EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT BUILDINGS IN MEXICO. MEXICO IS ONE OF THE HIGH SEISMIC PRONE ZONE IN THE WORLD. TORRE MAYOR AND TORRE REFORMA LOCATED ADJACENT TO EACH OTHER . THESE TWO BUILDINGS USED DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES TO WITHSTAND EARTHQUAKE EFFECT

1. EARTHQUAKE
RESISTANT BUILDING
IN
MEXICO
TORRE MAYOR
TORRE REFORMA

2. ● Mexico is one of the most seismically active places on
Earth.
● It sits on top of three of Earth's largest tectonic plates -
the North American plate, the Cocos Plate, and the
Pacific Plate.

3. ● When it comes to Mexico City, the entire
metropolis is built on top of the lake bed of
a system of five lakes, meaning that the
ground below is sandy and unstable.
● This type of ground amplifies even small
earthquakes by as much as 500%.
EPICENTER
CLAY AND
SOFT SOIL
WAVE PATTERN
DRY LAKE BED

4. TORRE MAYOR
STRONGEST BUILDING ON
THE PLANET
ANTI EARTHQUAKE STRUCTURE
● 252 piles on the foundation
● RCC structure with 46,196m2 concrete and
21,200 tons. of structural and reinforcement steel
● 98 seismic dampers
● Structural bracing
The tower is constructed on Mexico City's dry central lake
bed or "bowl of Jello" consisting of high water tables and
poor alluvial soils. The site is prone to very high seismic
activity that can measure 8.2 on the Richter scale.

5. Cushioning the
impact
Cross braces at
6 floor
increment have
clusters of oil
filled dampers.
256 concrete piles under the ground
2.8 m slab base
DAMPERS

6. SQUARE VS
TRIANGULAR GRID
WHY
OVERLAPPING
DIAMONDS ?

7. DAMPER INSTALLATION, SHORT WALLS
DAMPER INSTALLATION, LONG WALLS
● The giant dampers in the basement
absorb most of the shock.
● Any remaining vibrations propagate to
higher floors where smaller dampers
installed to dissipate the excess energy.
Diamond shaped dampers
were used to take the strain
within the building.

8. TORRE REFORMA
INNOVATIVE BUILDING
ANTI EARTHQUAKE STRUCTURE
● COUPLING BEAMS
● CONCRETE SHEAR WALLS
The tower is constructed on Mexico City's dry central lake
bed or "bowl of Jello" consisting of high water tables and
poor alluvial soils. The site is prone to very high seismic
activity that can measure 8.2 on the Richter scale.

9. Its walls reach 60 m deep in the ground, while during
the construction phase, the concrete was poured very
slowly to deliberately create “seams” between layers that
serve as predetermined breaking points and ensuring that
the building remains intact even in the event of a strong
earthquake.
MASSIVE EXTERNAL
CONCRETE WALL
● Concrete designed to slightly bend during an earthquake
considering Mexico City’s proneness to earthquakes.
● The mechanism that allows the concrete walls to bend without
breaking in periods of stress is enhanced by the presence of
triple-height windows (located on every four storeys) that
dissipate seismic energy.

10. SEISMIC TETRIS
Gives the wall flexibility to avoid fractures
in the event of a trembling, repeats every
four levels and is three stories high.
Human
scale
WALL
GROOVING
Perimeter walls of 1.20m
Thick single piece driven 60
meters deep.
Foundation
slab has a
thickness of
2.25 meters
SEISMIC HAND
Assemble with double mechanical joints. In
the event of an earthquake, the elements
work to stop movement through profiles
connected to the concrete walls.
EXPOSED
CONCRETE WALLS
They are the highest
in the world: make up
the main structure of
the tower, all loads are
transmitted vertically
towards the subsoil.
Open book
Two walls joined
in a manner to act
as a single wall
PROFITABLE AREA
There are no columns in
the Buildings, this allows
tenants a lot of flexibility
to distribute the space.
Tensionerszipper