Ok, this is a part of a series of short films that compliment a book called Trillions. But this caught my eye because I’m infatuated with container ships. see: Rivertown

Then watch this short

I’ve got a thing for container ships.  When the Gatecrashers site goes live, find Rivertown articles.  In the mean time, peep this video of the largest ship in the world being built.

Building the world’s largest ship (in 76 seconds) from Maersk Line on Vimeo.

Shanty Town Orchestra. Very cool performance. Hat tip to Diana for the find.

Dithyrambalina

The Brooklyn-based artist Swoon has joined forces with New Orleans Airlift to create a landmark sculpture in New Orleans.

More info here >

I read this article years ago and it has really stuck with me. Especially considering I now live blocks from East Broadway.  This article is the inspiration for Rivertown. Read it. I was just mining it for some numbers and came across this:

East Broadway became known as “Fuzhou Street,” and the Chinatown shorthand for new arrivals was “eighteen-thousand-dollar men,” after the snakehead rate in the eighties.

The New Yorker
A Reporter at Large
The Snakehead
The criminal odyssey of Chinatown’s Sister Ping.
by Patrick Radden Keefe

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/04/24/060424fa_fact6#ixzz1RKEyUZQv

The inhabitants of Rivertown surely did their homework and caught wind of the artsy, high class version of lowdown living. (okay they definitely didn’t do any homework). But this is a great visual model of what stacks of shipping containers can look like as they are re-purposed into living quarters. I doubt the refugees in Rivertown would have access to beautiful 36″ circular windows and ikea flooring. But, I like the open doors to create balconies and entrances.

Here’s some more from wikipedia.

Here’s a link to the project site itself: ContainerCity.com