Martin, Great news. How did you get from higher math to preservationeer? Best, Leland -----Original Message----- From: The listserv where the buildings do the talking [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Martin C. Tangora Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 7:45 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [BP] Earthquakes and buildings (was Speaking of hell ... ) This may be a record for latest contribution to a BP thread ... After the Haiti earthquake, this list had various comments, and I wanted to chime in but my membership kept crashing, and ... well, anyway ... Speaking as a Chicagoan, I think that whenever one discusses earthquakes vs. buildings, one should mention San Francisco 1906 and the Mills Building by Burnham and Root. Take a look: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt9489r16r/?brand=oac4 Ten-story brick "skyscraper," 1891-92. Chicago School in both construction and design. We can't claim that the building came through unscathed -- the interior had to be rebuilt -- but you can go downtown in SF today and see it standing there, looking as if (as a design) it was one of the last big buildings erected before the Depression of 1929, it was so far ahead of its day. John Root was not just a great designer, Sullivan's rival, but a serious architect. I don't know how he did it, but in the 1891 competition to design a tall building that would survive the 1906 earthquake, he took first place. He also got an honorable mention for the Chronicle Building http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chronicle_Building_1906.jpg of a few years earlier, which was also damaged but not nearly so badly as its neighbors -- heavy printing presses fell through the floors, that didn't help -- and is standing today -- in fact recently restored http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2007/12/27/de_young_building_a_photo_history.p hp Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:35:06 EST > ... this earthquake, as others, shows the tremendous variety and complexity > of building failures. ... Martin C. Tangora University of Illinois at Chicago [log in to unmask] -- **Please remember to trim posts, as requested in the Terms of Service** To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: <http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html> -- **Please remember to trim posts, as requested in the Terms of Service** To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: <http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>