LIGHTWEIGHT RECONFIGURABLE STRUCTURE SYSTEM (LRSS): RETHINKING TEMPORARY BUILDINGS

Abstract

The concept of temporary buildings may have many forms or definitions in different countries and regions. In China, they are defined as buildings and structures that are simply constructed for temporary use of production and life and are required to be demolished within a specified period of time. Container houses are the most common type in China. They have been widely used in post-disaster recovery, temporary resettlement of industrial workers and low-income groups. It also plays an important role in different historical stages. It is undeniable that they have the advantages of simple construction technology, fast construction speed, integration and high degree of modularization in practical application. However, from the beginning of the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, as well as the subsequent series of natural disasters, their design and functional defects were exposed. Through the spot investigation and questionnaire survey, this paper summarized these issues. For the reason that, this study attempts to fill this gap by introducing a new lightweight reconfigurable structure system (LRSS). First of all, in order to meet the needs of national conditions, the system is based on new modular design and manufacturing methods, quick to build and construction, but also easy to disassemble and transport. Moreover, the new design breaks through the traditional style of component form and size restrictions, with more human and sustainable features. Finally, through computer simulation and analysis, it is convinced that the new products have better comprehensive performance. Multiple comparison results are sufficient to illustrate the new structural system can meet the demand of people whom at different age even different social stratum, and ultimately achieve a win–win results from both social and environment system.