The old shipping containers are abundant in the US, and architect Brian Stark knows what to do with him really.
He began by designing buildings with old shipping containers, which are scattered on the roads of Phoenix. Their projects are as much about the cost-saving as they are about being environmentally friendly, with the long-term target of helping the US affordable housing crisis.
“We are not already present,” Stark said. “There is a great ability to save. And it is that I think we have to start thinking in this way, using what we have.”
How the design process works
Stark took his concept a step forward and began to design homes out of steel containers for unheard of Phoenix. The project was developed with sustainable living company Steel + Spark for the city of Phoenix, and housing units are called “X-wing” shelters as an od for the “X” design of the unit.
Each “X-wing” is made of four containers, which is at the top of solar panels and joins a “X” size together that creates courtyards for its inhabitants when placed next to another unit. Each container has five rooms, with a resident per room. The units are fully air -conditioned, which is important for a city that reaches record temperatures every year.
Most importantly, shelters take only one week for construction.
Je Spiser, who lives in one of the “X-wing” rooms with his dog, dino, qualified for the unit for eight months and qualified for the unit and worked as a forklift operator.
Although this is a small place, it is his own.
“It’s my place for now,” Spiser says, “We keep the door closed, it remains good and calm here.”
About 771,480 people in the US experienced the homeless on the same night in 2024, growth of 18% from 2023, according to data from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
According to the Arizona annual report published by the Arizona Department of Economic Security in Arizona, in Arizona, around 14,737 people experienced homeless at one night in the same night in 2024.
Plan for shipping containers
Stark does not plan to stop with “X-wing” shelters, either. Their next major plan is to deal with the country’s affordable housing crisis by constructing a 105-unite apartment complex from shipping containers, especially for low income or unheard senior citizens.
Despite the challenges selling some developers to sell their ideas, Stark may tell that he is making a big difference for people.
“It is talking to people who are living in X-wing who say,” I can listen to myself for the first time thinking, and I am improving my life, “Stark says,” It is great to be a part of the solution, it’s incredible. “
