In a striking example of how architecture can be used as a tool for humanitarian aid, London's Design Museum has named a flat-pack refugee shelter as 2016's Beazley Design of the Year. The Better Shelter—a collaboration between Johan Karlsson, Dennis Kanter, Christian Gustafsson, John van Leer, Tim de Haas, Nicolò Barlera, the IKEA Foundation, and UNHCR, the refugee agency of the United Nations—took top honors in the Architecture category, then beat out other category finalists—including David Bowie's final album, the entry for Graphic Design, and a robotic surgery system, the Digital category contender—to win the coveted overall design prize. Previous recipients include the 2012 Olympic Torch and Shepherd Fairey's iconic Hope poster for the Obama presidential campaign.
The Better Shelter's mission is to create a temporary structure that is as dignified as it is functional. Flat-packed in two boxes, the shelter takes about four hours to assemble. Once complete, it boasts such features as a lockable front door, ventilation, and solar panels, which power lights and phone chargers. The shelter is already well on its way to making the social change it promises: 30,000 models are currently in use around the globe.
Over 30,000 Better Shelters are already in use around the world.
"Better Shelter tackles one of the defining issues of the moment: providing shelter in an exceptional situation, whether caused by violence or disaster," says Jana Scholze, an associate professor at Kingston University in London and a jury member for the prize. "Sadly, we have seen many instances recently where temporary shelter was necessary. Providing not only a design but secure manufacture as well as distribution makes this project relevant and even optimistic. It shows the power of design to respond to the conditions we are in and transform them."
Adds panelist MB Christie of Tech City, "We chose IKEA's shelter because it solved not only a design problem, but a real-world crisis—how to create refugee housing that is highly mobile, safe, and comfortable on a strict budget? It uses simple known flat-pack furniture techniques to create a portable house that is highly scalable and completely novel. It is housing that respects the dignity of the refugees who need stable shelter." The winner was announced at the new Design Museum on Thursday night; it is the ninth year for the prize. "Innovative, humanitarian, and implemented, Better Shelter has everything that a Beazley Design of the Year should have," Scholze affirms.
