Linqing Lao & Tairan Fang
2025
1st Prize: Britton Memorial Awards 2025
Almost Home is a prototype for a post-disaster community living room that addresses what typical shelters lack—comfort, connection, and a sense of belonging. After disasters, shelters often provide only basic survival needs, leaving people isolated and emotionally unsupported. Almost Home fills that gap by creating a shared space where displaced individuals can gather, cook, talk, and heal together. It encourages communities to return and rebuild, not just physically but emotionally, using salvaged materials and personal items that carry meaning. These fragments of the past serve as emotional anchors, helping people reconnect with what was lost. The space evolves alongside reconstruction efforts, offering a place of stability and familiarity. Almost Home is not just about temporary relief—it’s about creating a foundation for long-term recovery through community and memory. Recovery starts with people, not just buildings, and this project aims to remind survivors that even after great loss, pieces of home and hope still remain.