Peter Ebner and students of his workshops at the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of the British city of Huddersfield, the Technical University of Munich and the Center for Entrepreneurship. The University of Applied Sciences workers have developed the Small Transportable Living project and have already created a pilot example.
This 4.8 m2 house (2.2 mx 2.2 m) is a variation on the theme of mobile mini-housing. The authors of the project explain the relevance of this topic by the fact that now half of young urban residents aged 20–35 live alone, spend not so much time at home (and dramatic changes in the habits of the population have occurred over the past two decades) and therefore do not need a spacious apartment … At the same time, housing, in principle, is a scarce commodity due to the constant influx of new residents into the city and therefore is expensive.
But, unlike such mini-houses as "Diogenes" by Renzo Piano, in addition to the minimum necessary functions - bedroom, kitchen, bathroom - Small Transportable Living offers an integrated multimedia system: the projection screen occupies most of the wall and serves as the semantic center of the house. From the mezzanine bed, where the projector is hidden, the screen is best seen.
The streamlined shape of the house with a "domed" ceiling made it easy to integrate most of the furniture. The space under the floor was also widely used - in addition to technical areas, there are two compartments for storing folding chairs, etc. The main source of light and fresh air is the “oculus” window above the bed. The owner of the house can get to his sleeping place using a folding ladder.
To save space, a sliding kitchen worktop with a sink covers the tub. From under this surface, a 56 cm x 60 cm kitchen table can be pulled out, comfortable enough for two people. There is also a small refrigerator. The bathroom is equipped with a "foldable" toilet, which can be hidden in the wall. In addition to the bath, the house has a shower and sink.
However, the main feature of the house is its production on a 3D printer down to small details, such as the “springs” of the mattress. When printing in the walls of the house, not only their supporting structure was immediately created, but also electrical wiring, heating, water supply and sewerage systems, thermal insulation. The heater and water treatment devices cannot yet be printed, but they have been thoughtfully integrated into the design of the house.
The streamlined grooved shape of the dwelling was created according to the principles of biomimetics based on the shapes of shells of mollusks and cacti. Other natural prototypes were used for the structure of the walls - turtle shell, bone structure, straw blocks.
The smooth surface allows rainwater to drain unhindered to ground level, where the drains leading to the cistern are located: after filtration, the water flows into the toilet cistern. Ideally, it could be used for washing, but so far filtration systems of this level are too bulky to fit in a mini-home. An instantaneous water heater is built into the partition between the bathroom and the kitchen. The rooms are heated using capillary tubes located in the walls and ceiling.
Since a well-lit room seems larger than in reality, there are many sources of artificial light in the house: lamps built into the wall and ceiling shell, a reading lamp by the bed, lamps in the kitchen and bathroom. All of them will be LED.
To transport the house, a cavity for a metal rod is laid in its structure, for which the crane will pick it up.
