URBox: High tech energy and informal housing

URBox: High tech energy and informal housing

Cuperus, Y.J.
Smets, D.

Architecture

Building Technology

2011-12-31

This paper reports on the URBox concept encompassing the high tech end of solar energy and informal low cost and affordable housing. It aims to contribute to solving the global energy crisis by building solar energy settlements in deserts where land is affordable and sunshine in abundance. First the award winning Solar City 2050 is described and already existing technology is mentioned. In addition to the energy crisis there are the potential food, water, health, housing and immigration crises that need to be faced and dealt with. Although it is understandable and tempting to copy the affluent world technology to developing countries: value is created at the price of more energy, natural resources and pollution, rather than less. Therefore new ways need to be explored. To that purpose, new solutions in the field of housing have been developed with the URBox formula. URBox advocates a different approach of the complete building manufacturing, marketing, using and re-using process. Using local construction materials and local labour resulting in a built environment that can be managed and controlled on a local scale should challenge the housing crisis. Its formula is based on construction rules applied to an urban pixel of housing, the smallest identifiable practical dwelling unit, less than four by four meters, with a column and beam based load bearing structure, separate inner and outer skins and walls and guide lines for running ducts and services in and between the units. The URBox units can then be combined as multifunctional houses, and settlements. The same idea can be applied on the industrialized world with its own housing crises, presenting themselves in niche markets of housing for starters and low-income housing. URBox will be available in two different variants: Its very low cost housing variant challenges the housing crisis by using local construction materials and local labor resulting in a built environment that can be managed and controlled on a local scale. Its affordable housing variant is meant for the industrialized world with its own housing crises, presenting itself in niche markets for starters and low-income population groups. At this moment URBox can be illustrated by sketching scenarios, in order to demonstrate its universality. Like solar power knowledge is indestructible and infinite. This is a call for academic support to make the knowledge and design power available in order to tackle the crises we face.

open building
lean constrcution
affordable houding
URBox

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3f0292ad-5c5e-46ea-8da5-f5cec4f1cac8

Ball State University

0-937994-44-8

Proceedings of the joint conference of CIB W104 and W110, Boston, USA, 15-17 November 2011

Institutional Repository

conference paper

(c)2011 Cuperus, Y.J.
Smets, D.