In many jurisdictions the Uniform Building Code, UBC (ICBO, 1988), regulates the design for lateral wind and seismic forces. However, most architecture students and architecture design firms find these regulations difficult to interpret and apply for multi-story buildings. Therefore, lateral design is often not considered in the early design process as it should be when important decisions are made that affect lateral forces. This proposal makes lateral design simpler and more transparent, visualizes effects of building form on lateral forces, and facilitates trade-off studies for creative integration in the early design process. The project will: 1) develop a computer program for lateral design by means of tables and graphs, and 2) develop paper graphs for use without a computer. No such graphs have been available to architects in designing for lateral forces. This project will fill in this gap by allowing architects and students of architecture to consider earthquake resistant design in the early stages of building design. As such, the proposed products resulting from this project will have a direct application to the earthquake resistant design process at an early stage. It is very timely.
