CONSTRUCTION, DESTRUCTION & RECONSTRUCTION:
Living with flooding and other natural hazards
Introduction
Datum International was one of the first architectural practices to take up the issue of natural hazards. Nine earlier years of construction inspection as architect-on-site in the United States, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom were then followed by seven years as Leverhulme Senior Research Fellow at two universities to examine vulnerability to natural hazards. Direct experiences of environmental and socio-economic extremes, a prevailing concern for the needs of people, and a passionate involvement for construction were twinned with an aim to reduce destruction, all of which are now reflected in the images of this website.
The achievement of architecture, in its process as well as in its product, commences with responsible empathy and instinctive awareness for environments and user needs, followed by creative synthesis of structural competence and materials selection, cost and programme management.
Just as architectural modernism broke away one hundred years ago from the preconceptions of classical formalism, the same philosophy can be applied to many issues much wider, even, than those of architecture. Sequential problem analysis and solution synthesis, may not be unique to architects but is nevertheless their modus operandi. For this reason, architectural modernism has its place amongst the images representative of the activities of Datum International.
James Lewis RIBA is an architectural and environmental writer, a retired from practice Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Visiting Fellow in Development Studies at the University of Bath, an occasional External Examiner at the Centre for Architectural Research and Development (CARDO) at the University of Newcastle, a Registered Expert Witness (1997-2000) and a Registered Expert Witness (1997-2000).
Vulnerability to natural hazards
Assignments with international organisations have involved post-earthquake reconstruction strategy in Algeria, hurricane-resistant construction methodology in island states of the Caribbean, hurricane preparedness strategies and post-hurricane project identification in of the South Pacific and, in Bangladesh, on the design of new cyclone shelters, the inspection of buildings under construction, evaluation of buildings completed and on problems created by the flooding of rivers and coastlines and the impact of flooding on buildings. These projects, with many others, created material from which numerous publications followed and which are continuing.
In the United Kingdom, projects and participations to do with sea flooding have been on flood-prone coastlines of the Thames Estuary and North Kent and at Chiswell, Dorset, with minor participation at Fushing (Cornwall). River flooding participations have been for Coggeshall (Essex: River Blackwater), King's Lynn (Norfolk: River Great Ouse), Oxford (Osney Island: River Thames), Poulton (Gloucestershire: River Churn tributary) and Wookey (Somerset: River Axe).
Commissioned travel, as well as travel for study or curiosity, has been throughout the United States and in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, island states of the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, Moscow, Scandinavia, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Switzerland and all countries of the original European Union.
Publications
Publications are arranged in chronological order under the following headings:
Construction, Destruction and Reconstruction
Corruption in construction
Island states and island territories
North Africa
Algeria
South Asia
Bangladesh
Vietnam
United Kingdom
Flooding in the United Kingdom
Vulnerability reduction in development
Within publications:
denotes document available to view by selecting its link
PDF denotes document available as a PDF on request. (By courtesy of Ilan Kelman)
For a Complete publications list (751 kb in Rich Text Format) please see http://www.islandvulnerability.org/resources.html