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WE START WITH THE THINGS WE FIND / THE LOT-EK MOVIE BY THOMAS PIPER


If we pay enough attention to the ordinary, we see the extraordinary. The shipping container is an accidental icon of our modern age: the eight-foot-by-forty-foot corrugated steel box that brings the world to our doorstep. It brings all our hearts’ desires’, available for purchase. And it brings us complicity in the global supply chains, and all the economic, ecological, technological, and political systems that forge those chains, as those great container ships link maker and user, buyer and seller, China and America together across the vast distances of the lawless sea. The design studio LOT-EK is a visionary practice at the intersection of art and architecture, that specializes in upcycling, which is the art and science of repurposing, remaking, rethinking, reimagining. Of using old things in new ways. The shipping container is the thing that has captured their imagination for over a quarter-century: they have remade containers into homes, schools, galleries, libraries, and more. With hundreds of millions of obsolete and unused containers around the world, this is a new and necessary architecture of the future, that repairs and regenerates the unnatural environment that we have inherited from the past. WE START WITH THE THINGS WE FIND is a feature-length documentary of this vision, and of the soulful lifelong partnership of the people, designers Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano, behind it.

WE START WITH THE THINGS WE FIND shows us a way to be radically optimistic, creative, and constructive during times that can feel the opposite of all that. Director Thomas Piper’s acclaimed documentary feature Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf showed how the wild and unfavored plants could encourage audiences to live more responsibly with nature, and now he looks at living more smartly and sweetly with the effects of industry, infrastructure, and technology. Taking us from spark-filled workshops to a container ship sea voyage over a shimmering sea; and explaining all the prosaic and poetic design thinking behind how LOT-EK brings the container to life, the film shows how all we have can become all we need, how resourceful subsistence can feel like beautiful abundance, and how to keep going when we now know there is no such thing as a fresh start. The film is a humanist essay not only about a new kind of design thinking, but about a new design for life.





UPCOMING SCREENINGS


Los Angeles, CA: Architecture + Design Film Festival

Nov 23, 2024 The Culver Theater - AUD 4


PAST SCREENINGS

Cooperstown, NY: Glimmerglass Film Days

Nov 9, 2024 Cooperstown, NY

Boston, MA: MIT Museum

Nov 7, 2024 MIT Museum

Jackson, MS: Mississippi Museum of Art

Oct 15, 2024 The Westin Jackson

Rotterdam, Netherlands: Architecture Film Festival

Oct 12, 2024 AFFR

Marzocca di Senigallia, Italy: Demanio Marittimo

Jul 19, 2024

San Diego, CA: San Diego Architectural Foundation

Jul 18, 2024

Berlin, Germany: The Nature of Cities Festival

Jun 5, 2024 Atelier Gardens

NYC, NY: Ford Foundation

April 24, 2024 New York City, NY

New York: Columbia GSAPP Screening + Q&A

Mar 28, 2024 Columbia Wood Auditorium

DC Film Festival

Mar 27, 2024 Washington, DC


Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: Winnipeg Architecture & Design Film Festival

Mar 23, 2024 Dave Barber Cinematheque

Detroit, MI: Mercy University + Cranbrook

Mar 20, 2024 University of Detroit Mercy, Loranger Architecture Building

Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan/Taubman College

Mar 19, 2024Art & Architecture Building, Lecture Hall 2104

Architecture and Design Film Festival

Jan 31, 2024 Chicago Architecture Center



REQUEST A SCREENING

APAP Open School


The OpenSchool is a dynamic shipping container structure designed to activate the recreational space along the riverfront and serve as an open site for the public art program of APAP2010. Positioned along the river's edge, the structure invites users to engage as visitors, spectators, and participants in its multifaceted activities.

Eight shipping containers are skewed at a 45-degree angle and arranged in a fishbone pattern, forming a striking arrow-like volume that hovers three meters above the landscape. Strategically located over Hakwoon Park's pedestrian walkway at the city level, the structure marks a focal gathering place, blending into the park’s vibrant social and natural environment.

Spatial Organization

he OpenSchool offers a sequence of interconnected spaces, each providing unique experiences:
  1. Ground Level
    The footprint of the container structure creates a public amphitheater, taking advantage of the site’s sloping topography. The lower section overlooks the riverfront, offering a scenic viewpoint, while the upper section transforms into a performance space that engages the open area beneath the structure. These spaces encourage public gatherings, community exchange, and social interaction.
  2. Second Level
    A shipping container connected to the pedestrian paths provides access to the upper levels. Inside the hovering containers, this level features:
    • A large multi-purpose room for meetings, assemblies, and exhibitions.
    • Two studios for artists-in-residence.
      The dramatic overhang of the structure, along the north-west axis, features solid frontal walls with peep-holes at varying heights, framing curated views of the natural and urban surroundings. The short sides of the containers are fully glazed, allowing natural light, cross ventilation, and views of the park path below.
  3. Third Level
    A roof deck stretches over the river, resembling a diving board. This suspended platform offers breathtaking views, complemented by two long benches that provide spaces for social interaction. A staircase contained within a shipping container connects this deck to the lower levels.


