B.Arch CurriculumFree, forever
A tribute to Amogh N P
Earthquake Resistance Architecture
Earthquakes do not kill people — badly designed buildings do. This elective gives the architect the seismic literacy to design buildings that protect life, working alongside the structural engineer rather than leaving it all to them. It begins with the fundamentals — what an earthquake is, how the ground shakes, and India's seismic zones. It studies how the ground and different buildings actually behave when the shaking comes, and why some collapse. It teaches the single most architectural seismic lesson — building CONFIGURATION: that a symmetric, regular, well-proportioned building survives where an irregular one with a soft ground storey, a short column or a re-entrant corner fails. It covers seismic detailing for masonry, RC and steel, and ends with the urban and disaster-planning view, from Bhuj and Latur to the tsunami coast.
Course byAmogh N P· Architect & interior designer
The syllabus
5 units · 5 liveTranscribed from the official B.Arch syllabus. All 5 units are live as full interactive lessons, each with original diagrams, a self-assessment quiz and studio work.
Unit 1 — Fundamentals of Earthquakes
LiveThe Earth's structure; seismic waves; plate-tectonics theory and the origin of continents; the seismic zones of India (IS 1893, Zones II–V); the predictability, intensity and measurement of earthquakes; and the basic terms — fault line, focus (hypocentre), epicentre and focal depth.
Unit 2 — Ground & Building Performance
LiveHistorical experience; site selection and development; the effects of an earthquake on the ground — soil rupture, liquefaction and landslides; the behaviour of different building structures, equipment and lifelines and their collapse patterns; and the behaviour of non-structural elements — services and fixtures — in earthquake-prone zones.
Unit 3 — Seismic Codes & Configuration
LiveSeismic design-code provisions and an introduction to the Indian codes; and — the architect's heart of the course — building configuration: scale, size and the horizontal and vertical planes, building proportions, symmetry, torsion, re-entrant corners, and irregularities such as the soft/short storey and the short column.
Unit 4 — Construction Details
LiveSeismic design and detailing of non-engineered construction (masonry, wood and earthen structures); of RC and steel buildings; and of non-structural elements (architectural elements, water supply, drainage, electrical and mechanical); the lessons of Bhuj, Latur and other Indian disasters; and design guidelines for disaster-resistant construction against floods, cyclones and tsunami.
Unit 5 — Urban Planning & Disaster
LiveThe vulnerability of existing buildings; facilities planning and fires after an earthquake; the socio-economic impact of earthquakes; urban-level planning strategies for seismic resilience; and the design of resilient institutional and multi-storey buildings.
Course outcomes
What you will be able to doUnderstand the formation and causes of earthquakes and the basic terminology.
Understand the factors to be considered in the design of buildings (ground and building behaviour).
Understand the services and non-structural elements that must resist earthquakes.
Become familiar with the seismic design codes and building configuration.
Understand the detailing for designing earthquake-resistant structures.
Apply urban-level planning strategies for earthquake resilience.
The author
Amogh N P
Architect, interior designer, and creative polymath. Studio Matrx began in his notebooks — his vision of design made honest, useful, and open to everyone. Its Academy is written and taught in his memory, and free, forever.
More about Amogh →Earthquakes don't kill people — buildings do.
Fundamentals and zones, ground and building behaviour, configuration, detailing and disaster planning. Work the five units, study the diagrams, then test yourself.
The curriculum is free, forever