A shack is a type of small, often primitive shelter or dwelling. Like huts, shacks are constructed by hand using available materials; however, whereas huts are usually rural and made of natural materials (mud, rocks, sticks, etc.) shacks are generally composed of scavenged man-made materials like abandoned construction debris, repurposed consumer waste and other useful discarded objects that can be quickly acquired at little or no cost and fashioned into a small dwelling. In areas of high population density and high poverty, shacks are often the most prevalent form of housing; it is possible that up to a billion people worldwide live in shacks.[1] Fire is a significant hazard in tight-knit shack settlements.[2] Settlements composed mostly or entirely of shacks are known as slums or shanty towns. In Australian English
Australian English shack can also refer to a small holiday house with limited conveniences, for instance it may not have running water or electricity. In oilfield drilling (Canada) a shack can also be the word for a wellsite trailer. Structures that were once notorious among oilfield workers for being cramped, uncomfortable and generally unpleasant to be in are now no longer good enough for companies that are serious about employee retention.

Shacks in Kayamandi, South Africa

In relatively affluent areas, shacks are often used for storage or have been abandoned.

A multi-family shack in a riverside shantytown, Jakarta, Indonesia.

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shacks.

Look up shack in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

^ Planet of Slums, Verso, 2006 ^ A Big Devil in the Jondolos: A report on shack fires by Matt Birkinshaw

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Hut
Hut dwelling designs and semi-permanent human shelters

Traditional immobile

Barabara Beehive house Bothy Burdei Bure Cleit Clochán Dugout Earth lodge Goahti Hogan Humpy Icelandic turf house Igloo Jacal Log cabin Maloca Mitato Musgum mud huts Nipa hut Oca Orri Palloza Pit-house Qargi Qarmaq Quiggly hole Quinzhee Rondavel Roundhouse Ruka Sassi di Matera Shieling Sod house Sukkah Tongkonan Trullo Wigwam, wickiup and wetu Zemlyanka

Traditional mobile

Chum Nomadic tents Shepherd's hut Tipi Yaranga Yurt
Yurt and ger

Ger district

Open-air

Beach fale Cabana Chickee Gazebo Palapa Pergola Ramada

Modern

Beach hut Hopper hut Iris hut Nissen hut Quonset hut

Jamesway hut

Romney hut Rondavel Slab hut Wilderness hut

Alpine club hut Mountain hut Winter room

Named huts

Bill Putnam hut Charit Creek Lodge Cootapatamba Hut Daveys Hut Granite Park Chalet Geehi Hut High Huts of the White Mountains High Sierra Camps Horse Camp Keebles Hut LeConte Lodge Len Foote Hike Inn Narcissus Hut New Pelion Hut Phantom Ranch Old Pelion Hut Seaman's Hut Sperry Chalet

Related topics

Cabanes du Breuil Circular linhay Earth sheltering Shack Shed Skellig Michael Stilt house Tent Thatching Transhumance Tree house Vernacular architecture Village des Bories

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