“Give a man a safe home and you have housed his family – but train him how to build his own safe house and you have housed his family, and very probably his children’s families, and his relatives and friends.” - Ian Davis
Natural disasters of any magnitude present an opportunity for adaptability and change. This thesis proposal will examine a disaster relief strategy that appropriates abandoned big boxes to provide immediate temporary, short term, and long term shelter. This thesis will focus on a hypothetical worst-case natural disaster scenario, to permit the proposed design to be easily scalable to handle disasters of any magnitude and apply to various global applications. The methodology includes a time frame of escorting the affected individuals through four disaster relief stages: removal, relocation, reconstruction and recovery. Cincinnati, Ohio, was chosen as the prototype for the disaster relief site due to the accessibility of abandoned big boxes, the lack of a permanent housing disaster plan, and the history of repeated flood damage resulting in numerous homeless individuals. Abandoned big boxes will be appropriated so that individuals will obtain immediate shelter where their basic needs will be met, so that the process of reconstruction and recovery can begin. Temporary and short-term residents will be housed until they can either return to their original dwelling or it has been appropriately repaired. Through the customization of prefabricated pods, aluminum framing systems, and structural insulated panels, long-term residents will participate in transforming the existing infrastructure of an abandoned big box into a personalized home that will evolve into a collective community.