pivot pointurban

natural

Natural disasters can cripple a city’s infastructure and expel its population. The crucial recover point occurs in the days and months after a natural disaster has occured. The effects last for years and decades. The traditional solution has been a short flash a instananeous relief to victims. This saves lives but leaves cities ruined. As soon as disposable tents blow away, funding for shipped in food and medical relief dries up, and the next disaster strikes somewhere else, the city is left on its own with no infastructure to support its inhabitants. This project proposes an instantaneous relief package that sustains itself over time and grows into the reborn cities infastructure.

Urban growth can become harmful when a cities infastructure is not equipped to handle its population density. It is projected that by the year 2050, 85% of the world’s population will be living in urban spaces. This project proposes prefabrication of five steel components which can form a cube shelter. These prefabricated cubes will be small enough to fit into a city’s smallest residual spaces and stack in varying methods. They will be manufactured in a manner vastly more efficient than traditional housing, allowing a significantly larger portion of the city to afford housing, office, or retail space. The new condensed living spaces will allow a city’s population to rise without compromising area for public space. The infinitely large combinations of pieces will allow complete customization, and spark mass resale and reuse of each piece.

economic crisis

one click away

# of cubes per person vs. time

crippling infastructure433% of all businesses that close do to natural disaster never reeopen. ”p

dissapearing cities

Thhe U.S. government purchased $35,000 FEMA trailers toteemporarily house Katrina victims. 5 years later, the victims puurchased these trailers for as little as $10, never to return to New Orleans.

# of cubes the average wall street broker owns over a ten year spanpanh ll b k

a prefabricated solution to urban and natural problems

New Orleans is currently at 40% of its pre-Katrina population.

smaller worldThe cost of shipping one unit from L.A. to N.Y. would be $570, roughly the cost of onemonths rent. After paying rent for 4 months, atenant will have spent the same amount of money as it costs to buy and ship an unfurnished cube across the county to live inpermanently. The cube would arrive 4 dayslater.

air-dropped relief:The total cube weighs 600lbs. Itwill be dropped in three seperate packages sequentially.

housing a nation:of February, 2010, The American As of the end

d raised $284 million to aid Haiti. Red Cross hadon homeless and the averageWith 1.2 millio

g seven members, the Red Crossfamily havingo provide170,000 shelters. At thewould need tst of $1,500 per cube, the Red estimated cos

permanently house all of Haiti forCross could p$250 million.

sale vs. resaleDespite national decline of retail in 2009, online purchases rose 11% to $205

ybillion. Online customization and cheaper prices will drive the cubes sales. b o . O e custo at o a d c eape p ces d e t e cubes sa

100 million people worldwide are homeless. Instead of instantlylosing an entire home, the cube provides a softer threshold.

20102010 2020012 2014 2016 01801820 20202020

steel from concentrateThe largest contributers to a products cost are labor and shipping A condensed shipping state lowers the costshipping. A condensed shipping state lowers the cost.

cube ab

cube bb b

assembly:

pre construction: instant relief centers

hands only

The air-dropped pieces have both pre and post construction uses. They will be packed with instane-ous relief goods such as �rst aid kits, food and water, and the parachutes will be insulated for cold climates.

interior wall post�oor exterior wall roof

4 1

3

62

5

plug inwalls to utilities

slide inconnections

labor is 90% of the cost of steel construction .

a prefabricated structure that can easily be set up by the user within an hour will be 90% cheaper

post construction: producer to consumer

Long term relief goods, such as seeds, will also be packed in. The cube itself will use all surfaces to provide for the inhabitant once the intial relief runs out.

resting state:

one year: cube growth

single day: inhabitation cycle

bedroom conversion: bathroom end state: entertainment space

customizing: disposable incomeplanting seeds: long term relief plugging in: utilizing city’s water and electric

adaptable structure: The interior walls redirect all load from the �oor and program into the posts. This saves space, allowing users to inhabit the structure and every interior structure to be custom �tted to its program. Because all load is distributed to the posts, the structure acts in predictable ways when stacked. Building codes can be established based on the posts properties.

existing

existing

existing

existing

existing

existing

economic infusion:The cube can become both the economic good or producer of goods. In the urban sitaution above, the cubes are being stacked one atop another, as they are constantly being traded, bought and sold on the digital market. In the underdevloped situation below, the cubes are produced the goods to be sold on the tangible market.

rate for 64 sq. ft.

New YorkSan FransicoL.A.Chicago

$240$160$144$112

until total rent = $1500

New YorkSan FransicoL.A.Chicago

188273312402

monthly

days

30151-5

5.074.394.03

years to pay o� house loan and corresponding interest

price of cube = $1500