The Foldable Half Dome is a human scaled dome designed for emergency situations and outdoor events. In preparation for the powerful earthquake predicted to occur in the near future in Tokyo, there is strong demand for ideas for a personal shelter that provides private space for evacuees. The shelter should also be practical for daily use, so that it would have high profitability.
Foldable Half Dome
Folded like Japanese origami, the half dome by studio Tsukagoshi Miyashita Sekkei can be easily set up and flattened during emergencies or special events.
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- 24 January 2017
- Saitama
The shelter provides a private space full of light in disaster situations. In a non-emergency situation, it is suitable for outdoor events. Its inviting half-open dome form attracts people, giving it a focal character. Folded like Japanese origami, the half dome can be easily set up and immediately be flattened when the event is over.
The half dome is made of pieces of lightweight and highly rigid resin board. Grooves incised in a regular pattern by heat make each part of the board foldable in one way. This allows to erect the 2.5 m high half dome just by pulling up its center. The dome weighs 25 kg, and when flattened it occupies 1.2 square meters only: thus it is portable by hand. The half dome has a structure made of folded plates fixed together by bolts and pegs. Despite the dome’s translucent light-passing material, its is highly resistant. When subject to a wind speed of 10 m/s, its horizontal deformation is only 10 cm.
Foldable Half Dome, Saitama, Japan
Program: temporary shelter
Architect: Tsukagoshi Miyashita Sekkei
Design team: Tomoyuki Tsukagoshi, Jumpei Miyashita
Structural advisor: Kengo Takamatsu
Area: 6.25 sqm
Completion: 2016