As the eastern seaboard awaits the triple threat of Hannah, Ike, and Josephine, the New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is preparing to mount an exhibition of the winners of it's Post-Disaster Provisional Housing Design Competition, "What If New York City..."

The question that the international competition sought to answer was "What if New York City were hit by a Category 3 Hurricane?" and is based on a "fictional but realistic" New York City neighborhood that has been devastated by a hypothetical Category 3 hurricane. The competition investigates how residents can be provided with safe and comfortable living spaces that can be quickly deployed and adapted to different site conditions or reused in subsequent emergencies, while still remaining environmentally sustainable and cost effective.

more after the jump

The winning project by two young Danish architects Carsten Laursen and Morten Norup Fassov re-shapes the NY city grid into a system that evolves from a single hexagon into a unique structure that is highly flexible. The units are prefabricated and stored in warehouses until deployment. Each unit consists of 4, 6 or 8 accommodated pieces assembled on site. Families, having been displaced by the storm, are provided with quick occupancy and comfortable homes including facilities such as kitchen, bed, storage etc.

But from looking at the entire project description here, it seems like these units offer more square footage and green spaces than most current NYC living situations, so we're sure there will be a waiting list of 10 years or more...