MODULAR TENT DESIGN

With more than 70 million people displaced in their own countries or living as refugees and half under the age of 18, the not for profit foundation Education Above All (EAA) saw a critical need for suitable infrastructure that could serve as classrooms, temporary housing and medical centres for displaced children and their families.

To provide a solution to the issue, the Foundation teamed up with Zaha Hadid Architects to create a structure that offers safe, versatile and sustainable spaces for children to use for play, learning and development.

Designed by the late Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher, the tents allow for natural daylight and are weather-proof, modular structures that can be easily moved and re-assembled, incorporating components that can also be upcycled or recycled for sustainability, thereby making them ideal for displaced populations. Three ZHA-EAA tents are already being used as schools for hundreds of displaced Pakistani and Syrian children in Pakistan and Turkey, respectively. The structures will also be used as schools, clinics and temporary shelter for displaced communities in other regions including Syria and Yemen.