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For Disaster Relief Innovations, Watch the Event Planning Industry

By Rain Noe - March 25, 2011

in Object Culture

Just as military advances trickle down to the civilian sector, I suspect innovations in disaster relief housing will come from the commercial sector, where there are plenty of people willing to throw money at the problem. Specifically, I think the innovations will be developed by event planners who have the need to transport temporary structures to a site and quickly erect it.

For example, this 20x20 "Inflatable Dome Theater" by California-based LCW Props goes up in a jiffy (even accounting for the sped-up video):

On an even larger scale, a Saudi-Arabia-based AV company called Damas International has this masssssive tent they can deploy in about three hours:

It's also possible that disaster housing innovations will come from the camping equipment companies, but as per the nature of camping they mostly develop smaller-scale stuff, like this one-man tent from Tent World Unlimited:

The latter company actually has disaster relief built into their mission statement, and it's easy to see how these things could be handed out if the funding was there. But I think those interested in disaster shelters for masses of people should, ironically, keep their eye on outdoor party planners.

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Doug Ruhenkamp

13 years ago

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The type of disaster relief shelter to be used should depend on the area of the world to be used in. The portable canopy type structures are fine for warmer climates, however, colder a moisture type climate require a different type of portable shelter structure. Each situation is different.
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Bruce Wright, Editor

13 years ago

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Our lightweight, fabric structures industry has been developing these for decades; it's only recently that disaster relief orgs have discovered what has been right under their noses. -bnw
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