Design approach in historical building heritage renovation

according to sustainability criteria

Carlo Antonio Stivala
a
Dipartimento di Ingegneria e Architettura (DIA), Università di Trieste, Via Alfonso Valerio 6/1, 34127 Trieste
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Abstract

This paper discuss refurbishment operations, referred to both high historical and architectural value buildings and to lower
level ones. The need to integrate energy efficiency requirements and environmental protection in architectural recovery
operations requires several skills and interaction between different disciplines; then, the possibility to use established patterns
that support each stage of a project intervention in the recovery and restoration is an important aspect in this subject. In this
direction some remarkable experience has been developed: i.e. Guidelines A.T.T.E.S.S., GBC Historical Building Protocol™,
Project SECHURBA. These works implement tools for sustainability assessment to identify actions reliable to historic
building and to provide for groups of specific criteria concerning the analysis of the status quo, in order to enhance and
preserve cultural and historical value of the building under study. © 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Keywords: historical historical building, sustainability, energy efficiency, assessment tools.

PACS: Type your PACS codes here, separated by semicolons;

1. Introduction 3. State of art

Renovation interventions, referred both high historical
value buildings and lesser quality ones, represent an
operational variation of sustainability, in order to transfer
this heritage, carrying on its peculiar characters, to future
generations. A current aim to integrate energy efficiency
requirements and environmental protection with operating
principles of architectural restoration requires a multiplicity
of skills and an interaction between different disciplines,
involving several operational difficulties [4]. Considering
constraints determined by safeguard aim for these values,
possibility of referring to tested and established patterns,
able to support each design stage of a restoration, is a very
important feature.
2. Goals
The goal of this research is to analyze existing tools for
energy and sustainability evaluation in historical buildings
restoration, considering approaches given to experimental
works, relation with legislation on historical heritage and
criteria implemented, in order to individuate their skills and
possibility of application in different intervention cases.
Among these patterns, some experiences are considered
notable: Project A.T.T.E.S.S., GBC Historic Building™
Protocol, Project SECHURBA: it is proposed a comparison
among these experiences, in order to recognize their
different approaches to historical heritage renovation issue.
Region Veneto’s A.T.T.E.S.S. project [1], started in 2010,
has primary goal in establishing good practices and
operational references for historical buildings renovation,
in order to increase energy performance respecting
restoration principles. Construction techniques are main
character to recognize in historical buildings; it usually
implements bioclimatic approach design without any
contribution of active technical facilities for internal
climate condition control. Design options have to improve
the maximum performance (identifying a range of
performance values reachable) that can be provided without
altering historical and cultural characters the building is
bearer. Historic buildings' renovation reads performance-
based approach to include sustainable features assessment,
in order to prove the adequacy of choices and actions.
The GBC Historic Building Protocol [2] purpose contains
the same thematic areas of other protocols LEED®: it
includes area Historic Value, specific to architectural
renovation context. In this sense, tool is based on different
contexts comparison and merging: sustainability principles
and LEED® standards traceable to restoration operating
principles. Historic Value area is characterized by credits
which, according to restoration principles and survey
methods identification, aims to preserve valuable historic
characters in the building. Credits refer to the establishment
of historical evolution of the building, its structural design,
the identification of high-quality surfaces and diagnosis of
instability, mandatory prerequisite to access to certification.
2
The project SECHURBA [3], involving a consortium of 13
organizations in 7 European countries (Bulgaria, Denmark,
Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom), aims to
demonstration and information of opportunities offered by
sustainable interventions on buildings in some historic
urban areas, explaining the results of the study cases in
order to promote the development of such actions in future
energy policies and local programs. There are involved
about thirty buildings with different use (art galleries,
museums, churches, residences, offices), in different areas,
in which energy audits were carried out in order to quantify
reduced energy potential through efficiency measures.
Expected project goal was to reduce CO2 emissions and use
of energy of 40% for at least 5 reference buildings for each
historical center and at least in three urban communities.
Reported results confirmed that potential for energy
savings in case studies is between 21 and 80%, average of
46%, values due to the variety of destination of use of the
buildings and to the different activities carried out therein.
4. Methods and tools
It is possible to individuate main steps in project actions:
 identification of typical characteristics of historic
buildings that can directly match an energy benefit;
 identification of interventions valid for most buildings
examined, in full compliance with historical and
architectural values typical of existing legislation;
 verification of percentage of energy saved downstream
of planned interventions for historic buildings.
In A.T.T.E.S.S. Project, the building energy assessment is
improved with an evaluation accordance with sustainability
assessment of buildings; then has been proposed a
performance evaluation tool, BIOVER2, whereof base is
ITACA 2009 framework protocol, developed in five areas
concerning outdoor environmental quality, efficient and
smart use of environmental resources, environmental loads
control, indoor spaces comfort, service / operation quality.
The most interesting operative product from SECHURBA
project is multicriteria evaluation model developed by the
Istituto Tecnologie Applicate ai Beni Culturali (ITABC -
CNR Italy), useful as support for decision-makers and
based on two levels:
 the first identifies energy saving possible actions
allowed by physical and environmental characteristics;
 the second identifies alternative possible energy
efficiency through the implementation a methodology
for multi-criteria analysis (MCA), based on AHP
method according to an holistic approach that covers
energy efficiency improvement aspects and features
related to the historical value of each building.
5. Results
Project A.T.T.E.S.S. implements ITACA Protocol to assess
sustainability as already applied in different Italian regions
and identifies interventions applicable in historic building
by assessing their impact on performances of this heritage,
without, however, providing a grouping of specific criteria
for the analysis of state of affairs. Criteria of sustainability
should be applied in order to certify compliance with the
conditions and performance such as to ensure the proper
preservation of the architectural heritage and its correct
maintainability, more that the respect of limits regulatory or
ambitions of the client.
In other way, GBC Historic Building Protocol inserts area
Historical Value, that approaches to rehabilitation issues in
compliance with restoration operating principles. It is
noticed a difference in methodology in comparison with
project A.T.T.E.S.S. on heritage conservation historical
building issues: the latter is an application aware of an
evaluation system; the first is a tool specifically modified
for historic buildings, with a defined structure.
Regarding the Project SECHURBA, criterion "Compliance
with the principles and international conventions on the
restoration" in Intelligent Energy Application Tool arises
for the purpose of enhancing and protecting cultural and
historical value of the building under study: the weight
assigned to that criterion is greater than the other criteria
considered. In GBC Historic Building Protocol, instead,
Historic Value area is given a weight clearly smaller than
the energy and atmosphere. The weights of each criterion in
IEATool are calibrated according to the historic building
subjected, allowing a specific scenarios evaluation. GBC
Historic Building Protocol defines a fixed benchmark of
weights for each assessment area instead. Difference
concerns a key aspect in the context of these topics, the
importance of the building as bearer of historical, artistic
and cultural values, and then respect for these values.
These experiences, in conclusion, represent a possible way
to guide renovation actions in historical heritage, hereafter
developable in order to achieve energy improvement and
sustainability assessment of these buildings considering
their typical characters in a typology-based analysis.
References
[1] Metadistretto Veneto della Bioedilizia – Metadistretto
Veneto dei Beni Culturali, La qualità delle prestazioni
energetico - ambientali nella manutenzione dell’architettura
storica – Linee guida, 2010.
[2] Green Building Council Italia, GBC Historic Building
rating system, Short Version v.0.2., 2013.
[3] Project SECHURBA (Sustainable Energy Communities
in Historic Urban Areas) Consortium, SECHURBA Guide.
From Culture and History to Sustainable Development.
[4] Morandotti M. et al., Studio, sviluppo e definizione di
linee guida per interventi di miglioramento per l’efficienza
energetica negli edifici di pregio e per la gestione efficiente
del sistema edificio-impianto, ENEA e Ministero dello
Sviluppo Economico, 2011.
[5] Lucchi E., Pracchi V., Efficienza energetica e
patrimonio costruito. Maggioli editore Spa, Milano, 2013.
ISBN: 978-88-387-6260-4.
 1

The recovery manuals as operational instruments for intervention

on the built heritage
Carmelo Cozzo*
Engineer PhD student, Department of European and Mediterranean Cultures: Architecture, Environment, Cultural Heritage (DiCEM) -
University of Basilicata, Via Lazazzera, Matera 75100, Italia
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

The built heritage has assumed a fundamental role in defining the recovery interventions. In fact, it has gradually reconsidered
the built city (and in particular the historical nucleus) through a rediscovering their role as primary resource for a suitable,
balanced and sustainable development of an area. The research (starting from the study of several historical centers of the
Mediterranean basin) aims to propose a cataloguing of built heritage through a critical analysis of the conservation state as
well as materical and constructive characterization of buildings. © 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Keywords: Historical center ; Conservation ; Valorisation ; Sustainability

1. Main text

State of the art In recent years, the construction activity has seen the growth, the market prospects related to
environmental and architectural recovery. The trend largely confirms the constant and unstoppable growth in demand, because
of the regulatory process implemented to enhance and optimize existing heritage, which has to be adapted to the new
requirements of contemporary life.
The theme of the existing city has become a matter of primary importance, especially about the historical centers, avoiding
the destruction of the main resources of relevance, that is buildings which are interesting for their historical, cultural and
economic value. The existing city has shown amazing abilities at responding to the emerging residential demand, highlighting
a centrality of settlement tendency, which has placed the need to recover, conserve and requalify buildings and part of the city
with specific criteria and methods of intervention, buildings and parts of the city, especially if they are characterized by
particular historical and architectural values.
L '"ars aedificandi" is one of the most commonly adopted expression in the architectural manuals published between 1750
and 1950: today the meaning of' "art of building" is present in the pre-modern architecture recovery manuals, after the law
457/1978 which has introduced the recovery plans without any culture of the pre-modern architectural methods and
techniques.
Objectives The main objective of the research project is that developing the theme of the recovery of the historical
contexts with strong monumental peculiarities. The research, from case studies of historical centers of the Mediterranean basin
aims to knowing the technological and construction characteristics of the existing building;
- highlight the building knowledge to guarantee a right restoration intervention through the use of new technologies and
new types of eco-friendly, no harmful to human health and low cost products.
Methodology From the analysis of the state of the art, particularly in Italy and Spain, the research project in development
aims to provide an interdisciplinary methodological approach for functional and technological recovery of the existing
building heritage in the historical centers. The process followed by research is divided into three phases:
STEP 1:
- study and analysis of the state of the art (restoration and conservation of historical centers, regulatory framework,
restrictions);

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-320-9497493; fax: +39-080-3105297 ; e-mail: cozzo.carmelo@hotmail.it.
2
- critical analysis of some recovery manual.
STEP 2:
- study and analysis of the Spanish recovery manuals and
comparison with the Italian experience;
- definition of the guidelines for the writing of a recovery
manual.
STEP 3 (Activity in situ):
- identification of the main building types and
construction techniques;
- classification of the possible pathologies of the
individual material and / or construction typology;
- cataloging of the types of intervention, depending on
the identified pathologies;
- development of computerized data sheets for each
typological and constructive identified item.
- planning a maintenance and operational management
activities through a system of sensors and
instrumentation in situ.
Expected results The expected results are as
follows:
- rediscovering the historical consciousness to reverse the
involution trend of the process of abandonment and
degradation of the built heritage;
- developing the shared rules and procedures combining
the needs of urban and regional planning, conservative
instances and the need for integration;
- disseminating standards of “good practice” for a
sustainable recovery developing a system for the
collection and sharing of the data; those data will be
collect monitoring the above said case of study to
develope a maintaince programme of built heritage;
Examples of analysis sheets
- support technically and professionally the processes of
architectural and structural recovery of the building
heritage, especially the historical centers.
References
- Aymerich C. et al. Architettura di base. Firenze: Alinea
editore, 2008.
- Comune di Città di Castello. Manuale del recupero di
Città di Castello. Roma: Dei Tipografia del genio
civile, 1998.
- Comune di Roma. Manuale del recupero del comune di
Roma. Roma: Dei Tipografia del genio civile, 1998.
- Galliani V. G. et al. Manuale del recupero di Genova
antica. Roma: Dei Tipografia del genio civile, 2006.
- Giovannetti F. Manuale del recupero del comune di
Città di Castello. Roma: Dei Tipografia del genio
civile, 1998.
- Giuffrè A. Codice di pratica per la sicurezza e la
conservazione dei Sassi di Matera. Matera: La Bauatta,
1993.
- Ranellacci S. Manuale del recupero della Regione
Abruzzo. Roma: Dei Tipografia del genio civile, 2004.
- Restucci A. Matera. I Sassi. Manuale del recupero.
Milano: Electa, 1998.
- Marconi P. Manuale del recupero del centro storico di
Palermo. Palermo: Dario Flaccovio Edtiore, 1997.
- Regione Sardegna. Collana: I manuali del recupero dei
centri storici della Sardegna. Roma: Dei Tipografia del
genio civile, 2010.
- Vegas et al. Aprendiendo a restaurar. Un manual de
restauración de la Comunidad Valenciana. Valencia
Colegio Oficial Arquitectos Com. Valenciana, 2011.
 Analysis of the cooperative interpretation of information
degradation and constructive assessment of the conservation
status of traditional architectures. The protocol ANVIV.
Domenico Colapietro*
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, del Territorio, Edile e di Chimica, Politecnico di Bari, Via Orabona 4 , Bari,
Italy
Air. Tech uses only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

The assessment of the conservation status of traditional architectures historical scale requires more extensive analysis tools,
which make it possible to synthesize and process parameters of interest for the formulation of an opinion on the state of
conservation of the same. The research, which was developed as part of the PhD, proposes the development of a protocol for
the acquisition of information and interpolation degradation and construction for each sub-system connoting the building, in a
position to comment in an expeditious status global and local conservation of the same.
© 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Traditional Historic Buildings, Risk Assessment, Urban and Spatial Scale, Constructive Conservation Index,

