EARTHQUAKE, HURRICANE AND TSUNAMI PROOF

'TOWO', A SMALL EARTHQUAKE AND HURRICANE RESISTANT TOWER

Engineered and fully componentized  including stucture and envelope, this economical small building can withstand the most severe earthquakes without incuring habitual costly repairs or worse, rebuilding.

2-STORY EARTHQUAKE PROOF CONSTRUCTION

In northern Mexico we are creating a super-high earthquake zone house of two stories. We expect it to withstand an over 7.2 close range earthquake with no structural damage. It will be tested in sections on the UCSD facilities's test bench. Click here for front view

DISASTERS

• Earthquakes and Earthquake proofing
• Floods
• Hurricanes and Hurricane proofing
• Tsunamis and Tsunami resistance and protection
• Wildfires
• Landslides
• Termites and Insect proofing
• Permafrost damage and 
• Climate changes
• Wind storms

ELEVATED WITH A PURPOSE

Shown at trade shows where sometimes there is only one day to put it up, the basic Archimede houses attracted crowds of up to 75,000 people in one weekend thorughout the early 80's. No one appeared to be surprised when it was hailed as 'Tomorrow's House', even though the actual purposes of sitting it high were:

• To profit from small lots by parking the auto below it
• To better resist floods and earthquakes
  
• to create a higher space that would leave cold air below, along with boots, skis and snow covered clothing.
• for the added security from robbery where only one door needs to be protected
• And basically to profit from the views and the breezes afforded by elevated living.

It needs to be said that the speed of assembly reflects the speed of fabrication. Uniform repeatable parts allowed Archimede houses to be fully made 'from scratch'; all windows where of the same design and sizes, all were fixed with an insulated panel below for ventilation. And of course all panels were of the same size as explained elsewhere in this site.

BUILDING ON DIFFICULT TERRAIN

Built on a granitic ledge high above the road, this house north of Quebec City was built on stilts to better fit that rock without dynamite, but also to better resist lateral ways of a moderate earthquake zone. Made up of 30-40 panels that were slid up the hill on a temporary set of parallell wooden rails, the shell was completed in just a few days. Few systems allow for such easy construction on difficult sites. The happy owners spent $30,000 for a house that cost $200 a year! to heat in frigid Quebec. (1983 figures need to be ajusted). The original concept of this house was made to fit arctic needs, mainly that it is forbidden to build directly on the frozen permafrost, as any house would quickly bury itself in the bog when the heat losses attack the frozen ground. Sales farther and farther to the south made Archimede staff quickly realize that the house had plenty of other qualities to appeal to a more universal group of buyers as far south as Venezuela and Tanzania.

PERU - Earthquakes don't have to Be Like this - They are non-lethal for those residing in Archimede Houses

The immense tragedy like the one shown above have no reasons to be. These houses are actually slow and expensive to build as compared to Archimede, the latter having an incredible earthquake resistance for the following reasons:

• 30% to 50% less unsprung weight
• All concrete surfaces reinforced with a gauge12 mesh
• All panels joined with similar mesh and armatures
• Connection to floor with shear resistant steel @ 1m O/C
• All openings reinforced with #4 rebars, protecting doors and openings
• All wall are shear walls, yet weigh sometimes less than half of that of regular construction. The axial and perpendicular stress resistance on walls and roof is astounding.
• All roof/ceiling panels weigh sometimes 4 times less than regular roofs, yet are fully reinforced with concrete mesh on both sides.
• Connections between roof and walls has a factor of safety of up to 3.