Tuesday's Design - The New Shanty Home

These days 'small' definitely seems to be the new 'big' and design mags and blogs are forever providing decorating tips for urbanites who live in a 400 sq ft apartment, cabin, or whatever your title is for 'hole in the wall'. Yet, one group that is never talked about are the millions of people around the globe that live in shanty towns on the outskirts of major African cities not to even mention the gazillion more who crowd around cities like Delhi and find themselves completely homeless after a disaster as in Haiti.

As you can image, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to read this article about a small wave of companies that are getting into portable houses. Companies like BSB Designs (with the Abod homes pictured above) and HabiHut are working in South Africa and Kenya to design small, durable, easy-to-assemble and stylish homes for those most in need. I love that these companies have clearly thought about their markets and how most people throughout Africa naturally love a lot of color! As you can see, the Abod homes already come in multiple colors and the HabiHut homes also comes in a ton of colors. I can already see paint and artwork being added to make these spaces even more colorful and personal.

While the costs of these portable homes, $2,500 - $4,500, is still very high, bulk purchases can be made by organizations that provide support for the poor and displaced.

You can read more about these here and here.

{Photos: My Abod}