Angled Walls Preventing Destruction
Creating slanted exterior walls of a house using cohesive sediments for added protection and stabilization against destruction during down pours and monsoons.
In India, about 12% (over 40 million hectares) of the land is prone to floods. Costing the government billions in destruction repairs and crop losses, and leaving many people homeless and injured. Furthermore, these floods are killing many people, the prime cause being unsafe living conditions.
Angled Walls Preventing Destruction is a climate-smart design concept that creates affordable, enduring, and secure residences for families. Additional slanted walls to houses protect them from the pressure of water and soil by distributing the force and decreasing the parallel force due to the slanted shape and spreading the force away from the internal structure. This will cause the pressure of the interior building itself to obtain less stress, moreover protecting any of the house's service systems.
For the previously listed reason, it will also protect the house from any strong winds that come from monsoons. The thickness of the walls will also create added protection against any airborne substances that propose a threat to the building. Due to the above point, potentially save the GoI from expenditure in times ahead.
Angled Walls Preventing Destruction targets more rural and remote families who might not have the money to afford repairs. These families do not have access to a safe refuge if something were to happen to their homes. The families that don't have the money or access to healthcare during dire situations. Families who haven't been acknowledged by their government, where nothing is being done to help them.
These people's needs must be met for the proper function of our society. About 70% of India's population lives in rural areas, areas that are mostly used for agriculture. Considering that 17 percent of India's GDP comes from agriculture, harming the employees brings a great threat to the government.
Currently, these people face many challenges such as health issues, lack of proper education, lack of teachers, poor learning environments, low wages, etc. However, one of the most pressing issues is secure, clean, and functional housing. The housing supplied to the people by the government is merely made from crumbling stones, concrete, sticks, rope, etc. There are openings in the walls that let in dirt and pollution, and some walls even crumble due to poor construction.
My solution is created to address these issues using the simplicity of my concept. All one needs to do is dig down to the base of the house and then almost any water-proof material can be used to create the slant. In most cases, cohesive sediments are easy to create using commonly found materials such as silts and clay in nearby rivers or areas with abundant water sources (disclaimer: this part is not my research).
Once the walls are created the structures will be sealed and easily sustainable. This allows for fewer bacteria and greater protection from the elements, safeguarding people from diseases. This also causes families to have to spend less money on maintaining their houses and more towards nutrients. Overall, keeping the family safer and giving them more opportunities.
I currently am not in the best position to deliver this solution due to my current limitations. In order for me to deliver my solution to the best of my ability I would need the following to happen:
- Connections: I would need to network with people all over the world who live in similar conditions to what my concept was created for and work with them to help test out my idea in their communities. Along with that these people could help me come up with modifications to my idea to make it have a greater impact on communities.
- Volunteers: I would need people to help spread information on this idea and help me test this out on communities, People who could help me build these structures.
- Partner ships: Other groups with projects related to mine, such as ones studying to create concrete out of mud or natural insulation, would help me collaborate, share intel on projects, combining projects, etc.
This challenge gives me an opportunity to share my design with others. I get an opportunity to publish my findings. Even if I don't make it far into the "competition" I hope that my sharing's can inspire others and give them new ideas for design.
To understand the needs of the population, I have conducted many hours of research on this project. I have researched problems with the country whole and specific small communities. Throughout this, I learned about the challenges that families have faced and what has already been attempted to solve this problem. What I found was that there were not many solutions to help. This seems to be a problem that is simply overlooked by society. The people have to try to fix this themselves with practically no budget and little to no information on the topic. Most companies are focusing on solving the problem of not having enough housing (another urgent problem) and therefore do not have the time to work on keeping the houses that already exist stable. If we can stabilize these, there will be fewer houses the companies have to build for the homeless and make their jobs easier.
I have also learned about communities in India from my science teacher. At the end of every school day, she tells me stories about her old home. Her family worked on a farm, most likely in a rural area, and she has helped me gather intel on what people in her region have experienced. Because of this, I have tried to look into the issue to see what I could do to help.
- Taking action to combat climate change and its impacts (Sustainability)
- Concept: An idea being explored for its feasibility to build a product, service, or business model based on that idea.
In past occurrences, the real estate industry has used slanted walls as a sales strategy. People find something new or unique and eye-catching, and they will prioritize appearance over practicality. Therefore, residential architects have been changing their design style for any new structural adaptations that weaken the potential of the house's strength ability. A
Although these houses are still safe and stable in most situations, these ideas can be adapted to help non-opulent people.
The approach I took was to take a design that is alluring to people and modify it to keep it captivating but have it stabilize houses. This design could be revolutionary to the housing industry by creating life-saving designs that fabricate long-lasting houses.
In the next year, I hope to have piloted this design to multiple communities in the world. That this design creates a positive impact on many people's lives. Hopefully, Angled Walls Preventing Destruction can relieve stress from families and give them more opportunities in life while being reassured that they have a safe a secure home.
Through the design process, I worked hard to ensure that Angled Walls Preventing Destruction can be of use in the most rural and remote parts of the world with little to no cost and the use of natural, eco-friendly recourses. Stable residences can allow communities to focus more on other dire problems and help them better as a community. Give the people a chance to better their lives, an opportunity that does not come often to most.
I hope that with time and work we can create a strong community of people who bring awareness to issues and take initiative to help fight for their rights and help each other.
We are using a new application on an existing technology. The building process relies on existing manufacturing tools to help create the new mold/shape for the wall and the supplies used the make the material. However, the material itself uses material science to form cohesive sediments. Normally this would be made out of mud and slits (this part is not my research, it goes with/adds to the project's design).
- Manufacturing Technology
- Materials Science
Currently, Angled Walls Preventing Destruction does not serve anyone.
In the next year, we hope to serve at least 1,000 families. This can be accomplished through proper funding and partnerships. We would mostly help rural villages and hopefully, help them secure a safe residence.
The current barriers to Angled Walls Preventing Destruction include legal restrictions, disseminating information, funding, and partnerships.
Most of the houses in India that have poor construction issues are supplied to the people by the government. To change it people might need permission. Additionally, a permit might be required, which can be quite expensive. Not only will they have to pay for this, but workers and supplies might also require money. If we can build a partnership with an already existing company in the area, this could solve the previously listed problem and the problem of spreading this information to remote areas.
I am currently not working with any organizations, although I would love the opportunity to do so.
Logan