Converting shipping containers into ICU pods
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we joined an international initiative of designers, engineers, medical professionals, and military experts to launch CURA, an open-source project whose objective is to streamline capacity building in intensive-care units (ICU). Just four weeks after its launch, the first CURA pod was installed at a temporary hospital in Turin, Italy.
Initiated by Carlo Ratti Associati, the system, whose name stands for Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments (and also “cure” in Latin), is currently being built in Milan, Italy, with the sponsorship of UniCredit. It uses repurposed shipping containers to create plug-in biocontainment pods that can be quickly deployed in cities around the world, promptly responding to the spread of the disease and shortage of ICU space in hospitals. We joined as digital media partners, helping to communicate the collective mission and purpose of CURA: connecting with new collaborators. To learn more about this project head to www.CURApods.org.
