Week 1

Floods

Floods have claimed hundreds of lives over the past hundred years, more than any other natural weather disaster.

The total amount of water on earth (including all forms) has stayed pretty much consistent for millions of years, however everyday a small amount of water is lost high in the atmosphere where intense ultraviolet rays can break a water molecule apart. At the same time volcanic activity from deep within the earth emits new water, and these two amount are also more or less of equal amount.

Weather is often hard to predict especially on a day-to-day basis because there are so many factors influencing the outcome. A huge number of factors are combined in an infinite variety of ways, produce all sorts of weather. Occasionally, these factors combine in such a way that an unusually large amount of liquid collects in one area.
This can often be caused by other freak occurrences such as hurricanes or tornadoes where an increase in precipitation occurs in its path.

Waterways are slowly formed overtime according to the normal amount of water, however with a sudden large increase of liquid the banks overflow and the excess water spreads out over the surrounding land.

Basically: A flood is an anomalous accumulation of water in an area of land.

(Harris, Tom. “How Floods Work'. HowStuffWorks, 2015. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.)

The most common cause of flooding is a series of storms bringing massive amounts of rain.

The 2011 Floods in China are a series of flood from June to September 2011 that occurred around central and southern parts of the People Republic of China.

36 million people were affected and at least 355 killed, with an economic loss of nearly $6.5 billion.

Water gushes from the flood barrier from Xiaolangdi

Reservoir on the Yellow river in Central China

Shipping Container Architecture

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All images from Homeinabox

Homeinabox.blogspot.com.au,. 2013. 'Shipping Container Homes'. http://homeinabox.blogspot.com.au/

Comparison

These two designs of a container home are quite different in finish but have some similar basics.
The orange house is very open and made to look spacious however the white house still has a number of windows but is a lot more private but still works on the idea of an open space.
Both designs have a smooth and clean finish and emit a warm comfortable feeling. They also have a clear line of sight from one end to the other, without this the house would feel smaller and quite tight.
The homes are in completely different surroundings but they both accommodate for that respectively.
A final concern is that both designs look stable and well built, and the occupants would probably trust the structural aspect of the design. without this trust the occupants may feel uncomfortable, especially when these are stacked and because of theyre fast setup nature this may be a natural concern of people.


Design approaches

• Keep the inside as spacious as possible
• Do not try and cramp everything in, unless in folds away or doesnt take up much space
• The design should be comfortable and pleasant for the occupants
• The design should suit and worth with the surroundings
• The design should make the occupants feel safe and well protected from any aftermath from the disaster.

Home

• "These essential territorial satisfactions are identity, security and stimulation."
• Home provides a certain level of comforting attributes that makes the dweller want to stay.

• "Home provides both the individual and the small primary group known as the family with all the three territorial satisfactions."
• These days family is one of the main attributes that makes a home, but the family need to all feel these comforting aspects to feel complete.

Porteous, J. D. (1976). Home: The territorial core. Geographical Review, 66(4), 383-390.

• "Home is variously described as conflated with or related to house, family, haven, self, gender and journeying."
• The experience and expectations of house are different for each individual for a number of personal reasons.

Mallett, S. (2004). Understanding home: a critical review of the literature. The Sociological Review, 52(1), 62-89.

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