe for only $40, 000. It’s made with two 40-foot shipping containers. Saxe created this for a couple with the intent of building a rural home that wouldn’t put them in debt. The slanted roof lets the sunlight in but also lets the hot air escape. It is located 20 minutes outside the capital of Costa Rica, but you couldn’t tell from the pictures that it is anywhere near a city of roughly two million people.