IMMIGRATION OVERVIEW
CONCEPT
M-R-S
Mobile Refugee Shelter
El Paso, Texas
The Mobile Refugee Shelter (M-R-S) is my entry in IDEC's 2022 student design competition. This concept was designed to combat the international temporary housing shortage for refugees, immigrants, and other people seeking asylum. With such a short project duration, this blog post will discuss my inspirations, design process, and client considerations.
Square Footage
~ 125
Software Used
Revit, Enscape, InDesign
Duration
1 week
Project Poster
Numerous individuals immigrate to America for a variety of reasons but with the pandemic still having severe economic impacts on many, these motivations have deepened. In Mexico, the pandemic caused a 21-year inflation high, forced 3.8 million people into poverty, and sent 44% of the country’s population destitute. These heightened economic hardships combined with worsened gang violence and crime, the American labor shortage, and an abundance of other factors pushed many Mexicans to migrate to the U.S.
The core design concept for M-R-S is to provide refugees with a safe and comfortable temporary shelter while still being compact, versatile, and portable. This concept highlights the need for mobile housing solutions that can follow the ever-changing refugee population and their needs. M-R-S was designed with a central structure on the property with communal bathrooms and a food distribution center in mind. This combination of mobile and built structures limits the need for on-site construction and the time and money constraints that come with it.
NARRATIVE
The Morales family is a prime example of the difficult decision and journey to leave for America that many Mexican families are having to face. Both mother, Elena, and father, Raul, lost their jobs during the pandemic and weren’t able to recover despite their best efforts. The lack of reliable and well-paying jobs forced Raul and their eldest son, Gabriel (16), to work long hours of dangerous physical labor. Gangs in their areas, preying on the vulnerable situation that the Morales and many Mexican families were in, began to police neighborhoods recruiting children and teens to aid in their various illicit markets. Elena and Raul, hoping to shield their children from the horrors of their new reality began planning their migration to America. With the overarching financial burden of transporting the family to the U.S.-Mexico Border, the Morales’s made a deal with one of the local gangs to ensure their safe travels with father Raul staying to pay back their debt. Elena, Gabriel, youngest son Mateo (7), and dog chico, left Chiapas with a group of other migrants to head to the Texas-Mexico border.
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
With such a short project duration, I used a very different design approach and thought process for this concept than when working on a traditional studio project. I started by researching areas of mass immigration and the needs of refugees to get a comprehensive overview on temporary housing specific to immigrants. The main design considerations for this concept was creating a compact, versatile, and mobile shelter that can meet the primary needs of a variety of different family structures across the globe. The shelter includes a queen, twin, and convertible booth to children's bed as well as dog crate to accommodate different groups of immigrants. Perforated windows were added throughout the space in combination with an RV AC unit to help regulate the internal temperature while providing the shelter with natural light and airflow. Black out blinds are built-in to seal the windows when the AC is in use and to provide the individuals with privacy. To limit the environmental impact and cost of large onsite built structures, the mobile shelters were designed with a central building in mind providing bathrooms and food distribution areas traditionally seen at refugee camps. The overall concept aimed to provide a reasonable housing solution that is cost effective and versatile while still providing a comfortable shelter that meets individuals primary needs.