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PALU COMMUNITY CENTER

2019​ / Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

On September 28, 2018 a 7.5 magnitude earthquake was measured 77km (48mi) off the coast of the city of Palu. The earthquake was then followed by a localized tsunami that caused the structures on the shoreline to be swept away entirely. Landslides finalized the level of destruction that befell this town with approximately 68,000 houses in need of repair or reconstruction affecting about 1.5 million people. It was the deadliest earthquake worldwide in 2018 with an estimated 4,400 people injured and about 2,200 dead. 

The Palu Community Center was designed and built next to one of the refugee camps. Its unique triangular shape is inspired by the local traditional houses called Rumah Tambi. Plywood boards were pre-cut in the same Sulawesi Island, then assembled with the locals and architecture students from Bandung Institute of Technology and Tadulako University.

TEAM: Keio University SFC Hiroto Kobayashi Laboratory (Design, Construction), IAI Palu, Akira Suzuki (Structural Engineering), Bandung Institute of Technology (Construction), Tadulako University (Construction), and others

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