“Soft Story” and “Weak Story” in Earthquake Resistant Design: A Multidisciplinary Approach

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“Soft Story” and “Weak Story” in Earthquake Resistant Design: A Multidisciplinary Approach

L. Teresa Guevara-Perez
Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas

SUMMARY:
“Soft story” and “weak story” are irregular building configurations that are a significant source of serious
earthquake damage. These configurations that are essentially originated due to architectural decisions have long
been recognized by earthquake engineering as seismically vulnerable. In terms of seismic regulations their
irregular condition requires the application of special considerations in their structural design and analysis. The
majority of urban zoning regulations in contemporary cities, although, at present encourages and in some cases
enforces the use of them not requiring special considerations. This paper analyses the architectural reasons why
these configurations are present in contemporary cities and explains in conceptual terms their detrimental effects
on building seismic response. These effects are presented from a multidisciplinary perspective -engineering,
architecture and urban planning- because their treatment can only be achieved by an integrated approach that
recognizes the interaction between these disciplines. Examples of damage due to these effects are analyzed.
Keywords: soft story and weak story, irregular building configurations, multidisciplinary perspective.

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