“When human beings face new problems, they tend to use their innate creativity and design skills to invent and realize something new; in short, what they do is innovate.” (Manzini, 2015, p. 11)
In times of crisis, design takes on a strategic role: it becomes a tool for resilience and transformation. Throughout history, natural disasters and humanitarian crises have led to innovative solutions that have saved lives and transformed the way we face these challenges- From the shelters and supply systems developed after the Haiti earthquake in 2010 to the designs proposed by students to deal with last year's floods in Valencia, design has demonstrated its ability to generate effective responses to extreme situations.
Design also plays an important role in reconstruction and prevention in the aftermath of these crises; and its solutions not only meet immediate needs, but also contribute to sustainable recovery and the adaptation of communities in the face of future challenges.
Below, we will explain some of these crises and their resulting designs.
Earthquake in Haiti, 2010
On January 12, 2010, Haiti experienced an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale, with its epicenter in Port-au-Prince. The lack of resilient infrastructure exacerbated the consequences resulting in nearly 300,000 deaths, 250,000 collapsed homes and businesses, and the displacement of more than 1.5 million people who lost their homes.
Following this tragedy, Shigeru Ban's group of architects decided to take action and through collaboration with professors and students from the Universidad Iberoamericana in the Dominican Republic, built shelters using the natural resources of the area.
Another very interesting project that resulted from this fact was Waka Waka. Here they took into account the problems of the area, such as the lack of electricity supply, the potential of the available amount of daily sunlight and the dangers of lighting with kerosene lamps as they had been doing so far. With all this information, the foundation designed a solar energy battery (power bank) with flashlight through the launch of a crowdfunding campaign in which the buyer was offered the option of donating one device for the Haitians and keeping another. As a result, 12,000 lamps were donated to those affected.
Floods in Valencia: from the flood of 1957 to the DANA of 2024
In mid-October 1957, a cold drop settled in Valencia causing heavy storms that overflowed the Turia River. It is estimated that there were between 80 and 100 deaths, and approximately 1700 people lost their homes (Martí, 2022).
As a direct consequence and for prevention, Plan Sur was carried out, which consisted of diverting the Turia River channel away from the urban center. This project was mainly an engineering work, but it also had some industrial design aspects such as the design of the floodgates, culverts, urban furniture (for the Turia Garden), among others.
Thanks to this work, the flooding of the historic center area was avoided with the previous year's DANA, but the more remote areas of the city could not be protected. This highlights the need to upgrade the drainage system to avoid future catastrophes that are expected to occur more frequently due to climate change.
With the flooding caused by the Isolated High Level Depression of 2024, many designers were motivated to contribute their expertise.
WAG: culvert redesign
Students from the UPM School of Engineering and Industrial Design have proposed a culvert design that would take advantage of the vibrations of cars to prevent clogging. They have presented it to the “James Dyson Award” contest. The system would work as a large spring, allowing also to unclog it with a complementary tool that lifts it from the center as a clamp.
Drinking Water
According to the World Health Organization, “by 2022, at least 1.7 billion people in the world were drinking water from sources contaminated with faeces. Contaminated water and poor sanitation contribute to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, other diarrheal diseases, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid fever and polio.”
These alarming figures continue to rise as drinking water sources decrease due to population growth and climate change.
In 1999, the Swiss company Vestergaard, seeking to prevent guinea worm disease, created LifeStraw.
LifeStraw is a filter for purifying contaminated water that removes bacteria, parasites, microplastics and sediment. The company has made an enormous social contribution to developing countries: it launched prevention campaigns against waterborne diseases, built and financed health centers and donated huge quantities of filters.
Today, other types of purifiers have been designed within the product family: a bottle, a pitcher, an optimized redesign of the original filter, among others.
Design in times of crisis not only responds to emergencies, but also helps prevent similar situations from happening again on the same scale.
Through creativity and innovation, life-saving solutions can be found. The impact of design in these contexts is undeniable; these are just a few examples that show how design can help by offering possible solutions to present or future problems. What other problems can you think of that we could solve through design? How can we extend the reach of these solutions to more people in vulnerable situations?
Thinking of design as a tool to help will bring us closer to a more equitable and conscious future.
References:
Ecoinventos. (s.f.). WAG: Un innovador sistema para eliminar el agua estancada en las alcantarillas y evitar inundaciones. Ecoinventos. https://ecoinventos.com/wag-alcantarilla/
La Razón. (2022, octubre 13). La Riada de octubre de 1957, las lluvias que marcaron el futuro de toda la ciudad de València. La Razón. https://www.larazon.es/comunidad-valenciana/20221013/n2srmg7hc5alhdaspvbve4qalq.html
LifeStraw. (s.f.). Our story. LifeStraw. https://lifestraw.com/pages/our-story
Manzini, E. (2015). Cuando todos diseñan: Una introducción al diseño para la innovación social. Experimenta Libros.
Máximo Iñigo. (17 de junio de 2024). WAG [Archivo de Vídeo]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wudcDzrfllM
Shigeru Ban Architects. (s.f.). Paper emergency shelters – Haiti. Shigeru Ban Architects. https://shigerubanarchitects.com/works/paper-tubes/paper-emergency-shelters-haiti/
WakaWaka. (2013, 6 de junio). WakaWaka in Haiti: A look back. WakaWaka. https://waka-waka.com/en/2013/06/wakawaka-haiti-look-back/
World Health Organization. (13 de septiembre de 2023). Drinking water. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/es/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water
WWF España. (s.f.). La crisis mundial del agua. WWF España. https://www.wwf.es/nuestro_trabajo/agua/la_crisis_mundial_del_agua/
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