Balbek Bureau proposes "temporary but dignified" refugee villages for Ukraine's displaced

[Celerity]

https://www.dezeen.com/2022/03/22/re-ukraine-balbek-bureau-refugee-village/





Kyiv practice Balbek Bureau has analysed refugee settlements around the world to develop a blueprint for a modular village that could provide emergency shelter for people made homeless during the war in Ukraine. The housing scheme, dubbed Re:Ukraine, is based on a standardised timber-framed box that can be fitted with different interiors to form living quarters and communal kitchens, bathrooms and public spaces. These units could be stacked and combined into larger configurations, interspersed with squares and green spaces, to create everything from a 100-person settlement up to the equivalent of a small town housing 8,200 people.





Balbek Bureau designed the template to balance residents' need for comfort and social interaction in the face of violent conflict with the urgent need to house the people displaced by "the worst humanitarian crisis in Europe since world war two," the studio said. "The main task we set ourselves was to maintain a dignified way of life," explained the studio's founder Slava Balbek. "You can take away people's homes, unfortunately, but not their dignity." "Time is playing against us, so it is important to find the best and fastest way to build," he added. "Imagine a family that has to spend another day, another week behind a curtain in a school gym equipped for 500 people."



Russia's war on Ukraine has so far damaged or levelled at least 30 listed heritage buildings and more than 4,600 homes. As locals flee violence and destruction, an estimated 6.5 million people have been internally displaced – on top of the 3.2 million that have already left the country. Balbek Bureau assembled a team of architects, designers and engineers in its Kyiv studio in a bid to determine the best way to house this flood of people while damaged houses are repaired and new ones constructed.



The team combed through existing examples of refugee housing, including modular shelters such as Exo pods and more than 20 temporary settlements in different countries from Germany to Switzerland. "In this way, a system of values ​​and priorities was established to ensure temporary but dignified living for Ukrainians," said Balbek. "All of last week, a team of 10 people was working 24/7 on this system." The resulting blueprint was designed to be as flexible as possible in order to accommodate changing needs, locations and budgets, as well as growing numbers of refugees.

snip

[secondwind]

1. They aren't bad looking, I hope this comes to fruition ...................

[niyad]

2. KNR and bookmarking. For later. Very interesting concept.

[Wounded Bear]

3. Hell, we could use these for our homeless problems...nt

[I_UndergroundPanther]

4. sad we can't build villages over here like that

for our homeless because the nimbys would squawk.

it would do so much to help people that have no shelter to build something like this.
Is there one well off person willing to build it?
but when the comfortable nimbys squawk
a lot of suffering desperate people have to sleep in tents
facing all sorts of conditions and threats
hidden away or encamped or in their cars yet again.


sometimes our country is disgusting.


Ukraine should be a model for America,but the rich won't stand for it.
Especially if they can't resell it to another corporation
to "manage it"for profits.
What if the government funds it and the rich pay nothing?


Even then the selfish rich won't stand for it.


Again,why do rich people get to have such control
over people's lives in a free country so much?

Thank you Ukraine for reminding me all
citizens should count
even those left with nothing.