Arch. Myriam B. Mahiques Curriculum Vitae

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The urban form of catastrophe


This is not an abstract picture. From msn.com: Houses and farmland in Vicksburg, Miss., remain submerged by flooding on May 23. Mississippi River floodwaters are gradually receding, but are likely to remain above flood stage for weeks. Heavy rains have left the rivers swollen and caused widespread flooding throughout the Southeast. 
And the next one, a destroyed apartment complex is seen on May 24 in an aerial view over Joplin, Mo. The town was hit by the deadliest single tornado recorded in the U.S. in more than six decades. MSN.com


At a certain moment, we should reflect on urban morphology, what´s the real shape of the city? Before we answer, let´s determine the historical context, the time when we run our fractal calculations. For the first picture, the fractal pattern -if there was one- lays below; for the second one, if it wasn´t a fractal pattern, now -probably- it is.




These three pictures above are from the USA navy/air force and show the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake in 2010.
The last one is showing the tents for survivors. I´m surprised the pattern looks more or less like the destroyed dwellings, I imagined the army should align the tents to keep order, specially when food and water has to be distributed, it wouldn´t be a labyrinth. I´ll find out about this....

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