Cheryl Hui

Architecture MArch (Hons)

Building a rapid permanent shelter while preserving Filipino culture during disaster recovery.

About

Portrait of Cheryl Hui

A social entrepreneur who assists rural areas with disaster recovery, Jordan Sebastian, was a survivor of a superstorm that struck his hometown of Dinagat Island in the Philippines, a rural area, in the Philippines. He helped survivors by teaching them how to build their own homes and providing them with materials. He witnessed the destruction of the area and only infrastructure floors were left. Disaster recovery materials could not arrive as ports and communications were destroyed by the storm. As someone with experience with disaster recovery by building emergency shelters for survivors to have immediate shelter after the storm, he wondered if disaster recovery materials being locally sourced would resolve the material scarcity in the area.

With local materials in mind, bamboo could be considered, as bamboo grows all over the Philippines. Bamboo has many benefits. After bamboo shoots have grown for a few years, they could be an immediate food source as it contains high proteins, carbohydrates, and minerals. After bamboo matures, it could be used for construction and furniture for shelters. 
Bamboo can be locally sourced so there is no need to import bamboo from different islands in the Philippines. Therefore, our entrepreneur was interested in knowing, can we preserve cultural heritage during post disaster recovery with bamboo? Can we quickly construct a permanent house during disaster recovery?

A model of a wooden hut, photoshopped into a digital bamboo field with bushes surrounding.

Growing own bamboo in the garden for further extensions