Bubble Boy Eat Your Heart Out: Bubble Dome Camping and Living

 

Have you ever gotten the question, “Do you live in a bubble?” That phrase has always frustrated me personally since it implies that I have no knowledge of topics or of the outside world, but now I fear it NOT!

BubbleTree has developed bubble tents, tree houses, lodges and huts which allow campers and nature enthusiasts alike to enjoy views from the inside of a transparent dome. Similar in design to the containment laboratory used in the new blockbuster film Thor, the spheres have an air renewal system that will keep the user comfortable and full of oxygen while they go about their daily indoor activities.

The very intelligent design of the bubble tent helps reduce noises of the outside world, allowing for the user to get a good night’s sleep, even if the bubble is set up next to roaring waves on a beach front. The inside however is created in such a shape that it will actually amplify noises through echoes, passionate lovers beware. BubbleTree talks about the technique and thought behind theses bubble creations:

Designed by Pierre Stephane Dumas, this approach is based on the following basis: Minimum energy, minimum materials, maximum comfort, and maximum interaction with the environment.

Want a life-sized snow globe? No problem. A 2 room suite with a bathroom while you bird-watch? They have you covered. Bringing your kids along? That bathroom is now a kids room instead. Silly, is it not? Check out some of these fancy French examples of ways these crafty bubble tents can be used! You may be even tempted to use your bubble hut in creative ways at a concert.

My question is when are they going to make these bad boys hover around and provide us consumers with a view of cities and landscapes, maybe with the use of propellers.. oh right, helicopters.

So the next time someone asks you if you live in a bubble, burst THEIR bubble and respond why yes, and the view is extraordinary. Bubble boy eat your heart out.

 

Sources:

http://www.bubbletree.fr/bbtree/racine/default.asp?id=1107

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nuzPn2w7JU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTyYpq8BFJ0

Amsterdam’s Interesting Housing Solution

shipping container house housing

vectroave.com

Amsterdam has implemented an amazing green architecture technique to deal with limited space and lower income needs: Retired shipping containers. These small houses can even be used for temporary disaster relief housing.  Not only that but, According to figures from SG BLOCKS, a New York-based shipping container builder,

fitting a container for housing use takes only one-twentieth the amount of energy of reprocessing the same amount of steel—and results in an additional hundred years of lifetime.

So it’s more green than recycling the shipping containers, but it also costs less than constructing new housing.

Companies that build modular buildings from shipping containers claim savings of 20 to even 50 percent of traditional construction costs.

Not to mention they’re practically real life legos for people to live in. BAM!

 

Sources:

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/sustainable-earth/pictures-amsterdam-shipping-container-homes/#/rio-20-un-climate-conference-shipping-container-homes-sitting_54416_600x450.jpg

http://www.sgblocks.com/the-sg-blocks-advantage/better-for-the-environment/