The concept of a desert city sounds like an oxymoron, but when you think about it, the desert offers a limitless supply of a pretty useful though underrated building material -- sand. The architects at XTU are fully aware of this, and have come up with an interesting concept dubbed Flohara.
While the concept is referred to as a desert city of sorts, it's really more a cluster of sand shelters rather than a large urban environment. The shelters consist of lightweight, inflatable and easily transportable bubbles that can created locally or created elsewhere before being transported. The bubbles would be sprayed by a mixture of water, sand and hydrogel before being left in place for the sand and sun to work together to solidify the structure.
As the world's population expands, we're going to have to get creative to find shelter solutions for people. Flohara makes for interesting conceptual food for thought
Sustainable Sand Shelters
The Flohara Desert City Concept is Envisioned For the Sahara Desert
Trend Themes
1. Sustainable Sand Shelters - The Flohara concept demonstrates the potential for using sand as a building material to create lightweight, inflatable and easily transportable shelters.
2. Cluster of Sand Shelters - The idea of creating a cluster of sand shelters provides a potential solution for housing in desert environments.
3. Creative Shelter Solutions - The Flohara concept highlights the need for innovative and creative shelter solutions as the world's population continues to grow.
Industry Implications
1. Architecture - The concept of Flohara presents an opportunity for architects to explore new building techniques and materials, particularly focused on desert environments.
2. Construction - The development of lightweight, inflatable and easily transportable sand shelters creates potential for disruption in the construction industry by offering an alternative to traditional building methods.
3. Sustainable Design - The Flohara concept showcases the potential of sustainable design by utilizing locally available materials, such as sand, to build eco-friendly shelters.