"NYR
Design from Disasters
Martin Filler. Nov 5, 2012
As we contemplate the horrific damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, the world of design may seem remote from our most immediate concerns. Yet the urgent needs that follow large-scale catastrophes—the need for shelter, clean water, alternative sources of power—can be particularly conducive to creative solutions. I recentlyobserved that breakthroughs in architecture and industrial design have emerged during wartime; now a remarkable new exhibition in Oslo shows that the same can hold true for natural disasters as well.
Presented by Norsk Form, the Foundation for Design and Architecture in Norway,Design Without Borders (the title is an obvious nod to Médecins Sans Frontières) presents realistic mock-ups of fourteen problem-solving design initiatives—ranging from post-hurricane relief to land-mine removal—in Norsk Form’s DogA exhibition space, which occupies a cavernous turn-of-the-twentieth-century power station in Oslo. For example, a life-size replica of a post-disaster shelter features insulated walls made from empty plastic beverage bottles stacked and held in place with chicken wire within wooden frameworks.
According to Leif Verdu-Isachsen, who organized the exhibition and edited its engaging catalog with Truls Ramberg,
After a natural disaster, we have about a two-week window of opportunity in which to engage the global public before its attention shifts elsewhere, so what we do has to be implemented very quickly. Furthermore, we know that on average these shelters will need to be used for about three years before permanent housing can be built, so the combination of rapid assembly and relative durability is essential."
Photo: proposed "greening" of Lower Manhattan to absorb storm surges, designed by Stephen Cassell, Adam Yarinski, and Susannah C. Drake for the exhibition Rising Currents, Museum of Modern Art, 2010. ARO/dlandstudio/Museum of Modern Art