We start with a need
People have asked us over the years, “If you were to design a basic home, how would it be?” Biokabin is a simple and modular small home made of natural materials and with low impact.
Precise yet made of wood. Organic yet modular
It’s possible to build simple homes that combine quality, style and affordability. A wooden construction can be precise, sturdy and long-lasting with little maintenance. Precision can be made of wood.
A home that evolves and is, primarily, “home”
Focusing on short-term outcomes, society forgot the fundamentals of “home,” a place one can build and improve over time, participating in the beauty of a place. Biokabin doesn’t hide its structure but highlights the elegant simplicity of wood.
Simplicity inspired by experience
The Design of Biokabin is driven by our experience with architecture, industrial design, and woodworking in Scandinavia, California, and Catalonia.
Our Team
Meet the collective behind Biokabin
David Tapias
Chief Architect, Reus
Architect passionate about wood and modularity, expert in Jean Prouvé’s work (PhD). Read more >>
Gerard Marmolejo
Chief Machinist, Lleida
Master Carpenter and Architect. Passionate about wood. Blending Mediterranean and Northern European traditions. Read more >>
Kirsten Dirksen
Chief Multimedia, SF Bay Area
Kirsten’s influential work as a youtuber was preceded by years as a TV producer (Oxygen, Sundance, MTV, etc.). Read more >>
Julio Menéndez
CTO, Utah
As a computer programmer, Julio has created his own path thanks to boundless curiosity and values. Humanist. Optimist. Read more >>
Jon Essery
Chief Sales Officer, San Sebastián
Architect and craftsman. Interested in woodwork, metal working + the boundaries between architecture and art. Read more >>
Alex Probst
CDO, Barcelona
Graphic, publishing, video, and product design. Experience in Europe and the Americas. From Mexico, Barcelona-based. Read more >>
Nicolás Boullosa
CEO, SF Bay Area
Journalist and writer specializing in print and online media, founder of *faircompanies. Curious, humanist drive. Read more >>
Ryan Lok
Chief Engineer, SF Bay Area
A structural engineer from California, Ryan blends experimentation with disaster-proof tech. Passion for modularity. Read more >>
David Tapias’ BIO
David Tapias Monné is an architect from the ETSAB UPC and holds a PhD from the same institution with his thesis on the Prouvé maison in Nancy.
David is founder and director of Aixopluc Architectures, a band of small companies and initiatives committed to building architectures in symbiosis with the biosphere, from four differentiated modes -Practice, R&D, Community and Teaching.
Their works have been presented in four Venice Architecture Biennials and the Chicago Architecture Biennial, and have been winners of five editions of the Alejandro de la Sota Biennial.
His research on construction systems and building components in local wood and new ways of habitation has led him to collaborate with The University of Sydney and the Nationalmuseet of Denmark, among other public and private institutions, developing a methodology for innovation through prototypes.
In 2021, he published the book Little Huts BIY, exploring children’s innate building abilities. In 2023, he founded Shelterhood, a spinoff of his digital fabrication and traveling architectures research.
David is the promoter of the Camp Commons project, where they safeguard the regeneration of abandoned communal ecosystems.
He is co-director of the Tectonic Logics course at the MIAD master’s degree at ETSALS La Salle Barcelona. He has been an Associate Professor of Architectural Design and Building Components at the Aarhus Arkitektskolen in Denmark; Lecturer in Industrialized Building at the School of Architecture, Design and Planning at The University of Sydney; Teaching Fellow at The Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture; Assistant Professor at ear, Universitat Rovira i Virgili; and co-director of the Matter Unit at ETSALS La Salle Barcelona.
Gerard Marmolejo’s BIO
Gerard Marmolejo is a master carpenter and architect based in Lleida, Catalonia. He’s completed carpentry projects across Spain and Northern Europe, specializing in CNC machining and custom projects of all sizes. He’s passionate about wood and makeshift invention.
Gerard teaches carpentry and builds all sorts of wooden objects and structures from his Lleida-based workshop Timberlab.
Kirsten Dirksen’s BIO
During the last years of her TV career, Kirsten filmed, for Discovery, her personal search through Europe for secrets behind the Da Vinci Code; and for MTV, she produced a half-hour movie special and went on the road with bands like Good Charlotte.
But it was on her trip to Spain to interview Javier Bardem for the Sundance Channel when she met Nicolás that would prove an end to this chapter.
Soon after, she had moved to Barcelona and the couple launched *faircompanies, a website aligned minimalism.
They were soon making videos for the newly-launched Youtube, but it would be 5 years before they began to make money from it: after their microapartment, and a tiny house, videos began to go viral, picked up by newspapers/blogs/TV networks around the world. They would go on to break story trends with popular videos on topics like off-grid homesteads, restoration agriculture, vanlife, alternative vehicles, and resurrected ghost towns.
After graduating with a BA in economics from Harvard in 1992, she spent a decade filming pop culture for teen shows at NBC-San Francisco and Oxygen Media (when it was an Oprah startup). Today, she spends most waking moments filming and editing for the Youtube Channel, and raising her three children has blurred into the channel.
A bit more about me: I’m a youtuber.
I like making videos. The other 10% of my time I like spending with my family or trying to learn about philosophy, neuroscience, physics and metaphysics (preferably where they all intersect).
I make videos about simple living, self-sufficiency, small (and tiny) homes, backyard gardens (and livestock), alternative transport, DIY, craftsmanship and philosophies of life.
I studied economics but I didn’t follow the most popular career path. Instead, I returned to San Francisco and became a TV journalist, then I worked for national TV in NYC for a decade.
