Students in Associate Professor of Engineering Vicki May’s “Structural Analysis” class have designed and built components for a prototype that could influence The $300 House project designs for the neediest families displaced by the 2010 earthquake in Fond des Blancs, Haiti. A construction team will be led by Thayer School of Engineering lecturer Jack Wilson and Geisel School of Medicine Professor Peter Wright in collaboration with the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation. [More…]
“The $300 House was first described in a Harvard Business Review blog post by Vijay Govindarajan and Christian Sarkar. Initially, we just wanted to put the idea out there, but now, due to the tremendous response, we’ve decided to see how far we can go toward making it a reality. We are now working on pilot projects in Haiti and multiple locations in India.” [More…]
As illustrated in the diagram above, the $300 House seems to have some contradictions to it. The “house” is more of a shelter, and a disclaimer should state that the tablet computer, water filter, and solar panels aren’t included in the $300 price. It seems odd that someone would have a $300 house, but a tablet computer that might cost as much as the house or more.
Small House Society 
How about giving these to homeless Americans???
How about instead of “giving these” … we help them build their own ….
Let me get this straight. According to this diagram, things needed, a Tablet PC. Things not needed, Doors, Windows, Toilet… Good to have priorities. And why $300.00? Even in India you couldn’t build anything in a slum out of Papier-mâché, barb wire and a corrugated roof made from recycled plastic bottles for $300. OK a bit of a hyperbole but why didn’t they set their sights on something more reasonable like $7K or $12K or $20K? I think that by making it so low, many who would take part just wrote it off as a ridiculous prospect rather than a challenge. Thereby doing the project a disservice.