A Little Background Info
J. Poirier fell in love with this geometry and gave most of his adult life to it. But first, back in the early seventies, he designed 25 different snowmobiles for 3 companies . Then he designed cross-country skis in Finland and Canada, acquiring expertise in injected urethane foams and their production machinery. Later he applied this knowledge to the design of camping trailers, then motor homes, then mobile homes, all embodying rigid foam stressed skin panels. He later worked for a year on a concept of housing based on identical panels bolted together in each corner. This effort culminated in developing the machinery and building a plant called Archimede. Rhombododecahedral housing was born, made up of only two format of panels, both parallelograms of roughly 100 inches on all sides. He did have a short carreer in commercial architecture, but the simplicity of those 'space filling' shapes seemed to have gotten Poirier hypnotized till today, this time focusing on the benefits to the planet that are possible through the Archimede Institute he recently founded.
2-STORY EARTHQUAKE PROOF CONSTRUCTION
CONSULTANTS and PARTNERS
- We are very much involved with Mission Africa Smiles, a team of Quebec doctors and medical specialists who perform facial reconstruction in West Africa. Their advice is precious forthe design of our field hospitals, our heliported operating rooms and other medically oriented buildings.
- We are involved with ABC network and Dan Harris, the weekend news anchor and star reporter whose work in Haiti got much noticed. We are counting on their help to raise awareness of our services worldwide.
TSUTSU BASICS
Tsutsu's functionality would command a building that would normally cost at least 3 times more than conventional commercial construction. However in this case the concept is so close to what Archimede builds since 1980 that we can safely assume its cost to be approximately 10% over that of quality local construction. This takes into account a better grade of column pads and reinforcement, telescopic connectors, flotation extras and other equipment (like...a sturdy anchor!) .Now consider these advantages:
- The concept is also a valide hurricane shelter, proven in at least one Force 5 hurricane.
- In its daily incarnation, the building is a superb shell for all kinds of building programs, school, recreative center, administrative bldg., community center etc...Because the same injected foam that provides flotation along with superior tightness of the shell also allows for cheaper air conditioning. Indeed these are essentially the same as the arctic concept developed in the early 80's.
- This is a cliché, of course, but life is priceless. We all had terrible heartaches to see innocent people drown and die as they were carried away along with mountains of floating debris. Those who survived had unbelievable puncture wounds from nails protruding from dislocated boards. Is it not fitting that these populations would deserve a high-tech concept that does not use nails, only a few bolts actually, in a configuration that allows distressed swimmers to climb aboard while totally protecting 200 more people.
TSUNAMI PROBABILITIES
Where in the Pacific Ocean can we expect the big tsunamis in the 21st Century other than the areas mentioned? Let us be more specific. There are many tsuna A total of 482 tsunamis have been reported in the 20th Century alone, with at least 133 having a runup greater than 1.5 meters. We know that Japan, the West Coast of South America, Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, Kamchatka, and the Kuril Islands are potential tsunami generating areas. We know that these are the boundaries of major tectonic plates. But what about all the other subplates of the inland seas that have produced also the big destructive tsunamis and for which we have not established seismic gaps?
Where in the Pacific Ocean can we expect the big tsunamis in the 21st Century other than the areas mentioned? Let us be more specific. There are many tsunamigenic regions that have shown high density of seismic energy release and where large future tsunamis can be expected. For example, one such area is a segment of the Peruvian coastal region between 8.5° S and 14° S. This is a region of extremely high seismic energy release and site of large but infrequent historical tsunamis. Other parts of the South American seismic belt are tsunami gap regions and these regions in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries produced several destructive tsunamis, destroying such towns in Chile as Arica, Antofagasta and Valparaiso. There is also a great potential for another destructive tsunami on the Pacific side of Colombia, in the vicinity of the State of Narino. The west coast of Mexico can be expected to experience larger tsunamis. Large destructive tsunamis can be expected again in the Moro Gulf in the Philippines, in the Celebes and Sulu Sea, in the Java Sea and elsewhere in the South West Pacific.
