[ Design ] S.C.A.F.FOLD v.1.0

Project Name: S.C.A.F.FOLD v.1.0
Location: New York, New York
Typology: Emergency Housing
Date: 2007-2008
Project Team: Jay S. Lim, Erick Gregory, Christopher Reynolds
Recognition: Winner, “what if nyc…” international design competition 2007

S.C.A.F.FOLD is a fluid system of relief and a tactical armature for urban recovery. From the moment a disaster strikes, this system provides the backbone network which enables debris to be cleared and recovery to begin. Traditionally, large swaths of land must first be cleared before provisional housing can be deployed. Immediately after an emergency the first areas to be cleared are the transportation arteries. The S.C.A.F.FOLD system capitalizes on this condition by deploying an integrated housing system above critical pathways of infrastructure including highways, avenues and neighborhood streets. Through the use of a modified truck chassis, S.C.A.F.FOLD expands to create an elevated surface from which to anchor provisional housing. By raising the units above the ground, S.C.A.F.FOLD produces four key benefits:

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1. Provisional housing is deployed much sooner than traditional ‘mobile home’ housing because it does not require vast amounts of cleared land.

2. The unique hydraulic eight-legged design elevates the housing and enables the structure to adapt to any uneven site condition. This also helps mitigate further damage and injury often associated with the reoccurrence of natural events, such as flooding or earthquake aftershocks.

3. Neighborhoods retain their social integrity by returning residents back to areas of familiarity.

4. Roadways remain clear and retain their functionality while enabling adjacent lands to be reconstructed instead of being used for temporary housing.