Diseño de una vivienda con contenedores de carga aplicando materiales reutilizables al diseño interior en la ciudad de Cuenca-Ecuador

Abstract

Currently, architectonic design and construction has encountered a new conditioning factor: sustainability. There exists a constant pursuit to find new alternatives in design, materials, as well as methods as far as the building field that optimize and improve the already existing techniques in housing projects. Recycling enables architecture to include new materials, create new forms, reuse old structures or even antique architectonic bodies, all of these with the same purpose, which is optimizing resources and reducing waste. A material that can be reused is the shipping container, which is a large load container used for either air, ocean, land or fluvial transportation; currently it’s use in architecture has experienced an interesting growth and development due to its contribution to create multipurpose constructive solutions at a lower price. The purpose of the present study is to explore and investigate the field of reusable materials and its application in housing construction. What is meant to do is to design a house in the city of Cuenca, applying as a basic structure a shipping container and analyzing the usage of reusable materials in interior design. Therefore the initial question is as follows: Is it possible to develop economic housing by applying the use of containers as an architectonic box and the implementation of other reusable materials? First of all, the properties and advantages of shipping containers will be described ahead, followed by the background examination and considerations to be able to accomplish architectonic designs by analyzing different case studies in which the shipping container is the fundamental element. Furthermore, three reusable materials will be examined for their application in interior design, making known elements that can be involved into different areas that conform a household. Subsequently, the design of a household will be executed, considering its formal arrangement and interior solutions, to conclude the study with the household budget.