shopping cart shelter by charisma panchapakesan from canada

This design for a shelter in a cart proposes a system that can be attached to a variety of different typologies and sizes of existing carts with suspended baskets. The system does not alter or interfere with the existing cart and is intended to provide durable basic shelter from the elements in a compact space. It is constructed simply using few hinges and fastenings to ensure it can be put up and taken down quickly with minimal instruction.

A system that can be sold and manufactured separate from the cart that fits
many typologies provides a practical and affordable solution for temporary
shelter, especially around a cart typology that is already regularly used by the homeless.

We have shown this system on an ordinary shopping cart, and the dimensions outlined in Diagram 3 show that it can indeed accommodate a sleeping person. However with larger freight carts, the interior of the shelter would be more spacious and comfortable while still remaining very compact.

With a system like this in place, perhaps cities would donate a certain amount of carts towards the homeless and officials would be less likely to reclaim these shopping trolleys as they clearly would become symbols for temporary housing.