“As a medical professional and medical technologist I see Honeycomb Village as a balanced environment for serving people’s needs. Integrating Tele-Clinics and Educational Forums into the network of housing shows foresight that is essential to successful urban plan designed to lift people beyond their situation in life. The design of the structure is such that it is easy to maintain the necessary hygiene and sanitation in these pavilions of the Honeycomb Village, making them an ideal place for Tele-Clinic services.”
Dr. Pankaj Parashar- MBBS, PhD Indian Institute of Technology,
Delhi/ AIIMS New Delhi
Who else can help
make this happen?
We are talking with
International Red Cross, USAID, and others who provide essential services for earthquake
and tsunami humanitarian relief. We’ve presented HV to construction and
agriculture interests who see decent housing with medical and school
pavilions for workers and their families. Event and resort interests see
on-site housing for visitor accommodations. An outdoor enthusiast saw HV as accommodations
in national parks with minimal impact on the natural surroundings. I’ve met few
people who don’t see some shared aspect in Honeycomb Village.
“Specifically, due to the position I have held for many years in connection with the Parthenon reconstruction I constantly receive visits and correspondence from individuals …who aspire to make a contribution to the work of the Parthenon. The volume of these requests is very high and given that the time that I can devote to them is limited I only concentrate on the ones that are most promising. Among those that I regard as the most serious proposals is the one submitted by American architect Mr. Scott B. Knox for the production of primary digital documentation of the Parthenon with actual on-location use of laser scanning techniques to produce a high-resolution three-dimensional computer model.”….” I wholeheartedly support Mr. Knox, not only because I know precisely what useful purpose it will serve but also because, following a careful study of his accompanying documents, I concluded that both he and his associates have the required technical knowhow and the proper professional attitude.”
Dr. Manolis Korres- Parthenon Head Architect,
Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments, Athens, Greece.
Why Crowdfund Honeycomb Village?
The first “anything”
is more expensive than each of the thousands that may follow. Economies of
scale will drive down costs for each pavilion, but few people can self-fund a
project of this scale alone. This project’s goals are too large not only in the
monetary sense, but in the practical sense as well. I helped design and build
the nano-technology industry in New York and learned the power of Public
Private Partnerships. Nanotechnology hardly existed there a few decades ago. Now,
with the kick start it received from broad support the semiconductor industry is a multi-billion dollar engine for growth. Semi-permanent buildings are
more than an inexpensive housing design, they can be a new industry in
a country with a great need for safe and affordable housing. This
is where crowdfunding come in: we need your help to fill the gap. India
builds quality permanent housing, but for a LARGE percentage of her VERY LARGE
population the leap from no/low quality housing to that permanent house
is just too great. Once we crowdfund this project with help from many stakeholders, then Honeycomb Village will have an opportunity to build an
industry, create jobs, and generate income. The result may provide a stepping-stone, a transitional point, for people at the lowest rungs to reach a permanent
housing and be the true gift of your donation. Imagine, you can help make ALL
housing more affordable, build a new industry from the ground up, and plant
seeds to grow a middle-class! Sound like a grand challenge? It is, but we can’t
do it without your help.
Honeycomb Village- a sustainable and modular solution.
“ When I first heard about the HoneyComb Village concept, I was amazed. I never imagined that this type of well-thought through "semi-permanent" housing concept is possible! In India, we have huge problems when it comes to housing for the poor. This type of concept could be an answer to our current situation. This model will not only provide housing to the poor but can actually build industry, create jobs and provide a stepping stone for them to reach permanent place to live. What I like the most about HV concept is it's architecture and color coding system. It's unique and easy to understand for both the literates and the illiterates, which is extremely important. This kind of housing concept should not only be looked at during some kind of disaster, but should be looked at for turning the rural villages into smart cities. I think this is a very innovative concept and it may be the NEXT THING in housing sector! ”
Aria Ohi, Mumbai India
Official Honeycomb Village Tee Shirt
Please join us by making a DoNation?
