2010-2015 – Petal Housings

 

 
Program Transitional Housing Occupancy adapted and adaptable
Place Everywhere
Surface One unit: 39 m², two units: 78 m², three units: 117 m², etc
Team Éric Cassar, Yakoub Nasri (2015), Marie Moleva (2015), Marina Benedetti (2015), Lamia Nekka (2013), Juvenal Rubiños (2010), Céline Lecoute (2010), Natalia Lucar (2010), Noureddine Sehil (2010)
 

Call

As committed architects we designed Petal habitat (Download file) : a transitory and modular habitat adapted to both refugees and unsecured citizens

We believe that we could create a positive synergy by combining these two types of population, punctually on the margins of society. This positive attitude will impact them (with the objective of reintegration) but also our fellow citizens.

Indeed these assemblies homes (many petals create a flower, several flowers bouquet) also include a shared space open to the city that could act as a link generator. It hosts space for sharing and learning languages ​​and cultures, workshops, witnesses of life, conviviality …
The objective is to enhance exchanges and solidarity: meet their needs and to benefit other people of experiences and expertise.
If you are interested in sharing this idea, we seek for :
- Cities ready to welcome petals habitats occasionally (3 to 5 years)
- One or more industrial interested to develop a first prototype
- Anyone willing to get involved in this project (in person or by financing)

 

The project

First answer to an emergency situation ; this transitional housing is adapted to any kind of environment. It is biodegradable (using of recycled materials) and partly reusable. It must first protect the human environment (give him a roof), but it must also, over time, be a source of comfort, pleasure. It must promote the social integration of individuals opening to its external environment (neighborhood, city, country). People need to appropriate it.

These temporary dwellings must become places that is to say spaces for exchange with their own identities and histories. They have to be adaptable, seducing, colorfull, be a vector of beauty and pleasure ; and offering pleasant areas while meeting the parameters of the transitional habitat: economy, easy to move.

Everything starts with some basic elements acting like bricks. They are not too small so as to limit their number and not too large so as to facilitate their transportation. From a number of basic elements we create a module or « petal ».

The basic composition operates by group of 3 modules (the ‘petals’ becomes « flower »), even if these modules can also be arranged differently depending on the type of partition. Inside; the number of levels and the spaces change. It includes shared open spaces dedicated to the residents but sometimes also to other inhabitants of the cities. Refugees can discover the language and culture of the host country but also share experiences, exchange…

Those « flowers » can then be associated with others, becoming part of a long chain (« bouquet » or « meadow »). Once the implementation duration is finished, petal habitat is disassembled and transported to another place.