2.5m Cube in Friesland

Jaap has been exploring new prototype developments in his 2.5m cube pavilion which is being tested on the beautiful lake edge in Friesland

Hum Salon Coffee Kiosk

While Jaap is recovering from his self build workshop in the netherlands (see new mini prototype post below), I've been continuing to work on a 10m2 click-raft outdoor coffee kiosk we have been asked to do for Hum Salon, a new rather cool and different kind of community centre / cafe / meet and greet space for creatives located in an old villa right next to Grafton Bridge in Auckland between the hospital and universities. We are doing this project together with Gary and Emile from Stanley Modular see http://www.stanleygroup.co.nz/page/137-modular who are fabricating the project in their Mata Mata factory (checkout their live webcam), the plan is to locate it under the tree on the corner so people can still drop in while the house is being restored. The team at Hum are promoting the project via their website, and are going to make a time-lapse video of the assembly process on site - for more on Hum Salon see http://www.humsalon.co.nz/

larger structures

click-raft is about how to achieve low cost, super fast alternatives for small scale live/work environments in the minimalist spirit of Thoreau or Citroen 2CV, but its value also lies in its open additive building system approach which is akin to mechano, or current generation Lego assemblies that are so easily added to or adapted... and this approach is also possible for larger scale structures (see below the post on Click-Raft TYPE03 - business/retail unit).
The images above show a two level structure which wraps around two courtyards providing a base building which unites a series of smaller pavilions within, larger buildings above (not shown), a cool densely planted court, and a hard open sunny court. This diversity of environments is woven together into a coherent but fluid synergy of inside and outside spaces which extend and blur the choices and range of comfortable places to be depending on the time of day or changing weather conditions.

time is right for a radical economic enabling device

“how should we dwell on planet earth?”  If a computer can be made for $100 (think how absurd this would have sounded 20 years ago) - then why not a building? It is time to drag architecture kicking and screaming into being an accessible, super inexpensive enabling tool. A device that is in-tune with our fragile planet !