Refugee Shelter in a Logistical World: Designing Goods for Supply‐Chain Humanitarianism

Abstract

Focusing on the design and production of the IKEA Foundation "Better Shelter" and on its use in a camp on the island of Lesvos, Greece, this article explores the role of logistical calculative rationales in the provision of emergency shelters to refugees. It argues that an engagement with the critical geographies of logistics contributes to the study of such "humanitarian goods" in two main ways. First, it foregrounds the technologies that allow emergency shelter products to circulate across production sites and disaster and border zones, and their connections to broader infrastructures and commercial networks in what recent literature has called "supply-chain humanitarianism". Second, a logistical lens highlights the disruptions that characterise the production and usage of emergency shelter products. The analysis adds to a body of work that exposes humanitarian technology and design as sites of friction, deeply embedded in global processes of bordering and accumulation.

Architectural layout typologies for the sustainable reserve housing organization

“…Pascucci analyses reserve housing for refugees in terms of flat-pack technology, which has shown its effectiveness in logistics. The ability to store and transport housing is an important quality in the process of providing humanitarian assistance to victims of social conflicts [4].…”

Enhancing Urban Climate Resistance Through the Application of Selected Strategies and Technologies

“…They should lay the groundwork for more permanent solutions. Developed in association with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), IKEA's Better Shelter is a flat-pack housing unit designed for portability and ease of assembly without additional tools (Wain, 2017;Pascucci, 2021). These shelters are fitted with solar panels, and generate electricity on site, leading to better living conditions.…”

Do in‐kind donations promote cooperation among non‐governmental organisations? Lessons from the Greek refugee crisis

“…To be useful, donated items should match the emerging human needs in the affected areas (Stapleton et al, 2010). The collection, storage, and movement of items from their place of origin to their destination and their distribution are described as “humanitarian logistics” (Cozzolino, 2012, p. 6; Pascucci, 2021a, pp. 262–65; Seifert et al, 2018, p. 412).…”