Architects Mouaz Abouzaid, Bassel Omara and Ahmed Hammad have proposed creating micro homes from shipping containers, called Sheltainers, for people living in Cairo's cemeteries.
Sheltainer, which was the winner of the World Architecture Festival's WAFX Ethics and Value category, would re-purpose shipping containers to re-house people currently living in informal settlements that have grown up in the city's cemeteries.

"People have been building light structures from wooden, fabric, plastic, or metal scraps which is a hazard for life and safety," the architects told Dezeen.
"With our knowledge and the residents' manpower we can convert the shipping containers to homes. They have been living under metal corrugated sheets, which is beyond inhumanity."
The architects would liaise with the local authorities to have burials halted for two years before starting the project, and the existing graves would be preserved as historic sites.

Residents would be enlisted as part of the design and build process for the new neighbourhoods.
"We will teach them how to build their own homes but using containers and this will upgrade the social connectivity between them and their homes," said the architects.

The structures would also provide a visual connection with the minarets that define the surrounding skyline.
Shipping containers, with their ready-made and robust forms, are an attractive material for architects working in remote places or with small b...