The rectilinear concrete structure, with columns and beams in one direction and two-story shear walls at its ends, was "highly inspired" by an example given in the seminar, says Filiatrault, who had reviewed the drawings and offered suggestions to Wolfield. "When I taught in August, I didn't have to show [the class] drawings," says Filiatrault, whose new classroom was on the second floor. "I could point to [the elements]." The building, 120 ft x 40 ft in plan, stands as "an example of improvement coming from teaching," adds Filiatrault. UniQ, the second-largest university in Haiti, had dedicated its new campus

All S2H systems comply with U.S. codes. The buildings are designed to resist, at a minimum, magnitude-7 temblors and hurricane winds of up to 145 mph, with gusts up to 225 mph, says Stevens. Among other things, the system uses diaphragms for lateral-load resistance made from high-strength structural stucco cladding in lieu of drywall. As much as possible, S2H tries to use local materials, including cement, sand, gravel, paint, doors, windows, hardware, plumbing and electrical fixtures. For the Miami-based non-governmental organization Cross International, a 1,418-sq-ft school cost $81,200. To date, S2H-H has completed four dormitories at two sites, at cost.

Though almost all describe the situation in Haiti as a crisis, there are some small advances since the quake. In February 2010, the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Communication, called MTPTC, as an interim measure authorized the use of five international building codes and standards while it studied the development of a local code. The five building codes and standards are the Canadian National Building Code, the American Concrete Institute Standard 318, the International Code Council's International Building Code, the Eurocode 8: Design of Structures for Earthquake Resistance and the Caribbean Uniform Building Code. Last February, MTPTC hired an

An old Chinese proverb sums up several projects that mark the dawn of seismic-resistant design and construction in earthquake-devastated Haiti: "If you give a person a fish, you feed that person for a day. If you teach a person to fish, you feed that person for a lifetime." The aim of the projects—one of which concentrates on training for seismic design of commercial buildings and the other on the manufacture of hurricane- and seismic-resistant manufactured single-story buildings—is to prevent a repeat of the kind of death and destruction that occurred on Jan. 12, 2010, when a magnitude-7 quake killed an

In an effort to try to relieve some of the stress of the recession in construction, the American Institute of Architects is becoming an online matchmaker, of sorts. On Nov. 7, the AIA launched a stalled-projects online database intended to hook up developers, architects and other industry leaders with investors and funders to restart mothballed U.S. building projects. The find-a-business-partner initiative is designed to help architects and their clients find a solution to the 'primary issue plaguing the design and construction industry'access to credit,' says the AIA. Related links: Online database of stalled projects Stalled Construction Projects and Financing “The

Insurance settlement related to a building information model shows that BIM without communication can be costly. “Even greater opportunities exist for increases in productivity as more designers allow fabricators greater access to models, models start being reviewed as opposed to detailed drawings, and fabricators open their dimensionally accurate models to other trades and specialties,” said Moor. To facilitate engineer-fabricator model interchange, engineers should model members to the top of steel on center lines, said Rob Schoen, founder of Axis Steel Detailing Inc., Orem, Utah. Columns should be continuous or break at correct splice elevations. Beams should be continuous or go

Insurance settlement related to a building information model shows that BIM without communication can be costly. To improve communication and understanding regarding BIM, the legal sub-forum committee of the Associated General Contractors BIM Forum recently launched a project to create a manual of electronic graphical standards. The group's intent is to clarify the American Institute of Architects' AIA Document E202-2008. The document, which can be incorporated into an AIA agreement, establishes protocols and expected levels of development (LOD) of a BIM deliverable. It also authorizes uses of BIMs and assigns specific responsibility for the development of each model element to

Insurance settlement related to a building information model shows that BIM without communication can be costly. A lawsuit over construction of a life-sciences building at a major university stands as the first known claim related to the use of building information modeling by an architect. Furthermore, the claim and its settlement serve as a cautionary tale to others using BIM, says the insurer. FIVE LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT A manual of graphical standards to help clarify and standardize BIM contract deliverables is expected in about a year. Level 1 is Visualization. “The creators of BIM claim its use reduces risk, and

Blooming 'starchitect' Jeanne Gang thrives on sustainable design, craves construction, is mad for materials and builds community Gang is also like a landscape architect, combining design, culture, and natural and engineered systems to clean up the environment, attract wildlife and build community. She talks excitedly about the zoo's 20-acre restoration, which incorporates the pavilion, referring to rebuilt habitats for red-winged blackbirds, migratory geese and some of the city's 2,000 coyotes. Sightlines dominated architect Jeanne Gang’s thinking behind Aqua Tower’s cantilevered terraces, including views to Lake Michigan. “We hear buzzwords like sustainability,” says Sachin Anand, a principal with mechanical engineer dbHMS,