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 * 08-13-20
 * world changing ideas


45 INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR BEAUTIFUL, EASY-TO-BUILD HOUSING TO HELP CITIES WITH
THE HOMELESSNESS CRISIS


THE RAPID SHELTER INNOVATION SHOWCASE IS A CLEARING HOUSE FOR SMART IDEAS ON HOW
TO LOWER CONSTRUCTION TIMES FOR CITIES IN NEED OF NEW HOUSING FOR PEOPLE LIVING
ON THE STREET OR AFTER A DISASTER.


 * 
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More Like This
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By Adele Peters3 minute Read

When a tiny factory-built house from a startup called Boxabl arrives at a
building site, the walls and roof are designed to quickly unfold, and the entire
home can be assembled within just a few hours. The design is one of dozens
listed on a new website that shares housing concepts that cities can use to
rapidly respond to homelessness or in the case of a disaster.




The platform, called the Rapid Shelter Innovation Showcase, grew out of work in
Los Angeles, where around 60,000 people are homeless on any given night. The
Housing Innovation Collaborative, a nonprofit coalition, created the platform to
push forward solutions to the housing crisis in the area. The team initially
planned to build a physical showcase of new housing, and then the coronavirus
struck. As the idea went virtual, the group realized that it could be a resource
for cities anywhere. So far, the platform has collected 45 designs, some of
which have been built or prototyped; others are concepts. Here are a few of the
ideas:



[Photo: © Andrew Rugge/ArchPhoto/courtesy Garrison Architects]NYC Emergency
Housing Prototype
Designed for quick assembly after a disaster, these multistory buildings from
Garrison Architects can be built in less than 15 hours. Units range from one to
three bedrooms, include kitchens, bathrooms, and storage space, and can be
hooked up to solar power.







[Photo: Marco Cappelletti/Delfino Sisto Legnani DSL Studio]Maidan Tent
From a team of Italian designers focused on creating a concept for a shelter for
a refugee camp, this design combines a central shared space for socializing with
individual rooms that surround it. The designers collaborated with the UN
Migration Agency, the engineering firm Arup, and the Laboratory for Effective
Anti-Poverty Policies at Bocconi University.





[Photo: courtesy Connect Homes]Connect Shelter
These shelters, from a company called Connect Homes that makes sustainable
factory-built homes, are assembled almost entirely off-site and then can be
quickly installed without a foundation or in-ground utilities. Each unit comes
with a bedroom and bathroom; because the units are isolated from one another,
with separate plumbing and mechanical systems, they could also be useful for
COVID-19 patients.





[Image: Alejandra Novelo and Khoa Vu/courtesy Gensler]The Scaffold
This concept for lightweight prefab rooms—designed by Alejandra Novelo and Khoa
Vu in collaboration with Gensler—are laid out with space in between to allow for
increased daylight and ventilation and to create shared community spaces. Using
standard scaffolding and low-cost prefab modules lowers the cost.







[Photo: Steve Sakadales/courtesy IndieDwell Holdings]Container-based emergency
housing
Built using 40-foot-long shipping containers by the green builder IndieDwell,
these energy-efficient shelters have been built in several cities, including 100
in San Jose, California.





[Photo: Horizon North Modular Solutions]Rapid Response Modular Supportive
Housing
These prefab apartment buildings from a Canadian company called Horizon North
Modular Solutions, typically made with 250-square-foot apartments, can be
quickly constructed on a relocatable foundation that can later be moved to
another site. More than 1,500 units are in place in British Columbia.





[Photo: Horizon North Modular Solutions]Each of the designs varies in cost, time
to build, and other features, and the new website attempts to share basic
details clearly so that cities searching for solutions can easily compare the
options. The platform also aims to show communities that some forms of this
housing can be beautiful, helping overcome common objections from neighbors who
resist new projects. “We’re trying to sort of paint the picture of what other
projects have looked like and the range of solutions,” says Charly Ligety,
director of housing innovation at Housing on Merit, an L.A.-based nonprofit
helping lead the new platform. “As long as it remains in a black box, we can’t
really have a conversation around what it realistically looks like to shelter
50,000 people.” The platform will soon include more details about how existing
projects have been funded, since funding is another major challenge, especially
as cities struggle to balance the need for permanent, long-term solutions to
homelessness with the need for immediate emergency shelter so people aren’t
sleeping on the street.





