presentation tries to look into causes and pattern of disaster in the built environment and suggest options how architectural education can be leveraged to minimise such disasters

1. INTERFACING
ARCHITECTURAL
EDUCATION & DISASTER
MANAGEMENT
Ar. J.K. Gupta,
DIRECTOR
College Of Architecture,
IET Bhaddal

2. INTRODUCTION
• Natural disasters are product of the very processes of formation
of the earth, water and atmosphere.
• Natural disasters have large scale implications in terms of:
 Damage caused to the built environment,
 Economy,
 Infrastructure,
 Loss of Human life,
 Social and economic fabric
• Disaster not only have local/national but also global implications
• extent of losses needs of reconstruction / rehabilitation some
times exceed the capacity of the impacted country.
• Between 1991-2000 Asian countries have account for 83% of the
population impacted.
• The major disasters contributing to loss of human life / property
(1900-1987) were:
 Earthquakes (50.9%),
 Floods (29.7%)
 Cyclonic Storms (16.8%),
 Volcanic Eruptions (1.9%),
 Tsunamis (0.5%) and
 Landslides (0.1%).

3. INTRODUCTION
• Most parts of India suffer from one or other natural hazards,
 60% of the land mass liable to moderate/ severe damage during earthquakes over
40 million hectare of land prone to floods,
 8.4% to cyclonic winds / storm surges and
 68% land susceptible to drought.
• More than two third area suffers from natural disasters.
• Accordingly, appropriate strategies need to be worked out to:
 Minimize the adverse impact of the natural disasters
 Loss and damage caused to built areas,
 Economy and
 Social fabric of the community
• Strategy of pre-disaster mitigation rather than post-disaster relief
to be adopted to minimize the loss
• Resources / investment made in disaster mitigation are much
more productive / cost effective than expenditure on relief and
rehabilitation.
• Approach has to be preventive rather than curative.
• Majority of damage caused in the developing region (85.5%)
• Economic losses rising rapidly at @ 400% after each decade.
• Haiti Earthquake 2010 killed more than 1,15,000 and caused huge
economic loss.

10. LOOKING FORWARD
Role Of Architectural Education And Architectural Institutions
• More human losses due to failure of structures rather than disaster.
• Country loses more than 1 million house annually.
• Six earthquake Indian showed vulnerability of Indian construction
 1988 Bihar-Nepal – liquification of soil/damage to structure
 1991-Uttarkashi - poor performance in hill construction
 1993-Khillan - failure of stone masonry
 1997- Jabalpur - semi-urban/urban construction
 1999- Chamoli - failure of hill construction
 2001- Bhuj - failure of RCC structures
• Need to make safe structures
• Architects prime movers of built environment.
• Accordingly role of architect critical to make buildings safe.
• Architects to be equipped with knowledge to design safe buildings.
• Architectural education needs re-orientation to ensure provision of
adequate expertise in designing safe buildings.
• Need for reviewing course curriculum.

12. LOOKING FORWARD
• To include designing safe
buildings as integral part of
course.
• To teach disaster mitigation
as a compulsory subject right
from beginning
• Evolving methodologies and
evaluation mechanism for
structural stability of
buildings.
• Defining strategies for
retrofitting.
• Redefining building bye-laws
zoning and building controls
to make buildings safe.
• Preparing Risk Management
plan for settlements.
• Empowering
nations/communities to
create buildings which
withstand any intensity of
disasters.

15. Redefining Building Bye-
laws
• Building Bye-law critical for
designing/construction of safe
buildings.
• Bye-laws now taught as an
academic exercise without
understanding the context of
evolving safe buildings.
• Bye-laws need redefinition to
include safety against disasters
• Reviewing Bye-Laws on regular
basis for making them an effective
mechanism of disaster mitigation
• Review process can be taken up
by educational institutions.
• Bye-laws to exclude non-qualified
person from the area of designing
buildings.
• Training the manpower of local
authorities in the context of
building bye-laws for proper
interpretation and effective
implementation.

16. Creating Awareness
• People need education about the
role and importance of adopting
safe technologies.
• Technologies to be cost-effective
and simple to use for easy
adoption.
• Technologies need detailed R&D
support for constant upgradation.
• Architectural institutions can take
up R&D as an integral part of
professional consultancy in the
area of disaster resistant buildings.
• Architectural institution can also
take up arranging exhibition for
creating awareness among
stakeholders.
• Holding sensitization workshops
and organizing trainings of
Architects/Engineers/ Mason in
creating seismically safe building
designs/constructions.

