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Ikea Foundation Introduces Better Refugee Shelter

Posted by Unknown on from the where-is-allen-wrench-b17 dept.

Lasrick writes "This is truly brilliant: Ikea has joined with the UN Refugee Agency to design a longer lasting flatpack shelter that includes a solar panel and UV reflecting material." From the article: "Ikea's design, a cross between a giant garden shed and a khaki canvas marquee, is formed from lightweight laminated panels that clip on to a simple frame, providing UV protection and thermal insulation. Like an Ikea product, the polymer panels come packed in a box, along with a bag of pipes, connectors and wires – and no doubt a cartoon construction manual." And they last for around three years.

9 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. Ok.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    So... the steel rod goes through the tarp and latches onto... wait... ... is that a screw? This thing better not fall apart in a week...

    1. Re:Ok.... by jonwil · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have a whole household full of IKEA products that have served me well for years, I see no reason why the same couldn't apply to these shelters too.

    2. Re:Ok.... by jamstar7 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have a whole household full of IKEA products that have served me well for years, I see no reason why the same couldn't apply to these shelters too.

      The difference, of course, is your Ikea furniture isn't exposed to the elements. A 3 year lifespan for a temporary shelter isn't bad...

      --
      Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
    3. Re:Ok.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How many shipping containers can you fit into a shipping container? How many can you fit onto the back of a truck? I have a feeling your ability to distribute them would be severely limited.

    4. Re:Ok.... by mutube · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Also, why the hell would you want to make things more comfortable in a shelter? You do NOT want to give people a reason to stay longer.

      I know, right!

      I heard that back where those refugees came from there are loads of free bullets. Why can't they eat them?! You don't even have bend down to pick them up, they're flying right around in the air at head height!!

      But I guess that's not good enough for them. That's why they're coming over here into the middle of desert, stealing our barren landscape.

      So selfish.

      Excuse me while I go buy a new iPad.

      --
      Python coder | PyQt Applications | Writer
  2. Re:We need those here by jamstar7 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    San Francisco has 8,000 homeless people. Those could help.

    The problem is, where do you put them up? NIMBY ('Not In My Back Yard!!') is the watchword here.

    --
    Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
  3. Re:We need those here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The homeless aren't refugees and can't be treated like them. 8000 crazy alcoholics with poor impulse control would indeed be a NIMBY nightmare.

  4. Perhaps the bigger problem... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While any incremental advances in design are a good thing, it seems like the timescales we are talking about here are starting to get into 'perhaps you need to re-think your approach to the problem...' territory.

    12 years is really pushing the idea of 'temporary' to the limit. How long do you go before you stop trying to incrementally decrease the squalor in a given refugee camp and start to admit that either you need to get your shit together on whatever is keeping your refugee camp full, or you need to admit that you have no resolution in sight on that one, and admit that your refugee camp is now a town.

  5. Re:Will not stop bastards by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    this will not stop a gang of rapists cutting their way in from the side raping everyone stealing and what they like
    probably better than a white sheet over a couple of wires though

    If you are reduced to relying on fortified architecture for that, you arguably have bigger problems(as well as problems that should be solvable at lower cost and weight by some flavor of law enforcement, rather than fortress architecture). Tents are, naturally, pitifully insecure; but you have to go a substantial distance up the food chain before there isn't a fairly obvious flaw that a few reasonably strong guys(bonus points for users) can crack in a couple of minutes.