Creation from Catastrophe: How architecture rebuilds communities

Intriguing exhibition at the RIBA looking at how major disasters in a city can present a radical opportunity to rethink the townscape.

The exhibition was divided into two sections one on historical examples and one on contemporary.  The historical ones began with London after the Great Fire in 1666 and showed five alternative plans for its redevelopment. There was also a good section on the rebuilding of Chicago after their 1871 fire which although the main plans were not developed saw the start of steel frame building and the birth of the sky scraper.

I did not know about an earthquake which hit Lisbon in 1755 which created a tsunami across Southern Spain! This led to  the world’s first seismic protected buildings in Europe. The show included a lovely large model of one of these Pombalino buildings.

The modern section looked at events in Nepal, Nigeria, Japan , Chile and Pakistan. These focused more on quick rebuilding after the event, as a guess the longer term work is still ongoing. I was fascinated by a structure in Nepal made of cardboard and the building rubble created by the earthquake. Also a floating school in Nigeria. I’m not sure I’d be going on it but what a great idea to use the water not just for transport but almost as land.

Closes on 24 April 2016

 

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