Considering the Quake: Seismic Design on the Edge

Opened to a full house, last year, at the Design Exchange in downtown Toronto, Considering the Quake: Seismic Design on the Edge, explores the elegant, and oftentimes, elusive intersection between the aesthetics of architectural form and the technicality of structural design, through the lens of earthquake engineering. Curated by Professor Ghyslaine McClure, P.Eng and founded/curated by Dr. Effie Bouras, of the McGill University Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, this exhibit emerged from their research on the resiliency of emergency shelters and civil protection buildings, such as schools and hospitals, in earthquake zones throughout the world.

Envisioned as a "science center" for design, the exhibition, which is tailored not only for the architecture and engineering communities, but an invested public as well, will feature full-sized seismic technology utilized in buildings, architectural and structural models, seismic testing videos, including clips from Tomas Koolhaas’ new documentary titled REM, and a 500N shake table from North American Wave Spectrum Science and Trade Inc.

CCTV Headquarters / OMA / Photo © Jim Gourley

International in scope, projects include, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture’s (OMA) groundbreaking Taipei Performing Arts Center, CCTV and Shenzhen Stock Exchange; a house rebuilt on the site of a catastrophic earthquake, by Chilean architects Pezo von Ellrichshausen; The Regional Emergency Management Center in Italy; Daniel Libeskind’s Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco with OLMM Consulting Engineers; Singapore/Tokyo based, Studio SKLIM’s, Earthquake resistant Hansha Reflection house, work by California-based Tipping Mar Engineers and Degenkolb Engineering- the oldest seismic engineering firm in the USA; Star Seismic, an innovative seismic technology, firm based in Utah that has pioneered the engineering and design of buckling restrained braces (BRBs) Other original projects are also featured, along with a 500N shake table from North American Wave Spectrum Science and Trade Inc. demonstrating the effects of seismic record on a model building.