Ikea Solar Powered Shelter

Why not just give them the money these cost and let them move into a nice apartment somewhere?

When you are dealing with 10's of thousands of refugees, that's probably not doable...and they tend to be in areas where there are no apartments...Iraq, Syria, etc.

http://www.todayszaman.com/national_us-to-take-thousands-of-refugees-now-in-turkey_358572.html

I just thought the engineering was interesting...guess I should have put this in the break room!

Well we have discussed this several times here....The thing is it takes more than tin houses to make a sustainable settlement....the infrastructure required is insurmountable starting from scratch....It is much cheaper in some cases to just relocate people to some place that at least has some infrastructure to support this large of a population....in other words it's usually easier to add on to an existing structure than to start from scratch....and the larger the existing structure the less traumatic the influx of this many people....I still think the temporary housing is useful in emergency situations...the question that comes up is how temporary to make them? Who wants to drive by this temporary settlement 10 years from now that has become a haven for criminal activity....where all the people it was originally intended for have left...

"Who wants to drive by this temporary settlement 10 years from now that has become a haven for criminal activity....where all the people it was originally intended for have left..."

I'm guessing there are 10's of thousands of refuge's willing to take that gamble. I don't believe it is coming soon to a neighborhood near you. Do you have any examples of a temporary refuge housing assembly that is now a haven for criminal activity?

Yes.... but tents are generally used for temp housing....

http://www.todayszaman.com/interviews_syrian-refugees-take-toll-on-urban-turkey_347917.html

http://www.unhcr.org/3b7d24059.pdf

that is what I thought. Perpetuating the myth that refuge camps should be avoided because they eventually become havens of criminal activity is not what you meant, I guess.

West Texas. (just kidding, folks.) Although, the thought of buying myself a couple of acres, slapping down one of those, and sleeping there the first night after leaving my shrew is an appealing thought. That would certainly work until I could build a new workshop/living quarters.