IAR 221 Blog Post 13: A Tragic Failure in the Modernist Movement

     While the Modernist movement brought about a staggering number of architectural innovations and successes, it is important to remember that the best lessons are learned from mistakes.  Not every structure built during the Modernism era was perfect, and while much was learned from these small mistakes, there was often a price associated with them.  Perhaps the most famous--or rather infamous--example is the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri (pictured above).  Begun in 1978 and completed in 1980, the hotel is a massive building and an impressive display of Modernism at work.  The height of the building, the UFO-like disc at the top, the heavy use of glass in its design--all of these things place the Hyatt Regency comfortably in the "modernist" category.  But what could be so dangerous about such a simple design, a design that was by the late 1970's one that had been built and rebuilt all over the world many times?  The problem originates here:

   Inside the hotel were superimposed walkways, that were supposed to be held up by a single long rod with individual bolts supporting each individual walkway.  During construction, however, the design was changed so that several smaller poles, with two bolts at either end, supported the walkways instead:

     This design change, while seemingly harmless, is actually incredibly dangerous.  The nut on the far right, while only rated to support the weight of a single platform, now has to support two platforms.  On the night of 17 July 1981, the support system failed, and the walkways collapsed on top of each other.

     Approximately 114 people were killed instantly, and another 200 received lifelong injuries. The idea of superimposed walkways suspended in midair was "the direct result of the modernist impulse to appear to defy gravity"  (Roth 568).  Eventually the mistake was discovered, and steps were taken to ensure that a disaster such as this would never occur.  And the steps have proven effective:  to this day, the Hyatt Regency disaster remains the worst accident where poor architectural design and engineering were the primary causes.  Yes, the Modernist movement brought many new ideas, technologies, and procedures to life.  But we must not forget that some of these new innovations did not come without a price.

Final Thoughts...
--The Hyatt Regency Hotel disaster of 1981 is the single worst building failure where architectural design and engineering were the sole causes.
--The simple design change from a single rod to multiple smaller rods was the cause of this terrible accident.
--The Modernism movement was not a perfect movement:  it had its share of mistakes and errors; some (like the one presented here) were not without tragic consequences.

Image Sources:
--http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=154955
--http://frogstorm.com/?p=4319
--http://www.cracked.com/article_19623_6-small-math-errors-that-caused-huge-disasters.html  (Item #4)