Architects using the new platform can quickly research other approaches in the
space and begin to incorporate ideas from other designs. “We’re trying to be
sort of an anti-RFP innovation competition,” Ligety says. “We want to encourage
it to be a collaborative process.”





ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adele Peters is a staff writer at Fast Company who focuses on solutions to some
of the world's largest problems, from climate change to homelessness.
Previously, she worked with GOOD, BioLite, and the Sustainable Products and
Solutions program at UC Berkeley

More

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 * FASTCO WORKS
   
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   brand stories through Fast Company's distinctive lens

FC Executive Board
collections


 * FAST GOVERNMENT
   
   The future of innovation and technology in government for the greater good


 * MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES
   
   Fast Company's annual ranking of businesses that are making an outsize impact


 * MOST CREATIVE PEOPLE
   
   Leaders who are shaping the future of business in creative ways


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   New workplaces, new food sources, new medicine--even an entirely new economic
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 * INNOVATION BY DESIGN
   
   Celebrating the best ideas in business

Newsletter
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 * THE FUTURE OF HYBRID CLOUD


 * MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES SUMMIT

Courses and LearningAdvertiseCurrent Issue
Current Issue
SUBSCRIBE
Follow us:

advertisement

advertisement

 * 08-13-20
 * world changing ideas


45 INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR BEAUTIFUL, EASY-TO-BUILD HOUSING TO HELP CITIES WITH
THE HOMELESSNESS CRISIS


THE RAPID SHELTER INNOVATION SHOWCASE IS A CLEARING HOUSE FOR SMART IDEAS ON HOW
TO LOWER CONSTRUCTION TIMES FOR CITIES IN NEED OF NEW HOUSING FOR PEOPLE LIVING
ON THE STREET OR AFTER A DISASTER.


 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

By Adele Peters3 minute Read

When a tiny factory-built house from a startup called Boxabl arrives at a
building site, the walls and roof are designed to quickly unfold, and the entire
home can be assembled within just a few hours. The design is one of dozens
listed on a new website that shares housing concepts that cities can use to
rapidly respond to homelessness or in the case of a disaster.

advertisement

advertisement



The platform, called the Rapid Shelter Innovation Showcase, grew out of work in
Los Angeles, where around 60,000 people are homeless on any given night. The
Housing Innovation Collaborative, a nonprofit coalition, created the platform to
push forward solutions to the housing crisis in the area. The team initially
planned to build a physical showcase of new housing, and then the coronavirus
struck. As the idea went virtual, the group realized that it could be a resource
for cities anywhere. So far, the platform has collected 45 designs, some of
which have been built or prototyped; others are concepts. Here are a few of the
ideas:



[Photo: © Andrew Rugge/ArchPhoto/courtesy Garrison Architects]NYC Emergency
Housing Prototype
Designed for quick assembly after a disaster, these multistory buildings from
Garrison Architects can be built in less than 15 hours. Units range from one to
three bedrooms, include kitchens, bathrooms, and storage space, and can be
hooked up to solar power.



advertisement




[Photo: Marco Cappelletti/Delfino Sisto Legnani DSL Studio]Maidan Tent
From a team of Italian designers focused on creating a concept for a shelter for
a refugee camp, this design combines a central shared space for socializing with
individual rooms that surround it. The designers collaborated with the UN
Migration Agency, the engineering firm Arup, and the Laboratory for Effective
Anti-Poverty Policies at Bocconi University.





[Photo: courtesy Connect Homes]Connect Shelter
These shelters, from a company called Connect Homes that makes sustainable
factory-built homes, are assembled almost entirely off-site and then can be
quickly installed without a foundation or in-ground utilities. Each unit comes
with a bedroom and bathroom; because the units are isolated from one another,
with separate plumbing and mechanical systems, they could also be useful for
COVID-19 patients.





