Article: Why did fewer die in Chile's earthquake than in Haiti's?

Earthquake in Chile, february 2010. From http://i2.esmas.com/2010/03/05/104700/terremoto-en-chile-costera-300x350.jpg

This article written by Anthony Reuben, for BBC News, march 1^st 2010, is clear about the importance of following the Building and Safety Codes, specially, those regulations related to fire and earthquakes. To read about Haiti´s concrete construction

http://myriammahiques.blogspot.com/2010/01/haiti-comments-about-concrete.html

Seismic design. From BBC News

Earthquake in Chile, february 2010. From http://i2.esmas.com/2010/03/01/103463/destruccion-de-edificio-en-chile-300x350.jpg

¨The death toll from Chile's 8.8 magnitude earthquake looks like being a fraction of the 220,000 people who were killed in Haiti in January.

This is despite the Chilean quake being 500 times stronger than the one in Haiti.

Clearly, Chile is a more prosperous country, with economic output per head of the population more than 10 times greater than Haiti.

That has meant that buildings in general are better built, but Chile was also better prepared.

People in Chile knew the safest places to go to when the earthquake struck.

Also, since an even stronger earthquake in 1960, Chile has developed a seismic design code for new buildings, which has made them better able to stay standing in an earthquake.

One system that helps buildings stay up is called the "strong columns weak beams" system.

The idea is that buildings are held up by reinforced concrete columns, which are strengthened by a steel frame.

Reinforced concrete beams are joined onto the columns to make floors and the roof.

If there is an earthquake, the idea is that the concrete on the beams should break near the end, which dissipates a lot of the energy of the earthquake, but that the steel reinforcement should survive and the columns should stay standing, which means the building will stay upright.

The problem is that an 8.8 magnitude earthquake is "towards the top end of what you're designing for", according to Professor Colin Taylor, professor of earthquake engineering at Bristol University.

A mitigating factor in the Chilean quake was that its epicentre was 21 miles (34km) underground, off-shore and 70 miles (115km) from the nearest big city, Concepcion.

The energy from earthquakes falls the further away you are from the centre.

The Haitian quake on the other hand was only 8 miles (13km) underground and right on the edge of Port-au-Prince¨.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8543324.stm

Introducing Arch. Cosmin´s Work on Urban Fractals

Fractal Urban simulation of Vienna.

Chirvasie Cosmin is an Architect from Bucharest, Romania, with a master degree in "Fractal and urban planning", 1994. For his thesis, he worked with Cantor fractals and graphs theory applied to the center of Bucharest in 1850. His finding was very interesting, as the set of Cantor he generated, showed that there would be needed a connection between two streets. Those streets were created in 1879! He regrets that they were destroyed when communists opened an archaeological site there and reconstructed an old palace.

Since then, he has been working in modeling ¨urban series¨.

The origin of this research was a modified Julia set. He agrees with me that one can generate infinite configurations but, if attractors, iterations and algorithms cannot be controlled through real contexts, they become just theory and beautiful images. That´s his main objective, to develop tools to find accurate urban simulations and similar applications in fractal urban planning.

Attractor

After experimenting with attractors, he made his first generation of vectors in 2009, what allowed him to open a new field of research. His work is now based on the second generation of ring and infinite vectors. He states that, based on a good management of the environment and the socio-cultural-historical contexts, fractality can generate a convenient urban design.

In the meanwhile, he has just opened a third generation to introduce ¨time¨, and hierarchies, what is not an easy task. And of course he understands that he must be an architect concerned about people and their habitat,  more than a mathematician.

Below, we´ll see some examples of his work on the 1710 medieval Vienna. The last picture is an urban simulation of Vienna urban fabric in 3D, compared to a drawing of Vienna in 1640. He uses a free software Chaos Pro 3.3, that can be downloaded at www.chaospro.de

This software has a compiler where you can introduce your own fractal formulae in order to improve fractal urban simulations. The generator programs have 3 bits and Cosmin can acquire up to 23Mb images.

