The Post-Tsunami Reconstruction Team assessed the damage in Sri Lanka after the 2004 Great Sumatra Earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Ms. Olshesky, as a member of this multi-disciplinary team composed of professionals from AIA, APA, ASLA, and ASCE, produced the architectural chapters of the final report, which included recommendations for rebuilding.
The Post-Tsunami Reconstruction team produced a reconstruction master plan for Sri Lanka in response to the Sri Lanka request for assistance after a powerful tsunami hit the coast of Sri Lanka in 2004, destroying many residential and commercial buildings. The ODG team developed multiple designs for high, medium, and low risk locations, and proposed using bamboo building products. Bamboo, a rapidly renewable material native to Sri Lanka, is a familiar product that can be logically reintroduced into Sri Lanka building construction methods.
International building codes are being developed for bamboo, and with proper planning and placement, these structures could be built rapidly, inexpensively, and to withstand low to mild damage from natural disasters. Architectural work for this project was completed in 2005.