الفهرس 
Mobile ArchitectureOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 32 |  |  |
| | | from | 32 | | |
Abstract
Nowadays many Architects are more concerned about finding innovative
solutions for creating temporary shelters for refugees, victims of crises and communities in need.
Nevertheless, there is still a lack in Egypt of managing humanitarian disasters and offering
practical emergency settlements. Although there is portable unit production in Egypt, it is rarely
used. This necessitates the search for new strategies to create adaptable portable spaces that can
be used as accommodation for homeless. In other words, architects should be more oriented to
humanitarian design; by employing the technology available nowadays in order to satisfy the social
needs. Creating flexible, self- sustained, low-cost, durable, mobile units that can be used as
dwellings for homeless people could be one solution.
It is not only refugees from humanitarian crises who need such portable spaces. There are many
cases in Egypt that need adaptable mobile units, such as people who settle in the desert for
specific missions or border guards in Sinai,.. etc.
This thesis is concerned with the development of a mobile structure constructed from prefabricated
recycled material (cardboard, straw,..etc) that is adaptable to disaster victims in Egypt. The
choice of the material is based on its lifecycle, assembly techniques, mobility, durability and
cost. The proposed mobile unit should be flexible, light weighted, easy to install and to be
thermally adaptable to the surrounding environmental conditions. The unit can be simulated as a
cell or pod that has minimum space that includes the living necessities of accommodation. Hence,
the main goal of this research is to develop an efficient design approach for mobile shelters that
is adaptable to Egypt’s climate.
The aforementioned objectives are achieved in this thesis through applying the following
methodology. First, the basic needs and social demands of the homeless are introduced in Chapter 1.
Chapter 2 focuses on mobile architecture by reviewing its development through history to realize
its value in. An analysis of some successful international portable units and the materials used in
their building envelope is carried out in Chapter 3 in order to select a feasible building material
for the empirical work. As a result, corrugated cardboard was chosen for the proposed shelter.
Chapter 4 proposes an analysis of corrugated cardboard as a building material. In particular, it
studies the properties, potentials and limitations of corrugated cardboard. Chapter5 serves
as a guideline for the empirical work. It presents the simulation methodology and sets the parameters of
different proposals. Using EnergyPlus a series of investigations are done in Chapter 6 to evaluate
the thermal performance of corrugated cardboard in Egypt. An analytical comparison between the
different proposals in terms of thermal comfort is given. The results show that corrugated
cardboard is a feasible building material that can adapt to Egypt’s climate. Finally, the research
re-examines the achievement of the goals set, and the validity of the hypothesis claimed in
Chapter1. It ends by proposing some recommendations that would help achieving the aim of the
thesis.