Young designer, (she’s an undergrad at Western Washington U.), Kristen-Lehua Barcheski has come up with some innovative designs for shipping container housing. Her EIGHTx8 series features concepts that utilize the ubiquitous cargo container as the basic building unit.

The compact, modular nature of the container units makes them an ideal living solution for crowded urban communities.

The prefabs would also be readily assembled and disassembled for moving and transport, particularly in the case of disaster scenarios when emergency housing and pop-up medical facilities would need to be erected quickly.

The tiny footprint of each living space could be expanded by designing multi-functional rooms and furnishings, like a Murphy Bed that also serves as a work station, and a dining room that also serves as storage space.