Now, those officials are calling for electric car companies to explain what happened, and how it can be prevented from happening again. State Fire Marshall Jimmy Patronis issued a letter to over 30 carmakers, including Tesla, Ford, and Rivian, asking them to “step up, demonstrate leadership, and partner with the State of Florida and local officials in this recovery.”

The letter also demanded that EV makers explain whether they knew this was a risk, and to identify whether EVs exposed to saltwater could reignite weeks or months after they were flooded.

“Has your company conducted any analysis on the effects of saltwater intrusion on the lithium-ion batteries in your vehicles and their risks associated with fires? Are there any fire risks associated with chargers that were submerged in the storm surge? Do you have the ability to assess whether an EV impacted by a storm surge is operational and currently being used?,” the letter reads.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration confirmed that “test results specific to saltwater submersion show that salt bridges can form within the battery pack and provide a path for short circuit and self-heating. This can lead to fire ignition. Lithium-ion vehicle battery fires have been observed both rapidly igniting and igniting several weeks after battery damage occurred.”

This happens because saltwater is extremely conductive, and when it collides with a lithium-ion battery full of energy, the results can be dramatic. Fires have the potential to be even more dangerous if they involve RVs, golf carts, or scooters inside saltwater-flooded homes, creating larger blazes.

Floridians affected by the storm were urged not to turn on their EVs, plug them in, or unplug them, instead seeking professional assistance to move their vehicles. It’s still unknown what exactly sparks a blaze in the first place, but experts believe it could be as simple as turning the wheel.

The fires put a political target on the backs of electric vehicles during a time when the Biden administration is attempting to address climate change by replacing millions of gas-powered cars with zero-emitting EVs. Industry groups worry that the fires could lead to an impression that electric vehicles are less safe overall, pointing out a recent report that found roughly 25 fires for every 100,000 EVs sold, and 1,530 gas car fires for every 100,000 internal combustion vehicles sold.

“One Tesla fire gets more news than 10,000 gasoline car fires, whether it’s because people are super interested in Tesla or because people are still fighting the battle to suggest that electric cars are not ready for prime time or not good,” says Marc Geller, spokesperson for the Electric Vehicle Association.

The post EVs Catch Fire in the Aftermath of Hurricane Ian first appeared on Dornob.

Andre Kong Studio created the bench with students at the local University Technical College of Design and Engineering as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2022. Made of reclaimed materials, it invites passersby to sit and reflect on how we’ll need to change, both individually and collectively, in order to avoid a worst-case-scenario future severely impacted by climate disaster. The taller bench soars 2.6 meters (about 8.5 feet) above the lower bench, or 9.8 feet total.

The red gradient seen on the bench’s support frame, reminiscent of a change in color caused by cumulative water level marks, highlights the increasing risk and reinforces the urgency to take action.

“The language of the bench borrows from neighboring maritime infrastructure design around the Royal Docks, using standard metal pipe connections that will allow it to be easily disassembled and re-used for a third time in UTC student projects,” the designer explains.

The bench is simple yet striking, and impossible to ignore. It might be easy for some people to say to themselves, “by the end of the century, I won’t be here, so I won’t be affected by the worst of the climate catastrophe.” But the fact that water levels could rise so high in the very near future during a storm should give all residents of London — and similar coastal cities — pause.

The theme of this year’s London Festival of Architecture, “Act,” spurred some interesting and necessary discourse around topics like how the built environment serves disabled people, how we can design cities for women, the trend of “hostile architecture” that aims to make homeless people unwelcome, and interesting new ways to incorporate waste into architectural design. Andre Kong Studio, founded in 2016 by Portuguese-born British architect Andre Sampaio Kong, is itself an LGBTQ+ led practice committed to diversifying the built environment.

“After such a long time of enforced passivity, the imperative to act is felt by so many of us, whether we are architects or not, while the pandemic has exposed so many things that need to change,” reads the London Festival of Architecture website. “How, for instance, should architecture act in the face of the climate emergency, social injustice, and the needs of a changing society? How can architects make their actions felt beyond their profession — how can they be heard more clearly, become more valued, or collaborate more meaningfully? The theme for the LFA 2022 is ‘act.’ Through the festival we’ll examine how we can act for ourselves, each other, our cities, and the environment.”

Interested in learning more about how architecture can be inclusive? Check out our articles on how hostile anti-homeless design darkens our cities, and how colorful interiors can reimagine what accessible architecture looks like. We also love MUJI’s prefab housing kit for seniors.

The post A Cautionary Benchmark: Inaccessible Public Seating Warns About Future Climate Disaster first appeared on Dornob.

Joining forces with renowned architect Masayuki Sono, winner of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, Serendix and Sono designed a small house that could be printed quickly enough to serve as emergency housing after a natural disaster like an earthquake or hurricane that destroys the population’s homes.

