Emergency shelters and the new aesthetic
New York City unveils new ‘temporary’ shelters.
New York City is one the most expensive cities in the world. After Hurricane Sandy, displaced residents had meager housing alternatives. There were very few affordable apartments. Temporary housing was cramped (and expensive) hotel rooms. Many people decided to stay put and remain in waterlogged (and unhealthy) houses. On June 10th 2014, the New York City Office of Emergency Management unveiled a prototype for temporary emergency housing.
After disasters there can be a great need for temporary shelters. According to a New York Times story over 3,000 people were still living in FEMA trailers four years after Hurricane Katrina. These trailers were ugly, uncomfortable and had high levels of formaldehyde. A story by CBSNEWS in 2012 reports $42.6 million dollar settlement from a class-action lawsuit brought by victims of the 2005 Gulf Coast storms against the trailers manufacturers. The problem with temporary emergency shelters is that they are often used far longer then disaster response managers envision. New York City has attempted to create a shelter that was livable, affordable, could be deployed in a reasonable amount of time and would meet NYC’s complex and detailed building codes.
The cost of the prototype is approximately $350,000 to $400,000 for 480 square foot one-bedroom to 813 square foot three-bedrooms. Office of Emergency Management commissioner Joseph Bruno hopes that mass production would lower that cost by half. That number doesn’t include land costs that are considerable in New York.
There is a need for affordable, comfortable and safe temporary emergency shelters. Previous disasters have demonstrated that these shelters may be used far longer then expected. It is an important that these shelters do not turn into domestic refugee camps and inflict further trauma to victims that have already lost, in most cases everything. It’s also a bitchin cool crib.
Below are three modular market rate apartments buildings and one emergency shelter (all in Brooklyn). Find the emergency shelter .