All pictures posted here belong to arch. Chirvasie Cosmin and were downloaded with his permission. Please do not reproduce them without his permission.

www.casanova-arhitect.ro

Publications: Review: "Secolul 20" - Brazilia

Number: 8-9-10 / 1998

Editorial: "Uniunea scriitorilor din Romania si Fundatia Culturala secolul 21", in translation " The  Romanian Writers Union and 21-th Century Cultural Foundation"

Title: "Orasul - un sistem complex", in translation " The Town - a complex system"

Authors: Chirvasie Cosmin and Andrei Barbu Multescu

pages: 297-304

Fractal Dimension and Colors

This is the binary file of the picture below. D=1.6869

Maritza's Fashion. Picture by Camilo J. Vergara

I have selected this picture to show the results of the fractal dimension based on the selection of color channels. Most researchers do not pay attention to the color issue. The original picture is converted into a binary file to apply the box counting method, regardless the colors. In this example, the file is the first picture. D=1.6869 is the result for the fractal dimension.

Let's go further. Maybe I want to emphasize a specific color or disregard any of them. Color is really important in this facade. Now, we'll see how the fractal dimension is affected by the color channel selection:

Maritza. Blue channel D=1.7344

Maritza. Green channel. D=1.6645

Maritza. Red channel. D=1.5947

Needless to say I found a big difference. So, the researcher has to take a decision about which elements of the facade will be considered or not. For instance, see that in the red channel, the sign above the door dissappears. In the blue channel binary file, the white circle on the left is taken as full, maybe this is not convenient. The opening is not correctly shown, while this is an important element for the composition. Both door and letters "Maritza" are taken as empty, it should be reversed. In my opinion, the green channel is the best selection and the result is pretty close to the original one. But more accurate.

Haiti: Comments About Concrete Technology

Haiti shanties, from CNN.com

In January 19th 2010, Times of India published this article “Haiti earthquake: Architects blame shoddy steel, concrete for destruction”. Architects say that the poor conditions of the structures were the main cause of the death toll.

“ Poor quality concrete and steel explains the extent of quake devastation in Port-au-Prince, a team from the Emergency Architects Foundation said after three days in the Haitian capital.

Architects Patrick Coulombel and Serge Guno said they have visited over 30 key buildings to assess their structural soundness since Tuesday's quake which levelled much of Port-au-Prince”. Architects are afraid of the aftershocks as so many buildings are unsafe, collapsed or not: “shoddy steel reinforced bars, known as rebars, and bad quality concrete surrounding them.

"The rebars are soft, you can bend them with your hand and they're smooth while good rebars should be ridged. As for the concrete, the proportion of cement

is wrong, and there's the bad quality of the aggregate," said Coulombel”

"To save money, people use bad steel, less cement, and then the concrete, it's very technical and complicated (to make), here people aren't able to create good quality concrete," …Coulombel said certain building shapes are less prone to collapse than others -- and recommends pyramid shapes, where possible, even though he admitted "people don't necessarily want to live in a pyramid”.

Star shapes of buildings are better to resist earthquakes –it does not need to be a pyramid-; nobody knows the direction of the earthquake, concrete structures must be tied like rings.

Haitian houses. From http://www.wehaitians.com/mixed_photo_5.jpg

Unicef’s official photo of the year 2008. 21 years old Alice Smeets comes from a slum in Port Au Prince, called the “Cite Soleil” (City of Sun). From www.speedofcreativity.org/

I have been working long years in construction, and if an Argentine architect is considered experienced, he/she must know the concrete technology to perfection, and more than this: what we have to expect from workers pouring concrete and bending rebars, and which quality of materials manufacturers sell.

Trying to save money, sometimes a good quality cement is disregarded and cheapest cement is bought. First thing, the color is different, this is not the same composition, usually more cheap cement has to be used for the mortar. It means that the mortar is not exactly a formula that we follow from books.

