Analysis of Kinetic Disaster Relief Shelters and a Novel Adaptive Shelter Proposal

Abstract

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, wildfires, landslides, and floods displace millions of people worldwide every year. Therefore, temporary shelters should be provided to the people affected by disasters. Generally, conventional shelters such as tents, container-type shelters, and prefabricated structures are used after disasters. However, they do not provide spatial flexibility and adaptability to changing circumstances. Although using kinetic structures in temporary shelter design allows the creation of adaptive systems, the majority of temporary shelters are limited to certain types. This study aims to develop an adaptive disaster relief shelter that can deploy from a compact state to an expanded one to provide not only formal flexibility but also ease of transport and storage. First, it investigates spatial and structural solutions developed for temporary shelters and analyzes to what extent kinetic structural systems provide solutions regarding adaptation to changing circumstances. Based on the findings obtained from the analysis, a novel adaptive shelter composed of scissor linkages and plates has been proposed. The proposed Shelter Module X is adaptive enough, functioning not only as an accommodation unit during distinct sheltering periods but also serving different functions by unit combinations.

Keywords

• temporary shelters
• disaster relief shelters
• adaptability
• natural disasters
• kinetic structures
• geçici barınaklar
• afet yardım barınakları
• adaptasyon
• doğal afetler
• kinetik strüktürler