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: 080-8497207;; e-mail: domenico.colapietro@poliba.it.
The assessment of the conservation status of
traditional historic architecture, whatever
their value, occupies a prominent place in
our country, given the wealth of its assets,
consisting primarily of historic masonry
buildings [1-2]. The development of an
appropriate prevention strategy is the most
appropriate way to address the problem of
management of such facilities [3]; in this
direction, a point of particular importance is
the assessment of the risk of loss of the
same, reference to any necessary operational
tool aimed at identifying priorities and
allocation of resources.
The risk evaluation scale extended always
requires more analysis tools [4], which
allow, to synthesize and process parameters
of interest for the formulation of a judgment
on the state of the fact of the same [5], by
limiting the step of computational analysis,
through the aid of numerical mathematical
models, suitably enhanced through in-depth
investigation, the next step.
These are the facts of this evaluation process
a rather expensive in computational terms,
for which the scarcity of resources available
at this time on the part of local public
administrations, requires you to select
carefully the building organisms on which to
implement these procedures.
This creates the conditions for the
development of new tools for pre-analysis
that can guarantee, in a coordinated manner,
an immediate assessment of the
conservation status of traditional
architecture in urban and territorial scale,
through which planning in the post-analysis
of detail. Through this work we propose the
development of a Protocol, which is defined
as ANVIV. It is a tool of acquisition and
interpolation of construction and
degradation information for each sub-system
real masonry building, able to give rapid
manner on the physical condition of the
same, both locally if analyzed in its
individual parts, either globally when
compared with other buildings. ANVIV is
encoded for the analysis of preservation of
monobloc structures with prevalent vertical
development (up to a maximum of 4 levels).
The system allows the extremely local
analysis of the state of conservation of
historic buildings from different planimetric
and elevation conformation.
ANVIV is present as one of many tools that
can give our architectural heritage a margin
of conservative safety that has allowed the
continuation of its educational activity in the
heart of the company, through a profound
respect for its historicity, inherent in the
nature of matter - construction of factories
that make. The protocol assumes that the
condition of the physicality of traditional
historical architecture is influenced by
environmental, human and intrinsic
technical construction dominant [6]. This
has led to the articulation of research in four
main steps: 1) definition of three main
subsystems (vertical, horizontal, and vertical
connection), within which the building
structure is disjointed; 2) Analysis of the
literature of technology solutions frequently
recurring in a predominantly vertical
structures in the Mediterranean countries for
each subsystem; 3) Definition of the
technical design for each type of
identification subsystem analyzed; 4)
Definition of diseases of decay for each type
identifier of the subsystem analyzed. 3)
Definition of technical building solutions for
each type of analyzing subsystem; 4)
Definition of diseases of decay for each type
of analyzing subsystem. During the research
it was decided exceedingly to the definition
of building knowledge acquisition modules,
properly implemented within ANVIV, and
the definition of priority scales of the
parameters set out by the method Delphi
online [7], and assigning weights through
the method of SIMOS. They were in fact
involved a panel of 50 experts (25 engineers
- 25 architects) involved in the recovery [8],
inviting them to make judgments, more
steep, on aspects such as the classification of
sub-systems; of degradation and technical-
constructive parameters for typological
solution. They were extremely performed a
sensitivity analysis on the dispersion and
reliability of the data for each level of
investigation performed in completing the

questionnaires. The validation of ANVIV
was confirmed experimentally with specific
reference to all four sixteenth defensive
towers (Capitano, Falcone, Villotta and
Gallo) in the countryside in Molfetta (Italy).
This is a predominantly vertical slender
structure chosen as a pilot project since its
recurrence typological and constructive and
their location within an area with lots of
important environmental conditions. In
particular, for each of these we started from
the compilation of the relevant knowledge
modules, both the technical and structural
characteristics and those of degradation for
each of the three sub-systems. This made it
possible, by interpolating data matrix
deriving from the evaluation of the state of
deterioration, defect scoring, and data on the
quality of construction is such as to define
an index of level conservation
constructive[9] as well a global index,
appropriately introduced in a grading scale,
divided into five levels (from A to E)
according to the standard made familiar with
the energy classification. Through the first
index could be identified for each tower
local emergency staircase, which put an
immediate and temporary maintenance.
Through the second was possible to identify
a global emergency staircase between the
same, from the worst to the best, on which
to put in place post-analysis of detail in
order to identify definitive
Maintenance: Falcone (class C, ICcG =
0,4143), Villotta (class D, ICcG =0, 3523),
Capitano (class D, ICcG = 0,246), Gallo
(class D, ICcG =0, 2247). This list was
extremely confirmed retrospectively by
mathematical models of static and dynamic
assessment[10] and questionnaires
submitted to a panel of twenty local experts
called upon to express an opinion on the
classification of building conservation in
relation to their experiences. The protocol
ANVIV, with a deployment of limited
resources and with a fair degree of
approximation has proved to be a valuable
support for pre-analysis to mitigate the risk
of loss of the built environment. All this
constitutes an additional tool for decision
3
support for the evaluation and the risk
reduction is essential in supporting the
activities of urban and regional vulnerability
assessment and in the management and
planning of interventions for security.
References
[1] Piroddi E.: Si può dare un futuro ai centri storici minori, in
G. L. Rolli, Salvare i centri storici minori, Alinea Editrice,
Firenze 2008, 36-37 (2008).
[2] Salvarani R.: Storia e valorizzazione del territorio, Vita e
Pensiero, Milano, pp. 103-106, (2005).
[3] Accardo G., Giani E., Giovagnoli A. : The Risk Map of
Italian Cultural Heritage, «Journal of Architectural
Conservation», 2, 41-57 (2003).
[4] Cacace C., Ferroni A.M., La vulnerabilità dei monumenti e
dei complessi archeologici: schedatura conservativa e
calcolo dell’indice, in M.C. Laurenti (ed.), Le coperture
delle aree archeologiche-Museo Aperto, Roma, Gangemi
(2006).
[5] Lazzeri E., Ioannilli M., Corcelli A. : Valutazione del
rischio dei Beni Culturali: un modello di analisi multi-
hazard, «MondoGIS», 66/67, 19-25, (2008).
[6] Binda L, Tiraboschi C, Tongini Folli R. On site and
laboratory investigation on materials and structure of a bell-
tower in Monza Int. Zeitschrift fu¨ r Bauinstandsetzen and
baudenkmalpflege 6 (1): 41–62. (2000).
[7] Helton A.: Delphi online. A qualitative methodology that is
better on the internet, Proceedings of the Esomar
Conference, part 1, Speed, Validity and Reliability, Esomar
(2000).
[8] Figueira J., Greco, S., Ergot M.: Multiple Criteria Decision
Analysis: State of the art surveys. International Series in
Operations Research and Management Science, Vol. 78,
Springer- Verlag, Boston, MA (2005)
[9] Bosiljkov V, Uranjek M, Žarnić R, Bokan-Bosiljkov V :
An integrated diagnostic approach for the assessment of
historic masonry structures. Journal of Cultural Heritage
11(3): 239-249. (2010)
[10] Júlio E, Rebelo C, Costa D) Structural assessment of the
tower of the University of Coimbra by modal identification.
Engineering Structures 30: 3468-3477. (2008)
 Masonry between Art and Science:
guidelines for restoring hall buildings
Fabio De Guglielmo*
University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132 – 84084 Fisciano (Salerno), Italy

Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

In recent years, the reading code for masonry buildings has been rediscovered through the interpretation of the historical
technical literature. The recognition of a well-executed masonry structure is a prerequisite for the choice of the analysis
model. Based on the limit analysis, the proposed structural theory uses Heyman’s assumptions (masonry has no tensile
strength, infinite strength to compression, infinite friction coefficient), and it allows to determine the equilibrium
configurations of masonry structures through a computational procedure which is relatively simple. Hall buildings have been
selected for the study because of their monumental importance and relevant vulnerability to not ordinary actions.

Keywords: masonry, structural analysis, Heyman, hall buildings

*
mobile phone: +39-328-5431268; e-mail: fdeguglielmo@unisa.it.

1. Objectives
The objective of this research is to identify correct
methods of intervention for masonry structures. Among
these, a particular attention is paid to hall buildings,
whose composition is governed by a continuous space
with a representative function. Characterized by thin
walls and wide-span thrusting elements, masonry hall
buildings are significantly vulnerable to extraordinary
actions. This study aims to evaluate the constructive
aspects of these buildings, understand their structural
behavior and develop a useful theory for sizing effective
and compatible rehabilitation interventions.
2. State of the art
Over the past few years, the interpretation of
Vitruvius’s De Architectura, the medieval drawings of
building sites, the study of the modern history technical
literature and the nineteenth-century manuals for civil
engineering works have allowed to rediscover a reading
code for masonry structures that seemed to have been
lost.
However, if in the more strictly theoretical and
historical contexts the recently consolidated attention to
the logic of conservation of masonry buildings has
developed an increasing sensitivity to construction
techniques, in the engineering practice and structural
analysis a certain inertia undeniably remains in
accepting the diversity of masonry. This diversity was
captured by Salvatore Di Pasquale, who showed how
ancient builders made up for the lack of adequate
physical and mathematical knowledge through the
acquisition of an experience based on the identification
of the effects rather than the science of causes. Jacques
Heyman, as well, supplied an in-depth and intuitive
knowledge of historical buildings, which provided the
basis for the analysis of masonry structures.
Confirmations of this approach can be also found in the
studies conducted by Calderoni, Lenza, Benvenuto,
Giuffrè and Como.
In particular, for the study of vaults, it was necessary to
know the most important contributions in the
development of structural theories on masonry
horizontal structures, from Leonardo da Vinci’s first
insights till the twentieth-century scientific studies.
3. Methodology
Given a masonry hall structure, the first step is to
identify its historical value and building aspects. This
involves the analysis of the most common masonry
construction techniques in historical buildings and their
evolution over the centuries. In fact, through the critical
interpretation of the technical literature, it is possible to
identify the main orientations derived from the
historical treatises.
The second step of the methodology consists in the
analysis of the structural behavior of the historical
construction. For almost all masonry structures a very
simple model based on the hypothesis proposed by
Heyman in the second half of the twentieth century can
be adopted: masonry has no tensile strength, it is
infinitely rigid and resistant to compression, and it does
not slip on fracture surfaces. This simplified model
captures the essential aspects of the behavior of
masonry structures, and it avoids the difficulties
associated with the mechanical description of brittleness
and friction. In such conditions, through the application
of the static and kinematic theorems of Limit Analysis,
the study of masonry structures is led in a consolidated
theoretical context.
The third step involves the definition of rehabilitation
interventions for the building, aimed at improving its
structural behavior if necessary.
4. Main results
Masonry structures are modeled as sets of rigid blocks
connected by bilateral and unilateral constraints . Given
the values of settlements, geometry and external loads,
it is possible to obtain the unknown generalized
displacements of each block by the use of the principle
of minimum energy. Two simple applications on real
cases are conducted for the analysis of the main facade
of Marinelli palace in the Spanish Quarters of Naples
and that one of Pagliara palace in the old town of
Salerno. The results verify that the cracks identified by
the model reflect the actual map cracking of the
buildings.
5. Points of originality
The analysis of the building techniques through the
technical literature allows to finally address the correct
 Submitted to ColloquiATe
path to the knowledge of the buildings studied, that is
necessary for any restoration project. It is used to detect
the composition of masonry elements only by the visual
inspection of their external facing and to compare the
rules of art dictated by treatisers with the engineering
practice.
The proposed model for the structural analysis is
derived from the original translation of Heyman’s
assumptions in simple equations and inequalities, which
identify the bilateral and unilateral constraints between
the rigid blocks that make up the masonry structures,
seen as multi-bodies. The principle of minimum energy
has to be used to find the equilibrium configurations of
the buildings after displacements.
This failure analysis allows to locate the critical
points of each structural element, so as to limit and
right-size the interventions, which have to be effective
and non-invasive because of the historical values of the
buildings studied.
6. Bibliography
L. B. Alberti, De re aedificatoria, 1450; D. Barbaro, I
dieci libri dell’architettura di M. Vitruvio, 1567; A.
Palladio, I quattro libri dell’architettura, Venezia, 1570;
V. Scamozzi, L’idea dell’architettura universale, 1615; N.
Cavalieri di San Bertolo, Istituzioni di Architettura
Statica e Idraulica, 1827; L. Mascheroni, Nuove ricerche
sull’equilibrio delle volte, Giovanni Silvestri, Milano,
1829; A. Choisy, L’art de bâtir chez les romains, 1873; G.
A. Breyman, Trattato generale di costruzioni civili, 1885;
3
G. Musso, G. Copperi, Particolari di costruzioni murali e
finimenti di fabbricati, Paravia, Torino, 1885; C.
Formenti, La pratica del fabbricare, Milano, 1893; B. G.
Neal, The Plastic Methods of Structural Analysis,
Chapman and Hall, London, 1956; J. Heyman,
Equilibrium of shell structures, Clarendon Press,
Oxford, 1977; J. Adam, La construction romaine.
Materiaux et techniques, Picard, Paris, 1984; E.
Benvenuto, An introduction to the history of structural
mechanics, Springer-Verlog, New York, 1991; A.
Giuffrè, Sicurezza e conservazione dei centri storici. Il
caso Ortigia, Laterza, Bari, 1993; F. Doglioni, A.
Moretti, G. Petrini, Le chiese e il terremoto, Lint
Editoriale Associati, Trieste, 1994; R. Cassanelli,
Cantieri medievali, Jaca Book, Milano, 1995; G.
Carbonara, Restauro Architettonico, Utet, Torino, 1996;
S. Di Pasquale, L’arte del costruire, Marsilio, Venezia,
1996; J. Heyman, Arches, vaults and buttresses, Norfolk,
Variorum, 1996; J. Heyman, The Stone Skeleton,
Cambridge University Press, 1997; L. Trogu Rohrich,
Le tecniche di costruzione nei trattati di architettura,
Edicom Edizioni, Monfalcone (GO), 1999; M. Candela,
Il restauro strutturale in zona sismica, Gangemi, Roma,
2001; G. Fiengo, L. Guerriero, Atlante delle tecniche
costruttive tradizionali, Arte Tipografica, Napoli, 2003;
R. Montagna, E. Pandolfi, Il comportamento sismico
degli edifici ad aula, Metauro, Pesaro, 2006; M. Como,
Statica delle costruzioni storiche in muratura, Aracne,
Roma, 2010; E. Allen, W. Zalewski, Form and Forces,
John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, 2010; Renato Capozzi,
Le architetture ad aula: il paradigma Mies van der Rohe.
Ideazione, costruzione, procedure compositive, 2011; G.
Rizzano, Riabilitazione Strutturale, CUES, Salerno,
2011; P. Lenza, A. Ghersi, Edifici in muratura, Dario
Flaccovio, Palermo, 2012.
 MATERIALS FOR THE SUSTAINABLE TRANSFORMATION OF
WEAK CONTEXTS
Typological analysis of the threshold space:
materic, construction and morphological characters.
Francesca Oggiano
DICAAR, Department of Civil, Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari
via santa Croce 67, Cagliari, 09122, Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

