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Kogami - Tsunami Alert Community

Part 2 Project 2011
Ben Devereau
Elvira The
 University of Liverpool | UK
The catastrophe of the 2011 Japanese Tsunami occurred after the start of this exploration. The tragic revelation that even massive civil engineering projects could prove impotent against such powerful natural events redoubled the original intent to research other possible and more effective strategies which might be derived from a study of natural systems, operating on the basis of an incremental decrease in incident wave power over the simple expedient of building massive walls.

The prototype scheme is situated in the Sumatran city of Padang, where the occurrence of a massive tsunami is sadly a question of when, and not if.

The project has explored the technology of cathode accretion, a process in which calcium carbonate suspended in seawater is continuously accreted onto conductive skeleton forms in the presence of very low electrical charge. It is the goal of this proposal to utilise this technology in two separate but connected systems.

Firstly, the proposal is for the construction of new and robust warm water coral reefs to enhance the local economy and reduce the power of waves approaching the coast; and secondly, the ‘growing’ of a system of construction elements that might be assembled into coastal structures which would operate as everyday community hubs -but which would also have a structural profile making them uniquely resistant to the damage a tsunami would cause to other building typologies.

Using forms derived from naturally robust ecologies, principally mangrove forests and warm water corals, as well as drawing from the effective passive strategies evolved by vernacular architecture, the new typology is designed to be locally designed, manufactured, assembled and maintained. That it has an unusual form is not architectural wilfulness, it is a product of this combination of new materials and studies of proven effective strategies. As such the project can be characterised as development of new technologies suited to their environmental and social context, and not the uneconomical imposition of high technology.

Ben Devereau
Elvira The
Tutor(s)
Mr Jack Dunne
2011
An economical process exists which has the potential to ameliorate the damage of tsunami incident on tropical coasts.
The Kogami project is based on the idea of creating a new and renewable typology on coasts at risk from tsunami. Distinctive in appearance by the system from which they are assembled each instance serves a valuable community function for the everyday live
Padang, the capital of Western Sumatra is critically exposed to future tsunami events
Cathode accretion is a simple chemical process, which causes suspended calcium to form dense limestone on conductive skeletal forms in the presence of very low electrical charge
An illustration of how the process might be applied to grow the materials required for tsunami resistant structures along the exposed coast of Padang
Recycled old shipping containers form the outermost tsunami defences. Over time these forms become colonised by warm water corals and their associated biodiversity, systems which thrive in the low electrical charge environment of cathode accretion. Thes
Between the container reef and the coast construction elements can be grown by placing specifically designed conductive elements into a cathode accretion grid. Over time these will accrete limestone to become reinforced limestone elements which can be har
Upon harvesting the elements of the BioRock construction can be assembled with other locally sourced construction materials to create a building typology uniquely resistant to tsunami and the more general climatic conditions that exist in Padang. The form
An indicative section through one of the Kogami volumes demonstrating how the forest of BioRock columns protect and cradle the lightweight structure at a height beneath which the tsunami can pass
A long section through the Kogami system showing how it stitches together the land and sea, providing community function as well as a tsunami refuge.
In the long periods between tsunami the Kogami operate as popular and recognisable community hubs
In the event of a tsunami the local community knows to go to the Kogami for refuge. Raised access from the city and multiple access stairs ensure that everyone has the opportunity to gain access to the safety it offers.
In the critical period after the event the Kogami provides a safe point from which to initiate critically important rapid response
Indicative plans of the first of the Kogami centres
Built locally from materials grown in the local seas the Kogami centres offer a real opportunity for an enhanced community which has made itself safer from tsunami with a system that is both economically productive and socially inclusive.
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