Monday, May 3, 2010

PROJECT 1 - DESIGN FOR DISASTER

so my group chose volcanic eruptions to design for, but realy what can you design when the first thing that comes to mind is hot lava, earthquakes, mudslides, possibly even tsunami from earth termmors etc. it seems almost impossible to help someone in that situation???

after reasearching it became apparent exactly what the root cause of most deaths is. Not hot lava, not earthquakes, but the ash buildup on house roofs which causes collapses. Espacially in 3rd world countries where sturctures aren't so strong this can pose a huge problem. a perfect example was Mt. Pinatubo in the Phillipines, whereby 73,000 homes were damages, 8,000 destroyed.

the basis of the design was to provide the user with a roof support that would enable them to stay under the roof and be sheltered from the hot ash falling. it also because usefull for the user afterwards during the cleanup process to ensure no more lives were lost.



The design uses 2 main elements, a top cup and feet which are linked with a retension system. the user will use locally grown rattan (bamboo) as the legs of the tripod making it environmentally friendly.