Straw + Simplicity = Quake Resistance
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
A women’s community center was built of straw bales in Jabori, Pakistan in 2006. Read the story by By ANDREW C. REVKIN at Ny Times
Related: Appropriate Housing
Labels: Appropriate Technology, Housing
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 8:00 AM,
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Housing in Rural, Urban and Fully-Autonomous Entities
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Prof Dr Norbert Pintsch (DGFK, Germany) & Aaron Pinsker (IPC, USA)
In Cooperation With:
SPARC (Ghayyoor Obaid) & TTTC (Omar M. Ali), Pakistan
CAT (Njini King Caro), Cameroon
TM (Ricardo Coslez), Colombia
In Cooperation With:
SPARC (Ghayyoor Obaid) & TTTC (Omar M. Ali), Pakistan
CAT (Njini King Caro), Cameroon
TM (Ricardo Coslez), Colombia
Introduction
This article again refers to “housing”, the architectural, economical and philosophical aspects of which have already been discussed. In this article we will discuss the scientific and technological aspect (Architecture, Urban & Regional Planning) which however are not totally independent of other areas of the culture. As clear-cut diagrams and illustrations mean more than words for the engineer and scientist, the accompanying text may be considered a literary explanation of the important inter-relationship. A very simple text for the illustrations would probably not appropriately describe the total picture.
Housing in Rural, Urban and Fully-Autonomous Entities
In the following we will discuss the very basic questions of "housing" and describe the range of possibilities between the Rural Entity and the Fully-Autonomous entities, in the middle of which is the most widely practiced concept of Urban entity. Seen from a total perspective, the Urban entity is the subject as well as the object, because the actors in this system are not able to act freely as they are bound by the compulsions and dictations of economy. The actors are forced to act in the way as they do because the system does not allow any other alternative. And: the actors in the system don’t even realize that they are not acting of their own but actually are being acted upon !
Read more »This article again refers to “housing”, the architectural, economical and philosophical aspects of which have already been discussed. In this article we will discuss the scientific and technological aspect (Architecture, Urban & Regional Planning) which however are not totally independent of other areas of the culture. As clear-cut diagrams and illustrations mean more than words for the engineer and scientist, the accompanying text may be considered a literary explanation of the important inter-relationship. A very simple text for the illustrations would probably not appropriately describe the total picture.
Housing in Rural, Urban and Fully-Autonomous Entities
In the following we will discuss the very basic questions of "housing" and describe the range of possibilities between the Rural Entity and the Fully-Autonomous entities, in the middle of which is the most widely practiced concept of Urban entity. Seen from a total perspective, the Urban entity is the subject as well as the object, because the actors in this system are not able to act freely as they are bound by the compulsions and dictations of economy. The actors are forced to act in the way as they do because the system does not allow any other alternative. And: the actors in the system don’t even realize that they are not acting of their own but actually are being acted upon !
Labels: Housing, Real Estate
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 10:47 PM,
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Housing
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Download Housing by Prof. Dr. Norbert Pintsch here
Labels: Housing, Prof Dr Norbert Pintsch
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 11:46 AM,
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Housing and Interiors
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Prof. Dr. Pintsch, Dr.tech.(h.c.), M.Arch., M.Civ.Eng., MBA
As long as the billions strong and naturally produced two-legged species exists,
it will require for the fulfillment of its basic functions necessary housing.
which is dependent upon climate and environment.
Since the human being in essence is the Subject as well as Object, the housing,
technical infra-structure, Ambience and Interiors are subject to continuous change.
The scope of change is indifferent and unclear.
Aaron Pinske
In the times of booming information technology and nano-technology, the bio-medical possibilities of cloning, the manipulation of genetic materials and the networking of neuronal networks with artificial intelligence, the knowledge appears to be the art of overcoming the present only. t the fact is that the distance between practice and theory is increasing and the (apparent) knowledge is actually a higher level of dis-knowledge!
Independent experiments on location in a distinct surrounding with their own micro-climate are helpful!
Experiments on a larger scale limit the diversity and are only justified with the involvement of the industry.
Read more »Labels: Environment, Housing
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 9:53 AM,
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Appropriate Housing
Saturday, February 19, 2011
This post is about alternative, cheaper and earthquake resistant housing for Pakistan. At ATP we’ve covered alternative building styles before when S A J Shirazi wrote about using mud to build homes. A couple of my friends recently pointed out to me an earthquake resistant straw bale housing style that was practised in Pakistan (and also other countries) after the devastating earthquake of 2005. This project was started in Pakistan by a non-profit group called Pakistan Straw Bale and Appropriate building (PAKSBAB). In the aftermath of 2005 earthquake of Pakistan PAKSBAB built these houses for poor by using straw, an agricultural by-product, compressed and tied into bales, as building blocks.
Following photo shows a straw-bale house under construction in Pakistan in the aftermath of 2005 earthquake. Photo credits: PAKSBAB.
This technique makes the structures earthquake resistant. The project’s founder is Darcey Dononvan who is a mechanical engineer by profession. The reason for us sharing this post here is to provide food for thought for alternate housing styles in earthquake zones - and Pakistan has quite a few of them. I also want to thank PAKSBAB for carrying out this project in Pakistan.
I found following video by University of Nevada, Reno at youtube where Darcey is explaining her project in Pakistan as well as it shows the results of earthquake simulation.
February 5, 2010’s Science Magazine also mentioned this project. An excerpt from there goes like this:
Some engineers want to rethink the basic materials used in developing countries. Darcey Donovan advocates replacing concrete walls with load-bearing straw bales. Her nonprofit group, PakistanStraw Bale and Appropriate Building, erects 7.3-m-by-7.3- m houses in northwest Pakistan, which was ravaged by an earthquake in 2005. The bales are stacked and bound together top to bottom with a fishnet, which keeps them from slipping apart during shaking, then plastered over. Her team has built 11 houses so far, with six more coming. The design recently survived, with minimal damage, a violent test on a shake table, a large platform that simulates earthquakes. Because the tough, fibrous plants used for straw are ubiquitous, Donovan believes the bale design could easily be exported, and her team is discussing traveling to Haiti.
References:
1. Pakistan Straw Bale and Appropriate Building (PAKSBAB)
2. Science Magazine
3. University of Nevada, Reno - Earthquake Engineering Simulation
Labels: Appropriate Technology, House and Home, Housing
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 8:56 AM,
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