Design and Global Catastrophes

The paper read, "Quake Kills More Than 1,800 and Flattens buildings in Nepal. A tragedy so immense, that is shook parts of India, caused an avalanche in the Himalayas, and rocked Bangladesh. Many now destitute and homeless are also dealing with the reality of not having enough clean water to drink. The northern Eurasian plate and the Indian plate collided and caused things to simply fall apart in Katmandu. What has this to do with design. Well, it is clear that we really have to start building with the thought of the effects that cataclysmic events will continue to occur. How can we build and design efficiently and effectively in parts of the world where people do not have a lot of money? This is the design challenge of the 21st century. How can we build better? It is obvious that the world will benefit from more intentional design.

From what I have read most of the structures that crumbled in Nepal were made from brick and were  not created to withstand the effects of a 7.8 earthquake. As the earth shook, and the world came down around them, people were stunned as they saw others die or be buried by construction debris. It is our duty to make certain that these kinds of tragedies occur fewer and far between. Buildings must bend but not break.

  

     

According to studies, there are two things that occur during an earthquake, "[t]he first is horizontal or vertical acceleration of the ground, which moves suddenly sideways or up. If the [building's] frame has insufficient sway strength, it falls down  It's easy to design sway resistance in steel. The second is vibration from shock waves; like a tuning fork, a building will oscillate at its own frequency if relatively small shock waves come at the resonant frequency (often leaving taller or shorter structures nearby much less affected). Oscillation can build up and produce greater and greater sway loads until the building fails in sway or total overturning. This definition, taken from REID Steel explains the role sway and vibration work against buildings in the event of an earthquake. Imagine, the ground is moving sideways or up and the buildings upon it moving against the movement of the ground you can see how this resistance would causes huge problems. So what can be done?

My design thoughts move to:
1. rammed earth structures
2. cob structures
3. small, short structures built of solid materials
4. building with steel

The first illustration above is of a rammed earth structure. In earlier times, it was the technology of the day. It allowed people to use available resources like dirt in order to build. Some would question well, why should people in other places in the world have to use dirt to build their homes? A stigma which exists only because of modern advertising and shaming makes this type of building seem "less than" great. But that is not a truth. Building with the earth is a great viable choice. The second picture is of a cob house. Also built from "alternative" resources, it too offers a way of building structures that might cause less damage. Last, we have a structure called an Earthship. These structures can be found in New Mexico. People are utilizing old tires, dirt, wood, glass bottles, and other discarded items to build beautiful home. Could these forms of building from our past be part of our future? Perhaps.