Turning Street-Side Trash Into Nomadic Homes
The overload of dumped waste on the streets of Oakland has inspired Gregory Kloehn to create a series of tiny mobile houses. Created from all sorts of trash, the artist’s one-of-a-kind accommodations are meant to give the city’s homeless a modest accommodation. With the Homeless Homes Project, Kloehn wants to prove that building an own house is possible without money and with a lot of creativity.
Kloehn has used all kinds of discarded stuff for his one-person dwellings, varying from dumped material to commercial waste and discarded household items, which he picks up all over the city. While most of the houses predominantly consist of salvaged wood, we also spotted parts of refrigerators and washing machines, isolation material, a portable cat box and BBQ parts. Each structure is unique as the creation proces depends on what is available, and costs approximately $30-$50 — that’s mainly the screws, nails, glue and gas needed to drive around Oakland to pick up the trash.
All of Kloehn’s colorful creations are mobile so they can accommodate the nomadic lifestyle of his imaginative customers. And although few people would really consider living a life in a mobile cabin like these, the maker argues that his project wants to explore modern living. Collective ideas, goodwill and basic construction skills should unite to repurpose the abundance of everyday garbage into viable living spaces.
