[Leica] Twin Towers

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

>In a message dated 6/23/06 4:36:53 AM, lug-request@leica-users.org writes:
>
>
>>  I was amazed at how fast they both came down. Plane crash or no, there
>>  is something not quite kosher about the twin and simultaneous collapse.
>>
>>  Walt
>>  -----------------------
>The architect in charge of construction admitted on TV that they failed to
>encase the center utilities column, in concrete. They used drywall. The 
>plane
>shot right through the entire building. There was nothing to stop 
>it. Yep, they
>cut corners and there was no municipal or state law to compel them to spend
>the money and take the time to do the job right.
>
>Bob

As an architect I have to say that is both a silly and definitely a 
simplistic analysis.

The towers were not designed for such an impact, and certainly had no 
reason to be.

You can never design any building to withstand all disasters. You can 
not design it both because the depth of knowledge does not exist nor 
does the imagination exist, the technology and construction methods 
do not exist, and, most importantly, you cannot afford to by orders 
of magnitude.

If a serious earthquake hits the central US (and it will, just like 
it has in the past) tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands 
of lives will be lost. If an earthquake of the magnitude of the '64 
Alaska quake hit Vancouver (and it will), tens of thousands of lives 
will be lost.

These are disasters we can imagine, and that will happen. We don't 
know when, but they will. We have the technology to prepare for them 
and to design for them, but the standards don't force the 
construction of buildings that will truly resist these disasters, 
because a) we cannot afford them - again, we are talking of orders of 
magnitude, not 2x or 5x the cost- and b) everything around them, the 
whole infrastructure, is gone so to have a building withstand them is 
almost pointless.

We make choices, based on our knowledge, technologies, economic 
abilities and lifespan timelines. These are not irrational choices, 
but it does mean that every once in a while something bites us. We 
learn a bit each time, but just as we have to stop searching for the 
perfect lens, and go out and shoot, we also have to build, live, and 
get on with life. We definitely have to get over the 'what if' 
syndrome at some point.

-- 
    *            Henning J. Wulff
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