Cesare Tocci

The case study of Santa Maria Paganica Church damaged by 2009 L'Aquila earthquake

Santa Maria Paganica Church, built in the second half of XIII century, represents one of the most important church for L’Aquila history (being the second so-called “capoquarto” church). During the centuries, due also to the damages suffered by various earthquakes, important structural modifications, which are decisive for the interpretation of the seismic response, followed. In particular, as a consequence of L’Aquila earthquake (April 6, 2009), severe collapses interested the church, which in particular occurred in: the dome and dome cladding, the whole roof (with exception of apse), the upper part of the lateral wall on left side, the gable of façade. Several vulnerability factors facilitated the collapse of these portions, in particular: the constructive precariousness of nave’s masonry walls; the asymmetric transversal stiffness on the two opposite sides of nave; the replacement of the original roof. In the paper, starting from the analysis of the constructive details and the subsequent transformations which interested this church, the interpretation of its seismic response will be discussed. Moreover some preliminar issues, associated to the different solutions for the church rebuilding and the strengthening interventions which should be adopted, will be examined.

A Methodology for Approaching the Reconstruction of Historical Centres Heavily Damaged by 2009 L’Aquila Earthquake

The paper illustrates the preliminary results of a research carried out on a historical centre heavily damaged by 2009 L’Aquila earthquake; in particular it presents shortly the Rubble Removal Plan realized and more in detail, the analysis conducted on a sample block. The detailed knowledge of the block is are essential for identifying probable causes that led to the present damage scenario and for planning consciously the reconstruction and restoration of the historical centre.

ANCIENT AND MODERN RESTORATIONS FOR THE COLUMN OF MARCUS AURELIUS IN ROME

In 1589, on the occasion of a complex intervention on the Column of Marcus Aurelius, Domenico Fontana reconstructed an entire corner of the abacus resorting to a wise joint of blocks, the stability of which was simply guaranteed by their shape. The same corner was over again restored in 1987 by Antonino Giuffrè because it was feared that the decay and fracturing of the material inserted during the 16th-century intervention could compromise the safety of the abacus. Despite the seemingly unbridgeable distance that separates them, the two restorations share an undeniable affinity of method in which an essential role is played by the need not only of recovering the cultural and technical continuity with the historical architecture but also of correlating the different specialist contributions available within a unified approach. With respect to the latter aspect, both restorations discussed in this work constitute a suggestion for the current culture that, breathlessly running after the detail, often risks losing sight of the entirety.

Seismic history of the church of San Pietro di Coppito in L'Aquila

After the terrible 18th-century earthquakes—in L’Aquila in 1703, Lisbon in 1755, and Reggio Calabria in 1783—specific anti-seismic precepts were introduced in the rules of the art of masonry construction. Scrupulously adhered to in the first years after the earthquake, those precepts gradually ceased to be used until they were almost completely forgotten, centuries later, by which time the earthquake had become a distant memory. The church of San Pietro di Coppito, one of the most important churches of L’Aquila, is emblematic of this singular process. Deeply transformed in accordance with new anti-seismic construction techniques after it was particularly badly damaged in the terrible 1703 earthquake, the church was subjected, in the 1970s, to drastic alterations by the Commissioner Mario Moretti, who demolished all the baroque additions and redesigned it in the “medieval Abruzzo” style, eliminating in the process the intelligent anti-seismic provisions introduced in the 18th century. In addition to documentary purposes, this work aims to underline the effectiveness of this early 18th-century example of anti-seismic engineering in the belief that the constructive solutions it employed could still form a valid architectural and structural model in view of the massive restoration task for which, unfortunately, L’Aquila is still waiting today.

Vulnerability reduction procedures in ordinary urban management. The Urban Building Code of Faenza

The paper describes a study carried out for historical centre of Faenza (RA), developed by the Dept. of Architecture (UniCT) within an agreement with Faenza Municipality. The study aimed at elaborating guidelines for mitigation of buildings’ vulnerability in historical urban fabric to be used in ordinary government of the city as seismic prevention intervention.

Non Linear Analyses for the Evaluation of Seismic Behavior of Mixed R.C.-Masonry Structures

In this work the seismic behavior of masonry buildings with mixed structural system, consisting of perimeter masonry walls and internal r.c. frames, is studied by means of non linear static (pushover) analyses. Several aspects, like the distribution of seismic action between masonry and r.c. elements, the local and global behavior of the structure, the crisis of the connections and the attainment of the ultimate strength of the whole structure are examined. The influence of some parameters, such as the masonry compressive and tensile strength, on the structural behavior is investigated. The numerical analyses are also repeated on a building in which the r.c. internal frames are replaced with masonry walls.