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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Category: terms
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The building footprint is a round shape; circular, elliptical, or ovoid, and it has an interior open courtyard (whether roofed or not).

PLFCO_Beijing_China_GoogleEarth_1

Beijing National Stadium (also known as the Bird's Nest) has a circular plan shape with an opening (Map data ©2013 Google, DigitalGlobe)

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Category: terms
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The shape and angle of the roof on the building. If the building has more than one roof, describe the largest roof.

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It is clear that the structural material is masonry, but the type of masonry is unknown. The build-up of the wall may be hidden, as in the case of a plastered wall, or information about it is unavailable.

MUN99_Chile_Brzev_1

MUN99_Chile_Brzev_2

Walls in masonry buildings are usually covered by plaster at the exterior and it is difficult to identify type of masonry unit used in such cases - like in the case of the masonry building in Constitution, Chile shown in the top photo; however, a closer inspection of the walls and the building interior revealed the adobe construction, as shown in the bottom photo (S. Brzev)

MUN99_Canada_Brzev_1

This is likely a masonry building, but the type of masonry unit is not known, Halifax, Canada (S. Brzev)

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Stacked earthen construction that uses clay-based soil in the form of a cohesive paste. The material is first kneaded and then shaped into large balls, which are either stacked (piled) on top of one another or thrown forcefully onto the wall. A layer is left to dry before adding the next layer to build up walls. It is not rammed after placement, as with Rammed Earth. It is possible to build very thick walls (thickness varies from 40 to 200 cm) using this technique. The earthen mixture may contain fibres, usually straw, grass, or twigs, but that is not an universal practice. Straw is often used as an additive for cob wall construction in Europe.

Cob1

A cob wall under construction, India (People in Centre)

Cob2

Cob building under construction, India (People in Centre)

Cob3

Cob building, India (People in Centre)

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Category: terms
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The building is clearly mixed use, but the types of use are unknown.

  1. Earth
  2. Agricultural processing [AGR3]
  3. Earth, unreinforced [EU]
  4. Pounding potential [POP]

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