AllTop Viral!

Washington, D.C.’s old subway cars may not be suitable for riding the rails, but that doesn’t mean they can’t continue serving the city’s residents, particularly those most in need.

Octagenarian architect Arthur Cotton Moore came up with a design that would create two apartments designed to house the homeless out of each decommissioned car. He was inspired by the trend of turning shipping containers into livable spaces.

“With the usual solution of those shipping containers, you would have to cut holes in them, but there are lots of windows already in a waterproof aluminum shell in the Metro cars—there’s a built-in outside view,” Moore says. “There could be two units made out of each car, with the connecting doors between train cars repurposed as a front door to a unit. We would add four concrete footings where the wheels would be, welded to a series of anchor bolts. The cars are already heavy and aerodynamic enough that they could withstand strong winds.”

The idea is to build a community of the cars that would include space for playgrounds and gardens, among other things on land already being targeted for redevelopment.

Full story at City Lab via Inhabitat.

Tackling the issue of homelessness.