I want to hold up a mirror to society by reflecting its intolerance and ignorance on the walls of a shelter for refugees. With the reflecting shelter I want to make a change of mind and spread solidarity.
My concept builds up on the story of reflection.
To hold up a mirror to somebody means, to make them realize their true behaviour.
By giving shelterless people a reflective facade, I guide societies attention to this particular scenery.
The shelter doesn’t line in to the conform picture of the city, it stands out. It doesn’t hide reality behind walls, it reflects reality on its walls to the outside.
This shall make us reflect about our presumptions and daily behavior, ignorance, intolerance and selfishness. It should give an opportunity for a longterm change of mind in a society.
Refugees arriving on the Victoria Square in Athens where they need to wait for days.
Buckminster Fuller's work on the future home brought me to a structure made of triangles, which is supporting itself with minimal material consumption and weight, though maximal strength.
Inside of the shelter heat can build up and stay, especially in winter this is crucial. The person in the shelter can be seen through the transparent parts of the facade and can be recognized as a sleeping person, still it gives a decent amount of privacy and safeness.
The shelter is made out of lightweight wood and thin acrylic and plastic sheets. The frame is supporting itself and can stand additional weight and pressure.
The total weight of the shelter comes up to less than 7kg on a length of 180cm.
The total weight of the shelter comes up to less than 7kg on a length of 180cm.
It comes together with instructions with illustrated assembly steps, so that people from different geographic and cultural backgrounds can understand it.
The mirrors can be arranged in different ways to produce a variety of different patterns and reflection angles. This is possible because of the modular parts of the shelter. It gives some personal freedom to the constructor.
The modules can be easily carried with a belt strapping the parts together, which can be worn like a backpack. The short time of construction and dismantling, the lightweight materials and the uniform size makes it easy to transport and build up at an other location.
The shelter revaluates space. It makes people come back to lost places.
This might be a chance for tolerance, a meeting point for us and them, a starting point for a change of mind.
