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OFIS Arhitekti Funky Stackable Housing Units


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These are some super funky, stackable housing units that take tiny to a whole new level!

Each of the three stacked modules measure 8 x 13 x 9 and provide enough space for a bed, kitchen and bathroom. They were designed by Slovenian OFIS Arhitekti, and almost seem to defy gravity!

You can’t purchase them yet (this was just a prototype on display in Milan), but the units are designed to be eco-friendly and compatible with many different climates and location. It’ll be fun to see what they are like once produced on a broader scale!

Read more about these on Dezeen.

Related: The Kasita: An Ultra High-Tech Modular Tiny House

OFIS Arhitekti Funky Stackable Housing Units

Images via Dezeen

You can customize the exterior to fit your surroundings.

Very crisp and clean interior!

These windows are so funny!

It looks kind of like an old camera lens.

Related: Hivehaus Beehive-Inspired Tiny Modular Home

Find out more over at Dezeen! 

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Natalie C. McKee

Natalie C. McKee is a contributor for Tiny House Talk and the Tiny House Newsletter. She's a wife, and mama of three little kids. She and her family are homesteaders with sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and quail on their happy little acre.

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{ 20 comments… add one }
  • jerry
    April 28, 2017, 10:29 am

    Interesting but way too much wasted space.
    I wish we had reasonably price 1″ thick laminate wood in the US.
    It makes building things so much easier even if it does waste wood.

    • Natalie C. McKee
      April 28, 2017, 4:33 pm

      Oh that would be nice!

    • Eric
      April 29, 2017, 12:48 am

      Easy jerry, glue 2 pieces of half inch laminate. Bob’s yer uncle eh?

      • jerry
        April 29, 2017, 3:49 pm

        Bob better be a rich uncle to do that Eric. Have you priced out US plywood lately?

    • James D.
      April 29, 2017, 3:12 am

      Laminate is a manufactured product and not natural wood, using high pressure, resin and glue, but you don’t have to use laminate wood products to construct something… Though, some laminate products like flooring is actually cheaper than real hardwood flooring…

      Anyway, you should read the linked article from Dezeen… There’s no waste of space, it’s just highly adaptable and re-configurable… So it can be used for anything from a shelter to a tree house and the images shown are only one of many ways it can be configured…

      The minimalistic design isn’t for everyone but there are people who go for this style architecture…

      • jerry
        April 29, 2017, 3:54 pm

        I think you are talking pressboard which I wouldn’t use for my dog, much less a house I’d build.
        It offgases badly too of nasty stuff.
        Laminated lumber is made of larger, longer pieces glued, pressed together, not sawdust.
        Some use much larger pieces cutting board style like bowling alley lane wood.

        • James D.
          April 29, 2017, 8:22 pm

          Laminate means it is a composite product manufactured in multiple layers that is permanently assembled using heat, pressure, welding, or adhesives.

          So there’s a wide range of products that fall under laminate…

          What you’re referring to is Laminated Veneer Lumber or LVL, which is just one of many types of laminate wood products…

  • sel
    April 28, 2017, 6:10 pm

    agreed Jerry, way too much funk…

  • roberta montoya
    April 28, 2017, 11:10 pm

    when when when and how much

    • Natalie C. McKee
      April 30, 2017, 12:54 pm

      Not for sale yet, I’m afraid!

  • Mary McReynolds
    April 28, 2017, 11:59 pm

    I love this design and if I were in my 20s would have to have it. Not so easy for a 70 year old. I find the interior marvelously to the point and the kind of minimal that works.

    • James D.
      April 29, 2017, 3:19 am

      Each module can operate independently and they can be stacked horizontally and not just vertically with the interior and exterior customizable to any given use and environment, according to the linked article from Dezeen…

      So it can probably be adapted and scaled to your needs… but there’s still the question of pricing and when this will become commercially available…

  • April 29, 2017, 10:20 am

    Is a total vertical confort, like a sculpture that zigzag back to the sky

    • Natalie C. McKee
      April 30, 2017, 12:49 pm

      Yes! It is a zig zag 🙂

  • Bigfoot
    April 30, 2017, 11:26 am

    I find this one to be absolutely atrocious. I too see wasted space. I guess if you use the ridiculous window area to store things (losing a window + view) maybe the waste is small. Window opening/ventilation ? HVAC? Flat roof section. Anchoring. A guy with a pen & paper in an overindulgent frame of mind? Seeing this thing stacked 3 high makes me want to throw a rope around it & yank it down with my compact tractor, kinda like our Florida storms would do to it. ——— That said, I always enjoy seeing different things so thanks for posting this.

