Easy, cheap homeless dome

Hot Topics:

By Becky Stern
Posted 2009/02/27 @ 7:32 am
Category Energy

Young maker Max Wallack designed this system for using plastic, wire, and packing peanuts to construct a shelter for homeless people and disaster victims, and he won a hefty design prize for it. Keep up the good work, Max! Via Geekologie.

Update:
Chris Connors covered this event in more detail, and even gave Max a copy of MAKE to read inside the dome!

In the Maker Shed

BeagleBoard BeagleBone Black

Tux Case for Raspberry Pi

BrushBots

MAKE Rovera 4WD Arduino Robot Kit

8 Responses to Easy, cheap homeless dome

tekproxy on February 27th, 2009 at 11:06 am said:

I hope there are some air holes designed into that thing… Neat design.

Reply ↓
Anonymous on February 27th, 2009 at 11:59 am said:

There are spaces open between the pieces. That thing, while super cool, wouldn’t keep out rain.

Earthen domes, now those are emergency shelters!

Reply ↓
Scrooge McDuck on February 27th, 2009 at 12:30 pm said:

What foreshadowing! just in time for the Hooverville camps!

Reply ↓
neat on February 27th, 2009 at 3:46 pm said:

I find the kid’s idea great from a design point of view. To imagine the thing from his ugly ass modell and then to built it. Unfortunately however, it will have no practical application. A similar invention has already been made. It is is called a *TENT*. Cool, ha? In contrast to this thing it will have no gaps beween the segments that are impossible to really close, it will not waste too much material like this thing, it will not spray packing peanuts into the environment once the foil is damaged, it will permit the exchange of humidity to a certain degree and avoid that the people inside are wet after a night and last but not least: IT WILL NOT FLY AWAY WITH THE NEXT LITTLE BIT OF WIND!

Reply ↓
TD on February 27th, 2009 at 4:27 pm said:

This could easily be made more weather-tight by leaving small flaps of plastic sheet at the edges of the basic shapes that make up the dome. Think duct-tape! A tent will blow away if it isn’t held down with stakes. A basic shape with screen instead of plastic/peanuts and an extra flap of plastic would make a window that can be opened or closed. There are a lot of small refinements that could easily make this a more habitable shelter without increasing cost or difficulty of assembly too much.

Reply ↓
curious on March 1st, 2009 at 2:37 am said:

Styrofoam bubble > cardboard box, at least.

Reply ↓
Anonymous on March 3rd, 2009 at 8:27 pm said:

Hey Max,
Thought you should know that your structure is visible from the mass pike! I was riding the peter pan bus back from Umass tonight, and happened to catch a glimpse of your dome sitting inside design continuum. Kinda cool to realize that your work actually exists beyond the 1s and 0s of the interweb.

Keep Making

McKGyver

Reply ↓
mckgyver on March 3rd, 2009 at 8:32 pm said:

Hey Max,
Thought you should know that your structure is visible from the mass pike! I was riding the peter pan bus back from Umass tonight, and happened to catch a glimpse of your dome sitting inside design continuum. Kinda cool to realize that your work actually exists beyond the 1s and 0s of the interweb.

Keep Making

McKGyver

Reply ↓