I’ve spent the last years working on my YouTube channel and *faircompanies, holding a conversation that gets more interesting every day.
Julio Menéndez’s BIO
Julio Menéndez (GitHub) is a veteran computer programmer with an eclectic career in the tech industry. Currently serving as a Software Engineer at Microsoft, Julio’s expertise and experience assuming various roles helps turn Biokabin into much more of an atoms company.
Born in Cuba, Julio’s journey began as the lead engineer and CTO at MobileRider while in college, where he helped design, develop, and scale a full video streaming platform.
Julio later took on the role of the senior engineer at BarkBox.
At BarkBox he demonstrated his ability to design and build the initial versions of their e-commerce platform, contributing to the company’s e-commerce growth.
Throughout his career, Julio has also worked as a lead engineer at ROQlogic, Inc., a founding engineer at Dopple, Inc., and a senior software engineer at Rinse, Inc., among other endeavors.
In addition to his roles in established companies, Julio has been an entrepreneur and co-founder of GetBoxFit, where he took charge of designing and building the current version of the gym management platform.
Julio’s impact extends beyond his formal roles, as he has also consulted for several startups, including InMoment, uBiota, Involvio, SimplePractice, Lyft, and *faircompanies. His ability to offer guidance and technical expertise to emerging companies demonstrates his commitment to fostering innovation within the industry.
With a track record of achievement that includes creating cutting-edge platforms, e-commerce solutions, and contributing to the success of both established companies and startups, Julio Menéndez continues to be a highly respected and influential figure in the world of computer programming and software engineering.
Jon Essery’s BIO
Jon Essery Chillida is an architect based in San Sebastián, Basque Country. After studying in Madrid, Jon became interested in the rich tradition of vernacular construction across the Atlantic Coast of the Bay of Biscay, with its verdant, hilly topography and rich history.
Jon has undertaken several residential projects across the Basque Country and its surroundings, both of new construction and carefully studied renovations through his architecture studio Jon Essery Chillida Architect.
Jon is also interested in experimental architecture and the intersection of Nature, materials, and residential construction. He’s worked extensively with stone, wood, and metal, including shipping containers.
Despite his youth, his renowned craftsmanship comes from a long family tradition of exploring the boundaries between utility and art. Jon is the grandson of reputed Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida.
Alex Probst’s BIO
Born in Mexico in 1976 and living in Spain, Alex Probst has been a visual communicator for 30 years, with art direction, branding, graphic design and video production as expertise areas.
Alex started as a newspaper and magazine graphic designer until he moved to web design during the early 2000s, jumping to video production by 2007.
He has worked with various industries in Mexico, the Caribbean, the US, Canada, and the UK.
Throughout the years, he evolved in executive positions, solving communication problems and branding issues and creating full-on marketing campaigns, starting from the desired outcome and working in reverse to create the best path to this goal.
Currently founder and art director of Penta Creative Productions, a multi-channel creative studio covering web, marketing, creative, copy, branding and niche specialties like 3D environments, audio design, motion graphics, and custom web development.
Alex is also the founder of The Tasker Army, a startup focusing on fast-paced, subscription-based creative and developer services for small and medium companies, US-based and recently entering Europe.
Dog lover, Cat lover, animal lover that eats bacon with pleasure and guilt, he’s a punk rocker with hip-hop and metal roots, sci-fi and History buff, video game “enthusiast” (addict 😀). Alex confesses he drinks large amounts of coffee and likes to build things with Legos.
Alex is helping us create and evolve the Biokabin brand, ensuring consistent and cohesive communication with the outside world.
Nicolás Boullosa’s BIO
Writer, journalist (UAB 1999), founder of *faircompanies.
Nicolás Boullosa (Barcelona, Spain, 1977) is a journalist, writer, and co-founder of faircompanies.com, a website with videos and information on sustainability and philosophies of life. After graduation, Nicolás worked and volunteered in different fields.
With literature, photography, and nature as interests, he attended a program in free-market environmentalism at PERC (Property and Environment Research Center) in Bozeman, Montana.
In Spain, Nicolás specialized in technical journalism as editor-in-chief of the magazine Digitalware, director of several online publications, and editor for magazines such as PlayBoy. Nicolás thinks the Internet can indeed become a tool for human improvement despite the challenges, and he helps create in-depth, non-partisan quality content to improve public conversation on topics (individual or collective) that threaten or improve well-being.
Nicolás has written and translated several books covering topics from the fictionalized contact between Neanderthal and Sapiens groups in prehistoric Europe to the future of web3.
As co-founder of *faircompanies, Nicolás’ work has been featured in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, among other media. He lives in California with Kirsten and their three children Inés, Ximena, and Nicky.
Ryan Lok’s BIO
Ryan is a structural engineer who loves blending experimentation and disaster-proof technology with tradition. As a Bay Area resident, he has a soft spot for modularity and affordability in construction.
He specializes in custom residential structures and is the founder of Lok Engineering, a structural engineering consulting firm.
Throughout his career, Ryan has worked with a wide range of architects and builders to integrate form, function, and structural integrity as seamlessly as possible.
He enjoys collaborating with the design team to come up with unique solutions to unconventional designs. Conversely, he also appreciates the beauty of simplicity and minimalism.
Ryan is interested in designing sustainable and affordable homes, and is continually looking for ways to lower the overall cost of residential construction. An Oakland, CA native, he believes that access to affordable housing is important both at the individual and community levels.
Other interests include running, hiking, and spending time outdoors amongst nature and the trees.
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