[solatic]

> tents don't need to be strong in compression - there's no weight on the roof

But there is on the floor, unless you expect the inhabitants to sleep more or less directly on the ground, including themselves, whatever is used as a mattress, belongings, small appliances, etc. Emergency habitation is not the same as a camping tent, it needs to be able to service populations that have difficulty with camping's limitations, like the elderly.

> Paper is not a material that scales up

Citation needed? It's made from a renewable resource (wood) and there's some 400+ million metric tons of paper production yearly (source: Gemini, so feel free to take with a grain of salt).

> Or would be practical for outdoor use

If exposed directly to the elements, sure. But what if the paper is laminated or otherwise enclosed within plastic, rubber, or other synthetic material well-recognized as hydrophobic?

[bpicolo]

The ground can already support the weight. Anything whatsoever in between the ground and the occupants is sufficient if your goal is to separate their feet from it.

> It's made from a renewable resource (wood) and there's some 400+ million metric tons of paper production yearly

They don’t mean production volume, they mean physically. You can’t increase the thickness of paper by 1000x to just make thicker, stronger, paper. It’s a different material entirely.

[mckeed]

In a cold climate it's essential to have air/insulation between the floor and ground.

[stevage]

>> Paper is not a material that scales up

>Citation needed? It's made from a renewable resource (wood) and there's some 400+ million metric tons of paper production yearly (source: Gemini, so feel free to take with a grain of salt).

Sorry, I meant in the sense of physical scale - I wouldn't imagine the properties of paper at 50cm scale translate directly to say 5 or 10 metre scale.