Rotomolders attempt to revive PE temporary housing project

Mexico City — Three decades after conservative Mexican building regulations destroyed a private business group's hopes of providing rotationally molded temporary housing for the victims of natural disasters, one of the four backers of the original project is attempting to revive the plan.

Horacio Lobo y Zertuche, Mexico's leading rotomolder and the only Mexican specialist inducted into the Glen Ellyn, Ill.-based Association of Rotational Molders' hall of fame, told Plastics News Oct. 10 that he wants Mexico to be in the vanguard of efforts to rehouse those made homeless by earthquakes, floods, wars and similar catastrophes across the world.

He also sees it as a way of "dignifying plastics" in the face of incessant criticism by its detractors. Two earthquakes that struck central, southern and southeastern Mexico in September killed hundreds and destroyed thousands of homes, sparking Lobo's renewed interest in the plan.

"Today we have the knowledge and technology in machinery, molds and resins whose performance is far better than in the 1980s," Lobo told a meeting of Anipac's executive committee Oct. 9.

Anipac (Asociación Nacional de Industrias del Plástico AC) is Mexico's plastics industry association.

"Better designs that can easily be transported and stored also permit us to revive the project," he added.

In late 1985, several months after an 8.1 magnitude earthquake devastated much of downtown Mexico City, killing between 5,000 and 15,000, Lobo, Juan José Díaz Infante, Rafael Ortíz and Rafael Blanco presented their design for a temporary home manufactured entirely from polyethylene.

The intention was to supply hundreds of homes for occupation while permanent housing was being built.

Lobo was the managing director of major domestic water tank manufacturer Rotoplas, majority owned at the time by Ortiz. (Rotoplas SAB de CV is now a public company.) Within a couple of years, however, he had left Rotoplas. Ten years ago, after a long break from the plastics business, he launched his own custom rotomolding company, Versatilidad en Plásticos SA de CV (Versaplas), with his two children in the city of Querétaro. He is chairman of the Versaplas board.

Díaz Infante was a distinguished, pro-plastics Mexican architect who passed away in 2012. Blanco, still a leading plastics industry consultant today, was among the plastics home concept's main promoters. The group adopted a design that integrated the roof, walls and furniture of a house in a single rotomolded piece.

A 15.7-inch scale model was made, followed by a full-sized prototype weighing 242 pounds. It was produced on an open flame molding machine with a diameter of 7.87 feet. The mold included two beds and space in which the occupants could keep essential belongings.

To help cover costs, the group manufactured a playhouse version of the house that sold well in Mexican retail outlets.

In October 1986, the concept won first place in the "best large piece" category at ARM's Rotomolded Products competition, beating 80 companies from 17 countries in the process.

Following its success in Chicago, the team threw caution to the wind and took the financial risk of manufacturing a mold to make a 226-square-foot house with a closet, kitchenette and bathroom integrated in the design.

At a global United Nations conference on how to house homeless people, held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1987, Lobo explained how plastics homes could help.

"We worked with our government of the day, which demonstrated great interest in the project," Lobo told the Anipac executive committee and, a day later, Plastics News in an exclusive interview.

But in the end, permission for mass production of the igloo-style homes was denied. The reason, according to Lobo, was that the plastic design had neither the structural calculations nor the iron rods required by building regulations in effect at the time.

He believes that reviving the project "gives Anipac and Mexico the chance to participate in and lead a technological development program that puts us in the vanguard of housing solutions in the wake of natural disasters and wars."

He would like the Mexican government's support but said he might also seek funding from the International Red Cross or go it alone by launching his own charitable trust.

He said natural disasters are occurring so frequently that it would be prudent to have an inventory of at least 5,000 homes that could be sent anywhere in the world.