HINGE HOUSE
It is the idea of ​​a prefabricated housing unit, transportable by road, rail or air, which can also be used in a stable form, capable of interpreting the contemporary lifestyle in terms of living comfort and architectural language.
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TRANSPORTABILITY
The house comes from the container (jaha17182 = 12m x 3m x 2.4m), as a guarantee of portability. It is the idea of ​​movement, generated by a simple hinge, that determines an architectural language that is totally different from the container itself.
WHAT
Competition
WHERE
International
WHEN
2005
OPERATION
Placed on the ground and adjusted to the level thanks to hydraulic feet, part of the container rotates through a system of hinges that simultaneously allow the opening of sunscreen panels, leaning against each other during transport. A wooden slatted floor, placed on the container base during transport, can be extracted as a sort of drawer to form an ideal connection between the housing unit and the toilets. It also forms, ideally, a summer living room, with the help of shading structures which, in the same way, can be extracted from the ceiling.
MATERIALS
Transportability is guaranteed not only by the size but also by the lightness of the materials used: the load-bearing structure is made of steel, buffered by sandwich panels insulated with rock wool. While the claddings are composed of wooden sunshades and zinc-titanium panels. Even the internal furnishings, fixed and reduced to essentiality, contain the weight of the structure: an equipped kitchen, a table-sofa, a multi-function "totem" piece of furniture and a foldaway bed are the only furnishings provided.
SELF-SUFFICIENCY
The energy is produced by photovoltaic panels placed on the roof, connected to a special battery and an inverter, located in the technical compartment. The water for the bathroom and kitchen, contained in special tanks positioned inside the technical compartments, is heated by solar panels, placed on the roof. The bathroom, chemical for the mobile unit, is in any case equipped with adequate drains, in anticipation of stability of the prefabricated building. The gas supply is guaranteed by a replaceable cylinder located in the technical compartment. Having satisfied the requirements of movement, portability, self-sufficiency and living comfort, we tested the new architectural language by inserting the product obtained in a series of different settings: sea and waterways, tropical environments, archaeological sites.