Desperate times call for desperate measures, and maybe there isn’t any more desperate measure than moving to a container house to overcome rising rental costs and crippling living pressures.
British artist Harrison Marshall did just that, constructing his own little house in a yellow shipping container, where he’ll live for the next yr.
Skip House features an insulated picket frame and barrel roof that may fit a bed, a stovetop – including a sink, stove and small fridge – and a wardrobe.
A month after Mr. Marshall moved in, the container was finally plugged in, which meant he was able to power the radiator to heat his 25m2 home.
And despite not having a flush toilet and having to shower at work or at the gym; costs lower than $90 a week in rent – almost embarrassing many shady co-owners.
The 28-year-old architect built Skip House to raise awareness about people being forced to leave their homes due to skyrocketing rental prices in London.
“People across the country are changing the way they live to offset the rising cost of basic necessities,” Marshall tweeted. Skip the Instagram House page.
“Living in a container shouldn’t be a solution, but slightly an exploration and a statement.”
The thought was to cooperate with a company called Skip the gallerywhich commissions artists to create artworks inside a container, and was inspired by one other container-based art installation by Caukin Studio, a social enterprise he founded along with his university colleagues.
When Mr Marshall returned to London after working abroad for several years with Caukin, he was struck by how much prices had gone ‘through the roof’ in London’s highly competitive housing market.
he told a local newspaper News from Southwark that skip was the “only way” for him to live in the area and ICT visiting a small house, Marshall said it provided “a legal loophole to live in central London on a pittance”.
“It also gave a pretty good juxtaposition between what you do not normally consider as a home, and the almost polar opposite of what’s a bin or a dumpster, and the way that really will be was something that is relatively homely and comfortable.” ” he said Business informant.
“I used to be lucky enough to find a place in London to do it, which has all the time been one in all the biggest challenges.”
The land was provided by the arts charity Antepavilion and the site was “generously” donated to portaloo.
It cost nearly $7,130 to construct with the help of his friends by December.
There may be also a small water tank on the grounds which Mr. Marshall refills from a neighbor’s hose, meaning he can wash dishes and brush his teeth.
He plans to live in the tiny container for a minimum of a yr, but is rumored to be open for longer stays or relocations as needed.
The rubbish can is maybe the strangest iteration of the small house trend, whose popularity has grown exponentially since the first properties built from shipping containers conquered Australian hearts.
Rising home maintenance costs and a desire to return to a more minimalist lifestyle could mean we’ll see much more small houses appear. And maybe increasingly more such summer cottages.