Not Just for Disaster Victims

As long as there is war, not to mention floods and tornadoes, there will be temporary housing and its accoutrements. But “temporary” shouldn’t keep a house from feeling like a home.

The projects of the Rhode Island School of Design’s furniture design department students, featured in the Objects of Mass Discussion exhibit, are tailored to “transitional”-which sounds better than “temporary”—housing

Some solutions, like Aaron Durnin’s Fold-Away Cot perform as nicely in a temporary shelter as in a condominium. The folding aluminum frame with web mesh support is a convenient bed when there is little storage, or hip lounge seating where walk-in closets are abundant. The disaster victim’s urban chic.

Citrus Seats, by Tucker Houlihan, provide a sense of home to children who “can’t articulate their stress” in a time of displacement. The seats double as floor pillows or stuffed animals to hug. When 12 of the seats are attached via Velcro, they create a whole fruit.

Andrew Coates’s Prop Culture is a metal storage unit that can be leaned against a wall. They might just be the “it” thing at college dorms, which are themselves a kind of temporary shelter.