Architecture

Prototype floating shelter folds in an emergency

Prototype floating shelter folds in an emergency
Fold&Float folds for easy transportation and its interior features folding furniture too
Fold&Float folds for easy transportation and its interior features folding furniture too
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Fold&Float is constructed out of steel
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Fold&Float is constructed out of steel 
Fold&Float is made up of two main parts: a lower floating pontoon base made from concrete and an upper A-frame-like structure that includes all of the furniture fixed onto the walls
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Fold&Float is made up of two main parts: a lower floating pontoon base made from concrete and an upper A-frame-like structure that includes all of the furniture fixed onto the walls
Fold&Float is foldable for easy storage and transportation
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Fold&Float is foldable for easy storage and transportation
Fold&Float is envisioned as emergency housing for earthquake victims
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Fold&Float is envisioned as emergency housing for earthquake victims
Fold&Float folds for easy transportation and its interior features folding furniture too
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Fold&Float folds for easy transportation and its interior features folding furniture too
We've no word on insulation or heating for this prototype model
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We've no word on insulation or heating for this prototype model
Fold&Float opens at each end
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Fold&Float opens at each end
Fold&Float features a raised sleeping loft accessed by ladder
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Fold&Float features a raised sleeping loft accessed by ladder
Fold&Float includes a seating area
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Fold&Float includes a seating area
Fold&Float also includes a kitchenette
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Fold&Float also includes a kitchenette
View of Fold&Float's upper sleeping area
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View of Fold&Float's upper sleeping area
View gallery - 11 images

Istanbul-based architecture firm SO? says that its city would be lacking in land suitable for emergency housing in the event of a major earthquake. In response, the firm has conceived a prototype floating shelter that has an interesting folding design.

Fold&Float is constructed out of steel and comprises two main parts: a lower pontoon base and an upper A-frame structure that folds flat for easy transportation.

The interior furniture is affixed to the wall on hinges. The idea is that once the shelter is unfolded into position on the floating pontoon in a suitable body of water, the seating, kitchenette, bathroom, and a raised sleeping area can all be unfolded too, making it ready for habitation very quickly and easily. The two door shelter has a total floorspace of 21 sq m (226 sq ft).

Fold&Float also includes a kitchenette
Fold&Float also includes a kitchenette

We've no word on practicalities like insulation, power or heating for the prototype model but the firm does make it clear that the project is experimental.

Fold&Float was developed for the Hope On Water project at the 4th Istanbul Design Biennial in 2018 and was created with input from civil engineering, architecture and sociology students. It's currently installed in the city's Rahmi M. Koç Museum.

Check out the video below to see more on the prototype shelter.

Source: SO?

fold and float

View gallery - 11 images
2 comments
2 comments
MerlinGuy
Am I the only person that finds this really strange? These shelters seem to take up a lot of space even when folded. They obviously need a semi to transport them to the water and then a crane to expand. Then they are towed out to open water? Access to shoreline has to be a premium. How do people get to and from the shelter? This seems absurd.
Douglas Bennett Rogers
Just set this on the ground and you have an earthquake proof house!