That's nice, but if they're so affordable why have they only built one or two so far? Why is it that so far they've been built by rich Western volunteers for rich Western volunteers?
The article could really use a lot more detail. How much does it cost to build one, and how many man-hours are involved? What kinds of tools do you need? If I woke up tomorrow and found myself penniless and uneducated in a Jo-burg slum, how would I get started on building myself a tube house?
Humanitarian housing designers don't design construction components, they design with construction components. Open hardware designers do the same thing with electrical components.
My point is that if humanitarian housing designers want to actually see their designs used they should open source the designs as open hardware people do.
While it might be possible to patent a system for building with shipping pallets, generally architectural designs are covered by copyright where they are protected at all, e.g. the US.
Unlike hardware, good housing design tends to be site specific. It responds directly to the geography, micro-climate, solar orientation, and culture of the place. The slumtube is novel, but not particularly innovative.
designed and built to European standards for structural soundness
But are those standards sufficient for Johannesburg?
There's a reason that building codes vary across the US: the local conditions are very different from region to region. My house in Minnesota experiences subzero (F) temperatures for days every winter and I doubt the outside temperature will go above freezing before March. But we rarely have more than 2 weeks of 90F+/high humidity. A house in South Florida would be exactly the opposite.
Anyway, that concern aside, I would also love more information because I'm always interested in ways to build cheap outbuildings. In fact, I wonder if people looking for simple building ideas for the poor & homeless wouldn't be well served by talking to a few farmers for ideas on inexpensive building structures and techniques.
The article could really use a lot more detail. How much does it cost to build one, and how many man-hours are involved? What kinds of tools do you need? If I woke up tomorrow and found myself penniless and uneducated in a Jo-burg slum, how would I get started on building myself a tube house?