CARGOTECTURE - A BEACON OF LIGHT FOR THE DESIGN INDUSTRY?

The construction industry is swept by various new and exciting trends. One such is the use of shipping containers for housing purposes, also known as Cargotectureus. We have been evolving and adapting to innovations like green building and the use of sustainable materials.

- RISHTI SHETTY

Cargotecture is one such trend that is pushing the limits of design. These steel shipping containers, which are 8 feet wide by 8 and a half feet high and either 20 or 40 feet long, are becoming a new recycled building material. One that can be easily used to build our own homes.

The shipping containers are actually disposable materials or waste. Various countries import goods at a higher rate than they are able to export. This leads to millions of shipping containers lying at ports as waste. It is far cheaper to import new containers than returning the old containers to their original location. Hence these containers keeping stacking up, contributing to the global waste crisis.

In today’s times, these shipping containers are being used to build everything from low-cost housing solutions to luxurious vacation homes to swimming pools, playgrounds, and hospitals. However, could Cargotecture be too good to be true? Let’s weigh the pros and cons of reusing these steel shipping containers.

PROS