THE 7th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

"CIVIL ENGINEERING - SCIENCE AND PRACTICE"

GNP 2020 – Kolašin, Montenegro, 10-14 March 2020

Julija Aleksić1, Mirjana Miletić2, Rada Radulović3, Jelena Božović4

CONTAINERIZATION: REALITY OR VISION OF NEW AGE

Abstract
The authors of this paper attempt to establish a framework for defining scope of mobile
architecture regarding the use of containers for permanent residence. The aim of this research is
to present container architecture as solutions for ecologically proper and rapid physical care of
the vulnerable population on the one hand, and the possibility of developing these temporary
structural elements into residential units of permanent housing on the other hand.
Containerization actualizes many issues in terms of energy efficiency, applying different layers
of wrapper, functional and spatial organization and design. Living and working in the container
can be a modern, environmentally friendly and applicable solution for housing and other
functions, which are subject of further research check.
Keywords
Shipping containers, care of the vulnerable, small spaces, permanent housing.

1
Doc.dr , Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Priština, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia, julija.aleksic@pr.ac.rs
2
Doc.dr , Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Priština, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia, mirjana..miletic@pr.ac.rs
3
Doc.dr , Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Priština, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia, rada.radulovic@pr.ac.rs
4
M.Arch, Ph.D.student f Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia,jelenabozov@gmail.com

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1. INTRODUCTION

Building with shipping containers isn’t exactly new, but until recently it hasn’t been exactly
mainstream either. Shipping container architecture has been named as a category of prefabricated
buildings. New units use shipping containers as an instrument of construction, in many ways:
partial, total or mixed structures. This prefabricated buildings represent a small proportion of
temporary houses, mobile structures, minimum dwelling. Shipping container architecture becoming
more popular, as eco-friendly practices begin to influence market trends. Containers are a new
concept of architecture and links a series of hypothetical ideals of Modern Architects about the
Living Machine presented by Le Corbusier. [1] Container construction has become a practice
everywhere in the world, but it does raise questions about whether containers are architecture.
There are two main aspects that make containers attractive for architectural use: their distinctive
design that can be used to create a personalized image, and their system based on the benefits of
prefabrication, mobility, modularity and global availability.
Prefabricated houses have long been unpopular in the market because of inadequate
materials and insufficient insulation. However, with the development of technology and new
materials, these problems have been overcome. Today, the design of a prefabricated house is a
challenge for any architect. The new prefabrication system combines traditional materials with
modern aesthetics in order to obtain innovative solutions.
Containers have long been used in underdeveloped countries as a cost-effective means of
shelter. Container shelters are intended for temporary housing but, in many cases, grow into
permanent housing over time.

2. CONTAINERS

Transport (also known as shipping and cargo) container architecture uses old modular steel
containers to transport goods overseas by ships and trucks. There are a large number of empty,
unused containers in the world that are just taking up space at the docks of world ports and waiting
to become someone's home, office, apartment, school, container cities. This containers are most
commonly used from 20 inches to 40 inches. Transport and loading equipment are designed to fit
these dimensions. Containers are usually made of corten steel panels (walls and roof) are all of 2
mm thickness. The basic components of standard container boxes are: container frame, four
corners, two lower and two upper rails, front upper rails and main door [2].
Containers have many advantages as building blocks. Aside from providing a sustainable
housing frame, containers are easy to combine, can be upgraded in a horizontal and vertical sense,
and they also have a flexible form, making them cheap to build with. Containers may be combined
in countless creative ways -through residential blocks from containers and container settlements to
entire container cities.
Containers are universally applicable building modules in the structural sector. They are
available in different types and are used for different purposes [3]. There are two main aspects that
make containers attractive for architectural use: their distinctive design that can be used to create a
personalized image, and their system based on the benefits of prefabrication, mobility, modularity
and global availability. Prefabricated metal shipping containers can be stacked and continued as
Lego cubes and used for the construction of temporary or permanent homes as well as for other

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purposes. They are treated as ''cheap building blocks''. The flexibility of the materials they are
made of allows the diversity of the appearance of the "facade" of the container (Figure 1).

The casa club, Kalkin, A., The Cross Box, Brittany, France CG Architects.
Figure 1: Houses of shipping containers

When new window and door holes are opened on containers, this structures are no longer an
instrument of commerce - they are converted into an instrument of construction but all this
actualizes the question of whether containers are architecture. Used containers of 20- or 40-foot
containers, can be obtained for as little as several hundred dollars apiece, so it’s not surprising that
some industry professionals consider them the future of home building. Posed as the quirky,
everyday opposite to high-minded architecture, they owe a great deal to the utopian visions of
architecture’s modern movement.
Container housing is a very complex technological - economic - social - cultural concept
that has evolved into one particular aspect of construction. The most significant advantages are:
durability, transportation, availability, transformation, reusability and price.
The biggest disadvantages are poor sound insulation, ventilation and thermal stability when
used for temporary housing or work [4].
Containers are becoming icons of globalization. The container today is a new shelter for a
comfortable life. New materials and production methods combined with innovative designs can
lead to a prefabricated revolution.

