LIFESHELL: CLT FURNITURE AS LIFE-SAVING TECHNOLOGIES

Earthquakes are unpredictable and deadly phenomena. Several events occur each year that cause serious damage to poorly constructed buildings. This project aims to develop open-source, affordable wooden furniture that acts as shelters to protect humans from building collapse during an earthquake. The concept, named Lifeshell (life in a shell), is based on the use of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) to create robust and economical furniture (e.g. desk and closet). This system serves as a local survival cell inside existing buildings, promptly deployable while waiting for expensive and time consuming refurbishments or rebuilding. A preliminary design of a school desk has been calculated by means of analytical and numerical models and then will be experimentally tested. After having defined the geometric characteristics of the desk for load-bearing capacity and ergonomics, non-linear analyses were performed. Following the estimation of static and dynamic behavior, monotonic and impact tests are planned. The data was then processed in an optimal design cycle to obtain a refined version of the desk and its variants. The project also aims to establish a standard proposal for testing and evaluating the capabilities of such furniture.