“The skeleton weighed about 20 tons, and its assembly was completed in 3 hours,” Serendix said in a press release. “Housing construction such as waterproofing and openings was completed in just 23 hours and 12 minutes.”

While the assembly time doesn’t include installation of windows, doors, or interior features, these can be prefabricated and added on site within a few extra hours, allowing these “instant homes” to provide temporary shelter for disaster victims in as little as a day after a catastrophe hits.

The entire pod costs just 3 million yen, or roughly $25,000 USD, to construct thanks to the lack of human labor required. “Using a 3D printer and advanced robotics, we are working on a design that only works with robots and uses as little human hand [input] as possible,” the firm explains.

The home’s distinctive shape was chosen because of its large surface area-to-volume ratio and for its high structural stability. The Sphere is fashioned from 12 identical base segments cut from a cylinder. The pieces are then assembled into a single cocoon-like form. The result is a pod that can look round, square, or hexagonal depending on the particular vantage point.

“This creates a dynamic effect as if it is constantly changing its profile as people walk around the structure,” the firm says. “When multiple units are installed in a cluster such as in the case of cottage or camping ground, this provides diversity and avoids the next house from looking monotonous while maintaining a consistent design vocabulary.”

With its rib-reinforced double shell structure, the 3D-printed dwelling meets both European heat insulation performance standards and Japanese seismic operation requirements. And because it’s made up of separate but easily conjoined parts, the Sphere can be manufactured either onsite or pre-printed as needed. “The goal is to print each unit on ite for highest efficiency,” Serendix says on its website. “Due to identical base geometry of all [pieces] it can also be pre-printed in a controlled factory environment and assembled onsite in case the site condition limits use of in situ printing.”

The 3D-printed structure can also easily be customized for multiple uses. The “window locations can be flexibly adjusted and even the entire base model can be rotated in [a] vertical orientation to achieve variations in design and form.” This could include vaulted, domed, and pitched roof profiles. Multiple units can also be connected to create larger spaces for bigger families or community groups.

Serendix reports that it has already printed its first full-scale prototypes on two different continents and assembled a proof-of-concept unit in Japan. The firm is further improving the fabrication process for upgraded models.

The post This 3D-Printed Housing Pod Can Be Built in Under a Day for Less than the Price of a Car first appeared on Dornob.

The original center, designed by Sierra Cardona & Ferrer and located within the northeastern Río Grande municipality, opened in 1996. Over 30 years later, it was looking a little worse for wear, even before the Category 5 hurricane touched down. Marvel won a competition to redesign the facility with sustainability in mind, implementing features like solar power, rainwater harvesting, passive ventilation, and other strategies to meet LEED Silver certification. Reconstruction began in 2019 and was completed in late 2021.

“Our challenge for this project was to envision a refreshed design that would respect and harmonize with the beautiful natural surroundings of El Yunque, integrate environmental sustainability factors, and build upon the previous structure,” explained Marvel in a statement. “El Portal is an integral part of one of Puerto Rico’s biggest tourist attractions and, as such, it is an iconic destination. Playing a role in assuring its longevity and ability to remain accessible to both residents and visitors, all while preserving this fragile natural ecosystem in perpetuity, was critical in our decision to take on this project.”

Marvel modified elements of the original El Portal facility, including the main visitor hall and upper courtyard, while adding a new entry plaza, gardens, interpretive exhibits by Split Rock Studios, and a café with a commercial kitchen. Mahogany trees that came crashing down in the storm were transformed into new furniture and signage, and works by local artists were brought in to add color and character.

The studio also designed a new wheelchair-accessible trail for the El Yunque rainforest, which is home to over 200 species of plants as well as petroglyphs made by the indigenous Taíno people. Thankfully, the forest itself is rebounding from the damage it experienced in the storm, and the newly redesigned El Portal Visitor’s Center will serve as a beautiful reintroduction to its wonders. The rebuilding process has also included studies by climate scientists and ecologists that will help predict how similar ecosystems could change in the face of severe weather in the future.

El Portal is one of many recent post-hurricane rebuilding projects completed by Marvel, including the creation of new solar power hubs throughout the country. Founder Jonathon Marvel, who was born in Puerto Rico, is one of the founders of Resilient Power Puerto Rico, a nonprofit that aims to reduce reliance on the the island nation’s vulnerable electrical grid through the use of renewable energy.

“Marvel seeks to promote initiatives and tackle construction projects that favor sustainability and resilience,” says Edna Echandi Guzmán, AIA, Director of Marvel’s Puerto Rico office. “The renovation of El Portal exemplifies our philosophy, and we are proud to be a part of this historic and significant project for Puerto Rico.”

The post Damaged by Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico’s El Portal Visitor Center Gets a Gorgeous Refresh first appeared on Dornob.

Imagine a device that could suppress these fires before they blossomed out of control, actively fighting them and preventing them from spreading. Such a device could act as an important stopgap measure for homes and businesses and proactively address fires at their source.