Regarding rebars, it is scary to know that Haitian architects could bend them with their hands. Again, this is not enough to follow the drawings on the structural plans. The steel composition could vary, so the rebar “behavior” would not be as expected in calculations. It happened to me to receive silver color rebars for the concrete of a public building under construction; as soon as the workers bent them, they broke in two pieces. Being a new architect of 23 years old, I did not know how to resolve this issue. I called the structural engineer, who explained the rebars were too “ steeled” (“muy aceradas” he said) and the layout of rebars in beams and slabs was changed to use them without bending. It was more money invested in rebars but much less money and time in labor. Why didn't we return the rebars to the manufacturer? It was faster to change the layout than waiting for the new supplies, we couldn’t dismiss the one hundred concrete workers.

Labor is very important in concrete technology. If the quantity of rebars is too heavy, the workers will complain, they would not lift them up as required to allow the stones and mortar enter in the small gaps in between the bars; in consequence, the mortar would not pass through and the rebars could be exposed below the beams. On time, they will oxidate and collapse. A similar issue I’ve seen when workers are pouring concrete; the addition of water makes the mortar more flexible and easy to work with shovels, so it’s the architect or supervisor obligation to see for the correct consistence of the mortar; of course, the quantity of water should vary based on climatic conditions too. And at last, the worst of situations for works without supervision: “concrete” containing trash, wire, pieces of brick inside it, whatever to save the contractor’s money.

Haitian slum from the air. www.gadling.com/photos/haiti-from-the-air/615282/

Haiti from the air. From michael5000.blogspot.com/2008/07. Michael thinks this land must have been left for a park. I agree with him, overpopulation can spread anywhere. Note the different urban fabric of  settlements " under urban regulations", if I can say it....

In another article in CNN.com, January 12th, 2010, I’ve read “Haiti was a 'catastrophe waiting to happen'. Haiti’s ambassador declared that Haiti's infrastructure was among the world's worst even in the best of times; "It was a catastrophe waiting to happen," Raymond Alcide Joseph told CNN from Washington shortly after a 7.0 earthquake leveled parts of his home country”

"Among the numerous factors explaining the extent of the loss of lives and goods are the absence of land use zoning and building guidelines, and comprehensive enforcement mechanisms." The OAS report added Haiti has no national building codes. Former U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Timothy M. Carney told CNN that Port-au-Prince was particularly at risk because it grew rapidly from a population of about 250,000 in the mid-1950s to more than 2 million today, all with little oversight. City planners had called for the surrounding hills to remain undeveloped in order to protect an aquifer. "That didn't happen," Carney said. "People started building up those hillsides." Instead of building concrete structures, they built shanties, he said. "My fear is that they all fell down." Here I see one of the consequences of overpopulation without affordable housing plans of appropriate technology.

Another consideration, even if they used concrete footings, they cannot superimpose to each other. Every foundation has a volume of action around it, to support the construction, this virtual volume cannot be part of another one. Those shanties would have fallen down even in a mudslide or heavy rain. After all, this is not the inhabitants’ fault. Strict regulations in Codes and inspections would have been applied, if people built on the hillsides, overcrowding themselves in the worst conditions, is because they were allowed to. And now, the terrible consequences.

The anecdote, please read in BBC on the news, date december 18th, 2006 (!!!!!!): The UN has made an appeal for $98m (£50.26m) to help Haiti's transition. “The appeal, for the period 2006-2007, aims to strengthen Haiti's government and to help it meet humanitarian needs. It is also aimed at "ensuring that authorities are better prepared in the event of natural disasters", said Joel Boutroue of the UN's Haiti mission.

"All indicators show that Haiti continues to be the poorest country in the northern hemisphere," Mr Boutroue told journalists.

Mr Boutroue, who is the UN's deputy special representative in Haiti, launched the appeal in Geneva.

He said the appeal had three main goals:

to address insecurity in Haiti's shanty towns

to improve the situation in rural areas and thus stem the exodus to the cities

to strengthen the capacity of the government”.

