A mad posh for Aerodynamic houses.

[Flangepart]

Okey, you Hurricane fearing people...i got a question.
Why not build houses shaped like Airfoils?
I mean, a house shaped like a wing section, that sits on a base, that turns into high winds?
Would that not make it harder for momma nature to blow the structure away?
Seems to me, we need to reconciter the shape of things to live in.

Think about it!
Flat serfaces give winds something to push aginst. Wing foils don't. Sure, might make room placement odd, but that could make for a nice change of pace!
"Now this room, it's on the leftside, and it faces the sun most days, but this darling litte trim tab, allows you to cant the house a bit, so you can always face the sun in the front room."
Hey, might be more expensive, but if your the first, it'll sure be different!
Okey....your turn....am i wrong to wanna see this happen?

[JohnL]

Much better idea; build your home completely underground. Better insulation so it's easier to keep warm or cool and *NOTHING* above ground to blow away.

If you have to build above ground, use a steel frame and floors with brick walls. Not only will it be much stronger, but in the case of a fire, only the contents will burn and then it will probably be confined to one room. Clean it out, throw down a new carpet, maybe replace the windows and you're ready to move back in. Makes a lot more sense than wooden structures which are vulnerable not only to fires and the weather, but also to termites.

[AndyC]

I would think groundwater would be an obstacle to underground houses on the coast of Florida.

I was also wondering if Flange had intended the airfoil house to turn by some mechanical means, or just turn freely like a weather vane.

Just imagining kids running like hell as an airfoil house turns into a sudden gust. Would make playing in the yard difficult, unless you had a really big lot, and don't even try to get in or out the door. Would house insurance cover somebody getting clobbered by your house?

Might make hooking up the plumbing a challenge too.

On the bright side, if you could build it to spin, you could generate your own power. Just keep lots of Gravol handy.



Post Edited (09-29-04 18:07)

[Dave Munger]

Sounds kind of like a Buckminster Fuller idea. One of his was a geodesic dome house that's just held in place by a central steel pole. It can be moved by a helicopter, that'd probably be a pretty good way of evacuating.

[Derf]

Dave Munger wrote:

> Sounds kind of like a Buckminster Fuller idea. One of his was a
> geodesic dome house that's just held in place by a central
> steel pole. It can be moved by a helicopter, that'd probably be
> a pretty good way of evacuating.

Aaargh! You beat me to this reference. I searched for this yesterday but couldn't remember Fuller's name, only the house idea. Today I did a second search and found it, came here, and saw that you beat me to it.

Anyway, Fuller's design is called the Dymaxion House. It's not a geodesic dome on a pole (the geodesic dome was Fuller's other, better received invention). Instead, it's a modular, mostly stainless steel structure supported by a central column that contains all the plumbing and electrical hookups. It is a cool idea and design, though I have a had a hard time finding many photos; as I recall, only one was ever built and lived in. Then, after being abandoned for decades, it was torn down.

It's not shaped like a wing, but its roof is curved and, since it's round, would withstand greater wind speeds than a traditional wooden structure. It's just a shame that so few people were interested...

[raj]

It's kind of a smallish house, the Henry Ford museum has it.

Getting back to the wing house:  guess what wings do when there's lots of air rushing at them.
They fly.  Still, rounded shapes do work well, plus using sturdy construction material, like more brick and stone (not 100%, but better than two by fours and sheetrock).  Of course that does drive up the cost of housing . . .

[Dave Munger]

I don't think I ever saw a picture, but I can picture it better myself now. It makes more sense as you describe it. Dymaxion was also the name of his cool three wheeled car which met a similar fate. It got in a crash, due to the fault of the driver of the other car, and everyone lost interest, like it was a problem with the car itself. Kind of like what happened with the Hindenburg.

[Derf]

Yeah, the Dymaxion cars were very cool: 30 miles to the gallon and capable of cruising at upwards of 120 mph while carrying up to 15 people. Imagine the improvements that could be made with today's technology...

As for the wing house Flangepart envisions, I know the Dymaxion house isn't exactly the same, but, if I read the descriptions correctly, it could be rotated to some degree, though I guess there's no aerodynamic advantage to rotating a round house in the wind. Still, from some things I've read, round is the most aerodynamic shape there is.

[raj]

Here's the Dymaxion house at the Henry Ford Museum:
http://www.hfmgv.org/museum/dymaxion.asp

[Derf]

Thanks, raj.

I found those, but for all the good text, there aren't that many pics. I'd like to see inside the house, general floor plans (the walls are moveable, so an exact floor plan is impossible, I know). The outside looks great; very "The Day the Earth Stood Still"-ish. I could see Gort standing watch outside that house...

[Flangepart]

Thanks for the thoughts, gang.

Raj : I was thinking about a nutral lift wing. If both haves are the same shape, no lift force is generated. Yes, i did envision the house on a  pedistal, but the bottom of the house would start 7 feet up, with the foundational pedistal being a non-moveing support. So, no need to duck!
If its properly designed, i think the house would start moveing "into the wind", only at air speeds above 35mph. You could lock it in place, for anything less.

Concitering the cost of rebuilding, a tax break for better designed houses in Hurricane prone areas, would encourage some inovation, i think.
And ya gotta admit...it would be somethin' different!

[Fearless Freep]

How much does a house way?  What kind of engineering structure would it take to allow something that heavy to automatically turn into the wind?  What abuot gusts that come up and die out from several directions?