It is estimated that around 90,000 people are still living in temporary shelters in Japan as a result of the disasters that occurred on March 11th. In response to this Japanese design company Atelier Opa have turned their skills towards what they can do to help out those affected, and produced a simple but fantastic temporary shelter design open for anyone to replicate.
The cardboard shelters look something similar to a child’s playhouse and are designed to offer a little privacy and comfort to those still living in the cramped conditions in the communal shelters at present. The cardboard can be assembled easily by anyone and even decorated by those with children, which could provide a nice creative outlet in a situation where many have been adversely affected by the tsunami and its aftermath.
With the majority of shelters located in school gymnasiums or public halls, the facilities really offer very little in terms of privacy or seclusion where evacuees can escape to try and relax in as best a way as is possible. Atelier Opa’s designs have been created not just to provide spaces for people to sleep in but partitions to create study areas and even clothes hanging areas. With many still unsure as to when they can move out of the communal areas right now and into relief housing, providing at least a semblance of having a personal space and designated spaces for specific functions is particularly important.
What is really impressive about the project is that the company also made all the plans for the designs available publicly under Creative Commons license so that any group of volunteers or charity organizations can replicate them. Recently a large number of volunteers from Kogakuin University in Tokyo went up to the affected areas, provided and erected the shelters in a number of different areas. The same designs could now as easily be implemented for homeless or other displaced people throughout the world.
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