Those who passed by the town of Pardes Hanna Karkur in Haifa district last summer witnessed an unusual scene: giant trucks transporting shipping containers to what looked like a construction site. But unlike other construction sites, this one had no concrete mixers, no tractors and no bulldozers. Instead, metal welders were setting up their equipment to weld together the large containers, while cranes lifted the containers in place. A billboard announced the opening of the Pop Box shopping mall, with cafes and shops housed in the containers — a first in Israel.
Metal containers come in all sizes and colors; some people use them for storage, while others use them for shipping. But some people live and work in them. And while container homes, offices and shopping centers are a common sight in Europe, in Israel they are rare, even though containers have been used by the military for the last four decades.
