From Shelter to Home After Disasters | Elizabeth Wagemann | TEDxCambridgeUniversity
on the 27th of February of 2010 I was a good eating when I was woken by a big shake in Chile were used to earthquakes and you wouldn't bother for less than a 6 in the Richter scale so I waited until I realized it was a big one I did what any Chilean would do although I was heavily pregnant I woke my daughter up held her in my arms and run to the safest place in our flat a space in between a structural walls and under a beam my husband rushed to to hold our television the quake lasted 90 seconds we could hear the noise of the earth moving underground then we checked if we could open the front door luckily our building was in perfect condition then we open the windows and we didn't see any buildings collapsed but people were outside scared of getting trapped inside their houses then we called our families and it took us some time because the lines were collapsed everyone was doing the same at that time we couldn't asleep so we turn on the radio to find official information it was an earthquake of 8.8 magnitude the second strongest earthquake in Chile's history the quake was so strong that scientists estimate that it moved the earth on its axis by 8 centimeters and it shortened the length of the day but more than one microsecond although the epicenter was far from Santiago many buildings were destroyed in different regions of the country also the earthquake was followed by a tsunami which destroyed many coastal cities despite the magnitude of the disaster which affect more than 75% of the population only around 500 people died however more than 300,000 houses were completely destroyed those families they are lost their only asset their memories their in recent decades the number of disasters caused by met relevance has increased some researchers suggest that there are three main reasons for this arising frequency of natural phenomena due to climate change an increase in the number of people living in vulnerable and exposed areas and an increase in the use of low-cost design and poor quality materials my country is exposed to earthquakes tsunamis volcanic eruptions mudslides floods and fires and we have learned to be prepared for some of them after every big earthquake our building cost codes are revised leading to a safer behavior of buildings and a reduced number of casualties however after these events many buildings are still being destroyed and Chile is not the only one after written disasters many houses have been destroyed in different places around the world in the u.s. in Haiti the Philippines and power China Japan among others the number of houses destroyed after these recent disasters represents three times the housing stock of London as you can see housing it is a critical issue after disasters for families affected to get durable accommodation may take years because of different reasons such as the removal of debris finding available land lack of material what will you do if your house was destroyed in my case if the 2010 earthquake had destroyed my flat I would have moved to my parents house or I would have been able to rent another accommodation I would have asked the insurance company to cover some of the repairing costs but not everyone is that lucky usually the most exposed are the most vulnerable the least prepared the ones that do not have insurance no other have safe housing options no savings at all after that earthquake in China many families went from living in traditional old houses over hundred square meters to temporary houses of eighteen square meters or fishing communities were displaced from the coast to temporary settlements on the hills many families after disasters are housed in interim accommodation trying to go back to their routines to normality to send their kids to school to start to work again this process of recovery does not take months it takes years for them and because it takes years to recover after disaster shelter is more than just a building more than just a roof alone it is a home and home has been defined as a location a place physical structure a material but also as a set of feelings and emotions and as the relation between these concepts that ties them together homes need privacy intimacy and comfort security and control our ideas some values relationship with family and friends so what happens when you lose your home if home refers to these complex like mentions homelessness as the opposite means the lack of them the United Nation states that homelessness Harry Caray's implications of belonging north rather than having lowered sleep in that sense homelessness implies disengagement from the culture society and identity and why is this important to designers or architects why is this important to me because there is little information about how the sign of housing should be in order to reduce the stress caused by a disaster despite the important role of a housing in the psychological and physical well-being of those families affected there is information about minimum standards efficient arrangements or how to organize a group of houses very little is said about adequacy for a temporary situation that will last for many years how to provide them with a sense of belonging dignity in recent years many proposals have been published in journals websites and books but few of them have been implemented and actually this is a good thing because many of them are inadequate for the traditions and their local cultures and the climate focusing on technical innovation rather than taking into account the needs of those families our one size fits all the sign should not be used to show their families after disaster because it is crucial to incorporate local culture and home practices in order to truly support the recovery of those affected in the 70s polyurethane foam domes were used after earthquakes in Turkey Peru Nicaragua most of those shelters were rejected by those communities because they never lived in an igloo shaped house before moreover the use of a very combustible material was not appropriate for families that use open fire for cooking in recent years new materials and technologies have been used in temporary housing after disasters it is okay if they are used with care however we have seen metal timber plastic panels being used in places where those materials are inadequate for example in Sri Lanka after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami metal shelters were called microwave ovens because it was too hot for families to live inside or after earthquakes in Peru and Chile the same model of house was used while in that part through the climate this asserted in that part in Chile's rainy and cold in that part of Peru families traditionally cook outside the houses in that part of Chile the kitchen is the center of the house which keeps it warm during the winter those differences should be included in the design because of the temporary those houses will be used for the midterm did you know that in the car industry the sound of the door closing is engineered to make you feel safe or that some cars are so good at insulating outside noise that they need to feed the sound of the engine back through the car speakers they do that to make you feel comfortable and to make you feel safe why don't we have something like that in houses in places where families need to recover to feel less vulnerable more at home after disasters it is also important to remember that home is not a static it implies a process of home making a continuous a state of incremental improvement that reflects our social ambitions homes are sites of memory where we place objects in order to remind ourselves about family friends and events and homes are shaped by cultural norms that our idea to belong our concepts of identity and to create a position the capacity to modify one's home can provide a sense of achievement and control sistex pression and freedom of action the modifications are not only influenced by practical decisions such as space or quality priorities can be less apparent such as the importance of creating a facade before finishing other rooms whiticus homes also reflects ideals and aspirations after that earthquake in Chile families knew they must leave their shelters like a certain date however the invested time and resources in order to improve those temporary houses enlarging them and customizing them to their needs that can be seen as a move towards a durable solution however in many cases they are done without any technical supervision and without any knowledge of building construction that can lead to alien occupancy or a poor quality housing however when the land is owned by families it can be a good extension of the permanent house there are many examples flexible design that can catalyze these modifications flexibility can provide families the opportunity to transform their shelters their houses into places to call home although this example is a permanent house those strategies could be used for post assessor accommodation but in most cases most designs are done with an idea of universal prototypes are related to culture I'm focusing on creating innovative designs into instead of the real needs of the families therefore today I will not give you a uniform unique design to shelter after any disaster because each design has to be done carefully including cultural values social adequacy material availability and flexibility for future changes including multidisciplinary teams our task is to predefined temporary houses that are adequate including those local cultures we know that families will be living there for many years and we know the places and areas that are most most exposed we know that despite plans of risk reduction some catastrophic events will have in any way a house is more than just a building if we combine the tools we already have with an understanding of local culture and the sign we can support those families to create a home after disaster thank you [Applause]