What happened with those goals? It’s been three years since then. Maybe this sad event make Haiti authorities to reflect that new models of decision-making in a group could be developed, with a great respect for individual opinions and necessities.

REFERENCES

Haiti was 'catastrophe waiting to happen' January 12th, 2010
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/12/haiti.earthquake.infrastructure/index.html
Haiti earthquake: Architects blame shoddy steel, concrete for destruction PTI, 19 January 2010, 12:56am IST
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Haiti-earthquake-Architects-blame-shoddy-steel-concrete-for-destruction/articleshow/5474650.cms
The UN has made an appeal for $98m (£50.26m) to help Haiti's transition. Monday, 18 December 2006, 14:01 GMT. From news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6190305.stm

Mayan Stucco and Mysticism

Río Azul tomb. From Rio Azul Tomb. http://www.authenticmaya.com/images/Rioazul_tomb19.jpg

Mayan buildings lack of advanced technologies; the stones seem to be obtained from local quarries. Most often utilized was structural limestone which was easy enough to be worked with stone tools. Mortars applied both for construction and stucco finishing, consisted of crushed, burnt and mixed limestone with similar properties to the cement. Later on, improvements in quarrying techniques reduced the necessity for this limestone in combination with stucco; stones began to fit very well in structural elements as posts and lintel roofs. In common houses, wooden poles, adobe and thatch were the primary materials, being limestone in the second place, and eventually, bricks. When buildings were completed, the Mayans covered them with stucco (lime plus sand) to smooth any imperfection, on the walls and ceilings that were painted later. Decoration in relief molded in stucco, reached a high degree of perfection in Palenque, where an example of an admirable stucco sculpture, is the god of Death.

God of Death. From http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1123-the-maya-civilization-cities-of-the-maya

In march 2009, it was published the recent archaeological digs up in Guatemala. A monumental set of stucco panels was unearthed. It seems to depict one of the oldest creation myths in human history, the Popol Vuh, the main focus of Mayan religion. The myth precedes the Christian Genesis by several centuries.

“The panels describe how the ancient Mayan gods created the world and then sought to populate it with living creatures including “mud people” and “wooden people.” Their attempts in this direction failed, and they were not satisfied with what they had created. So, finally, the human race was brought into existence, and came to inhabit the region where El Mirador, the place where the digs have been made, now lies. Spanning several hundreds of thousands of acres all around is the Serpent Kingdom.

The scene, according to Richard Hansen, the Idaho State University professor that has detailed the find in an official release, is one that blends early aspects of Mayan beliefs with cosmology, thus making it unique. Until now, all known pieces of information on the Mayan saga have been collected from a single source, but the new pictures seem to date as back as 300 BC, which makes them older, and thus more reliable. The Mayan Late Preclassic period stretches from three centuries before Christ to the first century AD”.

Dr. Hansen was a consultant for actor and director Mel Gibson, for his movie “Apocalypto”.

Regardless Mayans’ constructions technology, mysticism was always involving their architecture. To illustrate it, I am reproducing here Mexican Architect Ignacio Gonzalez’s story ¨Renovación¨ about the preludes to the Mayan Fire Ceremony. Arch González is a former professor of architectural design at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Universidad Anáhuac, also  a great essayist and writer, author of the books "Arquitectura y Semiótica", "Análisis de Estructuras arquitectónicas. Resistencia de Materiales", "Guía, proceso y seguimiento de la problemática arquitectónoca. Manual para elaborar Tesis e investigaciones".In ¨Renovación¨, the narrator seems to be a young person who takes care of his offerings, following the directions of the old and experienced Tata (father) Hu Banhum. The ceremony’s ceramic vessels and plates invoking gods will be also used to configure a new floor.

Arch. Gonzalez explained to me that this is a fiction story but based in a real ancient ceremony. And the practice of adding fragments of plates and vessels to the mortars has been pretty common. I have preferred not to translate the story and leave it in the original Spanish, as González has the ability to write in the local dialects.

