Radical homes that move

In recent decades, architects have designed buildings that are taller, smaller and more sustainable than ever before.

But for those who want to take home with them when they travel, it’s time to ditch the traditional trailer for a floating cabin or trampoline tent.

“Mobitecture: Architecture on the Move,” a new book by design writer Rebecca Roke, shows the vast range of new mobile housing structures that growing urbanization and new materials have inspired.

From an umbrella house to a floating sauna, the book highlights the often quirky design solutions devised to make mobile structures stylish and functional.

“In a surprising and sometimes bewildering array of forms, materials, colors, sizes and locations, Mobitecture demonstrates that architecture is very much on the move,” Roke writes in the introduction.

“The delight and entertainment that structures like these offer is perhaps more valuable than ever in the face of the weighty social and political concerns that color our everyday existence.”

But while the focus of the book may be on design, the vivid photos of the surrounding wilderness make it hard to resist the urge to pack everything up and get back to nature.

“Arguably, the reason for the enduring appeal of mobile structures is the way they free us from the usual constraints of daily life,” Roke explains.

“Adaptable, lightweight, responsive to local conditions and with the ability to travel almost anywhere with ease: these inherent qualities of ‘mobitecture’ imply the opposite of our usual stationary, brick-and-mortar-bound existences.”