Refugee Shelter

[Rafael]

I am an Industrial Design student at Purdue University and I am focusing my thesis on refugee shelter. My goal is to design a collapsible shelter that can be easily deployed all over the world. Something that can be shipped flat and assembled with few or no tools. When it is no longer needed, it can be dismantled, packed flat again, and moved to the next disaster area. I want to create a base unit that can be adapted to different climates and terrains. This unit can serve as a very basic shelter but, also have the capabilities to upgrade and implement modern infrastructure(i.e. solar power, running water, etc). I will also explore the possibility of having modular and stackable structures. Many alternative housing solutions deal with small scale but can't cope with large scale displaced populations. My aim is to design a system that addresses the needs of large amounts of displaced people.

Does anyone have comments, suggestions, or ideas for research?

[joelmckellar]

I don't have much in the way of suggestions, but I would check out the emergency carboard/paper shelters designed by shigeru ban for refugees in Rwanda in the mid-late 90's. They're a little more basic than you're designing, but they're collapsable and reusable.