If you’ve seen “binishell homes” popping up across architecture feeds this year, you’re not imagining it. The iconic inflatable concrete house—originally invented in the 1960s by architect Dante Bini—is suddenly back in global headlines. And there’s one big reason: climate resilience. And hey, Robert Downey Junior lives in one.
Rather than treating displacement as a temporary emergency, this project is reframed as a human condition requiring stability, community, and dignity. By combining vernacular wisdom with adaptable modular planning, the project offers a model for refugee housing that is scalable, low-carbon, and deeply respectful of local identity. For Somalia’s displaced families, a mud-brick home may be the most modern solution of all.
New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is hosting an exhibition on refugee shelters to kickstart dialogue on the design challenges caused by humanitarian crises. Entitled “Insecurities: Tracing Displacement and Shelter”, the show looks at emergency housing in contemporary crisis zones. It is the first time a major museum has explored the plight of the […]
Refugees spend on average twelve years in their temporary homes, which got us thinking: what makes a good shelter?