ANGIE NGOC TRAN
CASE STUDY
HI VONG DISASTER RELIEF DESIGN
Case Study HI VONG
Angie Ngoc Tran
Case Study: HI VONG
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INTENT My ultimate goal in design is to support the community and protect the environment. There are many natural disasters that occur each year in Vietnam. Most of them are unpredictable and thus, detrimental to the society and individual life. Therefore I wanted my senior project to focus on design that aids disaster relief. Hi Vong is a modular piece of furniture that aids victims in the middle of the crisis experienced during natural disasters such as the annual flood. DISASTER RECOVERY PROCESS
LOCAL RESPONSE
The design process started with researching on how flood disaster that took place in countries like Vietnam was typically handled by disaster relief agencies or non government organizations. Some of the valuable information I found were the four phases of disaster relief (source from Fidelity Charitable) and the flood safety checklist (source from American Red Cross). I came to understand the holistic approach to disaster response from before until after the flood came: - What preparation should be taken - What supplies they need - What they should do after a flood - The time frame of each disaster relief phase - Goals, services provided and how social media impacts and responds in each phase
The Viet Nam Red Cross (VNRC) helped those affected by the disaster by distributing household kits, food, medicine and other emergency relief items. These were being delivered by boat to heavily-flooded areas and by hand to remote villages threatened by landslides. They also distributed construction materials, rice seeds, fertilizers and cows during early recovery efforts.
Case study: The evaluation of the VNRC relief response with support from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Participating National Societies (PNS).
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Angie Ngoc Tran
Case Study: HI VONG
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DAMAGES CAUSED BY TYPHOON TO HOUSEHOLDS
HOUSEHOLD SURVEY RESULTS
In response to the question “What are the most needed items/ assistance after the disaster hit your household?”, there is a majority of respondents said they needed rice (89,3%) while there is smaller percentage of respondents said they needed Household Kits or fertilizer or house building materials (53,9%, 55,5% and 58,7% respectively), and a much smaller percentage of respondents said they needed plastic sheets (31,1%) or clothes (20,5%). The questionnaire did not make a difference between short term and longer term needs.
In terms of damages caused by typhoons to households, there are a majority of families have lost their rice paddy totally (75,5%), lost other crops (72,95), animals (59,1%), HH items (45,5%), educational kits (43,5%), and farming tools (34,5%).
FLOOD SURVIVORS TELL THEIR STORIES Since I could not go back to Vietnam to interview the victims, I learned about them through articles and news. “I have never seen anything like this in my life. Huge blocks of land were falling down from the hills,” says Nguyen Thi Hoan, who – together with her eight-year-old son - narrowly escaped from a landslide and flash floods in the Doan Hung district of Phu Tho. Hoan had heard that the weather conditions were expected to worsen overnight, but no evacuation order was given. When conditions deteriorated she ran, carrying her child on her back, to her mother’s home some 500 metres away. But the water was rising rapidly and she was soon trapped. Nguyen Thanh Quy, a 50-year-old father of four from the Minh Luong commune in Doan Hung, also lost his home in the disaster – but he was able to save his family. A landslide hit their house at around midnight on 8 August, and Quy had to rush back into the collapsing building to rescue his youngest son. Quy and his family are now living with his mother in a small house nearby. However, while their home and many of their possessions have gone, their livestock survived, giving the family some hope for their future prospects.
The disaster could be very sudden, quick and dangerous. Evacuation order often was not made on time. The people had to leave everything behind and suffer from great loss (life, home, savings, possessions, livestock). www.angiengoc.com
While the typhoons caused only few deaths (6 or 2.5%) and some injures (10 or 4,1%), they caused a serious damage in terms of housing and agriculture to these families with 81,8% houses flooded, 45,9% houses collapsed, and 75,5% rice paddy flooded. Household kits are a priority for people, if they really lost household kits and the items were not yet available on the market. However, in the early recovery phase, household kits are not a priority.
Angie Ngoc Tran
Case Study: HI VONG
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DISTRIBUTION OF RELIEF ITEMS
MATERIAL SELECTION - BAMBOO
The relief items were transported by either helicopters or trucks to the site then distributed directly to the victims either at the shelters or by boats.
