New Book Released on Humanitarian Architecture

Humanitarian Architecture – 15 Stories of Architects Working After Disaster by Esther Charlesworth

“A new book by Melbourne-based RMIT University Associate Professor Esther Charlesworth, titled Humanitarian Architecture, explores how architecture can rebuild communities devastated by disasters through 15 case studies.

Read more

Watch Yasmeen Lari on Rebel Architecture Series

Architect Yasmeen Lari has built over 36,000 disaster relief shelters
Architect Yasmeen Lari has built over 36,000 disaster relief shelters

“Al Jazeera’s ‘Rebel Architecture’ series kicked off last week with the very well-received “Guerilla Architect” about self-build Spanish architect Santiago Cirugeda. Kicking off today at 11:30pm BST (6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT) is “A Traditional Future” featuring the work of Pakistan’s first female architect Yasmeen Lari.

Read more

Collapsible woven refugee shelters powered by the sun

Collapsible woven refugee shelters by designer Abeer Seikaly
Collapsible woven refugee shelters by designer Abeer Seikaly

“More than 40 million people worldwide have been displaced from their homes and left to find shelter in strange lands. Maybe they find a tarp, or a tent, but their quality of life almost always remains dismal. To close this gap in need, Jordanian-Canadian architect and designer Abeer Seikaly designed a new kind of shelter. One that allows refugees to rebuild their lives with dignity.

Read more

Emergency Shelter and Disaster Resistant Housing for the Philippines

We’re starting to get requests for disaster relief in the Philippines. This is where earthbag building really shines. I’ve researched this for years and don’t know of any building method that’s better suited to providing low cost, disaster resistant emergency shelter than earthbags. Earthbag structures can be designed to resist earthquakes, typhoons and anything else … Read more

Emergency Earthbag Shelter Now Under Construction

Emergency earthbag (sand bag) shelters are extremely low cost, safe, durable, require few tools and can be constructed by recipients with minimal training.
Emergency earthbag (sand bag) shelters are extremely low cost, safe, durable, require few tools and can be constructed by recipients with minimal training.

The earthbag emergency shelter Patti Stouter and I published in our UN Emergency Shelter Proposal is now under construction. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years. Drawings, articles and blog posts are all great, but there’s nothing like first-hand experience to work out the kinks and get detailed documentation. A European journal plans to publish this shelter design next month along with Kelly Hart’s Riceland Dome. The journal article will likely bring much more international attention to earthbag building, and this lit a fire under me to build an actual prototype.

Read more

$229,000 FEMA Trailers

Your tax dollars hard at work. Agency spent more on trailers than it would have cost to buy new houses.
Your tax dollars hard at work. Agency spent more on trailers than it would have cost to buy new houses.

Comments from yesterday’s blog post prompted me to look up the cost of FEMA trailers for Hurricane Katrina victims. We all know the government buys $600 toilet seats, but this report about FEMA trailers really shocked and disgusted me.

“A new report by government watchdogs obtained by NBC News estimates expenses for each FEMA trailer at the Port Bienville site could reach a staggering $229,000.

“I could have bought a brand-new trailer! Or a house even!” Guidroz says.

Read more