This essay develops a subsection theme of a more vast line of research hereby defined as “Materials for the sustainable
transformation of weak convexts”. The analysis and the re-design of the spaces in-betweenthe house and the road form a completion
that can adjoin a reflection level to the knowing process of the places.
© 19/11/14 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Place; urban system; abacus; in-between space; threshold; building heritage

STATE OF ART complexities and launch an investigation over the meanings of

According to an approach in continuity with the experience
gained by the architects of the second generation of Modern,
the study of historic and traditional settlements explores the
meanings and structures of the urban system to place them at
the service of the formal invention process. The structures, the
forms, the relational subsystems, the permeabilities, the
porosities, the spacial stratifications that define the systems to
access and penetrate places are the subjects that direct the
reading.
The organized reading of the urban fabrics revealed the
complexity of a urban structure minutely configurated,
according to a deep symbiosis between construction, material,
proportion, comfortand use (Refer to: Recovery Manuals of
Sardinia, A. Sanna, C. Atzeni)
The pertinence and complexity of traditional building
structures -for the different scales of fabric, block and house-
can be found in the systemic logic within its formation and
continuous variation on the theme (of the type) of the elements
that compose it.
The main methodological tools of the research are the analysis
of the types and the construction of thematic abacuses able to
compare the characters and the changes of relation system
between the pieces; these instruments are specifically used to
encrease the knowledge about contexts, to reveal their
the in-between space.
This time the method is applied to the study of a single space
device -threshold space- in order to investigate its links to the
architectural organism and its closer surroundings and read the
relationship it has with the road, the house, the courtyard, the
garden and identify those changes that describe the specificity
of the place and the building system.
GOALS
The techno-constructive significance, the materic nature and
the subject of the structural cross-sections of the wall boxes
nourish the reflection and the interpretation of the typo-
morpholologic characters of the in-between spaces while
allowing spatial possibilities in the cavities and the extrusions
of the built mass.
The materials, the techniques and the wisely-constructed forms
of those pertincences that are found in the most solid and well-
preserved environments are the investigation subject with the
aim to read the built example of a system of cozy spaces within
them. Those places, the in-between spaces, achieving the
thermodinamical performances through the passive strategies
typical in tradicional building culture and capable to define
shady settings with the dimensions of their dephts that are not
exposed to direct sunlight, still can teach both a profound
spatial and building design lesson.

Francesca Oggiano; 3408331428; francesca.oggiano@unica.it

METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH ARTICULATION
The method who guided this research experience is based on
the analysis of the real, on the experience in the contest field to
deduce materials and real elements to make the bases for a
condideration. The discipline instruments - in drowing shapes
of chart and photography – guide the reflection process and the
summary of the research cases selected.
Each time the articulation of the mediations between home-
road-garden is formed defining ajar spaces of an intense
relational value, properly proportioned places in which the
cozy dimensions arrange the space to the use.
G. Caniggia, G. L. Maffei, Composizione architettonica e tipologia
edilizia, Venezia 1979
C. Norberg-Schulz, L’abitare, l’insediamento, lo spazio urbano, la casa,
Milano 1984
AA.VV., Arquitectura popular em Portugal, Lisbona 1988
CittàStudiEdizioni, Torino 1994
AA. VV., R. Simounet - D’une architecture juste, Parigi 1997
C. Atzeni, a cura di, Architetture delle colline e degli altipiani centro-
meridionali : Marmilla, Trexenta, Sarcidano, Siurgus, Gerrei,
Marghine, Planargia, Barigadu, Montiferru,, Roma : Dei, 2009
Sanna A., Cuboni F., Architettura in pietra delle Barbagie,
dell'Ogliastra, del Nuorese e delle Baronie / a cura di Antonello Sanna,
Fausto Cuboni ; presentazione di Francesco Giovanetti
Roma : DEI, [2009]
Types of mediation _ Aritzo

The value of these spaces, such as a large part of the basic

architecture, often isn't found in the subtleties of materials and
construction, but it is to be researched in the intrinsic
architectural quality, the density of the areas, in the richness of
configurations of hollow space, in the depth of its dimensions
and in the continuous dialectic between inside and outside,
between the individual space and collective environment.

Reading the real is an opportunity for reflection on the quality

of the places of the life, a quality given by the ability of the
urban system to fulfill the different levels of architectural
scales, the presence of different spatial entities within a plural
urban system. The operation of the urban fabric at the
intermediate scale of relationships is the subject of disciplinary
interest that directs the study of urban articulation towards an
idea of complexity and power up cultured researches and
design practices in those contexts weakened by decay or
desertion.

The analysis of the case studies offers real possibilities to

deepen the subject, so interrupting the linearity of logos and
introduces to the asymmetries of poiesis even in the analysis
phase too.

RESULTS
Types of mediation _ Cabras
The case studies of Cabras and Aritzo describe the complexity
of the articulation of the tissue at the small scale, urban and
architectural facts that are beyond the bidimensional readings
and that are revealed through the experience of contexts. The
typological analysis method applied to the study of the space
apparatuses of threshold has produced synoptic matrices that
can synthesize and compare the different threshold space
examples. The cards tell the different configurations of the in-
between space, describing them through the photographic
survey and diagrams, revealing the structures that host the
dynamics of being in the house and the road, in regard of the
method of use and colonization of the proximity typical of the
local dwelling culture.

Bibliografia
G. Pagano, G. Daniel, Architettura rurale italiana, Milano 1936
O. Baldacci, La casa rurale in Sardegna, Firenze 1951

Francesca Oggiano; 3408331428; francesca.oggiano@unica.it

 Materials for sustainable transformation of weak contexts.
Water and Land management, technologies for a multi-scalar
infrastructure.
Francesco Marras*
University of Cagliari, DICAAR, via Santa Croce 67, Cagliari 09122, Italy

Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

The topic of the research deals with the issue of building heritage addressing the theme of sustainable transformation in weak
contexts. The study investigates the management of land and water, primarily from a systemic point of view, defining a
historical inter-scalar network that governs the relationship between the parts of the territory, then from a technological point
of view by studying the great works of sewage systems and water regulation in the plains of Sardinia. The focus is aimed at
the definition of guidelines for the sustainable recovery of building and the reactivation of the weak areas to which they relate.

Keywords: Sustainable recovery, Rural Architecture, Water management

planning that begins to move on the approach to the

1. Objectives
The research deals with issues related to the
management of land and water, and its objective is the
development of methods of analysis and design aimed at
the recovery of infrastructure networks and objects that
govern water management in the area. The study aims to
develop guidelines and techniques for the recovery of
buildings, heritage of the work of Sardinian modernization,
through a multi-scale method that is strongly structured on
the infrastructural network of the drainage canals. It reflects
on the difficulty to address the issues of inadequate
consumption of weak areas and, in particular, the inability
of land use project and settlement to offer adequate answers
in terms of morphological, typological and environmental
sustainability. The objectives of the research deals with the
strict link between architecture and water and with the
possibility that project can offer to recovery areas through
the reactivation and the re-use of diffused architectures that
have important relations with water.
2. State of the art
The study starts with an analysis of the state of the art
on the topic of rural Architecture in Sardinia inserting in an
active debate of DICAAR of Cagliari, whose research has
produced important results in the work of manuals on the
subject of recovery of traditional architecture in Sardinia.
The research compares the recent regional landscape
landscape of contemporary type, which goes beyond the
protection and conservation, and investigating a critical
relationship between project and context. The Sardinian
territory is characterized by an almost total dominance of
the theme of the country, except for a few cases of the city:
the French geographer Le Lannou in his P tres et Paysans
de la Sardaigne talks about "the persistence of landscapes
and ways of life remained unchanged from the
Carthaginian conquest ". The apparent “inerzia territoriale”
(which Eugenio Turri largely refers in his work) compared
to the Sardinian case is expressed at the object level that
was refractory to transformations, in particular respect to
certain forms of modernization that have characterized
Sardinia, such as the hydraulic re-set since 1920 until the'
50s. The Sardinian territory has the capacity to freeze, slow
down and retain certain traditional characteristics of rural
architecture, land transformation and network construction
techniques. The attention is paid to the way through these
forms of engineering of the territory and the domestication
of nature can be a source of new building, rehabilitation
and innovation of a place. Compared to Sardinian case it is
interesting reflecting on his modernization, particularly on
the theme of recovery of output of the so called
“modernizzazione imperfetta” that Antonello Sanna
diffusely deals in his works, and the capacity of certain
elements in the territories to manage and control wide
networks. The recovery of modern heritage and in
particular the study of the building object through the so-
called “analisi caso per caso” can be the opportunity for a
deepening on the building in his parts towards a sustainable
recovery.

*
Francesco Marras. Tel. +393200837195; e-mail: francesco.marras@unica.it
2
3. Methods and articulation of the research
The research method is based on a multi-scalar
approach (through Roberto Gambino techniques, that
allows to address the multiple levels of the project) with the
objective to explore the technology for the control,
management and set up of the waters, from the territorial
infrastructure to the object that is the knot of a wide
network. The Sardinian case is an abnormal example on a
national scale with respect to water management. Sardinia
on this theme has always revealed inert to changes, it is a
region where depopulation was caused especially by the
difficulties in cultivation and in particular on the type of
soil; where the best geomorphological conditions made it
possible to intensive cultivation. The combination of
negative factors, geological and morphological result is a
peculiar aspect of the Sardinian territory, the absence of
perennial rivers, except in rare cases, and the torrential and
often impetuous others. A reorganization of the entire
system was a challenge to revive the economy in terms of
production and settlement.
The research aims to define guide-lines for the project
on the network interested by the works of reclamation that
are the most important river sectors of Sardinia: Tirso,
Coghinas, Temo, Flumendosa, Cedrino. The reclamation
work has its element of sample into the river Tirso, with the
construction of a dam and the infrastructure of a powerful
system of canals radiating in the territory and redefines the
relationship between production and settlement. Many of
these forms of diffuse re-appropriation in the region have
fallen into disuse in post-modern era and in poor conditions
so that a work of recovery is more necessary than ever. The
relationship between land and water is defined by
intermediate elements that respond to the logic of the need,
or the drains for the removal of water from those territories
that due to their arrangement would find to be periodically
flooded, but also the construction of works of defense along
the main waterways to stem the flood. The second need is
to regulate the water supply of the crops and to ensure the
irrigation of the earth. The research aims to define the
assets of the unused channels by defining a hierarchy:
- Water drains at the scale of the little field
- Water Collector that refers to lots of units
- Artificial drainage basins such as water collection
tanks and drainage canals.
The realization of these objects may be the opportunity for
a proper project, both in historical terms both in a more
technical terms respect to the section, the slope and the
material. This system presides over the dense network of
canals which branches off from the main river and the
artifacts that govern the trade between the canals and water
collection tanks. Some of these items are the episodes of
the Sardinian modern architecture extensively studied, such
as the Idrovora di Sassu, while others are more widespread
in the area, enroll in a form of rural modern architecture
whose characters are being lost with time. In some cases,
the causes have to be found in the progressive changes that
have led to the loss of original features, while in others in
the no-use and in the obsolescence of building elements
and materials that define the building object.
The research of the correct relationship between canals and
architecture may represent a new system to define a correct
relationship between water and land with a view to
sustainable transformation of the territory.
4. Expected Results
The research has the aim to explore the multi-
scalarity through maps with different scales that show the
relationship between water and architecture, from the
territorial system to the building object, both the drainage
canals both the building of reclamation. The maps will
convey in a corpus of guide-lines for the intervention on
weak territories, where water represents the elements of
weakness but also a real possibility to grow. This can be an
important integrative support to planning and design tools.
The guide-lines aims to get down the problems of scale
between the territorial planning and the scale of object, in
the way to better address the politics of management of
land and water. The recovery of this object in the territories
could be an important way to recovery not only a building
but also a territorial system.
Bibliography.
Barone G., Mezzogiorno e modernizzazione, Einaudi,
Torino, 1986.
Gambino R, Conservare innovare, Utet, Torino, 1997
Magnaghi A, Il progetto locale, Bollati Boringhieri,
Torino, 1974.
Mandolesi E., Edilizia per l’agricoltura, UTET, Torino,
1965.
Maretto P., Realtà naturale e realtà costruita, Alinea,
Firenze, 1984.
Poretti S., La costruzione dell’architettura. Temi e opere
del dopoguerra italiano, Gangemi, Roma 2009.
Poretti S., Modernismi italiani: architettura e costruzione
del Novecento, Gangemi, Roma 2008.
Sanna A. “Progetto e (ri)costruzione: la modernizzazione
imperfetta”, in La città ricostruita: le vicende urbanistiche
in Sardegna nel secondo dopoguerra, p.148-157
Sanna A. “Il recupero del moderno”, in Parametro, vol.
238, 2002.
Ravagnati C., L’invenzione del territorio. L’atlante inedito
di Saverio Muratori, Franco Angeli, Milano, 2011.
Turri, E. ,Semiologia del paesaggio italiano, Longanesi,
Milano, 1990.
"Basalt fibre stitchings: a new technique for strengthening masonry"
"Francesco Monni*a"
"a A.h.R.T.E. Srl - Spin Off dell'Università Politecnica delle Marche, c/o DICEA, via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy"
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

Strengthening bearing masonry panels giving them a monolithic behavior is one of the most important operation to improve
seismic performance of existing masonry building. Stitching masonry through basalt fiber rope is an innovative technique, able
to connect the several masonry elements and to convey monolithic behavior. The main results of experimental researches
performed to evaluate the effectiveness of this reinforcing system, show its potentiality and full sustainability. © 2014 Maggioli
Editore. All rights reserved