Enter high school student Arul Mathur, a New Jersey transplant who moved to California and witnessed firsthand the devastation of the fires, with his family nearly having to evacuate their own home in 2019. As Mathur says, that made it “personal.”

Inspired to come up with some sort of solution, Mather designed “F.A.C.E.,” or the Fire Activated Canister Extinguisher. A new type of firefighting equipment, F.A.C.E. is a completely self-contained device; i.e. no human is necessary to operate it. It’s also heat-activated, akin to a fire alarm, albeit activated with a rise in temperature instead of the presence of smoke. Think of it as a fire alarm version 2.0: easily portable, easily installable, and containing its own fire suppression materials like a super-charged sprinkler.

However, it’s not water that comes from F.A.C.E. when it’s activated, its an eco-friendly fire retardant called Cold Fire that sprays the surrounding area (in a 5-6 foot radius) with the help of a built-in a sprinkler. When F.A.C.E.’s temperature hits 155 degrees Fahrenheit, this glycerin bulb sprinkler is activated, and its little metal canister springs into action like an inorganic mini firefighter. The response is quick, making it an effective way to stop combustion at its source, and prevent potential spreading.

The only human element involved in F.A.C.E. is its simple installation along a home or business’ outdoor wall or fence, and the easy refilling of the fire retardant (if necessary). Once it’s installed, F.A.C.E. is ready to go – you can set it and forget it.

Mathur says the device is meant to give individuals more agency in preventing the spread of wildfires, causing them to be “[less] reliant on the fire department to save their home. Firefighters could [instead] focus on containing the fire, while we, as residents, could control the fate of our property.”

Though F.A.C.E. is still in the early stages of development, and the prototype needs to undergo more extensive testing before mass production and distribution, the news is encouraging, with Mathur’s Kickstarter campaign well exceeding its $10,000 goal. The estimated retail on each F.A.C.E. unit would be around $120.

https://youtu.be/AOnjjaqIMx8

While not meant to be the end-all solution to wildfires, F.A.C.E. could efficiently and actively delay a fire, giving residents and the community at large time to evacuate or extinguish it before it grows. It could also make small brushfires easier to contain. After learning about the devastating effects of wildfires, student Arul Mathur “knew that [he] needed to do something about it.” And with a blend of creativity, ingenuity, and enthusiasm, it certainly looks like he has succeeded with his design for F.A.C.E.

The post In Your F.A.C.E: Student Develops Supercharged Extinguisher in Response to California Wildfires first appeared on Dornob.

A prototype currently being perfected by a team at Michigan State University, the device in question uses wind for power and includes two sensors that measure carbon monoxide and temperature, respectively. The team plans to add several other sensors to the final design, including a transmitter that will send continual updates on on all vital measurements with respect to the burn.

The device would be a crucial step in early detection, especially in remote areas. It works similar to a smoke detector in the home, except it’s powered by wind movement rather than a battery or other electrical source. This is an essential element since replacing batteries on tens of thousands of forest smoke detectors is both inefficient and wasteful. Instead, study leader and mechanical engineer at MSU Changyong Cao says the device will “generate electricity from the slightest swinging of tree branches.” Using a triboelectric generator, those motions are then converted into power. Cao went on to explain that although the device does require a breeze, fires always create air currents that provide the needed power, even if Mother Nature doesn’t.

In the study, originally published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the explanation of how the device works reads a bit like a MacGuyver episode but still translates into basic science. The soda can-sized contraption has cylinders in the top and bottom, one coated with Teflon and the other with a copper film. The two connect with a rubber band while an added weight at the bottom facilitates the swinging motion as the tree branch moves up and down. When the cylinders rub against each other, energy is released.

Durability is key to the success of the project, so the device also has to be both fire and waterproof. It hasn’t undergone actual field tests yet, so there’s still the potential for unforeseen issues with wildlife or natural elements that lead to disruption. Nonetheless, the team hopes the unit can provide detection where current systems have limitations. For example, one commonly used technology is satellites. Satellites provide outstanding and useful imagery when it comes to combatting wildfires, but they’re constantly in motion, which means they can’t hover over a specific area. This makes information intermittent rather than constant. On top of that, satellite imagery can be blocked by cloud cover or a smokescreen created by a raging blaze.

Since this device doesn’t rely on imaging, it’s impervious to those complications. Plus, it can be adapted to serve other purposes, like monitoring air quality and identifying toxic gases. Cao’s team hopes this solution will offer fast, efficient, and inexpensive fire detection that results in saving both forests and homes.

The post New Wildfire Detector Runs on the Swaying of Trees first appeared on Dornob.

Google has a novel solution: an Android phone-powered earthquake alert system. Most of us are already carrying potential sensors in our pockets, making the general population a big untapped resource for detecting potential earthquakes as they happen. That’s because the accelerometers in our smartphones, paired with location data, are sensitive enough to detect the P-wave: which is the first wave that comes out of an earthquake and usually much less destructive than the S-wave that follows.

