Earthquakes | Eleganthack

Earthquakes | Eleganthack: "Earthquakes

In 1923, Frank Lloyd Wright completed the Imperial Hotel, a building commissioned in Japan. In 1923, there was a 8.3 magnitude earthquake. The hotel survived.
earthquake-impreial

Wright was a midwesterner like myself, and had no experience with Earthquakes. When he arrived in Japan, that lack of familiarity was his strength; he passionately researched earthquake damage, and designed his hotel with multiple safeguards.

1. The reflecting pool (visible in the picture above) provided a source of water for fire-fighting, saving the building from the post-earthquake firestorm;
2. Cantilevered floors and balconies provided extra support for the floors;
3. A copper roof, which cannot fall on people below the way a tile roof can;
4. Seismic separation joints, located about every 20 m along the building;
5. Tapered walls, thicker on lower floors, increasing their strength;
6. Suspended piping and wiring, instead of being encased in concrete, as well as smooth curves, making them more resistant to fracture.