Zaha Hadid was an Iraqi and Middle Eastern woman architect, a starchitect legend who died too soon. She was the first female architect (and first Muslim) to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize. But the firm behind her name and iconic feminine language carries on. While we don’t love that Zaha Hadid‘s firm is behind the […]
Taking cues from the tiny home movement, we are sure colleges and design schools around the world, along with architects, can start planning some better solutions for temporary shelter for the world's displaced – millions from the civil war with Syria, and millions more who end up in countries like Greece from Africa, seeking refuge or maybe just a better life.
Dubai’s first 3D-printed villas will open in April. The project is part of the city’s 3D Printing Strategy which aims to recast Dubai as the world’s 3D printing hub by the year 2030. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched this unique global initiative […]
IKEA and UNHCR (the United Nations High Commission for Refugees) emerged from two years of research with a prototype shelter suitable for refugee families anywhere. It features an innovative roof that reflects 70% of the sun’s rays during the day yet retains heat during the night, and it’s fitted with solar panels that power an […]
I woke up to find an email from Cameron Sinclair thanking me for “designing like you give a damn.” Sinclair is the executive director of the Jolie-Pitt Foundation and, yeah, celebrities and politicians email me all the time. I’m also popular with Nigerians who need help cashing checks. I need to figure out how to […]
Refugees spend on average twelve years in their temporary homes, which got us thinking: what makes a good shelter?
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. […]
Israeli designer Ohad Lustgarten designed Shade and Shelter as part of his final project at Shenkar College of Design, the same center that spawned living lace made from bacteria. The six foot tall prototype constructed out of cardboard looks like a giant centipede when it is unwound but then coils up to provide a lightweight […]