Posts Tagged ‘Construction’

NY Times:

Among the traditional brick and clapboard structures that line the streets of this sleepy East Texas town, 70 miles north of Houston, a few houses stand out: their roofs are made of license plates, and their windows of crystal platters.

They are the creations of Dan Phillips, 64, who has had an astonishingly varied life, working as an intelligence officer in the Army, a college dance instructor, an antiques dealer and a syndicated cryptogram puzzle maker. About 12 years ago, Mr. Phillips began his latest career: building low-income housing out of trash.

In 1997 Mr. Phillips mortgaged his house to start his construction company, Phoenix Commotion. “Look at kids playing with blocks,” he said. “I think it’s in everyone’s DNA to want to be a builder.” Moreover, he said, he was disturbed by the irony of landfills choked with building materials and yet a lack of affordable housing.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

newsday:

Some New Yorkers stuck in small apartments on a hot summer day have a new option: swimming in huge bins that once held trash.

The idea for the unlikely urban club came from David Belt, president of Macro Sea, a Manhattan design firm.

A contractor loaned him the three big metal bins and they were cleaned, lined with plastic and filled with water. Belt then rented an abandoned Brooklyn lot through the end of August.

And suddenly, he had himself three swimming pools, surrounded with lounge chairs, grills and a few cabanas.

It’s an experiment for now, not open to the public. Macro Sea is hosting private parties, film screenings and lectures at the trash bins-turned-into-pools.

Gives new meaning to the phrase “dumpster diving”.

Photo by Macro Sea.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.