>>I had not thought of that. Possibly they would help, or some other baffle might work better. I'd want some mathematicians and engineers to study this with water tables and wind tunnels to derive the most effective approach.<<
Also look at history and nature.
_For historical stuff:_ Were there societies that arrainge buildings so that they could serve as windbreaks or sunshades? A Brother's Price mentioned using farm buildings as windbreaks, and I believe I've heard of folks arrainging wagons to protect against precipitation or wind. (Trees are commonly used as windbreaks and sunshades, but they aren't buildings.)
_For nature:_
See how animals move. Geese and fish move in ways that cut air/water resistance. Emperor penguins can only overwinter by working together against the blizzards. Many grazing animals will stand in ways that protect them from the elements.
_And if you are looking at architecture:_
What sort of features (geographical or manmade) protect against the given disaster, or similar small-scale weather events?
What of these features could be built in such a way that they are inhabitable?
I could imagine a house-on-stilt setup, where underneath the house functions as a patio or pavilion most of the time...but for floods everyone just chills upstairs. (Inspired by my musings on architecture designed for a tidal floodplain...)
And any kind of a levee or wall could have housing on the land ward side. It could even be set up as two or more walls, with the habitable space as compartments in between. (Think compartmentalization as on the Titanic.) Just be sure to evacuate for big storms!
_If we were protecting against flooding specifically:_
- Costal houses can be arrainged so that they function as a seawall in the event of a flood. (I am unsure if how much of a dent they might put in a tsunami, but it is worth thinking about.)
- If building a high-rise building, try to design it so it will work even when the lower levels flood. If frequent floods are expected, it may be possible include technology to harvest electricity from the tides in the floodable levels.
- Related, I'll bet something designed like a Mesoamerican pyramid would be a great tall structure for a tsunami - alarm goes off, everyone inside goes upstairs and opens the pper doors, everyone outside walks up the (decorative and functional) stairs, and can watch the mayhem, or wait it out inside.
- If you can't /stop/ the water, can you /channel/ it? (This would likely work better with freshwater...but theoretically a catchment pond in a desert could be set up for solar distillation.) Conversely, flooding coming from uphill could be used as a street-washing service...or as musical stairs / a musical fountain. (Do be sure people in the streets have a quick & easy way to escape the flooding, though!.)
- Design streets so they can double as canals. Paint addresses, street names and depth markers on the tops of buildings. (Possibly also stick flags on the roofs, if the floodwaters get really high - and put depth markers on the flagpoles, too!)
Not architecture, but if you expect floods, train as many people as possible in water rescue. Offer incentives for boat owners to register, get training, and do drills. We're gonna need more Cajun Navies, unfortunately.
Also, does anyone know if Roman aquatic concrete can be set above water? Can it be used in sometimes-wet-sometimes-dry environs?
There's other ideas I could suggest for different disasters, but this is what I've got for wind-precipitation-flood stuff.
Re: Thoughts
Also look at history and nature.
_For historical stuff:_
Were there societies that arrainge buildings so that they could serve as windbreaks or sunshades? A Brother's Price mentioned using farm buildings as windbreaks, and I believe I've heard of folks arrainging wagons to protect against precipitation or wind. (Trees are commonly used as windbreaks and sunshades, but they aren't buildings.)
_For nature:_
See how animals move. Geese and fish move in ways that cut air/water resistance. Emperor penguins can only overwinter by working together against the blizzards. Many grazing animals will stand in ways that protect them from the elements.
_And if you are looking at architecture:_
What sort of features (geographical or manmade) protect against the given disaster, or similar small-scale weather events?
What of these features could be built in such a way that they are inhabitable?
I could imagine a house-on-stilt setup, where underneath the house functions as a patio or pavilion most of the time...but for floods everyone just chills upstairs. (Inspired by my musings on architecture designed for a tidal floodplain...)
And any kind of a levee or wall could have housing on the land ward side. It could even be set up as two or more walls, with the habitable space as compartments in between. (Think compartmentalization as on the Titanic.) Just be sure to evacuate for big storms!
_If we were protecting against flooding specifically:_
- Costal houses can be arrainged so that they function as a seawall in the event of a flood. (I am unsure if how much of a dent they might put in a tsunami, but it is worth thinking about.)
- If building a high-rise building, try to design it so it will work even when the lower levels flood. If frequent floods are expected, it may be possible include technology to harvest electricity from the tides in the floodable levels.
- Related, I'll bet something designed like a Mesoamerican pyramid would be a great tall structure for a tsunami - alarm goes off, everyone inside goes upstairs and opens the pper doors, everyone outside walks up the (decorative and functional) stairs, and can watch the mayhem, or wait it out inside.
- If you can't /stop/ the water, can you /channel/ it? (This would likely work better with freshwater...but theoretically a catchment pond in a desert could be set up for solar distillation.) Conversely, flooding coming from uphill could be used as a street-washing service...or as musical stairs / a musical fountain. (Do be sure people in the streets have a quick & easy way to escape the flooding, though!.)
- Design streets so they can double as canals. Paint addresses, street names and depth markers on the tops of buildings. (Possibly also stick flags on the roofs, if the floodwaters get really high - and put depth markers on the flagpoles, too!)
Not architecture, but if you expect floods, train as many people as possible in water rescue. Offer incentives for boat owners to register, get training, and do drills. We're gonna need more Cajun Navies, unfortunately.
Also, does anyone know if Roman aquatic concrete can be set above water? Can it be used in sometimes-wet-sometimes-dry environs?
There's other ideas I could suggest for different disasters, but this is what I've got for wind-precipitation-flood stuff.