apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We first spotted the Folded Bamboo & Paper House on Inhabitat. Here is the designer's explanation for his design concept:

"After a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck central China last May, killing 69,000 people, injuring hundreds of thousands and leaving millions homeless, the government is planning an extensive reconstruction project that includes building more than 1.5 million temporary homes, which are expected to last two or three years. The central feature of our project is the development of a temporary shelter for the homeless people, a kinetic structure that exhibits characteristics of umbrella and folded fans, with the potential of arranging themselves into various contexts and dwelling requirements. We named it as Bamboo + paper House, a self reconstructive structure for instant installations, which, according to the changing internal requirements and site topography, can produce potentially infinite scenarios. The Folded House is transported to site and modified by the social, economic and culture requirements of the user. The (house is) composed of paper fibers, water, and cement can be used for a variety of construction applications. The light weight paper house can be pre-assembled in the factory, folded into a small package, loaded into a truck for transportation."

We can't find any evidence that the design was actually implemented but Ming Tang won honorable mention for this beautiful design in the Re:construct contest.