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In the wake of Mt. Etna’s most recent eruption over the weekend, designer Kieren Jones suggests channelling lava flows into architectural molds:

At present, the method for mitigating the destruction of lava flows is to place large concrete blocks in the predicted path of the flowing lava and spraying it with sea water in order to try and cool this molten material. … Instead of placing large concrete blocks in its path, I propose to create large casting beds into which the lava can flow, creating building blocks for future shelters. Not only would these casting beds protect the population at the base of the volcanoes but they will also provide them with a constructive material in which to aid the recovery of a community post-eruption.

Ian Steadman appreciates the idea but doubts its feasibility:

Using volcanic rock as construction materials isn’t new, of course. The communities that live beneath volcanoes take full advantage of all that hard, pretty granite and basalt lying around everywhere in large brick-sized chunks, using it to build their homes. What’s different here is reversing the process – instead of carving out the shape you want from the rock after it cools, you make the shape first and then dig it out of the ground. … There’s beauty in the thought of turning this destructive force into something creative. However, as the Etna example shows, volcanoes are dangerous, difficult things to try and control.