Emergency Shelter with Ecomaterials
The Emergency Shelter with Eco-Materials (PREC) is the result of an applied research process developed by the Social Housing Laboratory (LabVIS), which seeks to address one of the main challenges facing Ecuador’s coastal region: the loss of housing caused by flooding and extreme events associated with the El Niño phenomenon, further intensified by climate change. Over more than two years, faculty members, students, private companies and self-managed initiatives brought together knowledge, resources and expertise to develop a sustainable, adaptable and replicable housing alternative for emergency contexts.
More than an emergency dwelling, PREC proposes an open construction system based on the principles of a modular kit, prefabrication, lightweight construction, transportability, disassembly, reuse of agro-industrial waste and incremental growth. Each component was designed to optimize fabrication, transportation and assembly, facilitating its implementation in remote rural communities. The possibility of dismantling, relocating and reassembling the shelter extends its life cycle, allowing it to adapt to changing conditions and support families throughout the recovery process. The use of eco-materials, such as bamboo for the main structure and coconut waste for the enclosure panels, reinforces this approach by reducing environmental impact and promoting a form of construction that is more responsible towards the local territory.
The project demonstrates the potential of university-based research when developed through collaboration. The active participation of students transformed the process into a learning environment in which design, experimentation and construction took place under real-world conditions. At the same time, contributions from the private sector and self-managed initiatives made it possible to validate materials, optimize the construction system and build the prototype through a collaborative network committed to social innovation.
The research reached its validation stage when the prototype left the laboratory. The shelter was completely dismantled, transported and installed in Recinto Río Seco, where it was reconstructed to become the permanent home of a family. This process verified the logistical efficiency of the system, the feasibility of the modular kit and the proposal’s ability to respond to the actual needs of a vulnerable territory.
The project’s most significant contribution lies not only in the development of a construction system, but also in validating a way of conducting architectural research. PREC demonstrates that a prototype developed within a university can be built, dismantled, transported and reassembled wherever it is needed. When the prototype became a family’s home, the research ceased to be merely an experimental exercise and began to respond to a concrete need within the territory.
