Tortoise Tenements International

Abstract

In the developing countries of Haiti and Vietnam, thousands of families and individuals have

faced the loss of their homes and lives due to natural disaster. However, this loss of life and prop-

erty was not due solely to the natural event itself but also to the general lack of preparation or

protection available to the communities. In the aftermath of a disaster many in these countries

were, and are, left without homes. The mission of this project is to design the optimal type of

housing so that families living within Haiti and Vietnam will, in the event of disaster, have a

home to return to. These designs will be in the form of detailed computer drawings and details on

specific recommended building materials. The homes are to be built to withstand either hurri-

canes and flooding, or major seismic events, while remaining affordable and simple enough that

the method of construction can be taught to those who are to live in the homes. In designing these

homes the cultural and traditional requirements of the Vietnamese and Haitian populations were

taken into account. The materials used for construction of the homes were chosen carefully from

those that could be sourced locally, thus making the home designs both sustainable and beneficial

to the local economy. In the design of these homes the group hopes to incorporate sustainable de-

sign, cultural tradition, and modern safety principles, in order to produce architectural drafts and

recommendations which humanitarian relief organizations, such as Conscience International,

can use to build structures which can truly embody the safety and comfort of a home.

Background Meet Sahson and Chrislove and their best friend Maria. Sahson and Chrislove

(back two children) are brother and sister, shown here at ages 10 and 6. Two

years ago a horrible earthquake struck their area. These two children were

spared because they were at school playing outside as their school was leveled

by the quake. But their joy ended there. They

had no home and their entire family was killed in

the collapse of their home. To these children a

home meant security, safety and family. Now

they are without one.

Firstly, we realized that what relief organiza-

tions are doing now is the wrong approach. You

could throw up a temporary house for these chil-

dren in a matter of days, or even hours, but that

isn’t what they need. These children need safe

homes.

Our goal is to build homes for people who need

them most but can least afford them. We wanted

to design houses that would be able to withstand

earthquakes and other common natural disasters

so that the families in those areas would have a safe place.

Sahson and Chrislove are just an example of the people out there that need

our help. There are many more places and people that would benefit from our

housing design and our goal is to make it cheap enough and basic enough so

that they can do just that.

Methods

Results

Recommendations

Acknowledgments

This project was advised by Professor Edward Swierz of the Civil Engineering Department;

with help from Katie Monighetti, as Peer Learning Assistant. We would like to thank our

reference librarian Joanne Beller. We would like to acknowledge Professors Svetlana

Nikitina and Diran Apelian for their valuable instruction and feedback over the course of

the Grand Challenges Seminar.

Anonymous. "Earthquake Resistant Housing." Appropriate Technology 32.3 (2005): 59. Print.

CIA. "Haiti." 11/21 2011.Web. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html>.

---. "Vietnam." 10/21 2011.Web. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/vm.html>.

Dunkelberg, Klaus. "Bamboo as a building material." 1992.Web. <http://bambus.rwth-aachen.de/eng/reports/buildingmaterial/buildingmaterial.html>.

FASS, S. "Housing the Ultra-Poor - Theory and Practice in Haiti." Journal of the American Planning Association 53.2 (1987): 193-205. Web.

"Geodesic dome." The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. 4th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Gale Science In Context.

Web. 28 Nov. 2011. http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.wpi.edu/ic/scic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?

displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=SCIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%

7CCV2644030990&mode=view&userGroupName=mlin_c_worpoly&jsid=2ab0df96a54a2d71c6474b5fca170a0a

"Geodesic dome." U*X*L Science. U*X*L, 2008. Gale Science In Context.Web. 28 Nov. 2011. http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.wpi.edu/ic/scic/

ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?

displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=SCIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%

7CCV2646000491&mode=view&userGroupName=mlin_c_worpoly&jsid=28ea800edbfd1e6603fd939f1becd763

"Haiti Earthquake 2010: Facts, Engineering, Images & Maps." 2010.Web. <http://mceer.buffalo.edu/infoservice/disasters/Haiti-Earthquake-2010.asp#4>.

"HAITI: After Shock." 02/08; 2011/11 2010: 20. Academic OneFile; Gale. Web. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%

7CA218507505&v=2.1&u=mlin_c_worpoly&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w>.

