Exhibition on seismic design to be held at Design Exchange

Compared to sleek and sophisticated product designs and the beauties of architectural drawings, building engineering usually falls under the radar of the design critics and arts media.

However, this fall seismic design will have an exhibition all to itself at the prestigious Design Exchange in downtown Toronto.

Curators Dr. Effie Bouras of Mechanik Design Office and Professor Ghyslaine McClure, P.Eng. of McGill University are seeking completed building projects and research for the exhibition, which is scheduled for September and October.

Bouras and McClure are hoping to show projects that display an innovative approach to seismic design and don’t sacrifice aesthetics. Their call for submissions, which are due June 1, reads as follows:

“Buildings, as we have been reminded by too many recent catastrophic earthquakes, are complex dynamic systems, oftentimes, aesthetic consideration is put on hold in favor of cost and engineering restraint; with this in mind, we are seeking proposals that surpass conventional approaches, ones that do not sacrifice a design aesthetic for conventional structural solution. These buildings, “push the envelope” so to speak, and feature elegant structural solution to seismic considerations, while remaining true to the designers’ vision. Featuring drawings, models and various multimedia platforms, the exhibition aims to convey the cutting-edge character of some of the most creative projects around the world.

“The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2012. Please send your proposals (to include a brief synopsis of the project particularly highlighting interesting design solutions related to the seismic aspects of the project, photos of the building and structure related to seismic elements and/or photos of models) to info@mechanikllc.com with “DX exhibit” in the subject line.”