DESIGN/BUILD/OCCUPY
YEAR 2019
TYPOGOLOGY Camper Van
LOCATION Vancouver
TEAM Carla Gruber
TYPOGOLOGY Camper Van
LOCATION Vancouver
TEAM Carla Gruber
“Can a van become a home?” This was the question that spawned a design-build, a zine, and an amazing adventure.
A collaboration with Carla Gruber, this project was born out of a desire to take the typical design-build one step further; not only did we want to design and execute the conversion of cargo van into a camper, we also lived in it for two months in order to reflect on our design and construction. That, and we wanted to go on a summer road trip for school credit. While we set out expecting to reflect on the design and how it might have been improved, we ultimately were more fascinated by way in which we came to occupy public space — a semi-legal gray zone that many exist in not out of choice but out of necessity. Once we returned we published a zine that document our trip and our reflections and insights along the way.
We produced a simple design that we could construct in a single month. This included a bed which transformed into a table with booth seating, a mini-fridge powered by a solar panel, a pump handle faucet and sink, removable window covers, and plenty of storage. We completed the entire project in a back alley with a borrowed table saw, a drill, and some basic hand tools. We sourced as much free material as possible, including leftover hardwood floor from a friend, plywood from the schools scrap bin, old ship-lap boards repurposed to make the ceiling, and plenty of bits and pieces scavenged form alleyways and dumpsters.
We set off mid June, driving from Vancouver to Tijuana and back. Living in the van, we expected our reflections to be focused on our own design decisions, but we became far more interested in our occupation of public space. Although our condition was temporary, our quasi-homeless state and often illegal occupation of public space gave us new insight into a life spent calling this space “home”. Once we got back to Vancouver we summarized our reflections on homelessness, public space, and transience in a small batch zine.
