Once upon a Devastating Flood

In the seminar, we explored Old Sacramento and some of it’s original buildings. After a devastating flood occurred in 1861-62, the city of Sacramento needed to resolve its flood issue. The entire San Joaquin valley was flooded for four months, Sacramento took 2 months to finally drain out all the water. The city proposed three solutions, disconnect the American river from the Sacramento River, create a levy, or raise the city. The city tried out all three ideas however the final solution option was the best and most secure. For big businesses like Wells Fargo bank, raising its building was easy because they could afford it, however for other smaller businesses, it was harder. Jacks and cribbing were used to rise buildings. Throughout the entire process of raising the city, it was all chaos, some buildings were fully raised, some half done, and others still in process. The entire city was officially completely risen in 1873. Much of those buildings had to be re-created due to time and lack of care, however now many people can take a walk through history because of role of architecture. Architecture played a large role in rebuilding the city to withstand all the flooding. In the walking seminar Les Grands Projects: A Contemporary Vision of the Parisian Cityscape, one can learn about the significance of modern architecture and how it faces controversy. In this seminar we can learn about the frame to the symbolism of each building. Learning about architecture is extremely important because infrastructure is everywhere and important to a successful society.