"Keywords: Masonry consolidation, Basalt fibre, Sustainable e compatible techniques"

1. Introduction 2. Technique description

The proposed technique aims to connect masonry

In Italy, like in many seismically active regions, historical
masonry buildings represent a significant portion of the
building heritage. These structures very often do not satisfy
the latest code provisions and are characterized by great
seismic vulnerability. As shown by several authors (A.
Giuffrè, 1991; F. Doglioni, 1994), historical masonry
buildings subjected to earthquake do not show a global
structural behavior. If the building was made through good
quality masonry, it has the tendency to split itself in several
parts, called macro-elements which respond as single units
to seismic action, and for which the main features of the
collapse mechanisms are at least approximately known.
Once macro-elements and their most probable collapse
mechanisms are identified, possible damages can be
predicted and countermeasures adopted. Masonry quality
defines if this approach could be considered reasonable: in
fact only good quality masonry is able to guarantee
monolithic behavior. On the contrary, if it has been used
poor quality masonry, a chaotic failure has to been expected:
it is not right to reasoning about failure mechanism
activation, and a low intensity earthquake could be enough
to determine disastrous collapses. Masonry made following
“rule of art” prescriptions can be considered of “good
quality”, otherwise, every structural assessment is quite
unreliable and the first thing to do is to improve its quality.
From the awareness that one of the worst structural defects
of an historic masonry wall is the lack of monolithic
behavior, arises the idea of a strengthening technique able to
connect the several masonry elements, through continuous
flexible stitching.
components and to impart monolithic behavior. It consists in
insertion of basalt fiber (BF) ropes across the masonry panel,
following an appropriate and tailored designed path. Respect
insertion of steel or FRP bars (as in repointing application,
for example) stands out the opportunity of working with a
lighter and versatile material and able to connect the
masonry elements also in the panel depth direction. Respect
other techniques aimed at the same scope - the contribution
at monolithicity – stands out the possibility of a continuous
flexible elements for the stitching: a BF rope. Basalt is a
natural material that is found in volcanic rocks originated
from frozen lava. Continuous BF are obtained by melting
basalt, are characterized by high modulus, heat resistance,
good resistance to chemical attack, and seem to be a good
alternative to glass fibers (Van de Velde et al., 2003; Wei et
al., 2010). In construction field, basalt is proposed in form of
short fibers for insulating material, for reinforced concrete
(chopped fibers) or like reinforcing material in rehabilitation
of concrete (Sim et al., 2005) and masonry structures
(Papanicolaou et al., 2011). The BF can be processed with
classic textile transformation to obtain also ropes, unlike
other kinds of reinforcing fibers. E. Quagliarini et al., 2012a,
have developed a mechanical characterization of this
product.
3. Research methods
To test effectiveness of the system in imparting monolithic
behavior, laboratory and in-situ tests have been performed.
In laboratory tests, the masonry reproduced was the “three-
leaf wall”, a masonry typology often found in Italian

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 3393088721; e-mail: ahrte@univpm.it
2
historical building heritage, where an inner core of rubble
material is included between two outer brick or stone shell.
If “three-leaf masonry” presents poor connection between
the external leaves, due to the lack of elements so long to
crossing wall section, it could result very weak under
eccentric and horizontal loads. In the first experimental
program, the application was executed using synthetic resins
(E. Quagliarini et al., 2012b) while, in a further experimental
campaign, the technique excludes synthetic adhesives, with
an enhancement about reversibility and sustainability (F.
Monni et al., 2014). Then, in situ tests (diagonal
compression test) were performed on specimens obtained
from existing masonry wall located in Onna, near L’Aquila
(Quagliarini et al., 2013). This area is characterized by
‘‘poor’’ masonry, built with roughly cut stones and air lime-
based mortar, composed by two or three weakly connected
leaves. Finally, a further laboratory experimental program
was developed, in this case with the aim of investigate the
potentiality to improve masonry performance against “out-
of-plane” actions (F. Monni et al., 2015).
4. Experimental results
As regards laboratory tests, both the application (using resins
and “dry” application”) showed good results in improving
the behavior of “three-leaf” masonry: the system resulted
able to change the failure mode of masonry samples,
exploiting material properties, and to determine a transverse
strain reduction under compression load. Notably that in
these experimental experiences the application was designed
in order to be invisible and respectful of masonry original
aspect, hiding ropes into mortar joints partially grooved and
masking them with mortar. In addition, the results of in-situ
tests confirm the fact that the intervention is able to impart a
monolithic behavior to the masonry panel and to exert a good
confinement effect. Finally, the last experimental program
developed, shows the technique effectiveness as
countermeasure against “out-of-plane” actions. From these
tests come into light as the technique is able to improve the
safety of bearing masonry structure if subjected to vertical
bending mechanism activation.
5. Conclusion
The proposed technique is able to impart to masonry
monolithic behavior and to exert a good confinement effect,
even in dry application, on several masonry typology. Using
continuous BF stitching also the performance against “out-
of-plane” actions are improved. Best advantages are
represented by the fact that: (i) the application is very fast
and so cheap, (ii) the material used (basalt) presents an high
compatibility with masonry; (iii) the reinforce is almost
totally reversible; (iv) it improves but not replaces original
materials, (v) it is fire and chemical resistant and, finally, (vi)
it could not use synthetic adhesives. The first applications on
real cases with historical and architectural value confirm the
method usefulness and encourage further research
developments as investigation of technique pertinence on
different masonry typology or the effect of reinforcing ropes
disposal or the evaluation of the possibility of use ropes pre-
stressing. Currently, a new trial about consolidation of
masonry columns with BF ropes has started. The expected
results is an enhancement of ultimate strength and ductility
of the reinforced elements.
6. References
A. Giuffrè. Letture sulla meccanica delle murature storiche,
Kappa Ed., Roma, 1991.
F. Doglioni et al. (a cura di). Le chiese e il terremoto, Lint
Ed., Trieste, 1994.
K. Van de Velde et al. Basalt Fibres as Reinforcement for
Composites, Proc. 10th Int. Conf. on Composites/Nano
Engineering, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA,
USA, 20-26 July, 2003.
B. Wei et al. Environmental resistance and mechanical
performance of basalt and glass fibers, Materials Science
and Engineering A 527, pp. 4708 - 4715, 2010.
J. Sim et al. Characteristics of basalt fiber as a strengthening
material for concrete structures, Composites: Part B 36, pp.
504 - 512, 2005.
C. Papanicolaou et al. Externally bonded grids as
strengthening and seismic retrofitting materials of masonry
panels, Construction and Building Materials 25, pp. 504 -
514, 2011.
E. Quagliarini et al. Tensile characterization of basalt fibre
rods and ropes: a first contribution, Construction and
Building Materials 34, pp. 372 - 380, 2012a.
E. Quagliarini et al. Strengthening three-leaf masonry panel
with basalt fibre ropes. First experimental data, Proc. of 5th
Int. Congr. “Science and Technology for the Safeguard of
Cultural Heritage in the Mediterranean Basin”, Istanbul,
Turkey, 22-25 Nov. 2011, Valmar Ed., Roma, pp. 276 - 283,
2012 b.
F. Monni et al. Basalt ropes: a new product for the
rehabilitation of historical masonry, Proc. of the Int. Conf.
of Preservation, Maintenance and Rehabilitation of
Historical Buildings and Structures, Tomar, Portugal, 19-21
Mar. 2014, Vol. 2, pp. 1089 - 1097, 2014.
E. Quagliarini et al. La pietra che tiene unita la pietra: il
Sistema Ticorapsimo® per il consolidamento di murature
storiche. Parte Prima: Structural 182, pp. 1 - 12, 2013. Parte
Seconda: Structural 183, pp. 1 - 13, 2013.
F. Monni et al. Dry masonry strengthening through basalt
fibre ropes: experimental results versus out-of-plane
actions, Key Engineering Materials 624, pp 584 - 594, 2015.
 Works of Giuseppe Nicolosi in Cassino: history of the building
process and restoration
Franco Fragnolia*
a
University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, DICeM,via Di Biasio 43, 03043 Cassino, Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

The main objective of this research is first to gather the complex and largely unpublished design experience of Giuseppe
Nicolosi in the town of Cassino, supporting historical reconstruction with in-depth study of the most representative cases. On
the basis of this knowledge, the final objective is the development of guidelines for the conservation and recovery of such
works. A great heritage that is starting to show significant signs of aging, hence the question, now more than ever topical, of
preservation. © 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Keywords: Giuseppe Nicolosi, Cassino, italian engineering. history of construction, restoration of the Modern Architetture.

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-328-432-4133; fax: +39-0776-299-4322; e-mail: f.fragnoli@unicas.it.
2
State of art
The research starts with a study of the town of Cassino,
whose current plan results from the complete
reconstruction after the well-known events of World War
II. Immediately after the war, in fact, the problem arises of
rebuilding a city that no longer has its urban polarities, as
well as its ordinary residential fabric. From these issues
develops the planning and building experience of Giuseppe
Nicolosi in Cassino, called to tackle a topic as complex as
full of inspiration. The story begins in 1945, after the end
of the war, when Nicolosi, at the time university lecturer
and great designer active mainly in Rome area, was
entrusted with the preparation of the plan for the
reconstruction of the city, completely damaged by the war.
From this first assignment Nicolosi builds a long and
complex experience, from urban planning to specific and
episodic architectural works, where the already well-known
Roman designer experiments with different building types.
The results of such an intense work spreading over around
thirty years, range from the most important public buildings
(Post Office, Courthouse, etc.) to the most extensive
programs of public housing (INA Building, INCIS Houses,
etc.). A complex architectural heritage that today, seventy
years from the events that led to the formation, requires
special attention raising the question, now more than ever
topical, the their protection and enhancement. Activities
aimed at restoration, recovery and preservation of the late
twentieth century's architectural heritage present
operational difficulties arising in the first place by the
scarcity of manuals and guidelines for action intended to
preserve specific features and protect their recognizability.
Such difficulties do not stem from a lack of specific studies
on individual materials or components. Indeed, both
knowledge of the raw materials that are necessary for
completion of construction and research aimed at the
introduction and the necessary specification of operational
techniques for the benefit of individual building elements
are subject to ongoing investigation and progress from
different areas of scientific research. However, the drafting
of existing studies' summations would lack the necessary
contextualization regarding the characters of the single
work and its design and functional qualities, without
dealing with the basic issue of the lack of a thorough
knowledge of the construction techniques employed.
Objectives
The research provides a contribution to the late Twentieth
Century Italian Architecture history as, beside accurately
reconstructing the history of Cassino, it also tracks the
common theme that binds such experience to the overall
work of Nicolosi. Furthermore, the historical-building
knowledge allows the definition of guidelines for
restoration of the works analyzed in view of their
conservation and reuse. The study is continuing and in
collaboration with the research on the history of Italian
engineering carried out for several years by Engineer
Marcello Zordan who is the tutor of this doctoral research.
Methodology and research phases
The operational methodology in planning perspective
comes from studying the individual buildings alongside the
reconstruction of historical facts, thus tracing the
construction process from initial conception and design to
execution with a precise reconstruction of the building
equipment. The historical investigation aimed at the project
interpretation is developed through the integration of
bibliographic and archival research (Civil Engineering
Department, State and municipal archives and Archivio
Giuseppe Nicolosi) as well as direct. The resulting
historical-constructive knowledge allowed us to go back to
the initial configuration of the architectural artifacts, before
daily use, time and the need for functional adaptation
would determine its inevitable deviations from the
"inauguration day". Based on knowledge of the building's
original configuration, developed during the first research
phase, the comparison with the current state allowed the
recognition of the alterations and the choice of appropriate
intervention methods specified by determination of
operational features that take into account both the specific
characteristics of the works under examination and the
singularity of late Twentieth Century Italian Architecture.
Expected results
The research wants to develop studies that are suitable to
setup a protocol of intervention on this architectural
heritage. That is a protocol that is not limited to the
contextualization of modalities prepared for the restoration
of historic buildings, which, being the result of an
established practice, do not take into account the
experimental quality of part of Twentieth century Italian
Architecture. The different identifiable types of
intervention, distinguishable on the basis of the relationship
between the original functionality and the goals set in the
restoration intervention, share the same difficulty in
protecting the original formal and constructive values for
any operator who is not well versed in the knowledge of
modern Italian architecture's heritage. Hence the need to
develop guidelines that, once collected in an operational
manual, can support in the definition of the intervention
project.
Bibliography
AA.VV., Giuseppe Nicolosi. Figura, opere, contesto,
“Rassegna di architettura e urbanistica”, 55, Kappa Editore,
Roma 1983.
AA. VV., Giuseppe Nicolosi, “Rassegna di architettura e
urbanistica”, 106-107-108, Kappa Editore, Roma 2002.
 An agent-based simulation model for earthquake pedestrians’
evacuation in historical urban fabric
Gabriele Bernardinia,*
a
Dept. of Construction, Civil Engineering and Architecture, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche 60131, Ancona, Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

We define a behavioural model concerning pedestrians’ earthquake evacuation. We define the pedestrians’ motion law. We
define rules for the modification of the scenario because of the seism. We develop the model on agent-based architecture and
validate it. The model is proposed for earthquake evacuations predictions at urban scale. © 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights
reserved

Keywords: evacuation; exposure parameter investigation; evacuation simulator; earthquake risk assessment evaluation for historical buildings

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-071-220-4246; fax: +39-071-220-4582; e-mail: g.bernardini@univpm.it. Altri membri del gruppo di
ricerca: Marco D’Orazio, Enrico Quagliarini, Luca Spalazzi.

