When disaster strikes, survival can depend on a few basic needs. Access to clean water, shelter, warmth and sanitation is a matter of life of death in the days and weeks after an earthquake, tsunami, flood or tornado.
With climate scientists predicting that natural disasters will increase in both frequency and intensity in the coming decades, many designers have turned their attention to how they can help to alleviate their impact.
Their work includes a broad range of devices designed to save lives by helping rescue workers or giving people caught up in the aftermath of a natural disaster a way to help themselves.
Mikal Hallstrup, chairman of the INDEX: Award jury, said he and his fellow jury members were looking for ideas that could deliver real change. "We're not a design award for designer chairs or more white teacups," he told CNN. "The world simply doesn't need more stuff, so our focus is on meaningfulness. ... No matter how well designed a solution, we're not after great design solving the wrong problems."
He said that successful nominees would address a problem and present an affordable and scalable remedy. "New takes on old problems always get the jury excited," he added. "So do simple solutions to complex problems." And they don't come much more complex or big than a natural disaster.
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A personal ark
The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 was among the most devastating events of recent years. It led not only to increased interest and investment in early warning systems, but also to the development of personal survival devices for those in the path of an incoming tidal wave. Three of them are up for an INDEX: Award this year, including the Orange Saver, a stylish piece of furniture that unfurls into a life raft if the need arises. It's kept afloat by eight separate inflatable segments so that it will still be buoyant even if one is damaged.
The Noah miniature ark takes up a little more room than the Orange Saver but its designers intend it for the "average Japanese home". The bright yellow ball, four feet across, is made from fiber-reinforced plastic and will accommodate four adults. Once the hatch is sealed the pod is waterproof, buoyant and tough enough to fend of debris in the water. Vents in the roof allow in fresh air. The Noah is already in production and sells for about $5,500.
More robust still is the Tsunami Survival Pod built by Havana Houseboats in Australia, which is crush-resistant to a weight of more than 13,000 pounds. It can accommodate four adults strapped into racecar-style seats and with the door closed it's completely sealed — it contains enough air for about two and a half hours before the occupants would have to open the doors.
