Natural disasters are ruin machines. In the wake of such disasters the immediate need to address those that have become displaced often leads to a reconstruction strategy based on speed and replacement in most cases or thoughtfulness and renewal in others. In both cases tabula rasa rules the day. The site is cleared and erased to make way for its replacement. But what if we left the rubble as the basis for a new ground? What if “ruin” became the ground for an alternative strategy to reconstruction; one that capitalizes on the entropic nature of disasters and their itinerant aesthetics? This thesis is about the aesthetics of the ruin located at the intersection of the natural disaster and technological constructs.

Enlisting the capabilities of Lidar scanning, 3D Printing concrete, & Prefabrication, this project is for the reconstruction of a block in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, devastated by the 2010 Earthquake. The earthquake injured about 300,000 people and left 3.3 million facing food shortages. With more than 80 percent of rural housing severely affected, hundreds of thousands of newly homeless people were forced to live in scattered tent cities.

Now, after 8 years reconstruction ,“There are still about 55,000 people in camps and makeshift camps,Many are still living in unsanitary conditions due to displacement caused by the earthquake.There are a very long way to go.” Despite billions of dollars raised in international aid. The Red Cross, for example, is accused of building only six homes in Haiti with nearly half a billion dollars in donated funds, and spending millions on internal expenses.

Based on this condition, this thesis tend to offer a fresh take on reconstruction in the wake of disaster. Instead of leaving ruins alone or completely destroying them, my project proposes 3D printing a new ground on top of them.

The most essential advantage of this new reconstruction direction, is high efficiency,3D printing concrete saves a lot of time. In particular, using these technologies potentially reduces a 2 week job to just 3-4 days. Moreover, this reduces risks of injury at work. “the reduction of the hardship and the risks is a reality,In addition, the construction site is very quiet.”

It easier to create curved shapes at a lower cost. Moreover, as 3D printers don’t need to eat or sleep, they don’t stop working until the project is finished. This greatly reduces waiting times. 

Moreover, it requires less labor and easy to control.

The existing landscape is scanned and run through a custom digital workflow that generates a landscape-like structure on which a series of prefabricated shelters can be installed. In keeping with the traditional association between ruination and the Gothic aesthetic -- ranging from the atmospheric haunts of the Gothic novel to the architectural stratigraphy common in Gothic cathedrals -- the workflow I have designed privileges medieval form-logics like fan vaults and buttresses.

It focus on creating a atmosphere which hope comes from darkness. This digital workflow combined with 3d-printing provides a new imagination of next future after-disaster reconstruction.