Left, designed by a Czech Jan Letzel, built by the Japanese. A newer at the time building made of brick covered in concrete with a steel dome built to be earthquake resistant it was directly beneath the bomb as it went off transmitting the blast force down through its vertical columns and then being dissipated thanks to those earthquake resistant measures.
Right, a thick reinforced concrete grain storage building just so massive it could take the blast, well half of it could. Again Czech designed but Lebanese built, the structural designs were also Lebanese developed by Dr. Jacques Nasr.
Edit: wow thanks everyone didn’t expect awards and so many up votes. I have been in the Construction field for 20 years and also really enjoy WW2 history so this was just in my wheelhouse.
Edit Edit: I used the words “directly below”, and several people have pointed out that this building was not the exact center of the blast. This is true, the absolute center on the ground was about four hundred feet away. It’s now in an alley and a plaque denotes it. That said, the bomb was detonated 1900 feet above ground level and this small difference off center on the ground did little to effect the angle of which the pressure wave struck the building.
The building on the left still exists today in Hiroshima. Although the rest of the city has been rebuilt, they left this structure untouched as a reminder of the terrible effects of nuclear weapons and as a monument to peace. It is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Trextrev on January 10th, 2021 at 17:21 UTC »
Left, designed by a Czech Jan Letzel, built by the Japanese. A newer at the time building made of brick covered in concrete with a steel dome built to be earthquake resistant it was directly beneath the bomb as it went off transmitting the blast force down through its vertical columns and then being dissipated thanks to those earthquake resistant measures.
Right, a thick reinforced concrete grain storage building just so massive it could take the blast, well half of it could. Again Czech designed but Lebanese built, the structural designs were also Lebanese developed by Dr. Jacques Nasr.
Edit: wow thanks everyone didn’t expect awards and so many up votes. I have been in the Construction field for 20 years and also really enjoy WW2 history so this was just in my wheelhouse.
Edit Edit: I used the words “directly below”, and several people have pointed out that this building was not the exact center of the blast. This is true, the absolute center on the ground was about four hundred feet away. It’s now in an alley and a plaque denotes it. That said, the bomb was detonated 1900 feet above ground level and this small difference off center on the ground did little to effect the angle of which the pressure wave struck the building.
DynamiteWitLaserBeam on January 10th, 2021 at 17:36 UTC »
The building on the left still exists today in Hiroshima. Although the rest of the city has been rebuilt, they left this structure untouched as a reminder of the terrible effects of nuclear weapons and as a monument to peace. It is a UNESCO world heritage site.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_Peace_Memorial
V65Pilot on January 10th, 2021 at 19:17 UTC »
Massive explosion? Check. Building standing? Czech.