| Observation of buildings damaged by earthquakes has shown that architectural decisions related to aesthetics, function, cost, circulation, spatial relationships and other concerns affect the shape, dimension and location of structural and non-structural elements, determine the existence and location of force-resisting components and cores, and influence other issues of significance in the design of earthquake-resistant buildings.; Clearly, earthquake-resistance is only one issue the architect must consider in the design of the total building system, however, when a building is to be built in a zone of high seismic risk, the safety of the building is the most relevant aspect, and the architect has to be aware of how general design decisions affect the response of a building to earthquake forces.; Existing guidelines and recommendations in the design of earthquake-resistant buildings are typically written for engineers and rarely consider interpretation and application by architects.; This thesis tries to resolve the gaps between engineering and architectural considerations in the early phases of the design of medium-rise, reinforced concrete, multifamily housing structures.; The guidelines will help the architect to: (a) Make decisions on initial criteria to be used in evaluating and selecting building sites. (b) Include geometrical considerations in the design of floor plans and volumetric proposals that may reduce the damaging effects of earthquakes. (c) Incorporate some recent quantitative indexes for identifying floor-plan irregularities.; Since every building and site are unique, these guidelines are not intended to be a "cookbook" for seismic risk-mitigation. They also are not intended to be all-inclusive with respect to the selection of sites in seismically active zones or the design of floor plans in earthquake-resistant buildings. Rather they are intended to be an initial approach based on the application of a methodology incorporating several concepts that represent a significant step forward from traditional methods of design. These concepts cannot truly be considered new, since they are currently being used by knowledgeable designers. But the guidelines do interrelate engineering concepts with the experience of practicing professionals and architectural design application in a new way. |
