RED+HOUSING, China Emergency Homes, OBRA Building Project, Survival Design, Images
RED+HOUSING China : Architecture
Emergency Housing Prototype by OBRA unveiled in China, Asia
3 Jul 2009
Red Cross Housing China
RED+HOUSING is an emergency housing prototype which was constructed full-scale and opened in an exhibit at the National Art Museum of China in May 2009.
It was a selected project in the AA | FAB competition and will be included in an exhibit organized in London in September 2009.
Images courtesy of OBRA Architects
RED+HOUSING MANIFESTO: Architecture on the Edge of Survival
Architecture on the Edge of Survival involves the development of an original prototype of emergency housing for future potential deployment in areas of natural or man-made disaster anywhere in the world. Emergency housing from the point of view of design is only an extreme form of architecture. Its context is that of almost unsustainable conditions, and its object, the creation of an environment we can inhabit temporarily while living on the edge.
Red+Housing proposes an approach that tries to incorporate both the advantages of fast-response solutions, such as the deployment of military tents, with those of slower and more considered responses such as neighborhood reconstruction efforts involving local traditions and user construction.
The Red Cross Housing design has been developed as an in-progress embodiment of the following 10 Points of Architecture on the Edge of Survival:
1. Universal Application
2. Effective Performance
3. Economical
4. Transportable
5. Ease of Assembly
6. Renewable Materials
7. Digitally Pre-fabricated
8. Open Work
9. Urban/Rural
10. Flexibility of Use
The value and need of effective emergency housing is self-evident. There are, of course, a number of different approaches to be considered and our intent is to utilize the opportunity of the architectural design process to test and explore possibilities which might best benefit victims. We feel architecture has something to contribute not only to their physical but also to their emotional and psychological well-being. Under the extreme conditions of a situation of emergency, architecture is rarely called upon to participate in the creation of temporary housing. This exhibit provides an opportunity to test how high design can contribute to apparently pre-eminently pragmatic concerns. Emergency housing from the point of view of design is only an extreme form of architecture. Its context is that of almost unsustainable conditions, and its object, the creation of an environment we can inhabit temporarily while living on the edge.
Red+Housing images / information from OBRA Architects
National Art Museum of China
Address: 1 Wusi St, Dongcheng, Beijing, China
Phone: +86 10 6400 1476
Location: 1 Wusi St, Dongcheng, Beijing, China
Architecture in China
China Architecture Designs – chronological list
Chinese Architect – Design Practice Listings
Shanghai Architecture Walking Tours
OBRA Architects based in New York, USA
Nanjing Museum of Art & Architecture, Nanjing, China
Design: Steven Holl Architects
picture from architects
Nanjing Museum of Art & Architecture
New York Architect : OBRA Architects – contact details
Chinese Buildings – Selection:
Bird’s Nest – Chinese National Stadium Building
Design: Arup, Herzog & De Meuron, China Architecture Design & Research Group
photo © Arup_Ben McMillan
Birds Nest Beijing
Beijing Olympics – The Water Cube
Design: PTW with Arup
photo © Arup_Ben McMillan
Water Cube Beijing
Comments / photos for the RED+HOUSING China Architecture page welcome
