Tsunami teaches architects a hard lesson on code compliance

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.