July 20th and 22nd, 2020
As part of the Housing Pre-Planning Toolkit project, Larisa Ovalles and Charlotte Matthai led the first ‘Basic Level’ workshop with the Cambridge Disaster Housing Working Group. The two-day workshop facilitated conversations around long-term resilient planning and disaster housing following the Toolkit framework.
February 27, 2020
The first SEED prototype currently being fabricated in Pennsylvania in partnership with AMSS. Last week we reached a significant milestone with completion of the fully custom structural frame. The unit’s structure has been designed, engineered, and now fabricated to to meet the structural requirements of containerized shipping, as well as zone II seismic forces and 195MPH winds once deployed for post disaster use. The fold out panels double the inhabitable space available to disaster survivors once the unit arrives at its final destination.
We look forward to the rest of the ongoing fabrication process!
November 22nd, 2019
As part of the Housing Pre-Planning Toolkit project, Lily Bui led the second ‘Intermediate Level’ workshop with the Sacramento & Yolo County Disaster Housing Working Group. The two-day workshop facilitated conversations around long-term resilient planning and disaster housing following the Toolkit framework.
October 12th, 2019
Larisa Ovalles, presented the Urban Risk Lab’s work at Green Up, an event that focuses on sustainability issues, where the future of our cities and world resources will be discussed, and where the tools used by sustainability leaders that are making this planet a better home for us and will be presented to future generations. Aimed at professionals in marketing, design, architecture, engineering, politics and others interested in the sustainable development of our built environment.
Other presenters included Ginny Heinsen, president of Sostenibilidad 3Rs and activist. Larisa also participated in the panel, “Gender and Sustainability” along with Ginney, Yomayra Martinó from Greenergy and Karina Chéz from Kaya Energy Group.
November 22nd, 2019
As part of the Housing Pre-Planning Toolkit project, Larisa Ovalles led the second ‘Intermediate Level’ workshop with the Toa Baja Disaster Housing Working Group. We were joined by ResilientSEE-PR’s Yanel de Angel, Tamara Elena Pérez, Jaime Pabón from Moffat & Nichol and presentation by Paul Fericelli (EPA). The two-day workshop facilitated conversations around long-term resilient planning and disaster housing following the Toolkit framework.
October 8th, 2019
Keep Safe - A Guide to Resilient Housing Design and Construction is a new manual for safe, resilient housing construction for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Florida Keys developed in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Enterprise Community Partners led a large team, including the University of Puerto Rico School of Architecture and Planning, the Puerto Rico Homebuilders Association, Perkins and Will, and the MIT Urban Risk Lab, among others, to develop a comprehensive manual for rebuilding in the Caribbean in the most sustainable, long lasting way in the face of escalating hazards due to climate change. The manual features strategies on resilient energy and water systems for homes; protection of roofing and structural systems; strategies to enable habitability of homes without power; strategies to embolden communities and how to implement strategies outlined through code compliance and funding.
Our contribution, led by Larisa Ovalles with extensive contributions by Jean Carlos Vega Diaz, was the introductory chapter on Puerto Rico’s hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities to disaster. It includes both a survey of disasters on the island stretching back 100 years and a projection of future hazards due to climate change.
The book will be released to the public on October 8, 2019, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Juan, PR.
August, 2019
The workshop will focus on existing public and collective spaces and how they can build resilience within their community. Social, educational, and cultural support networks that are tied to specific spatial typologies help build resilience on a daily basis, but can also be designed to function as important post-disaster anchors for the community. Public spaces meet the needs of everyday community life, but can also double as the main hosts for post-disaster activities. Embedding preparedness into the design of collective spaces to better function for post-disaster needs.
The workshop will study several typologies of collective spaces including: schools (with their adjacent parks and playgrounds), ‘comedores populares’ (communal kitchens), soccer fields (‘canchas’), park networks, plazas and churches. The workshop will engage with the main actors of these spaces through a series of site visits, meetings and collaborative design charrettes to better understand their complexities, needs and potential.
FIELD WORK & SITE VISITS
The field trip worked to understand different modes of appropriation, function and self-management of some collective spaces in northern and southern Lima; and to learn from people how they are prepared for some physical vulnerabilities.
Beyond a simple view of a “informal development” of these barrios, the public infrastructure of these neighborhoods, most of them planned, have an important role in each community. Those public facilities are schools, cuna-más (kindergarten), soccer fields, community locals, and parks in which neighbors, children, students and families gather. Each space is self-managed mainly by communal endeavors and improved by collective fundraising.
FITECA - Proyecto Fitekantropus / Communal center, library, and shared kitchen.
