by Michael Richard Weekes
WHO
Michael R Weekes wanted to design and build a houseboat / shanty boat in weeks, not months, that cost less than $2,000 and could be made by one person without special tools, space / work center, or equipment.
INSPIRATIONS:
R. Buckminster Fuller, Bigelow Brook Farms, CT
CONCEPT
Fasten the required number of ultra-rugged yet light storage containers to a 10×16 2×4 deck to achieve a 5,000 pound buoyant capability, where containers act like a poor man’s inexpensive floating dock solution.
Use 2x2s fastened together with 8″ 3/4 plywood hubs to achieve a three frequency geodesic elongated dome (split the dome in half and add 6′ stringers to achieve a cocoon type shape) which weighs less than 200 pounds.
The project began as a bootleg/gypsy event by me at a local yacht yard, until I was kicked out at 4 PM by which time I had the pontoons in the water. I spent the next three weeks fabricating and assembling the geodesic cabin to the deck and then was towed to Canalside (ref. Buffalo Waterfront) from the Buffalo ship canal where I built the structure on the water by myself.
ref: shantyboatliving,com, Buffalo Rising Online, The Buffalo News, Buckminster Fuller Institute, other “geodesic houseboat” on Google.
The home has a splendid 7’6″ headroom and a 9′ width and by offsetting the dome on the deck, it added three feet for a propane grill and cooler, along with back porch.
I’d like to submit this solution for any contests to compete for most value for least cost, effort and time.
The boat build led to my writing and self publishing a book, Building a New and useful Buffalo (eBay – $17.95) which recommends a new kind of framework for communities to leverage their cultural capital to accelerate their transformation and economic development.
I am interesting in joining like-minded urban pioneers to make the quality of life in the cosmos more sustainable while receiving the joy that comes with building your own tiny home with your own hands!
I am also looking for a key role in a company who might wish to commercialize / develop a manufacturing capability for tiny living / “deployment” shelters to help victims of hurricanes, tornadoes, or mud slides / earthquakes.
Michael R Weekes
michaellovesbuffalo(at)gmail.com
