From The Optimist Magazine
Fall 2015
A new kind of mobile home
People move. It’s what they have always done and what they will keep doing. Architect, artist and cultural producer Abeer Seikaly, from Amman, Jordan, designed an elegant and practical home for people who are forced to move on to a new place, whether to flee a war zone or relocate after a natural disaster. These so-called Weaving a Home tents are based on traditional basket-weaving techniques that mimic the movements of snakes and worms, which move by expanding and contracting their ribs, muscles and skin. The tent structure can fold up for easy transportation and expand to become a shelter against rain and sun. The tent is made from a weatherproof fabric, attached to bendable plastic, and has its own water collection system that uses the natural channels formed by the skin to direct water to a storage reservoir. The tent is still in a prototype stage, but is currently being developed for first use in Jordan. | Find out more: abeerseikaly.com
