Requested research

Literature review: Analyze global examples and strategies of housing solutions that address the transitional phase between temporary shelters and permanent housing.

Design and structural analysis: Design, develop, and analyze semi-permanent housing concepts in pre- and post-disaster contexts, focusing on affordability, structural safety, adaptability, sustainability, and long-term resilience.

For architects: Explore spatial designs and strategic construction approaches for semi-permanent housing that support the (re-)construction of homes in hazardous contexts, both in pre- and post-disaster situations.

For engineers: Define parameters, structural requirements, and practical rules of thumb for flood-, cyclone-, and earthquake-resistant housing solutions that allow homeowners to expand and adapt their dwellings independently over time.

Background: between temporary and permanent

Roughly every five years, a major natural disaster captures worldwide attention, such as the Southeast Asian tsunami (2004), Haiti (2010), and Nepal (2015). However, many equally devastating events receive far less global response, like the 2005 Kashmir earthquake that left 3 million people homeless, or the 2009 Padang earthquake in Sumatra, which damaged as many buildings as in Haiti.

The immediate step after a disaster is usually the distribution of tents, followed by the provision of T-shelters, where T stands for Temporary or Transitional. These often take the form of wooden shacks, bamboo huts, or tin-sheeted rooms. In cases where funds are limited, such temporary shelters may remain the only offered solution, effectively becoming permanent.

This assignment aims to identify spatial strategies and creative material solutions that make more effective use of limited resources by providing housing that bridges the gap between temporary and permanent solutions. At the same time, the housing core must ensure structural safety for future expansions, ensuring not only the disaster resistance of the initial structure but also of any later additions.

Further action

This assignment is ideally suited for at least two participants, including a designer or architect, and a civil or structural engineer.

Interested? For more information or to set up a meeting, possibly as a final-year thesis opportunity, send us an email. We’d be happy to discuss how you can contribute meaningfully and gain valuable lab and research experience.