1. Introduction
The majority of Italian historical urban fabric is placed
in earthquake prone areas. Earthquake risk assessment at
urban scale is actually based on the definition of indices
about site hazard H, buildings vulnerability V and
exposition E [1]. In particular, E actually ignores human
behaviours during both event and evacuation. On the
contrary, the interaction between man and environment in
similar places and conditions becomes the most relevant
influencing element for inhabitants safety problems.
Analyses of historical buildings and previsions of possible
post-event modifications in the physical scenario should be
combined by introducing the “human” factor influence.
This work approaches the problem from this point of view
and offers an agent-based Earthquake Pedestrians’
Evacuation Simulator (EPES) in order to effectively
investigate the man-environment interactions behavioural
effects. A similar simulation model should jointly combine
aspects of human behaviours in earthquake evacuation [2,3]
and post-earthquake damage previsions [4,5]. Finally,
human motion and environment modifications must be
jointly considered in simulation models and related
software [6]. Experimental analyses of real earthquake
evacuation in order to define human behaviours and post-
event damages are required [2,3], as also evidenced by
other works [7]. This paper firstly provides an overview of
performed phases and used methods; then, main work
results are shown in terms of evacuation behaviours, model
definition and implementation, main EPES validation. The
last section involves conclusion by stressing the attention
on the future EPES applications.
2. Phases and methods
Four phases are needed for the simulator developing.
Firstly, more than 70 videotapes concerning real earthquake
evacuation from all over the World (magnitude higher than
IV degree in EMS-98 scale) are analyzed in order to define
human behavioural pattern in such conditions [3].
“Evacuation behaviors” are defined by the set of actions,
with a statistical significance (>30% [3]), that pedestrians
perform during the evacuation, in relationship to both the
environment and other people. Behaviors are distinguished
between common to other kinds of evacuation and the ones
specific of earthquake evacuation. Quantitative motion
aspects are also detected for model development and EPES
validation. The second step involves the model definition
through a multi-agent approach by innovatively adopting
the i* graphical modeling language [8]. The pedestrian’s
motion law is based on the Social Force Model [7], with
modifications in order to consider the man-environment
interactions in the earthquake case. Path choices algorithms
are founded on experimental analysis results. In addiction,
ruins formation criteria are proposed in order to predict the
probable damages to historical buildings due to the
earthquake [9]. Then EPES is implemented starting from
the model definition. The last phase involves EPES
validation and consists in a comparison between the
software results and experimental analysis data and
literature values. Following a “Lagrangian” approach [6],
interactions between agents must produce phenomena and
quantitative values that are similar to the experimental
ones, for the whole system. An historical urban center
(Corinaldo, AN, Italy) is chosen as testing environment:
different scenarios are obtained by varying involved people
number and earthquake magnitude. Multiple simulations
are performed in each scenario for calculating average
values and standard deviations. Observations concern both
ruins formations, human behaviors and motion quantities in
the course of evacuation time.
3. Results
The experimental analysis of real evacuation videotapes
individuates the evacuation behaviours and the reference
agents (Environment and Pedestrians). Some behaviours
are present in other evacuation kinds (e.g.: fire drill):
attraction towards safe areas, evacuation group formation,
repulsive phenomena in order to avoid physical contacts,
attraction between members of the same evacuation group
[3,7]. Peculiar evacuation behaviours confirm and expand
previous results. Interactions with the physical environment
are: inferior limit in earthquake perception [4]; “fear of
buildings” (frightened people keep away from high
buildings) [2]; not keeping a “safety distance” from trees,
shelters and street furniture; motion to the nearest visible
safe area, using the larger and clearest-of-ruins path;
evacuation interruption for not immediate danger feelings
or high ground shaking [3]. Interferences between
individuals are: “pre-movement” phase activities, involving
information exchange [3]; “attachment to people” [2] and
“to belongings” [10] effects. At the same time, initial
scenario modifications due to earthquake involves possible
damages of historical buildings and related formation of
ruins and rubble, through EMS and building vulnerability
mehtodologies [4,9]. The model implementation adopts a
Multi-agent architecture. based on videotapes analysis.
“Environment” concerns the initial scenario with urban
fabric and safe areas definition, historical building
identification and fundamental seismic data; when the
earthquake occurs, ruins are generated along the public
spaces (streets, squares, …) in function of the event
magnitude and building vulnerability. “Pedestrian”, of three
different types (child, adult, disabled), moves in the
“Environment” and takes decisions based on obstacles
avoidance, joining group behaviours, own desired speed,
driving terms; corrections to the Social Force Model

motion law [7] includes noticed behaviours. EPES
implements this model configuration: the software solves
interactions between the agents and calculates, step-by-
step, direction and speed for each “Pedestrian”. Validations
tests demonstrate the validity of the model. In particular,
the average evacuation speed is equal to 2.15m/s, with a
percentage difference of 7.5% in comparison to
experimental values. Differences in instantaneous motion
speeds are due to phenomena connected to attraction
between pedestrians, repulsion between pedestrians and
with obstacles, changing in evacuation direction, arrival of
other pedestrians in the group, as shown in the experiments.
Nevertheless, similar phenomena are noticed for both small
and large evacuation groups and in course of the whole
evacuation procedure.
4. Conclusions
This paper summarizes results of an innovative
approach to seismic risk assessment evaluation at urban
scale that introduces the analysis on human behavioral
aspects. EPES should be applied in order to determine the
safety level of an urban scenario also including the
“human” factor. The model is proposed as a tool for
earthquake evacuation analysis, also because his possibility
to represent environment modifications, human behaviours
and related agents interactions. Retrieved probable
behaviors and motion decisions in evacuation can be
checked in relation to different damage conditions. Results
could be useful for defining combined risk maps that add
evacuation data to the traditional risk assessment
evaluation. Moreover, solutions for reducing interferences
between human evacuation process and built environment
could be proposed by analyzing the model previsions:
punctual interventions on particular buildings placed in
strategic evacuation points can be evaluated in order to
decrease the vulnerability of both historical buildings and
historical urban fabric. Similar activities could be extended
to both the existing urban fabric and new city parts. Finally,
different operative strategies for “human” evacuation
3
process organization (i.e.: evacuation plan definition, first
aid phase, access for rescue teams) could be compared
through the simulation results.
5. References
[1] N. Ambraseys, Evaluation of seismic risk, in: Proc.
NATO Advanced Studies on Seismicity & Seismic Risk of
the North Sea, Reidel, Utrecht, 1983: pp. 317–345; [2] D.E.
Alexander, Behavior during earthquakes: a southern italian
example, International Journal of Mass Emergencies and
Disasters. 8 (1990) 5–29; [3] M. D’Orazio, L. Spalazzi, E.
Quagliarini, G. Bernardini, Agent-based model for
earthquake pedestrians’ evacuation in urban outdoor
scenarios: Behavioural patterns definition and evacuation
paths choice, Safety Science. 62 (2014) 450–465; [4] G.
(ed. ). Grünthal, European Macroseismic Scale 1998 (EMS-
98), Cahiers Du Centre Européen De Géodynamique Et De
Séismologie. 15 (1998); [5] G.M. Calvi, R. Pinho, G.
Magenes, J.J. Bommer, H. Crowley, Development of
seismic vulnerability assessment methodologies over the
past 30 years, ISET Journal of Earthquake Technology. 43
(2006) 75–104; [6] D. Helbing, J.I. Farkas, P. Molnar, T.
Vicsek, Simulation of Pedestrian Crowds in Normal and
Evacuation Situations, in: Pedestrian and Evacuation
Dynamics, Berlin, 2002: pp. 21–58; [7] X. Zheng, T.
Zhong, M. Liu, Modeling crowd evacuation of a building
based on seven methodological approaches, Building and
Environment. 44 (2009) 437–445; [8] E.S. Yu, Social
Modeling and i *, in: A. Borgida, V. Chaudhri, P. Giorgini,
E. Yu (Eds.), Conceptual Modeling: Foundations and
Applications - Essays in Honor of John Mylopoulos,
Springer, 2009: pp. 99–111; [9] S. Lagomarsino, S.
Giovinazzi, Macroseismic and mechanical models for the
vulnerability and damage assessment of current buildings,
Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering. 4 (2006) 415–443;
[10] J.K. Riad, F.H. Norris, R.B. Ruback, Predicting
Evacuation in Two Major Disasters: Risk Perception,
Social Influence, and Access to Resources1, Journal of
Applied Social Psychology. 29 (1999) 918–934.
 Photocatalytic nanotreatments for architectural stone surfaces
Giovanni B. Goffredoa,*
a
Department of Civil and Building Engineering and Architecture DICEA, via Brecce Bianche 12, Ancona 60131, Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

The preservation and durability of stone surfaces are key factors in the field of building industry and Architectural Heritage.

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles have been applied by spray-coating on travertine to give photocatalytic ability to limestone.

Compatibility with stone substrate and the efficiency of photoinduced properties of the coatings have been analysed.

The alteration of the original properties of stone substrate is limited; the effects of photoactivity are well evident.

The results seem to encourage the use of titanium dioxide nanocoatings on preexisting stone surfaces.

© 2014MaggioliEditore. All rights reserved

Titanium dioxide; Photocatalytic nanocoatings; Building stone conservation; Architectural Heritage; Multifunctional surface treatments

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-071-220-4380; fax: +39-071-220-4378; e-mail: g.b.goffredo@univpm.it.

1. Introduction
In recent years, scientific research has been increasingly
involved into the development and application of new
solutions to better preserve historical, artistic and
architectural elements, including building stones.
Nanotechnology is among the most promising tools to
provide new features to preexisting surfaces without
harmfully altering their original properties. Photocatalysis,
i.e. the activation of catalytic reactions by light [1], is a way
to obtain multifunctional surfaces able to degrade air
pollutants and soiling particles – reducing pollution level
and maintaining their original aspect – and to kill biological
aggressive agents thus improving their durability.
The nanometric form of titanium dioxide (TiO2) is by
far the most used photocatalyst because of its outstanding
characteristics [2]. It is activated by ultraviolet (UV)
illumination, including the UV rays of solar light. TiO2
nanoparticles can be directly applied to building stones to
obtain photocatalytic nanocoatings with multifunctional
(depolluting, self-cleaning, biocidal) characteristics [3–5].
These properties of TiO2 treatments are key factors to
improve the preservation of treated substrates. Since under
UV irradiation TiO2 may become superhydrophilic, causing
higher water absorption, wettability of coated stones is a
fundamental feature to investigate in order to notice great
and possibly harmful absorption by the substrate.
This research mainly aims to assess the feasibility of use
of TiO2-based nanocoatings on building stones, evaluating
both their compatibility with substrate and their efficiency.
2. Materials, phases and methods
TiO2 aqueous colloidal suspension (TiO2 content: 1
wt%) was obtained by sol-gel method and then applied
through spray-coating on travertine, a porous limestone
largely used for monumental building and artistic elements.
The aesthetic compatibility between TiO2-based
treatments and substrate was evaluated by colorimetry. To
assess possible harmful physical changes induced to stone
substrate, wettability was also monitored by means of
several analyses: contact angle measurements, capillary
water absorption, surface absorption of nebulized water,
capillary absorption by contact sponge method. According
to the test methods, if possible, analyses were performed
both without and under UV light to evaluate the effect of
photoinduced hydrophylicity of TiO2 on treated stones.
Photoactivity of TiO2 coatings under UV was analysed
considering their different functions: depolluting effect was
assessed measuring the degradation of a continuous flow of
nitrogen oxide in a reaction chamber; self-cleaning
efficiency was evaluated by colorimetry considering the
decoloration of an artificial dye (rhodamine B, RhB)
applied on stones; the aspect of natural biofouling on stone
over time was used to assess the biocidal effect of TiO2.
3. Results
The original aspect of stone is scarcely altered by the
application of TiO2-based nanocoatings; so there are not
aesthetical problems related to the use of TiO2
nanoparticles on selected stones. In the absence of UV
light, wettability of treated surfaces is not modified in an
evident way. Under UV illumination photoinduced
hydrophilicity of TiO2 does not harmfully increase water
absorption. The absence of evident or damaging alterations
induced to original properties of travertine allows the use of
TiO2-based nanoproducts on the limestone.
As regards photogenerated multifunctional activities of
TiO2, depolluting efficiency is well evident and the
coatings effectively degrade part of pollutants entering into
contact with TiO2. Self-cleaning ability of TiO2 clearly
degrades artificial stains on travertine while untreated
surfaces remain visually altered by RhB, so photocatalytic
coatings may better preserve the aesthetical aspect of
treated surfaces and increase their durability. Biocidal
activity of the coatings clearly reduced the area occupied
by biofouling and its color intensity in the short term.
To conclude, the coatings show good compatibility with
treated substrates, altering their characteristics in negligible
ways, and high-quality performances.
4. References
[1] Diebold U. The surface science of titanium dioxide.
Surface Science Reports 2003; 48: 53–229.
[2] Chen J, Poon C. Photocatalytic construction and
building materials: From fundamentals to applications.
Building and Environment 2009; 44: 1899–1906.
[3] Licciulli A, Calia A, Lettieri M, Diso D, Masieri M,
Franza S, Amadelli R, Casarano G. Photocatalytic TiO2
coatings on limestone. Journal of Sol-Gel Science and
Technology 2011; 60: 437–444.
[4] Pinho L, Mosquera MJ. Photocatalytic activity of
TiO2-SiO2 nanocomposites applied to buildings: Influence
of particle size and loading. Applied Catalysis B -
Environmental 2013; 134– 135: 205–221.
[5] Aflori M, Simionescu B, Bordianu I, Sacarescu L,
Varganici C, Doroftei F, et al. Silsesquioxane-based hybrid
nanocomposites with methacrylate units containing titania
and/or silver nanoparticles as antibacterial/antifungal
coatings for monumental stones. Materials Science and
Engineering B
 Recovery and reuse of the architectural and urban heritage of
Carbonia, a 20th-Century company town, materials for a Handbook.
Giuseppina Monni*
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, DICAAR, Cagliari, Italy.
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights The policies and strategies put in place in 2001 for the requalification of the architectural heritage of the company town
of Carbonia, and for the recovery of the “Great Mine of Serbariu” (that won the Landscape Award of the Council of Europe in 2010-
2011), was based on a close collaboration between the University of Cagliari and the municipal administration of Carbonia.“The
Handbook for the recovery” whose construction is still underway, fits this framework and coincides with an operational tool that
regulates the action on the built heritage. It does not provide a catalogue of standardized solutions, but merely defines a knowledge
base to guide the designers towards the recognition of the buildings’ invariant aspects and the understanding of the original
architectural expression. © 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

“keywords”: Carbonia, handbook, recovery, reuse, built heritage;