Vietnam is a country which has the greatest reservation of bamboo materials in the world. Over thousands of years, bamboo has been proved to provide a tremendous amount of benefits: funding for developing handicraft villages, especially for women group, providing highly economic values (rapidly renewable resource grown & harvest for many years, local income), benefiting social culture and environmental aspects, maing an excellent institute for wood in furniture manufacturing (grow much more rapidly than timber). Increasing use of bamboo would help to reduce demand on slower-growing timber forests.
With that in mind, one of the design considerations was to make sure that the item could be conveniently delivered.
Bamboo Distribution in Vietnam
DESIGN FOR DISASTER RELIEF Research and analysis on existing disater relief design
Most common species in Central Vietnam: Dendrocalamus Bartaus (Luong Thanh Hoa): - First harvest: 5 years after planting. - Harvest rotation from 2-4 years. - Good for making paper, poles, pillars for house/coal mine construction, slat that is highly demanded for both domestic and exporting market - The goal is to promote bamboo harvesting, manufacturing and building in an ecologically safe manner Bamboo products and applications in Vietnam:
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Angie Ngoc Tran
MATERIAL SELECTION - INOX
Case Study: HI VONG
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VALIDATION
Inox is trong, easy to work with, cheaply produced and has high oxidation resistance.
INOX BOARD Manufacturer: Fengyang Dimension (mm): 1.5x15000x6000 Price: 78,000,000 VND/ ton Type: INOX 304
BUDGET SUMMARY
INOX TUBE Manufacturer: Ngoc Loi Dimension (mm): Ø60.0x0.6x6000 Weight: 5.19 kg/each Price: 86,000 VND/tube BAMBOO PLYWOOD Manufacturer:Titi Dimension (mm): 430x430x18 Price: 60,000 VND/each
RUBBER BANDS Manufacturer: Cong Ty TNHH SX-TM Tong Hop Tan Thanh Price: 75,000 VND/kg
Source: VNRC responses to flood in Central Vietnam 2013 Currency in CHF (1 CHF = ~1USD)
PRODUCTION COST
INOX Flange INOX Tube Bamboo Top Bamboo Legs Rubber bands Labor (30%) Other expenses Total www.angiengoc.com
Dimesion (mm) 100x100 Ø60x0.6x60 430x430x18 Ø60 (varied)x135
Unite Price (VND) 3,750 1,000 38,000 1,250 5,000 17,000 6,000
Quantity 4 4 1 4 1
Total (VND) 15,000 4,000 38,000 5,000 5,000 17,000 6,000 90,000
The total cost of each item is 90,000 VND (about $4 USD), which is highly affordable based on the typical budget for the flooding recovery in Central Vietnam.
Angie Ngoc Tran
Case Study: HI VONG
page 6
PROJECT GOAL
FINAL PRODUCT - HI VONG
To respond to the annual flooding in Central Vietnam with a design that is low cost, portable, transformable, disposable, easy to assemble, takes advantage of local resources, and most importantly, supports life of the victims suffering from the natural disaster.
Shipping process is taken in consideration of the delivery methods and transportation options during the flooding. Most supplies are transported by big trucks to the site then delivered by small boats to the victims.
Hi Vong comes in a package of a bamboo top/container that has 3 elastic rubber strings running across to hold the 4 bamboo legs during transportation, and a bag of thick rubber bands. SKETCHES Explored options of how to quickly mass produce the module furniture with the least amount of labor, materials and resource waste.
Due to bamboo’s natural growth, the legs are at variable diameters. The rubber bands help to adjust the difference in size, as well as create friction for the legs to stay firmly in the INOX tubes.
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Angie Ngoc Tran
FINAL PRODUCT - HI VONG
Case Study: HI VONG
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TECH DRAWINGS
Hi Vong is a modular design that can be stacked together using the rubber bands to connect the legs with each other. In addition, the top can be used in two ways, as a container or as a flat surface, which is open to multiple applications depending on the needs of the users.
FRONT VIEW
TOP VIEW
SIDE VIEW
BAMBOO TOP
With its stackable and renewable (bamboo can be harvested locally) abilities, Hi Vong offers variable applications not only after the crisis but also in long-term use.
TOP VIEW
FRONT VIEW
TOP VIEW
INOX METAL CORNER FLANGE
SIDE VIEW
BAMBOO LEG
TOP VIEW
The disaster has always struck by surprise, especially in the middle of the night. Hi Vong provides a quick light and immediate solution to protect valuable possession. FRONT VIEW
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SIDE VIEW