Introduction to the BiniShelter System:
A New Patented Method of Construction to Build Self-Erecting
Instant Affordable Housing and School Classrooms

Presented by Dante Bini at the Province of Florence at Palazzo Medici Riccardi
(International Event sponsored by the University of Florence on January 26, 2001)

(Photos of a BiniShelter built in 60 Minutes in California using only two
mass produced, completely finished prefabricated basic components:
Component Roof and Component Wall.)

History has taught our leaders the importance of anticipating and forecasting adverse meteorological conditions in the process to become natural disasters of immense proportions with tragic loss of lives and catastrophic destruction of property and cultural landmarks belonging to all humanity. Moreover, today's leaders must know how to foresee and coordinate the unstoppable dynamic of the exchange and integration of ethnic groups that inevitably become mass migrations of people looking for greater economic and social stability.

When the Urban, Regional and Land Planning Authority of the 21st century try to identify contemporary solutions to those problems, they cannot ignore what has happened so many time in the past: Temporary sheds, years after the devastating event, have become semi- permanent poor habitats , making up shanty towns and settlement camps that represent monuments of improvisation, inefficiency, unsanitary conditions, corruption and violence Furthermore, we cannot discount the fact that all new construction solutions, even if we want to call them "temporary or transitory", still make up a category of housing that must effectively and graciously welcome, with absolute security (for not always a brief period of time), elderly, women and children, victims of natural disasters in a state of chock and desperation, or poor immigrants, physically weak and mentally traumatized, or even peoples driven from their homes by acts of war or aggression.

That being said, let's try to propose solutions applicable to our century, and consider under which economic perspective, limited to which construction sector, the paradigm of Contemporary On Site Construction Automation Science could be adopted with the aim of stimulatingmodern political solutions.

It is worth the effort to analyze around the world what has been attempted in recent years during which such a paradigm can be reduced to 4 basic concepts:

1. The Concept of Mechatronic Urbanization, Created in Japan
2. The Concept of Pre-urbanizational Infrastructure, created in the USA
3. The Housing Model and Concept of "On Site Auto-Construction", born in Italy
4. The Concept of Self-Help Housing or Involvement of the Occupant

1. The Concept of Mechatronic Urbanization.

Japan, like Italy, is a country with a rich history of extraordinary architectural and aesthetic traditions and sensibilities. In both countries, it has finally been understood that in order to survive, it is imperative to minimize the indiscriminate, physical, chemical, and acoustical pollution of the environment. Furthermore, we must understand that we must contain the natural tendency of cities to expand like oil drops in water, with its inevitable destruction of both historic city centers and the surrounding environment.

In Japan, where the concentration of inhabitants per square mile is double that of Italy, the government has been compelled to investigate new urban solutions that allow humanity, construction and economics to coexist while respecting history, culture and the environment.

If I had the time, I would elaborate on three examples of research conducted on this subject by the Japanese in which I was professionally involved. Instead, I will simply state that in each of the 3 projects, the research aimed to identify the most effective formula to produce an innovative, financially feasible city infrastructure, the realization of which incorporated both modern mechanics and electronics, the automated maintenance of which would be handled exclusively through the use of robots. I realize that these research projects represent first attempts to bring the Urban Science up to date with modern times, but it is important to note that Japan, one of the most developed economies in the world and one of the oldest civilizations on earth, is moving is this direction.

2 . The Concept of Pre-urbanizational Infrastructure.

It is well-known that immediately following natural disasters, local manufacturing plants, both local and peripheral- unless they were themselves damaged - enter into a production crisis, either due to excess demand or the absence of raw materials. The entire transport system is typically inaccessible due to the collapse of bridges, roads, or railroads that have been rendered inoperative. This makes it impossible for days and often weeks, if not months, to access storage areas for pre-fabricated, partially assembled housing or the components thereof. It therefore becomes unthinkable to load and transport these components to staging areas destined to become improvised, hypothetical temporary settlements.

Again, it's useful to analyze the choices made by others in preparation for absolute emergencies: In Switzerland, hospitals that have been built underground in a fashion similar to that used for the construction of atomic bomb shelters (I have visited 3 of them near Lugano), and are equipped with operating rooms that in 24 hours can be rendered operational. In the US, there are military bases (Fort Ord, in California, for example), now dormant - that can be put to immediate use by military personnel, whatever the circumstances.

I think that if we want to introduce a new concept of Emergency Construction Science of tomorrow, with particular reference to the idea of Instant Housing, Instant School and Instant Sanitary Facilities, we should limit the discussion of a modern urbanization to that part of the structure which is above ground. The infrastructure, in the context of territorial and urban planning, made of railroads, sewage, drinking water, electricity, and the telecommunications systems upon which the individual houses can be constructed, must be pre-made and capable of receiving instant utilization following a calamity or other unexpected event. It is well known that the infrastructure of a settlement represents the most expensive aspect of the creation of a city, both in terms of time and money. Therefore we must focus our attention on how we can make this type of project economically feasible by obtaining immediate returns from the initial investments. In other words, we must evaluate a priori how to recuperate the investment and how to maintain this infrastructure over time. If one accepts this approach, let's see how we can make the embryo for a city infrastructure an economically feasible proposition, even as it awaits its intended utilization in the event of an emergency.

