Portable Shelters for Homeless or Refugees Designed by ZO_loft
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin 
on 06.23.08
ZO_loft Wheelly: Shelter Cart
The quest to find a suitable, if not ideal, solution to the problem of people dislocated from more permanent housing is a pressing issue which many designers take very seriously. The challenges are great: housing must be readily portable but robust enough to protect the homeless or refugees from the elements. It must be extremely cost effective. It should preserve some degree of dignity for people who are already suffering loss.
The Italian group ZO_loft architecture & design (Andrea Cingoli, Paolo Emilio Bellisario, Francesca Fontana, Cristian Cellini) now adds their vision to the concept of temporary shelter. The ZO_loft Wheelly is private, portable, and offers a clever trick to solve issues of cost. For pictures of the Wheelly and an expanded-view explanation of the Wheely design, check over the fold.
ZO_loft Wheelly Concept
Integration. Recyclable. Status Symbol. Shelter. Stall. Cart. Sponsor. City Language. Privacy. These words beckon from ZO-loft's flyer. Status symbol? Yes, indeed.
As the businessman is the one with the overnight bag; the homeless will be the one with the colored wheel, no more a begger.
ZO_loft Wheelly Design
The elements from which the Wheelly is assembled are numbered in the image above:
- (1) 250 liter cloth bag
- (2) Reflecting colored rubber rim
- (3) Folding polyester resin tent, weight 160g/m2
- (4) Rubber tire
- (5) Aluminum frame
- (6) Pressed paper rollers, serve as bearings
- (7) Sponsored insulating rubber disk
ZO_loft Wheelly Interact
You can place two wheellys together at the wheel to share space with a friend for a while. Both can sleep in the dualy-wheelly with the cloth stuff-sacks hanging between if they can tolerate the womb-like space offered by only half-a-wheelly. Which brings us to our one-and-only critique of the wheelly: it appears that the wheel creates a substantial intrusion into the tent space, exactly at the middle of its length. This would seem to make a comfortable night of sleep a challenge.
ZO_loft Wheelly Integration
But in other regards, Wheelly represents fantastic creativity as an all-in-one habitat solution. Wheelly can carry and store personal possessions; up to 250 liters of stuff travels comfortably hammocked inside the wheel structure, then holds down one side of the caterpiller tent when at rest. Wheelly can be set up in an intermediate expansion to serve as a sheltered chair (sketch below title of this article). And an insulated rubber disk on the side can carry a sponsor's message, helping to make the units available at low cost to those in need. The Wheelly is also designed to be disassembled and is 100% recyclable. Certainly, ZO_loft has made a worthy contribution to the ongoing cause of designing like you give a damn. And perhaps to a generation of "Wheellers" who will laugh at the old-fashioned back-packers of the previous generation.
A look at other concepts for temporary shelter:
Pallet House
Hexayurt
Pod shelters
Gimme shelter
Mississippi cottages
FEMA Failures
Futureshack
Khalili's dome homes
Other Designs by ZO_loft:
Din-ink biodegradable cutlery pen caps
Via: Paolo Emilio Bellisario of ::ZO_loft
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I want one for my backyard!
So it's a big heavy tent that is impractical to move from place to place?
tent+sleeping bag+backpack = much more sense
You stole my design!!!
This reminds me of the chameleon multi-function clothing. The designer (Rock?) had hoped to put multiple chameleons together to form a shelter. I believe it could be done. Plus the clothing could also be used to pack items. It could also be made into pants, a poncho, dress, shirt, a hammock and more.
Zo-loft Architecture & Design ha il piacere di informarvi
che dal 18 al 22 aprile sarà presente al Well-tech Award
09 con Wheelly, il modulo abitativo portatile per
senzatetto. L'evento si terrà a Milano presso il Palazzo
Isimbardi - Cortile d'onore, c.so Monforte 35. Fiat, Magneti
Marelli, Pininfarina Extra, Honeywell Tech. Solution e
Philips, tra le aziende che insieme a Zo-loft saranno in
mostra e in lizza per il Well-tech Award 09.
La cerimonia di premiazione è fissata per il 22 aprile
alle ore 18. Seguirà la presentazione alla stampa in Sala
Affreschi.
Per ulteriori informazioni contattateci all'indirizzo mail:
team@zo-loft.com
Link al video del progetto in mostra:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_zXUny0TB4