PREVI / Housing projects, park, and school
VES - Villa de Jesus School / School, Earthquake preparedness, park
VES - Superblock / Shared kitchen, Cuna Más, Communal center (Yellow building), and park
VMT - Virgen de Lourdes / School
Collaborators
Urban Risk Lab: Miho Mazereeuw, Larisa Ovalles, Rodrigo Escandon Ceserman, Evellyn Tan
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP): Luis Rodriguez, Eduardo Pelaez
Aula, Eduardo Pelaez
July-August, 2019
The 2019 xLAB Summer Program focused on Tokyo’s resilience and consists of studios, seminar lectures, faculty lectures, and a symposium at The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan). With a focus on the city of Tokyo using the 2020 Summer Olympics as an urban event, participants researched themes of resiliency under the leadership of interdisciplinary faculty.
The group studio developed a proposal for the island of Harumi, which will host the athletes of the Olympics 2020. Resilience is not a static status but a process of change, empowering communities to prepare through their everyday activities.
HaruMIX will focus on small interventions within the ground plan that become a LARGE SYSTEM for CHANGE with dual-use themes of integrating bosai systems within WORK, TOURISM and FITNESS. This is developed through the perspective of three distinct narratives, a single working mother, a group of tourists and an elderly man.
Mental Health X Physical Health
STUDENTS SEBASTIAN ARGUELLO, HIROKI AWAJI, TEN HYAKUTAKE, LUCAS NGIAM, LARISA OVALLES PAULINO, XIAOWAN QIN, ROBERTO RANSOM, ECHO SHI, MUMU TASHIRO, ARCHITECTURAL CONSULTANTS JUNPEI MIWA, SAYAKA HAMAMOTO, HAYATO FUKADA
FACULTY MIHO MAZEREEUW, KAZ YONEDA, MITSUHIRO KANADA
July 22th, 2019
Last week a large contingent of Dutch business, design, and government leaders came to Boston for a series of meetings and workshops with Massachusetts based organizations working for a more resilient future in Boston. By sharing ideas and best practices, and looking for ways to develop future collaborations, the goal of the trip was to build stronger connections between the generations of experience in the Netherlands dealing with interconnected water issues, and the increasing need for greater Boston to do the same.
We were fortunate to be able to take part multiple events during the week. It was a great opportunity to share some of our ongoing research and learn from others doing important work, both in the Dutch delegation and our local community.
June 29th, 2019
Being developed through a partnership between MIT Urban Risk Lab, Portland General Electric, Portland State University and the City of Portland, PREPHubs are innovative community-driven installations tacking disaster preparedness in the community around them.
On June 29th, Portland State University's Center for Public Interest Design organized an interactive planning session to inform PREPHub’s features and to help shape the way people engage with the PREPHub every day and in the event of a disaster. During this event, David Moses, lab’s project lead for the PREPHub project, interacted with the community partners and introduced the community to the design ideas behind PREPHub. The discussion focused on challenges and opportunities around community programming.
PREPHubs are designed to operate off-grid during and immediately after a disaster, providing vital services that include power, emergency communication equipment, information and emergency supplies provided by the City of Portland’s BEECN program. It will also be a place where people can charge their cell phones with power stored from the electric grid, supplemented with power generated by solar arrays and pedal-power. In non-disaster periods, PREPHubs are expected to function as interactive knowledge sharing nodes about disaster preparation and how people can become involved in preparedness.
June, 2019
As part of the Housing Pre-Planning Toolkit project, Larisa Ovalles led the first ‘Basic level’ workshop with the Toa Baja Municipality in Puerto Rico. We were joined by ResilientSEE-PR’s Yanel de Angel and Maria Roldón, along with the Toa Baja Disaster Housing Working Group who will be working together to complete the Toolkit process. The workshop facilitated discussions and conversations around long-term resilient planning and disaster housing. The aim was to set common objectives in housing policy, identify local hazards and vulnerabilities, and introduce federal disaster and hazard mitigation assistance programs.
April, 2019
For the annual emergency day drill in Kumamoto, Japan Urban Risk Lab in partnership with messaging app LINE, and the city of Kumamoto piloted a novel approach of using chatbot system to manage evacuation shelters during emergency events. Specially developed for Japanese cities, the Shelter Operation Chat-bot helps shelter managers communicate with the emergency control room directly. Through its guided interface, it collects pertinent data and also updates a map interface to show the latest status of the shelter on the Emergency Management Dashboard. The dashboard is designed to reduce the information overload during a crisis, allowing disaster managers to communicate with shelter operators directly, check the latest vital stats and manage resources.
Additionally, RiskMap platform was used to test the public reporting functions to share flood and road closure information, with over 13,500 people participating in the drill across the city.
