2nd Croatian Conference on Earthquake Engineering 2CroCEE

This paper focuses on earthquake consequences in buildings, analyzed in terms of architectural design choices. The Durrës earthquake of 11.26.2019 showed lot of damages of non-structural nature, in buildings of various ages, structural systems, and volumetric shapes.
The object of the article is precisely the treatment of the variety of these "damage patterns", which require to be analyzed carefully to understand the causes of which some of the consequences came from. The behavior of the building during the earthquake showed that the reasons for the damages were also related to the architect's choices and the corresponding conditions in the technical design codes. For example: the shape of the building in plan and volume, the regularity of the structure in plan and height, the size of the joints, flat slabs, cantilever volumes, parapets of balconies and terraces, etc.
So, the purpose of the article is to highlight the damages that come as a result of those design factors, which directly involve the architect. The paper, deals with the above elements and comments on the causes and consequences. Through the facts, the article tries to show that these damages come also from the avoidance of the guidelines for the design factors mentioned above. The article does not undertake to prohibit or limit the functional and aesthetic choices on buildings but emphasizes the importance of the early collaboration of the architect and structural engineer. This cooperation should start from the early stages of architectural design in seismic-prone areas, taking into account that these construction works should be built at optimal cost, with the aim of minimizing such damages in the future.
Key words: nonstructural damages, irregularities, seismic joint, architectural design.