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    Towards a more "robust" technology? Capacity building in post-tsunami Sri Lanka

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    Author
    Pathiraja, M; Tombesi, P
    Date
    2009-01-01
    Source Title
    Disaster Prevention and Management: an international journal
    Publisher
    EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LIMITED
    University of Melbourne Author/s
    Tombesi, Paolo; PATHIRAJA, MILINDA
    Affiliation
    Architecture, Building and Planning
    Metadata
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    Document Type
    Journal Article
    Citations
    Pathiraja, M. & Tombesi, P. (2009). Towards a more "robust" technology? Capacity building in post-tsunami Sri Lanka. DISASTER PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT, 18 (1), pp.55-65. https://doi.org/10.1108/09653560910938547.
    Access Status
    This item is currently not available from this repository
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11343/29967
    DOI
    10.1108/09653560910938547
    Abstract
    <jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-heading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>In fast urbanizing economies such as Sri Lanka, the construction industry tends to fragment into almost separate spheres of production with little or no reciprocal connection in training, know‐how and career development paths, and consequent limitations in internal knowledge dissemination and technology transfer. This type of industrial compartmentalization is detrimental to the social acquisition of skills, and restricts the operational frameworks of given technologies, especially in low‐cost sectors. Against this backdrop, this paper sets out to speculate on how design can act as an engine of social and economic growth for those involved in its production.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-heading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>Based on government statistics and building output analysis, the paper argues that architects can build labour policy‐making into the design of their buildings, provided that such an agenda is developed strategically, by examining the industrial base of the region, and by defining a design and technological vocabulary that feeds off the analysis of place‐specific conditions, limitations, and ambitions.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-heading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>The integration of technological development and broad socio‐economic growth can be facilitated by “open” (or “incremental”) industrial design strategies aimed at connecting construction markets rather than keeping them separate. To this end, it is posited that technological contamination and compromise can help the labour force to increase its own skills progressively.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-heading">Research/limitations implications</jats:title><jats:p>In practical terms, this objective translates in the definition of building implementation techniques that can adapt to the level of complexity required and the level of expenditure possible without penalizing the expected performance of the building – i.e. they must be inherently “robust” as opposed to precise and therefore more “sensitive”.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-heading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>The paper is the first result of a thesis‐in‐progress that, on the basis of a technical review carried out on a small sample of ideal‐type projects in Sri Lanka, is considering ways to create and link labour development opportunities through architectural design.</jats:p></jats:sec>
    Keywords
    Building

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