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Old Posted Dec 25, 2015, 5:23 PM
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RobEss RobEss is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Brooklyn
Posts: 490
Tall buildings that experience high winds, like 432 Park, have something called a tuned mass damper at their tops - It's essentially a free-floating weight that moves independently from the structure and counteracts the force of a gust, like a pendulum.

Tall buildings that experience earthquakes usually have several tools at their disposal - One is a foundation that is not anchored to directly the ground, but instead resting on hydraulic or rubber 'springs' that allow the building to absorb quakes. Another is a central beam that moves independently from the more rigid surrounding structure - this beam, which can easily sway several inches at once, acts similarly to the tuned mass damper, absorbing ground shocks instead of wind.

That last technique was first employed in pagodas - you should read about it here!
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