Regional or national planning authorities could first pre-select areas destined for future urbanization which could be easily connected to primary communication networks, such as railroads and electric power grids. In these areas, designated to be partially urbanized, one could promote development through tax and economic incentives. Further, the infrastructure could be used to host agricultural fairs, auto shows, sports events, rock concerts, malls, office depots, and fashion outlets. I believe that conceptualization of a model which has as its purpose a practical economic development within the framework of a pre-urbanized infrastructure would be a good strategy to follow.

3. HousingModel and a Concept of Automated Construction ("Auto-Construction")

It is my opinion that only after having accepted the concept of the presence of a pre-urban infrastructure in whatever degree it is ultimately realized, can we dedicate ourselves to developing a "transitory housing model for the medium to long term". To begin with, in the quest for this emergency housing solution, we must first consider what has been done in countries that have dedicated significant resources to this sector: Japan, USA and Canada. National House in Japan, for example, using 85 workers and robotic construction similar to that employed in the auto industry, produces 500 modular homes every month (one every 24 minutes). Seki-sui, using computer-aided manufacturing solutions is able to produce a house that is 85% complete (assembling 300,000 components) in 40 minutes. It is worth noting that Dywa, Misawa, and Seki-sui invest tax-free 1.4% of their gross revenues in research & development, because they deem the housing sector to be one of the world's largest emerging growth industries. (from: Engineering News Record)

The fundamental problem in the USA and Canada is that despite the extraordinary productive and distributional organization of pre- fabricated housing components, on the job site, the construction process is typically labor-intensive, and automation is limited to the tools currently used by construction workers.

By contrast in Japan, the phenomenal rapidity of construction in the factory is mirrored by the equally efficient speed of robotic on-site construction, as in the example of SMART technology or "Shimizu's Manufacturing System of Advanced Robotic Technology" (Civil Engineering Magazine, April 1991). This technology was used for the first time in Nagoya, Japan in the 1990's. It allowed for the construction of buildings up to 20 stories in height solely through the use of robotics, where human intervention was limited to the digital control of the robots themselves.

It is a fact that the concept of auto-construction on site was born in Italy. On July 4, 1965, a structure in the form of a monolithic dome made of reinforced concrete built itself. On that day, with the use of an electric turbine, I was able to raise from the soil a disk of reinforced concrete weighing 15 tons and 15 meters in diameter. In 30 minutes this disk was transformed into a dome 15 meters and 8 centimeters in thickness which was self-supporting in a few days. In the same way and using my construction technologies, in 28 countries around the world, 1600 reinforced concrete domes of varying diameter and shape have been automatically constructed. Some of the structures were made of using a circular, while others used a square base reinforced concrete footing. These self-constructed structures are known as Binishells, Minishells and BiniShelter.

This last BiniShelter technology uses a pneumatic process for the contemporary erection of all its pre-fabricated components. The 8 components, should be produced and finished in a small factory, (potentially through the use of CAMs Computer-Aided Machinery) and than are transported in a compact format, wrapped in plastic, and assembled at ground level aroung a special pneumatic lifting unit that is pre-disposed in the center of the prefab floor. With the pneumatic auto-erection of the 4 walls and the 4 roof components, one is able to achieve construction rapidity without precedent.

Obviously the volume constructed and enclosed by such components is empty, but fully insulated, waterproofed and finished in details) and can be made as thermically and acoustically comfortable as is required by local codes and requirements and budgetary restraints. Each individual building can be immediately, or over time, associated to other structures of the same dimention, and many architectural solutions may be achieved and details can be modified at will. For example, the roofing slopes can vary according to the rainfall characteristics of the area where the building is deployed. Such a construction method is reversible in that it is easily dismantled and transportable to another location where it can be remounted using local labor, even unskilled labor.

4. The Concept of Self- Help Housing or the Involvement of the Inhabitant

This new BiniShelter system involves the stocking of its components for their future use. These components can be wrapped in plastic and ready to be used. In just a few minutes and even in extreme emergencies, the special pneumatic device (or Central Lifting Unit) erect the shelter in minutes.Thus without the intervention of costly contractors, and in a timeframe unmatched by any other system, the BiniShelter systems can produce a structure, completely finished (walls and a roof) so that can be immediately consigned to the intended occupants. The occupants would then be invited to complete the construction and interior finishings according to their own conditions, needs and taste within the guidelines and options provided by the local authorities. This intervention philosophy, of great socio-psychological impact, is called Self-Help Housing. This approach ensures that the future occupants have an interest in being involved in the construction and fitting out of their own housing unit in a completely safe environment.

In conclusion, leaving to Japan the too advanced Mechatronic Construction Science, new modern theories such as :

A. Infrastructural Pre-urbanization
B. On Site Construction Automation Science.
C. Self-Help Housing with the "involvement of future occupants" should be adopted as guide lines for Emergency Urban Settlement of the 21st Century.