Amze Emmons

R.U.M. Shelter

The images below are of the R.U.M Shelter. This piece was commissioned for the XXX exhibition at Columbia College as part of the SGC conference in Chicago in 2007??. It is a utopian proposal for a shelter meant to assist people forced to migrate from a rural life to an urban one. Below is the accompanying statement/proposal.

Rural to Urban Migration

 Rural to urban migration (or urbanization, as it is sometimes called) has been occurring in some form since the industrial revolution. It stems from the accumulation of wealth and industry in and around cities. In recent decades the industrialization of farming combined with climate change have made family farms less predictable and less profitable. The acceleration of this process to an unsustainable rate is seen by many as product of economic globalization. Motivated by uncertainty and the dream of social mobility many billions of working poor are migrating internally and across borders to the world’s urban centers. 

A report titled Financing Urban Shelter: Global Report on Human Settlements 2005 released by The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UN HABITAT), states that, “Recent estimates indicate that more than 2 billion people will be added to the number of urban dwellers in the developing countries over the next 25 years. If adequate financial resources are not invested in the development of urban shelter and requisite services, this additional population will also be trapped in urban poverty, deplorable housing conditions, poor health and low productivity, thus further compounding the enormous slum challenge that exists today.” In their 2008 Annual Report UN HABITAT projected that by 2050, the number of people making the move from rural countryside to urban centers will have risen to 6 billion people. 

For more information please go to:

http://www.unhabitat.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization

R.U.M. Shelter

 The R.U.M. Shelter is designed to answer the UN HABITAT’s call for “Adequate Shelter for All”, offering short-term privacy and protection to people who have been displaced from rural communities and are migrating to urban centers. Whether the displacement is caused by economics, ecological catastrophe or political conflict, the basic human needs of shelter, privacy and protection are paramount. 

The R.U.M. Shelter deploys state of the art Printent Technology to create peripheral camouflage; the foliage faced side can be favored while in transit through rural environments and the brick pattern can be employed in urban centers. This model is the R.U.M. Shelter: Latitude 40°. When ordering be sure to choose the model that best suits your local environment.  In addition to peripheral camouflage, Printent Technology is waterproof and resistant to UV rays.

The R.U.M. Shelter is easily assembled in 30 minutes or less, using the attached grommets, included para-chord tie-downs and two walking sticks or poles. The unit offers significant ventilation on hot nights, ease of entry/exit, and is tall enough to allow an adult to sit upright. During civil conflict or bad weather the  R.U.M. Shelter can be re-deployed in full stealth mode, In this way it can be used as a life support bivouac sack, low to the ground and fully camouflaged.