It’s both a cliché and a truism that good things come in small packages. In fact, nothing could be truer in the budding small homes architectural and design movement as building small really does require fewer materials to construct and fewer resources to heat/cool, etc.
Nomadic artist James Westwater has created the Homeless Chateau; a 4ft x 8ft x 4ft small dwelling made from FSC certified and recycled materials, which makes a provocative statement on the need to reclaim small spaces. We caught up with James to find out more about his artwork and just how plausible are the Homeless Chateaux for mass production.
Tell us a bit about the Homeless Chateau.
I had been living in a 120-square-foot shed with my girlfriend (now my wife) and our three dogs, and was wondering just how small could you go with a house? Then I read The Last Oil Shock, by David Strahan, and started thinking about life after oil – basically the meltdown of our civilization – and what if I had to live in a box and wanted to keep making art. That was the winter of 2006/2007, when I made the first few Plywood Chateaux models. After I got over my survivalist paranoia about the end of life, as we know it, I decided to build a Plywood Chateau for my garden and invite people to stay in it, as in an artists' residency program. I guessed it would be the smallest live/work residency in the country. At that time, I nicknamed it Chateau for Homeless Artist.
Is homelessness a recurrent theme in your work?
Small spaces have been a recurrent theme in my work, but not necessarily homelessness. I have moved around a lot, so mobility, packing and unpacking, and traveling light are all second nature to me. I've been making models since I was a kid, so I've always thought small. (The Plywood Chateaux were 8-inch models first.) I made my first solo outdoor shelter when I was ten years old. It was basically a one-person teepee, a structure of bamboo canes covered in clear plastic, which I set up in the garden of my house. My favorite thing to do back then was lie in my "sky tent" when it was raining and read.
Is the Plywood Chateau a statement about homelessness?
At some point between the real estate bubble bursting in the fall of 2007 and the current economic meltdown, I started to think more seriously about the broader, and, potentially, broadening, issue of homelessness, so I changed the title of the project to Homeless Chateau – it was no longer just for artists. I hope it's a "What if?" piece, one that makes you think, "What if I was homeless?" That small, cozy space also takes people back to their childhoods, so it's a mixed message: Warm, fuzzy, cocooning, fort-building, playhouse-playing nostalgia, combined with, "Wow, this could be someone's life – maybe mine – reduced to a box on wheels!"
Are these 'real homes' or is it a work of art?
This project is art first, and, I hope, thought provoking, if not provocative. But I do believe the Homeless Chateau, or something like it, could be developed into a practical solution for some homeless people in certain situations.
How plausible are these structures for real use?
In its current un-weatherized form, the Homeless Chateau requires a warm, dry space in which to be parked. And that requires property owners who are willing to donate space to homeless individuals inside their buildings. Ideally, cities would set aside vacant properties for this use. These host spaces could be properly managed and safe, meeting fire regulations, etc.
How green are these structures?
The prototype you see here is 100% recycled and reclaimed materials. The Purebond birch plywood, which is FSC certified and formaldehyde-free (soy-based glues are used), is left over from other projects; the construction signs, some of the plywood and OSB, and the clear poly are all used and salvaged, as is the pallet; the rubber door flap is an off-cut from a landscaping job; the casters were saved from going in the landfill; even the screws that hold the Homeless Chateau together are left over from other jobs. I did have to buy one box of screws when I ran out.
Do you have any plans for producing the Homeless Chateaux?
I am considering production of the Homeless Chateau. A backer or individual donors would be a great help. I also urge people to build their own Homeless Chateaux on site, both to save on the carbon footprint of shipping them and because it's cheaper to do it yourself. The materials are readily available at your local lumberyard or big box hardware store.
How much would it cost to produce one?
Each Homeless Chateau costs about $500 in time and materials. 3/4-inch Purebond plywood is not cheap, about $50 per 4 x 8-foot sheet, and you need four sheets per structure, if you can't find any used plywood or old signs. EPDM rubber and casters are also quite expensive new. I would be willing to sell Homeless Chateaux at cost ($500 each), when they are going directly to homeless people (via benefactors, who would purchase the structures for them), and for $1000 when non-homeless individuals simply want the Chateaux for their living rooms or bedrooms, for example. The $1000 would help subsidize the $500 sales, so you'd be helping the homeless either way.
Where can people see the Homeless Chateau?
Right now, just online, as the one and only prototype is dismantled and stored flat, leaning up against the wall at an exhibition space, waiting to come back to my studio. I would like to offer it free, either to the first person or organization that can prove to me that it will benefit a homeless person, directly, or to a museum that will exhibit the Homeless Chateau prototype, and thereby foster awareness of the homeless issue.
Anything you would like to add?
If no one takes me up on my offer, I plan to insulate, roof and waterproof the Homeless Chateau and set it up in my garden for guests, as originally intended.
Visit: http://www.jameswestwater.com/
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written by Charmayne Vannatter , April 22, 2011