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Shell House (living portable) by Carolina Pino

By squirrelbait - May 4, 2007

in Object Culture

Cardboard shelters for the homeless aren't exactly the newest concepts on the block (that's what refrigerator boxes are for, right?), but NYU grad student Carolina Pino's thesis project, the collapsibleShell House (with embedded radio transmitter), is a practical DIY project that provides a simple and bare-bones, yet attractive and effective barrier against the elements and others. She's even posted instructions online so that the authorship dissolves in order for the project to evolve via users.

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Prof. Klaus Lehmann

14 years ago

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I just return from Sander exhibition in Waiblingen, "Leben im Karton" and would like to introduce your shellhouse work into my book in a chapter about "Folding" which will be part of my book about Design-Teaching. (English and Chinese)
I would be happy to get your ok.
Yours
Klaus Lehmann
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design4acause

17 years ago

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This whole idea of designing solutions for the homeless is a totally wrong approach to solving the actual problem of homelessness. Shouldn't designers be designing products that help the homeless have purposeful lives instead of supporting their current state of mind?
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Monkey

18 years ago

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I have been giving students a cardboard "shelter" for the homeless project since 1992 in an "Introduction to design visualization" course.

The solutions are based on a structure constructed of one 4'X8' sheet assembled with diagrammatic instructions. The students consider personal customization/ identification and joining the individual structures into a living unit that would build social interaction, security and a stronger structure. This project is only a three week assignment given to freshman students and I have to say they seem to produce better solutions than the one featured here.

If this is grad work, and this is the thesis resolution then this student needs more direction from her review committee- IMO

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