Portable Urban Shelter Design

This study examines the problematic surrounding street homelessness and the impact which the environment may present in certain ocations on such individuals. It pretends to provide an architectural temporary solution which may ammeliorate certain aspects in regards to thermal comfort as the climatic conditions have a considerable effect on the health of people living exposed to both urban and natural environments. The strategy was to design a portable shelter which could be possitioned on any vertical element of the city which could take the weight of a single person, i.e. A tree, a tubular fence, a lamp post or a sign post, etc. The final purpose of this study was to generate a working prototype for a shelter which could be tested and which could provide through tangible data a realistic assesment of the conditions that pose a series of risks to the individuals in question. The generated computer data was used to inform the final design which was built and tested in London, UK.