“If the phone detects something that it thinks may be an earthquake, it sends a signal to our earthquake detection server, along with a coarse location of where the shaking occurred. The server then combines information from many phones to figure out if an earthquake is happening. We’re essentially racing the speed of light (which is roughly the speed at which signals from a phone travel) against the speed of an earthquake. And lucky for us, the speed of light is much faster!”

Because the technology already exists in our phones, all Google had to do to activate it was build earthquake detection into the operating system. WHen it’s up and running, the Android Earthquake Alerts System will become “the world’s largest earthquake detection network,” giving users a minute or so of warning before the quake hits. That may not sound like much, but it could be all you need to get out of a high-risk location, get to your children from across the yard, or find the sturdiest furniture in your house to hide under.

Distributed through Google Play Services for every Android phone running 5.0 and up, it’s now active on 94 percent of 2.5 billion Google Play Android devices. All you have to do to use it is turn on the Google Location Services switch in the Android settings.

In California, this feature will work with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to send the alerts via the existing ShakeAlert system, which traditionally uses signals from more than 700 seismometers installed across the state. That means all Android users in the state will soon become millions of new sensors providing data and receiving alerts.

In other places that don’t have sophisticated ground networks of seismometers, the system will act as an earthquake watch system. “To start, we’ll use this technology to share a fast, accurate view of the impacted area on Google Search. When you look up ‘earthquake’ or ‘earthquake near me,’ you’ll find relevant results for your area, along with helpful resources on what to do after an earthquake.”

Feeling left out as an iPhone user? Make sure you’ve turned on emergency and government alerts under Settings > Notifications. ShakeAlert is continuing to expand with new partners in states like Oregon and Washington, and maybe Apple will jump in with a similar system of its own sometime soon.

The post Google is Turning Android Phones Into a Global Earthquake Detection Network first appeared on Dornob.

The Australian bushfires have ravaged the continent, wiping out hundreds of millions of animals, devastating communities, and even taking human lives in their wake. In an effort to aid all those affected by the fires, fundraisers from a variety of sources have “popped” up recently, including this fun vinyl figure brought to you in a partnership between Popcultcha and Funko. The limited edition Bushfire Heroes Pop! Vinyl Figure is a nod to the thousands of volunteer firefighters who risked their lives to battle the blazes, taking the form of an adorably small firefighter with smoke-smudged cheeks offering affection to a clingy koala. The toy’s packaging features both a map outline of Australia with a heart in the center and the Popcultcha emblem to give credit to Australia’s largest and most comprehensive Funko online store.

If you haven’t seen the news in the past few months, extended drought coupled with record-breaking temperatures contributed to an early and intense fire season that burned over 25 million acres of land throughout Australia. For reference, that’s the total landmasses of Belgium and Haiti combined. This is bad news for everyone in the country, including the animals, with some estimates stating that over one billion of them had been lost. Another grim figure estimates that over half of the koalas in New South Wales died in the fires, and that half of all koala habitat in the country is eradicated, too.

Thousands of people were evacuated, and thousands lost their homes. Air quality was horrific, measuring off the charts at 23 times what’s considered “hazardous.” The smoke clouds were so bad, in fact, that they were captured by NASA imagery from space. Air quality was even highly concerning indoors, such as when it seeped into a hospital birthing center. Animals with no protection succumbed to the smoke inhalation or managed to escape to a new location, void of their natural habitat and left to face an entirely new set of challenges. Many other pets and livestock were evacuated along with their owners, leaving them no place to go at all. Local authorities and emergency agencies around the country took in the evacuees and their animals. They anticipate providing care for months following the fires.

“The potential impacts on wildlife are devastating,” Crystal Kolden, an Associate Professor of Fire Science at the University of Idaho who studied wildfires in Tasmania in 2018, said in an interview with The Verge. “There won’t be a full accounting for how bad it actually is for years.”

Finally, after a deluge of rain, the fires in most areas were declared contained just this month (February), bringing to a close nearly seven months of burning.

Other organizations have also stepped forward to provide relief for residents affected by the fire, including major shoe, beauty, and clothing manufacturers. These CC Beanies, Save the Koalas shirts, and Fight the Flames Hats are just a few examples. In addition, many celebrities have donated money or organized fundraisers to help fight the fires, resulting in millions of additional dollars in aid. Some notable contributors include US singer Pink, Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman, British singer Elton John, and Australian actor Chris Hemsworth.

The Bushfire Heroes Firefighter is currently available for pre-order at $19.99, with an estimated delivery in June 2020. All profits will be donated to RSPCA National Bushfire Appeal, an organization aimed at funding supplies and equipment for veterinarians and government agencies responsible for providing emergency and ongoing care to the many animals affected.

Learn more about where the proceeds from the figure go, or make a direct donation, here.

The post Bushfire Heroes Pop! Vinyl Figure Made to Help Fight Australian Wildfires first appeared on Dornob.

