How to use this atlas #
Shelter work fails when it’s treated as “units delivered.” This atlas is built as a stack: norms → land/tenure → settlement logic → emergency options →
reconstruction pathways → safer self-recovery → empirical pattern checks → open, forkable systems.
Operating rule:
Start with phase + land/tenure reality. Only then select a shelter typology, then a build system, then messaging and training.
Phase: emergency → transitional → reconstruction → long-term
Scale: household → block/cluster → settlement/camp → city
Constraints: hazard + climate + materials + law + power
Proof: case studies (what actually happened)
What “done” looks like (outputs this atlas helps produce)
- Option tree for where people live (host families, rental, camps, self-settlement, return, relocation), with explicit trade-offs.
- Minimum standards map (Sphere/UNHCR) + deliberate deviations (with rationale and risk flags).
- Land/HLP plan: occupancy documentation, dispute handling, eviction prevention, restitution pathways.
- Settlement layout: density, circulation, fire breaks, services, inclusion constraints.
- Shelter typology selection: kit-based, transitional, core shelter, progressive upgrading.
- Safer building package: key messages + IEC protocol + training flow for households/builders.
- Open build system selection: CNC timber vs earth block vs modular light frame, with toolchain requirements.
1. Orientation & ethos #
These references define a durable grammar for settlements and housing: human-scale patterns, autonomy, and long-life supports with user-controlled infill.
This layer prevents “technically correct but socially dead” outcomes.
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction
Alexander, Ishikawa, Silverstein et al. — spatial grammar from region → room details.
Phase: All
Scale: Settlement → Building
Why it’s in the core stack
- Provides a generative pattern grammar (253 patterns) for designing places that support real life.
- Acts as a translation layer between standards (Sphere/UNHCR) and build systems (OBI/Seed Eco-Home/WikiHouse/vernacular).
- Prevents “unit thinking” by forcing attention to thresholds, gradients, shared space, and social geometry.
Housing by People: Towards Autonomy in Building Environments
John F.C. Turner — autonomy, control, and user-managed housing environments.
Phase: Transitional → Long-term
Scale: Program → Community
How to use it
- Use as the conceptual backbone for owner-driven reconstruction and progressive upgrading.
- Useful for resisting mass-housing defaults that erase local agency and destroy local building economies.
- Pairs directly with “self-recovery” and HLP tools: autonomy collapses without tenure clarity.
Supports: An Alternative to Mass Housing
N.J. Habraken — long-life supports + user-controlled infill; open building logic.
Phase: Reconstruction → Long-term
Scale: Building → Neighborhood
Why it matters in practice
- Creates upgrade paths: structure/services are stable; households adapt interior and partitions over time.
- Directly compatible with progressive shelter upgrades and modular building libraries.
- Useful for designing “core shelter” that becomes permanent without demolition.
Manual of Tropical Housing and Building, Part 1: Climatic Design
Koenigsberger et al. — passive design in hot/humid and related climates.
Phase: All
Scale: Building
Constraint: Climate
What it prevents
- Thermal failure (overheating / humidity trap) and energy dependence in climates where energy is scarce.
- Misuse of materials (thermal mass vs ventilation) by climate type.
- “One design fits all” replication errors.
2. Standards, land, and HLP #
Housing without land/tenure strategy is a slow eviction machine. This layer supplies minimum standards and the legal/administrative tooling needed to avoid
accidental dispossession, documentation collapse, or permanently “temporary” settlements.
The Sphere Handbook (2018): Shelter & Settlement chapter
Minimum standards widely referenced by humanitarian actors and donors.
Type: Standard
Phase: Emergency → Transitional
Scale: Settlement → Unit
Use it as a constraints map
- Space, privacy, safety, WASH linkages, participation, and performance indicators.
- Useful for designing solutions that intentionally exceed, or consciously deviate (with risk flags).
Land and Natural Disasters: Guidance for Practitioners (UN-Habitat / GLTN)
Holistic land guidance from immediate aftermath through recovery and reconstruction.
Phase: Transitional → Reconstruction
Scale: Settlement → City
Risk: Dispossession
Core functions
- Maps land failure modes: informal occupation, relocation, expropriation, documentation collapse.
- Provides tools and cases for integrating land issues into recovery programs.
