SUMMARYThis paper explores the notion of detailing reinforced concrete structural walls to develop base and midheight plastic hinges to better control the seismic response of tall cantilever wall buildings to strong shaking. This concept, termed here dual-plastic hinge (DPH) concept, is used to reduce the effects of higher modes of response in high-rise buildings. Higher modes can significantly increase the flexural demands in tall cantilever wall buildings. Lumped-mass Euler-Bernoulli cantilevers are used to model the case-study buildings examined in this paper. Buildings with 10, 20 and 40 stories are designed according to three different approaches: ACI-318, Eurocode 8 and the proposed DPH concept. The buildings are designed and subjected to three-specific historical strong near-fault ground motions. The investigation clearly shows the dual-hinge design concept is effective at reducing the effects of the second mode of response. An advantage of the concept is that, when combined with capacity design, it can result in relaxation of special reinforcing detailing in large portions of the walls.