“蝸居”：40美元有家可歸
An Oakland artist is ingeniously battling homelessness in Oakland, California: he builds small houses out of materials he can find in the streets, with each edifice costing around forty bucks.
在加州奧克蘭，一位當地的藝術家巧妙地解決人們無“家”可歸的問題：他利用在街上能撿到的材料來建造小房子，每所僅花費約40美元。
The tiny homes are made of pallets, bed boards, washing machine doors, and other bizarre objects that catch Greg Kloehn’s attention. Mr Kloehn first noticed that homeless people built shelters from whatever they find in the street, and he wanted to make a house like this.
這些小房子是由運貨板、牀板、洗衣機門和各種能入他法眼的千奇百怪的東西組成的。建造者克勒恩先生的靈感來源於看到那些無家可歸的人從街上撿東西來搭建避難所，他也想自己造一個這樣的房子。
He jokes that he constructs "illegal homes out of illegal garbage." The cost of one house is “$30 to $40,”Kloehn told RT.
他開玩笑地說，他是用“非法垃圾”搭建“非法房屋”，一所房子的建造成本是30到40美元。
“The real cost is just in the wheels: I buy large casters for the bottom, so that they are mobile, and then nails, and screws, and paintbrushes. But everything else I get for free,” he said.
“主要開銷在於輪子：我買了一些大腳輪用在房子底部，這樣房子就可以移動。還買了些鐵釘，螺絲和漆刷，其他材料都不花錢，”他說。
The houses are just comfortable enough to lie down in a warmer place than a cardboard box, and the homeless in Oakland are “so happy,” Kloehn told the Independent. "One cried and got on his knees to thank me. They think I should make them bigger and suggest improvements. They like to decorate them themselves.”
克勒恩告訴《獨立報》，只要把這些房子放在溫暖的地方，睡在裏面就比睡在紙板箱裏舒服多了。奧克蘭無家可歸的人都“很高興”。“有人激動落淚還跪下來感謝我。他們給我提了很多建議，比如說把房子做大一點。他們喜歡自己動手裝飾這些房子。”
Currently, about 25 people use the homes. One couple’s home burned down, another one was stolen, and a third was sold.
到目前爲止，大約有25個人在使用這種房子。有一對夫婦的房子被燒燬了，另外一個人的房子被偷了，還有一個人的房子被賣掉了。
“It is tough out there. So I keep making more," Kloehn said. It takes about a week to finish a house, depending on the style.
“人們無家可歸的情況還是不容樂觀，所以我要造更多的房子，”克勒恩說。造一個房子大概需要一週的時間，具體也視乎房子風格而定。
“There are some quick, easy homes in maybe two or three days. But some more elaborate ones, some more Victorian-style ones, some different dome shapes – it takes a little bit longer," he told RT.
他說：“也有一些能在兩三天內就快速搭建的簡易房子。但如果想建一些更精緻的，一些維多利亞風格的，或者一些與衆不同的圓頂屋，則需要長一點的時間。”
Some people choose to change their homes, Kloehn said to RT. “One guy remodeled the house and made it twice as big!”
有一些人會改造他們的房子，克勒恩說：“有一個人重建了他的房子，改造到原來的兩倍之大。”
The creator chooses funny names for the homes: R2D2, The Settler, Romanian Farm House, Uni-bomber Shack, the Tank and The Chuck Wagon to name a few.
他還爲這些房子起了一些有意思的名字，比如：R2D2、定居者、羅馬尼亞農場、單向轟炸棚、坦克和卡盤等等。
“They are not just homes but fast becoming a life style option. They are usually cheaper than regular homes, giving more people the opportunity of ownership,” he said.
“這些不僅僅是房子，這也逐漸成爲一種生活方式的選擇。這些房子通常比普通房子便宜，這能夠讓更多的人有機會擁有房產。”他說。
"By skipping the traditional 30 years mortgage, perhaps the tiny home movement could even reshape the way we think about work and what we want to accomplish with our lives." ”
‘蝸居’小房不像傳統意義上的房子，不需要30年的抵押，這種住房新風潮或許能夠重塑人們對工作的思考和對人生的追求。”
Vocabulary
ingeniously：獨創地，有見識地
pallet：運貨板
elaborate：精心製作的
