VITA VESSEL-THE DOOMSDAY VAULT by ranjith kumar from india

“HUMANITY DESERVES INSURANCE”

Life is the most essential boon we have that supersede the value of monetary gains. We live in a world where there is insurance for life, money, assets, what not, but lacks an insurance for humanity as a whole. Humanity is not without earth’s biodiversity that is incepted within it.
In an apocalyptic scenario where hope for humanity is all but last, the doomsday vault will act as Noah’s Ark of modern times. This vita vessel is equipped to combat the inevitable extinction of bio diversity, food crises and natural and man-made calamities.
The overall preservation of earth’s biodiversity, enormous variety of genes like ecosystem is enabled by its genetic storage in gene banks and cryogenic storage vaults. The site for this doomsday vault is chosen after careful consideration of tectonic activities, solar maximum, optimum temperature, flooding levels. The Aravalli ranges in the northern part of India are found to be apt for housing the vault.
The form of this biodiversity vault is a sphere which undergoes arch action when subjected to loads. The prestressed concrete sphere made of special aggregates for maintaining the optimum temperature is submerged deep inside the rocky ranges. The mountain sides are tunnelled to access the heart of the mountain where the sphere is constructed. This doomsday vault is designed to resist seismic activity through mass damper that acts as shock absorbers, isolating the sphere and the rock. The P waves and S waves that deform the earth during the earth quake are counteracted by arch action and mass dampers that constitute the structural integrity of the vault.
The vault consists of four decks that are supported by trusses with arch action. The human layer, the flora and fauna layer and service layer amalgamate to co-exist in a single doomsday vault. The integrity of the vault is heightened by helical strips that connect the different layers and facilitate interlayer transmission and mobility. The basic necessity of life such as sunlight, water, food and air are satisfied by mechanisms that facilitate its transmission. The vault’s interior reflects the natural passing of day and night outside. Sunlight is transmitted inside by mirrors and prism that intensify light by its reflection and refraction. Air handling units located inside and outside the vault circulates the air and maintains its quality and composition. Hydroponic technology is the backbone of food cultivation. Artificial climatic simulation using sprinklers for rain and air circulation keeps the vault ingrained with nature. This makes sure that the future transition back outside from the vault as effortless and natural as possible.

The vault houses a minimum viable population of thousand individuals to maintain the minimum genetic diversity required to sustain a population indefinitely. The vita vessel is equipped to accommodate future expansion up to four generation (2500) individuals till it reaches saturation. The vault can be accessed from five sides of Aravalli where there is a gathering point that accommodates 1000 packs. An intermodal transit network that includes helipad and air strip on the periphery and summit respectively, Rail routes that connect to the interior and supporting road ways is used to enter and exit the vault.
The doomsday vault, is not just a mere physical structure which shelters life forms, but a metaphysical entity which moulds, nutures and imbibes in them socially sensitive values, thereby preparing the human race to live a sustainable utopian life!