DISASTER-RESILIENT DESIGN

Text by: James L. Wescoat Jr., Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture

Designers have joined Pakistan’s wider society to mobilize flood relief and reconstruction in the Indus basin. Memories of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake remained strong when the floods struck in 2010. Just a few months before the flood, a massive landslide had inundated villages above Attabad in the Hunza Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan. The villagers’ plight was later eclipsed by the massive flood, and worsened by disruptions of energy, supplies, and transport from down country. In the international media, Pakistan’s suffering was subsequently overshadowed by vast flooding in Australia, earthquakes in New Zealand, and the continuing devastation in Haiti. None of this slowed the occurrence of smaller flash floods, landslides, storms, and building failures in Pakistan.

In each case, questions have arisen about the role of design in reducing--rather than aggravating--vulnerability to future disasters.  Are professional building standards and construction practices sound?  Are they implemented and enforced?  Is development occurring in hazardous locations?  Are structural measures coordinated with non-structural programs for warning, evacuation, zoning, and insurance?  At a deeper level, are designers addressing the root causes of disaster – poverty, inequality, and rights of access to safe shelter, water, and social protection?

Few university design programs anywhere focus on these central questions of hazards mitigation. We do not seem to appreciate the relevance of natural hazards for the legal and ethical foundation of our professions, which is to protect health, safety and welfare. Instead, we mobilize immediately after disasters to provide emergency shelter and conduct design-build studios, as best as we can. In the U.S.A. numerous studios have addressed Hurricane Katrina and Haiti reconstruction, while in Pakistan studios have concentrated on the massive earthquake and flood events. Although passionate and well-intentioned, these efforts do not have time to draw or build upon the essential body of research knowledge and practical experience.

A handful of design organizations sustain provide an exception to the rule, and strive to mainstream natural hazards curricula and building codes (e.g., in the U.S.A. at Texas A&M University; the University of California, University of Colorado, University of Illinois, and University of South Carolina). An exciting new collaboration has also begun between design colleagues in Pakistan and the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT.

The rebuilding efforts begun with KRT/AfH conducting an extensive survey of Pakistan - from the first hit village near Munda Headworks to the evacuated villages of Sindh. A mission was chartered to assist 5,000 families rehabilitate and restore their lives by providing immediate relief, as well as long-term assistance with re-construction. A holistic rehabilitation program was devised, which incorporated the need to introduce an organic method by which Pakistanis can rebuild Pakistan themselves in the most cost efficient and timely manner through the reuse of local resources.