- Pairs with HLP toolkits for shelter programming and camp contexts.
Housing, Land and Property Rights Toolkit (Global Shelter Cluster)
HLP rights framing + practical materials for shelter programming.
Phase: All
Scale: Program → Settlement
Risk: Eviction / harm
How it’s used
- Due diligence, eviction risk mitigation, tenure approaches, and thematic guidance for HLP in shelter operations.
- Use the toolkit page to pull the specific doc(s) needed for a context (urban, climate, displacement, women’s HLP).
- Practical add-on: “HLP rights in shelter due diligence guidelines” for immediate checklist use.
HLP Rights Toolkit for CCCM (Camp Coordination & Camp Management)
HLP tools tailored to displacement sites, closure, disputes, and documentation.
Phase: Emergency → Transitional
Scale: Camp / Settlement
What it covers
- Occupancy documentation, dispute pathways, site closure transitions, and HLP integration into CCCM phases.
- Useful for preventing “camp permanence” from becoming rights vacuum.
Handbook on Housing & Property Restitution (Pinheiro Principles) — OHCHR
Practical guidance to implement the Pinheiro Principles on restitution and durable solutions.
Phase: Reconstruction → Durable solutions
Scale: Legal → Program
Risk: Irreversible loss
When it becomes non-optional
- Return, restitution, compensation, land claims, and post-displacement property disputes.
- Provides interpretations and scenarios for applying each principle in real situations.
3. Settlement planning & camps #
Settlement planning is where small errors multiply: density, circulation, fire spread, service placement, and inclusion constraints determine whether a site becomes
stable habitat or accelerates harm.
UNHCR: Principles & Standards for Settlement Planning
Operational guidance and minimum standards for planning settlements for displaced populations.
Phase: Emergency → Transitional
Scale: Settlement / Camp
Key use cases
- Plot sizing and density considerations; service distribution; accessibility; Age-Gender-Diversity constraints.
- Settlement layout logic that can be applied to camps, collective sites, and informal expansions.
UNHCR: Shelter and Sustainability (overview)
Comparative overview of shelter typologies + environmental and fire risk considerations.
Phase: Emergency → Long-term
Scale: Settlement → Unit
Constraint: Environment / fire
What it adds
- Material and typology comparisons with sustainability and operational trade-offs.
- Useful for selecting shelter types that won’t create fuel crises, deforestation spirals, or uncontrolled fire risk.
4. Emergency & kit-based shelter #
Emergency shelter is the first physical interface: kits, tarps, fixings, and fast designs.
The objective is to meet immediate safety needs while preserving upgrade pathways.
IFRC: Shelter Kit Guidelines
Guidance on shelter kits, assembly options, and operational planning.
Phase: Emergency
Scale: Household
Why it’s high leverage
- Converts “tarps and rope” into structured options with safer detailing and deployment logic.
- Useful for training rapid teams and for avoiding predictable failure modes (anchoring, uplift, drainage).
IFRC: Shelter Safety Handbook
Basic safe construction practices for volunteers and households.
Phase: Emergency → Transitional
Scale: Household
Constraint: Hazard
What to extract
- Core safer-building moves that remain true across material systems (bracing, anchoring, tying down).
- Useful as a “baseline safety sheet” when technical teams are thin.
Post-Disaster Shelter: Ten Designs (IFRC)
Comparative catalogue of 10 emergency/transitional shelter designs.
Phase: Emergency → Transitional
Scale: Household
How to use the catalogue
- Compare designs by performance, cost, complexity, materials, and upgrade potential.
- Treat designs as patterns to adapt, not templates to copy blindly.
UNHCR: Emergency Shelter Solutions and Standards
Guidance on emergency shelter solution types and expected standards.
Type: Operational standard
Phase: Emergency
Scale: Program → Unit
Why it’s essential
- Clarifies solution options and how standards shift by climate and context.
- Useful for aligning interventions with UNHCR-style operational expectations.
UNHCR: Shelter Design Catalogue (2016)
Field-tested shelter designs with harmonized presentation for quick comparison.
Phase: Emergency → Transitional
Scale: Household
What it provides
- Baseline designs across materials and contexts (e.g., tents-plus, bamboo/timber variants).
- Useful for rapid selection + contextual adaptation and for building procurement BoQs.
