For this prototype, five containers were artfully welded to create a two-story pavilion, complete with a cozy fire burning in a stainless-steel hearth. The central living area was furnished with orange couches and a kitchen island equipped with a Viking range and dishwasher. Floors were covered with custom-designed carpeting by the artist Jim Isermann.

The idea of the mail-order-kit house has been part of the American dream since 1908, when houses by mail were first offered in the Sears, Roebuck & Company catalog. More recently, there have been efforts to adapt steel containers to a similar kind of prefabricated housing. Kalkin has been investigating their potential since 1992; in 1993 he used one in a performance-art piece, ”Addiction.” Since then, he has worked with them in seven different projects, with the goal of arriving at a mass-market commodity. ”You confront a whole other set of problems when you try to turn an artistic thing into a multiple commercial product,” he confessed.