Urbanism: Landslide


Research Topic
Landslide, a massive movement of soil and rock debris that move downhill due to the action of gravity.

Background
A natural hazard of the world, when landslide occur, it can be one of the most devastating, costly and damaging phenomenon to a country. This normally has an influence due to human activities even though it may not be directly or indirectly to the cause. One for the main factors that help propel landslide is major developments in a certain area where expansion of development expand to unstable hill slope for roads and building sites. When this occur, it becomes a secret recipe for the grounds to become loosen and soft with the aid of raining.


Landslides occur when the stability of a slope changes from a stable to an unstable condition. A change in the stability of a slope can be caused by a number of factors, acting together or alone. Natural causes of landslides include:

1. Groundwater (porewater) pressure acting to destabilize the slope.
2. Loss or absence of vertical vegetative structure, soil nutrients, and soil structure (e.g. after a wildfire).
3. Erosion of the toe of a slope by rivers or ocean waves.
4. Weakening of a slope through saturation by snowmelt, glaciers melting, or heavy rains.
5. Earthquakes adding loads to barely stable slope.
6. Earthquake-caused liquefaction destabilizing slopes.
7. Volcanic eruptions.

Landslides are aggravated by human activities, Human causes include:

1. Deforestation, cultivation and construction, which destabilize the already fragile slopes.
2. Vibrations from machinery or traffic.
3. Blasting.
4. Earthwork which alters the shape of a slope, or which imposes new loads on an existing slope.
5. In shallow soils, the removal of deep-rooted vegetation that binds colluvium to bedrock.
6. Construction, agricultural or forestry activities (logging) which change the amount of water which infiltrates the soil.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landslide

Problem Identification
Coming up with an installation that can educate the audience may have certain question to keep in mind.
- How to attract the audience.
- What can the user learn from the installation.
- How does this effect them.
- Is the installation exciting to learn.
- Is the installation effective in spreading awareness.

Aim and Objectives
This project has a sole purpose to educate and spread awareness of how and what causes landslide to happen. This challenges me to come up with an idea on how to make it appealing to educate the audience.

Motivation
The Highland Towers Disaster is considered one of the most famous landslide incident in Malaysia. Occurred on 11 December 1993 in Taman Hillview, Ulu Klang. What was an apartment building back then turn out to be a tragedy when one of its block collapse with out a warning due to landslide. This devestating tragedy claim 48 lives which included high profile individuals and foreigners.

The primary cause of the tragic incident had been 10 days of unrelenting tropical rainfall that caused an enormous mudslide that toppled Block 1. The city's fire and rescue services faced an unprecedented situation as they struggled to find survivors in the massive heap of twisted wreckage, while relatives and friends waited desperately for news of the missing. In the aftermath of the tragedy, came an avalanche of urgent questions. Why had Highland Towers collapsed, and who should be called to account? In the first documentary account of this emotionally charged real life story, we hear the raw heart-rending stories of the men and women who lived through the tragedy and those that lost loved ones. We are taken back to the crucial hours and days – with never-before-seen footage, caught on tape by the BOMBA rescuers themselves – as emergency crews and ordinary people worked around the clock in the hope of finding survivors buried under the layers of rubble.
Source: http://www.historyasia.com/synopsis.aspx?libId=1401&sId=826&sTime=1320