Inhabitat

PREFAB FRIDAY: Andrew Maynard’s Mobile Home

Readers, we’d like to introduce you to BOB. BOB is a mobile home unlike any other – a dwelling that is bound to be spectacular, because Andrew Maynard is the creator and designer (and you know how we love his work), along with Soren Luckins of Buro North. The Australian duo has taken mobile living to the next level, with an unfoldable mobile unit that triples its floorspace when you park and open it out.

Maynard and Luckins characterize BOB as “a hybrid home of the future, a mobile living tool for tomorrows generation of nomadic wanderers. Somewhere between a tent, a house and a Winnebago, BOB explores the relationship between the basic human requirements of travel and shelter.”

Here’s what I want to know — what kind of fuel does BOB run on? They call BOB a “hybrid,” but I think this refers to the hybridity of vehicle and home. I would like to see BOB drink up some biodiesel, or some ethanol, or incorporate electric-style hybridity. Then BOB would be the perfect mate.

+ meet BOB.

8 Responses to “PREFAB FRIDAY: Andrew Maynard’s Mobile Home”

john Says:

May 5th, 2006 at 1:53 pm

I think that the aerodynamics could dow with some work before you get onto which fuel it uses!

john

jill Says:

May 5th, 2006 at 2:22 pm

Aerodynamics? Dude – what do you think this is? A race car? This is a MOBILE HOME – ie. it needs to be nice and roomy and provide comfortable living space…

Ethan Says:

May 5th, 2006 at 3:36 pm

It is very cool but I don’t know if the fabric walls will provide sufficient security when its parked overnight in the Mission.

Scott Says:

May 5th, 2006 at 4:47 pm

I’ll take the camo one, and put some spinners on it, haha :)

Rob Says:

May 5th, 2006 at 4:52 pm

My first gut reaction is, why is the centerpiece of the whole vehicle a big screen TV? If my home was destroyed I’d rather have a bathroom with at least a chenical toilet & a shower. I’d also rather have a bed than a plasma TV – I’d rather have almost anything else in fact. The last thing people need in a natural disaster is to see more Geraldos covering an event that they just lived through.

Also, how about showing where the engine & gas tanks (or batteries) go.

Oh wait, there’s a giant seam in the center of the glass windshield… uh, how’d that gonna work?

I really woke up as a wet blanket this morning, didn’t I?

csven Says:

May 7th, 2006 at 1:42 pm

Thought-provoking and fun to look at, and reminds me of much of the student work at industrial design schools, but in the end it’s the engineering details that in my mind prevent this sort of thing from being produced and why we don’t see this sort of thing on the road today. Aerodynamics isn’t the issue. It’s all the little things: the hinges, the seals, the mechanism that opens and closes it. Those are real problems.

Personally, I’d rather see a working model than a CG render. It’s too easy to gloss over shortfalls in CG. Gizmodo carried a story on a “glass toaster” recently ( http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/transparent-toaster-concept-171315.php ) . A concept from almost two decades ago – made with real materials – solves problems the *new* concept fails to address.

George Says:

May 9th, 2006 at 7:13 am

Who would live in an accordion car that has no water, no bathroom, no kitchen, no food storage, no storage space, and no tables? If you want to live a decent mobile life, go buy a 24′ Winnebago and put solar cells on the roof to power it off the grid. The Winnie might not go all transformy on you, but it actually has all of the missing elements I listed above. Toss in a laptop with a cellular broadband card for your net connection and you can live a good digital life in a small motor home. The trick is to not own lots of junk. Digital photos, digital music, e-books, convert as much as possible into digital form and it gets much more feasible to live in 200 square feet.

Winnebago in question: http://www.winnebagoind.com/html/products/recVehicles/winnebago/ol_24v.html