Idea

HFI — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:16:17 +0000

Hope Floats Initiative proposes to relocate people living in informal settlements unto amphibious platforms as a legitimate housing solution. The approach will be low-tech and use local low- or no-cost (found) materials to drive a sustainable approach to housing squatters which is compatible with climate change and transferable to urban areas located near waterways, rivers, and coastal areas worldwide.

The concept is built upon a 2008 Holcim 1st Prize Award entry in the “Next Generation” category titled “Amphibious dwellings in informal settlements”. Informal settlements are areas where occupants use found resources to create shelter, have no legal claim to the land/water rights and/or where housing does not conform to standard building codes. Hope Floats moves inhabitants of neglected squatter settlements to homes on unused coastal areas and including appropriate community buildings such as health clinics on otherwise abandoned and undesirable coastal strips. They will be legal, cheap and easy to maintain. Since the structures are not far from the city center, they offer opportunities for day labor & small businesses for the communities to continue their existence and prosper over time.

Who

HFI — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:49:33 +0000

Hope Floats Initiative is an Atlanta-based nonprofit with a mission to develop and deliver creative solutions in areas of alternative shelter and housing advocacy, accessible healthcare, environmental stewardship, and poverty alleviation programs.