Turning an element synonymous with security in Iraq into a method for constructing affordable housing, New World Design LLC has shared with us their T-Wall Housing proposal for Al Qurnah, Basrah, Iraq. Follow after the jump for further images and a description from the architects.
The T-wall—a freestanding precast concrete panel with a footing cast into the base—is perhaps the most ubiquitous architectural element in Iraq’s security landscape. Used to create barricades around secure military zones, T-walls are scattered across the country by the millions, and as American forces draw down their forward operating bases in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of these T-walls will be either discarded or crushed. Due to their steel reinforcing, most T-walls will be banished to so-called T-wall graveyards, to be stored for an indeterminate amount of time for an undetermined purpose.
