Design in Society: Junk Yard Building- Dan Phillips

There can be a lot learned from Dan Phillips a man who has started his own construction business. But these are no ordinary construction sites. By utilizing materials from other locations rather than hardwood stores Phillips has been able to create a new approach to design. He finds his materials from other construction sites, junk yards and even the side of the road. Because Phillips finds certain materials using them to his advantage, the costs of his projects are much lower. Although some may think that finding martial’s in junkyards to build a home out of may seem junky and filthy Phillips creates new and interesting ways to incorporate this so called junk.

As our landfills grow larger in size each year it is becoming a bigger problem of where to put all the waste created by our society. The materials Phillips uses ranges from wine corks which are used to create floors to bones made into furniture. By using material that are no longer used for there intended purpose brings us to discover unique ways of taking certain objects and using them for a more sustainable purpose.

Along with using corks and bones Phillips creates interesting designs and patterns with the materials he finds. An example of this is in one of his houses that when we look up at the ceiling we see a zigzag pattern that has been created out of picture frame corners across the whole ceiling. Also Phillips uses mismatched bricks, tiles, license plates, glass platters, and mirrors as other materials within the houses construction. Because certain materials are hard to come by in large quantity Phillips takes advantage of representing imperfection, manufacturing it as perfection.

Although one might think that these houses are not safe or reliable they are wrong. Because people live in these houses each home must pass all building codes, meeting all the standards and requirements of suitable living. Another interesting aspect of Phillips house is that to be able to live in one of these homes you must be low income and help build and design the house. By doing this Phillip is making the consumer the designer allowing them to be part of the design process generating a better connection with the final product.

While Phillips cannot change the building industry over night he is doing his part to clean up others unneeded materials, using them to create master pieces and homes for those in need. By using out of the ordinary sort of materials we can look to Phillips for inspiration.