Disaster preppers are often thought of as DIY blue-collar folk, steadily stacking cans inside their self-modified underground shipping containers. But Robert Vicino, founder of the Vivos Group, is betting that there are plenty of moneyed families who also believe in impending global doom, are not interested in learning to build their own hydroponic gardens and would like to ride out the catastrophe in style.
Thus Vicino's company built Vivos Indiana, an "impervious underground complex" built in a Cold-War-era nuclear shelter and kitted out with luxury amenities. The idea is that you sign up in advance and plunk down $35,000 per person ($25,000 for kids) to secure one of the 80 spots available within the shelter. In the event of disaster, travel to the publicly-undisclosed location in Indiana and make it inside before they lock it down, and then you can survive for a year amidst leather couches, 600-thread-count sheets and gourmet chow.
A fascinating Vice article looks at Vivos' system, talks to Vicino, and examines the type of paranoia that drives disaster preppers. One thing the article doesn't mention is the well-rounded community--perhaps society is a better word--that Vivos Indiana is hoping to pull together underground. Think about it: If you've got a shelter filled with 80 people whose sole credential is that they each have 35 grand to burn, but none of them know how to turn a wrench or boil water, you're going to have some problems.
And so Vivos has apparently been selective in their admissions process. The company claims they've signed up "active duty and retired military officers, police, combat veterans, security experts, doctors, nurses, surgeons, psychologists, caregivers, nutritionists, mechanics, electricians, plumbers, farmers, lawyers, pilots, teachers, computer and internet professionals, chefs; as well as experts in hospitality, housekeeping, transportation, banking, finance, accounting, management, strategic planning, radio communications, and much more."
Furthermore the company says "There are very few remaining spaces for this shelter," and "discounts are available to members with needed skill sets." (Don't you feel silly for choosing industrial design as your career? There's no way your knowledge of injection molding cycle times is going to get you that discount, not when mass production has ceased to exist.)
Now I know what the super-rich among you are thinking--"Do I really want to live side by side in a shelter with, like, plumbers and electricians?" Ew, am I right? Well, don't worry; all you've got to do is skip Indiana and get on the list for Vivos Europa One, their much-larger European shelter—"one of the most fortified and massive underground survival shelters on Earth, deep below a limestone mountain"—designed exclusively for 34 "high net worth families."
Available by invitation only, each family will be provided a private 2,500 square foot floor area, capable of two-story living quarters, with a build-out potential of up to 5,000 square feet. With fit and finish comparable to a mega-yacht, each family will commission the build-out of their living quarters, to the standard they require…including pools, theaters, gyms, a kitchen, bar, bedrooms and deluxe bathrooms. The possibilities are limited only by each member's personal desire.
Once each member's private accommodations are completed, furnished and fully outfitted, their respective quarters will be locked and secured, limiting access only to their family and personal staff prior to lockdown; while Vivos will operate and maintain all common areas (under and above-ground) pending a catastrophic event.
Members will arrive at their own discretion, prior to lockdown, landing their private planes at nearby airports. Vivos helicopters will then be deployed to rendezvous with each member group, and fly them back to the shelter compound, safely secured from the general public, behind sealed and secured gates.
I wonder if either of these places will have any need for a design blogger.
