Containers of Hope : By Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture

San Jose, Costa Rica
Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture

Post By:Kitticoon Poopong

Photo © Courtesy of Andres Garcia Lachner

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Gabriela Calvo and Marco Peralta dreamed of living in their fantastic property 20 minutes outside of the city of San Jose, Costa Rica; where they could be with their horses and enjoy the natural landscape.

Photo © Courtesy of Andres Garcia Lachner

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Photo © Courtesy of Andres Garcia Lachner

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They made the very bold choice of exploring with me the possibility of creating a very inexpensive house made out of disregarded shipping containers that allowed them to be dept free and live the life they always dreamed of. It was important for me to provide them with the sunrise, the sunset, the spectacular views, and overall try and create a feeling of comfort and home.

Photo © Courtesy of Andres Garcia Lachner

Click above image to view slideshow

Photo © Courtesy of Andres Garcia Lachner

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A roof between the two containers, made from the scrap pieces of metal taken to make the windows, not only creates an internal sensation of openness but also provides a cross ventilation which is surprisingly sufficient enough to never have to turn the air conditioning on.

Photo © Courtesy of Andres Garcia Lachner

Click above image to view slideshow

Photo © Courtesy of Andres Garcia Lachner

Click above image to view slideshow

Photo © Courtesy of Andres Garcia Lachner

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The final cost of the house (40,000USD) is lower than the cost of social housing provided for the poor in Costa Rica. Perhaps this project begins to expose the importance of design as a tool to provide beauty and comfort with a very low budget in the 21st century, whilst using creativity to not only redefine a scrap material such a disused shipping container, but perhaps to even show that there are viable, low cost, passive alternatives of temperature control to adapt to a very intense tropical climate.

Photo © Courtesy of Andres Garcia Lachner

Click above image to view slideshow

Photo © Courtesy of Andres Garcia Lachner

Click above image to view slideshow

Photo © Courtesy of Andres Garcia Lachner

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Already this proposal has began to spark a great deal of interest and could become one alternative to solve the issue of disposing of disregarded shipping containers in developing countries, as well as begin to solve the large gap which first time buyers encounter when purchasing a home.

sketch concept--drawing © Courtesy of Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture

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sketch concept--drawing © Courtesy of Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture

Click above image to view slideshow

sketch concept--drawing © Courtesy of Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture

Click above image to view slideshow

sketch concept--drawing © Courtesy of Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture

Click above image to view slideshow

sketch concept--drawing © Courtesy of Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture

Click above image to view slideshow

The people

Architects: Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture
Location: San Jose, Costa Rica
Project area: 100 sqm
Project year: 2011
Photographs: Andres Garcia Lachner

Note>>Location in this map, It could indicate city/country but not exact address.

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