Transformable temporary shelter

-refugees and homeless

 ABSTRACT
- The rapid pace of climate change and global warming in recent years has led to the extensive growth of natural disasters such
as wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes, and consequently a need for planning to provide settlements for those
suffering from consequences of these disasters.
- Depending on the duration of use and conditions of the residents, these settlements are categorized into four groups:
emergency shelters, temporary shelters, temporary housing, and permanent housing.
- The current shelters mostly are difficult and time- consuming to be erected and also they are usually made of heavy materials.
Many of them are not foldable in a configurable geometrical order which make their transportation more difficult and their
storage for future use is mostly problematic.
- All of these mean that there is a necessity for the development of lightweight and transportable units that are able to meet
different expectations and requirements and have the ability to be store for future use and be deployed in a short period of
time.
- The focus of this research is to propose a modular quick-erect structure as a temporary shelter to provide accommodations.
- In the FIRST STEP, samples of existing temporary shelters are evaluated in terms of structural performance, material
accessibility, deployability, transportability, and use of space to establish the best practices for designing an operative
temporary shelter. Studies show that many of the existing shelters are difficult and time-consuming to transport and assemble
and are usually made of heavy materials. Moreover, many of them are not deployable in a configurable geometrical order which
makes their transportation even more difficult, and their storage for future use more problematic.
- In the SECOND STEP, the research proposes a lightweight, deployable, low-cost, and modular structure based on the criteria
studied in the first step. The proposed geometrically-optimized temporary shelter is capable of being placed, repaired, and
stored in a short time period by unskilled individuals. The proposed structure, which can be expanded by adding more space to
its ends.
 Table of Content
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Research questions
1.3 Aim
1.4 Hypothesis –justification of selection
1.5 Objective
1.6 Scope & Limitation
1.7 Theoretical framework / Methodology

Chapter 2 Data Collection –Literature Case-study

2.1 Classification : Types of Transformable architecture
2.2.1 Flat pack system
2.3 Pantograph system
2.4 Membrane system
2.5 Pneumatics system
2.6 Tensegrigty system
2.7 Pod and capsule system

Chapter 3 Inferences –Introduction –Proposal

1. Comparison of types
2. Case-study of refugees camp
3. Case-study of refugees camp
4. Site proposal
5. Overview of site

Chapter 4 Summery –Conclusions –Design approach

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 1.1 | INTRODUCTION
- A deployable structure is one that can be transformed, with the addition of an energy input, from a closed stage or compact
configuration to a predetermined, stable expanded form.
- Transformable, kinetic, deployable, adaptable, there is an extended vocabulary to refer to a building with movable parts and/or
components associated with a shape change.

CHARACTERISTICS
 1.2 | RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- How this method can be a cheap and quick solution for migrants, refugees?
- Where this type of structure can be developed?
- What is the future scope of such a structure?
- What other advantages does this kind of structure provide?
- How this type of structure can be added to our day to day life?
 1.3 | AIM
- Aim is to understand the design of temporary shelter with a modular system in order to overcome the expected building
shortage after a possible disaster/ Pandemic to the homeless people and to create an easy foldable unit that folds in a short
period of time.

1.4 | HYPOTHESIS
- The rapid pace of climate change and global warming in recent years has led to the extensive growth of natural disasters such
as wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes, and consequently a need for planning to provide settlements for those
suffering from consequences of these disasters.

1.5 | OBJECTIVE
- Deployable prototype criteria, space requirement
- Technologies/material
- How it resist external pressure
- Cost of unit
- Capacity per prototype
- Location/ place it can be erected
- Prototype design for particular urban space

1.6 | SCOPE & LIMITATION

- Scope is to study various techniques and elements of deployable structures for the migrants, homeless peoples, refugees and
developing an opportunity to stay and earn. Research is limited to disaster/pandemic relief shelter and how it can also be used
in day to day life that should be Lightweight and transportable units that are able to meet different expectations and
requirements and have the ability to be store for future use and be deployed in a short period of time.
- Transformable, transportable, kinetic connection, movement mechanisms, dynamic structures, deployable, mobile
architecture.
 1.1 | INTRODUCTION
- A deployable structure is one that can be transformed, with the addition of an energy input, from a closed stage or compact
configuration to a predetermined, stable expanded form.
- Transformable, kinetic, deployable, adaptable, there is an extended vocabulary to refer to a building with movable parts and/or
components associated with a shape change.

