Rafael Smith of Indianapolis, Indiana made a buzz around the nation early in January 2010 when news of his industrial design thesis at Purdue University began to be featured in several US news outlets, including the New York Times. Smith’s project was the Über Shelter, a portable, semi-permanent three room shelter designed to replace the tents that refugees and disaster survivors are often forced to live in.
His reasoning was simple. The money spent by relief organizations could be used to support far more comfortable and dignified housing in the long term, in something like his Über Shelter, which is designed for a 10 to 15 year lifespan, rather than constantly replacing tents that succumbed to the conditions.

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As I read more about the project, my head filled with questions. Some were answered by the clever video (below) but many were not. So I did my best to catch up with the young designer who is now graduated from Purdue, and engaged full-time in trying to get funding for the Über.

 Video: A Demonstration of The Über Shelter

Smith proved eager to help me, but time was not on his side. I remained patient however, and this week, I am able to present his very detailed answers to my questions.

Me: Tell me about how Über got started at Purdue.

Rafael: This project started close to three years ago as my undergraduate thesis in industrial design. I had just returned from a 6-month internship, which was my first exposure to the “real world” of product design and was a world away from the academic practice of design.

In some ways I was disappointed with the real world application of design. In academia you are given the freedom to explore any crazy idea you can come up with. So my real world experience was a bit of a harsh reality. Most of our education in Industrial Design at Purdue was in consumer products, but for our final project we had the freedom of addressing any market or issue we want. So I decided to use this freedom to address what I thought was a deeper need. I remember asking myself, “How many more vacuum cleaners and Mp3 players does the world need? “

The guidelines I gave myself for selecting a focus for the thesis was that the product had to address a basic human need.  During my research I came across several articles describing the terrible living conditions in refugee camps. The articles spoke about rotting tents, the spread of disease in relief camps, people struggling to survive winters in Afghanistan, and the inefficiency of delivering FEMA trailers after Katrina. This research led me to interview doctors, aid-workers, and victims with firsthand experience.

Stories pointed to the urgent need for new shelter solutions, and so, emergency shelter became the focus of my thesis. A thesis in industrial design begins with research and ends with the design of a product, but I continued designing emergency shelters after my thesis was completed.

I want to design products that impact peoples’ lives and I believe the issue of poor living conditions in relief camps is a problem that can be solved by design thinking. A little less than a year ago I began working full time on the Über Shelter Project.

The first six months involved new research, interviews, and what became a complete redesign of the original idea. Talking with people that have experienced refugee camps convinced me that the Über had to be lighter, slimmer, and more affordable than the original version.

With the help of a few colleagues we generated new designs and created the first full-scale prototype. Since then, we have been weather-testing the prototype, developing new designs based on the successes and failures of the last model, and searching for funding opportunities to take development to the next level. We hope to optimize the shelter designs and be ready for production in the next year. The Über Shelter Project recently became an Unreasonable Institute fellow! http://www.unreasonableinstitute.org/

We will be taking our work to Boulder, Colorado this summer for a 10-week incubation program through the Unreasonable Institute. I am very excited to see how this project grows with the help of UI.  


Me: What is your target audience for the Über? Would you sell to consumers, or is this strictly an idea to replace homes after a disaster?

Rafael: Our vision is to develop a range of shelters that address the need of various displaced populations, cultures, climates, terrains and family sizes. There are 38 million refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide. Displacement can come in many different forms and we are working to develop products that address these needs (immediate disaster relief, transitional housing, urban homelessness, to mention a few).

We have also opened a dialogue other organizations like COBURWAS Student Hostel in Uganda. They are working to set up student hostels near schools to allow students from rural areas to attend schools outside their communities. I see potential for great synergy there. To answer your question more directly, or main focus to date has been to design shelters that meet the needs of disaster relief, but there are several other avenues we are interested in exploring.  

We are also interested in selling shelters to consumers for camping and recreational use. Revenue generated from this market could possibly help us bring the cost down on shelter sold for disaster relief and other situations.  

 
Me: What inspired you to make a shelter?

Rafael: Hmm…deep question. The first thing that got me thinking was my disillusionment with designing consumer products. I remember thinking: what impact am I having designing products that will end up on the shelf at a retail store?

I did not feel a connection with the products I was designing. Working on a project that could impact someone’s life gives me a feeling of purpose. Also I think there is something about designing shelter, which is attractive because it is such a basic and primitive need. Our ancestors have been working on solving this problem for the last 3 million years. Maybe it is hardwired into our being.  

I am still trying to figure this out, but I think the deeper drive comes from feeling too privileged, almost like a guilt feeling. I am a middle-class American and compared to the majority of the world I live like a king. When you look at statistics like 1.5 billion people with no access to clean water, it starts to shake your perception of what reality is.

This makes me want to do something to help and designing emergency shelter is what I stumbled upon. There are over 38 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) worldwide. Our mission is to provide these people with more comfortable and humane living conditions.  
 

Me: Tell me about the solar panels, the heater/stove and the fridge/air conditioner. I remember reading it somewhere, but I couldn't find it on the site. Are these things included in the prototype?

Rafael: These were ideas from the original concept. The idea was to deliver a basic shelter during stage 1 of disaster relief, when the pressing need is to provide basic amenities. The shelter would then be able to upgrade to provide better conveniences in stage 2 of relief.

So after the original base unit was shipped and assembled, a separate upgrade package would come with solar, refrigeration and stove plug-ins. Our approach has shifted in the new design and prototype, but these are ideas we intend to explore in the future, specifically providing culturally accepted conveniences (i.e. cooking) to the various displaced populations using our shelters.  
 
 
Me: Now that you are graduated, where is the project at now?

Rafael: We are now launching this venture. I have a great team of talented and dedicated individuals working hard to realize this dream. We are in the concept development phase, testing the prototype, improving our idea, and finding new solutions.

We will be heading to Boulder Colorado this summer for a 10-week incubator. At the end of the 10 weeks we will have the opportunity to pitch our idea to a room of over 200 investors interested in funding social causes. We are also actively looking to partner with aid agencies working on the ground in disaster relief and refugee/IDP situations.  

Me: Thanks for your time Rafael. I know you are very busy, and I appreciate your time. Best of luck with all of this.

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