Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.

Non-UMass Amherst users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.

Dissertations that have an embargo placed on them will not be available to anyone until the embargo expires.

ORCID

N/A

Access Type

Open Access Thesis

Document Type

thesis

Degree Program

Architecture

Degree Type

Master of Architecture (M.Arch.)

Year Degree Awarded

2014

Month Degree Awarded

May

Abstract

It is quite astonishing that most homes being built today fail to adequately respond to natural disasters. Looking within the last decade, the data indicates that these disasters are more frequent than they once were, and are affecting a larger geographical area. Many believe that these patterns will only escalate. The magnitude and frequency of these tornadoes and hurricanes are hard to ignore. The power and destruction inflicted has affected most Americans in a multitude of ways.

We simply cannot continue to build homes using typical methods of construction in these disaster-prone areas. To re-build a home in the same manner on top of a post-disaster site is the definition of insanity.

This thesis aims to bridge the gap and merge the benefits of the safety associated with living in a concrete bunker and the perception of quality of space associated with living in a glass home. An analysis of feasibility and difficulty of construction, and cost will help set parameters early on in the design phase. The goal is that the resultant home could be deployed in both pre and post disaster areas. The challenge, I am addressing, is designing a home that is impervious to tornado and hurricane while offering a delightful space of dwelling.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/5530903

First Advisor

Kathleen Lugosch

Second Advisor

Ray Mann

Download

Included in

Architecture Commons

COinS