• Folds up into 1/4 of a shipping container
• Solar distillery provides fresh water at no cost
• Housing for 100,000 fits on one container ship for fast deployment
• Floats on 6 pontoons, or sets up on the ground

The SHRIMP (Sustainable Housing for Refugees via Mass Production) is an attempt to bring housing and other relief to large displaced or homeless populations, especially those who have suffered in a natural disaster. Providing shelter to a family of four, it folds up into 1/4 of a shipping container for efficient deployment. (cross sectional model pictured above)

Massive Deployment

Taking cues from IKEA’s flat-packing furniture, this shelter starts its life as a 10′ x 9.5′ x 8′ box, or exactly 1/4 of a “hi-cube” shipping container. Because of this standard size and self-contained design, the SHRIMP can be dispatched in extreme quantity; Maersk container ships, for example, can hold 6,400 containers. That equates to housing for roughly 100,000 people, on a single ship. Need medical or administrative centers, or even schools? Every 100th or 1000th SHRIMP can be a specialized unit, creating a complete mobile community. And using the solar distillery on the SHRIMP’s roof, fresh water needs are significantly reduced.

Pack It Up

The SHRIMP has pontoons which automatically inflate, using compressed air canisters – assembly takes minutes, not hours. Because many container ships have cranes, this eliminates the need for docking infrastructure – units can be unloaded anywhere there’s water. As standard-sized shipping containers, the SHRIMP can also easily be trucked across land. In addition, the simple wooden interior is modifiable with tools available in most places, allowing units to be customized or even converted into more permanent homes.

Sustainable Living

SHRIMP units can be refitted for reuse, and use sustainably farmed wood (see Forest Stewardship Council). They can also be retrofitted out of shipping containers, which are piling up in the US: “It costs $2,000 to ship an empty container back to its source, he said, but China can build new ones for $1,200,” writes the Virginian Pilot. The SHRIMP draws upon that waste stream, providing both humanitarian aid and waste management.

The DoubleSpace kitchenette caters to those with a taste for unique, compact living. People living in crowded cities such as New York can appreciate the value of flexible, efficiently used living space. This roomy easy chair converts easily into a countertop with two electric burners.

SMALL IS THE NEW BIG

“After more than 30 years of steady increase, the size of the typical American house appears to be leveling off,” reports the New York Times. The average American home rose to over 2,300 in 2001, from 1,500 square feet in 1970. Across the Pacific, Japanese families live in homes that average only 1,000 square feet, according to Azby Brown, author of The Very Small Home: Japanese Ideas for Living Well in Limited Space.

You’ll never sit and cook at the same time

It’s so true that Vestal designers overlapped the two functions to create a new kind of convertible. (Safety features include not being able to turn on the burner while the DoubleSpace is in the chair orientation.) A carefully placed axle allows the perfect sitting height to swing upward to become the perfect cooking height. Such designs can make it easier for people to take up less space, as well as use less energy and raw materials.

Futureproof/ed’s Serge de Gheldere was also a speaker at the first Yale Wearing Change series of talks on sustainability and fashion.

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While many firms can make a pretty face for a website, Vestal Design has an in-depth knowledge of the systems ‘behind-the-scenes,’ allowing us to completely support our pages from the inside out. And, as businesses change and expand, Vestal will be able to adapt all the layers of hosting at once, by ourselves.

Technical support can be a harrowing business; but, for better or worse, we feel it is a necessary part of thorough web development.

Vestal also designed the Cut&Paste Labs website; to view it, click here.

The Independent Press Association, an organization of over 500 publications nationwide, has awarded Yale’s Environmental Leadership Magazine with “Best Independent Campus Publication of the Year with a Budget under $10,000”. The IPA says on their award website:

True to its mission, this gorgeously designed publication has the feel of a collage created from hand-made paper and found or recycled scraps. Though the design may look rough-hewn, the content is anything but. This small zine features moving essays, solid investigative pieces and compelling editorials on a truly diverse array of topics. Though always firmly grounded in its environmental theme, ELM manages to deliver a blend of voices and topics, making it appealing to a wide swath of campus readers.

Link to award announcement.

Link to ELM website.

Robotics for the Masses

Exploiting the markets of scale of the toy industry, specifically in the realm of entertainment robotics, the Feral Robotic Dog project provides a readymade, inexpensive and highly distributed robotic hardware platform. The “toy” robotic dogs currently on the international market provide the most inexpensive source of compatible motors, actuation, and sensing mechanisms available ($15-$200 for the dog adaptation).

Information Legibility

Isn’t it ironic that EPA reports are often illegible to those who live in the areas they address? If kids are playing in a playground built on a possible toxic waste site, they’re much more likely to understand a dog searching for toxins than a man in a white suit. Mediagenic technologies promote transparency and information legibility in an age when the problem isn’t getting enough information, it’s understanding it all.

Link to Natalie Jeremijenko’s Feral Robotics website

Energy efficiency collides with ramen and all-nighters

Stretching three stories high, the building’s CORE contains the major vertical elements, including two evaporative cool towers, and a thermally massive, resource efficient masonry stove which provides heat to radiant floor system. The building also boasts passive solar design, natural stack ventilation, integrated photovoltaics, and solar hot water heating. Other green technologies include rooftop rainwater catchment, native vegetation and permeable outdoor surfaces, grey water systems, and the use of green materials such as locally sourced fly ash concrete and FSC certified/ salvaged lumber.

Design for Community

This 42 bed building features open floor plans built around room clusters and common spaces to promote circulation as well as facilitate interaction among residents. The building is also designed for maximum flexibility by routing data and utilities via the CORE and through overhead conduits which allows non-load bearing walls to be removed and reconstructed to accommodate future programming changes. The building’s ground floor classroom is host to courses on green design, energy efficient architecture, and sustainable development while basement laboratory space supports related student initiated research, integrating residential education and program goals.

Design for Community

Modern tents are designed primarily for portability and weather protection. In designing the Polaris tent, Vestal designers set out to challenge those priorities – the tent is waterproof and lightweight, made from reclaimed parachute nylon. While not sacrificing portability (inflatable rings eliminate the need for most of the poles), the Polaris fosters community by allowing tents to link together into “villages”, creating small public spaces and encouraging interaction. Communication is integrated into the design; campers can leave messages on whiteboard fabric as well as fly signal kites which silently broadcast friendly messages such as “We have Extra Food” or even “Party Over Here”.

Live off the Land: Design for Environment

Making use of a movable tarp roof, the Polaris tent not only makes good use of sun shading for temperature control, but allows rainwater to be gathered – simply lower the tarp to form a funnel, and water collects in a pocket at the bottom. Flexible photovoltaic panels also allow internet-age campers to charge cellphones, digital cameras, or MP3 players.

Vestal stepped in with a fast and elegant design which was updated regularly as the list of speakers grew. Vestal also set up a conference blog for announcements and photos, and developed a visual style for the conference, including flyers and posters.