Structural materials, and religious practices are involved in the ceremony and in the architecture.

Mayan stucco in very good conditions. From http://www.gmcp.net/photo/honduras/honduras-Pages/Image48.html

Mayan stucco panel described by Dr. Hansen. From http://news.softpedia.com/news/Mayan-Stucco-Panels-Dug-Up-in-Guatemala-106722.shtml

Mayan jade burial mask. From http://www.precolumbianjade.com/images/maya.h51.jpg

Pakal mask, from Farm 4

Mayan stucco relief in the Museum at Palenque. http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/maya.htm

¨Cuando el cielo todavía estaba vacío, la casta sacerdotal Ah kin diseminó la semilla del sabio verdadero; sembró el maíz por todos los rincones, mismos que son purificados siempre que transcurren 4 veces 13 haab tunes o 52 años (que es lo mismo).

Tata Hu Banhum nació dos haab tunes antes de la última ceremonia del fuego nuevo; bueno, así le llaman los altos dignatarios del amurallado, porque nosotros, los que somos gente del pueblo, celebramos nuestro propio renacer o gran purificación.

Dice el tata Hu que casi no se acuerda de dichos festejos, pero como cada 13 hab tunes la tierra quiere dormirse y tenemos que hacerla despertar de nuevo, él es quien nos ha instruido a todos acerca de lo que debemos hacer en esta cuarto ciclo, dice que porque el dador de la vida ya lo instruyó.

En lo personal, yo ya adquirí dos platitos especiales para la ocasión; mientras que ma' Lijnaa ya tiene dispuesta toda la vajilla. Ella también ha recibido consejos, sobre todo de su hermana Joob Lij, ya que trabajó por un buen tiempo para una de las principales Señoras del palacio.

Para las limpias rituales dediqué 2 veces 20 lunas a preparar el temazcal cerquita del ojo de agua; sí, a lo que comúnmente le decimos chultún. Así, de este rincón del cielo al que nos debemos, brotará, como resultado de la molienda espesa y a través de nuestras pieles, un producto líquido como sudor lechoso originado en parte por el "preparado" del alucinante que durante 60 lunas nos es permitido ingerir, 30 antes y 29 después del gran torneo de la pelota.

Los Señores del amurallado son los únicos que pueden degustar esas sustancias inteligentes en cualquier época.

Lo mismo sucede con el estuco: sólo sacerdotes y altos dignatarios lo pueden aplicar en pisos y paredes. Nosotros debemos utilizar a lo mucho arena arcillosa.

Entonces, en las festividades, romperemos toda la vajilla e iremos mezclando todos los pedazos con la masa lodosa del nuevo piso. Por cierto, mis dos recipientes cerámicos invocan, uno a mi dios del viento y el otro, al de la fertilidad.

El rincón del barrio de los almendros se vestirá de místico por unos cuantos días, mientras que en el palacio amurallado se construirá el fuego nuevo que tanto ayudará a nuestras vidas¨.

Here, (left corner below) we see a recurring type of vessel. Sometimes vessels were used for ¨sangrías¨. This picture was sent to me by arch. Ignacio Gonzalez from http://www.planetasapiens.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Dintel15_Yaxchilan.jpg

REFERENCES
Tudor Vieru. Mayan Stucco Panels Dug Up in Guatemala. The remains shed new light on the ancient civilization. March 13, 2009
http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/maya.htm
http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1123-the-maya-civilization-cities-of-the-maya
Look for arch. Ignacio Gonzalez´s narratives and poems:
http://imagenarro.ning.com/profiles/blogs/renovacion-1

Quick Analysis of Hiroshima Urban Fabric Damage

This is a picture of Hiroshima urban fabric damage after the bomb. I will try to see if there is a possibility to measure the damage. My objective is, once I have a number, a comparison could be made with another damaged city to evaluate which city has less urban fabric destruction. A report like this -among many considerations-, could help planners to take a decision about what to save or maybe designs on tabula rasa could be needed.

