Open Architecture Network

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Designing a shelter is quite complex. Conditions can differ from hot to cold, from mountainous to flat and from dry to wet. Disasters don't discriminate, it could happen anywhere, in remote areas, as well as in cities, to anyone, families as well as individuals. Flexibility is the keyword, but how do you anticipate on so much variables? It's impossible to have the perfect solution in the right amount ready to be shipped at all times. What if you would only have to make 1 perfect solution and be able to multiply this easily in large amounts? Hot, cold or wet, all situations need some sort of insulation. Usually this is added to a loadbearing construction. What if it could be combined in 1 material? After a disaster strikes, the new homeless want shelter as soon as possible, why build it somewhere else, ship it and have it arrive weeks or months later? What if local people, independent of their skills, could build shelter easily themselves? Configure a custom mould of the perfect shelter, in stead of the shelter itself. Then 'cast' the shelter around the mould. This can be done filling the ould with locally produced spray foam, on for instance soy oil basis. Foam can expand 100-fould, is lightweight, waterproof and lacks difficult detailing. After casting one house, the mould moves a baywidth and the next dwelling can be casted. In the design walls are shared as much as possible for efficient, stiff construction and use of material. The living areas are combined on one side, while the cooking area is combined with sanitary block, first aid and waterpurification units on the other. All is lifted from the dirt on a raised platform. Rainwater is collected on the v-shaped roof and used for sanitation and drinking water.