5. Transitional settlement & reconstruction #
This layer builds the option tree: where people live (host/rental/camp/self-settlement/return/relocation), how temporary becomes permanent,
and how governance, finance, and technical assistance are structured.
Shelter After Disaster: Guidelines for Assistance (UNDRO, 1982)
Foundational guide for emergency shelter and post-disaster housing assistance.
Phase: Emergency → Reconstruction
Scale: Program
Core value
- Establishes phase logic and warns against capacity-destroying “help.”
- Useful for designing transitions and for identifying where emergency shelter becomes a trap.
Strategies for Transitional Settlement and Reconstruction (Shelter Centre)
Strategic framing of settlement options and reconstruction pathways.
Phase: Transitional → Reconstruction
Scale: Settlement → Program
What it’s for
- Option analysis beyond “tents vs houses”: host family support, rental, camps, land allocation, return, relocation.
- Useful as the decision backbone for settlement strategy.
Transitional Settlement: Displaced Populations (Oxfam / Shelter Centre)
Detailed options matrices, planning steps, and risk profiles for displaced populations.
Phase: Transitional
Scale: Settlement
What to extract
- Context-sensitive settlement typologies and their trade-offs.
- Decision matrices usable for both humanitarian and community-run responses.
Safer Homes, Stronger Communities (World Bank)
Handbook for reconstructing housing and communities after natural disasters.
Phase: Reconstruction
Scale: Program → Community
Why it matters
- Strong treatment of owner-driven reconstruction mechanics: grants, TA, monitoring, governance.
- Useful for engineering reconstruction programs that do not collapse into contractor capture.
Sustainable Reconstruction in Urban Areas: A Handbook (IFRC / Skat)
Urban reconstruction process guidance for field practitioners and decision makers.
Phase: Transitional → Reconstruction
Scale: Neighborhood → City
Use when
- Density, tenure complexity, and service dependence make rural manuals fail.
- Planning debris, repair, service restoration, and governance in cities.
Shelter and Housing: UN-Habitat in Disaster and Conflict Contexts
Why shelter is not “count houses lost, rebuild houses” — and what’s actually involved.
Phase: Transitional → Reconstruction
Scale: Program → City
What it adds
- Frames shelter as part of a broader urban and rights ecosystem (restitution, livelihoods, governance).
- Useful for preventing fast-build programs from becoming long-term structural harm.
6. Self-recovery & safer building #
When households rebuild, the job is to shift outcomes by changing decision constraints: simple safer-building messages, tested IEC, and targeted technical support.
8 Build Back Safer Key Messages (posters)
A minimal checklist of hazard-resistant techniques for lightweight, non-engineered homes.
Phase: Transitional → Reconstruction
Scale: Household
Constraint: Wind / flood
Use case
- Rapid household guidance for strengthening without full redesign.
- Template for building equivalent message sets for earthquakes, floodplains, heat, fire risk.
Informing Choice for Better Shelter: IEC Protocol
Protocol for developing, testing, and disseminating shelter & settlement IEC resources.
Phase: All
Scale: Program → Community
Why this matters
- Prevents “pretty posters” that fail in the field by enforcing context analysis, iteration, and testing.
- Turns technical guidance into reliable household decision support.
Building Safety in Post-Disaster Shelter Self-Recovery
Evidence and guidance on supporting hazard resistance while households self-recover.
Phase: Transitional → Reconstruction
Scale: Program → Household
What to pull out
- How cash + training + technical assistance combine (and where impact evidence is weak).
- Program design patterns and caution flags for “do no harm” in informal construction markets.
UNESCO: Guidelines for Earthquake Resistant Non-Engineered Construction
Arya, Boen, Ishiyama — seismic performance lessons + practical strengthening guidance.
Phase: Reconstruction
Scale: Building
Constraint: Earthquake
Why this is a cornerstone
- Addresses the reality that most of the world lives in non-engineered structures.
- Provides simple rules and details that can dramatically reduce collapse risk.
- Open access via UNESCO repository.
Optional but high-value participatory overlay:
IFRC’s PASSA (Participatory Approach for Safe Shelter Awareness) is a community process tool for identifying and reducing shelter risk.
It pairs well with IEC protocols and “build back safer” messaging.
