oq-gem

Glossary for gem taxonomy

Authors: Luke Allen, Andrew Charleson, Svetlana Brzev, and Charles Scawthorn

This online Glossary explains around 400 terms contained in the GEM Building Taxonomy v 2.0 and nearly 700 images.

The terms have been listed in alphabetical and numerical order. Text description of each term is accompanied by illustrations (photos and/or drawings) where possible.

We welcome contributions in the form of photographs or images, illustrating glossary terms. If you have any questions you can also contact us at buildingtaxonomy@globalquakemodel.org


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Irregular plan shape [PLFI]

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The building footprint is a shape that cannot be reasonably described by one of the shapes in this table. Buildings with A-, B-, F- or P-shaped plans are included in this class.

PLFI_Bilbao_Spain_Wikimedia_GoogleEarth_1

Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain has an irregular plan shape (Left: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Guggenheim_Museum,_Bilbao,_July_2010_%2806%29.JPG; Right: map data ©2013 Google, Eusco Jaurlaritza, Gobierno Vasco)

PLFB_Ottawa_Canada_Googleearth_1

Supreme Court of Canada building in Ottawa has a B-shaped plan (Map data ©2013 Google, DigitalGlobe)

PLFI_Canada_Ottawa_Googleearth_1

The West Block is a part of the building complex housing the Canadian Parliament (Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada); the building has a P-shaped plan (Map data ©2013 Google, DigitalGlobe)

PLFI_Canada_Vancouver_Brzev_Googleearth_1

Central Public Library in Vancouver, Canada has a circular plan shape with an opening, plus a free-standing elliptical wall, and an office tower (Map data ©2013 Google, DigitalGlobe)