When they are piled high on a barge, shipping containers aren’t exactly fertile inspiration for recycled architecture – but creative thinkers have managed to turn these boring rectangular boxes into surprisingly beautiful modular homes, offices, apartments and dorms.

Like a giant modular building Lego set, shipping containers can be stacked into all sorts of configurations with a crane – and of course, they are really easy to transport.

Off-the-shelf DIY used shipping container house plans are very popular and allow owners to plans and design their new modular building. The building process then becomes as easy as stacking giant modular metal LEGO blocks in place, in this case the prefabricated, pre-cut cargo containers already sized, scaled and structured to the design.

This house in the south of France was assembled piece by piece on site after each shipping container was taken there by truck.

DIY used shipping container house plans have become so popular that there is a growing shortage of used containers themselves – but for those able to find and buy them locally the actual building process is much cheaper and easier than most kinds of construction.