Businessman Anand Mahindra recently tweeted in praise of an architect who transformed an autorickshaw into a mobile home. The Chairman of Mahindra Group shared pics of the unique mobile home on Twitter, noting that the architect built it to demonstrate the power of small spaces but also managed to capitalise on the larger trend of post-pandemic wanderlust with his creation.
Photos shared by Mr Mahindra show a tiny house sitting on top of an autorickshaw. The house was designed by Chennai-based architect Arun Prabhu NG. According to the Twitter user who originally shared the pics on the microblogging platform, Mr Prabhu built the "Solo 1" mobile home using Rs 1 lakh.
"Apparently Arun did this to demonstrate the power of small spaces. But he was also on to a larger trend: a potential post-pandemic wanderlust & desire to be 'always mobile," wrote Anand Mahindra while sharing a Twitter post about the mobile home. He also asked if anyone could connect him with Mr Prabhu. "I'd like to ask if he'll design an even more ambitious space atop a Bolero pickup. Can someone connect us?" wrote Mr Mahindra.
His tweet has racked up nearly 5,000 'likes' and hundreds of responses. While many praised the innovation, several others also shared Mr Prabhu's contact details with Anand Mahindra.
According to a 2020 report in DT Next, Arun Prabhu developed the detachable 6-feet x 6-feet home after realising that small slum places can be improved by better design.
"We generally focus on large scale architecture and don't give much importance to small scale architecture. By developing a prototype of Solo 1, my intention was to explore temporary and portable housing concepts in India," he said.
