Currently there are over 120.000 people living on the streets of Delhi. While people in rural areas find various ways to build their shelters, in urban areas the situation is more complex. There is a technical difficulty to anchor a tent to hard pavements, which are patrolled by police who do not allow any permanent structures. Thus homeless people are forced to lie on the ground wrapped in blankets without any other physical barrier. This leaves people unprotected from the harsh weather in Delhi that can reach zero degrees Celsius in the winter causing hundreds of deaths amongst homeless while also being psychologically exposed.
mHS City Lab has been working with homeless people to find solutions. The Single Family Shelter aims to be one possible option for homeless individuals and families living in urban spaces of India. After a design process of various prototypes, mHS City Lab has designed a shelter that does not need to be anchored in the soil and that could be built and packed in a minute. The concept is based on a self-standing structure that is a combination of 2 steel joints and 5 bamboo sticks, eventually covered by a plastic sheet. The design optimizes resistance to wind and permits ventilation during hot months. It also allows for an inner layer of a mosquito net to protect against diseases, like malaria and dengue. The shelter design also allows manufacturing to be done anywhere, as the inexpensive materials are available all across India, and no special skills are needed, with the exception of the 2 joints that need to be welded. Materials and construction for each shelter is $20, and mHS City Lab hopes to build 100 of these units and distribute them to homeless families. They will follow the use of this first batch and obtain feedback from the users. With the feedback, they will to continue adapting the shelter to the needs of the homeless.
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