The architect told how to build a house for $ 1,200 and three hours

Renting an apartment in cities such as New York, Sydney or London is very expensive. Instead of renting, you can build your own house for only $1,200 and in less than three hours. Joshua Woodsman, an architect from Pin-Up Houses, designs ready-made houses that cost only a small fraction of the rent in large cities. One of his models — "France" — can be assembled by the three of us in just three hours. The facade is painted in the colors of the French flag, where each color is a separate room. Blue is the bedroom, red is the kitchen, white is the living room. The publication Lost at E Minor talked to the architect to find out about this cozy house and about the movement of small houses.

(6 photos in total)

Source: Lost at E Minor

Why are you interested in small houses? How did you start this movement?

Since architecture is a vast and complex field of knowledge, it seems to me that it is very important for everyone to find their specialization. I decided to focus in my profession on budget and minimalistic spaces for living. I have always been interested in the spontaneous forms of architecture that can be found in the homes of the lower social strata, the architecture of slums or disappearing traditional cultures — for example, local tribes, nomads, etc.

What did the creative process look like when you were working on the concept of "France"?

My goal was to propose and create a prototype of a mass-produced house made of panels. This experiment gave me the opportunity to try what it's like in reality and learn about the pitfalls of the idea of semi-finished products in architecture. The house consists of 22 panels that can be quickly disassembled and transported to another location.

Please tell us about the features of saving space in the house.

There are storage spaces in all the furniture in the house — in the seats, in the table or in the bed in the blue zone. This also applies to the dividing wall, which also serves as a shelf. Thanks to these space-saving techniques, the house is easy to disassemble, which reduces the cost of transporting it in a truck or container.

What difficulties did you have to face when creating a house for $ 1,200?

This is not as impossible a task as it may seem. The sum of $ 1200 is the cost of materials. I chose simple materials that are available anywhere in the world — logs, corrugated iron and multilayer plywood. The budget does not include work. It took three people and about two weeks to make the panels, and then about three hours to build the house.

How does it feel to live in such a house? What is the main advantage of living in such a small dwelling?

I personally have not lived in such a house for a long time, I stay there only occasionally. But what I like most about it is the interior space, which does not attract attention, as in other, more ornate houses. It gives you the opportunity to focus on the peace and beauty of the surrounding nature and achieve inner peace through meditation or reading some good book. The house has a limited space, so only two people (who really like each other) can stay there for a long time.

How do you convince people to change their lifestyle and move to smaller houses? How do you see the movement for small houses a few years later?

I wrote the manual "How to build a small house" in order to inspire people to make a choice in favor of a smaller house, in it I discuss and analyze aspects of small houses. I have been writing this book for more than a year and combined in it a lot of tips that can be useful to anyone who builds a house on their own. I have drawn more than a thousand images illustrating all stages of the construction of a small wooden house. I hope this book will become a source of inspiration for readers and for their own budget residential construction projects. At the same time, we also develop small houses and create plans with detailed instructions explaining the construction process.

As for the movement for small houses, it has always existed. Because there have always been groups of people living in small spaces — in caravans, in nomadic yurts, in slums, etc. But today, part of the middle class is faced with the need to reduce housing costs. And they turned this need to save and cut costs into a way of life, calling it the "small house movement."