G. G. Schierle, PhD, FAIA, USC Architecture, Los Angeles

      The International Building Code substantially changes and greatly expands seismic design for most of the United States. Although seismic design is primarily done by engineers, during schematic design, architects make design decisions that critically affect seismic safety, notably in residential projects with shear walls to resist seismic forces. Analyze SD-graphs to visualize seismic effects and greatly simplify seismic design.

Learning objectives:

• Use SD-graphs for seismic design, notably length and layout of shear walls
• Design to mitigate earthquake failure of irregular configurations, such as L-shaped buildings
• Design to mitigate earthquake failure of buildings with tuck-under parking (soft-story).