Part 1 Group Research (Ribal, Dominique and Aram)
For this week's studio task we were required to get into a group of 3 and conduct research on a natural disaster that was assigned to our group. We had to conduct our research on tsunamis and find all the relative information regarding this natural disaster.
What is a Tsunami: A tsunami is a long, high sea wave caused by an earthquake, landslides, volcanic eruptions or other disturbance which creates a series of sudden movements in the water column.
What happens after a Tsunami: The typical conditions of the environment once a tsunami has occurred can be highly devastating on many levels. The natural habitats of animals can be destroyed and a rapid loss of natural vegetation such as trees can be lost causing a minor change in the climate. Furthermore, the hierarchy or the order of land subdivisions is also altered due to a tsunami. A typical subdivision near a coast line would typically represent a city inhabited by tourists which then eases out into a small town occupied by the locals followed by a vast area of dense vegetation which is primarily occupied by wild animals and all that can then be heavily shifted due to a natural disaster like the tsunami.
3 Geographic locations which have experienced the tsunami:
1. North Pacific Coast, Japan 2011 - estimated dead or missing (18,000)
2. Aceh, Indonesia, 2004 - estimated dead or missing (227,898)
3. Papa New Guinea, 1998 - estimated dead or missing (2,183)
For the second part of this week's tutorial, we were required to browse the studio's collective research and select a location that has experienced a natural disaster. After revising the various options that I had, I have chosen to base this first project on the North Pacific Coast in Japan which was hit by a tsunami in 2011.
One of my main reasons of choosing this location is primarily due to logistics reasons in simply being able to transport my proposed housing containers to site and offloading it in a near by dock for easy transportation. One of my other reasons is the fact that many people lived along the coast line as neighbours and will most likely wish to maintain their current location so being able to provide people with their needs in an environment they are familiar with will be a far better solution than relocating these people to a near by area.
Below are a few images of the location that I have chosen.
 |
| http://cdn.noticiaaldia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/terremoto-japon-20111.jpg |
 |
| https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOMyg3OXj0TE-7on70sKA_yipExBl2BsLlbvMV-qGB9AZeKVJ1nU_z4R7Id3nAttt-lHq6PlRRvjaShccaYR9gRla8e8GRJN73Guf4ub_BXgptFNQXKM1_664GJnfa7R2Q6LnhOVIQ5j8t/s1600/japon4.jpg |
.jpg) |
| http://talesfromthelou.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/japan-tsunami-20111.jpg |
 |
| http://www.intelligentspeculator.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/japan-tsunami-20111.jpg |
For the third part of this week's tutorial we had to conduct research on 2 precedents of a shipping container architecture and post images of each and also provide a description. We then had to compare each of these precedents in terms of their similarities and differences in relation to their features, design approach and their relevance to the chosen location.
Precedent 1 - Studio Mk27 Container House
The Studio MK27 Container House is designed by Architects Marcio Kogan and Marinana Simas which was constructed using some left over shipping containers to create a 250 m2 home. The house is located in Sao Paulo, Brazil and construction started in 2010 and finished in 2011. The main design concept behind this container house was to produce a liveable house on a low budget that would preserve some existing trees on site.
Reference for images below of the container house by Studio Mk27,
By Pedro Vannucchi, Studio MK27, http://www.archdaily.com/125234/decameron-marcio-kogan/, 2010
Benjamin García Saxe Architecture clients’ Gabriela Calvo and Marco Peralta dreamed of living harmoniously and debt free on their property 20 minutes outside of the city of San Jose, Costa Rica. They made the choice to exploring the possibility of creating a very inexpensive house made out of recycled shipping containers that allowed them to be unburdened by finance, and to live the life they had always wanted.
References of images below,
Images courtesy of Arch Daily, Benjamin Garcia Saxe, http://www.ecocontainerhome.com/2013/02/containers-of-hope-san-hose-cost-rica/, 26/2/2013
Similarities & Differences in features
Both of the above precedents offer the occupants the essential living facilities such as cooking and sleeping. Those things are considered to be the minimal requirements in a person's lifestyle.
One main difference between the above precedents in terms of features is that the first precedent offers cross ventilation and solar access through large openings in the shapes of doors and windows. However the second precedent allows for cross ventilation through a raised skillion roof which allow the rising hot air to escape from the top of the building.
Similarities & Differences in design approaches
Both of the above precedents are either stacked side by side or on top of each other to create large living areas and both do not hide the corrugation by using external cladding but in fact maintain the original form and materials.
The first precedent feels very solid in terms of how it has been mounted to the ground whereas the second precedent is elevated using piers which almost make it look as if it is floating. Such design approach could have been thought of to allow for cross ventilation or to give the feel of a lightweight structure.
I believe that both of the above precedents contain some features and design approaches that can aid my design solution for my chosen location. I believe that providing the natural disaster survivors with the essentials of living must be my main focus but a clever a design which compliments design features such as ventilation, solar access etc will also create a better design that can adapt to whatever environment it is placed in.
My Three Concepts
- Architects create homes that are like books for people to write their stories in. A home is more than a structure but a centre piece of our lives that records our memories.
- The words "House" and "Home" is understood by many as having the same meaning but in fact a home as opposed to a house, inherits on one's culture, beliefs and way of life.
- A successful home should not be given merits based on it's value, finishes or location. An old run down cottage can sometimes offer greater living comfort to its occupants than an expensive home.
Initial Sketches
Container 3D model, Google Warehouse courtesy of PM3D, 8/3/2013
 |
| Above is an image of the container model that I downloaded directly from Google Warehouse. |
 |
| Above table courtesy of NCC 2011 |
No comments:
Post a Comment