A beam-to-column joint includes a beam having first and second longitudinal ends and a column including a bottom end and a top end. A panel zone is located adjacent to the first end of the beam, and the top end of the column is attached to the panel zone. The panel zone includes a yielding member and reinforcing structure at least partially bounding the yielding member, the reinforcing structure being configured to concentrate stresses to within the yielding member. The panel zone is configured to resolve external lateral forces on the beam and column into shear force in the yielding member so that the yielding member will fail prior to failure of the beam and column.
