Buses are a surprisingly cool medium for all kinds of DIY projects. Creative folks transform old, junky decommissioned vehicles into storage-filled tiny houses, amazingly chic custom RVs and cozy mobile offices that can go virtually anywhere. But how often do you see converted buses that act like Transformers, unfolding to reveal spacious open-air interiors? Kevin Van Braak slices and dices trucks, buses and trailers, turning them into unique mobile urban gardens, portable faux lawns and surreal landscapes-to-go.
By cutting a 1970s-era Mercedes bus down the middle, two halves are able to fold down as platforms while the back and top form sides for an open-air but off-the-ground seating or ‘camping’ space of sorts. It isn’t exactly an instant, push-button transformation, but the slow revelation of the bus’s ultimate potential is half the fun.
Retrofit elements, tightly attached, are simply a cosmetic extra step from there – and taking camper trailers down the same path is a logical progression along that road as well.
Artificial grass, silk trees and fake flowers are a practical measure to make this all work, of course, but also provide some commentary on the commodification of contemporary society and our need to ‘bring it all with us’ along the way.
“The caravan produces a reality, in which the so called illusion and the so called reality automatically come together. The question to choose between them is therefore not necessary.”
“My caravan appears to be no different from any other caravan when it is pulled behind a car; when opened it manifests itself as an artificial garden, park or camping sight. Inside the caravan, there are stuffed animals, artificial grass silk flowers and trees, a sound installation with bird sounds and a BBQ.”
So while it does not provide an authentic experience of nature, it sure is a wonderful little work of ingenuity and engineering.