Disaster relief architecture comes in different shapes and sizes depending on the situation. The relief architecture, over the years, has seen numerous changes due to technological advancements and innovations. In the field of humanitarian architecture, post-disaster provisions by providing shelters.
A safe and well-designed shelter is a basic human right when it comes to disaster relief, and in a post-disaster scenario provision, it is more than just putting a roof over people’s heads during emergencies. Buildings for such disaster-prone areas is a complex task of rebuilding a community, sometimes a city, with building regulations before it was struck.
The scenarios of the rising threat of natural disasters, it necessary that the architects and designers look around the world. Whether they’re prefab, tiny, or temporary, we’re uplifted by how design professionals are combining modern technologies for a more resilient response.
Disaster Relief Architecture:
Tentative: A compact solution to disaster relief housing and it is very light and ultra-portable. As many as 24 units can be transported to disaster sites on a single truck because of it’s compact design. The outer shell is made of fiberglass and its meant to be weather resistant. The roof is designed to collect water for future uses.
Emergency floor: There is always a huge problem for post-disaster situations and it can also be a problem for the developing world in general. During such situations, it is difficult to sleep on bare grounds as it can bring disease. The unused shipping pallets to raise a modular flooring system off the ground to create an insulated, safe and affordable flooring solution.
RE: BUILD: It is a clever solution to disaster relief housing. The scaffoldings combine easily with local materials like dirt, rocks, and sand. It is used to build housing, schools and other types of buildings needed for the aftermath of a disaster.
AbleNook: It was designed by Jason ross and Sean Verdecia, another example of disaster relief architecture. The structure is multi-purpose and can be used as housing, school classrooms, storages or anything a community needs. The lightweight frame allows for mass production and easy transportation.
IKEA Flat Pack: A lightweight solution for emergency shelter, the IKEA Flat Pack was originally built in collaboration with UNCHR. Flat Pack can be folden down to completely flat, it is solar-powered and can be used for disaster relief and in refugee camps around the world.
Concrete Canvas: Concrete Canvas might not be the best-looking structure, but its durability is mindblowing with innovative construction techniques, speed of construction and safety features. Builders only need air and water to install the shelter up in and only one hour. The shelter itself comes with steel doors and is fire resistant.
Rapid Deployment Module: It is a quick setup, this module can be built without a single tool. The RDM shelter is portable, reusable, and can be assembled in around 25 minutes by just two people. The RDM features, hard walls, raised floors, vented roofs, lockable doors, and windows, etc.
Hex houses: These are 431-square-foot units and are largely made of steel-and-foam structural insulated panels. The design is meant to be scalable, and each home is intended to be occupied for 15 to 20 years. The shelters can be arranged in various ways and can be combined with exterior gardens, courtyards, and pedestrian paths.
Floating prototype: SO created a prototype floating house that could be used as emergency housing in Istanbul. The prototype consists of a floating pontoon made of concrete with a foldable structure that acts as a shelter and has fixed furniture. The upper structure is foldable so that it can be collapsed and stacked and it is easy to assemble.
Disaster relief shelters play a vital role in large-scale disasters and are an extremely important part of disaster response and recovery. These shelters provide private and secure places for people to live who have been hit by calamities or lost their households, accommodations due to natural disaster activities. The disaster relief shelters not only provide immediate and short-term shelter for the victims of a disaster, but they also help them to recover from the trauma of a disaster as well as providing a base to start the process of rehabilitation.
The extent to which people are affected by disasters depends on several factors and the recent models of climate change and disaster impact focus on how much and how quickly a climate or community will be altered and the number of people will be affected. The countries having a high risk of climatic vulnerability, and have a low adaptive response capacity and are at higher risk than those that are vulnerable and have a high adaptive response.
Resilient cities are able to:
- Plan for change through flexibility, awareness, and uncertainties.
- Expand opportunities for human potential, leadership, and diversity.
- Develop rich relationships like social capitals, local and regional self-reliance, and rich feedback.
- Designing for learning by the integration of knowledge and practice, social memory and learning, continuous institutional innovation.
- Considering multiple scales through system thinking and compassion.
Disasters only increase the severity as climate change increases and conflict grows. Having a basic right to human resources is a fundamental right. Hence, providing for the disaster-prone settlements will benefit both the communities and also the industries.
To know more about Architecture Technology, Stay Tuned.
Previous Coverage:
- Green Building Trends: Passive House
- A.I. & Robots Revolutionizing the Construction Industry
- Towards Regenerative Development
- Augmented Reality Transforming Cities
- Coastal cities at the highest risks?
- Co-Living, A buzzword of 21st Century!
