Zip-shelter

25 percent of natural and man-made disasters happen in winter conditions. To survive cold and sub-zero nights without good sleeping bags is not possible in tents (for example in China, Iran, Italy, Afghanistan, the Balkans etc.).
Instant shelter designs so far have not worked because designers have taken a military camp approaches, demanding uniformity and hierarchy and so inhibiting the organic, social process. Families and communities are, even under the shock of disaster, self-organizing groups. They need to be next to their damaged or destroyed home, when possible, to protect what is left and to start sorting and rebuilding quickly.
In an extreme situation humans need to be with loved ones, not sharing their intimate space with strangers. Communal meals and medical care are the exception.
Zip-Shelter is a rapidly deployable shelter for cold or hot climate conditions, for use by refugees, migrants and for expeditions. The Zip-Shelter is both lightweight and very compact in its disassembled form, easily transported by air, ground and on foot. Excellent insulation properties of the wall material protect the inhabitants during sub-zero nights, a function tents cannot offer.
A standard 20 foot sea container with a volumne of 33 cubic meters can hold 50 medium and 25 large collapsed Zip-Shelters, capable of supplying housing for approximately 450 people. Upon arrival by plane, helicopter or truck, a pack of Zip-Shelters is transportable like a backpack on foot where trucks can’t pass due to missing roads or bridges. A stack of three Zip-Shelters houses twenty people.
In the months after the loss / disaster, the material of our shelter can be used to complete and improve the repaired or new permanent home as roofing, dividers etc. Future Zip-Shelter generations with solar collectors can be used as such after the life of the Zip-Shelter itself.