Those familiar with Margot Krasojević's work know not to expect a dull, run of the mill design from the experimental architect and her latest project doesn't disappoint. The highly-conceptual Self-Excavation Hurricane House would use the power of the wind to dig itself into the ground when a hurricane strikes.
Like the revolving sail bridge and offshore floating prison, the Self-Excavation Hurricane House is best considered as food-for-thought rather than a practical plan. In this case, the project would make use of the fact that hurricane winds always turn in a counter-clockwise direction in the northern hemisphere (clockwise in the southern hemisphere).
The basic idea is, as the winds increase in speed, they would provide enough force to move the home's sculpted sail-like form along a helicoid retaining wall, and, along with hydraulic pivots, allow it to bury itself into the ground to lower its profile and protect itself from the wind's buffeting. Think of a screw being turned into some wood and you're not too far off. The house would be enclosed by an artificial island designed to flush flood water away.
The Self-Excavation Hurricane House's main living area would be constructed from a precast reinforced concrete frame, with rubber-coated concertina wall sections providing the flexibility required to enable movement. A reinforced concrete anchor would be connected to cable foundations pinning the home into the ground. Presumably there would be a way of unscrewing it and raising the home back up once the winds died down, but this isn't addressed in the concept proposal.
"The excavated ground is pushed away whilst the artificial island surrounding the building acts as a canopy moving water away from the building," says Krasojević. "Solar panels line the island's floor plate panels and edged by a ring of turbines, the turntable like design consists of sixty-four separate timber sections that act as an irrigation field directing rain and floodwater away from the building, these contained sections are deeper closer to the building in order to help with efficient drainage, they act like a water screw."
The Self-Excavation Hurricane House was originally commissioned for a spa in Kunming, China, on behalf of the Yunnan metallurgical group, but is imagined here in the Louisiana wetlands.
Source: Margot Krasojević Architecture