by Tafline Laylin

greenprophet.com

Click for incredible graphics: http://www.greenprophet.com/2014/03/collapsible-woven-refugee-shelters-powered-by-the-sun/

More than 40 million people worldwide have been displaced from their homes <http://www.greenprophet.com/2012/12/one-million-syrian-refugees/>  and left to find shelter in strange lands. Maybe they find a tarp, or a tent <http://www.greenprophet.com/2012/08/syria-refugees-tents/> , but their quality of life almost always remains dismal. To close this gap in need, Jordanian-Canadian architect and designer Abeer Seikaly designed a new kind of shelter.  One that allows refugees to rebuild their lives with dignity.

Seikaly, now living in Amman, Jordan is well poised to design a dwelling for refugees given that her ancestors in Jordan probably toggled between nomadic and sheltered life in the desert for centuries.

<http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/Abeer-Seikaly-Woven-Shelters-3.jpg>

 

“The movement of people across the earth led to the discovery of new territories as well as the creation of new communities among strangers forming towns, cities, and nations,” writes Seikaly in her design brief <http://www.abeerseikaly.com/weavinghome.php> . ”Navigating this duality between exploration and settlement, movement and stillness is a fundamental essence of what it means to be human.”

But today, a great deal of migration is no longer voluntary, as wars and climate change force people out of their homes – often with very little money. The collapsible woven shelters, which are conceptual but proven to work, would allow these people to carry their homes with them.

 <http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/Abeer-Seikaly-Woven-Shelters-2.jpg>

Comprised of a structural woven fabric that “blurs the distinction between structure and fabric,” the shelter expands to create a private enclosure and contracts “for mobility.” It also comes with some fundamental amenities required by modern people, including water and renewable electricity <http://www.greenprophet.com/2013/12/solar-for-syria-provides-desperate-refugees-energy-and-light/> .

The outer solar-powered skin absorbs solar energy that is then converted into usable electricity, while the inner skin provides pockets for storage – particularly at the lower half of the shelters. And a water storage tank on the top of the tent allows people to take quick showers. Water rises to the storage tank via a thermosiphoning system and a drainage system ensures that the tent is not flooded.

 <http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/Abeer-Seikaly-Woven-Shelters-4.jpg>

Well ventilated and lit, the shelter opens up in the summer and huddles down during cold winters. But most importantly, it allows refugees to have some semblance of security, some semblance of home.

 

<http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/weaving-home-winter.jpg>

 

“This lightweight, mobile, structural fabric could potentially close the gap between need and desire as people metaphorically weave their lives back together, physically weaving their built environment into a place both new and familiar, transient and rooted, private and connected,” says Seikaly.

 <http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/Abeer-Seikaly-Woven-Shelters-5.png>

“In this space, the refugees find a place to pause from their turbulent worlds, a place to weave the tapestry of their new lives. They weave their shelter into home.”

 

 

Shapeshifting shelters

for refugees in hot

and cold climates

March 12, 2014

 by Tafline Laylin

greenprophet.com

With roughly 600 Syrian refugees crossing into Jordan every day <http://www.greenprophet.com/2013/11/4000-handmade-hats-delivered-to-syrian-refugees-by-this-green-prophet/> , it’s no surprise that local architects are designing various housing solutions for the devastating influx. Abeer Seikaly’s collapsible woven shelter <http://www.greenprophet.com/2014/03/collapsible-woven-refugee-shelters-powered-by-the-sun/>  is lightweight and mobile, while Yahya Ibraheem’s shapeshifting shelters can be customized to fit a suite of climate conditions.

Ibraheem wrote her Master’s thesis for the University of Salford, Manchester <http://www.salford.ac.uk/>  about the many ways in which parametric modeling can enhance architectural design solutions of temporary shelters in disaster areas.

 <http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/Yahya-Ibraheem-1.jpg>

Using Grasshopper, Ibraheem takes the ancient method of constructing teepee-like temporary shelters out of branches or trees, cuts off the empty pyramid point, and then models a shelter with diagonal lines that are proven to be the most resilient in rough winds.

She then uses parametric modeling to determine the best possible method to connect the base joints with the roof joints in a way that creates a flexible internal space that can accommodate any number of residents. Conveniently, a design already put together for four people can be quickly altered to accommodate eight instead.

Interior partitions can create several rooms in any number of configurations designed to match the particular group of people who will inhabit them.

Let’s say a family of seven is going to live in the shelter. They will require perhaps a separate room for a bathroom, and cooking, but will need much less privacy, in general, than a group of four single strangers. Also, a refugee in Russia will need a very different shelter than a refugee in the desert – given the different climatic conditions.

Ibraheem takes this into consideration by creating a structure that can be modeled with thicker walls for greater insulation in cooler temperatures, or longer windows shaded from the sun for shelters to be deployed where the sun beats down constantly.

 

<http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/Yahya-Ibraheem-3.jpg>

Likewise, Ibraheem’s shelter is a shapeshifter: parametric modeling, according to her, allows it to become a triangle, or a rectangle or a pentagon even. And the floor sheet can be made into different shapes and sizes as well – all to accommodate the particular needs of each cluster of refugees.

While Seikaly designed a special structural fabric than allows her woven shelters to collapse for greater mobility, Ibraheem hasn’t gone into great detail about the kind of materials would be ideal for her customizable, shapeshifting structures.

But it does have a door and it does meet the Red Cross standards for refugee housing, which calls for a shelter that provides some sense of self-determination and dignity. As one reader said about an earlier post, the only thing that would make these designs better is to not need them at all.

