shelters-from-sexual-violence

Fantastic sales pitch from a supplier (angling for money) - protection from SGBV will take more than a lockable door:

"The only solution is affordable mass shelter in which doors can be locked
at night to keep out rapists.... easy to construct shelters-from-sexual-violence ($4000 per family unit), which can be shipped to Haiti in crates and erected by just two people.
If you can find the funds for us to manufacture them, we will do so as fast as humanly possible and arrange for the US military of DHL to fly them to Haiti."

Winning site plan

This combines alien pods with an astounding site plan that has not taken into account any site conditions.

Stunning photoshop shelter

Winning photoshop skills! If only there were the space in Port au Prince.

Shrink wrap shelter

Yes shrink wrap!!
From the supplier: "We did it after the 1988 Armenia earthquake, we can do it in Haiti."

Garage for your porsche

This pricey shelter was promoted for the response to the Haiti earthquake. Conveniently it is delivered in one handy box. The weight is not quoted but certainly not for carrying on a donkey or in the back of a Porsche.

plastic frame shelter

The detailing on this plastic shelter is shocking. I doubt that it has been built. The website encourages viewers to donate money to develop this design further! The website also lists a lot of organisations to imply credibility of the design.

Pallette house

The Pallet House, was conceived as a transitional shelter for refugees returning to Kosovo. The blurb on the designer's by website is convincing, but neglects the fact that following disasters, pallets are never available in the volumes required. Those that do exist have a local market value and are certainly not seen as waste.

Flat shelter

We get a lot of these flat pack solutions. This one uses a " ‘ReCrate’ re-configurable stacking pallet", (patent applied for. It loses on many grounds - cost / volume / maintenance, and the fact that it is patented so organisations cannot tender properly..

April fools shelters for Haiti?

Contact was made to organisations working in Haiti by a supplier looking for "corporate and private sponsors to help us get the first 100 Homes for Haiti shipped out by April 1, 2010." April fools day is a suitably apt delivery date. It does not mention the anticipated commission of the supplying companies.
This image is inspirational - if space were this easy to find in Port au Prince, the situation would be much simpler. It gets better:The design details for this shelter (10,000 usd for a basic model!!!) include living rooms, bathrooms, and only bed space for 4 people. Very wishful - the average family size is 5 in Haiti - many are larger...

PVC shelter

In the accompanying blurb it sounds very technical - "The ATU has 5 frameworks 2 inch PVC 125 PSI Premium Level ONE and lashing waterproof screeds, middle and upper Amatek treated pine wood 1 "x 3""

- But why make the frame of these shelters for Haiti out of PVC pipe?

The suppliers can also offer: "..a solution plus a separate ceiling of basic sanitation by offering a complete prefabricated latrine."

wheely house

More from the competition to design shelters for Haiti in 1 hour... Most of the other entries were some sort of dome or something that you could drop out of an airplane on people's heads.

origami shelters

Imagine the size and weight of this sheet of solid stuff that is folded into a row of shelters with no privacy...
This and other fantastic examples are from a competition to design shelters for Haiti in only 1 hour!!

Polyeurythane igloos

Photograph: Ian Davis.

Perhaps the most famous example of an emergency shelter fail, is the polyeurythane igloo, documented by Ian Davis in shelter after disaster (1978). Photographed here in Nicaragua, 1976.

parachute shelter - with video!

We get a lot of suggestions for parachute based shelters. Unfortunately the core challenge in shelter assistance is usually getting the right stuff to the right people - parachuting shelters is certainly not the way to achieve this, plus it is exceptionally expensive.
Despite the concept being wrong, it is a really nice video and worth watching. watch video
website - airdropshelters.org

Eggs for Haiti

This is another competition entry from Haiti Architecture Competition. With over 1 million people homeless, and hurricane season approaching, Haiti is in desperate need of eggs - or maybe not...

Containers

Following the Haiti earthquake, many people suggested containers as a solution. The logistics and costs of providing over 100,000 containers, and more still finding the land for them does not bear contemplating.

This competition entry is even better because it is multistory (balancing containers in an earthquake zone + how would the lifts and plumbing work?), and the containers have a very expensive refit. A timber framed transitional shelter in Haiti costs a maximum of 1500 USD.

There is plenty more nuttiness here - Haiti competition..
Haiti Architecture Competition

China camp

The tents in this site in Pakistan were laid out to spell the word China: Definitely not ideal for the people living there.

Hobbit houses for haiti

Unfortunately Haiti is not full of hobbits.
This dome home was developed by Dingly Dell enterprises.

cone shelter

This is fantastical - a multistory wig tent promoted for Haiti. Perfect for hurricanes!
from the manufacturer: "Our EPS system is the most versatile, livable cost effective shelter on the market to date. With features like over head sleeping arrangements as well as bunk beds built into it's weather resistant shell, No other tent compares. It is rated fire rated and built to withstand 80mph winds. The solar powered ventilation system is for comfort as well as convenient for inside cooking."

WTF!!

Website: WTF shelters promoted for Haiti response.
How can an english speaking company can seriously call a product WTF and then suggest it for humanitarian relief without irony?

Bombing shelters

There is something deeply wrong about bombing people with shelters..

Doming all over the world

Website: Domes for the World
Though a carefully thought out technology, domes such as these are relatively alien to many cultures, and in a disaster setting will require a significant investment in return for relatively few structures being built.

polystyrene domes

Received following the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, this shelter idea brings in a very alien technology that is difficult to repair. the cost of transport by helicopter (at over 3000USD per hour for a helicopter that can carry 1 tonne load, and has limited transport volume) is very high.

"
a 15cm pollystyrene minimal geodesic dome type speed shelter, comprised of only one iscosceles triangular panel, 15 of which comprise one shelter module.
Such modules can be very quickly assembled either at a central facility, transported assembled by helicopter specially strung on a single weighted cord, “string of pearls” fashion en masse. The unique structural strength of the design permits such transport.
The extreme simplicity of the module also permits assembly of the triangles, 2 metres to 2.5 metres on an edge, at the destination sites, using polystyrene adhesive and polyurethane foam aerosol, both common construction materials.
Even the bare polystyrene, translucent, is sufficiently robust to last at least a year. Coated outside during manufacture with a sheet of UV resistand plastic film, these would last in the sun indefinitely. Coated inside with plastic film, they would serve as communal showers, field hospitals, WC, etc, for sanitary facilities.
"