Tents have always been a form of shelter for humans throughout history. Whether they were used for shade in the Colosseum, outdoor wedding ceremonies or camping on Mount Everest, tents have been our best friends. It is easy to see why tents are so valuable to humans. They make perfect sense for so many different applications. Why do they continue to be so relevant? How can we put them to work to help solve homelessness, emergency responses, human displacement, pandemics and even global warming? Tents already help solve these problems for us and in the future we will need them more than ever before.
There is quite possibly a tent out there for every occasion. There are one person tents and there are tents that cover airports and everything in between. So then, what is left to invent? Why spend more time on tents? What can we improve?
Reasons we need a better tent.
more displaced people –
new fabrication technologies are available – fabric welding, robotic manufacturing
new fabrics available- waterproof, solar, stretch
more accessory products for tent life are available – portable showers, toilets and kitchens
more people living in smaller spaces – tiny houses, campers
more natural disasters –
more people in the world – overpopulation
expensive lumber prices
Rapid Response Deployable Structures
Goal: To provide a medium size tent structure for emergency living situations.
