Sawtooth Method for Teaching Seismic Design Principles to Architecture Students

Although acknowledged as a must in earthquake-prone countries, the introduction of seismic design principles in schools of architecture is often perceived by the students as a serious limitation to their design freedom. Hence, teaching methods where students are encouraged to devise architectural design strategies that embrace seismic principles and lessen students’ perceptions of reduced design freedom are required. The sawtooth method presented here allows the progressive introduction of seismic design guidelines consistent with the complexity involved in architectural design. This technique comprises an iterative sequence of short tasks or workshops, organized in a zoom-in or zoom-out explorative sequence and embedded within two major seismic-related frameworks: configuration and detailing phases. The sawtooth method has been implemented as a teaching and learning approach in a studio in a faculty of architecture in Izmir, Turkey. The assessment of four case studies reveals that the presented approach helps architecture students to integrate seismic design principles in their projects, facilitating the blending of conceptual approaches with highly realistic scenarios.