Multi-disciplinary team creates healthcare units from converted shipping containers

Carlo Ratti and Italo Rota, two designers and architects from Italy, created CURA - Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments. CURA are healthcare pods created through the conversion of shipping containers.

These pods where created as emergency healthcare facilities that could be easily built, contributing to reduce the pressure the Covid-19 pandemic was exerting on healthcare systems all over the world.

CURA are compact intensive care units, specifically designed for the treatment of patients with respiratory infectious diseases, including a negative pressure system to ensure bio-containenment. They are able to carry all the necessary medical equipment to treat two ICU patients simultaneously. The pods are fitted with glass windows so that patients can be monitored from the outside of the pods and also providing the possibility of the patients being able to see visitors. The CURA pods can function autonomously, as individual units, or can be assemble to create a modular configurations

The entire project was developing under an open-source and approach and the entire design and production process took about 4 weeks to be completed, by a multidisciplinaty team.

“CURA is the product of a task force of designers, engineers, medical professionals, and consultants. Following an open-source approach, we made all the technical specifications and drawings available for all those who want to replicate it or develop it further. It has been impressive, in just a few weeks, to see teams of fabricators spring to action all over the world”, explained Italo Rota.

The first CURA unit was built and installed at a temporary hospital in Turin and the plan is to scale up production, with the help of the over 2000 companies and individuals that are engaged in the project.

Adapted from: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/designers-carlo-ratti-and-i...

More information: https://curapods.org/