[Image: Alejandra Novelo and Khoa Vu/courtesy Gensler]The Scaffold
This concept for lightweight prefab rooms—designed by Alejandra Novelo and Khoa
Vu in collaboration with Gensler—are laid out with space in between to allow for
increased daylight and ventilation and to create shared community spaces. Using
standard scaffolding and low-cost prefab modules lowers the cost.



advertisement




[Photo: Steve Sakadales/courtesy IndieDwell Holdings]Container-based emergency
housing
Built using 40-foot-long shipping containers by the green builder IndieDwell,
these energy-efficient shelters have been built in several cities, including 100
in San Jose, California.





[Photo: Horizon North Modular Solutions]Rapid Response Modular Supportive
Housing
These prefab apartment buildings from a Canadian company called Horizon North
Modular Solutions, typically made with 250-square-foot apartments, can be
quickly constructed on a relocatable foundation that can later be moved to
another site. More than 1,500 units are in place in British Columbia.





[Photo: Horizon North Modular Solutions]Each of the designs varies in cost, time
to build, and other features, and the new website attempts to share basic
details clearly so that cities searching for solutions can easily compare the
options. The platform also aims to show communities that some forms of this
housing can be beautiful, helping overcome common objections from neighbors who
resist new projects. “We’re trying to sort of paint the picture of what other
projects have looked like and the range of solutions,” says Charly Ligety,
director of housing innovation at Housing on Merit, an L.A.-based nonprofit
helping lead the new platform. “As long as it remains in a black box, we can’t
really have a conversation around what it realistically looks like to shelter
50,000 people.” The platform will soon include more details about how existing
projects have been funded, since funding is another major challenge, especially
as cities struggle to balance the need for permanent, long-term solutions to
homelessness with the need for immediate emergency shelter so people aren’t
sleeping on the street.



advertisement


Architects using the new platform can quickly research other approaches in the
space and begin to incorporate ideas from other designs. “We’re trying to be
sort of an anti-RFP innovation competition,” Ligety says. “We want to encourage
it to be a collaborative process.”


advertisement

advertisement

advertisement

advertisement



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adele Peters is a staff writer at Fast Company who focuses on solutions to some
of the world's largest problems, from climate change to homelessness.
Previously, she worked with GOOD, BioLite, and the Sustainable Products and
Solutions program at UC Berkeley

More




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IMPACT

Impact


REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS DEVISED A CREATIVE HACK TO GET NEWS INTO RUSSIA

Impact


THIS PILOT PROGRAM HELPS PEOPLE IMPROVE THEIR CREDIT SCORES JUST BY PAYING THEIR
RENT ON TIME

Impact


HOW TECH VOLUNTEERS HELPED BUILD OUT UKRAINIAN REFUGEE CENTERS


NEWS

News


MACKENZIE SCOTT JUST GAVE $3.9 BILLION TO 465 NONPROFITS. HERE’S THE FULL LIST

News


INFLATION IS RISING, BUT YOUR SALARY PROBABLY WON’T. HERE’S WHY

News


APPLE JUST BOUGHT A CREDIT MONITORING COMPANY, HINTING AT APPLE CARD EXPANSION


CO.DESIGN

Co.Design


HOW DID PATRICE VERMETTE DESIGN ‘DUNE’? HE STARTED WITH TWO WATER BOTTLES

Co.Design


FROM UKRAINIANS TO ASTRONAUTS ON THE ISS, JOSÉ ANDRÉS IS FEEDING ANYONE IN
NEED—AND WELL

Co.Design


DESIGNERS USED E-SCOOTERS TOSSED IN RIVERS TO MAKE FURNITURE, PROVING JUNK CAN
FIND PURPOSE


WORK LIFE

Work Life


THIS IS THE DANGER OF PLAYING IT TOO SAFE AT WORK

Work Life


30 YEARS OF HARASSMENT TRAINING HASN’T FIXED A THING. HERE’S WHAT LEADERS SHOULD
DO INSTEAD

Work Life


3 SIGNS THAT INDICATE YOU’VE BEEN WORKING TOO MUCH

 * Advertise
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 * Do Not Sell My Data
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