"Hurricanes." World of Scientific Discovery. Gale, 2010. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/

ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?

displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=GALE%

7C00000000MODG&documentId=GALE%7CCV1648500661&mode=view&userGroupName=mlin_c_worpoly&jsid=3d0aac3df4ccee9d31a7ddba12e1045e

McLeod, Mark W., and Thi Dieu Nguyen. "Culture and Customs of Vietnam." Google Books. Greenwood Press. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. <http://

books.google.com/books?hl=en>.

Norton, J., and G. Chantry. "More to Lose: Establishing Community Capacity to Reduce Vulnerability to Economic Loss Caused by Storm Damage to

Houses in Central Vietnam." the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Disaster Management Center (2000): 83. Web.

Oliver, Rachel. "Can Bamboo Tackle Environmental and Poverty Concerns?" CNN International: Asia. 02/15/2009 2009.Web. <http://edition.cnn.com/2009/

WORLD/asiapcf/02/15/eco.bamboo/>.

St John, Ronald Bruce. "Vietnam." Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices. Ed. Thomas Riggs. Vol. 3: Countries: M-Z. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 562-

568. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.wpi.edu/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/

ReferenceDetailsWindow?

displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%

7CCX3437900252&mode=view&userGroupName=mlin_c_worpoly&jsid=003daff4150f9cb61232159753b6f798

Tas, Nilufer, Nilay Cosgun, and Murat Tas. "A Qualitative Evaluation of the After Earthquake Permanent Housings in Turkey in Terms of User satisfaction—

Kocaeli, Gundogdu Permanent Housing Model." Building and Environment 42.9 (2007): 3418-31. Web.

Tena-Colunga, Arturo, Artemio Juárez-Ángeles, and Víctor H. Salinas-Vallejo. "Cyclic Behavior of Combined and Confined Masonry Walls." Engineering

Structures 31.1 (2009): 240-59. Web.

Tian-ling, LI. "The Impact of Sandstorm on Air Quality in Jinchang [J]." Arid Environmental Monitoring 4 (2002)Web.

"Vietnam." Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World. Ed. Karen L. Hanson. Vol. 4. Detroit: UXL, 2002. 169-179.Gale Student

Resources In Context. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.wpi.edu/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?

displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%

7CCX3435400102&mode=view&userGroupName=mlin_c_worpoly&jsid=447ac6d0e2cf1f1ba6ea283562751472

"Vietnam." Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations Online. Detroit: U*X*L, 2009. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. http://

ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.wpi.edu/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?

displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%

7CEJ2171900011&mode=view

"Vietnam Needs Decade to Undo Flood Damage: Final Edition." The Ottawa Citizen: B.8. Print. 1999.

Wickramanyake, E.. "Flood Mitigation Problems in Vietnam." Disasters 18.1 (1994): 81-6. Web.

"Vietnam." Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World. Ed. Karen L. Hanson. Vol. 4. Detroit: UXL, 2002. 169-179. Gale Student

Resources In Context. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.wpi.edu/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow? display-

GroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%

7CCX3435400102&mode=view&userGroupName=mlin_c_worpoly&jsid=447ac6d0e2cf1f1ba6ea283562751472

"Vietnam." Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations Online. Detroit: U*X*L, 2009. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. http://

ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.wpi.edu/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?

displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%

7CEJ2171900011&mode=view

Xaio, Yan, Masafumi Inoue, and Shyam Paudel. "Modern Bamboo Structures." Google Books. CRC Press. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. <http://books.google.com/

books?hl=en>.

Kundzewicz ,Zbniew W.. "Flood Protection-Sustainability Issues." Hydrological Sciences Journal 44.4 (2009)Google Scholar. Web.

Hazelton, Liz..Haiti earthquake in pictures: How natural disaster ripped an island apart. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242929/Haiti-earthquake-

pictures-How-natural-disaster-ripped-island-apart.html

Typhoon Ketsana Response. Direct Relief International. http://www.directrelief.org/EmergencyResponse/2009/TyphoonKetsana.aspx

Humanitarian Bamboo. http://picasaweb.google.com/humanitarianbamboo

Goals and Objectives

To provide a safe, survivable housing design for third

world countries affected by hurricanes, flooding, and

earthquakes.

To present said homes in a cost effective and sustainable

manner to limit the need for outside economic or indus-

trial assistance.

To develop and easy to build system that the local popu-

lation can understand and implement without any ad-

vanced training or instruction.

