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Ikea's flat-pack refugee shelter is entering production

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Re: Ikea's flat-pack refugee shelter is entering production

#31

There's a startup in Austin, TX aiming to compete in a similar space: http://www.reactionhousing.com Full disclosure: I work there. ;) And if you find this sort of mission compelling: we're hiring software engineers! (firmware, backend) http://www.reactionhousing.com/careers/#embedded-firmware-en... http://www.reactionhousing.com/careers/#software-engineer Our design is quite different (and geared towards a shorter l…

Well that seems exactly like what I'd expect a refugee shelter designed by affluent software engineers to look like.

Heh, it was actually designed by our CEO, a designer from Mississippi — he's been working on the concept since Katrina, finally got it funded a year ago.

Re: Ikea's flat-pack refugee shelter is entering production

#32

I haven't found their weight, but their lifespan in only estimated to be three years, does anyone know if they are easily recyclable, do they burn, if so are any gases toxic? Can they be combined to form interlinked structures?

I'm guessing that the end-of-life path for 95% of these are shantytowns.. where they will continue to be among the safest structures. so in that regard, they are completely recyclable.

Re: Ikea's flat-pack refugee shelter is entering production

#33

There's a startup in Austin, TX aiming to compete in a similar space: http://www.reactionhousing.com Full disclosure: I work there. ;) And if you find this sort of mission compelling: we're hiring software engineers! (firmware, backend) http://www.reactionhousing.com/careers/#embedded-firmware-en... http://www.reactionhousing.com/careers/#software-engineer Our design is quite different (and geared towards a shorter l…

This is cool!

Have you guys built any? Can we some real photos? I think all the stuff on your site is renders.

Re: Ikea's flat-pack refugee shelter is entering production

#34

There's a startup in Austin, TX aiming to compete in a similar space: http://www.reactionhousing.com Full disclosure: I work there. ;) And if you find this sort of mission compelling: we're hiring software engineers! (firmware, backend) http://www.reactionhousing.com/careers/#embedded-firmware-en... http://www.reactionhousing.com/careers/#software-engineer Our design is quite different (and geared towards a shorter l…

Very cool concept! I may contact you about that backend position. Seems like exactly what I was looking for.

Re: Ikea's flat-pack refugee shelter is entering production

#35

There's a startup in Austin, TX aiming to compete in a similar space: http://www.reactionhousing.com Full disclosure: I work there. ;) And if you find this sort of mission compelling: we're hiring software engineers! (firmware, backend) http://www.reactionhousing.com/careers/#embedded-firmware-en... http://www.reactionhousing.com/careers/#software-engineer Our design is quite different (and geared towards a shorter l…

Very cool concept! I may contact you about that backend position. Seems like exactly what I was looking for.

please do!

Re: Ikea's flat-pack refugee shelter is entering production

#37
post #33

There's a startup in Austin, TX aiming to compete in a similar space: http://www.reactionhousing.com Full disclosure: I work there. ;) And if you find this sort of mission compelling: we're hiring software engineers! (firmware, backend) http://www.reactionhousing.com/careers/#embedded-firmware-en... http://www.reactionhousing.com/careers/#software-engineer Our design is quite different (and geared towards a shorter l…

This is cool! Have you guys built any? Can we some real photos? I think all the stuff on your site is renders.

Yep, we've built a number of pre-production units. Hoping to go into production later this year.

There are a few non-rendered photos on our media page: http://www.reactionhousing.com/media/

And another few in an article about us in Popular Mechanics: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a14357/exo-shelte...

Re: Ikea's flat-pack refugee shelter is entering production

#39

They should do a tom's shoes thing with this. We both could have a house.

We're actually pursuing a similar model at Reaction (http://www.reactionhousing.com), convincing commercial customers who buy units to also buy units to donate.

We'll see how it works in the long run, but initial results have been encouraging.

Re: Ikea's flat-pack refugee shelter is entering production

#40

These things are great. But at the same time - so weird. Helpless victims of failed states, social injustice, greed, hatred, etc can now rely on high tech structures to take care of them. Genocide ? No problem, we've got you covered. We've got just the perfect structures for $1000 a pop for you to take shelter in. I mean, it IS the right thing to do, but at the same time, I don't know.. I guess would prefer that some…

Considering that Ikea doesn't certify the sources of their wood, it's very conceivable that some of this suffering and injustice is directly related to Ikea's raw materials supply chain.
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