Inventor: Dr. Felipe Hernandez, Architecture
There are currently over 5 million internally-displaced people in Colombia who have been displaced by conflict and 3 million more displaced by natural disasters.
Internally-displaced people in Colombia are a priority for government housing, but the current designs focus on being small, cheap and fast to build, rather than in thinking about their longer-term use. Additionally housing is allocated by a hardship algorithm which mixes and breaks-up communities, and no business use is allowed.
The inventor is working to improve this situation by developing a design for low-cost permanent housing for Afro-descendant communities, which allows such housing to be used long-term and extended as needed. The house has been designed to have the same build cost as the existing government units, but to be more flexible and expandable in the future. Additionally the house allows for workshop space so that inhabitants can set up and run small businesses, which are typically artisanal trades, and which can allow them to become financially independent.
The inventor has identified a suitable site in Colombia, and is fund-raising to allow a first house to be built as an example. Additionally the approach can be relevant for displaced or impoverished communities in other countries.
The challenge for the i-Team is to investigate the next steps for the inventor to take the housing forwards. By interviewing relevant experts from a range of organisations, the i-Teams input can recommend other countries and communities for the inventor to focus on, as well as future sources of funding to allow the houses to be built.