Twelve-year-old Max Wallack recently won Grand Prize at the Design Squad ^[1] ‘Trash or Treasure’ competition for his “Home Dome” design ^[2] – a  make-shift shelter for the homeless made out of trash.

Modelled after a Mongolian yurt, the Home Dome is made from wire and packing peanuts stuffed into plastic grocery bags, and includes a built-in bed that helps to anchor the structure.

After winning US$10,000 and a Dell laptop, Max said, “I don’t really care about the money. I care about helping people.” This would likely be received as an insufferably glib statement if it had been delivered by an older person who hadn’t designed a shack out of peanut shells. Coming from Max, it’s just inspirational.

Check out the Design Squad video about Max’s Home Dome, embedded below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJAaMQuEFl8[/youtube]