RESILIENT ARCHITECTURE
Anubhuti singhal
Apeejay school of architecture and planning,singhalanu000@gmail.com
Abstract—India is among the top five countries in the
world that is affected most frequently by natural disasters.
Making a resilient infrastructure would yield India Multiple
benefits .
Building A resilient city is not one that is protected from
climate change all of the time, but one that is protected by
effective defenses and adapted to mitigate most climate
impacts, while able to recover quickly after a major storm
event.
This research paper includes case studies of flooding issues in
the lowlands in majuli district in Assam , sustainable and
resilient building under construction in North of Toronto in
Newmarket and rehabilitation and retrofit of the existing
historic building, formerly Knox College, .The study is based
on the data collected in the primary survey and the articles
available online from trusted sources.
Keywords—flooding , disaster , resilient ,construction.
I. OBJECTIVE
The objective of this research paper is to Identify and
advocate for incentives for resilient design, construction, and
operations.And up learn how to create adaptable Structures,
enhance the ability of a building to recover from damage,
designing adaptable structures that can “learn” from their
environments and sustain life, even in the face of disaster .
II. NEED
A more comprehensive approach is needed.Enhancing
resilience has become a key element of preparedness for
extreme events and climate change.risk management
approaches that are currently applied often have a focus on
distinct part or ara and pay limited attention to recovery rate
,So that is why a wider, more comprehensive approach is
needed .The resilience concept may help in such an
approach. Also there is a need for architects to solve the
Problems without creating the new one and making the structure
truly sustainable .
III. SCOPE
The survey of this research will be conducted to collect
information about the flood issues in nothindia and in the
lowland of hong kong ,flooding has become more common
and severe in the lowland areas ,the aspect to be looked into
are socio-economic impact of the flood and how sustainability
and resilience can be incorporated in new and existing
buildings, a mindset we must incorporate in all our projects
given the ever-changing climate around us.Designing
buildings that are sustainable, in that they better protect their
interiors from the elements, have a lower reliance on energy
and external resources in general, and re-use and re-adapt
existing materials, in turn allows these buildings to foster
more resilient operations that are less susceptible to the
effects of climate change.
Coastal resilience is the ability for a coastal community to
independently withstand shocks caused by hazardous storms
and coastal flooding, adapt to future occurrences, and rebuild
when necessary. Incorporating resilient and adaptable design
elements into architecture could help to create a more
sustainable built environment that reacts more efficiently to
challenges and difficulties that occur in the natural world.
IV. LIMITATIONS
There are certain limitations. Firstly ,identification of
appropriate strategies for building resilience, barriers to
implementation of these strategies which limits the potential
effectiveness of these efforts.And climate hazards and
development-related pressures and are also encountering a set
 of technical, political, financial, legal, and policy hurdles t recoverfunctionality after a disruption. In simple terms,
adaptation to make maintain bearable condition in the event resilience is the capacity of recovering after a disturbance
or interruption. With resilient infrastructure, communities
can,
V METHODOLOGY
There is a certain method which can be followed , Involving
people directly in the design and creation of strong and
inclusive cities. identify hazards, assess vulnerabilities,
Analyse impacts, Modify programming with desired
outcomes, Create performance targets, Design and implement;
measure and evaluate.
VI. STRATEGY
Resilience is not the only solution.. Resilience must be
understood as a varied thing , which requires being active
when creating solutions in times of disaster . In other words,
resilient design involves a complete rethinking of the built
environment.
Following are some some practical strategies :
● Design and construct buildings to withstand
extreme weather, such as severe storms.
● Past records of the climate can be helpful.
● Design durable buildings with elements like
rainscreens, waterproof interior finishes,
impact resistant windows, etc.
● Promote water conservation practices such as
rainwater harvesting or greywater reuse.
● Learn about product hazards, and specify
which materials or products will leak
hazardous substances in the event of a flood
or fire.
● For cases where the municipal wastewater
system is not there consider some alternatives
like waterless urinals and composting toilets.
VII. INTRODUCTION
Before we can define adaptability, we have to look at the
term “resilience” as an area of study that was born out of
ecology and, at its core, holds the mandate for architects
promoting it to solve problems without creating new ones.
Indeed, its scientific definition is the ability of a substance
or object to spring back into shape after suffering a trauma.
So the term resilience describes the ability to adapt to
changing conditions, and to maintain or
natural disasters, or other interruptions of normally
available services.
Resilient design is the intentional design of buildings,
landscapes, communities, and regions in order to respond to
natural and manmade disasters and disturbances—as well
as long-term changes resulting from climate
change—including sea level rise, increased frequency of
heat waves, and regional drought.
Resilience is fundamentally about the elasticity of a
building.
It’s about elasticity, an innate quality of adaptability, and the
connection to architecture is twofold. First, resilience means
designing adaptable structures that can “learn” from their
environments and sustain life, even in the face of disaster.
Second, resilience means architects can learn from their
buildings and deploy evermore-refined designs. Third,
resilience means involving people directly in the design and
creation of strong and inclusive cities.
RESILIENT DESIGNS PRINCIPLES.
● Resilient design strategies are applied to individual
buildings, communities, and larger regional scales.
Resilience also applies different scales ,ranging
from immediate to long-term.
● Basic human needs are fulfilled in resilient systems:
Sanitation, potable water, energy, lighting, air quality,
food, health, and livable conditions.
● Simple systems are more resilient.
● Strategies that increase the durability of systems
also improve their resilience.
● Local resources improve resilience: Using local
resources like solar energy and groundwater
provides greater resilience than depending on
external or non-renewable resources.
● Applying lessons from nature is a way to enhance
resilience, combined with strategies that protect
natural environments.
VIII. CASE STUDIES