My first step is to enhance the contrast. I sharpen the edges to "find" the urban fabric and see the plot graphics in 2D and 3D.

The image is converted into a binary file in order to make further analysis. This is a rough urban fabric, no buildings are recognized. The street on the left is clear in the 2D plot.

For now, I think the best way to understand the damage is to count it based on particles. The software I used, Image J will enclose what is considered to form a particle. I have chosen to see ellipses, but another tools are available. I tried them, and the particles account was exactly the same. The quantity of particles is really high: 1852 for the area selected.

I prefer to try again. When I converted the file into binary, the streets were turned black, and I'm afraid the software could interpret it as part of buildings. Then, I invert the binary image. The pattern of ellipses look better now. No central areas are enclosed, that is closer to reality, as the damage is even everywhere in the picture selected. Surprisingly, the account is pretty close to the previous one: 1823

A flood could show very different results, as water is covering the streets and part of the houses. The image surface seems softer, in consequence, the damage is less, as no house is disintegrated. Let us see a flood in a Mexico neighborhood, 2007. The quantity of particles is 431. To have more accurate results in comparisons, both images should be the same scale.

Flood in Mexico, 2007

Lotus: Legends, Metaphors and Effect

Buddhist Saint sitting on Lotus. Wat Rong Khun temple, Thailand. www.thailand-travelonline.com

Before Saints were worshipped as guardians and protectors of gardens, Priapus or Priapos - Mutinus Mutunus in its Roman version - was adored by Greek and Roman as the god of the procreation, extensive to the livestock, the gardens and vineyards. His statues were placed in the gardens to protect them from predation, especially of crows'. In time, this statues were considered obscene, since they showed the permanent god´s erection.

Priapus was described as Aphrodite and Dionisio's son, as son of some local nymph, as father or son of Hermes, or Zeus's son, depending on the version of the myth. Hera, jealous because the hero Paris dared to judge Aphrodite more beautiful than her, cursed Aphrodite's son with impotence, ugliness and a silly mind, while he was still in her womb. Other gods refused to allow him to live with them in the Mount Olympus, and they threw him to the Earth, where he was eventually found by shepherds. Priapus, eternally frustrated by his impotence, united to Pan and other satyrs as a spirit of fertility and growth.

Priapus and Lotis, III Quatre of SXVI, by a non identified autor, possibly Jacopo Bertoia, Italian, 1530-1575 or Francesco Parmigianino, Italian, 1503-1540 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/prof/ho_27.78.1%5B26%5D.htm

Lotus flower. http://2clicks.files.wordpress.com/2006/08/lotus-flower.jpg

Lotus flower. Internet download.

Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso 20 March 43 AC -17 o18 AD), mentions the version of the creation of the lotus flower twice. On a certain day, Priapus tried to rape the nymph Lotis, but the strong bray of an ass, caused him to lose his erection, and Lotis, who was sleeping, woke up. Priapus pursued to the desperate nymph, until the gods, grieved by such a situation, transformed her into a lotus with a beautiful flower.

In The Merchant´s Tale, from the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer, invokes Priapus with the following words:

Ne Priapus ne myghte nat suffise,

Though he be God of gardyns, for to telle

The beautee of the gardyn and the welle,

That stood under a laurer alwey grene.

The Sacred Lotus Flower in India- From Bukisa on line. Posted by Shebear July 12, 2009

Lotus Dome. http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/36/5b/6d/lotus-dome-mt-abu.jpg

This is a literal metaphor of the Lotus Flower in a temple. The Bahá'í Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, known as "Lotus Temple". Architect Fariborz Sahba.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oFV3mfTS2qM/Sia8kDFJFjI/AAAAAAAAAKM/7r6hrcCwu9Q/s1600-h/387103309_120523e0f0_o.jpg