CHARACTERISTICS
• Deployable structures are suitable in response to the following needs :

a- A situation in which there is a need to create enclosed or protected space for a short period of time and then move that space to
another location for erection or storage.
Examples
-Provisional shelters
-Movable Hospitals

b- Difficult access places, and/or lack of labor.

Examples
-Remote retransmissions units
-Antenna masts
-Meteorological or research stations
-Military installations
-Emergencies in distant localities, requiring Shelters, Bridges, Hospitals, etc.

C- Special applications equipment and shelters for special equipment which can not be transported in full open size and needs to
be erected in a very quick way.
Examples
- Portable radars and antennas
- -Portable hangars
- -Portable bridges
- -Protection and camouflage of military equipment
d- Need to enclose space due to variable weather conditions.
Examples
- Stadium covers
- Cover-plazas.

e- Situations of high risk with elevated labor costs, hostile environments, costly transportation.
Examples
- Earth exploration
- Space exploration
- Space stations

f- Construction aid.
Examples
- Reusable scaffolding for complex forms.

g- As a construction method
- The traditional view of building has been one of simple accretion. Stone is put on stone, brick on brick, steel on steel, and so
forth until the final form takes shape. In modem construction, accretion is often by larger modules in the form of walls, floors,
and even entire rooms. A new method consists of bringing the complete structure to the site in some compact configuration
and deploying it there for permanent use.
What are the types of deployable structure?
- There are many mechanisms which fall into the category of deployable structures, but we can group them into two general
categories:
A)Struts Structures : scissor-hinged, tensile, and sliding mechanisms, etc.
B) Surface Structures: folded, inflatable, telescopic, etc.

A) Struts structure:
• This structures are made out of struts which commonly work as compression, tension or bending components connected by
joints or hinges.
• This first category includes the scissor-hinged, or lazy tong mechanism, and the sliding, or umbrella mechanism.
• This work will emphasize these mechanisms
- The scissor-hinged mechanism : the basic element of this system is the deformable truss shown in fig.5 which is a set of struts
( one dimensional rectilinear members) connected by nodes universal joints) , and scissor-hinges (a rotational degree of
freedom about the normal plane defined by two connecting struts). This assembly has the characteristic that by rotation of
the struts with respect to one another, the assembly encompasses two forms; the first form is the compact state having
theoretically one dimension, and the second form is the deployed state, which is a three-dimensional body. (Fig.5)

- Sliding or umbrella mechanism : this method consists of deploying the structure around a rectilinear support or guide, by
sliding a cylindrical or hollow joint over it, the more common example is the umbrella (fig.2).

- Hinged-collapsible-strut mechanism : this is another method of 3deployability which consists of a set of struts hinged at the
ends, that allows the structure to be folded. After reaching the final open configuration the hinged joints are locked and the
structure behaves as a single continuous piece. (Fig.6)
B) surface structures:
• In this type of structures stresses are carried by surfaces.
• In some, cases a continuous surface carries only tension forces like, in pressurized or inflatable construction; other structures
are made out of small surfaces or planes joined together by some usually flexible means of forming a continuous structure.
• In this category, the more important groups are:

- Inflatable or pneumatic structures: these are structural forms made of a light, collapsible, very strong membrane, stabilized
wholly or mainly by pressure differences of gases, liquids, foam, or material in bulk. A familiar example is the balloon, (fig.7)
which is a slack envelope stabilized by gas pressure, enabling it to withstand not only the gas pressure itself, but also to take
up other loads.
• Pneumatic construction is one of the deployable systems most studied in terms of architectural applications and there many
examples has been built: greenhouses, shelters, travelling expositions, water tanks, covers, bridges, dams, etc.

