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<docHead>
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<title>Annotated Bibliography</title>
<author xml:id="your_id_here">Samantha Wagner</author>
<version n="3" date="2016-07-13"/>
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<annotated_bib>
<problem_stmt> If you have ever lived in a apartment, worked in an office, went to a grocery
store, or visited a museum, you have interacting<note type="instructor"
>interacted</note> with the work of architects and engineers. Although it is common
to pay little attention to the structures around you, these buildings, bridges, and
roadways play such a crucial part of how you live every day. Boston is an old city full
of beautiful old buildings. Brownstone homes and shops line our streets. Ornate works of
art such as the YMCA stand on our campus. However, these structures are failing, as all
old buildings do. The stairs and floors are sagging. The walls are crumbling and the
beams are splintering. What these buildings need is a little bit of attention.
Unfortunately people do not want to invest in a fixer upper. Institutions like
Northeastern and property management companies such as Alpha Realty would rather use a
building until it has deteriorated to a point of being unsafe and getting condemned.
They would rather knock it down and build an efficient utilitarian cinderblock box that
will make them profit rather than invest in a piece of history or work to increase the
aesthetic value of our beautiful city. When we look to countries like Germany,
Switzerland, and France we see numerous examples of old buildings that were preserved
and modernized while still maintaining the historical significance of the structure.
Modern construction and design technologies have made structural rehabilitation
increasingly accessible to building owners and property managers. It is my hope to one
day work in an industry that is not simply about demolition and new construction, but
one that can take the essence of a beautiful old thing and make it safe and great
again.<note type="instructor">this is a very interesting problem (one that I am
personally very invested in); I might ask for a bit of further clarification as to
what you consider the role of engineers to be in this problem (versus architects,
politicians, historians, etc.)? Or do you see yourself as belonging to a blend of
disciplines?</note></problem_stmt>
<citation n="1" style="MLA">
<author n="1">Branco, Miguel</author>, and <author n="2">Luís Manuel Guerreiro</author>.
<title level="a">Seismic Rehabilitation of Historical Masonry Buildings.</title>
<title level="j">Engineering Structures</title>. 33.5 (2011): 1626-1634. Web. 12 July
2016. </citation>
<annotation>
<background type="author"> Written by two professors at the Technical University of
Lisbon in Portugal, this journal article presents their research on seismic
retrofitting in historic masonry buildings similar to those in and around Boston. </background>
<summary type="approach">
<q>Of the degraded buildings, masonry construction is the typology that presents
more problems and is more in need of rehabilitation.</q> This study focuses on
two aspects of historical building design that present safety concerns today
including the unreinforced masonry walls and the use of flexible wooden floor
systems. In part one researchers test four different methods for stiffening and
strengthening the existing wooden floors forcing them to act as rigid diaphragms to
the overall structural system. Additionally in part two of this study the
researchers attempt to increase seismic resistance by the use of three different
techniques; adding new reinforced concrete walls to the system, introducing a base
isolation solution, and using viscous dampers. </summary>
<summary type="general"> They found that the use of steel ties within the existing
wooden floor system along with allowed for more effective force distribution
throughout the system and decreased displacement of existing features and materials. </summary>
<relevance type="application"> This extensive research serves as a great resource for
professionals working in the rehabilitation industry in older cities containing a
high quantity of older masonry buildings. </relevance>
</annotation>
<citation n="2" style="MLA">
<author n="1">Costa, Aníbal</author>, and <author n="2">João Miranda Guedes</author>.