November, 2018
Urban Risk Lab - in partnership with Lumanti support group for Shelter, Nepal - completed the pilot project - PREPhub Nepal - A a community-driven design innovation of the traditional building type known as Paati. In the Kathmandu Valley, paati - small, public pavilion - represents a living example of collective management of public infrastructure with centuries-old cultural legacy. In addition to improving their role as a day to day public anchors, this project aims to create a place for people to gather after a disaster, supporting communities in these extreme events. This pilot project in the village of Thecho tackles everyday water scarcity, through storage, treatment, and community-led distribution as well as acts as an emergency back up in the times of disaster with access to water, power and emergency supplies.
PrepHub Nepal has won MIT IDEAS Global Challenge 2016, Lafarge-Holcim Foundation Acknowledgment Prize 2017 and was a finalist for UN RISK Award, 2017.
PrepHub Nepal project is supported by MIT TATA center for Technology and Design , Lafarge-Holcim Foundation and locally implemented by Lumanti Support Group for Shelter.
October 23rd, 2018
Larisa Ovalles, Research Associate, presenting PrepHubs at the MITArchA event
Gilad Rosenzweig MCP ’13, Executive Director of DesignX, Larisa Ovalles SM 16’ Research Associate at the Urban Risk Lab, Stephanie Lee M.Arch ’19 from Spaceus and Arlene Ducao SM ’13 from Multimer.
Larisa Ovalles presented the PrepHub project as part of DesignX, a platform for accelerating innovation in design, urbanism, and the built environment at the MIT School of Architecture + Planning. It works to develop and launch new products, services, and technologies by combining MIT’s creative energy with the talents and experience of industry and the public sector.
Executive Director of DesignX, Gilad Rosenzweig, started the talk and was followed by presentations by other designX ventures, including Spaceus and Multimer.
PrepHubs are a new kind of public space infrastructure, designed to embed community scale preparedness into cities.
The event was hosted by ARUP and organized by the MITArchA and MIT Club of New York. For more information about the event, visit the MITArchA page.
August, 2018
Riskmap project is one of the finalists for MIT Solve 2018 Global Challenge in the coastal communities category.
Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that advances lasting solutions from tech entrepreneurs to address the world's most pressing problems. Solve then builds and convenes a community of leaders and changemakers to form partnerships these Solver teams need to scale their impact.
Riskmap harnesses the power of citizen reporting and social media to map time-critical information without needing to install any new applications or training. Currently operating in three countries - Indonesia, India and the United States - this platform connects residents, who often have the best-localized information, with emergency managers to drastically cut down on response times.
August, 2018
In view of the recent devastating flooding in Kerala, MIT Urban Risk Lab has expanded the RiskMap platform to support realtime mapping and recovery efforts for the state.
RiskMap connects residents, who often have the best-localized information, with emergency managers to drastically cut down on response times. Through the live map, residents are also able to inform each other about dynamically changing situations in the city and help each other navigate to safety.
August, 2018
We are excited to announce plans to build our first long term PREPHub prototype as a research platform in Portland, Oregon, on the campus of Portland State University. Working in partnership with Portland State University, Portland General Electric, and the City of Portland, we will lead a series of design workshops this fall, and hope to have the new design installed by summer of 2019. A full press release can be found here.
Local coverage in the Portland Mercury and KATU, Portland's ABC affiliate.
June, 2018
Larisa Ovalles, Research Associate at the Urban Risk Lab, presented “Reducing Risk through Design” during the ‘Technology’s Role in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Workshop’ as part of Lincoln Labs Homeland Protection Workshop Series 2018.
The Homeland Protection Workshop Series is one of the many workshops conducted at MIT Lincoln Laboratory as part of the Laboratory’s efforts to facilitate technology transfer. This event brings together government leaders, national technology leaders, private industry, and state and local stakeholders to discuss key challenges and potential solutions.
June, 2018
Dr. Tomas Holderness was an invited panelist to Emergency Management Leaders Conference, 2018 and presented the Urban Risk Map Project. This conference is aimed at uniting leadership from public sector emergency management and private sector disaster preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation. Featuring open-format discussions addressing recent events, current issues and best practices this conference seeks to advance current policy in the DRR space.
Tomas is a Research Scientist at Urban Risk Lab, he coordinates the Urban Risk Map project.
May, 2018
Mayank Ojha presented realtime disaster mapping platform Urban Risk Map at 2018 Understanding Risk Forum in Mexico. Risk Map is an open source platform for sharing disaster information between residents and governments for real-time disaster co-management.
Organized by The World Bank and GFDRR, UR2018 is a five-day event that highlights groundbreaking work, facilitate nontraditional partnerships, and showcase new technical know-how in disaster risk identification.
Mayank is a Resarch Associate at Urban Risk Lab working of decision support tools to help make cities resilient to effects of climate change
