An Architecture Folk Hero Is Born: 16-Year-Old Builds His Own Portable House

It’s been too long since we’ve had an “architecture in hard times” folk hero. There was John Morefield, the unemployed architect who would shell out building and design advice for five cents a pop, but we haven’t really heard much out of him since early last year. Fortunately, California-based teenager Austin Hay has entered the picture. The 16-year-old has been building a tiny home on wheels all by himself in his parents’ backyard, using materials “acquired at salvage yards.” So not only does he have his youth going for him, and his green building-by-necessity practices, he’s also aware of the ongoing world-wide financial troubles and is already happy not to be paying a mortgage. With that sort of youthful insight, we expect someone to start making “I’m with Hay!” buttons and patches here any day now. Here’s a video tour of his self-made digs:

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