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re·sil·ience/rəˈzilyəns/noun

1.) the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.
2.) the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

Last weeks blog post (here) about the drought in Brazil, prompted us to look more into “Resilience” as a design principle.  If we can build cities, and change land-use patterns in a way that maintains their resiliency, then when unforeseen events like the Brazils Drought, or the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s occur, our designs will be able to respond and bounce-back.

Major disasters like Typhoon Haiyan, Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, and earthquakes in Japan, Pakistan and Haiti are a wake up call to remind designers that we always need to keep the long-term picture in mind when we design, preparing buildings to withstand possible disasters as well as more mundane long-term wear and tear. (via)

Sustainability seeks to maintain and restore our relationship with the environment, while resiliency seeks to maintain  durability and integrity by designing today to accommodate for future changes.  The qualities that contribute to a resilient building include durability, flexibility, adaptability and redundancy.

 
In Toronto, we experienced an ice storm in 2013 that knocked out the power in the middle of winter for many thousands of people.  Without power our buildings began to cool, and quite soon water pipes began bursting as the water froze, and basements began to flood.  This is clearly a very low level of resiliency.  If we were to lose power for more then a week, because of the way that we have built our buildings, and out city, we would quickly see our city disintegrating. Therefore “Resilience” as a design principle goes hand-in-hand with “Sustainability”, if we desire, which we do, to have the buildings we design and build be functional, comfortable, and efficient.
 
-gc