Modern Cambodian Houses Made Out of Lego Bricks For the Poor

[General Mackevili]

A dude with no engineering, designing or construction skills comes up with a way to build brick houses with bricks that are shaped like Legos, letting people have a home on the cheap, especially for those lowly paid government workers...

Phnom Penh: PHNOM PENH: Kongngy Hav is no engineer. He is no construction expert, nor a designer.

Yet the young Cambodian is trying to indelibly shape the country’s housing sector.

Amid Cambodia’s looming housing crisis, Kongngy, 31, is becoming a force for social change through a simple idea that is slowly finding foundations.

He has developed “My Dream Home”, a program designed to provide quality, affordable green housing to those who cannot afford to buy traditional housing.

It utilises an interlocking brick system, which resembles Lego, designed to provide sturdy construction and that can be put together by people without building skills.

[SinnSisamouth]

commendable.

however,both article do not mention land prices which is the biggest issue not affordable housing.

khmers will just live in a shack if they have land.

[frank lee bent]

so weird- i was on his facebook page just before clicking in here
https://www.facebook.com/mydreamhomekh/

[Jamie_Lambo]

can be put together by people without building skills.[/i]

people without building skills should not be building houses, its dangerous, and theres no way in hell someone built that house in the picture without no building skills

[frank lee bent]

and not really cheaper than brick from what i can tell
looks a good block though

[willyhilly]

Good on you Jamie. That is the model house, can you imagine the average house built by people with no building skills building that? But I have known about this guy for years, he is clever. But as someone else pointed out, it is land prices that is the problem.

[IraHayes]

Hardly revolutionary either as I had heard of these more than 20 years ago. A quick google confirmed my suspicions.

[mammothboy2]

LAND PRICES are horrific in any place that has a booming local economy.

There's a big new house for rent on Abacus Lane in SR for $800/mo. totally unfurnished or $220,000 as a sale price.

No garden, no pool ... location just over the lane from a beer garden with music until midnight (plus searchlights
sweeping the skies to keep zeppelins at bay,)

The owner paid $350 for every square meter on which the house and the paved parking yard stands...

[cpandrea]

can be put together by people without building skills.[/i]

people without building skills should not be building houses, its dangerous, and theres no way in hell someone built that house in the picture without no building skills

I know him and I visited a few houses build with that brichs
The house in the pic, if I remember correctly was built from a small construction company. He is a good guy and dont want to be reach fast, the houses build with that bricks will cost less than with clay bricks. Maybe because he want to earn just a little and the labour´s cost for the building are less.

[rogerrabbit]

however,both article do not mention land prices which is the biggest issue not affordable housing.
.

True. But why is the land price so high? I mean Cambodia is not that small country (land-area) and population is just ~15 million. When you fly over Cambodia, it's practically empty country. But land prices are just ridiculous.