Small prefabricated architectures, cheap, easily available and almost ready to use: containers have long been objects of interest for architects, especially in emergency contexts. The properties and limitations of these standard sized elements are well known and we can see high quality projects anywhere in the world. This is the case with Instant Bunker, a control outpost for a residential area of Caracas, Venezuela. The limited resources and time have led the architects of Atelier Caracas to choose the container as a structure to which to apply a few but significant interventions.

The studio placed the volume on a concrete base and created two new openings, one circular and one linear, to allow efficient control of the surroundings. Two internal layers of insulation and phenolic wood have been added to the metal envelope to make the space habitable and protected from the torrid temperatures of the Venezuelan capital. Outside, a metal grid has been applied to allow climbing plants to grow and further cool the small instant architecture.