Safe Homes for the Third World Team Members: Hannah Bailey, Mechanical Engineering; Nicole Holmes, Chemical Engineering; John Morrow, Robotics; Fiona Ogren, Mechanical Engineering; Anthony Stolo, Chemical Engineering .

Project Advisor: Edward Swierz, Civil Engineering.

Vietnam:

A geodesic dome composed of a bamboo frame affixed together by cord.

Set on a hollow wooden platform with sloped edges, held in position by four wooden pylons.

The platform will rise and fall with flood waters with a metal coupling between the wooden

platform and the pilings to reduce friction.

The entire structure will sit on a concrete or other solid foundation.

For both home designs bamboo shingles will be used for roofing and siding.

Bamboo shingles will be used as the roof of both structures.

~To make bamboo shingles, one end of a bamboo stalk is fashioned into a lancet shape, while on the

other side a tongue is split away from the bark layer, to be later fastened to the roof skeleton.

Haiti

In Haiti, the house will also be comprised of a bamboo roof in the shape of a pyra-

mid, with walls composed of a rebar and chicken wire frame filled with scraps of

debris and covered with concrete, all set on a simple concrete foundation.

Due to Voodoo tradition, houses cannot be circular. Therefore, the house will be

constructed in a shape similar to the combination of a rectangular prism and a rec-

tangular pyramid.

The pyramidal roof will prevent roof collapse during a seismic event and during

shaking the debris filling the walls will settle, making the structure bottom heavy,

and thus less likely to collapse on its inhabitants.

Haiti

Haiti does not frequently get earthquakes, unfortunately all of the earthquakes that Haiti has experienced in the past were devas-

tating.

Nearly 80% of Haitians live on less than $2

per day.

Haiti is over the Septentrional fault and the

Enriquillo-Plaintain Garden fault.

One of the most detrimental effects of the 2010 Earthquake was the loss of homes and

public buildings, this destruction has further hindered the growth and success of the Hai-

tian economy.

Vietnam

Bamboo is the best building material for Vietnam because of its characteristics of be-ing extremely strong and lightweight as

well as being plentiful in the area.

The dome is the optimal design as it is one

of the strongest structures yet uses a mini-mal amount of material and has extremely low air resistance, which can withstand

wind speeds of up to 200 miles per hour

Typhoons are extremely common in the re-gion, with wind speeds reaching 74 miles

per hour and above.

The mean annual rainfall in Vietnam can

vary from 172 centimeters (68 inches) to more than 406 centimeters (160 inches) de-

pending upon the region.

Geodesic dome home design for Vietnam. When completed, this design will

sit on a concrete foundation and the dome itself will be covered with bamboo

shingles.

Design for the Haitian home. When completed this

home will consist of debris filled walls coated with

concrete. The roof will consist of a bamboo pyramid

frame composed of smaller bamboo triangles. The

roof will then be covered with bamboo shingles.

Rebar wall frame-

work for Haitian

design , when

construction is

complete, this

framework is

filled in with de-

bris and coated in

concrete.

Bamboo shingles of an established roof

display the potential versatility of the

material in conforming to the unique

shape of the geodesic dome.

Image Courtesy of: www.humanitarian bamboo.org

References

An image depicting the destruction to structures follow-

ing the 2010 Haitian earthquake.

Image Courtesy of www. dailymail.co.uk

The flooding caused in

Vietnam by typhoon

Ketsana in 2009.

Image Courtesy of

www.directrelief.org

The focus of this project was to develop disaster resistant homes for the countries of Vietnam

and Haiti.

~The home for Vietnam was to be able to survive the high winds and flooding that

accompany the annual typhoons.

~The home for Haiti was to be able to withstand the earthquakes to which the island nation

is prone.

We researched the countries, cultures, the disasters and the materials available.

We drafted the basic designs of the two houses.

We researched which materials would be the most sustainable for each area, in determining

these materials we took into consideration:

~The environmental impact of the materials.

~The potential economic benefits which an increase in the use of the material could provide

for the communities in which the design is implemented.

~The cost effectiveness of the material for the family which will be building the home, in

other words, How cheap is it?

~ The ability of the material to withstand the extreme conditions which we expect it to

weather.

We considered the specific needs of the families who would be living within the homes as we

designed them, taking into account the cultural expectations of the region in regards to

housing.