    • Natalie C. McKee
      April 30, 2017, 12:33 pm

      Haha it’s fun to see something outside of the box from time to time 🙂

    • James D.
      May 1, 2017, 3:47 am

      Bigfoot, did you read the source article?

      The images are just of the prototype they made for demonstration purposes and was probably done at minimal cost to just give a basic idea of what they are proposing, which according to the article is a modular system that can be purposed for anything from an emergency shelter to a tree house or a apartment complex… and is designed to be eco friendly and able to handle a wide range of weather environments.

      So the prototype may be the equivalent to a stick figure to what the final product may be…

      However, I would point out that having multiple and variable angles in the design should actually help it deal with Florida weather better than a equivalent container house…

      Things like hurricane force winds are more a threat to a container house because the long and wide flat sides of the container provide a lot of surface area for the wind to push against, especially when stacked straight up…

      But a variable geometry structure means the wind gets deflected at multiple angles and the surface area of the profile of the structure is minimized.

      An extreme example of this is Yurtz, which is basically just a round tent like structure but can withstand hurricanes because their shape allows the winds to flow around the structure instead of against it…

      You can also look at the tallest buildings in the world and see they make use of curves and similar multiple angle geometry as that helps them withstand high winds…

      So these things are likely to be much harder to knock down than they look to you… But of course that also depends on how well it is built and variables like weight, foundation strength, etc…

      • Bigfoot
        May 2, 2017, 9:57 pm

        Hi James D,
        I always read the linked articles & watch videos that are linked as well before offering a comment. My opinion on this monstrosity hasn’t changed at all. I’d take a well anchored shipping container over this thing anytime. I’m well versed on building shape/wind load characteristics, various construction techniques/designs & have been through some hellacious hurricanes (lived in Fl all my life). A Yurt would become a kite in some of the hurricanes that have ravaged Florida over the years. IMO, the ultimate building to weather a severe storm (assuming above ground) is a concrete dome.
        That said, the last building I constructed (designed to my specifications, permitted, & inspected) was a small 1,000 sq ft. wood frame shop, balloon framing, gable roof, 10′ high walls, conventional roof framing (not trusses), designed for 160-mph winds. Wood frame because I’m a good carpenter & a lousy mason & too cheap or mostly picky to hire help. I built the entire structure by myself including all plumbing & electrical. I even overbuilt outside what was on the plans (extra bracing, larger headers, additional & larger strapping, etc.) Just so you know, I’ve been in the construction trades for almost 4 decades now & still building/repairing things every week. Just got done welding tonight on a trailer I am building. It was going to be my first tiny (off grid traveler) but instead will be a food concession trailer for my wife. I’m kind of a jack of all trades, master of one. I’m also a consummate reader with too many interests.
        I’m curious, do you build things? Retired? Occupation? Tradesman?

        • James D.
          May 3, 2017, 12:26 am

          I’m similar, I have too many interests and like to build things and know how things are built… Everything from computers to residential construction and plan to eventually build my own Tiny Smart House…

          Anyway, one of the reasons I’m giving this company some reasonable doubt that their final product won’t be lousy is because they have a history of constructing structure for extreme environments… Like on top of a hard to reach snow covered rocky mountain top and the article suggested they wanted a product that can be placed just about anywhere, which means to me that it is either designed for or can easily be adapted to a wide range of climates and weather conditions.

          While I’ve seen shipping containers tossed about by hurricanes and tornadoes… Containers stacked at ports sometimes look like someone played and lost a game of Jenga after a bad storm… So I guess we’ll just have to disagree that they would be better… They may survive the storm but any occupants will likely not…

          But we do agree that a solid and heavy dome structure is the best option to be hurricane resistant but such structures aren’t exactly easy to move and place anywhere you may want them…

          So they don’t make good emergency shelters or tree houses, etc. as this “funky” product is intended for in its potential range of applications… and domes can’t be stacked either… So there’s that to consider…

          If the application was just for a house, I’d agree with you but this is a multi-purpose structure and flexibility often results in some unusual designs from what we’re used to…

  • Bigfoot
    May 4, 2017, 7:20 pm

    My opinion is that I don’t like it for reasons mentioned. You think it’s great & that’s fine as well. Not sure why you are working so hard to change my opinion? It would be a dull world if we all had the same likes/dislikes.

    Regarding the shipping container, did you miss the part about “well anchored”? Is it not common knowledge that anything not secured in a severe storm is subject to being tossed about? I don’t get how you chose containers stacked at a dock, unsecured as any reasonable measure/comparison to any other structure or the inherent ability of said structures to weather a storm? What do you think one of those little oddities weighs, 2000lbs? An 8’x20′ shipping container weighs 5,000lbs & sits very close to the ground. I own one as I’ve posted here before. Even unsecured, it would take quite a blow to move it. First hand experience, not theoretical.

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