Samuel Bazeley

Department: Contextual Design

Earthquake Technology

The starting point for the project was a photograph of the fissures left in an asphalt road by an earthquake. Designers seldom explore the conflict between man-made things and nature. I believe that such an exploration might throw up fresh and fascinating results.

I wondered if I could harness the chaos and uncertainty of an earthquake as a design process.
Of course, an earthquake’s scale is immense, so I looked for ways to interpret its physical effects. Scientists research the process of an earthquake using laboratory apparatus; perhaps I could adapt such apparatus to produce objects that would appeal to the user?

I examined a range of materials of different texture, viscosity and colour, modelled a variety of ‘geological machines’, and created sceneries, ‘designed’ by the natural forces of an earthquake.

My proposal is to build an earthquake-making machine that will transform materials into a form whose shape and structure reflects the destructive force of an earthquake.