#stillalottodo

Last week we submitted our initial design ideas for a responsive piece of furniture with regard to our individual climate research.

When I initially started my research to design a piece of furniture which would be responsive to Flooding Freshwater, I started reading about all the steps necessary to be kept in mind whenever we design anything in a flood prone area.

There are so many things that need to kept in mind while designing in a flood prone area. The risk assessment is done for every area and then the design is finalized based on the amount of risk for each area (category 1, 2, 3a or 3b)

The main idea is to either make the design resistant or resilient. The first idea is to provide defense and then make up the design in a way where in unavoidable circumstances the area could be built up again.

The materials used for designing in a flood prone area should be selected with careful consideration to the environment.

These are few things to be kept in mind while selecting the materials:

• It is essential to use water proof materials while designing in any flood prone areas. •The materials should differ for both resistant and resilient designs. •Also, materials with higher cost and lesser availability should be avoided. •It is advisable to use concrete for flooring, plastic and light weight timber for     other structures •Avoid using particle board or MDF

I came up with the following ideas for a responsive piece of furniture:

•Storage Unit: A unit made with waterproof materials, preferably with plastic which can be shut and will not allow any water to pass through in the event of flooding.

•Flooring with storage: Thick floor structure for storing mattresses, temporary bedding, emergency drinking water etc.

•Floating piece of furniture: Furniture that can be closed into a flat piece during a flood event.

•A barrier for defense: A barrier like a river barrier made in a defensive way of design

Out of these proposals I have decided to move forward with a floating piece of furniture but would like to include an aspect with an inflated life boat in it.