 

Reusable, stackable Exo

emergency shelters

for Syrians in need

March 11, 2014

by Tafline Laylin

greenprophet.com

Our breakaway story about collapsible woven shelters (click here)  <http://www.greenprophet.com/2014/03/collapsible-woven-refugee-shelters-powered-by-the-sun/> designed to restore dignity to refugees around the world was so popular, we decided to look around for similar projects. Cue Exo emergency shelters by Reaction Housing, which has partnered with the Maram Foundation to deliver short-term security to Syrians in need.

 <http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/Reaction-Housing-Exo-Emergency-Shelters-1.jpg>

That the solar-powered collapsible shelters potentially provide some sense of security and ownership to the person who owns them, or the fact that it could make a great tent for festivals, is perhaps what makes Abeer Seikaly’s design so compelling.

<http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/Reaction-Housing-Exo-Emergency-Shelters-2.jpg>

But sometimes in emergency situations, aid workers find themselves faced with hundreds or thousands of people who were very suddenly displaced from their homes – either by natural disaster or a sudden eruption of violence.

<http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/reaction-exo-emergency-housing-9.jpg>   

<http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/reaction-exo-emergency-housing-11.jpg>

In this case, volume takes priority over aesthetics, which is why tents have always been the go-to solution for disaster relief organizations. It is very challenging to transport a large volume of decent, insulated structures that not only provide shelter against the elements, but also protection from opportunistic criminals.

<http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/Reaction-Housing-Exo-Emergency-Shelters-3.jpg>

According to the UN Refugee Agency <http://www.unhcr.org/pages/4a02db416.html>  (UNHCR), two million Syrians have fled from their country, while an additional four million have been displaced inside the country’s borders. That’s six million people who are desperately in need of something more humane than a shredded tarp above their heads.

Michael McDaniel <http://inhabitat.com/prefab-friday-reaction-housing-emergency-shelters/>  was initially inspired to build the stackable Exo shelters after watching the appalling conditions people faced following Hurricane Katrina in the United States. After eight years of finessing his design, which was inspired by the styrofoam cup, McDaniel has launched an Indiegogo crowd funding campaign <http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/give-shelter-help-reaction-deploy-housing-for-families-in-need>  to put them to good use.

<http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/Reaction-Housing-Exo-Emergency-Shelters-4.jpg>

And he’s starting in Syria. By teaming up with the Maram Foundation <http://maramfoundation.org/al-hekma-school/> , which is helping Syrian refugees in several ways, McDaniel hopes to help bridge a daunting gap in low-cost, secure housing while also gathering the necessary data to improve his design.

Made with aircraft-grade aluminum and insulated for climate control, each Exo shelter provides temporary housing for up to four people. The bunk style beds look far more comfortable than a cold hard floor, and a digitally-coded door provides security. This is particularly important for women and children.

 

<http://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/Reaction-Housing-Exo-Emergency-Shelters-5.jpg>

Easily connected to electricity, the shelters are also well-lit thanks to skylights, which is essential to quality of life. And to make it easer for relief workers to keep track of whether the units are on or offline, each is wired for networking capabilities.

Since they are stackable, the shelters can be transported on a trailer, and when longer term housing is secured for refugees, the units can be reused for the next disaster. Obviously, we wish they wouldn’t be necessary at all, but this is definitely one of the better short term solutions we’ve seen in a while.

Check out Reaction Housing’s Indiegogo campaign <http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/give-shelter-help-reaction-deploy-housing-for-families-in-need>  and consider supporting them so that a few Syrian families might sleep a bit better at night.

 

IKEA’s flatpack homes

for refugees

get a reluctant OK

from Lebanon

Posted on December 17, 2013

by Tafline Laylin

greenprophet.com

Lebanon’s government has finally agreed to a trial run of IKEA’s prefabricated flatpack homes <http://www.greenprophet.com/2013/06/unhcr-ikea-solar-powered-refugee-shelter/>  designed for refugees, but they’re not excited about it.

The prefab homes were a huge hit when they were unveiled earlier this year – blogs all across the globe picked up the story.

Designed as an alternative to tents currently used to shelter refugees, IKEA and the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) put three years and $4.6 million into developing them.

Sturdy but relatively lightweight <http://www.greenprophet.com/2013/06/unhcr-ikea-solar-powered-refugee-shelter/> , they come with a small solar panel, and are easily transported when disassembled in under four hours.

They aren’t cheap – each costs $7,500 – but they do provide a great deal more protection from the elements than existing solutions.

That might seem like a good thing, but the Lebanese government is concerned that these steel-framed homes will be too cozy for the refugees, who might then be inclined to overstay their welcome.

After more than 500,000 Palestinian refugees fled to Lebanon in 1948 and never left, the government is leery to encourage the roughly one million Syrian refugees to make the country their permanent home.

As it stands, the refugees who poured into Lebanon to escape the violence in Syria already make up 25 percent of the latter’s population, which puts a huge strain on the country’s infrastructure.

“In Lebanon the government has been reluctant to set up any structure that has any resemblance of permanence,” Roberta Russo, UNHCR’s Beirut-based spokesperson, told TIME Magazine.

“After what they went through with the Palestinians, they want to make sure the presence of Syrians is temporary.”

Still, after six months of negotiating, the government has agreed to at least allow a trial run. But this won’t result in any significant changes for the refugees any time soon.

Jean-Marie Garelli, UNHCR’s program director for the Syrian refugees told TIME that the government’s receptivity is positive. “However it will take some time to put these shelters in place. You won’t see a miracle in a week.”

In the meantime, severe cold, rain and snow make conditions intolerable for refugees. Over the weekend, camps were flooded, and the emergency kits distributed by aid agencies are scarcely sufficient to keep people warm.

Refugees in Jordan aren’t faring any better.