Designing Tall Buildings

Mark Sarkisian, PE, SE, LEED® AP, is the Director of Seismic and Structural Engineering in the San Francisco office of SOM. He has developed innovative structural solutions for more than 100 international building projects, including some of the tallest buildings ever constructed. A world-renowned leader in the design of high performance seismic and environmentally responsible structural systems, Sarkisian has patented numerous inventions and has additional patents pending. He teaches, publishes, and lectures frequently around the world.

Foreword. Introduction 1. Perspective 2. Site 2.1. Wind 2.2. Seismicity 2.3. Soils 3. Forces 3.1. Code-Defined Gravity Loads 3.2. Code-Defined Vertical Force Distribution for Wind 3.3. Code-Defined Vertical Force Distribution for Seismic 3.4. Gravity Load Distribution and Takedowns 3.5. Load Combinations 3.6. Design Axial, Shear, and Bending Moments 4. Language 4.1. Force Flow 4.2. Structural Framing Plans 4.3. Structural System Elevations 5. Attributes 5.1. Strength 5.2. Serviceability 6. Characteristics 6.1. Dynamic Properties 6.2. Aerodynamics 6.3. Placement of Structural Materials 6.4. Floor-To-Floor Heights 6.5. Aspect Ratios 7. Systems 7.1. Material Quantities 7.2. Practical Limits of Structural Systems 7.3. Major System Details 8. Nature 8.1. Screen Frames 8.2. Cores and Pre-stressed Frames 8.3. The Infinity Column 8.4 Growth Patterns 8.5. The Stayed Mast 8.6. The Perfect Tube 8.7. The Logarithmic Spiral 9. Mechanisms 9.1. Unnatural Behavior 9.2. Conventional Beam-To-Column Tests 9.3. Wood Dowels and Steel Pins 9.4. Pinned Joints 9.5. The Pin-Fuse Joint 9.6. Managing Large Seismic Movements 9.7. Combining Natural Forms and Mechanisms 10. Environment 10.1. Automobile Analogy 10.2. Conventional vs. Enhanced Seismic Systems 10.3. Reduction of Seismic Mass 10.4. The Environment Analysis Tool 10.5. Reducing Environmental Impact through Advanced Organic Theories