The Thin Scraper is a concept for sleek building that covers just 40 foot-squared, providing a safe and space-efficient housing alternative for victims of natural disasters in built-up areas. |
When disaster strikes, survival can depend on a few basic needs. Access to clean water, shelter, warmth and sanitation is a matter of life of death in the days and weeks after an earthquake, tsunami, flood or tornado.
With climate scientists
predicting that natural disasters will increase in both frequency and intensity
in the coming decades, many designers have turned their attention to
how they can help to alleviate their impact. Their work includes a broad range
of devices designed to save lives by helping rescue workers or giving people
caught up in the aftermath of a natural disaster a way to help themselves.
Mikal Hallstrup, chairman of the INDEX: Award jury,
said he and his fellow jury members were looking for ideas that could deliver
real change. "We're not a design award for designer chairs or more white
teacups," he told CNN. "The world simply doesn't need more stuff, so
our focus is on meaningfulness. ... No matter how well designed a solution,
we're not after great design solving the wrong problems."
He said that successful nominees would address a
problem and present an affordable and scalable remedy. "New takes on old
problems always get the jury excited," he added. "So do simple
solutions to complex problems." And they don't come much more complex or
big than a natural disaster.
In normal circumstances, the Orange Saver prototype looks like a piece of designer furniture, but in the event of flooding it can be quickly and easily transformed into a life raft |
A personal ark
The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 was among the
most devastating events of recent years. It led not only to increased interest
and investment in early warning systems, but also to the development of
personal survival devices for those in the path of an incoming tidal wave.
Three of them are up for an INDEX: Award this year, including the Orange Saver, a stylish piece of furniture that unfurls into a
life raft if the need arises. It's kept afloat by eight separate inflatable
segments so that it will still be buoyant even if one is damaged.
Each inflatable segment around the edge of the raft is independent, so one or two can be damaged and the raft will stay afloat |
The Noah miniature ark takes up a little more room than
the Orange Saver but its designers intend it for the "average Japanese
home". The bright yellow ball, four feet across, is made from
fiber-reinforced plastic and will accommodate four adults. Once the hatch is sealed
the pod is waterproof, buoyant and tough enough to fend of debris in the water.
Vents in the roof allow in fresh air. The Noah is already in production and
sells for about $5,500.
More robust still is the Tsunami Survival Pod built by Havana Houseboats in
Australia, which is crush-resistant to a weight of more than 13,000 pounds. It
can accommodate four adults strapped into racecar-style seats and with the door
closed it's completely sealed — it contains enough air for about two and a half
hours before the occupants would have to open the doors.
Shelter from the storm
Finding safe, warm shelter is a priority for the
victims of earthquakes and flooding. In these extreme circumstances,
functionality normally outweighs aesthetics, but Marco di Piaggi's Thin Skyscraper unites both. The
Italian architect envisages a multi-storey building made from prefabricated
sections of glass and steel, providing high-quality accommodation for hundreds
of people while sitting on a site just 40 feet square. That's a much more
efficient use of space than conventional emergency housing and, unlike many
other temporary shelters, it can be dismantled and reused over and over again.
The Noah escape pod was designed in response to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of March 2011. Not for the claustrophobic, it is designed to accommodate four adults |
A more down-to-earth solution comes in the form
of the Next Generation Compressed Earth Brick which would
provide the materials for solid, semi-permanent housing in the wake of a
disaster. Compressed-earth buildings are already widely used, but the team
behind this prototype propose to scale up the process to produce blocks four
feet long, two feet deep and six inches wide. Mobile hydraulic presses could
pump out the super-sized bricks at a rate of three per minute, the designers
say — enough for two small houses every day.
The Tsunami Survival Pod provides a little more space and strength — it will withstand a crushing force of 13,000 pounds |
It also carries four adults, who are strapped into bucket seats with five-point safety harnesses |
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the smartest,
and they don't come much smarter than the Paklaot. Consisting of four metal parts, the kit converts a
door or any other suitably shaped surface into a sturdy trolley for moving
personal possessions out of the disaster zone or clearing away debris.
Let there be light . . . and water and power
Natural disasters often disrupt basic utilities
such as gas, electricity and mains water, forcing people to live off the grid,
sometimes for months. Drinking water is often the most acute need, and two
INDEX nominees find it in very different places. The Moses gun punches a hole in domestic water tanks so that
people can drink the water inside. Its Israeli designer says the solar heating
systems used in homes in many parts of the world contain enough clean water to
ensure a family's survival for several days.
Clean water can be hard to find in the days after a disaster. The Eliodomestico gathers the energy of the sun to distill drinking water from the sea |
For longer-term use, or for those without access
to solar tanks, theEliodomestico distiller converts seawater into fresh
drinking water. Intended for use in hot climates, the simple design works
purely from the energy of the sun. A matte black boiler at the top of the
terracotta urn absorbs heat, transferring it to the seawater and causing it to
evaporate. Fresh water then condenses at the cool base of the unit, where it
remains until it is needed. The Italian designer has built a prototype that
delivered five liters of water per day in test conditions.
The simple yet efficient Paklaot can transform anything from doors to tables into a sturdy trolley, which can then transport possessions away from disaster zones |
The sun is also the energy source behind the NOMAD solar lamp, whose 12 LED lights provide equivalent illumination to a 40-watt bulb. At maximum power, a six-hour charge provides six hours' light, but the light can be dimmed to prolong battery life — at 15% power, a single charge will provide 35 hours of light. As well as providing emergency lighting, the NOMAD is designed to replace oil lamps in developing countries, where kerosene fires and fumes cause many injuries and deaths each year
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