Kamil Owczarek, Agnieszka Witaszek and Aleksandra Wróbel, architecture students, won first place in the Kaira Looro international competition . Their "Foldable EmergencyShelter" (Foldable Emergency Shelter) was selected among projects from around the world. Congratulations!
Kaira Looro 's competition task was to design a facility serving as an Emergency Management Center that could be built in sub-Saharan Africa. The building would facilitate humanitarian operations and provide shelter for disaster victims and refugees. The submitted works were evaluated by an international jury, which included:
- Kengo Kuma - architect, owner of Kengo Kuma & Associates,
- Agostino Ghirardelli - architect, owner of Blengini Ghirardelli Associati,
- Lígia Nunes - architect with Architecture Sans Frontières International,
- Mphethi Morojele - architect from MMA Design Studio,
- Walter Baricchi - head of CNAPPC's Department of Cooperation, Solidarity and Civil Protection,
- Philippa Nyakato Tumubweinee - director of the Department of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics at the University of Cape Town.
facility is easy to construct
© Kamil Owczarek, Agnieszka Witaszek, Aleksandra Wróbel
First place for Krakow students
The jury was unanimous, first place and a prize of 5,000 euros and, most importantly, an internship in the Tokyo office of Kengo Kuma & Associates were awarded to Kamil Owczarek, Agnieszka Witaszek and Aleksandra Wróbel from the Faculty of Architecture at PK. Their project is the "FoldableEmergency Shelter" (Foldable Emergency Shelter). The facility provides assistance to a community in sub-Saharan Africa affected by natural disasters.
easy construction with prefabricated components
Key features of the building include ease of assembly and disassembly and adaptability to rapidly changing conditions. These advantages were achieved by introducing a structural system based on a single prefabricated element - a rectangular slab with indentations. The board, thanks to the easy assembly process - sliding one board into another - creates a spatial wall structure that can be assembled and disassembled in a very short time even by an unskilled person.
The walls are made of prefabricated elements
© Kamil Owczarek, Agnieszka Witaszek, Aleksandra Wróbel
This system makes it possible to adapt the building to changing needs - each wall can be easily lengthened or shortened by adding or removing horizontal and vertical elements. Designing a building from identical elements is also essential for its functionality: the ergonomic dimensions of each panel make it possible to pack them onto a single truck and immediately transport them to the site of a disaster, and this process can be repeated many times thanks to the easy disassembly of the elements. According to the authors:
This is one of the main reasons why the shelter was not designed with locally available materials. Its construction would have been heavily dependent on available resources, the scarcity of which would have caused significant changes in the design, both labor- and time-consuming. Moreover, the use of materials that are leftover from the disaster poses the danger of introducing harmful substances into the structure that could have a negative impact on human health.
For this reason, too, the designers decided to raise the floor of the building above ground level, using plastic boxes. This makes it easier to maintain hygiene, stabilize the uneven ground and prevent flooding during a possible flood.
Walls as storage
The exterior walls give expression to the entire building. Their openwork design alludes to the assistance provided inside and translates into a sense of security. The walls also have a purely practical function: it is a place to store parcels arriving at the building, which can be located as desired. The parcels, depending on their needs, can open or close the visual connection between inside and outside and thus regulate the degree of privacy. Other openings in the walls allow natural ventilation, while extensive eaves provide shade and protect the interior from overheating.
the warehouse functions as a bookcase
© Kamil Owczarek, Agnieszka Witaszek, Aleksandra Wróbel
facility divided into zones
Thesimple plan of the facility is defined by a sequence of interiors arranged in a spiral, which are characterized by varying degrees of privacy. A ramp leading to a spacious waiting area indicates the entrance to the help zone, accessible to everyone. A pathway continuing along the building's exterior walls to the entrance to the management area defines another, more private space intended for staff. Meanwhile, a delivery point located next to the management zone allows all goods to be quickly repacked directly into the warehouse inside the building.
the help zone is accessible to everyone
© Kamil Owczarek, Agnieszka Witaszek, Aleksandra Wróbel
The two main zones of the building - help and management - have an open plan, which can be divided by partition walls if necessary. The two spaces are connected to each other by a functional core, which includes a warehouse and a toilet using dry compost technology. The warehouse functions like a rack accessible from both sides, allowing parcels to be stored across its entire width (2.4 meters). In addition, its design, unlike the exterior wall construction system, allows the horizontal elements to be repositioned to adjust the space to accommodate the storage of different sized objects. The facility also has a tank for rainwater, which can be distributed to those in need thanks to a filtration process.
See also the project titled. "Oasis" by Aleksandra Wykrota, Piotr Dziewierz, Filip Sierak and Mateusz Ryjak, which received an honorable mention in the Kaira Looro competition.
compiled by {tag:AuthorAiB}
illustrations courtesy of Kamil Owczarek,
Agnieszka Witaszek and Aleksandra Wróbel