migenic regions that have shown high density of seismic energy release and where large future tsunamis can be expected. For example, one such area is a segment of the Peruvian coastal region between 8.5° S and 14° S. This is a region of extremely high seismic energy release and site of large but infrequent historical tsunamis. Other parts of the South American seismic belt are tsunami gap regions and these regions in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries produced several destructive tsunamis, destroying such towns in Chile as Arica, Antofagasta and Valparaiso. There is also a great potential for another destructive tsunami on the Pacific side of Colombia, in the vicinity of the State of Narino. The west coast of Mexico can be expected to experience larger tsunamis. Large destructive tsunamis can be expected again in the Moro Gulf in the Philippines, in the Celebes and Sulu Sea, in the Java Sea and elsewhere in the South West Pacific.
DUTCH ANTILLES - The Guana Bay Condos - Pairs of condos
Again this project does not take advantage of all the possible groupings afforded by the tessalation possibilities of the rhombic dodecahedron geometry. Sutton did a much better job at this. However, the three-dimensional aspect was well integrated into the landscape and plantation, making a promedade around the resort quite enchanting. It is possible to glimpse at the sea around and under most condos, with openings between the stilts providing nice surprises to the walker.
CANADA - Mont Ste Anne QC- Ski Resorts on High Columns
CANADA - Sutton QC- Ski Resorts on Stilts
These condos built in 1983 are owned by The Club Archimede Vacation Club They are very popular, allowing 'ski-in/ski-out' access by simply skiing to your front door on the ground floor, with paths taking the shorter route UNDER other condos. The unique injected panels are sealed to each other along the edges of what are rhombododecahedral shells with incredible rigidity. The cavity under the floor is pressurized with warm air so that all floors are warm, the bathroom being the warmest of all because of the proximity of the electric furnace. An interesting design detail is that holes are drilled trough that floor into which short lengths of pipes are inserted. Over these pipes ski boots are inserted to have them warm and dried.
The lower level is where are stored skis and where the clothing is shed with cold air and snow remaining there before the skier goes upstairs to a snug and warm environment. The acoustic walls between units are built with a scientifically designed wall that only allows a few decibels to seep through, not enough to make the sounds identifiable. This great feature and the fact that the groupings on the ground naturally follow contours, flowing around large trees and forming lively clusters, the multiple views in each condos, all of it gives the entire place a vacation feeling that is well appreciated by a large return clientèle of families. In the summer, the condos are mostly fully rented, sometimes to groups like the Bar Association of Quebec.
Our Mexican Wall and Roof Paneling System
The wall and ceiling/roof panels are revolutionary and quickly spreading around the world. These Styrofoam core panels have a built-in steel mesh forming triangulated trusses within and a grid on both facings, apt to receive on inch of concrete on both sides. Thus a fireproof and 'rock-solid' panel is achieve, capable of high resistance to both lateral (hurricanes) and axial loads (earthquakes). A remarkable early application of these panels is the Tijuana-San Diego project of 1990 by Habitat for Humanity and Jimmy Carter. These 100 robust social houses were built by volunteers with as only tools pliers and tying wire. 
They were then concrete finished by a single Gunnite applicator. They can be seen today, still rock solid and pretty almost 20 years 
later.Although we mostly endorse the concrete finished wall panels, two alternates exists that we use for areas without an adequate supply of concrete or concrete finished. These are the fiberglass 'Golden" sheets and the fibercement panels.
MEXICO- Primo Tapia BC - The Paraiso Prototyping Hill
Sincve we need to test our solutions in real-time, we have acquired lots where we will be building several portotype houses, each proving out a few of the newer techniques. One of these involves the Mexican polystyrene steel concrete shell technology as integrated in our own panel making ways. Some of these houses will eventually be sold when the utilities are brought in, the profits reinvested in the Institute for further development.