It’s always been a bit of a guessing game as to when and how to evacuate an area. Over the years, firefighters have implemented a variety of tactics to gain insight on the behavior of wildfires. For example, the Los Angeles Fire Department and other agencies send up drones to identify hot spots and use planes loaded with cameras and infrared sensors to map out the perimeters of a blaze. They also rely on supercomputers to process data that can help with the task.

“We’re always looking for innovative ways to get better intelligence, and it all comes down to enhanced situational awareness,” says LAFD Chief Ralph Terrazas. “That’s what we train our firefighters: when you’re on the fire ground, you got to be aware of what’s going on to make good decisions.”

But as of this September, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Ventura, and San Diego counties have a $4.5 million tool at their disposal. A pilot program called FIRIS, or Fire Integrated Real-Time Intelligence System, is now being tested in California as a way to better coordinate firefighters’ collected data for quicker and more accurate fire forecasting. In this way, FIRIS produces nearly real-time fire perimeter maps just minutes after planes arrive on sight.

To pull information together, a supercomputer called WIFIRE, located at the University of California, taps into weather reports, wind conditions, information about vegetation that can act as fuel for the fire, census data to understand population sizes and structure layouts, and topographic maps to produce a projection of the area where the fire is most likely to burn. The resulting computation provides an estimation of where the fire will burn for the following six hours without intervention. This allows any agencies battling the blaze to deliver a swift response, and also gives them calculated information about timing and location for optimum evacuation protocols.

The output from the supercomputer is coupled with infrared scans from planes that both confirm the data and provide additional information to the Southern California Wildfire Fusion Center, which acts as a coordinating hub for intel. There, it is circulated to the fire chief, the command post, local law enforcement agencies, elected officials, and the general public. It is then uploaded to the LAFD website, where residents can find all the necessary evacuation information. Following the initial response, new tests are run every few hours to see if there have been any changes in the forecast, with planes returning to the area three to four times a day to gather real-time data.

Of course, making these types of estimates about where the fire will turn next is not a new tactic. In fact, the majority of the tools being implemented have been used for a very long time in the war against wildfires. The difference is that instead of hours wasted scouring reports as they come in from different sources and making guesses based on terrain shown on topo maps, WIFIRE and FIRIS produce more accurate results within minutes.

The company behind FIRIS, Intterra, hopes the technology will save money and resources, improve communication, and most importantly, save lives. In the future, Intterra says its system will be able to help predict fires before they even happen, using the information gathered regarding weather, wind, topography, and vegetation.

The post New Technology Improves Forecasting for Path of California Wildfires first appeared on Dornob.

Transforming shipping containers into housing is a trend that doesn’t seem to be slowing down, but are shipping container homes really a good — or even humane — solution?

Durable, portable, stackable, and plentiful, shipping containers are pretty easy to come by. There are approximately 36 million of them in the world, with about six million in active use at any given time. They’re only used within the shipping industry for a brief period before they’re decommissioned for quality control, too, so of course it makes sense to find ways to reuse them.

Architects and builders have turned so-called “cargotecture” into an industry in its own right. The novelty factor and apparent eco-friendliness of their incorporation into hotels, shops, restaurants, greenhouses, schools, libraries, and other types of buildings tends to get them a lot of attention, too. Because they’re made from strong materials like steel and aluminum and easy to move to new locations as needed, shipping containers are also a popular choice for emergency housing.

But in our rush to sing the praises of shipping container architecture, we might be failing to consider a few key points. First and foremost, there’s the fact that in order to be truly livable, they have to be modified quite a bit. They’re not insulated, not very good at resisting wind, and tend to build up a fair bit of condensation inside.

Once you do insulate them, you reduce a significant amount of the already-small interior space, and even then, energy-consuming air conditioning is often required to make them comfortable in summer. Interesting stacked arrangements look good in renderings, but the reality is that containers can only be stacked directly on top of each other as intended without needing a lot of extra fortification.

Used shipping containers tend to be a bit worse for the wear, not only in terms of scratches and dents, but also rust. The exteriors must be repainted every few years to keep them in good condition. Then there’s the fact that they’re often made with potentially toxic materials like chromate, lead-based paints, arsenic, and chromium, or used to transport toxic goods.

If you’re willing to put in a lot of effort, used cargo crates can still be a good choice for structures that people won’t be living inside. But the real problem comes in when they’re used for affordable housing. It’s worthwhile to remember that they aren’t always the best (or even cheapest) choice, never mind the fact that their overuse is altering the look of some cities for the worse.

Architect Mark Hogan of OpenScope Studio says that when architects propose shipping containers as a feasible solution to a major problem of housing shortages around the world, they’re not really thinking through what it’s actually like to live inside them.