3. DISCUSSION

Mass disasters often pose significant challenges for housing in terms of emergency care of
endangered and recovery of the built environment in terms of resources and capacity. Research in
the world, in crises due to natural disasters, ecological disasters, wars, etc., shows that containers
have been used as some of the solutions to overcome the problem of housing in new situations.
Shelter is a basic human need. Humanitarian workers have explored the prospect of innovation in
approach, building design, materials or technology for shelter construction that meets all
requirements of that areas. The main question that arises is: how to build better with less? It is
necessary to research and present new trends and enduring challenges in shelter provision [5].

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3.1. CONTAINERS AS POST-DISASTER SHELTERS

After disasters, as soon as conditions allow, various humanitarian organizations (Habitat for
Humanity, FEMA, SEED and others) that assist and organize life in the event of natural disasters,
war, etc., begin rebuilding damaged homes and building shelters due to global disasters
(earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and floods).
In recent decades, there has been a large number of disasters in the territory of the former
Yugoslavia. Earthquakes, floods, landslides are just some of the natural disasters in this area and
human-caused disasters have led to the discharge of wastewater from industrial plants and wars
have caused major population movements. Displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija and
refugees from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina should be accommodated. The problem of
accommodation of asylum seekers and Roma in settlements in Serbia is also topical. UNHCR in
2003 (for IDPs1) and 2004 (for refugees) published data that in Serbia and Montenegro the number
of refugees was 291 415 and the number of displaced persons was 256 891, five years after
Kosovo and nine years after the Croatian and Bosnian war. Migration occurred largely towards
urban areas (81.7%), with a high concentration of IDPs in urban centers. Most displaced persons
concentrated in Šumadija and western Serbia, and the smallest in Vojvodina, where Roma make up
almost half of the IDP population [6]. Depending on the type of crisis and the terrain on which they
are placed, the containers are divided into underground, above ground and amphibious [7]. The
following are case studies of post-disaster risk management for above-ground shelters.
Adam Kalkin has created an economically viable, fast and sustainable architectural system
Quik Build Ecosystem (QBE) for inadequately domesticated people from all over the world (figure
2)

Figure 2: Container Replication Scheme

A team of researchers from Clemson University in South Carolina, organized into the SEED
project, is working on the construction of post-disaster shelters, developing a method of converting
unused containers for sustainable emergency housing. The SEED project seeks to provide
accommodation in "on-site" modified containers for three weeks. The idea is to use local skills,
work and materials, with a container that eventually becomes a sustainable permanent living space.
(figure 3). In addition to SEED, Habitat for Humanity is also launching re-construction initiatives
in Haiti, which uses containers to build a home (figure 4).

1
internally displaced persons

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Figure 3: Residential Containers, SEED Project

Figure 4: New prototype house for Haiti Figure 5: Containers in Syria

Green Container International Aid has built numerous settlements for the vulnerable (figure
5). The Vilaj Vilaj organization has built and provided sustainable and long-term housing in Haiti
(figure 6), wherever needed with the help of shipping containers [8].

Figure 6: A pop-up village for Haiti made of 900 shipping containers

The Ex-Container Project of the Architects Group, led by Yasutaka Yoshimura, presents
transportable, post-disaster housing containers for displaced persons by the earthquake and tsunami
in Japan (figure 7). The prototype contains a prefabricated interior and exterior equipment and
tends to become a permanent architecture [9]. Container dimensions are 20 feet and include a
kitchen area, living room, bathroom and sleeping areas.

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Figure 7: Ex-Container Project, Yasutaka Yoshimura architects

Since containers in our region are a new form of construction used for temporary housing,
they are not yet established in the legislation. Numerous world examples and experiences from
other countries create models or concepts that will evolve with us in relation to our climate
conditions, terrain configuration and disaster sensitivity.

3.2. NEW TENDENCIES

In the aftermath of disasters, temporary settlements are formed for emergency care, often
from containers for which there is a certain aversion, mostly for aesthetic reasons. After crises
cease, shelter facilities remain in positions where they have been erected spontaneously after a
disaster. For parts of spontaneously created settlements, rules from detailed regulation plans cannot
be applied, but, based on the right situation on the ground, substandard rules should be defined and
criteria for possible interventions established, in accordance with the provisions of the law for a
specific territory.
People want ‘homes’, not ‘housing units’. However, it should be accepted that the shelter
becomes a home once the basic requirements and needs of each individual are met: livelihoods,
infrastructure, essential services and legal status, social, economic and environmental
sustainability.
Spontaneously formed settlements, due to their long-term use and without any
improvement, most often grow into permanent settlements and, by typology, belong to social
housing [7]. The concept of transformation of spontaneously created settlements in special
circumstances after disasters into permanent urban tissue implies improvements in all directions. It
is an imperative to achieve a favorable energy-efficient structure. Energy revitalization and
adaptation to new systems and environmental requirements should be implemented to reduce
energy consumption. It is recommended to install appropriate layers of thermal insulation, as well
as finishing with different types of building materials (aluminums - bond, wood, brick and more),
attic treatment, contemporary roof shapes, surface and opening shape, use of paint. New sheath
combines concrete, stone, glass, metal and wood.
Various types of insulation combined with walls create permanent facades that resist the
forces of nature, and the great flexibility and variety of variations in the organization of function
and form, greatly make them applicable in all spheres of society, at the same time modern and
appealing.

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Cape Town, South Africa Container City, London

CG Architects, France Con House, Slovenia, "small is good

Figure 8: Examples of new container homes

Slovenian architect Jure Kotnik developed the idea: Container + House = Conhouse. The
House of Con (figures 8) is an example of a contemporary approach to housing container design:
contemporary materials, greater variety of individuality styles.
These examples are an attempt to create a new aesthetic for container construction in the
region, which was lacking in the previous period [10]. The containers offered in our market repel
customers with their over-simplicity. The answer should be sought in the harmonization of
residential and industrial styles in order to optimize the spatial organization and shape of existing
prefabricated houses as rationally and efficiently as possible, while reducing energy consumption.
As containers are mostly becoming permanent shelters not only for vulnerable but others as
well having in mind its recent architectural design, it is out of crucial matter to have awareness of
energy efficiency. These structures can be energy efficient with improvement of its thermal
envelope based on Rules of Energy efficiency. Shape factor in this context is very significant and
its basic shape can be huge advantage. This will be the subject of further research.

4. CONCLUSION

Due to the climate changing, it is predicted that disasters will continue to happen and as a
consequence the demand for temporary housing will continue to exist too. Therefore, it is crucial to
develop further research on the topic in order to develop effective and successful solutions.
As awareness of green technologies grows and is gaining popularity around the world, more
and more people are turning to cargo container structures as a green alternative to traditional
building materials, and it seems like a good choice for environmentally conscious people.
Container architecture becomes the new branch of modern architecture and carries the message:
"Do more with less!"

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The stated advantages of using transport containers in architecture (their mobility, flexibility
of structure, fast construction and economy) can be improved by the use of new materials in the
sheath, but also the reduction of energy consumption, which represents significantly more suitable
solutions than the traditional way of construction in the already mentioned situations

LITERATURE

[1] A. P. O. Alejo: "Sustainability in Prefabricated Architecture: A Comparative Life Cycle Analysis of

Container Architecture for Residential Structures", master a.s., Victoria University of Wellington,
New Zealand, 2010
[2] M. Buchmeier,, H. Slawik, S. Tinney, J. Bergmann: "Container Atlas, A Practical Guide to Container
Architecture", Berlin: Gestalten, 2010.
[3] A. Arieff.: "Crazy for containers, Тhe Atlantic Cities place matters", [online], 2011., available at:
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2011/11/crazy-containers/448/
[4] Build magazine: "Prednosti i mane upotrebe transportnih kontejnera u arhitekturi", [online],.2014.,
available at: https://www.gradjevinarstvo.rs/tekstovi/4292/820/prednosti-i-mane-upotrebe-
transportnih-kontejnera-u-arhitekturi
[5] D. Felix, J. M. Branco, A. Fejo: "Temporary housing after disasters: A state of the art survey",
Published by Elsevier Ltd., volume 40, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2013.03.00, 2013, 136-
141p
[6] UNHCR, Refуgee trends, 1 january - 30 september 2004 - refugee populations, new arrivals and
durable solutions in 73, mostly developing, countries; 6, [online], Geneva: 2004., available at:
www.unhcr.ch
[7] J. Aleksić: "Savremeni modeli mobilnih prefabrikovanih objekata u kriznim područjima", Doktorski
rad, Banja Luka, 2014, 118-182p
[8] B. Meinhold: "Pop-Up Village for Haiti Made From 900 Shipping Containers", Inhabitat -
Sustainable Design Innovation, [online], 2010., available at: http://inhabitat.com/pop-up-village-for-
haiti-made-from-900-shipping-containers/
[9] B. Liggett: "Ex-Container Project Provides Shipping Container Housing for Victims of Japan
Earthquake", Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, [online], .2011., available at:
http://inhabitat.com/ex-container-project-provides-shipping-container-housing-for-victims-of-japan-
earthquake
[10] J. Кotnik,: "Container Architecture", Barcelona: Links International, 2008.

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