Here’s an image of an interesting pre-fab shelter from South Africa.

The biggest selling point for this shelter is that it can be packaged into a small footprint for easy shipping – and more importantly, mass production. The image comes from a press release at the SouthAfrica.info site (via IFTF).

This type of development is important. It doesn’t represent the future I’d like to see and it’s a good interim step.

It’s important because there are millions of people living in shanty towns. Many occupy spaces that are cleverly assembled from scrap building materials. Many others occupy hand me down temporary shelters that aren’t so clever. Those types of buildings are particularly dangerous and prone to collapse. Personally I might be somewhat angry if the government wanted to level my handmade shack and give me this thing.

City planners though might see this as a step toward solving the environmental and public health problems that haunt shanty towns. Disaster readiness planners and response teams might be attracted to such fast and mobile shelters.

Harinarain’s building also represents an interim step toward more sustainable housing strategies in South Africa. A few weeks ago I shared the story of a sustainably designed and constructed village in Denilton, South Africa. The image above reminds me that we still haven’t found the right low cost shelter solution. Galvanized steel is durable and cheap but it doesn’t perform nearly as well as mud and thatch.

The region where this building originates, Kwazulu-Natal, has an amazing history of mud and thatch building. There’s a complex story surrounding the cultural rejection of mud and thatch buildings. First, they’re seen as primitive, even though they perform better and are incredibly environmentally friendly. Galvanized steel does not make a comfortable shelter. It makes a fast and durable shelter.

It wouldn’t be easy, but maybe it would be worthwhile to organize a government led mud and thatch homes-for-humanity type of project on a large scale in the poorest shanty towns. There are major material cost issues that would come into play using conventional techniques. Natural and traditional building practices require significantly less material costs. They also require much greater labor time and effort. Any natural builder will tell you that’s part of the attraction to this type of work. It’s not anti-industrial; it’s just a satisfying and meaningful experience to build with your hands. These concepts are a great fit for communities where building budgets are low and manpower is high.

Training programs for this type of work are feasible although they require a long term commitment to a community. It can mean work and food for the informal sector/unemployed. It can also mean the cultural protection of skills such as thatching, and adobe. These skills are in dangerous decline in some areas. Kleiworks and others have been leading programs around the world. They’ve proven that the concept can work in rural communities. I’m sure it would be trickier in urban communities and I doubt it would be impossible.

In the short term at least it’s a lot easier to haul in trucks full of galvanized steel. The speed and convenience of this process trumps any R factor advantages or other considerations. Entrepreneurs in Richards Bay are making a global play and it looks like they’ve got a good design. It’s a practical solution even if it lacks in vision.

The inventor, Rajan Harinarain, needs a website for his business. He can build a house in five minutes. Let’s see how quickly he can slap up a basic site. I hope it’s fast. If you can help him with a server or a URL please do so (presumably you can contact him through the SA Department of Housing). A good number of people have been writing about his story and they need a point of contact. Good luck!

[tags]Rajan Harinarain, Richards Bay, South Africa, housing[/tags]