Design and Impact

The OpenSchool redefines the riverfront as a focal point for culture, leisure, and community engagement. Its bold design, integrating functional and symbolic elements, celebrates the intersection of art, nature, and public interaction while offering spaces for education, creativity, and social connection.


Credits:

Client: City of Anyang - Anyang Public Art Project 2010 directed by Kyong Park
Type: Art School
Photography: Kim Myoung-sik , Sergio Pirrone
Location: Anyang, Korea
Size: 2,600 SF indoor + 2,900 SF outdoor
Consultants: Structure/Silman + MIDAS IT  
Design: 2010

Awards:

Collections:

DRIVELINES STUDIOS


LOT-EK was commissioned by Propertuity to design a live-work building with ground-floor retail in Johannesburg’s vibrant Maboneng Precinct. Propertuity, a leader in urban regeneration, has played a pivotal role in transforming the precinct into a thriving hub of leisure, culture, and commerce. This building adds a residential component to the neighborhood’s dynamic urban mix.

The structure, constructed entirely from upcycled ISO shipping containers, is organized in a V-shaped massing, creating a triangular open yard that features a swimming pool and sundeck. All residential units are studio apartments, ranging from 40 to 60 square meters, each offering private outdoor spaces along walkways overlooking the central yard.

In 2023, the building was repainted in vibrant rainbow colors, bringing an extra layer of playfulness and energy to the neighborhood. This bold design choice not only adds visual delight but also reinforces Maboneng’s reputation as a lively and creative district.



DRIVELINES STUDIOS REPAINTED




Credits:

Client: Propertuity, Johannesburg
Type: Residential and Retail building
Location: Maboneng, Johannesburg
Size: 75,000 SF
Consultants: Structure/Silman + Asakheni Engineers; Electrical/VBK Engineering; Plumbing/Abbink Consulting; ire/Drofnets Engineering; Civil/DG Consulting Engineers
Design: 2017+ repainted 2023

Articles:

THE CUBES @ SOCRATES

The CUBES originally began as a commission by The Whitney Museum of American Art on Madison Avenue, then a six shipping containers/720 square foot structure which housed the museum’s education programs. When the Whitney vacated the Breuer building, the Museum donated the structure to Socrates Sculpture Park. This opportunity led to an expansion plan to create the Park’s first indoor public space.

LOT-EK’s concept expanded the design of the Whitney multiplying the original cube by 4, adding twelve additional shipping containers stacked on two levels. Diagonal, continuous bands of glass along the sides and roof of the building provide natural light and transparency, offering building visitors a view of the landscape and skyline outside, and park visitors a view of activities inside.

Located at the main entrance of Socrates Sculpture Park at Vernon Boulevard, the CUBES houses the park’s educational and administration programs with about 1,000 square feet at ground level of flexible multi-purpose indoor space for education programming and exhibits and about 500 square-foot shaded deck area for outdoor classes and programming, plus about 1,200 square feet of open space at the second level to house office and administration spaces.

LOT-EK’s innovative design and material choices underscore the Park’s history of reclamation and revitalization and its mission of presenting contemporary public art, fostering environmental stewardship, and community building.


DRAWINGS


BUILDING PROCESS:



Credits

Client: Socrates Sculpture Park
Type: Art & Education
Location: Queens, New York
Size: 2640 SF
Design: 2016
Consultants: Structure/Silman; Mechanical/JFK&M; Civil/Langan

Awards

NYC Public Design Commission - 2017 Award for Excellence in Design

Learn more:

Socrates Sculpture Park / ︎

Articles:





CARROLL HOUSE


The Carroll House repurposes 15 steel shipping containers into a unique single-family residence, blending industrial character with thoughtful design. Located on a 25x100-foot corner lot in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, the home reflects the area's industrial heritage while embracing its evolving urban landscape.

The containers are stacked and cut diagonally along the top and bottom, creating a distinctive yet understated profile. This diagonal cut not only adds visual interest but also ensures privacy from the street while rethinking the traditional backyard. Instead of one outdoor space, the design introduces private decks at each level of the home, fostering a connection to the outdoors.

Large glass doors bring in natural light and provide access to the decks, promoting cross ventilation throughout. A simple steel staircase along the north wall links the outdoor spaces, making them easy to use and enjoy.

The Carroll House is a practical and modest approach to urban living, demonstrating how industrial materials can create a home that feels both private and open, connected to its surroundings in a meaningful way.


DRAWINGS


BUILDING PROCESS


Credits

Client: Joe and Kim Carroll
Type: single-family residence
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Size: 5,000 SF interior + 2,500 exterior
Design: 2016
Consultants: Structure/Silman; Mechanical Sustainability/Dagher Engineering
Photography: Danny Bright

Learn more: