Design: Trailers and Airstreams

Sip is a smoothie & juice business that operates out of an Airstream trailer. It lives in front of Southeast Portland’s People’s Food Co-Op and serves fresh, vegan, organic goodies. ARCHITECTURE 1963 Airstream Trailer Transformed into Beautiful Modern Studio by Bridgette Meinhold, 07/26/10 filed under: Architecture, Green renovation     Renovations, recycled materials, an Airstream Trailer and an art studio - nothing could be dearer to this writer's heart, and this vintage trailer-turned-studio, seen over at Design*Sponge, is an absolute treasure. Sarah of 26 Letters always wanted her own art studio, so she decided to repurpose an old trailer to create the space of her dreams. The result is a charming renovation that is sure to make you green with envy.   Sarah is a designer/writer and her husband owns a building and remodeling company. The couple lives in Phoenix, where the 1963 Airstream Safari Trailer sits in their backyard. Sarah’s husband did much of the remodeling and documented it on his blog The Cyclocontractor. The “before” photos show a seriously worn-out and beat up Airstream that had seen far better days — conveniently, it was already practically gutted when they bought it. The creative adaptive reuse project turned the beat-up old trailer into a charming open-floor plan studio space. The interior skin was removed, the old fiberglass insulation was taken out, the electrical wiring was redone, and some structural reinforcement was completed to shore up the roof. After holes were patched, the roof was fixed and new wiring was complete, all new insulation was put in place, new walls, new floors and new lighting. The interior was then painted crisp white, and vintage furnishings and storage units completed the job, turning the beat-up old trailer into a gorgeous freshly designed space. Read more: 1963 Airstream Trailer Transformed into Beautiful Modern Studio | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World An Airstream Ingeniously Repurposed into a Library Not that we needed another reason to covet vintage Airstreams, but today I would like to introduce you to the Projet Mobilivre, also known as the Bookmobile Project.  A vintage 1959 Airstream was converted into a traveling bookstore gallery no less, complete with exhibits of independent magazines, artist publications, and more literary goodness. Fabricated by Freecell, shelves were created flush against the curved shape of the Airstream, and bungee cords hold the literary goods in place. I love all the natural reading light that streams through the interior, complete with a sweet flower windowsill on the other end of the Airstream. The vintage Airstream beckons you in to enjoy “a traveling exhibit of artist books, zines, and independent publications,” as seen during a visit to the University of Wisconsin. Alas, it appears that the main Bookmobile Project website is not currently functional, but I do hope that this gem is still traveling the country, sharing with all independent literary food for thought. This home may be more conventional, mobility-wise; but after reading Andreas Stavropoulos' inspiration and story to remodel and live in a vintage Airstream trailer, this home is definitely out of the ordinary. The inspiration behind Stavropoulos' home stems from his profession as a landscape architect. When he became self-employed, he found an urgency to surround himself with his medium. "Whereas landscape architects once spent significant time on the site, the profession now finds some of the most creative minds shoehorned into cubicles. This seemed like a loss to me, and I wondered how it might be possible to create a space for real understanding within the profession—the kind of understanding that occurs from seeing a day of shadows move across a place, or listening to and observing people in a space," he writes. With this simple and stylish Airstream studio that he renovated himself (both the interior and exterior), Stavropoulos is able to travel and work on site. By the looks of these photos and the rest of the gallery on Dwell.com, we're fairly convinced that Stavropoulus is living a modern-day version of Walden. Read more about Stavropoulos and his Airstream life and check out more photos onDwell.com. Hide and Sleep With the classic Murphy bed as muse, Japanese architect Toshihiko Suzuki transformed a standard Airstream into a versatile small wonder. By:Miyoko Ohtake Project Name:Kenchikukagu Airstream Architects:Atelier OPA Published in:May 10 In 2009, architect Toshihiko Suzuki, of Tokyo-based design firm Atelier OPA, applied his Japanese small-space sensibility to a gutted Airstream and created what could be considered the ultimate condensed caravan. Inside the trailer, Suzuki installed a long island based on kenchikukagu, which means “architectural furniture” and is the name of a collection of his designs. The Kenchikukagu-series Mobile Kitchen, Foldaway Office, and Foldaway Guestroom are each housed in a wooden box that hinges open or expands like an accordion to transform into a room that can later be rolled away. Likewise, the island in the mid-dle of the Airstream folds open to reveal an equipped kitchen and either a dining table for six or two beds, each with its own reading light. The flexibility of the design adds to the longevity —–and the sustainability—–of the space, Suzuki says: “Architecture is seldom destroyed because it has a long life span.” So despite the renovated Airstream’s spatial shortcomings, the multitude of possible arrangements means it has miles of road still ahead of it. Read more:http://www.dwell.com/articles/hide-and-sleep.html#ixzz0y8q1lADZ Portland’s Airstream Food CartPortland’s Airstream Food Cart Sip is a smoothie & juice business that operates out of an Airstream trailer. It lives in front of Southeast Portland’s People’s Food Co-Op and serves fresh, vegan, organic goodies. The 100 square-foot 1967 Airstream renovation was done — with a $950 budget for mostly reclaimed materials — by design team Von Tundra. The 100 square-foot 1967 Airstream renovation was done — with a $950 budget for mostly reclaimed materials — by design team Von Tundra.Space Trailer: NASA Architect Now Makes Mini Mobile Homes So you live in a small condo where every square foot counts – but imagine the premium on space of actual outer space habitats. Combining his childhood love of houseboats and adult work on habitat modules for NASA and the International Space Station, one architect has applied all of his learning and yearning to a unique space-saving (and space-age) trailer right here on Earth. After years figuring out how to make comfortable and compact living quarters in which astronauts were to eat, sleep, bathe and relax – their tiny floating home away from home – the eventual creator of the Cricket Trailer refocused his efforts on something more useful to everyday earthlings: a made-to-order, modular, miniature trailer home. The most decked-out version available to buy includes a a kitchen, eating, sleeping and lounge spaces as well as a hand shower, toilet, flexible awning, heating furnace and air conditioning – all somehow stored within a 15′ by 6.5′ trailer box with an (optional) pop-up, tent-like top. One size does not fit all – people can purchase a simple shell with wheel well storage compartments and a sloped floor for drainage, then build out the rest on their own if they wish. The next standard model up comes with a kitchen cabinet, hinged countertop, table, couch, refrigerator and stainless steel sink with hot running water, but lacks waste management as well as temperature control (making it good for camping, but perhaps not enough for long-term on-the-road lifestyles). Visually, it looks like a postmodern sculptural tribute to classic cross-country living trailers. The design borrows from archetypes of portable campers with which the public is familiar, but breaks from the norm and deforms as needed to accommodate additional space-saving strategies and, some might say, an overall more space-aged look.