- Folded structures: another type of deployable structure can be collapsed and expanded like an accordion; it can be of two
types. One made of rigid panels joined by a flexible connection along its edges, and the other is made of a continuous flexible
material which allows itself to be folded.(Fig.8)

- Telescopic structures: these structures are based on tubular elements that can enter one inside the other, forming a compact
packet which is them telescoped and stabilized to its final configuration. This concept is used a lot in mechanical devices, such
as cranes, masts, and antennas, but its application in architecture has not been explored much. (Fig.9)
Types of transformable architecture
- Transformable and transportable buildings are the target of the research, which the objective of evaluation the interaction of
mechanical, structural and materials as a full system and the design strategies to develop this system.
- Prefabrication is the key to a higher specified construction and therefore the categories used by the architect Alan brooks studies
are going to be base for the creation of the system classification.
1. Flat packed
Pre-hinged construction systems, are usually complemented with a kit form of auxiliary parts (Figure 9). Folding mechanism is
commonly used in this system.

Flat packed

2. Pantograph
Sophisticated hinged systems usually use means of scissors mechanisms as a deployable structure.

Pantograph
3. Membrane systems
A combination of pre-stress membrane with structure (movable or stationary) that can change its geometry or shape in a
deployment movement by modifying the apply tension.

Membrane system
4. Pneumatics
Membrane inflate or air-supported buildings.

Flat packed
5. Tensegrity
Structure composed by cables and bars in a pure tension and pure compression mode, with permits the transformation process. It
gives the possibility of a high degree of transformability, but there is still no built example of transformable tensegrity structure
(Asefi, 2010).

6. Pods or capsules
Pods are essentially skin supports used as transportation and static structure (Figure 13). Commonly in a container volume and
shape, it’s the most used in the construction field.

Pods and Capsule

- Transformable Buildings Components

It takes into consideration that a mobile system can be divided in three parts:

1. structural (rigidity, stability, balance and endurance),

2. functional (transformability and transportability)
3. technical (modulation of elements, lightness of system and assemblage between elements).
Movable Connections
- On a transformable building, in order to permit the movement to occur, static elements are connected by movable joints,
converting them into kinetic components.
- understand that kinetic joints are not only a connection between two elements, it must also transfer loads while permit relative
motion in some directions while constrain in others.
- The types and direction of motion are related with the degrees of freedoms permitted by each joint, they derivate from the
combination of the axis of the movement and the typology of movement.
1. Revolution Joints
2. Bearings
- The basic principles of these mechanisms can be divided in four main types of simple machines :
1- Rope and rod - allow rigid objects to be pushed or pulled using a rope and bar, applying the same amount of force in the same
direction but at a different point.
2- Rope and pulley- direction of the force can be changed
3- Lever- allow to change the magnitude of the force
4- Inclined plane- change magnitude of force.
- Joints
• the successful behavior, duration, and reliability of a deployable structure will depend on a great way in its joints.
• The joints are points at which forces converge, and their ability to resist and transmit those forces will determine to an
important degree the soundness of the structure the joint should meet the following criteria:
1. Should transmit the forces evenly throughout the components which arrive at that point.
2. It should firmly hold all the struts which meet at that point.
3. It should give every strut enough freedom to go from the closed stage to the open one, but avoid holding the struts too loosely.
4. In the cases were reusability is required, the joint has to be designed to stand the stresses created during the erection process,
minimizing fatigue in the material.
5. Friction between the moving pieces should be minimized to avoid excessive wearing and to facilitate the erection and
dismantling processes.
6. As we are dealing with moving connections (usually pin connections), it is important to take into account, when designing and
choosing the material, that the transference of forces between bodies which are not bonded together can occur only by the
pressure exerted by one body against another; the values of compressive or tensile stresses increase at the joint.

• The flow of compressive forces are curving in the vicinity of the joint resulting in the need for an internal pulling action
towards the center of the element; such an action always causes traversal tension to develop within the material. As a result,
the element may crack and split longitudinally, if measurements are not taken. Thus, it is very important to have tension
resisting materials around the connection.
- COVERS
• there are some situations which require a protected or enclosed space, and the deployable structure has to be designed with
an enclosure or cover system.
• There are many different solutions: the enclosure system can be attached to the structure or free-standing; the enclosure can
be added after the structure is erected, or it can be permanent part of the structure. It can also operate as a structural member,
stabilizing member and/or locking member of the open configuration.

- Selection criteria :
• Enclosures can be made out of light and flexible materials, which can act as tension carries, such as Teflon coated nylon or
fiberglass fabrics, etc. Or they can be made out of rigid materials like metals or plastics.

