Posted by Richard Haut on August 20, 2002 at 13:07:57:In Reply to: Re: Rebuilding World Trade Center towers not good idea: NYC mayor posted by Rob the Tiger on August 20, 2002 at 12:20:34:
"a disaster waiting to happen"perhaps there is a parallel with the "Titanic". Without doubt, the Titanic was built to very high standards and appeared to be an exceptionally safe ship. Did that safety itself contribute to the sinking ? Probably, since it gave an unreal sense of immunity which resulted in risks being taken which would probably have been avoided in a vessel of more ordinary construction (excessive speed in an area with a high risk of icebergs).
similarly, by building to such exceptional height the WTC may have been regarded with a similar over-confidence in terms of its safety and the difficulties of escape in the case of an emergency - any emergency - viewed as not relevant. The idea that I have heard mentioned was that some high buildings are assumed to be suitable for fire to be contained within a restricted area only - rather like the watertight bulkeads on the Titanic.
badly engineered - or over-confidently ?
|
ArchitectureWeek
Search
Buildings
Architects
Types
Places
Pix
Free 3D Models
Store
Library
|