“I know you’ve seen all the proposals, often done with an humanitarian angle (building slum housing, housing for refugees, etc.) that promises a factory-built ‘solution’ to the housing ‘problem’ but often positioned as a luxury product as well… housing is usually not a technology problem. All parts of the world have vernacular housing, and it usually works quite well for the local climate. There are certainly places with material shortages, or situations where factory-built housing might be appropriate — especially when an area is recovering from a disaster. In this case, prefab buildings would make sense — but doing them in containers does not.”

Hogan goes on to note that if you’re going to go through the trouble of prefabricating a structure, you might as well build them out to dimensions that are more appropriate for human habitation.

Dr. Richard J. Williams makes similar points in a recent editorial in The New York Times, saying we should all remember that shipping containers were made for things, not people.

“…The harsh landscape of the shipping container is a terrible shorthand for modernity. It’s not just the now-inescapable connotations of the migrant crisis. It’s that the people who’ve most celebrated the container form are precisely not the ones who’ve ever had to live in one: they can always go home, to a proper building somewhere else. And it’s that the shipping container suggests a world in which everything is contingent and temporary, and humans are doing little more than camping. That’s not the way to produce good offices, or housing, or cities.”

The post Shipping Container Architecture: Hot New Trend or Violation of Human Rights? first appeared on Dornob.

Last December, CalEarth closed its doors to the public for a series of updates required by county and city codes, but it has since re-opened its doors to provide inspiration to all those who seek it, and its lessons feel more relevant than ever before. Run by Dastan and Sheefteh Khalili since the death of their father, the institute shows off the capabilities of “SuperAdobe” in an almost otherworldly-looking display on its sun-drenched grounds.

SuperAdobe is a form of earthbag architecture developed by Nader Khalili, and it doesn’t require much more than some long sandbags, barbed wire, earth dug on-site, and a few tools. Not only does this natural building system enable sculptural, organic shapes, it’s also extremely strong, earthquake-resistant, and easy to learn. Considering the fact that CalEarth believes entire families should be able to participate in building, from elderly grandparents to the youngest children, it seems only natural that the institute would adopt this technique. The bags are filled in place using small pots and kitchen utensils, and there’s no heavy lifting or machinery required.

Inspired by traditional earth architecture found in the deserts of Iran, CalEarth’s structures range from a small emergency shelter for one person that can be expanded into a rapidly-built village to entire three-bedroom houses with two-car garages. Some standout examples include the 400-square-foot Eco Dome, the modular Earth One Vaulted House featuring radiant floor slab heating and solar power, a “Water Village” full of coiled and plastered huts, and a “Fire Village” with integrated rocket stove heaters, among many more.

The CalEarth team explains: “The building process is intentionally simple, but the structural integrity of SuperAdobe is the result of years of research. The structural design uses modern engineering concepts like base-isolation and post-tensioning. The long coils of sandbag provide compression (vertical) strength, while the barbed wire adds tensile (horizontal) strength. In addition, the sandbags add flood resistance. The earth itself provides insulation and fire-proofing.”

“The arch is the strongest form in architecture and has been used in building for thousands of years. A dome is simply an arch rotated 180 degrees. SuperAdobe is extremely well-suited for building arches, domes, and vaults, and SuperAdobe domes are extremely strong structures. They have passed California earthquake code tests and withstood a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in Nepal. Using geometry and a simple compass tool, builders can easily create corbelled dome structures of various heights and up to 22 feet in diameter.”

Visitors are welcome to attend open houses held on the first Saturday of every month to experience the structures for themselves, which are often likened to the huts of Tattooine in the Star Wars films. You can also book tours by appointment, bring a group of students on a field trip, or volunteer to help prep, build, or manage some of the institute’s operations. While CalEarth began as a way to empower refugees and the poor to build their own natural-disaster-resistant homes, it has since grown into an international program of apprenticeships and workshops, with its full curriculum is available online.

The post CalEarth Reopens to Provide Low-Cost Eco Building Inspiration first appeared on Dornob.

Hurricanes, earthquakes, civil rebellion, terror attacks, floods, etc. Life can be uncertain, and without being alarmist, it’s important to be prepared. A well-thought-out plan and a variety of basic supplies can help people weather most adversity. A good survival kit makes it easy to do just that, especially when you can just grab it and run out the door.

“We’re a team of friends who’ve collectively traveled to over 125 countries,” say the inventors of the Seventy2, which they call “the world’s smartest survival kit.” What makes them experts? “From the top of Mt. Everest to the jungles of Bolivia to military bases in Iraq, we’ve spent time in some of the most dangerous and extreme environments in the world,” they explain. Okay, that might do it.

“Through it all, we’ve found ourselves in more than a few difficult situations,” the Seventy2 team add, “and it’s these experiences that have taught us the importance of having the right tools and the proper knowledge.”

Cue the Seventy2, a survival kit that contains 30 important tools as well as clear instructions designed by experts to help you get through the crucial first 72 hours of a disaster. While it is great for outdoor explorers and adventure-seekers, company founder Christian Schauf designed the kit to work for the rest of us too: “People like you and me, with families, jobs, and normal lives. Neighbors, family, and friends who just so happen to find themselves in a stressful situation while going about their daily lives.”

