Michael Casimir

Rapid Shelter is intended to be a temporary solution for regions in need of short term emergency housing. The tent is intended to be easy to deploy and constructed with miminual user input. Constructed with a aluminium hinged frame the tent can collapse onto itself for storage, when deployed the tent it simply unfolds to the shape the user desires.

The design uses recycled construction Polyvinyl Carbonate (PVC) normally used as single use signage which would otherwise end up in landfill, this material mimics PVC commonly found in tents; with similar characteristics such as waterproofing and durability while being a lower price point.

The effects of climate change, displacement and damages is a concept that many of us are familiar with. Rapid Shelter is intended to be a cost effective solution for disadvantaged regions that don’t have the luxury of providing housing that many of us would expect.

The minimum standard set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) sets an impossibly high standard for designers. The WHO’s instistance on providing temporary emergency housing that is of the same standard or better than existing infrastructure. However this design isn’t intended to address these standards. It is a concept intended to achieve a cost effective outcome using easily accessible materials.

Context shot - Detailing the tent in transport, when collapsed the tent can be carried easily. Deploying the tent the user can unfold the frame to the increment height they want, each of these increment heights are self supporting locking into place. The intention with this design choice was to create a design that’s easy to deploy given that users may not have the skill set or tools to pitch a traditional tent the design is self contained.

PVC Detail - When researching how we could design for both sustainability and price point I started working with recycled PVC. With similar characteristics as materials found in conventional tents the PVC used in this project has similar characteristics such as durability, waterproofing and flexibility while being significantly cheaper all while being destined for landfill after its initial use.

Context 2 - Visualization showing how the design would fit into a refugee community. Rather than being long term housing like the surrounding housing the smaller tent design is intended to be in use till the affected communities can be relocated

Physical Model - The design isn’t exclusive to disadvantaged regions. As effects of climate change such as flooding recently start to affect our local regions it is a possibility that the design could be deployed in an urban setting