Affordable Housing Built From Trash

"Freed by necessity from what he calls the 'tyranny of the two-by-four and four-by-eight,' common sizes for studs and sheets of plywood, respectively, Mr. Phillips makes use of end cuts discarded by other builders — he nails them together into sturdy and visually interesting grids."

"'It doesn't matter if you don't have a complete set of anything because repetition creates pattern, repetition creates pattern, repetition creates pattern,' said Mr. Phillips, who is slight and sinewy with a long gray ponytail and bushy mustache."