The kit includes a first starter, a survival knife, 100 feet of paracord, a flashlight, a multi-tool, a shovel/axe, a first aid kit, an air filter mask, water filter pouches, glow sticks, a thermal space blanket, bright-orange duct tape, a radio/flashlight and phone charger, and more. All these items are stashed in a well-organized, clearly labeled interior bag insert, which in turn is protected from the elements in a waterproof, airtight, sturdy 600D tarpaulin external shell with padded shoulder straps. The outer bag has a roll top so you can stuff it full or carry the basics, and it also has two pockets, an emergency whistle, and a reflective logo.

There are many clever design features. The insert also has backpack straps, for example, so you can carry it separately and use the shell itself to bring along other items. And the PVC inserts can be removed and used as snowshoes—or curled to make an emergency sling.

Worried about getting caught up in sudden flooding or falling overboard from a boat or kayak? “Thanks to waterproof construction, high-quality, waterproof zippers and exacting manufacturing tolerances, the Seventy2 is so waterproof, it can be used as a personal flotation device,” the designers say.

Seventy2 gives back, too, helping to protect people living on the street. In December, the company released its Hideaway Jacket and offered to donate one jacket for every kit purchased. The design is clever—the jacket has panel sections that you can stuff with scrunched-up newspaper or any other type of insulation if you’re caught outside in severe weather. Thanks to this initiative, The I Have A Name Project will distribute 500 of the jackets to homeless people around the country.

The post The Seventy2: A Smart Survival Kit for Emergencies first appeared on Dornob.

The project is both personally and symbolically significant to the architect, as Fukushima was recently the site of a nuclear disaster that razed much of the area and displaced many of its residents. The plot of land on which the new house rests has been in the architect’s family for many years, but the original home was completely destroyed in a blaze that engulfed the site about six months after the disaster. This new construction, then, is essentially a clean slate for the architect, allowing him to bring his vision of an almost post-apocalyptic dwelling to life.

The building is composed of nine individual cubes of different sizes and volumes that overlap, interlock, and project out of each other, forming an unorthodox arrangement in terms of plan, section, and elevation. The result of this arrangement is a singular edifice that looks almost as if it has been made from building blocks and bears no relationship to the other houses in the area.

The new house is not only experimental, but it’s also appropriate in the sense that it’s located in a place which bears little resemblance to its former self. Adorned in light grey wooden slats and irregular windows that punctuate the facade at various intervals, the house has no obvious back, front, or doorways. Instead, its entrances have been organized around junctions and between the blocks.

Inside, the spaces are arranged in an unexpected and perhaps disorienting way, as dictated by the irregular placement of the cubes outside. There are a number of double and triple-height areas in the house, as well as mezzanine and split-level ones. Nonetheless, the home’s organization is not hierarchical — it’s merely the result of the angles at which the boxes were positioned and their relationship to one another.

The architect says of the house: “The nine cubes, which are split by angles, create harmony and various spaces, by length or size and so on.” The house takes up 70 square meters of floor space, less than you might expect for such a large construction, which alludes to its wealth of open air and natural light.

The interiors are minimal to the extreme, with the house’s wooden frame taking center stage and allowing for shelving units to be created from the internal structure itself. Openings that connect each area have been made where the boxes overlap, creating a sense of transparency and establishing a relationship between disparate elements of the house.

Many of the walls reveal the exposed grid of the underlying wooden framework, but in some places, the gray timber slats that were used to clad the facade have been brought inside, creating a stylistic link between the home’s interior and exterior. The architect currently lives in the house with his mother, but he hopes to expand and adjust the structure later on to meet his family’s future needs.

The post Unorthodox House in Fukushima first appeared on Dornob.

From the description alone, you might get the wrong idea about this unusual neighborhood in a remote area of South Dakota: green-roofed dwellings sit in orderly rows amid a lush green field with views of hills in the distance, promising safety and security to your family in uncertain times, and rent is only $1,000 per year. But take a closer look at The Vivos Group’s “xPoint” and you’ll start noticing the prison-like barbed wire fences, lack of windows, heavy-duty doors, and military-style ID numbers painted on the concrete facades.

This is no swanky subdivision, but rather a former military fortress built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1942 to store explosives and munitions. There are no internal rooms or surface treatments. There’s not even electricity, water, or sewage. Yet, Vivos hopes that hundreds of well-to-do families will make an investment in the property and pay to have the bunkers converted into luxurious residences for the post-apocalyptic lifestyle.

The California-based company is known for building and maintaining fortified shelters for millionaires and billionaires, and xPoint is its latest endeavor, billed as the largest private shelter community on earth. Nobody lives there just yet, but it’s capable of housing up to 5,000 people in 575 bunkers, each able to withstand a 500,000-pound blast. Nuclear war? No problem, as long as you don’t mind staying inside virtually forever.

