Overview
Earthquake Proof house model was made for Health Habitat to assist in their work with Nepali villages re building after the 2015 earthquake. The model was made to help the organisation convince locals to use a earthquake banding system in homes that had been destroyed in the earthquake so that they would be less susceptible to similar events in the future.
I was lucky enough to work for a short time with Paul Pholeros to create what is essentially a custom jango set on a shaking platform. The model had to be transported between villages and used over and over again for presentations without falling apart.
Paul made a concept model and from that we modelled and lasercut + laminated plywood, to make two versions of the same house. One with the banding and one without. Both would sit on a vibrating platform, one would hold its form while the other fell apart, thus demonstrating the benefits of earthquake banding.
The whole model packed up as a kit, we attached springs and the vibrating part of a PlayStation controller to the underside of the base and linked this to a battery pack and red button so that the model could shake the same in every demonstration.