Another version of this flower in India is: ¨in the epic poetry of the Mahabharata, the Creator, under the name of Brahma, is described as having sprung from the lotus that grew out of Vishnu's navel when that deity lay absorbed in meditation. Hence, one of the appellations for Brahma is lotus-born [abja-ja, abja-yoni, etc.). The lotus is thus connected with Vishnu, one of whose names is, accordingly, padma-nabha, lotus-naveled. It is further associated with Vishnu's wife, Lakshmi, goddess of fortune and beauty. The Mahabharata relates the myth that a lotus sprung from Vishnu's forehead, out of which came Sri (another name for the goddess). Lakshmi is also called Padma (lotus-hued). The Mahabharata, in its account of Mount Kailasa, the abode of Kubera, the god of wealth, described his lake, Nalini, and his river, Mandakini, as covered with golden lotuses.

With the rise of religious art in India, the lotus appeared on all the Buddhist monuments which came into being in different parts of the country from about 200 B.C. onwards. In its simplest form, the expanded lotus appears frequently as a circular ornament in the sculptures at Sanchi, Bharhut, Amravati, and Bodh Gaya, as well as in the rock-cut Buddhist temples of Western India, introduced as medallions on pillars, panels, and ceilings¨. Excerpt from http://www.bahaindia.org/temple/jewel.html

A magnified lotus leaf. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Lotus3.jpg

Lotus effect in buildings coating. http://biodsign.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/lotusan.jpg

In Biomimicry, the lotus technology of natural cleaning is taken as a good model. ¨Even after emerging from mud, the leaves do not retain dirt when they unfold. This property has been studied intensively by the two botanists Barthlott and Neinhuis from the University of Bonn. In 1975 they discover the reason for this self-cleansing effect. Before that it was the general opinion that the smoother a surface, the less dirt and water adhere to it. By using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) the two scientists discovered that the surface of some Lotus leaves was everything else but smooth. It showed a combination of nano- and microstructures that gave the surface a rough structure. The explanation for the effect lies in two physical characteristics: the properties of these microstructures repel water and the nanostructures found on top of the microstructures are made of waxy materials which are badly wettable. The combination of the chemistry, the ultra structures, and the adherence properties of dirt and water to the surface, is what Barthlott and Neinhuis named the Lotus-Effect.

…. A droplet on an inclined superhydrophobic surface does not slide off; it rolls off. When the droplet rolls over a contamination, the particle is removed from the surface if the force of absorption of the particle is higher than the static friction force between the particle and the surface. Usually the force needed to remove a particle is very low due to the minimized contact area between the particle and the surface. As a result, the droplet cleans the leaf by rolling off the surface¨. Excerpt from http://ssp06.isunet.edu/the_lotus_effect.htm

There is a commercial paint brand that has introduced the technology found in the Lotus´leaves. It is expected that in the future, self sufficient buildings will incorporate this type of biomimicked materials as water repellent and to keep glasses clean. In consequence, it will take longer to fungi and bacteria to appear visible on buildings´surfaces.

Chinese lantern with Lotus decoration. http://parisparfait.typepad.com/paris_parfait/images/2008/08/16/lanterns_and_lotus.jpg

REFERENCES

http://ssp06.isunet.edu/the_lotus_effect.htm
Gordon, Lesley. Green Magic. 1977
http://www.bahaindia.org/temple/jewel.html
http://biodsign.wordpress.com/2008/08/27/lotus-effect-efecto-lotus/
Wikipedia.org

Reflexiones Sobre la Ciencia Aplicada al Diseño

Ciudad ciclotrónica. Diseño de los arqs. Luis Makianich y Myriam Mahiques, 1989

La experiencia en campos de diseño y ciencia, muestra que no es fácil la relación entre diseñadores y científicos. Los reportes sobre antecedentes en disciplinas como la Mecatrónica que combinan equipos de ingeniería mecánica, eléctrica e informática, así lo demuestran. Sin embargo, la multidisciplinaridad no lo es todo, porque las compañías luego pretenden ver qué sucede con el producto en el mercado y posteriores testeos sobre el diseño del producto deben realizarse. Es por ello que se busca también el apoyo de especialistas en marketing, productores, obreros, usuarios. Estos requerimientos nos conducen a re-pensar cómo el pensamiento científico debiera ser incluído en los procesos de diseño, cómo debiera ser integrado con otros tipos de pensamientos más humanistas, cualquiera sea la disciplina y complejidad del proyecto.