Each shelter is about 26 feet wide and either 60 or 80 feet long, enabling them to be subdivided into as many rooms as you like. How you lay out the interior is entirely up to you, as once you’ve paid the $25,000 deposit, you’ll be solely responsible for making the space livable. That will include paying roughly $12,000 for a new blast door seal and interior lock, exhaust and air vents, fuel tank, wiring, plumbing, hot water heaters, a septic system, and the all-important escape hatch.

The rest of the “optional” construction—meaning anything beyond the concrete shell and basic components named above – will start at roughly $20,000. Each bunker fits up to ten people comfortably. In the renderings, the bomb-proof bunkers are shown outfitted with every modern comfort you can imagine, including home movie theaters and LED screen “windows” to provide the illusion that everything outside is totally fine, and the world is as beautiful and safe as ever.

Vivos doesn’t provide much other than the land itself, though they’ll have a full-time staff around to provide maintenance and security and run a general store. Security features include military-trained guards, camera systems, and members-only access gates. They hope the development will ultimately be home to “like-minded survivalists,” noting that there’s safety and security in numbers.

Presumably, once you’ve put the cash and energy into filling your own personal survival bunker with the kinds of furnishings you’d want for the end of the world, you could take regular vacations out there to “practice” and feel like you’re getting your money’s worth. The property itself is an off-grid area covering about 18 square miles, located one hundred miles or more from the nearest known military nuclear targets.

Check out more details and sign a 99-year lease over at Vivos.

The post Doomsday Bunker Community for the Rich first appeared on Dornob.

When you were a little kid, did you ever wish you could actually climb into your awesome Lego creations? We sure did, and that all came rushing back when we saw EverBlocks. These life-size lego blocks fit together just like their toy counterparts, but they let you build actual, usable structures instead of just mini replicas.

The blocks come in full-size (one foot long), half-size (six inches long), quarter-size (three inches long), and finishing caps, all of which interlock. To put together a large, functional structure, you have to use a combination of Lego building methods and conventional construction principles.

Just like with LEGOs, to connect and build your structure up, each layer has to cover the seams of the layer below it. For added structural security, each block has a channel built into it to accommodate reinforcement rods. Connector clips and metal baseplates can add to the structures’ stability.

EverBlock has some intriguing ideas for potential uses for their giant blocks. On their site, they suggest that the system could be used to construct temporary modular buildings. The structures could be used as emergency shelter or temporary workspaces. When it’s time to move on, they can be taken apart and reused in some other place. There are no tools involved in building or un-building, so they can be reused over and over.

The blocks come in 14 sizes, including metallic gold and silver, which can be put together in endless combinations to create your very own customized lego furniture, room dividers, trade show booths, toys, and whatever else you can dream up. The company can even rent you blocks for special events or provide design and installation services. But we’re 100% sure it’ll be more fun to build those projects yourself. What would you build if you had your own set of life-size Lego bricks?

The post Big Kid Toys: Life-Size LEGO Building Blocks first appeared on Dornob.

Home or office objects that do double duty are always a hit with us, but the BE READY collection from Swiss design duo SUPERLIFE is on a whole new level of cool. Each of the objects in the four-item collection has a double life that may just save your life in an emergency situation.

Blackout starts off as a stylish floor lamp – if you look closely enough you’ll notice that the top of the lamp looks just a little different than similar lamps. That’s because the top comes off to be used as a flashlight if the electricity should ever cut out.

The lamp is plugged in and charging the internal battery under normal circumstances, so when you pull it off of the base you don’t have to scramble to find conventional batteries to put in it.

If you’re ever in a natural disaster situation and need to find your way to safety, all you have to do is remove the flashlight from the base, turn the light on with a push of a button, and easily illuminate your path.

In normal conditions, Meduse is a quirky little round rug. You’ll notice there’s a thin strip of material off to one side; that’s for inflating it in the event of a flood.

The rug actually becomes a makeshift floatation device. It won’t keep you as safe or hold you for as long as, say, a boat – but it will hopefully help you keep your head above water until help arrives.

Poumon looks like a regular desktop pen/pencil cup in a fun curvy shape. It could sit unnoticed on your desk – that is, until you need it.

The Poumon contains a filter to help you breathe in a fire or when a lot of stifling dust is present, such as in a partial building collapse.

Alive is the only product that doesn’t really serve a regular daily purpose; instead, it serves two disaster-related purposes. It sticks to the underside of a desk or table, discrete and out of sight until you need it.

If you are trapped in your building, a whistle detaches from the main body so you can audibly lead rescuers to your location.

The base also sports a small glowing light that can help rescuers see your position in the dark as well, making their jobs easier and getting you rescued as soon as possible. Of course, no one ever wants to use products like these, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

The post Don’t Panic! 4 Objects With Disaster-Ready Functions first appeared on Dornob.