- Other components and materials :

• the structure should be made out of materials which are light (for easier transportation) but at the same time strong enough
to stand the stresses and deformations to which the structure is subjected; in some cases flexibility is a desirable property.
• Materials like aluminum, laminated steel, steel, plastics, or composite materials like fiber-glass epoxy or graphite-epoxy are
commonly used. For the compression or bending members of the structure, tubular struts are a reasonable solution, due to
their weight/resistance relationship and good resistance to bending; for tension components, high resistance steel cables or
fabric are used.
- Materials
• Materials can be looked at through cover components and structural and operational components, but in this case of
buildings, skin and structures overlap at many points, where the structure elements are insert in the skin or a unique element
exercises the function of both layers- load-bearing and enclosure. Structural and operational are mainly materials such as
metals, which are malleable enough to allow bends that form bars with high load capacity and rigidity. Or wood in form of
beans and structural composite panels.
• In this case skin is not consider exterior cover, but also internal. And long-life of skin is considered the best way to keep the
low cost of a transformable building maintenance, and for this, not only the aesthetic should be consider, but many factors of
materials characteristics.
- Translucency
• The necessity of internal natural illumination; external elements provide security and privacy functions.

- Fire
• For facing different environmental conditions in each transformation moment or in the different location, transformable
buildings are more vulnerable in comparison with static architecture. Non-combustible materials, that shrink and do not fall
down when they are affected by heat, can decrease risks of fatalities in case the structure collapsed or fail to operate.

- Water-proof
• The necessity of a material to be water-proof is not only about been able to keep the outdoor humid from the indoor
environment.
• Considering that all material should have a water resistance is important because the interior and exterior have a tenuous or
none separation and the finishes of covering materials are normally the ones that need more maintenance.

- Mechanical Resistance
• Light weight and stable materials are good to be used in panel frames related with rigid elements movements, normally the
elements is not folded, but put in movement through movable connections – rotation, translation. Deformable elements are
soft and flexible and used as a skin cover of movable structures, being fold and unfold with then. The frequency of the opening
and closing and the bend capacity expected of the material should be consider.

- Cleaning
• Self-cleaning materials prevent that dirty particles stick to the surface and are easily removed with a little rain. It helps to
lower the maintenance costs and the depreciation of the building appearance. Another option is the anti-adhesive and graffiti
materials in projects inserted in an urban contest.

- Insulation
• In terms of being able to be inhabited, an interior must have the minimal thermal insulation; acoustic insulation depends on
the project necessity and specifications. The insulation is a challenge, because of the low dimensions of panels and structures
related with portable architecture, it’s expected that the cover materials will be as efficient and low dimensional as possible.
Light
Lightweight
weight and stable materials
and stable materials

Soft
Soft and
and flexible
flexible materials
materials
a) Regular tessellations, b) Archimedean tessellations. Swivel Diaphragm grid based on an Archimedean tessellation of
hexagons and triangles.

Shelter with transformable elements (use both rigid and flexible materials)
EXAMPLE
Folding bamboo house
• A simple elegant design, the Folding Bamboo House,
designed by Ming Tang, is constructed from bamboo and
recycled paper and can be cheaply manufactured.
• Tang designed the geometric folding structure after a
7.9earthquake hit central China. The structures can be
folded into many different shapes, allowing a range of
structures to be created. This shelter due to its elegant
design and re-configurability of is structure is suitable for
temporary application especially exhibition spaces
Folding bamboo house
(wildday, 2011).

THE LIFE OF A MODERN NOMAD

- The project is inspired by early African
nomadic architecture and sphere structure
was chosen as an optimal solution for not
needing inner supports and resistance to
environmental loads.
- The structure is made of five inflatable rings,
the middle one being connected to a base.
The rings can be deflated to allow the unit to
be transportable.
- The rings sit flat on the ground and are
connected to a movable base supported by
scissor members.
- Storage, water collection, and water
purification system are embedded in the
base of the unit which can be transported
like suitcase through the attached extendable
handles and wheels.
- Overall, this shelter can provide ease in daily
life and serve as a transition towards - This structure is made of five inflatable rings which are connected to a movable
permanent living. base supported by scissor members.