Rapid • Reactivation • Return • Rehabilitation • Relief • Relocation • Reunite • Remolding • Republic • Repetition • Resettlement • Resistance • Restoration • Reconstruction • Remodeling • Rubble • راجعون • Rural • Revival
| Using destruction rubble for reconstruction, Project R is an architectural concept that can revolutionize the speed, mode, cost, and socioeconomics of community recovery in disaster-stricken rural areas. Project R was developed in response to the urgent need for housing in Lebanese villages targeted by air raids. Widespread destruction and leftover debris created environmental, socioeconomic, and logistics issues: the need to re-home the displaced, repair destroyed infrastructure, remove and dump rubble, and to transport raw material for reconstruction. For multiple problems, Project R offers a single solution.
Project R involves entrapping rubble in wire mesh cages and developing the Gabion system normally used for retaining walls into a simple architectural system, to build, at a fraction of the cost of prefabricated houses, single-story, multi-use structures whose construction requires minimal time (2-3 weeks), raw material, training, or equipment, and can employ the local community. By eliminating the need to move and dump rubble and maximizing its use as raw material, Project R bypasses transport difficulties posed by destroyed roads infrastructure and can be propagated quickly in a modular fashion. Project R is compatible with rural disaster sites subject to bombing or earthquakes (it is not intended for use in urban multistory structures). Rather than needing specialized manpower, the simple building process involves the civil community. Only medium to light civil equipment are needed to collect, move, fill and lift ‘Gabion’ modules. Minimizing use of new materials, it is cost-effective (costing 40%-50% less than prefabricated concrete or steel-insulated porto-cabin units). The system’s vertical structure consists of steel mesh casing (Gabion) modules, each filled with one meter cube of concrete rubble. Modules are lined with gypsum boards from the inside; incorporating vertical modules for windows and doors. Gypsum is used for internal space subdivision. The system floor is the same as the vertical elements, complemented by pouring an 8cm slab as finish. The system roof is out-of-factory modular lightweight steel insulated sandwich panels over a primary light steel structure. No external finish is needed: the walls can be covered with greenery. From the remains of a 150m2 house, a 78m2 house can be built. The units are designed to protect from the elements. The prototype built has passed that test, performing mechanically on heat exchange and water infiltration levels. The units are capable of spatially accommodating different design needs and functional allocations as clinics, schools, or communal spaces. Though designed for temporary relief, the units are durable. Environment-friendly, they embody an example of green and sustainable architecture and can be dismantled for use in rehabilitating old quarries, riverbanks, as retaining walls or bridge embankments. By identifying a method for using Gabions as a structural element, Project R offers a new architectural solution that offers the multi-use functionality needed for comprehensive community recovery. By providing a fast economic alternative for re-stitching the fabric of disaster-stricken communities, Project R minimizes human trauma resulting from disruption of normal life. Project R received wide media coverage, one of the latest being the RIBA Journal article titled “Rubble with a Cause”. Click to download more information on: |
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