In studio this semester we were assigned a project where we were asked to design a shelter. This project, inspired by the devastating earthquake in Haiti, was to be made with only five used materials that we’ve found.
After being divided into groups we were told that each shelter would have a different purpose, such as, eating, sketching, sleeping, studying, and socializing. My group was assigned socializing. Socializing has several important factors. It includes more than two people and when people socialize they need a lot of open space. My group had to decide what actions people were doing when they socialize; for instance, they stand, sit, talk, watch, listen, and touch. When observing people in their social environments they naturally formed an open circle. These actions meant that our shelter would need seating, ample visibility and good acoustics.
Within the first few minutes of being assigned the project, my group members and I were already jotting down ideas. In my own sketchbook, I thought we might be able to use some clothes that I’ve been trying to get rid of, some cardboard we could definitely find, and newspapers for cushioning. I began to think of previous shelters that I had seen and sketched some drawings using those as inspiration.
When we met as a group my group members and I collaborated our thoughts. We decided that the general shape of our structure would be circular and that we would include wide-open doorways in order for people to feel welcome. It would have to be big enough to accommodate four people and include seating.
When we began to think more structurally about the shelter we decided it should be a pentagon in order for it to have a better structural integrity. We made a digital model using sketch up that helped us to see the way our structure would function. Our drawings that we did by hand did not show any potential problems with the roof, but in sketch up we realized that it was a strange shape and to fix this we decided to change the selected material from cardboard to fabric. Using fabric meant that we would need to use another material to support it so that the roof didn’t dip down into the shelter. We found new materials to use and decided that our five materials would be cardboard, fabric, bamboo, and insulation foam. The fabric would allow for good acoustics and we cut it at a height that created large windows between the fabric and the roof of the structure, inviting people to be included in the space.
We made the columns and the decoration for the seating out of cardboard. The seating itself was made out of insulation foam and covered with the grey fabric we used as our walls to be more comforting.
Out of my group Clairissa and Jeff went to go look at our spatial constraints and the location of our shelter and from that we decided the size of our structure. The roof would measure no more than six feet in height, and the fabric walls would be four feet in height in order to create a window. For our original design the doorways were the only source of airflow. We placed them with one wall in between them for better ventilation.
Out of my group I was nominated to be part of the poster board team. One member from each group went to collaborate and decide on the general layout of our presentation boards. We already knew that they had to be eighteen inches by twenty-four feet. We decided to include materials, process images, structural drawings of our final product, one main title block, labels of all the aforementioned.
My group built the different components of the shelter separately and put them all together. The columns were held safely together with saran wrap and showed no sign of failure. The fabric for the walls was cut to a particular size and we went to work putting it all together Friday morning.
After carrying down the already made benches and the connected the walls were attached to their designated column. The benches were the only things that we worried about when it came to structural integrity. They hold a lot of weight but might not hold up to lots of movement. The connecting process did not take more than an hour or two and it was not long until we had more than eight people gathered inside, and outside of our shelter to socialize with one another. We were very happy with the outcome of our shelter. It fulfilled its purpose well.
I truly enjoyed this project. It taught me a lot about myself and what we as humans and as designers are capable of, for instance it took us a week and half to build all of these relatively functional shelters. What could we do with more time and more materials? Building this shelter took us a week and a half. Imagine what we could do if we had more people involved. All it took was time. It required no money. There is so much we can do for one another if we just devote time to help
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