Temporary Housing and Reconstruction after Emergencies

These days we experience the hard consequences of both human made and natural disasters. Complete settlements, both public and private buildings have disappeared, also from the islands From one moment to another people get deprived from all certainties: both immaterial as well as material. The TU/e Shelter Research Group from the Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning has been involved in product development processes of various shelter types and topics related. This paper will present a few developments and results. Provision has to be provided for various types of emergencies and different phases during the recovery operations. Just after the disaster the provision of shelter is just a roof over the head and a temporary place where people can receive initial treatment and some form of care. That is why the TU/e developed a rapid deployable type of collective center. After some time reconstruction will start and people are capable again to (re)build a housing structure for their own. At this stage it can make sense to provide them with a stable framework, which they can finish with cloth or other simple materials for walling in the beginning and to be replaced by timber panels – or so – later on. This is a second type of temporary housing which will be presented. Not only the technical details but also the development process how this type was developed and produced will be shown.