A friend was talking about her (planned) new backyard art studio last week, designed by her husband. It's two stories, built out of recycled shipping containers, and has a number of sustainable features like rainwater collection (Seattle, what can I say?). At about 800 sf, it actually looks pretty cool. There's a lot of focus in the design on low-cost, re-use, and enviro-friendly.
Here are the exterior and interior views: I do wish there was more to explain the special features. Anybody think they could live in an ex-shipping container house?
http://youtu.be/_PiEWA37F3E?hd=1
http://youtu.be/wNugTwmLcbg