People have roamed the Earth since the beginning of time. The reasons for travel vary from war, weather, or even the hunt for food. The last few years have seen a surge of nomadic movements in the form of refugees fleeing war-torn countries. So what’s the first thing a traveler would need? Shelter, to be more specific a tent. Jordanian-Canadian Abeer Seikaly, a crucial asset to the “Weaving a Home” Project, has designed a tent that provides more than just shelter.
With the refugees in mind, her tent merges different combinations from nature into a very awesome tent! The project was a winning entry in the 2013 Lexus Design Awards. The fabric looks woven together, much like the traditional forms of embroidery. It looks very much like the scales of a snake, too!
The tent itself does more than just protect. It is designed to keep the cold air out during the winter, but bring it in during the summer. The top of the tent collects rainwater that spirals down through internal pipes in which people could then bring back up for a shower.
The tent’s fabric even has strong thermal properties that can convert solar radiation into power for lighting and heat collected water for showering. It’s designed to fold up neatly for travel, making it the invention that could save thousands of lives.
Abeer says on her website:
“This lightweight, mobile, structural fabric could potentially close the gap between need and desire as people metaphorically weave their lives back together, physically weaving their built environment into a place both new and familiar, transient and rooted, private and connected. In this space, the refugees find a place to pause from their turbulent worlds, a place to weave the tapestry of their new lives. They weave their shelter into home.”
In addition to her independent practice, Abeer is also the production manager of Adel Abidin, the internationally recognized Iraqi-Finnish video artist.
The Weaving a Home project is still under development and hopefully, it soon will be available for all refugees.
Don’t forget to leave a smile 🙂
For the Arabic version of this article click here.
