Why Are Houses in Florida Square?

Worse, why do people buy mobile homes (trailers) and plant them (temporarily, unfortunately) in Florida?

Sometime during elementary school I and others discovered unequivocally that it's a bitch holding up something flat against a strong wind. Sometime during secondary school I and others discovered simple aerodynamics like rounded things are easier to hold up against a strong wind than flat things. Sometime during high school things started coming together about wind and flat things and shapes that better deal with strong winds.

So why do houses in Florida have flat sides and roof eaves that trap the wind? And why do people rely on cartoon physics to keep their trailers on the ground?

Just wonderin'.

Well, the way things are looking, mobile homes may be a thing of the past here in Florida. Most people used them as cheap second homes, but many realize it is not so cheap to rebuild them.

If you try to build an angular home, it really would not help very much. In a hurricane, the wind can be coming from 360 degrees of direction, depending on what side of the hurricane you are on. The best bet is to build a square one.

They rebuild mobile homes torn apart by a hurricane?

How about a round house with an outer wall that curves up from the ground and rounds over at the top to begin the roof? Imagine a scoop of ice cream that's partially melted. Yeah, it would be ugly, but would it be standing after a hurricane hit it? It would hold up better than a square house with flat sides, no?

the foundation would be narrow. but this thing would surely float.

I think you're talking about an igloo! Don't know that would hold up too well in Fla

Yeah, well, you don't see igloos rolling across the Tundra during a storm, do you?

Point well taken! Actually your "dome-ed home" idea is right on the money. All pressure waves, regardless of the force that caused them (wind, explosion, etc.) would roll over the dome-ed home. The "roof" of the structure would need to be substantial as well as the foundation (on the other side of the force directions), however. These two locations would be where the forces would be the greatest. Interesting though Lugnut... mobile igloos!

You're talking about the pressure inside the dome exploding into the low pressure area created by the moving air on the downwind side of the curved roof. Several existing technologies could equalize, or nearly equalize, the pressures as needed. No biggie.

"Mobile igloos?" No, the idea is immobile igloos.

Maybe Buckminster was right?

lol nice topic