Architect Fernando Herrera has a solution to the problem of how to build houses that can survive California earthquakes. He’s proposing that we make houses out of flexible strands of material that can bend like muscles. When a quake hits, the house will move with the Earth and remain intact.
According to architecture magazine eVolo:
The house is an accumulation of materialized contours or “strands” that resonate from the topography and is a presupposition of the seismic activity that is linked with the area. Intense and relaxed bundling of the strands define fenestration and walls where the bundling gives surface.
The house essentially becomes part of the landscape, moving along with it. And its entire structure, from walls to windows, is woven from strands of a futuristic material that looks — at least from these images — like beautiful yarn structures.
A similar house came from the imaginations of students Keyla Hernandez and Jason Orbe-Smith as well. Currently these houses are just concepts — but one day, earthquake-prone California cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco might look just like bundles of knitting. You can see more plans for both houses below.
[via Curbed]
Click to enlarge.
