Monday, March 22, 2010

designing for disasters concepts

got owned by mar today for concepts. seems there needs lots more refinement.
also saw that i had the 2nd highest ecological footprint in the class.

education in bangladesh:
facilities are evidently not at a standard where children would be comfortable to learn in that environment.
clear lack of seats, tables.


























The Concepts:
Hessian and bamboo firewood bag (drawn on a very muscular child). Converts into a bed when not being used as a bag. Designed for the aftermath of a cyclone when the people of Bangladesh are trying to rebuild their lives from what little possessions they have. Will be taking this concept further, but to also implicate education into the design and use of the product. How can the product encourage children to use it and go to school too? There's a big gap between helping the family gather firewood to stay warm, cook food, stay alive, etc and getting an education. If the product could help in both those aspects of the kids lives, it would be more beneficial to them than just a plain old fire wood bag that they can sleep on. Also the houses they live in arent that big at all, so the bed might even be a waste of space with such a large footprint when its unfolded.

Cyclone head gear. For before, during and after a cyclone. Strong winds can pick dangerous debris up and cause damage to buildings, infrastructure and people if they aren't prepared. The helmet will protect their heads during the cyclone and can aid in rescue efforts for aid workers. It utilises a visor, air filter mask and includes a radio with headphones powered by a small crank that folds away when not being used.

The water purifier/light bottle device. This concept was probably the weakest one. I wanted to combine the use of a shake up light with the effects of water purifying tablets. Basically you chuck a couple of tablets into a bottle of water with the tablet dispenser. Then attach the dispenser to the light, insert it into the bottle and screw the cap on which is attached to the device. Start shaking the bottle - the shaking powers the light while helps to dissolve the tablets in the water. U can remove the light and drink the water afterwards or maybe leave the light in there and create a lantern type thing. Thats where it fell apart. If the water was dirty, the light wouldnt be strong at all in the bottle. And why the hell would u wana do that anyway. It's basically a light in a bottle of water. I thought of answering that question before presenting and i couldnt even think of a reason. Inspiration for the design came from some of Batmans gadgets because theyre generally small and really useful.

3 comments:

  1. Andrew, please make sure that your blog is identified by your full name, as I and your classmates will need to comment on your project.

    ReplyDelete