Re-Building From Scratch: Earthquakes & War
by Tony Chavira
(FYI this poster says "Let's Re-Built!)
Platform 3.17, is a really awesome informational/coffee table-ish book just released that talks about the devastation that an earthquake in the Italian town of L'Aquila caused and what local government and architectural designers did to deal with it fast that you might find pretty interesting:
When a devastating earthquake hit L'Aquila in April of 2009, Italian civil service agency the Civil Protection launched the C.A.S.E. Project to rebuild safe, high quality homes. Employing 16 Italian companies to design and build these new houses, the book "Platform 3.17" tells the incredible story of a creative and constructive process where innovation met craftsmanship through tragic circumstances.
One of the master carpenters, Wood Beton from Brescia in northern Italy, was an unexpected choice for C.A.S.E. Known for their extensive building experience, however, their work was remarkable and the book widely documents it with images, as well as with precise technical details.
Using a highly sustainable and very fast "dry" construction technique, Wood Beton finished the first apartments in just 55 days—almost a month earlier than conditions foreseen in the bid. The first four units are three stories high and connect by three staircases, which play a structural role as "columns" that support the entire building. Each floor has eight apartments of various sizes, ranging from studios up to three-bedrooms.
The key point in this story is not that it was "something as simple as new and innovative concrete uses." The key point here is that the Italian government got off their fat bureaucratic butts and did something about the earthquake’s devastation fast and effectively. Needless to say, I hope our own government can take some vital emergency response lessons out of this example in how to do things the right way.
And since we’re talking about starting from relative scratch, Volume Magazine, a pretty cool magazine that focuses on creative ventures in the architectural community, is hosting an international conference in May called “Architecture of Peace.” Collectively put together by VOLUME, the University of Amsterdam, Archis Interventions, Partizan Publik and the NAi, and supported by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Science, “Architecture of Peace” actually has a public call for project that will inspire or instigate peace in post-conflict places, and it’ll definitely be a great change for your peace-lovin’ design concepts. So do it up, starving architects and who knows? Those architecture school skillz may end up paying the billz.
