Pavillion model
Velsen-Ijmuiden
script sketch FJB
Rapid path construction
Visions Xiriton
Dear visitor,
Ideas for the future are outlined and described here,
some pretty detailed, others rather vague.
…”Xiritopia”…
Topics
“It should be borne in mind that nothing is more difficult in terms of preparation, more questionable in terms of success and more dangerous in terms of effect than pretending to be someone who wants to implement innovations.
For he who does so has those who profit from the old condition to be enemies, while he finds only lukewarm defenders in those who could benefit from the new situation: a lukewarmness that stems partly from fear of the adversaries, who have the law on their side, and partly from the distrust of the people, Who in fact only believe in renewal when they have experienced it in reality.”
Niccolò Machiavelli, Il Principe page 83 (1513)
Fill an exotextile mould with a dry Xiriton mix on a ship. Let the object sink, the deeper the better. The water pressure compresses the mix. Retrieve after a certain time. remove (reuse) the mould-textile. Allow mass to dry through the weather. Then sawing (blocks, tiles etc.)
- on unstable ground (peat/tundra etc)
- in earthquake zones
- conventional road construction
....
Man does not live forever, so he dies and is buried or cremated. Both not cheap and the final resting place is also only temporary for a few decades as a rule. And then what? Imagine, for a few euros more you can find your last rest in a 'Xiritomb', a hollow cube of around 3x3x3 meters. The wall thickness is around 80 cm. This leaves a room of around 2 cubic meters. Space enough for your body and a number of things that were dear to you in your life. Your Xiritomb is then part of a dike as a large building block. Because you pay for it, it saves costs for Rijkswaterstaat. And you protect the land, your descendants, from rising sea levels for much longer than in a normal cemetery.
And one day, after centuries, the dike may no longer be needed and archaeologists will investigate your Xiritomb, because in the next millennium this should also be an interesting profession, searching for tangible artifacts from an era where humans became virtual/digital...
We have to get away from the gabled roof house with roof tiles and usually poor insulation. The typical Xiriton house has a flat roof, suitable for 'normal' greening and not only sedum plants etc. The humus layer is at least 30 cm thick and can easily buffer all rainwater. Such a rather heavy flat roof, which also offers extra living space, must of course be supported by solid walls; volume = isolation by thermal mass. Supports and struts are usually made of wood or bamboo, for a more attractive design also made of steel or aluminum. At least fully or partially packed in Xiriton. The Xiriton house is usually more massive than a 'normal' house, so means more carbon storage, better insulation (cold, heat! and noise), more stable in earthquake, much better reusable, and most likely rather cheaper and faster to build.
Imagine that through continuous clustering of exotextile Xiriton one gets such a large floating mass, which becomes thick enough, that one can excavate material again to further expand the island. The minimum necessary Xiriton wall thickness is presumably 4 meters and also functions as a seawater filter.
Firewood saving in developing countries, less logging = less erosion, more health. C4 grasses as alternative fuel and their ashes as pozzolanic substitute.