MAJULI,ASSAM
Majuli district of Assam is exposed to river bank erosion and houses York Region’s public services and a Provincial
flood because of various topographical characteristics of the Offences Act courthouse. The building has been designed to
basin in which it is situated . Bhramputra river changes its
courses over the period of time creating more problems in
the livelihood of the north eastern people.
Flood affects many ways in many in the lifestyle of
Assamese People . Brahmputra was aimed at protection of the
riverside Villagers from annual devastating flood and
subsequent intensive river bank erosion sixty years back
.During the process of making embankment more than ten
thousand families were displaced from their parental acre and
till today today many of these displaced families are living on
the embankment also embankments causes permanent
deterioration in river character and the quality. Solution to this
:,traditional architecture of north indian : The architecture of
north-east india responds to their climate ,culture and tradition
.it has the ability to adapt to the changing climate conditions.
The use of primitive material makes it less vulnerable to
natural hazards .However because of structural inadequacy
and lack of termite safety .
There are the houses that people built using traditional
material and techniques in different areas in north east india
.
But there is a need for proper steps and strategy to create
resilient structure in order to with the climatic hazards.
NORTH OF TORONTO IN NEWMARKET
York Region Administrative Annex,
North of Toronto in Newmarket is another rehabilitation and
retrofit of the existing historic building under construction.
The York Region Administrative Centre Annex designed by
WZMH Architects will be an eight-story building that
ensure the highest interior quality for guests and employees
while being highly energy efficient. Central to the building is
a full-height atrium framed in green walls and a feature
staircase.
While flooding is often a hazard associated with coastal
areas, local topology and hydrology can make it a risk in
many areas. Such is the case for York Annex, located within
the Western Creek floodplain and directly adjacent to a
creek.
Extreme flood scenarios have been modelled and show that
flood waters can rise to just a few meters below the first
floor of the Annex. Foundation walls adjacent to the river
have been designed to be water-tight even during the
worst-case flooding. A pedestrian bridge crossing the creek
has piers that would be submerged during extreme flooding
and have been checked for impact loading from floating
debris, as have the foundation walls. Lastly, a standalone
back-up generator building adjacent to the Annex and away
from potential flood areas increases the resilience of the
Annex.
BUILDING IN TORONTO,CANADA
Daniels Faculty of Architecture
Located at the historic One Spadina Crescent, the new
Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design
presentes a unique sustainability challenge both from a
building envelope and a structural perspective.
Phase One of the project was the rehabilitation and retrofit
 of the existing historic building, formerly Knox College,
Bamboo York Region Daniels
which ties into the adjacent Phase Two new construction. house Faculty of
Administrat
ive Annex, Architectur
e
The first challenge was the adaptive re-use of existing
COUNTRY INDIA TORONTO TORONTO
materials to suit the new structural and building envelope
demands placed on the building. Structurally, historic mass
timber trusses throughout the existing building were
assessed for their capacity and generally reinforced for DESIGNED Local WZMH NADAAA
BY people Architects
new loads and new spans.

REASON To create To create rehabilitation

From a building envelope perspective, the challenge was FOR eco sustainable and retrofit of
upgrading the envelope to meet current performance goals CONSTR friendly and resilient the existing
while respecting the historic context of the existing UCTION and flood structure . historic
resistant building
structures.
architecture. The envelope of the existing building was
“buttoned up” throughout, while extensive coordination
and mock-ups of windows ensured the gothic revival
CHALLE River bank Adaptive Extreme
architecture was maintained and still had concealed,
NGES erosion re-use of flooding.
modern detailing. Moving the envelope of the building FACED and
from the floor of the attic up to the gabled roof allowed existing
flood .
for a fully conditioned and partially occupied attic space material
while also improving the performance of the building.

Phase Two of the building incorporates extensive areas

of green roofs which can also be accessed by students.
The upper floor of the new building is dedicated to
reconfigurable studio space. Key to the aesthetics and
energy efficiency of this space was opening the roof to
provide natural daylight throughout. This was achieved
through an intricate structural steel roof of “bow-tie”
trusses with glazing within the webs of the trusses.
These trusses thus serve to meet the sustainability goals
of the building while also achieving world-class
architecture. The Daniels Building received the
Canadian Institute of Steel Construction Award of
Excellence, an achievement which the grand roof surely
contributed to.
X. CONCLUSION
The above case studies have briefly demonstrated how
sustainability and resilience can be incorporated in new
and existing buildings, a mindset we must incorporate in
all our projects given the ever-changing climate around
us.
So creating a resilient structure is not one that is shielded
from climate change all of the time, but one that is
protected by effective defenses and adapted to mitigate
most climate impacts, while able to recover quickly after
a major storm .

References.
1). New York engineers(2020).Introduction to
resilient design .[online]Available at
:https://www.ny-engineers.com/blog/introduction-to-resil
i en t-design
2).Architect(2015).Resilience to
IX. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS adaptation.[online],Available at
:https://www.architectmagazine.com/aia-architect/aiafeat
u re/ resilience-to-adaptation_o
3).ResearchGate.Resilience to
 adaptation.[online], Available at
:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220478845_Arch
i tectural_design_for_resilience
4).Entuitive.Resilience through design-case
studies.[online],Available
at:https://www.entuitive.com/ensight-publications/resilience
-through-design-case-studies/
5)issuu(2018).Disaster resilient houses.[online],Available
at:
https://issuu.com/parthchampaneri/docs/thesis_report_-2018