Boeing 747 Recycled Into a Private Residence 239
Ponca City writes "Nicholas Jackson writes in the Atlantic about a woman who requested only curvilinear/feminine shapes for her new home and has purchased an entire Boeing 747-200. They transported it by helicopter to her 55-acre property in the remote hills of Malibu and after deconstructing it, had all 4,500,000 pieces put back together to form a main house and six ancillary structures including a meditation pavilion, an animal barn, and an art studio building. 'The scale of a 747 aircraft is enormous — over 230 feet long, 195 feet wide and 63 feet tall with over 17,000 cubic feet of cargo area alone and represents a tremendous amount of material for a very economical price of less than $50,000,' writes Architect David Hertz. 'In researching airplane wings and superimposing different airplane wing types on the site to scale, the wing of a 747, at over 2,500 sq. ft., became an ideal configuration to maximize the views and provide a self supporting roof with minimal additional structural support needed.' Called the 'Wing House,' as a structure and engineering achievement, the aircraft encloses an enormous amount of space using the least amount of materials in a very resourceful and efficient manner, and the recycling of the 4.5 million parts of this 'big aluminum can' is seen as an extreme example of sustainable reuse and appropriation. Interestingly enough, the architects had to register the roof of the house with the FAA so pilots flying overhead would not mistake it as a downed aircraft."
sad... (Score:5, Insightful)
too bad he had to level a hilltop and clear away some forest to build his stupid house.
recycling?
greenwash fail.
Just one problem: (Score:3, Insightful)
Radiactive Waste? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:THey should house a server farm in it (Score:3, Insightful)
Aerophile (Score:4, Insightful)
In researching airplane wings and superimposing different airplane wing types on the site to scale, the wing of a 747, at over 2,500 sq. ft., became an ideal configuration to maximize the views and provide a self supporting roof.
Let me guess -- it creates a lifelike visual stage with mellow yet crisp organic textures and deep black interscene silences. The muscular yet deft support structure enhances the vista responses of the viewer, allowing full appreciation for the rich yet subtle display of thermal inversion in the valley below.
Re:sad... (Score:3, Insightful)
Where do you propose people build houses? Only on naturally level ground, on which no vegetation is growing?
My hunting cabin is making LEED Silver, despite my having to 'clear away for forest' and 'level a hilltop'.
Re:sad... (Score:1, Insightful)
Even the recycling part doesn't really count for anything at all since they are still taking valuable aluminum out of circulation. If they had recovered aluminum from cans in a landfill, that would be one thing, but taking aluminum that would already have been reused doesn't really accomplish any eco purpose -- in fact, it makes aluminum *more* scarce which increases the demand for mining. It would be like building a house out melted-down gold bars and bragging about recycling.
Re:sad... (Score:5, Insightful)
The greenest home is the one you don't build. If you really want to save the Earth, move in with another family and share a house that's already built.
Re:Feminine shape? (Score:4, Insightful)
Sorry to respond to myself but I just had to add some things.
-no, they sure as hell did not disassemble all 4,500,000 pieces. Most of that number is fasteners (rivets) which are destroyed by being removed (and need to be replaced).
-here are a few things that aren't part of a "sustainable" house: many pounds of lead, cadmium all over the place, hydraulic fluid, fuel cells with fuel residue, halon fire suppression system, primer loaded with chromates, toxic insulation, plastic and fabric treated with flame retardants, etc.
-trucked cross-country
What this amounts to is a pile of used scrap aluminum generously sprinkled with hazardous waste. 8 years in aviation maintenance has been enough for me to lose any childhood fantasies about living in airplanes.
It just bugs me that they're using words like green and sustainable around an airplane. Might as well build a house out of pre-RoHS electronics.
-b
It's all symbolism (Score:2, Insightful)
The 747 is a symbol of American industrial and technological innovation and might. Taking one apart and turning it into an eco-home is really just a symbol destroying American industry to save the environment.