Lebbeus Woods' conceptual project 'inhabiting the earthquake' deals with an abandoned waterfront site in San Francisco. The structures are composed of shards of industrial cut-offs, and use the kinetic energy released by the earthquake in order to transform themselves.
"Earthquakes are the result of natural, tectonic changes in the solid crust of the earth and,
as such, are not inherently catastrophic. Their bad reputation comes from the destruction
to human settlements that accompanies them, when buildings collapse under the stress of
forces produced by earthquakes. This destruction is not the ‘fault’ of earthquakes, but
rather of the buildings, which, even in regions regularly visited by earthquakes, are not
designed to work harmoniously with the violent forces periodically released. So buildings
collapse, usually with considerable loss of life and injuries. The earthquakes are blamed,
as though the purpose of these sublimely unself-conscious phenomena was to damage
and destroy the human. “Earthquake Kills Thousands!” “Killer Quake Strikes!”
“Earthquake Levels Town!” are typical aftermath headlines. What they should say is
“Falling Buildings Kill Thousands!” “Killer Buildings Strike!” “Inadequately Designed
Town Leveled!”
Lebbeus Woods - EARTHQUAKE: A post-biblical view
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