Designing for Disasters

Rationale

n July to early September 2010 various wildfires raged throughout western Russia; this was due to an extremely hot summer and most of the country being in drought.  The fires destroyed thousands of buildings in some cases entire villages, also woodlands and farming land were also severely damaged.

The affected Russian community were extremely unprepared for the natural disaster they faced. Little land clearing or back burning was done or any other type of fire prevention activity that we practice in Australia.

A reasoning that I thought would increase preparedness was communication and education; I found there was no visual communication between locals apart from those who had television and the encroaching smoke. In Australia each state has their own type of silent visual communication the Fire Danger Rating Dial. These manual dials that are controlled by the local rural service are dotted along Australia roads; they consist of 7 levels from low to code red. When people drive past they then know if there is a high chance of fire and there is a total fire ban and change their activities accordingly if necessary. 

When a Russian student studying in Australia was asked if there is anything like this in place in Russia; he laughed.

Satellite fire detection is becoming more prevalent around the world and even in Russia. Weather authorities analyse many factors such as temperature, wind factor, precipitation etc and calculate the likelihood of a fire starting.

The FireEcho is essentially a solar powered road sign piggy backing an electricity pole. It communicates the fire danger level in the area.  It works on a four level system.

1.       Blue – Low

2.       Yellow – Medium

3.       Orange – High

4.       Red Extreme.

The FireEcho would be dormant for the winter months due to the extreme weather. Then in summertime the weather station send a signal to each sign to correspond with the current fire danger. When locals drive or walk past the FireEcho and see that the blue light is lit up they will realise that it is getting  closer to wildfire season and it’s time to start preparing themselves and their property before it’s too late

It consists of

·         four Polycarbonate LED lights

·         Galvanised steel sign frame, glare awnings, electrically housing unit.

·         Solar panel

·         Battery

·         Satellite communicator which controls the switch

·         Solar electricity inverter

TeProduct Poster

 Reflection

I must admit that this project would have to be the hardest project we have had to tackle in studio. There were so many more constraints we had to take into consideration compared to past. I really struggled to come up with suitable concepts. It was really hard to see the weeks slipping by and not having a solid concept to work with. I must admit my initial concepts from the first week looking back were pretty rubbish so I can’t blame them for being rejected. This project has really pushed me as a designer to think outside the box and not settle for my first idea as it’s not always the one. I have enjoyed designing for the less fortunate sector of society; it was quite refreshing compared to who we usually design for.

I am happy with my project and the way it turned out. Preparation is one of the greatest saviours in natural ignited wildfires. So I think the FireEcho would be a really useful in country like Russia that doesn’t have the bushfire control infrastructure like we do in Australia. Simple communication like the light system used in my project could really help save people’s homes or even their lives. If Russia keeps on having these intense wildfires they really need to improve their country’s readiness to cope with the disaster.