In the wake of Myanmar’s ongoing civil war and the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake in March 2025, the country is facing a severe and compounded humanitarian crisis. The conflict, which escalated after the 2021 military coup, has displaced over 3 million people, while the earthquake destroyed thousands of homes, leaving an additional 200,000 people without shelter. Entire communities have been left to survive in makeshift camps, exposed to harsh weather, disease, and insecurity, especially for women, children, and the elderly.

Access to dignified, safe, and affordable housing has become an urgent need, yet existing systems are overwhelmed and international aid remains insufficient. Entire villages have been wiped out, and rebuilding efforts are challenged by continued violence, poor infrastructure, and limited financial resources.

Housing NOW was born in direct response to this urgency. It provides a fast, low-cost, and community-driven housing solution using a hybrid construction method: partially prefabricated for speed and efficiency, and partially built on-site with the participation of displaced families and local workers. Each house costs just $1,000 and can be built in one week. Beyond providing shelter, the project creates jobs, transfers knowledge, and empowers communities to rebuild with dignity and resilience, even in the midst of crisis.

Housing NOW contributes to long-term development by building not just structures, but capacity. Our construction model trains and employs local labor, enabling communities to build—and rebuild—autonomously. This hybrid method combines prefabricated components for speed with on-site community construction, embedding technical skills and ownership at the grassroots level.

To date, we have built 26 bamboo homes in IDP camps and informal settlements across Rakhine, Hlaing Thar Yar, Hmawbi, and Mandalay, with 10 more currently under construction. Each house is low-cost, fast to assemble, and designed for resilience—proof of which came during the March 2025 earthquake: none of our structures, even those near the epicenter, sustained damage. This demonstrates the structural integrity and weather-resistance of our bamboo-based system.

In addition to housing, we have delivered essential infrastructure. Two bamboo clinics—one in Putao and one in Thanlyin—were designed and built for Medical Action Myanmar. These facilities serve 100,000 and 30,000 medical consultations annually, respectively, offering critical healthcare access in remote and underserved areas. Like the houses, they are built using locally available materials and simple techniques, allowing rapid replication where needed.

Every Housing NOW project reinforces local capacity, builds climate resilience, and restores dignity through design rooted in context.

The core team behind Housing NOW is a collaboration between international designers and local builders rooted in Myanmar’s reality. Raphaël Ascoli, founder of Blue Temple, leads the project. With a background in computational design and community-led architecture, he focuses on low-tech, climate-resilient solutions using local materials. Kozin, a long-time Burmese construction partner, brings over a decade of hands-on experience in bamboo craftsmanship and on-site coordination, ensuring each design is adapted to real-world conditions.

The project’s methodology and impact have received international recognition. Housing NOW was selected by MIT Solve, an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that supports social innovators tackling the world’s most pressing challenges. This gave us access to strategic mentorship, funding opportunities, and a global support network to grow our reach and scale impact. The project also received the Nikkei Asia Award, which honors pioneering initiatives across Asia contributing to social and regional revitalization. These distinctions underscore the architectural, humanitarian, and systemic innovation at the heart of Housing NOW.

Today, our core team is expanding with collaborators from Myanmar, Europe, and Southeast Asia, building a resilient, interdisciplinary platform committed to long-term recovery and grassroots capacity building through architecture.

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