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Swedish nonprofit Better Shelter has announced the provision of 5,000 emergency shelters in Turkey following the major earthquake that has so far killed over 47,000 people across the country and neighboring Syria. The shelters were made possible through a EUR 10 million (approximately USD... View full entry
Following last week’s look at an opening for a Shop Manager at Studio Sanford Biggers, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open position on Archinect Jobs for an Architect at Doctors Without Borders. The role, which requires a... View full entry
Zaha Hadid Architects has designed a collection of tents to be used as schools, clinics, and emergency shelters for displaced communities. The 27 tents, constructed with the support of the Education Above All Foundation, have been donated to the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and... View full entry
Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed bistable inflatable structures inspired by origami, raising new possibilities for the future of emergency shelters, pop-up architecture, and even extra-terrestrial structures. Many of... View full entry
After Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012 an Airbnb host reached out to the billion-dollar online vacation rental company to propose an idea. The host asked if she could offer her home to people who had been evacuated to stay free of charge. Since then the team from Airbnb has evolved the host's... View full entry
Construction has begun on Atlanta's soon-to-be largest park by John Portman & Associates. The repurposed quarry pit will not only provide an outdoor recreational area but also create 2 billion gallons of emergency drinking water for Atlanta, increasing the city’s emergency water reserves... View full entry
Puerto Rico’s electricity grid was completely knocked out when Hurricane Maria slammed into the island Sept. 20, and repairs are expected to take months. That’s generating interest in microgrids, small-scale systems that combine solar panels and batteries that can be installed quickly to restore power to a few buildings at a time. — Bloomberg
German company Sonnen GmbH will provide 15 solar powered energy storage systems to Puerto Rico's emergency relief centers. Most of the Island is still without power after Hurricane Maria. View full entry
Pritzker Prize Laureate Shigeru Ban has announced plans to contribute to emergency relief efforts in Nepal after the April 25 earthquake reduced cities to rubble, killed more than 7,000, and left thousands homeless. In the short term, Ban’s firm and his relief organization Voluntary Architects’ Network (VAN) will distribute simple tents—supplemented with plastic sheets donated by contractors to serve as wall partitions—and assemble them onsite as temporary shelter and medical aid stations. — archrecord.construction.com
According to the report, VAN aims to partner with local universities, students and architects in the coming months to work towards create stable housing once conditions have stabilized. This is not the first time that Shigeru Ban, who won the 2014 Pritzker prize, has deployed his architectural... View full entry
Of all the roles of government, emergency response may be the least controversial. When disaster hits, we expect our fire, police, and other public services to provide immediate relief. But as James McConnell, Assistant Commissioner for Strategic Data at the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM), reminds us, tactical effectiveness in a crisis requires more than boots on the ground, ready at a moment’s notice. — urbanomnibus.net
