New Challenges in Seismic Design - Earthquake Engineering for Structural Design - page 23

Ideally, the structure should visually clarify and enrich the form (Ali, 1990, Sev,
2001, Charleson and Taylor, 2004).
Some examples in which the structural conception gave important contribution
to the architectural aesthetic are presented in Figure 1.8. In seismic design a key
solution is to use bracing systems. If the architects have the ability to use these
façade bracings in a creative modality, some very successful architectural
expressions can be obtained.
The new aseismic systems used for energy dissipation have also an important
influence on architectural configurations (Mezzi et al, 2004). Figure 1.9 shows
some buildings where new bracing systems equipped with dissipative devices are
located in the façades, enriching the architectural expression.
A very clear domain is where the bracing systems, applied to the inexpressive
existing façades of buildings (Charleson et al, 2002, Reitherman, 2005), make a
real contribution to the improvement of the architectural value through the seismic
strengthening of existing buildings (Fig. 1.10).

(b)

(a)

Figure 1.8 (continues)