7. Inclusion & protection #
Shelter and settlement design choices create or remove vulnerability. This section is intentionally minimal:
one definitive inclusion manual plus settlement standards that enforce Age-Gender-Diversity constraints.
All Under One Roof: Disability-inclusive shelter and settlements in emergencies
IFRC / CBM / Humanity & Inclusion — practical technical guidance for accessibility and inclusion.
Phase: All
Scale: Shelter → Settlement
What it changes
- Concrete design constraints: circulation widths, slopes, entrances, WASH access, distribution mechanics.
- Prevents “unintentional exclusion” by embedding inclusion into typology and layout decisions.
UNHCR: Principles & Standards for Settlement Planning (AGD constraints)
Settlement planning standards implicitly enforce protection by design via placement, access, and services.
Phase: Emergency → Transitional
Scale: Settlement
Practical focus
- Service placement, safe access routes, and distribution patterns that affect exposure and safety.
- Use alongside All Under One Roof to keep inclusion constraints active at settlement scale.
8. Markets, cash, and rental #
In many urban and protracted crises, “shelter” is accessed through rental markets, repairs, and cash—often with landlord power dynamics and eviction risk.
Rental Market Interventions (Global Shelter Cluster)
Guidance report + five tip sheets covering assessment, design, and implementation risks.
Phase: Emergency → Transitional
Scale: City / Market
Why this must be explicit
- Rental assistance can stabilize fast—or inflate markets, subsidize landlords, and accelerate eviction cycles.
- Tip sheets provide structured analysis for complex urban environments.
Shelter and Cash (Global Shelter Cluster)
Advocacy module, session plans, and supporting training materials for cash-based shelter programming.
Phase: All
Scale: Program
How to use it
- Training structure for teams that need to shift from “material distribution” to “market-aware shelter outcomes.”
- Complements rental interventions and self-recovery program design.
Useful complement:
UNHCR’s “Cash and Shelter” guidance focuses on cash for rent, repair, and construction with emphasis on unrestricted cash and program considerations.
9. Empirical pattern library #
Case libraries are where theory gets punished. Use these to stress-test any proposed solution: “Has this been tried at scale? Under what constraints? What failed?”
Shelter Projects 2015–2016
Inter-agency compilation of case studies and response overviews with costs, trade-offs, and implementation detail.
Phase: Learning / design
Scale: Program
How to mine it
- Extract patterns for: self-recovery support, transitional shelter, rental/cash, settlement upgrades, and protection trade-offs.
- Use as a counterweight to “best practice” claims that ignore field conditions.
Shelter Projects 2017–2018
35+ case studies and overviews; written by practitioners for practitioners.
Phase: Learning / design
Scale: Program
Use it to validate assumptions
- Check claims about cash, safer building messages, camps vs urban, and material choices against real outcomes.
- Look for failure modes: land conflict, market distortion, maintenance collapse, exclusion.
The State of Humanitarian Shelter and Settlements 2018
Sector-wide report: approaches, practice, gaps, and priorities.
Phase: Strategy
Scale: Sector
Why it’s useful
- Shows systemic failure zones: urban crises, protracted displacement, renters, and integration across sectors.
- Useful as the macro map that complements Shelter Projects’ micro evidence.
10. Open hardware & open building systems #
This layer turns shelter theory into buildable infrastructure: machines, modular design libraries, CAD → BOM workflows, and open shelter systems.
Each system is constrained by toolchain requirements; treat prerequisites as first-class facts.
Open Source Ecology: Global Village Construction Set (GVCS)
Open blueprints for the machine layer supporting small-scale industrial capability.
License: Open
Phase: Reconstruction → Long-term
Scale: Microfactory
What it enables
- Local production of building inputs (earth blocks, cut timber, fabrication) and site preparation capability.
- Acts as the “industrial substrate” behind open building systems like Seed Eco-Home.
OSE: CEB Press (Compressed Earth Block “Liberator”)
Machine and documentation for turning on-site soil into structural blocks.
License: Open
Phase: Reconstruction
Scale: Building materials
What to pull
- Machine build documentation + fabrication package; essential for earth-based construction pipelines.
- Pairs with OBI and Seed Eco-Home ecosystems for rapid builds using locally produced blocks.
OSE: Seed Eco-Home (and Seed Eco-Home 4)
Open source eco-home design with FreeCAD models, BOMs, and built production variants.
