Abstract
Introduced is a procedure to achieve an optimum design of a building subjected to settlement taking the trade-off between the design of the super-structure and the design of sub-structure (foundation) into account. The super and sub-structure used to be designed separately in the current design method which seems not to be convenient in seeking the optimum design of the whole structure. The optimization procedure introduced in this paper is thought out to deal the design of a building subjected to differential settlement which requires both the super and sub-structures to be rigid enough to resist against differential settlement. The optimization procedure is adopted to an existing building constructed on a reclaimed land being on the process of primary consolidation. An economical comparison showed that the building designed in a current method was somewhat expensive than the building designed adopting the proposed tecnique of optimization.
