WORK - LIVE - GO!

A study in restraint

Architectural student Hank Butitta was tired of designing buildings that weren't real for clients that didn't exist. He wanted to do something real, to work with his hands and put his ideas into practice, so he bought a used school bus and converted it into a clean, modular live/work environment. He presented his bus for critique - complete with a kitchen, bathroom, beds, storage, and even a floor made from recycled gymnasium maple. Imagine his fellow students, with cardboard models, digital fly-throughs and paper renderings - I'll bet Hank's crit put some of them to shame.

 

 After his final presentation,  Hank and his co-conspirators left  for a 5,000 mile tour heading West. Summer's winding down, but they have just about reached the halfway point. 

On the Road Again

We applaud the practical ingenuity of a student stretching the conventional boundaries of study. His modular work/live space is well thought out and neatly executed - bravo to Hank.

 

You can see more photos, video, and follow their travels over at Hank Bought a Bus. (via Home Designing, Gizmodo, Le Monde Tue Nini)

Wherever you go, there you are.

Looking at the Creative Caves where people do their work, we are drawn to those who buck convention and do it wherever they happen to land. No ergonomic studies, market research, triple-net leases, office furniture, telephone systems, alarms, professional liability insurance, ad nauseum. Some people simply leap into the void and find their calling. And it's thrilling when it works, as in the case of Alison Turner.

It seems Alison was a slave to her Blackberry and the treadmill of unseemly corporate life. In spite of the great pay, she threw off the yoke and hit the road, stumbled alone in the wilderness for a time, then found herself a new life's purpose. It's a beautiful story - maybe a fantasy for most - but there is wisdom in striving to live up to this simple axiom:

"Every day, try to do something that you love."







You can read all bout Alison and see her great photos here:  http://www.alisonslife.com/

How Skinny can you go?

Keret House, Warsaw

 With much of this country reeling from McMansion overload, designers have focused on going small for home and office. But Jakub Szczesny takes it to a new level with his Keret House in Warsaw, Poland. It is so small, so narrow that it defies description. We like that he called it an art project and thereby avoided building codes - Art Power! The question remains - how much is too little? Could you really live or work here without flipping out?

Get the full story HERE

The moveable feast, or nomadic workplace

 

raison d'etre

Russ & Laura are a hard-working couple. They run a cottage industry around bicycle travel and touring, conducting interviews, testing and reviewing bicycle products, creating art and books, making presentations and leading bike tours. Now they are entering the world of video production. And they do all this without an office or a home.

Amtrak as office

In January of 2009 they  " turned in their housekeys "  and hit the road on bicycles, carrying everything they need for living. They make frequent stops along their travels, for impromptu presentations in bike shops, hosting S24O campouts and generally promoting the adventure of bicycle living.

People love to hear their stories

Here's Russ describing their first season on the road:

  "After rambling across the country for 15 months, we feel like we’ve become hardened travelers. The idea of heading back out into nothingness isn’t something we need to steel ourselves against, and the details of life on the road aren’t overwhelming like they were two years ago. Instead of figuring out health insurance or a home for our couch, we can focus on how to structure our work flow on the road so that we can actually accomplish everything we want to do. We feel like we’re able to be much more pro-active in our plans for this next trip, and think about the bigger picture."




In the Spring of 2011, they are hitting the long road once again.  You can follow their progress at Path Less Pedaled. It makes for very interesting reading.