License: Open
Phase: Reconstruction → Long-term
Scale: Building
How it’s used
- Benchmark for “rapid, open, replicable” housing—designed for extreme manufacturing / swarm builds.
- Useful as a reference architecture for integrating structure + utilities (PV, water, etc.).
Open Building Institute (OBI): Library of modules & structures
Modular building library: structures, structural modules, utilities, procedures, furniture, parts.
License: Open
Phase: Reconstruction → Long-term
Scale: Building system
What it provides
- A modular parts bin: walls/doors/windows/roof modules + utility modules (PV, hydronics, sanitation variants).
- Designed to be recombined; supports “supports + infill” thinking and progressive upgrading.
OSE: FreeCAD BOM Generator
Workflow to extract Bills of Materials from FreeCAD assemblies; bridges model → procurement.
Tool: FLOSS
Phase: Build planning
Scale: CAD → Supply
Why it matters
- Without BOM extraction, open designs remain “pictures.” This makes them buildable.
- Useful across OSE machines and housing designs using FreeCAD.
WikiHouse: Skylark system (digital timber)
CNC plywood/OSB building system: cassettes/subassemblies + rapid on-site assembly.
Model: Open system
Phase: Reconstruction → Long-term
Scale: Building system
Prereq: CNC / sheet goods
Core references
- Design guidance (how structure works) and engineering intro (what Skylark is).
- Useful for contexts with access to sheet goods, CNC capacity, and assembly crews.
The Hexayurt Project (ultra-simple open shelter)
Open shelter design using sheet materials; fast assembly and flat-pack logistics.
License: Open
Phase: Emergency → Transitional
Scale: Household
Use when
- Low infrastructure and fast sheltering is needed beyond tents.
- Sheet materials (OSB/ply/insulation board) are available and transportable.
Field Ready: shelter winterization via Polyfloss (plastic → insulation)
Design thinking + field-friendly process for turning waste plastic into tent insulation panels.
Approach: Field hardware
Phase: Emergency → Transitional
Scale: Camp / Shelter
Why it matters
- Integrates environmental waste streams into shelter performance, reducing cold/heat stress.
- Useful for winterization and heat mitigation in tented settlements.
Precious Plastic: Download Kit (blueprints + CAD + BOMs)
Complete kit (~700MB) of machine designs and resources for plastic recycling micro-workspaces.
License: Open
Phase: Transitional → Long-term
Scale: Micro-workshop
Use case
- Upcycle plastic waste into panels/tiles/components for non-structural building elements and camp infrastructure.
- Useful as a material diversification strategy when supply chains are unstable.
11. Climate & technical appendices #
Climate and hazard are not “later optimizations.” They are design physics. These resources should be treated as constraints that govern typology selection, materials, detailing, and layout.
Climatic design baseline
Use climate manuals to set passive performance targets before choosing a build system.
Phase: All
Scale: Building
Core reference in this atlas
Non-engineered seismic safety baseline
Seismic strengthening guidance for common informal/vernacular construction types.
Phase: Reconstruction
Scale: Building
Core reference in this atlas
12. Audit protocol #
Apply this checklist to any new resource, shelter typology, or open design before adding it to the stack.
Cross-check questions (run all 10)
- Phase: Is it emergency, transitional, reconstruction, or long-term? Are transition paths explicit?
- Scale: Does it work at household, block/cluster, and settlement scales—or does it fail when scaled?
- Hazard: Which hazards are addressed (wind, quake, flood, fire, heat) and which are ignored?
- Climate: What climate assumptions are encoded? What passive adaptations are required?
- Land/HLP: What tenure regime is assumed? What eviction/dispossession risks appear?
- Agency: Who decides location, layout, materials, and timing—households, landlords, state, agencies?
- Inclusion: Who is excluded by default? What changes under All Under One Roof constraints?
- Supply chain: What inputs and tools are assumed? Which are single-point failures?
- Forkability: Are drawings/CAD/BOMs truly open and editable, or locked behind proprietary formats?
- Empirical proof: What do Shelter Projects and similar case archives show about comparable approaches?
Pathway: by phase #
Emergency (0–3 months)
Transitional (3–24 months)
Reconstruction & long-term
Pathway: by scale #
Household / shelter unit
Settlement / camp
City / market