Prototipo de refugio temporal en cartón estructural: Habitáculo móvil para personas en vulnerabilidad en el Centro Histórico de Quito Villagrán Carpio Leslie Aline

Abstract

Social exclusion manifests critically in urban spaces in the Historic Center of Quito (CHQ, by its Spanish acronym), where homeless people stay overnight outdoors under highly vulnerable conditions, exposed to weather factors, insecurity, and deterioration of public space habitability. In this context, this study analyzes the potential of architectural design as a tool for generating temporary rest solutions in urban environments. The objective of this study is to develop a prototype of a mobile and transformable shelter that helps improve the minimum conditions for overnight stays for people in homeless situations, considering reversibility criteria and low impact on the public space in the CHQ. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach that integrates a theoretical review of public space, minimum habitability, and urban exclusion; analysis of cardboard-based structures; and a case study analysis of temporary and transformable shelters. Additionally, data collection on the urban context and the conditions of public space use is carried out, allowing the establishment of design criteria applied to the development of the prototype. As a result, a lightweight, demountable, and low-cost shelter is designed, based on a folding system in treated structural cardboard that facilitates its transportation, allows for easy assembly, and adapts to different conditions. The prototype incorporates anthropometric, ergonomic, and modular design criteria, demonstrating that cardboard can function as a technically viable alternative for temporary rest solutions in vulnerable urban contexts. The study contributes with a low impact architectural device of a reversible nature that proposes a design-oriented approach to improve minimum habitability conditions for people in situations of urban exclusion, without compromising the heritage integrity of the CHQ.