Tsunami teaches architects a hard lesson on code compliance

Prapti Widinugraheni, Contributor/Istanbul

There was a deep sense of frustration among the Asian architects discussing the plight and slow progress of reconstruction efforts in areas affected by the Dec. 2004 tsunami.

Architects from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Indonesia -- all the Asian countries affected by the tsunami -- had abundant data and numerous photos of the disaster which killed about 200,000 people in the region. But when it came to presenting concrete and tangible outcomes from the monetary donations that had poured into the region the last few months, there is, so far, little to show.

The architects met as part of the 22nd World Congress of Architecture, held earlier this month as the peak triennial event of the International Union of Architects (UIA). The panel discussion on post-tsunami reconstruction in Asia was attended by Indonesian Architects Institute (IAI) President Budi Sukada, President of the Chamber of Architects of Turkey, Oktay Ekinci, Vice President of the UIA, Gaetan Siew and three dozen leaders and members of many other Asian architectural organizations.

There was an awareness that bureaucracy and financial mismanagement had sidetracked reconstruction efforts. But soul- searching led the architects to ask how much they unwittingly contributed to the destruction of homes and buildings by not protesting lax building codes and designing unsuitable structures.

Oktay Ekinci said an architect's role was not after a disaster, but before it struck.

"Don't be sorry after an earthquake hits, but be hard-hearted now to enforce regulations and good design and building practices. If there is unwillingness on the part of the government, or states, to plan coastal areas well, we must ask: Why? What interest groups are involved?" he said.

Balbir Verma from the Indian Institute of Architects, said the least that planners and designers could learn from the tsunami was that they should be strict in abiding by coastal-area zoning regulations and refrain from requesting for any relaxations.

"In the absence of such regulations, we must insist on implementing them," he said.

Budi, however, was wary of putting too much emphasis on regulations, particularly in Indonesia's case.

In an interview with The Jakarta Post, he said so much in the country was "business" and "no morality".

He said it was important for certain ideals to get through to the government -- such as the architectural community's commitment to environmental sustainability, responsible planning and respect for local culture -- and he had come to accept that less-than-idealistic means, which often included business-style negotiations and transactions, justified an honorable end.

"We have to join the 'game'. Our aim, for example, may be to preserve (local architectural) culture, but in order to do that, we have to 'do business' - or we get nothing. We have young architects who are very optimistic, hard-working and excellent in terms of technical ability and creativity, but they don't have much experience in this kind of discourse. What I have to do is share some of this 'experience' with them, because they will have to deal with it one day; they must accept it. It's sad, but I must convince them that what I do has nothing to do with a change of attitude, it is just a strategy," he said.

The architects gathered that afternoon voiced concern about the need to respect and preserve local cultural identity in the reconstruction of buildings, and more importantly, of homes.

"Sustainability and preservation of cultural identity needs to be thought about in our interventions. Our guiding principals should be the question of why we are there, solidarity and transparency," said UIA's Gaetan Siew.

Budi said there were many examples in Aceh in which houses of various shapes and sizes - experimental projects or otherwise -- were speedily built, without consulting the local people, only to be scorned, then abandoned, because they either "resembled chicken sheds", used material that was foreign to the locals, or simply because the Acehnese felt they could do a better job.

Budi said the IAI was taking both a top-down and bottom-up approach to reconstruction in Aceh. The organization is at the initial stage of working with the central government to draw up building codes and to remake the master plan for the whole of Aceh; it has also been approached by foreign donors wanting to help rebuild homes. On the field, IAI's members are holding meetings and consultations with community groups on home building and design that can both satisfy local tastes and meet sound building requirements.

By the end of this year, Budi hopes to have a two-story, 40- square-meter "help clinic" in Banda Aceh which to provide technical assistance and support to locals who want to build their own houses. The upper floor of the building will serve as temporary living quarters for architects, both local and international, who would like to come for short periods of time, and the ground floor will contain help desks for meetings with local people.

"We are very careful with top-down programs ... Our job is not only to control aid, so housing projects are not done outrageously, but to ensure that local people don't have to change culturally. The bottom-up approach is much better, but often takes longer. Either way, to some extent we must teach them about space, place and orientation, why bedrooms should preferably face east, and why it's better not to have houses too close to each other. In the end, they do understand and cooperate," he said.

Budi said IAI followed strict requirements on assisting donors with home building projects. The organization, he said, insisted on controlling the number of houses; the building's location, which should be acceptable to the Acehnese; and the house design, which must suit local customs.

"The bottom-up process is slow, but it's better than rushing out and building a product that can't be used by people," he said.

Architecture was emphasized in the UIA Congress as being not only an art of building but a profession bridging technology and socio-economic needs through designs that used resources appropriately.

The congress, attended by 6,000 architects from around the world, called for the well-being and protection of the planet and of the guiding principals of participation, partnership, economic and social equity, conservation of resources and the use of technology for the benefit of the environment and humanity.

Budi Sukada said that in Indonesia, IAI has drawn up comprehensive guidelines on the protection of the archipelago's heritage, land and people. The organization has made several attempts at introducing the guidelines to various presidents -- starting from the time of BJ Habibie -- but has received no response from officials.

"I detect a tendency to deliberately neglect the value of the environment, as governments seem to want to build as much as possible. If we manage, one day, to get a courtesy call with (President) SBY (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono), we will mention again that our land and our culture are slowly being eroded intentionally by ourselves ... We must conserve our heritage -- not just the buildings, but the landscape and culture; we must not build on sites with heritage value, or on fertile land; we should build only on land that (otherwise would) give us nothing," he said.