Walking house can escape floods or unruly neighbours

It is the ultimate house for beating floods or unfriendly neighbours - a home built on six hydraulic legs that can walk. The 10ft high home is solar and wind powered and can stroll at walking pace across all terrains.

It has a living room, kitchen, toilet, bed, wood stove and mainframe computer which controls the legs. The pod will take its maiden stroll around rural Cambridgeshire at the Wysing Arts Centre in Bourn today.



It was built by art collective N55 in Copenhagen, Denmark, who worked in conjunction with engineers at MIT in Massachusetts, USA. The artists in the N55 collective are Ion Sørvin, and Øivind Slaatto. Sam Kronick, from MIT designed the legs. Designers say it provides a solution to the problem of rising water levels as the house can simply walk away from floods.

The prototype cost £30,000 to build, including materials and time, but the designers believe it could be constructed for a lot less.



Mr Slaatto plans to live in the house when it returns to Copenhagen. He has been working on his pet project for two years and was inspired by his meetings with Romani travellers in Cambridgeshire.

He said: "This house is not just for travellers but also for anyone interested in a more general way of nomadic living."