News
March 02, 2010
Earthquakes and Architecture
The recent tragedy in Haiti already had architects, engineers and other industry professionals asking questions about how to rebuild...in a way that would head off such calamities in the future. Now, the quake in Chile offers the opportunity to compare and contrast. How could an earthquake FAR more powerful than the one in Haiti have done so much less damage? Here are a few collected thoughts from around the world.
First, Haiti. In this article from The Seattle Times, the Haitian ambassador to the United States says that “what was not politically possible was done by the earthquake.” Will the Haitian government and international community get past the country’s overwhelming poverty and governance issues that have been a way of life? Will natural disaster allow a clean slate and building renaissance ala Chicago post-fire and San Francisco post-quake?
Architect Sebastian Gray has a first-hand account of the Chile quake in The New York Times. Furniture and belongings tossed about but not a single crack in his 1950’s built home.
Time magazine explains why that is so. Will a natural disaster and human tragedy lead to change…both political and architectural?
Regardless, please support our neighbors in need. AIA and Architecture for Humanity have relief efforts underway.