State of the art. This work is part of that line of research that
deals with the recovery of the modern architecture that in the
Italian case is characterized by the particular variation of the
relation between innovation and continuity. The traditional
construction of the wall continually enters into a fruitful
dialectic with the new materials and renewed formal
conceptions of the buildings, giving rise to a particular version
of the modern architecture. In the second half of the '30s, it is
added to this general profile the variant of autarkic policy that
emphasizes that brings in political and economic terms this
aspect with specific measures in terms of production and
supply of building materials and the organization of the
building site.
In this field is unavoidable, and not only in the Technical
Architecture, the reference to the studies of Sergio Poretti and
schools that are owned by the Tor Vergata University, which
since the 80s involved in a research that aims to delineate a
construction history of the twentieth century Italian
architecture and engineering, addressing in particular the
development, articulation and dissemination techniques and
building cultures contemporary with the study of case studies
through which to grasp the relationship between the
characteristics of the modern building and Italian architectural
styles.
An international network of researchers is aggregated in
various ways around these issues. It is the case of Docomomo
International, which has as main aim the knowledge and
documentation of the modern architectural heritage, its
preservation and promotion of the study of methods and
criteria for intervention appropriate and responsive to its
testimonial value; as well as the Construction History Society,
which plays an important role in the promotion and study of
the history of the building of modern architecture through the
organization and sponsorship of events and publications.
The thread that unites these research experiences is based on
the recognition of the essential role that the documented and
detailed knowledge of the building construction plays than any
recovery intervention. In this framework finds its reasons, the
choice to join the cognitive strategy of "Handbooks for
recovery," well-established line of research but so far focused
on the pre-modern architecture. It is believed that the
experience of handbooks for recovery, starting with the one
published in Rome in 1987 to continue to that of Città di
Castello, Palermo, and finally to those recent published by the
Region of Sardinia are based on a principle also valid for the
modern architecture: the recognition of the essential role that
the meticulous and precise knowledge of the construction
history plays than any restoration work.
Objectives. The research, currently underway, aims to outline
the construction history of the company town of Carbonia and
its satellite centres, Bacu Abis and Cortoghiana, in order to
build the foundations and materials for a “Handbook for the
Recovery” that is primarily focused on the residential buildings
and its urban fabric. Carbonia is indeed an “author’s product”
designed and built with high levels of quality, an emblem of
1930’s industrial modernization in Sardinia, currently invested
by specific challenges of recovery and reuse. The reasons
behind the foundation of Carbonia must be found in the
discovery of the great coal deposit in Serbariu, and more
upstream in the desire to build an autarkic coal district able to
answer the nationwide issue of energy resources. The salient
phase and then the deep crisis affecting the political strategy
soon forced Carbonia to confront with the fragility of the urban
and industrial heritage, not always able to adapt to the new
purposes and new collective practices. Following the closure
of the mine, Carbonia has gone from an incredibly rapid
growth to an extreme crisis that called into question its very
existence and undermined the identity of the foundation phase.
For this reason, since 2001, the city administration, with the
scientific support of a multidisciplinary team of the University
of Cagliari, started up a process of sustainable recovery based
on the culture's economy and the search for renewable energy.
The program focuses primarily on the recovery of the “Great
Mine of Serbariu” that, in the time frame of ten years, has been
turned from a symbol of the industrial modernization into a
centre of cultural and technological development. And thanks
to the restoration for this industrial landscape, Carbonia won
the Landscape Award of the Council of Europe in 2010-2011.
The intervention strategy relies on three key elements. The first
is “The Charter of Quality" and coincides with a matrix of
coherence for the design strategies of the city, fixing the values
"non-negotiable" of its architecture and its public spaces. The
second is an “Urban and Architectural Quality Workshop”,
namely a coordination centre for the realisation and design
activities for the recovery of public heritage which
scientifically monitors the building sites and conducts
experiments regarding the application of advanced models for
the daily management of the city.
The “Handbook for the recovery”, whose construction is still
underway, is the third key element and it is an operational tool
of guidance and support interventions on built heritage. It is
designed to ensure the quality of the conservation project: It
investigates the traces of the 'how to build' of the autarkic
rationalism and begins to outline the guidelines for the difficult
path between the preservation of witness buildings and the
regeneration of its modified urban fabric. It does not provide a
catalogue of standardized solutions, but merely defines a
knowledge base to guide the designers towards the recognition
of the buildings’ invariant aspects and the understanding of the
original architectural expression.
Methodology and articulation. The “Handbook for the
recovery” reconstructs the anatomy of the early buildings,
investigating on the connection between design, construction
and modification and explores the construction history of
autarkic rationalism also making use of all the documents
found in the archives: such as design drawings, historical
photographs and especially booklets yard. Based on the
recognition of the potential design of the historical and critical
survey one investigates the specific characteristics of the
architecture; are analyzed, as well as the poetic, the practices
related to the design and construction, through the careful
study of the details. The redrawing, led by a critical intent,
becomes the opportunity to understand the overlaps and
connections between the history of the materials, the history of
the building site and the history of the building systems. Only
in this way it is possible to understand the reasons,
specificities, any deficiencies and variations that the modern
architecture has acquired in this context.
In addition, it will define the elements of the building in terms
of construction and architecture, specifying the ways for
recovery in order to quality and performance of the component
materials. It is a complex task that requires the "expert
knowledge" of different skills. For this reason it has been
entrusted to an integrated group of technologists the advanced
study of materials and building details in order to identify
methods of intervention in compliance with the original
architectural expression, the requirements laid down by
changes in use and the requirements of regulatory constraints.
Results. Taking into account that this is a search still
underway, the outcome of the work is configured as an
experimental methodology based on "Handbooks for the
Recovery", applied in this case to modern buildings rather than
to the pre-modern (as has been done so far). It avails itself on
the one hand of a precise definition of the construction history
of the most significant and emblematic building objects (from
residential to public and industrial buildings) and on the other
hand of the study of the materials’ disease and processes of
degradation, in order to configure more aware and appropriate
methods of approach to the recovery, even if not standardized.
The “Handbook” is emerging as a "Code of Practice": through
technologically advanced analysis it identifies features and
fundamental performances of building components and
identifies design methods consistent with the objective of
conservation. In this regard, our research group, in an
integrated team with technologist’s materials and geophysicists
for the non-destructive diagnostics, is taking care of the
assessment of the state of artefacts’ conservation, identification
of the weathering forms and damage categories, preparation of
an atlas of the degradation forms, instrumental checks on
materials and technological object of interest. With particular
reference to the production technology of the materials most
relevant, especially binders, reinforced concrete, bricks. The
information gathered from these surveys is the key elements
and guidance for proper planning of interventions on the built
heritage.
The study supports the intervention practices used in recovery
cases already realized and verified in the field: in this sense,
Carbonia looks like a real “experimental laboratory”, in which
every action, framed in the great program of recovery of built
heritage and of the historical identity of the rationalist
building, is configured as a "case study".
The recovery of industrial buildings, whose specificities
require different strategies in each case, shows the influences
of the advanced industrial system of the mine in the '30s on the
construction of the other buildings; the "philological" recovery
of the civil monuments such as the Dopolavoro and the
recovery of one of the single workers’ accommodations
(converted into a Youth Integrated Education Centre)
document, in turn, the problems of the autarkic construction in
which the forms of rationalism are conditioned by the use of
the materials predominantly "local", often coexist with the first
experiments of the use of reinforced concrete in the region and
the inclusion of specific design solutions and finishes.
Finally, are documented and analyzed the problems of the
contemporary reuse of autarkic residential with regard to the
necessary adaptation of existenzminimum, comparing the new
requirements of plant and equipment with the theme of
conservation and enhancement of the architectural characters
of the rationalist and historical buildings.
Bibliography. A. Sanna, Project Carbonia: Landscape
Machine from 20th Century Company Town to 21th Century
Landscape, in The Survival of Modern, 12th international
Docomomo Conference, Bookwell Oy, Porvoo-Helsinky 2013.
A. Sanna, Restaurare un paesaggio industriale: il caso
Carbonia, in Territorio, 62, 2012.
A. Sanna, G. Peghin (edited by), Modern and Urban Heritage,
Experiences and reflections for the twentieth-Century City,
Umberto Allemandi & C., Torino, 2012.
G. Peghin, A. Sanna, Carbonia. Città del Novecento, Skira,
Milano, 2009
* Giuseppina Monni. Tel.: 3472911016; e-mail: gmonni@unica.it;
 Project and prototype: industrialized and prefabricated
construction in Italy (1945-1980)
Ilaria Giannetti*
Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, via del Politecnico 00133, Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

State of the art

Industrialization of the building sector, exemplum of the debate between liberalism and social policy
that features Italian history in the late Twentieth century is, to date, a still almost inedited matter in the
history of construction.
In spite of the wide literature produced in the 60s and 70s about theoretical and technical aspects of this
phenomenon, a general overview of this topic in historical perspective has been, to date, still neglected
in both field of history and technology of architecture.

Objectives
The goal of this research is twofold: first, providing a historical reconstruction of this phenomenon in
order to fill a gap in the recent architectural historiography implementing the knowledge about building
character of Italian architecture in the years beyond the economic boom. Furthermore, concerning the
operative level, this study could be a useful tool to face the topic of conservation and rehabilitation of a
wide architectural heritage: large housing interventions and numerous school buildings which, to date
in use, are the most actual witness of this experience.

Methodology and research phases

The study was conducted within the project PRIN "Industrialized construction in Italy in the 1960-1980.
Methods and Techniques for Conservation and Exploitation”, founded by MIUR (2008 call) and
coordinated by Sergio Poretti. The research was grounded on archival material and was focused on a
set of unexplored collections, such as the archives of the construction company, the archives of
Exhibition and Fairs and professional Associations.
Looking in details, the study was articulated in a series of punctual investigations.
The study focused first, through bibliography sources, on foreign construction systems imported in
Italy and on the reconstruction of the legal framework concerning institutional process for unification
and standardization of the building sector.
Secondly, through archival material, the research provided specific study about authorial assembly
systems designed and manufactured in Italy. In this respect, the research provided a catalogue of
national patents related to the theme of industrialization, filed in Italy until the 80s, and has been
conducted an analysis of exemplary buildings in order to highlight the placing on the building market
and the concrete application of these prototypes.

*
Ilaria Giannetti. Tel.: +39 06 70597032; fax: +39 06 70597032; e-mail: ilaria.giannetti@sixxi.eu
2

Expected Results
In terms of historiography, the research provide to disclose the special characters of Italian construction
experience in the 60s. The existence of hundreds of patents about prefabricated building elements and
systems revealed the individual stories of the entrepreneurial initiatives of designers and building
companies, conducted in spite of the sequence of false starts of the public planning's.
Prototypes of a production that will have been never implemented, patents and works, are, presently,
witnesses of the foresight that Italian experience demonstrate on the small-scale production born from
special collaborations between designers and building companies.
In terms of operational perspective, this research is, furthermore, a basic tool for the preparation of
specific intervention criteria for maintenance and conservation of a wide building heritage, still in use,
realized between the 60s and the 80s.

Bibliography
Main archival sources: AITEC (Roma); ATER (Roma); Assolombarda (Milano); CNR (ACS, Roma);
Italian Office of Trademarks and Patents (ACS, Roma); Italian Office of Trademarks and Patents
(Ministry of Economic Development, Roma); IACP (Roma); IACP (Milano); IN/ARC (Roma); IRI (Acs,
Roma); Ministry of Education (Roma); Triennale of Milan (Milano); Quadriennale of Rome (Roma);
SAIE (Bologna); E.Brusa (private archive, Milano); N.Carrino (private archive, Roma); A.Disertori
(CASVA, Milano); Farsura spa (private archive, Milano); G.Gaburri (private archive, Alassio);
F.Gnecchi Ruscone (CASVA, Milano); F.Gorio (ANSL, Roma); V.Magistretti (Fondazione, Milano);
A.Magnaghi (CASVA, Milano); R.Meregalia (private archive, Milano); R.Morganti (private archive,
Milano); M.Terzaghi (CASVA, Milano); L.Pellegrin (CSAC, Parma); L.Pellegrin (private archive,
Roma) G.Valle (Studio, Udine); B.Zevi (Fondazione, Roma).

Recent basic bibliography: S. Poretti, La costruzione, in F. Dal Co (a cura di) Storia dell'architettura
italiana. Il secondo Novecento, Electa, Milano 1997; T. Iori, Préfabrication et industrialisation made
in Italy/Prefabrication and Industrialization made in Italy, in F. Graf, Y. Delemontey (a cura di),
Architecture industrialisée et préfabriquée : connaissance et sauvegarde/Understanding and
Conserving Industrialised and Prefabricated Architecture, Presses Polytechniques et universitaires
romandes (PPUR), Losanna, 2012, pp. 72-95; T. Iori & S. Poretti, Prefabricated and industrialised
construction in Italy (1945-1980), in P. Cassinello (ed), Eduardo Torroja 1949. Strategy to
Industrialise Housing in post-World War II, Madrid 2013, pp. 245-258; S. Poretti,
Un'industrializzazione sfasata, in T. Basiricò, S. Bertorotta (a cura di), L'industrializzazione nei
quartieri di edilizia residenziale pubblica, Aracne editrice, Roma 2013, pp. 10-13.

© 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

PACS: Type your PACS codes here, separated by semicolons ;

1. Main text
 Knowledge and experimentation for the maintenance and
sustainable restoration of architectural heritage.
Ippolita Mecca*
Department of European and the Mediterranean Cultures, University of Basilicata,Via Lazazzera, Matera 75100, ITALY

Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Abstract

The existent building heritage’s retrieval holds the whole of the interventions aimed at preserving, recovering, rebuilding and
using better the heritage itself. Any retrieval and restoration procedure and technique of the existing heritage cannot prescind
from considering the materials and the building technology used to realize the architectonical work where a necessary
intervention is required. The retrieval plan gathers chemical, structural, architectural, technical and functional aspects
indissolubly. This knowledge is useful in planning the activities of maintenance and management of the interventions.

© 2014MaggioliEditore. All rights reserved

Keywords: Cultural heritage; Knowledge; Diagnostic; Experimentation; Maintenance;

PACS: Type your PACS codes here, separated by semicolons ;

*
Ippolita Mecca. Tel.: +39-349-7800027; fax: +39-0971-68092; e-mail: imstudio@live.com; ippolita.mecca@unibas.it .