17. Creating Model
Structures• Technical guidelines on
repair/retrofitting of existing
buildings already published by
various agencies.
• Architectural and Engineering
Institutions in collaboration
with building industry can take
up preparing Model-Structures
adopting simple design
techniques.
• Various options of retrofitting
to make buildings safe need to
be demonstrated by models or
exhibitions.
• Training of masons etc can
also be taken up for educating
in the area of retrofitting and
constructing safe buildings.

18. Sharing Experiences
• Architectural Institution should
share knowledge about
different
techniques/technologies to
make buildings safe.
• Large number of case studies
available in the area of safe
buildings.
• Case studies should be made
integral part of the educational
curricula for understanding
various facets of disaster and
their mitigation.
• Case study can helps in
promoting understanding and
creating valuable data bank.
• Success stories out of case
studies can be documented to
disseminate good practices.

19. Involving Educational
Institutions
• Vulnerability of built environment outcome of inadequate
education / training.
• Architectural education focus more on aesthetics, functionality,
space efficiency.
• For creating disaster resistant building-structural safety to be
made integral part of education.
• To address the issue two pronged strategy needs adoption.
 Structural safety to be made integral part of architectural education.
 Architectural / Structural configurations to be integrated for gelling
aesthetics with safety.
• Second strategy includes:
 Educating large number of Architects in the profession.
• Architectural institutions to draw training modules for in-
service/professional Architects for creating awareness/ skill.
• Work on existing proven materials and construction technologies
and their up gradation.
• Educational institute to work closely with IIA, COA, Institute of
Engineers, Indian Building Congress, BIS to work out a
comprehensive program for training / education.
• Run short term courses on regular basis.
• Prepare manuals on safe construction of buildings both for
engineered / non-engineered buildings.

20. Role of Information
Technology• I.T. hold enormous potential in the area of
disaster mitigation and disaster management.
• I.T. critical for creating safe built
environment.
• Software developed can be used for
assessing structural safety of buildings
designs.
• I.T. can be used for accessing whole range of
knowledge and data available in the context
of disaster.
• I.T. can be used for accessing/documenting
all success stories on safe buildings and safe
technologies.
• I.T. can be used for sharing knowledge and
networking at institutional/professional
levels.
• Critical role of I.T can be leveraged in
Architectural Educations for designing safe
built environment by launching websites for
on-line education of
teachers/students/people.

21. National Report on Disaster Management in India
• Holding sensitization workshops and trainings of
Architects/Engineers/ Masons in creating seismically safe
building designs/constructions.
• Introduction of earthquake Architectural in undergraduate
Architecture Curricula.
• Certification of Architects for testing their knowledge of
earthquake resistant constructions.
• Capacity building of institutions in the field of training &
retrofitting of life-line buildings.
• Mechanism of carrying out special audit of buildings to be
put in place to ensure buildings conform to latest buildings
bye-laws based on latest BIS standards.
• Reviewing Guidelines for constructing earthquake/cyclone
resistant rural housing under Indira Award Yozna &
Sampoorna Grameen Rojgar Yozna.
• Creating multi-purpose cyclone shelters.
• Creating design/construction tool kit to address the issue of
designing/construction of safe buildings and retrofitting of
buildings.
National Report on Disaster Management in India emphasizes on :

22. National Report on Disaster
Management in India Emphasizes
• Capacity enhancement of urban local bodies to enforce
compliance of techno-legal regime.
• Amendment of curriculum of undergraduate B. Arch. course
to include mitigation technologies elements in general and
elements of earthquake engineering in particular.
• Cost of disaster mitigation/preparation to be included in
project formulation and financing.
• Demonstrating the use of locally available materials and
upgrading local technologies in creating safe built
environment through community participation.
• Promoting long term training to alter people’s attitude and
behaviors- involving people will be critical in disaster
management (public education)
• Launching education campaign on disaster mitigates on the
pattern of road safety, health safety fire prevention need to
be launched.
• Emphasizing on learning rather than education.

23. CONCLUSIONS
• Considering wide and massive
 Physical, social, economic, infrastructural and environmental
implications of disasters
 Creating safe buildings will be critical.
• For focusing on disasters, UN declared 1990-2000 decade as
International Decade for National disaster Reduction.
• Role of Architectural education critical for minimizing loss of
lives and properly from built environments.
• Role of Architects not fully valued and recognized.
• Architectural Education in the past not geared /focused much
on disaster.
• Course curricula needs to be redefined to include:
 Creating safe buildings in the face of disasters and
 For providing required level of professional competencies to
Architects.
• Safety to be made integral post of Architectural
education/learning from the inception and not at the end of
the course.
• Technical Universities should provide necessary
resources /manpower to empower architectural education.
• Sooner it is done better it will be for the health, economy of
the nation and communities.