Slumscrapers, yo!
Bombay is riddled with conurbations of shanties, which we calls slums. Though you often see tall buildings at Nariman Point, I have often wondered why slums do not soar towards the sky! If they did, a) they wouldn't occupy so much land and b) people wouldn't be freaked every time it rains and water flows down from richer neighbourhoods into the slum. Right? I discovered one possible solution to this problem, called Freitag.
How lovely is this image of a "store" made of used containers?
Freitag bags are made of used truck tarps, bicycle innertubes and car seatbeltss. Hamburg is one of the biggest logistic Mecca of Europe - the perfect location for a FREITAG flagship shop. Inspired by the trucks and the harbour, we placed a 40" Container (artificial) into our shop-location. For the shop concept in Zurich we took it one (or even two) steps further: an entire building assembled from 17 used freight containers.
If slums were made this way, they would change their shape everyday, containers shifting as the weather shifts, buildings would flow like sand dunes, as new slum-dwellers arrive and leave. Slums could be turned into a giant shape-shifting hotel with thousands of rooms, millions perhaps.
If we're going to live like insects, its time we studied how ants builds hills.
