ABSTRACT
Recent damaging earthquakes and hurricanes provided powerful reminders of how vulnerable we all are to the forces of nature. Even in an advanced industrial nation, our built environment is still quite susceptible to natural disasters. Consequently, one of the principal current challenges in structural engineering concerns the development of innovative design concepts to better protect structures, along with their occupants and contents, from the damaging effects of destructive environmental forces including those due to wind, waves, and earthquakes.
