PROJECTS

  

THE CAMPAIGN FOR SAFE BUILDINGS

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Catastrophe and Consequence: The Campaign for Safe Buildings

A Symposium at the Yale School of Architecture – November 4 and 5, 2011

Recent high-profile disasters around the world spur questions about the role of architects in the creation of safe structures. Ideally, architects follow legally mandated building codes and standards. But in reality, they often lack such guidance. Building codes in many countries are inadequate or worse; inspection systems are largely non-existent. While developing countries face explosive growth, building codes remain a low priority; yet, when disaster strikes, the human and financial losses are enormous.

What should an architect do when a potential project is to be built in a country without an established culture of building codes and standards? This symposium will explore the challenges of the special leadership responsibilities of architects in developing countries. We mean to ask whether and how architectural practice in these countries can be transformed so as to take these issues into account as regular and essential matters of professional diligence.

We also plan to pose the question of whether and how up-to-date building codes with strong inspection systems can effectively shape construction practices in developing countries. The Campaign for Safe Buildings will make the case for a non-governmental approach -- a system of codes and inspections supported and enforced contractually, in which insurance and capital are provided only when builders adopt and observe the code system.

A wide range of US and international professionals will discuss the prospects for safe buildings, the risks and costs of failure, the roles of government and of banking and insurance organizations, and international initiatives. The possibility of a large-scale movement for safe structures that might aim at saving billions of dollars and millions of lives will be explored.


Preliminary agenda and participants

Friday, November 4th, 2011

• Welcome (9:30 to 9:45)
  
  Dean Robert A.M. Stern

 

• A. Disasters: Unlimited Coverage, Inadequate Responses (10:00 to 10:45 AM):
  
  We watch the catastrophes unfold in endless and moving detail, but we seem powerless to protect the growing number of lives at risk in natural disasters. What is missing from the coverage? What don’t reporters give us? What don’t most viewers want to learn? Are we unable to face the terrible costs of the hurricanes and the earthquakes that will come? Or is there some alchemy that might transform all this information into the powers that we need to act?
  
  A prominent media personality will be asked to take on questions like these.

 

• B. Things fall apart (11:00 AM to 12:15 PM):
  
  Recent earthquakes and tidal waves hurricanes and floods in the US, Japan, Latin America, and the Caribbean have yielded very different results in lost lives and fallen structures. What is being learned from these recent events, and how might our knowledge be applied?
  
  Henri P. Gavin, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University is a likely leader for this panel of engineers and policy analysts reviewing several reason disasters. 

 

• Lunch for invited guests at the loft of Dean Robert A. M. Stern (12:30 to 1:45 PM)

 

• C. Architecture: Before the Fall, and After (2:00 to 3:15 PM)
  
  Past catastrophes shape present practices: earlier earthquakes and other natural disasters affected architectural practice and led to changes in the laws and codes that govern the built environment. What new challenges for architects are being posed by global warming and by the rapid urbanization of countries in the developing world?
  
  Ms. D. Michelle Addington, Professor, Yale School of Architecture, will lead this panel. 

 

• D. Following the Money: Insurance, Business, and Corruption (3:30 to 4:45 PM)
  
  Banking and insurance institutions play central roles in new construction, and their influence on post-disaster rebuilding is, if anything, even greater. Their interests and judgments, along with local business needs and priorities, also have their effects on building safety. So too do the widely varying levels of corruption in different countries and regions.

 

• E. A Future of Growth and Risk (5:30 to 6:30 PM):
  
  In Ecuador, economic development aimed at meeting the needs of the people is occurring in ways that challenge both the institutions of international capital and the existing priorities of local business leaders.
  
  President Rafael Correa of Ecuador (2007-2013) is our present candidate for a keynote speech on this and related topics.

 

• Cocktail Reception (6:30 to 7:30 PM)

 

• Dinner for invited guests (8:00 to 10:00 PM) Union League Club

Saturday, November 5th, 2011

• F. Beauty, Fragility, and Development: The Case of Medellín (9:00 to 10:15 AM):
  
  Although Medellín once seemed hopeless to observers outside of Colombia, the transformation has been dazzling. But can this city also be in example in preparing for the crises that natural disasters will surely come?
  
  This session will begin with some remarkable footage of new buildings in Medellín. The panel will include Sergio Fajardo, former mayor of Medellín, along with noted Colombian architects, Giancarlo Mazzanti. Stephen Forneris, Associate Principal, Perkins Eastman, will lead this discussion.

 

• G. Prevention and Mitigation: Natural Disasters in Developing Countries (10:30 to 11:45 AM)
  
  We have plenty of stories of successful disaster mitigation in the developed world, along with a few notable failures. The balance in poorer countries is the reverse, and the poorest families often fare the worst. In the face of hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes in the developing world, what are the best plans and approaches for saving lives, preserving or rebuilding housing, and maintaining economic life?
  
  In this panel discussion, we expect to include government and NGO leaders who are working on disaster prevention and mitigation.

 

• H. Strategies and provocations (12 Noon to 1:15 PM):
  
  A serious international campaign for safer buildings would require a believable strategy. Are there private, governmental, and regional alternatives that might plausibly lead to safer buildings? Could the challenge of non-governmental building code systems, enforced by contracts and supported by inspections, overcome major obstacles to safety?
  
  We have invited Paul Goldberger of the New Yorker, to lead this final panel, which will include Bruce Payne, Executive Director, the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, and others.

For Further Information

Please contact Bruce Payne, Executive Director, The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, 17 West 17th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10011; 646.839.5911; bpayne@sdrubin.org)

(08/02/11)

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