This phase is the first step to manufacturing 25,000 pavilions. Our goal is to eventually house 1M people in health and dignity. Let's IndiegoGO and begin Honeycomb Village. I have boot-strapped this project since it’s inception. We're engaging professional architects and engineers, government officials at State and local levels, national organizations like the Red Cross and Rotary, doctors, specialists in sustainable design from rain-water harvesting, solar photo-voltaic, and bio-digesting. We now greatly need your support to launch Honeycomb Village into production and seed a new economy for people and affordable housing in India and around the world.
“ Scott was often relentless to make cross-disciplinary connections as well as making cross-disciplinary critiques. His insights and questions were challenging both to me and to his student colleagues. In a fashion that is typical for him he labored assiduously to consider every facet of the design from urbanistic issues to political implications to details. Overall, Scott was one of the most mature, self-directed, and highly motivated students I have come in contact with in our graduate program. ”
David Bell, Architecture Faculty
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Why Crowdfunding?
Indiegogo is a proven start-up platform, whose community of “early adopters” vets, funds, and helps refine new designs and spur social entrepreneurship in an efficient, timely manner. Therefore, we highly value the Indiegogo community and its role in supporting innovation and hope that together we can launch Honeycomb Village!
Please Share Honeycomb Village's Kickstarter Campaign on ALL your favorite social medias: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
“ I have known Scott Knox for over 25 years, and highly recommend him because I have seen his dedication to work and family. I know that because he has been working in and around building construction as both a tradesman and an architect, his balance of theoretical and practical experience helps him grasp a wide scale of projects. Scott’s comfortable communicating and expresses himself well in everyday circumstances and under pressure. I expect you would find him to be a great asset to your organization, and someone people truly enjoy working with.”
Jeffrey Kosmacher, Director of Media Relations & Public Affairs
Vassar College
Competition, risks,
and challenges
What other semi-permanent housing solutions are already available? From Pup-tent to mobile-homes when you need 1 liter of fresh water you have to walk and carry water back each time you run out. There are too few solutions that incorporate indoor plumbing, proper sanitary waste management, and sustainable utilities in an affordable solution. Most simply do not adequately provide necessary utility service.
Risks are inherent in manufacturing. We’ve taken precautions to prepare drawings, model known conditions, and document logistics from manufacturing through deployment. The risk is in the unknown conditions that will arise in the process. Our response to the rise will be to collaborate with our design, manufacturing, and distribution partners and overcome the challenges. We are dedicated to keep our backers updated on the HV website and inform them about issues and our efforts to resolve them as they arise.
The challenge of designing Honeycomb Village was to integrate all the basic services within each pavilion and throughout the village. Making a sustainable infrastructure affordable is meeting the challenge. The price estimate will be confirmed and economies of scale will bring them down. The raised platform is a proven solution in high-tech industries around the world. Data centers, ChipFab's, and other process industries have developed and tested the functionality of access floor services. But, how will these "high-tech" services work in housing? Therein lies some risk. To residents these utility lines are invisible. The utility infrastructure will only be accessible to platform maintenance staff of Honeycomb Village.
Critics say we risk not providing 100% utilities sustainably. We use the 80/20 rule throughout Honeycomb Village (HV). Rain Harvesting, PV's and bio-digesting are goals, not sole ideals. Locations will have some resources available. When there's no rain in Ujjain, trucks can deliver water and plug into the central water line of HV to top-off our tanks. When the Photo-Voltaic (PV) micro-grids supply is outstripped by demand our network is connectable to a central utility or generators to re-charge our batteries. We call it being pragmatic. Save where you can, use when you must. This dovetails with our approach to form a Public-Private-Partnership with institutions to promote sustainable utilities and a manageable infrastructure. Good housing design is applied to all components of HV for maintainability, fire-resistance, safety, and accessibility.