Nomad Home: Modern Mobility in Africa

HM of Nomad Habitats

+ HONOURABLE MENTION

Nomad Habitats

[16827]

Nomad Home: Modern Mobility in Africa

Team

Name: Isaiah Mathew

Instagram: isaiah_mathew.2

Nationality: Canadian

Institution / Company: Waterloo School of Architecture

Survival hinges on three essentials: food, water, and shelter. While architecture has long excelled in providing shelter, it often neglects the integration of food and water, especially in challenging environments. Nomad Home addresses this gap by combining self-sustaining systems for food and water with an adaptable façade that responds to Africa’s diverse climates. The portable home sits on a standard truck trailer and takes its form as a long narrow prism. It’s double skin façade and double roof protect the home’s bedroom, living room, washroom, utility room and kitchen. Designed with globe trotting across Africa in mind its construction is a combination of traditional and modern-day techniques for sustainable on the go living. Consequence of the similarities between mobile homes and modular homes, the design leverages the opportunity to address both. Deliverable by the very truck it sits on, the home can be lifted off the truck and placed in a more permanent location. Being more than just a shelter, this housing solution optimizes its systems through thoughtful form and space, to promote the possibility of a modern nomadic lifestyle.

Jury Comments

– The project’s adaptability to diverse African environments and biomes is truly commendable. This thoughtful approach not only recognizes the unique challenges of each region but also celebrates the rich diversity of the continent. By creating a solution that can seamlessly integrate into various landscapes. This flexibility will greatly enhance resilience, sustainability, and the overall quality of life for residents. It’s inspiring to see such a holistic vision that respects both the environment and the cultural fabric of the areas you’re addressing. Excellent work on making a meaningful impact! | Noelia Monteiro & Christian Teshirogi

– The project has a sufficiently detailed level of resolution that shows the practical capacity of the prototype. It is interesting that it offers a particular context of action, so that decisions are limited to the conditions of Africa. This proposal has the clearest conceptual approach, so that the proposal has the right balance between functional resolution and feasibility of facing the elementary problems that arise: food, water, and shelter | Belén Argudo, José de la Torre, Santiago Granda & Pablo Silva