<title level="b">Structural Rehabilitation of Old Buildings</title>. Berlin:
Springer, 2014. Web. 12 July 2016. </citation>
<annotation>
<background type="author"> Edited by department chairs for the Department of Civil
Engineering at the University of Aveiro and Porto University both in Portugal, this
book is a collaboration of pieces written by professors and researchers at each
school. </background>
<summary type="general"> This book addresses the different structural systems and
construction methods used in a number of different masonry building styles. By
examining the structural behavior of the systems today and addressing the damages
that have occurred due to different environmental stresses these researchers are
able to provide a solid basis for their arguments for and against certain styles of
retrofitting and reinforcement. </summary>
<summary type="interpretation"> For masonry buildings located in zones of seismic
activity it is very important to provide updated reinforcing systems as traditional
masonry alone provides no tensile strength to resist movement during seismic events. </summary>
<relevance type="value_stmt"> With chapters focusing on adobe, brick, and stone masonry,
this source provides a very thorough and individualized assessment of popular
historic methods of construction, conducting vulnerability assessments and analyzing
construction maintenance on each. </relevance>
</annotation>
<citation n="3" style="MLA">
<title level="a">Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings: Structural
Systems.</title>
<title level="w">Historic Preservation - Technical Procedures.</title>
<author>U.S. Department of the Interior</author>, 2 June 2015. Web. 12 July 2016. </citation>
<annotation>
<background type="source"> Published by the General Services Administration (GSA), an
independent agency formed by the US Government in 1949 to help with the support and
management of all functioning federal agencies, this list of guidelines for
preservation of historic buildings was originally written by the U.S. Department of
the Interior as a reference for rehabilitation and remodel of older structural
systems. </background>
<summary type="general"> The general format of this reference article breaks the process
of updating or altering a historic building with regards to its structural system
into five basic steps of discovery, protection, repair, replacement and alterations. </summary>
<relevance type="application"> By stressing the importance of a full discovery
investigation and the use of appropriate materials in the updated structure, this
article and its accompanying articles serve as a valuable reference for members of
the general public inexperienced in the business of existing construction remodel or
historic building systems.<note type="instructor">important, I think, that this
source is specific to the U.S. (as opposed to your other
sources)</note></relevance>
</annotation>
<citation n="4" style="MLA">
<author n="1">Meli, Roberto</author>, and <author n="2">Roberto
Sanchez-Ramirez</author>. <title level="a">Criteria and Experiences on Structural
Rehabilitation of Stone Masonry Buildings in Mexico City.</title>
<title level="j">International Journal of Architectural Heritage</title>. 1.1 (2007):
3-28. Web. 12 July 2016. </citation>
<annotation>
<background type="author"> Professor at the National University of Mexico, Roberto Meli
is a highly published researcher specializing in earthquake engineering. </background>
<summary type="general"> This investigation focuses on the major rehabilitation of the
Mexico City Cathedral and includes an evaluation of many relevant investigations
involving other colonial era masonry structures. Much of the damage that these
buildings have faced is due to the impact of vertical loading, differential
settlement and seismic vibrations. </summary>
<summary type="approach"> This study uses extensive structural monitoring systems, field
and lab testing of structural members and relevant materials to determine the main
causes of damage and the most effective methods of restoration. </summary>
<relevance type="application"> In the case of Mexico city, the severe changes in ground
settlement is a result of over extraction of local groundwater. Boston, although
less severe, also experiences a lot of differential ground settlement due to the
fact that a large portion of the city is built on fill and other unstable and
largely unknown materials. </relevance>
</annotation>
<citation n="5" style="MLA">
<author n="1">Weeks, Kay D.</author>, and <author n="2">Anne E. Grimmer</author>. <title
level="b">The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring and
Reconstructing Historic Buildings</title>. DIANE Publishing, 1 Feb. 1995. Web. 12
July 2016. </citation>
<annotation>
<background type="source"> Published in 1995, this book still serves today as a strong
basis with the general guideline for people looking to perform work on a historic
structure in the United States. </background>
<summary type="general"> For many structures the biggest concern when starting a
rehabilitation project is the fact that other than the obvious facade, most of the
structure and its materials are largely unknown until work has begun. </summary>
<summary type="interpretaiton"> Without going into the technical aspects of design this
piece focuses on the architecture and materials detailing of buildings and
structures throughout history it does bring our attention to a few interesting
requirements that would affect structural system changes or updates. </summary>
<relevance type="application"> This book largely references the publishings of the U.S.
Secretary of the Interior and serves to “provide guidance to historical building
owners and building managers, preservation consultants, architects, contractors, and
project reviewers prior to treatment.”<note type="instructor">glad you wrote about
this moment of tension in the schema for design entry 2; another very important
source here, I think</note>
</relevance>
</annotation>
</annotated_bib>
<docReview>
<reviewer type="instructor" xml:id="kgs"/>
<report type="instructor" resp="#kgs">
<p>This is a really fascinating topic that is so important for Boston (and Northeastern
as they gobble up more and more of formerly residential real estate!). Your source
selection in particular is really great, nice job researching. You have a good mix
of topical and methodological sources from a range of cities and the U.S. Likewise
your annotations are well done. My only quibble (see problem statement note) is
wanting more of a sense of where you see yourself amongst the multiple disciplines
that have a stake in this problem and potential solutions.</p>
</report>
</docReview>
</DOC>