Foldable and Transportable House Unit: An Approach for a Socio Environmental Model Design in Al-Araqib Village, Palestine

Abstract

Palestine has been suffering from the occupation for a long time. Occupation authorities have practiced major persecution policies against Palestinian citizens; their homes and livelihoods have been destroyed, their land claims and historical rights have been denied, they’ve had restrictions enforced on their movement, access to their own water, land and other natural resources. Al-Araqib Village in southern Palestine is one of many villages whose homes are constantly being demolished by the occupation. That calls for the need to think about a collapsible building method that supports Bedouin life and reduces damage. This study aims to design a housing unit that can be folded, disassembled and transported, taking into account the social aspects and preserving the nature of Bedouin life. A virtual model for the proposed housing unit was made on Design Builder software, and a simulation was performed to ensure the expected approaches. The results revealed that the designed housing unit provides reasonable thermal performance for the dwellers. The deigned unit can be adopted as an effective housing unit in Araqip village and similar villages which will reduce the harm inflicted on them and enhance their existence. This unit can also be adopted in areas exposed to natural disasters or wars, such as Gaza.