Container of Dreams is an interdisciplinary research project that merges Social Sciences with Creative Arts processes to examine affordability through micro-housing. The aim of the project was to establish the best conceivable model for initiating Australia’s first-ever affordable micro-housing community project in the Northern Rivers. The project has explored innovation in new housing design by presenting tangible alternatives to conventional building methods and practices. The major outcome is a template for a pathway to home ownership which is intended to address some of the inequities of wealth which are created through home ownership for currently marginalised sections of society.
Using practice-led studio-based exploration methods to investigate micro-house solutions, the Container of Dreams project has established a prototype or demonstration model to act as a showcase for sustainable micro-housing solutions to directly address affordability. This model has major implications for the future of affordable housing across Australia. The project has engaged both creative art and anti-oppressive theories to establish a commitment to social justice and has endeavoured to enable the expansion of micro-housing in Australia. A body of small complementary works, which act as artefacts of the act of building the Container of Dreams, has been devised to be a portable interpretation of the project.