1. Introduction
In recent years the historical - artistic heritage has been
affected by a significant degradation phenomena, mainly
due to the synergistic action of air pollution and climate
change.
The preservation of cultural heritage involves the
development of innovative, effective, long-lasting and less
expensive protection strategies. Indeed, although the
Italian legislation imposes the scheduling maintenance in
order to preventing the degradation of the artefacts and to
reducing the costs of repair interventions, nowadays there
are not decision-making tools that can be usefully
employed for scheduling periodic maintenance.
One can plan appropriate interventions to restore and
render usable again, the places and spaces of the past, first,
through observation and then by learning about historic
buildings. In order to restore historical heritage efficiently
and with cultural consistency, it is necessary to acquire a
detailed understanding of the building materials and
techniques used, not only for single buildings, but for an
entire heritage site of buildings. Thus, one must know how
to identify the real building problems and define a
methodological process before then passing on to
interventions. A methodological intervention has been
identified and applied to a study case in which the need to
resume a dialogue between the various disciplines that
embrace this sector of cultural-historic heritage restoration
has been demonstrated. In fact, only through an
interdisciplinary approach, is it possible to plan and carry
out interventions, limiting possible errors in evaluation and
decisions.
2. State of the art
The cultural heritage monuments in Italy are located mostly
in urban areas. Consequently they are subject to damage
caused by emissions of combustion processes as well as by
deterioration due to natural factors such as wind and rain.
All degradation phenomena are therefore "predictable" and
they can be studied and limited provided that there are both
the interventions programming and the necessary resources.
Each degradation involves an economic loss but also a
social loss. This latter involves the entire international
community because the cultural heritage belongs to all
humanity and not to a single nation. The preservation of
cultural heritage cannot be done by piecemeal efforts, but
it’s necessary to identify and plan the conservation work
through a strategy to categorize essential data such as the
actual conditions of the monuments and their rate of
degradation. It will be possible to respond adequately to the
commitment to which we are all called upon to contribute
only through a synergistic action between the planning
maintenance and the adoption of innovative technologies
and products with low cost and low environmental impact.
In our country particularly, where there is the world’s most
important cultural heritage, it should adopted action
policies of preventive kind rather than curative in order to
optimize the available resources.
The lack of a synergistic strategy focused on a
programming routine maintenance it’s not the only
problem that has affected the sector. In fact, the safety and
the efficiency are other two important issues that influence
not only the work of the employees but also the quality and
the costs of the repair interventions
The evaluation of assets is extremely complex due to the
multiplicity of phenomena involved in degrading actions
and to the variety of artefacts compositions.. Any
component material having dissimilar characteristics makes
the historical artifact unique also characterized by its own
specific vulnerability. The understanding of the alteration
phenomena occurring at the interfaces
environments/monuments with time, due to ageing factors,
natural or anthropogenic, is essential to be able to plan the
best strategies for restoration, conservation and protection
projects.
3. Operative planning methodology
The methodology identified is easily dividable into three
larger phases capable of encompassing the entire operative
course of action, from the idea of execution to the
intervention, as well as the management of the intervention
work being undertaken.
The experimental-knowledge phase can be subdivided into
other micro-phases, which ultimately, give life to the
“understanding” of manufactured things. The phase named
'knowledge' will cover all aspects that define the
architectural heritage and will allow to understand the
essence, appreciating its value. In this stage a whole series
of very detailed and in-depth analytical research will be
carried out and the obtained results will contribute to
reconstruct, document and interpret the monument, in its
complexity and layers of history.
The technical-building phase can become a new field of
experimentation and verification of the types of choices
made, in fact, once the work enters into the phase of
execution one can already have the first results of the
effective validity of the intervention, through:
 Realization of the intervention: propostition and
verification of plans;
 Monitoring of operative activities carried out during
the intervention (diagnostic analyses, productive
parameters of the building site, planning activities,
etc.)
The management phase becomes a natural continuation of
the executive phase. This, in addition to maintenance and
management of the work, involves monitoring and

validation of the intervention over time through tests and a
maintenance plan.
The research activity will aim to define the modalities of
implementation of the maintenance process.
The goals of the developed Maintenance System are the
following:
 to avoid the degradation of the building and its
components;
 to enhance the security of the construction (structural
recovery, restraint of material decay, maintenance of
the wooden components, increasing of the stability
structures);
 to establish a smart system of program maintenance
(set of human and technological resources for the
management, control and protection of aesthetic and
functional characteristics of the building);
 to evaluate ex ante, ongoing and ex post the use of
materials and technologies envisaged within the case
studies.
The monitoring and diagnostics in the restoration play a
very important role in the technical-economic approaches
for the evaluation of the activities to be undertaken for the
preservation, enhancing and safeguarding of the cultural
architectonic heritage. Indeed, these techniques allow to
identify a time frame within which to restore the security of
the artefact, before it suffers of permanent impairments and
of degradation actions with irreversible effects. For this
reason, the maintenance process should pay particular
attention to the management of the flow of information
about the state of health of the building and the
environment in which it is located.
4. First results and final objectives
The need for planning and programming a lab-and on site
campaign of new tests and experiments has arisen from the
data, on the one hand, coming from previous tests and
experiments campaigns carried out in the sample area on
traditional and new materials used in recovery
interventions. On the other hand, data coming from the
even only visual assessment of the first carried out
interventions. Some technological tests have been carried
out. They were intended to settle the physical, chemical and
mechanical features of the materials used in study case in
order to assess the used materials' (physical, chemical and
mechanical) compatibility. If necessary, it is possible to use
new materials during restorations and also for the choices
carried out during the interventions.
For the study of historical mortars, this diagnostic research
wants to verify the coating sequence on site; to describe the
coating plaster from a mineral-petrographic and
porosimetric point of view and to obtain information about
the mortar compositional ratio; to identify the possible
causes responsible for the coating disintegration.
3
Different samples of plaster, mortar and stones were
collected from different sites and monuments (Sassi of
Matera, Palombaro of Diver, the Castle of Cancellara, St.
Peter's Church of Forenza, St. Demetrius Church of Ceglie
Messapica). These samples were submitted to laboratory
analysis by optical microscopy in transmitted light and X-
ray diffractometry. The results of these test campaigns have
allowed us to identify and design new plaster and new lime
mortars compatible with the historical ones. These new
products have been applied on some monuments with the
aim of monitoring their behaviour in situ. In particular the
mortars chosen were those with physical, chemical and
mechanical performances more similar to the old mortars
made of finishing hydrated lime, pozzolan-lime or
hydraulic lime, which were originally applied to the
surfaces exposed to particularly humid conditions, such as
water cisterns.
These materials can arise both from products currently on
the market and/or from the design and testing of new types
of materials. The experimentation on innovative products
will carried out within a project SMART CITIES approved
and funded by the MIUR that aims to obtain high
performance in the operations of restoration and
conservation of the architectural heritage while respecting
the requirements of the workers safety.
The final result of this research will be to identify the
materials that allow to preserve consistency of the
monuments over the time and to formulate a model which
shows the optimal frequency of maintenance of a work of
art depending on its deterioration, the resulting loss of
value, maintenance costs and available financial resources.
5. References
- Rodriguez-Navarro, C., et alii (2003): Conservation
of ornamental stone by Myxococcus xanthus-induced
carbonate biomineralization, Applied Environmental
Microbiology, 69, 2182–2193
- Mecca, I., Guida, A. (2008) “The “Palombaro”
(Sassi of Matera, Italy): The interaction between
Water and construction materials”, The e-Journal of
Nondestructive Testing - Vol. 13 No. 9 - pp. 1-11
- Mecca, I., Guida, A (2013), “The durability of built
heritage through tests and experimentations on site”
in “A State of the Art Report on Building Pathology”,
Edited by Vasco Peixoto de Freitas, CIB FEUP
Editor, Porto, pp. 177-182, ISBN 978-90-6363-082-9
- Mecca, I., Bernardo, G. (2014), “Caratterizzazione
microstrutturale e mineralogica di intonaci antichi”,
in V Congreso Latinoamericano 2014 Sobre
“Patologîa de la Construcciớn, Tecnología de la
Rehabilitatión y Gestión del Patrimonio”. Santander,
del 1 al 4 de abril de 2014 – ISBN del CD-ROM de
artículos 978-84-616-8863-0, pp. 1061-1069.
 Architectural approaches for the enhancement of stone Alpine
heritage
Isabella Biancoa*, Sara Fasanaa, Pablo Angel Ruffinoa
a
DISEG, Department of Structural, Geotechnical and Building Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Turin
10129, Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to show some of the results of the international project Interreg-AlpStone, whose main objective
is the conservation and enhancement of a stone building heritage located in the Alps between Italy and Switzerland. The
recovery of this heritage requires their adaptation to the current safety and comfort regulations, while at the same time the
conservation of its traditional features. The work method of the research team is composed by the phases of documentation
and analysis, laboratory and in situ experimentation and definition of architectural solutions.

© 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Keywords: Stone buildings; Cultural heritage; Recovery; Preservation; Ossola Valley

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 011 0905308; e-mail: isabella.bianco@polito.it.

1. Introduction
The focus of this paper is the preservation and
recovery of the traditional Alpine architecture, which
has developed through centuries of building
activities. This heritage can nowadays be still very
important for cultural, documental, environmental
and economic reasons. The ISEG Department of
Politecnico di Torino [team composed by the authors,
the researcher and coordinator M. Zerbinatti, the
professors R. Nelva, P. Piumatti and P. Scarzella, the
eng. A. Grazzini] in collaboration with Italian and
Swiss partners, currently works on this theme in the
context of the international research project called
Interreg-AlpStone. It focuses on the enhancement of
the endangered stone constructions located in the area
between the north of Piedmont (IT) and the Canton of
Ticino (CH). The issue is to find a way to protect
these rural buildings and give them a new life by
turning a part of them into residences or tourist
accommodation. The major challenge is to adapt the
construction to the current needs and regulations,
using local resources and without impairing their
architectonic value.
2. State of the art
Since for centuries the stone has been an important
construction material, it exists a large literature
concerning the past building techniques.
Nevertheless, with the introduction of reinforced
concrete in the 20th century, the practical mastery
quickly disappeared. In the recent decades, rural
buildings have been universally recognised as a
cultural heritage [1, 2], and this has encouraged many
local and international associations to study specific
stone constructions. The literature of Alpine
architecture located between Italy and Switzerland
mainly consists of historic texts [3, 4], typological
anthologies [5, 6] or technical handbooks drawn up
for local bureaux [7, 8]. Some authors point out that
regulations concerning building calculations are
usually related to brick or concrete buildings. For this
reason some researchers evaluated the structural
properties of the stone masonry [9, 10, 11]. The latest
Italian standard on constructions [12, 13] provides
the guidelines for masonry investigation. The in situ
data collection remains anyway an important phase
because the wall's look may hide the real interlocking
between long stones (diatoni) and/or leaves [14].
3. Work method
To reach the aim of preserving and recovering the
Alpine stone heritage, the research team has gone
ahead with the work method that follows:
1. Analysis and survey phase
This first knowledge phase has been particularly
carried out by the authors. This phase is necessary in
order to comprehend the constructive characteristics
of the studied Alpine architecture and to understand
how constructions are related to the environment.
Different kinds of survey have been carried out:
direct surveys (at the urban scale) of some Ossola
Valley villages to document the presence of typical
elements; LIDAR and photogrammetric surveys (at
the building scale) to study the features of stone and
wood structures. Moreover, the most common kinds
of masonry and of stone roofs have been classified.
2. Experimental phase
The Interreg-Alpstone project carried out some tests
in order to analyse the behaviour and the mechanical
properties of local stones employed as building
material (e.g. balcony modillions, dry stone masonry,
roof covering with stone slabs). In particular,
laboratory experimental tests have been carried out
on many stone samples in order to define the
compression and flexion strength and the static and
dynamic modulus of elasticity. Other tests were
developed in situ in order to define the masonry
resistance at the end-plates of tension bars.
3. Recovery criteria and technical solutions
Appropriate technical solutions have to guarantee
both the safety and comfort conditions and the
protection of the traditional heritage identity.
The Interreg-AlpStone project has studied how to
introduce a sufficient thermal insulation in the inner
part of the masonry taking into account the strong
misalignment between joints and the often scarce
dimensions of rooms.
Another important issue concerns the seismic
regulations, who impose works of adaptation (and not
of improvement, unless in case of official recognition
of the cultural value of the architecture). The research
team has studied improving solutions able to activate
the box behaviour of the structure.
Finally, a branch of the research, currently under
investigation, concerns the study of solutions able to
prevent the fall of stone balcony elements.

