Ikea's flat-pack refugee shelter is entering production

I've always found it curious; often innovations in the refugee arena would often be very welcome in other venues: camping, cheap structures, etc. These things are always priced really cheap, but we never see them really entering into the commercial market -- or when they do, they're always going for some kind of 2x the price scheme.

For example, these 188 sqft shelters would be great as a sheds, or workshops in affluent areas. Heck, I'd like to buy one for my parents to use as a storage shed on their property. Equivalent sized sheds (without solar power, or good design) run >$2000.

I see this all the time, nifty water purifiers, portable lights, radios, etc. There's some really interesting stuff being produced for refugees. Instead of crazy 2:1 schemes or whatever, why not just sell these on a 20% markup and donate the profit to buying more shelters? Or just sell them and push the price down due to the greater economies of scale?

The refugee space always seems so weird to me.

It's a great product and perfect for many use cases e.g. events. But I wouldn't say that you could use it for the millions of desperate refugees in the world.

That does not seem like a rational inclusion in a project intended to be deployed in crisis situations.

Um well our refugees cant get in right now because our generators stopped working or the batteries ran out.

KISS is an extremely important attribute of gear that needs to be deployed fast in under emergency circumstances. By definition it is not known what the conditions will be nor the nature of the catastrophe.

Logistics is everything in disaster relief.

Also, what's the longest period of time that 4 of you have lived out of one of the prototypes? They look pretty tiny for 4 people. Especially when someone decides they need to get out of one of the upper beds in the middle of the night.

Have you guys built any? Can we some real photos? I think all the stuff on your site is renders.

However several people have done what you're suggesting by:

- Living on a boat (either out at sea, moored just off-shore, or at a marina). This can range from being cheaper, to being much more expensive.

- Campervan, or enclosed truck. They often park semi-legally overnight and move every few days to escape harassment. Bathrooms are problematic (gym? work?).

- Camping (i.e. just tent and woods). This often escapes harassment (since you aren't in a city) but you are limited by water, and often travelling to/from the site is time consuming if you wish to work.

- Living at work (if possible). Likely legal but can get you fired thus homeless.

- Living a hotel. Some people have claimed that they can live in a hotel for less than the cost of a mortgage + utilities + taxes + other expenses. Ditto with some cruises. YMMV.

- Living in a foreign country. If you work remotely living abroad or in the middle of nowhere can cost a LOT less than living in a big expensive city.

PS - In general being homeless is "illegal" in most US cities. You'd get harassed, maybe even arrested, just for being without a fixed address. Most cities will try to run you out of town (literally and figuratively).

I'm joking and serious at the same time: Living in a very constraint space is certainly not for everybody and - as far as I understand - highly taxing. I'm sure I could live in a sparsely decorated minimum sq hut - alone.

I have the world's best wife, but stuff us into a place like that and over time only one will come out alive..

Looking at the structure it looks like it wouldn't take much to link them together and I think the materials look easy to reuse.

We'll see how it works in the long run, but initial results have been encouraging.

Australia truly is a lovely, compassionate country.

If you want them too, you are going to have to make it from scratch. They are open source, so that should not be a problem

Generally, third-world solutions (tents, shantytowns, container homes, or this) are a solution for how to build cheaply. First-world problems are mostly about zoning and permissions to build.

People don't care about "culture" when it comes to basic needs and survival. A roof, any roof, over my head is worth infinitely more than no roof when it's raining outside or -10 degrees.

The rest of what you are saying is just an inability to cope with reality. And I mean that in the nicest way possible.

It is hard, and deeply troubling, to accept that there is such a large group of displaced people in the world who could use something like this.

People are going to suffer, its not a perfect world. It hurts to see, especially when you drive past it each day. Planning for the suffering and providing temporary solution are good things.

But, housing is broken and people are feeling around. Tiny homes, these things, micro apartments are attempts at short and long term changes. We need more options. This isn't it, but its another idea.

Something like this will keep people safe for a while, but it is should not be thought of as an end. You're a good person and care, and skepticism is a good thing, but don't lose faith that small, positive steps are a good thing. I do think this is a small, positive step that doesn't diminish the gravity of the crimes people or bad luck can perpetrate on others. The best solution will be technical and have a moral outcome.

How often do first-worlders seriously consider these problems? How often do you seriously consider these problems? How do you get more invisible than invisible?

a technical matter rather than a moral one It's a false dichotomy to suggest that it should be one or the other (or even a mixture of only these two). Human interaction is incredibly complex, and it doesn't boil down to being operable on only one philosophical space

Gandhi was once asked to preside over as a chief guest on the opening day of an old age home. In his reply in the letter he argued why in an ideal world orphanages, old age homes etc shouldn't even need to exist.

But that is how the society is. Until you eliminate the evil, you need to prepare for its consequences.