Bunker Architecture - Analysis and Research
This project was a chance to test both the methodology for conducting research as well as the graphic representation of the research to date. I wanted to create a transition in scale; starting with a high level understanding of the topic itself and then zooming in to the more specific architectural details at the scale of the occupant. This part of the project includes, maps, surveys, infographics, and annotated axometric drawings and were presented accompanied by work from Projects 1-3 as well.
Majority of the data used for these graphics were gathered from qualitative sources (Reddit.com, Youtube, Survivalistboards.com, etc.) as well as readings from various books and periodicals. The objective of this pilot project was to demonstrate how doomsday prepping reflects individual fears but also represents values of the collective and a portrait of the current human condition.
Currently, there is no official census data available specifically in relation to doomsday preppers, their process of preparation, and the structures they are constructing for survival. Some online sources have speculated on the number of North Americans who are actively taking measures to prepare for disaster. This does not account for temporality as there are some distinctions between typical disaster preparedness (most natural disasters are considered temporary and benign; once they pass, everyday life is expected to resume) and preparing for end-times (implying a level of permanence, resulting in the collapse of society and major reduction in human population). This thesis concentrates on the latter, and will try to use different methods of analysis, a combination of qualitative and quantitative, to generate and analyse relevant data.
I wanted to test a way of archiving conversations between preppers and to use online exchanges between users to distill potential prepper values/topics of interest. Through this exercise, the word cloud generators allow most frequently used words to float to the surface, and to eliminate words that are less informative.
The result of the word clouds successfully generated a collection of frequently used words used by preppers . My next objective was to take these results a step further after I realized that these words seemed to fall into specific, recurring categories; politics, weapons, climate/environmental conditions, water, food/stockpiling techniques, built environment, disaster-related terms, etc. In these diagrams I wanted to summarize my findings by creating my own quantitative data sets using qualitative sources. I was also interested in mapping the geographic location of preppers, by pinpointing references to counties/towns within the archived conversations. Hopefully, this would reveal trends of preppers are in America,. Are they clustered in a specific region or evenly distributed?
Within this map, others layers of information are also included including data related to gun laws (partial law, strong law, or no laws) since it is evident that the militarization of domestic space is a common value/topic of interest amongst preppers.
These diagrams were generated using a collection of different text-based conversations between doomsday preppers and survivalists on various online websites and forums. This particular axonometric illustrates the different perspectives that people have towards nuclear fallout and how to prepare for it accordingly.
Many of the considerations directly address spatial requirements, food storage, water storage, air filtration, and specific programs to include in the bunker. Although it is sometimes difficult to take personal preference versus the most practical solution to the problem into account, there is a degree of subjectivity to keep in mind.
How are preppers in America reacting to different fears, and how is this reflected in the architecture of the spaces they’re designing (in this case bunkers, and secret shelters)? I wanted to create a diagram that would compare and contrast the differences between these spaces and how they would be used.
Using images and conversations from the online communities, these diagrams were created by translating primarily text-based information into something more tangible. Essentially, the following graphics are collages of different ideas and opinions about how a shelter to combat artificial intelligence or fallout should be constructed/used.
This also represents the shift between a top-down approach to emergency shelters to a bottom up approach; an age of crowd-sourced architecture.