This resourceful artist takes the small home movement to new levels, using trash off the street to create tiny liveable homes.
It takes a creative mind to look at a pile of discarded junk on the street and see the building blocks for a house, but that's exactly how Gregory Kloehn's mind works. After building his own five-unit condominium from scratch and being inspired by the environmentally friendly small home movement, the Californian artist began constructing small dwellings mainly from illegally dumped trash on the streets of Oakland, California, where he lives.
These little homes are perfect for homeless people, offering cosy protection from the elements. Kloehn had the realisation that homeless people live the ultimate green lifestyle, upcycling everything they can and reusing discarded goods that would otherwise end up in landfill. With this in mind, Kloehn uses materials such as discarded wood pallets as the foundation, adding features like windows, cup holders and insulating them with discarded pizza delivery bags.
Kloehn spends his summers in Brooklyn, in a dumpster which he outfitted with granite countertops, hardwood floors, a rooftop deck, plumbing and a barbecue grill. It's not your usual "holiday home" but when outfitted properly these teeny tiny abodes can be perfectly liveable and comfortable. In our throwaway society, where over-consumption has become habit, people like Kloehn are an inspiration. Turning trash into treasure is a necessity, and turning trash into a home is even better.