Interpretación artística de las kivas de los Pueblos, por Myriam Mahiques.

Tim Hawkinson. ¨Emoter 2002¨. The Mechanical/Scientific Approach to Hybrid Art

The Eco Pods are a structure concept that can act as a temporary algae bio-reactor in vertical way. This concept is specially designed for Boston and features robotic arms, powered by micro-algae mechanism, which will continuously rearrange the pods to different positions to ensure the best possible growing condition for the algae. From www.tuvie.com/search/architectural+design

Sobre cuatro items definidos en los trabajos de equipo, prescripción, descripción, observación, y reflexión, los tres primeros parecen recibir eficaz contribuciones de arquitectos, psicólogos e ingenieros mecánicos envueltos en problemas de diseño; las publicaciones se dirigen a revistas específicas de diseño y los temas se enfocan a las actividades del/ de los diseñadores. En los temas de reflexión y sus publicaciones, se han destacado los filósofos, historiadores, científicos, sociólogos, quienes generalmente no se involucran en cuestiones de diseño. Sus publicaciones en ámbitos científicos se enfocan en el medioambiente social y científico en el que se desenvuelven sus prácticas. Evidentemente, cada disciplina presenta distintos acercamientos al diseño. También existen diferencias culturales productos de las tradiciones, por ejemplo los suizos y alemanes presentan metodologías analíticas más estrictas. (Marc de Vries, p.2, 1993).

Sin embargo, se ha vislumbrado una evolución en la relación de ambos equipos de profesionales, humanistas vs científicos. Los nuevos conocimientos científicos ya no se apoyan como originalmente, en observaciones de la experiencia directa, sino que los nuevos paradigmas han logrado una gran distancia entre el observador y el objeto de estudio (imaginemos la nanotecnología) y por ende, el científico no está tan preocupado por lo visible, sino los aspectos invisibles, abstractos, lo que lógicamente lo conduce a una ciencia del diseño. En otras palabras, la ciencia se vuelve visible, a través del diseño e, indirectamente, se vuelve dependiente del Arte. Las imágenes cautivantes generadas en los ordenadores nos acompañarán y estimularán el placer de crear. Diríamos que más que un bloqueo a la creatividad, se produce una evolución de los pensamientos, donde las ciencias duras y blandas llegan a unirse en idilios impensados hasta los últimos años. Y después de todo, la ciencia también es creatividad emanada del ser humano.

La ciencia aplicada al diseño, no sólo responde al incremento del uso de tecnologías digitales, sino también a la incorporación del pensamiento científico. Desde los tiempos más antiguos de la palabra escrita, hay evidencia que el hombre ha dado sentido al mundo mediante abstracciones que buscan los principios subyacentes y el orden en nuestras experiencias y percepciones. Las habilidades de abstracción y la posibilidad de asignar orden y estructuras a diversos fenómenos son una de las tantas que nos separa del mundo animal.

La incorporación de temas en el diseño como modelación, abstracción, medición, percolación, etc, ha causado discusiones acerca de sus aplicaciones y la incómoda sensación de que el dominante rol de creatividad del diseñador se está bloqueando o dejando en desuso. De acuerdo a mi investigación de años, entiendo que no es así, y que justamente la amplitud de posibilidades que brindan los softwares nos abren el espectro de una creatividad sin fin.

Folding design by Priscilla Astrid Brinshot

REFERENCIAS
De Vries, M. J., Cross, N., Grant, N.P. Design Methodology and Relationships with Science: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, September 29 - October 2, 1992. Publicado en 1993. Springer, Londres.