4. Results
The AlpStone research team has defined some
technical solutions of thermal insulation which avoid
interstitial condensation of water vapour. In case of
regular stone walls it is possible to create a
stratigraphy separated from the wall with an air
chamber and protected, in the inner side, with a
planking. On the other hand, in case of strongly
irregular walls, it is often better to employ a thick layer
of plaster with high performances of thermal insulation.
Concerning the seismic issue, the aim is to provide a
proper collaboration among structural components in
order to activate a box behaviour. Some examples of
solutions are the ones that follow:
- Strengthening of stone walls at the top of the
building, with insertion of brass steel fibres;
- Steel strands with high traction resistance to bond
the masonry even in the cross direction;
- Insertion of basalt fibres;
- Insertion of bracings with tie-beams and bolted
end-plates.
5. Comparison and debate with other projects
The Interreg-Alpstone research group has created
an interdisciplinary synergy also with other projects.
An interesting collaboration concerns the recovery of
the Torre dei Lossetti of Beura-Cardezza (IT),
developed by the arch. G. Bretto. In this case, a dry
stone tower damaged by a phenomenon of pressure
and flexion, was recovered with the Ticorapsimo®
system: a dry seam with basalt fibre wires.
Transversal comparisons have been done with other
research projects of Politecnico di Torino. Among
these, the Energy Park project (coordinated by prof.
A. Osello) concerns the reduction of CO2 emissions
through the realisation of a smart environment, with
new technologies and new materials integrating the
historical ones. Another project, coordinated by prof.
F. Ossola, is a feasibility study of a building panel.
6. Future developments
The research project envisages further tests and
investigations, such as the following ones:
- The realisation of diagnostic systems able to
evaluate the entirety of stone construction elements
for balconies (modillions, slabs).
- The study and experimentation of reinforcement
systems for modillions and slabs.
3
- The realisation of solutions for the seismic
improvement.
7. References
[1] Brandi, C.: Teoria del restauro, Ed.di storia e
letteratura, Roma 1963.
[2] ICOMOS, Charter on the built vernacular
heritage, 12th General Assembly, Mexico, 1999.
[3] Simonis, G.: Costruire sulle Alpi. Storia e
attualità delle tecniche costruttive alpine, Tararà
edizioni, Verbania 2008.
[4] Simonis, G.: Costruire con la pietra, BE-MA
editrice, Milano 1983.
[5] Dematteis, L.: Case contadine nelle Valli dell’Ossola,
Cusio e Verbano, Priuli&Verlucca, Ivrea, 1985.
[6] Conti, G. M. & Oneto, G.: Paesaggio di pietra,
alberi e colore. L’architettura tradizionale nel Verbano-
Cusio-Ossola, Alberti Libraio Editore, Intra 2002.
[7] Buzzi, G. & Bagutti, R.: Valle Bavona. Manuale
per la riattazione degli edifici, Fondazione Valle
Bavona, Bignasco-Cavergno 2000.
[8] Breil, M.: Esperienze amministrative per la tutela
del patrimonio culturale alpino, in Mamoli M. (a
cura di), Progettare nello spazio alpino. Manuale per
la tutela, la conservazione ed il recupero del
paesaggio, degli insediamenti e delle architetture
tradizionali, Vicenza 2001.
[9] García, D.; San-José, J.T.; Garmendia L. &
Larrinaga P.: Comparison between experimental
values and standards on natural stone masonry
mechanical properties, in Construction and Building
Materials, Elsevier 2012, issue 28 (2012), 444–449.
[10] Vasconcelos, G. & Lourenço, P.B.:
Experimental characterization of stone masonry in
shear and compression, in Construction and Building
Materials, Elsevier 2009, issue 23, 3337–3345.
[11] Milosevic, J.; Sousa Gago, A.; Lopes, M. &
Bento R.: Experimental assessment of shear strength
parameters on rubble stone masonry specimens, in
Construction and Building Materials, Elsevier 2013,
issue 47, 1372–1380.
[12] Nuove norme tecniche per le costruzioni, D.M. 14
gennaio 2008, Ministero Infrastrutture e Trasporti, Roma.
[13] Circolare n. 617 - 02.02.2009, Istruzioni per
l’applicazione delle Nuove norme tecniche per le
costruzioni di cui al D.M. 14 gennaio 2008, Ministero
Infrastrutture e Trasporti, Roma 2009.
[14] Cardani, G. & Binda, L.: Guidelines for the
masonry quality evaluation in built heritage, Built
heritage 2013 monitoring Conservation Management,
November 2013, Milan, 18-20.
 REHABILITATION technology of traditional architecture:
managing coexistence between conservation and innovation
Leonardo Giuseppe Felice Cannas*
DICAAR, Via Marengo 2, Cagliari 09030, Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Abstract

The study presented in this abstract focuses its attention on the Rehabilitation by the technological point of view of traditional
architecture that belongs to historical city nucleus. Which building technology characteristics are considered as constant, and
which ones are considered as changeable, in today Rehabilitation practice, with respect to the problem of managing the
coexistence between conservation of the cultural values and innovation to respond to contemporary exigencies? This study
tried to answer this question by applying a comparative case study strategy. © 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Rehabilitation, Technology, Traditional Architecture, Conservation, Innovation, Genova, Guimarães, Santiago de Compostela

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +393409640146; e-mail: leonardo.cannas@live.it

1. Framework
The study presented in this abstract focuses its attention
on the Rehabilitation by the technological point of view of
traditional architecture that belongs to historical city
nucleus.
The Rehabilitation, according to several authors such as
Feilden and Jokiletho, Petzet or Casanovas (Casanovas,
2007; Feilden & Jokilehto, 1993; Petzet & Ziesemer,
2004), is a type of building work, that aims at providing a
contemporary use to traditional architecture, preserving, in
the meanwhile, the cultural values that characterize it. This
means making physical interventions in the historic fabric,
carefully accommodated to its characteristic, in order to
repair, and, if required, modernize it.
As Musso (Ortu & Sanna, 2009) and Galliani (Galliani,
1987) stated, Rehabilitation is an autonomous discipline,
which can be considered as intermediate between
Restoration, maximum building conservation, and
Replacement, demolition and construction of a new
building. Also intrinsic heritage value of the building and
the economic factor distinguish Rehabilitation from
Restoration (Galliani, 1987; Ortu & Sanna, 2009). So, it
can be said that Restoration interests monumental heritage,
and Rehabilitation interests traditional architecture, which
is “[…] everyday architecture that is alive because it is
inhabited, essentially civilian, domestic and of pre-
industrial construction.” (Casanovas, 2007).
Traditional architecture aggregation formed the
traditional compact human settlements, expression of
communities that were based on artisans and trade activity
(Casanovas, 2007; Oliver, 1997). These settlements now
are one of the contemporary city components, in planning
terms also known as historical nucleuses or historical
centers.
2. Short literature review
As Sanna affirmed (Ortu & Sanna, 2009),
Rehabilitation has a double nature: it is conservative and
innovative at the same time. According to literature, how to
manage the careful equilibrium between this two opposite
dispositions is the fundamental question in each perspective
of the Rehabilitation interventions.
Regarding building technology, there is the need to
understand how to preserve it, in relationship with
innovation due to contemporary housing needs and, also,
due to contemporary building practice constrains, for
example, loss of traditional local material productions. The
first doctrinal text in which this question has been debated
is the Charter On The Built Vernacular Heritage (Petzet &
Ziesemer, 2004). This text encourages the usage of
traditional construction system and crafts, but it also
recognizes the inevitability of change for traditional
architecture. The criteria of intervention that are suggested,
to carry out alterations in the building technology, are
rather generic, such as to respect “[…] the integrity of the
structure” (Petzet & Ziesemer, 2004). The only
understandable recommendation is to preserve the
traditional appearance of the building, “[…]by the
introduction of materials which maintain a consistency of
expression, appearance, texture and form throughout the
structure […]” (Petzet & Ziesemer, 2004)
In RehabiMed Method (Casanovas, 2007), Vegas and
Mileto illustrate RehabiMed’s criteria. These criteria recall
the Charter on The Built Vernacular Heritage (Petzet &
Ziesemer, 2004) and consider not only the traditional
appearance as an invariable characteristic. So they affirm
that, when building technology should be modified, it is
also fundamental to choose compatible new materials, to
conserve the structural principle of the building and, also,
to respect others more complex features that belong to
traditional building technology, such its healthiness for
users and many more.
In Italy these arguments are well described in the
Manuali del Recupero line, such as Il Manuale del
Recupero del Comune di Roma (Giovanetti, 1998). Among
these, it is worth to cite the Manuali del Recupero dei
Centri della Sardegna line. The interventions criteria
suggested in these handbooks, similar to these of
RehabiMed, propose a sort of technological upgrade of the
building details, a natural development of the traditional
technology.
Despite such rich literature, there is lack of studies
about the outcomes of Rehabilitation practice regarding
building technology. After the Rehabilitation intervention
which building technology characteristics were preserved
and which were innovated? Are theoretical criteria
effectively applied? How have they been applied in
relationship with practical implementation constrains?
Which are the motivations behind these choices? This study
tried to answer those questions.
3. Methodology
The applied research methodology was qualitative and
inductive, based on an evaluative-comparative case study
strategy.
Three Rehabilitation process of historical nucleus, in
three different countries, were analyzed: Genova in Italy,
Guimarães in Portugal and Santiago de Compostela in
Spain. They were chosen on strength of being each one
managed by applying systematic approach, so their relative
homogeneous approach makes them comparable as case
study. It was systematically analyzed how three building
details are processed: windows, floors and roofs. Different
sources of information were considered: local planning
legislations, published literature such as local manuals of

rehabilitation, open interviews to local experts involved in
the rehabilitation process, documental and field analysis
about rehabilitated buildings.
The Triangulation strategy (Alcindor Huelva, 2011)
was applied, by considering three different point of view
about Rehabilitation technology in order to reduce the risk
of arbitrary results, by considering as true information that
were confirmed by different sources. Also the will of
applying the innovative strategy of comparing three
different case studies in three different European countries,
innovative regarding historical nucleuses rehabilitation
area, lies in the more accurate comprehension of the
phenomena made possible by highlighting differences.
4. Main findings
The findings show that there is no very significant
difference about the Rehabilitation approach of the three
case study. Following its most notable characteristics.
The conservation of original building details is the main
objective. This is a sort of preventive measure, since they
are considered as documentary evidence.
Alterations of building details are admitted, such as
addition of new parts with ameliorative role, provided that
some characteristics are invariants.
The historical appearance is one of these invariant
characteristics, but it concerns only those building elements
that constitute the public appearance of the building, such
as windows and roofs. It is clear that the image of
traditional architecture is considered an outstanding value,
maybe because it represents traditional architecture way of
relating with context (Casanovas, 2007).
In order to meet the need of preventing future
deterioration in building status, the modified building
elements have to guarantee the same structural behavior of
the originals, despite, for example, changes in building
materials or weight increase. It is also fundamental that
there is full chemical and physical compatibility between
new materials and the historic building.
It is worth to notice that there is also the will to
conserve others interesting features, could be considered
belonging to traditional building technology by nature. For
example, traditional technologies easy disassembling
(Giovanetti, 1998), which allows to extend building
lifetime through maintenance or to promote recycling of
elements.
5. Main expected outcomes
This research should contribute to further develop the
Rehabilitation discipline by providing descriptive
information to the scientific community about current
Rehabilitation practice. This study is essentially an analysis
of good practices. The criteria applied to manage the
3
coexistence between conservation and innovation of the
building technology will be systematized. Useful
information should come from the conformity test between
theoretical criteria and practice. The effectiveness of
theoretical criteria should be measured and also
motivations behind their failure should be highlighted.
Furthermore, beyond the technological criteria, additional
criteria will be highlighted, as indirect useful elements for a
successful Rehabilitation process.
Bibliography
Aguiar, J., & Appleton, J. (2002). Guião de Apoio à Reabilitação
de Edifícios Habitacionais. Lisbona: LNEC.
Aguiar, J. (2000). A experiência de Reabilitação Urbana do GTL
de Guimarães: estratégia, método e algumas questões
disciplinares . Retrieved from http://mestrado-
reabilitacao.fa.utl.pt
Alcindor Huelva, M. (2011). La Rehabilitación limitada: el caso de
las intervenciones de adaptación a los criterios de
habitabilidad actual de edificaciones rurales construidas con
técnicas históricas, aisladas o dentro de pequeños núcleos
urbanos del Baix Empordà. Universitat Politècnica de
Catalunya. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10803/109046
Casanovas, X. (Ed.). (2007). RehabiMed Method. Traditional
Mediterranean Architecture. II. Rehabilitation Buildings.
Barcelona: RehabiMed. Retrieved from www.rehabimed.net
Feilden, B. M., & Jokilehto, J. (1993). Management Guidelines for
World Cultural Heritage Sites. Rome: ICCROM.
Galliani, G. V, & Mor, G. (Eds.). (2006). Il Manuale del Recupero
di Genova Antica. Roma: DEI.
Giovanetti, F. (Ed.). (1998). Manuale del recupero del Comune di
Roma. Roma: Dei.
Guallart Ramos, J., Pardo Panero, Á., Osés Camiruaga, I., Ferreiro
Tomé, P., & Hermida Fernández, R. (2002). A arquitectura
historica e os criterios da rehabilitacion. A rehabilitacion de
Santiago. A cidade historica de Santiago de Compostela,
soporte da vivenda do seculo XXI. Santiago de Compostela:
Concello de Santiago.
Oliver, P. (Ed.). (1997). Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture
of the World: Cultures and habitats. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Ortu, G. G., & Sanna, A. (Eds.). (2009). I Manuali del Recupero
dei centri storici della Sardegna: Atlante delle culture
costruttive della Sardegna approfondimenti. Roma: DEI.
Petzet, M., & Ziesemer, J. (Eds.). (2004). International Charters for
Conservation and Restoration. ICOMOS. Retrieved from
http://openarchive.icomos.org/
 The traditional sacral wooden construction in Lithuania
between XVIII and XIX century

Liucija Berežanskytė,a*
a
Department of Architecture (DARCH) University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 8
90128 Palermo (PA), Italy

Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

Lithuania is situated in a highly forested Northeastern Europe area and has a great variety of wooden buildings. Among
the wooden structures we can enumerate the religious buildings (churches and bell towers), rich of historic values,
presenting different forms and sizes and also a complex design and stratified construction phases. The present work
aims to study this interesting topic and intends not only to analyze the architectural typology but even more the
technological and structural aspects, that had suggested the most influences on building techniques during the centuries.

Keywords: Lithuania, wooden churches, wooden traditional construction and technics, building heritage;

The oldest wooden churches began to built in Lithuania in the 13th century. Currently there are more than 500 existing
wooden sacral structures, which not yet have detailed studies about their constructive and structural aspects.
Wooden Lithuanian churches and belfries are an architectural heritage which is fairly preserved by the local community, but
unfortunately the biggest destroyer is the aging of the buildings intensified by an inadequate maintenance. Sometimes badly
made reconstructions contribute to the structural decay, and also the wrong choice of protective materials and furnishes, the
absence of ground works. The industrial production could - in the past, just as today - gradually weaken, if not destroy, the
richness of craftsmanship (associated with the transmission of this knowledge to the next generation); therefore it’s important
to recognize the value of the architectural heritage and to plan its safeguard for the posterity. This is a heritage of wooden
technical culture which remains all to explore for the conservation of the architectural heritage of this country.

State of the art

The research began in 2013:
First year - Study of the European wooden architecture examples. The research activity is focused on the analysis of 25
wooden churches, through the on-site visits, photos, exterior and interior surveys. Additional information was obtained
from the visits to the ethnographical museums and archives.
Second year - between June and August 2014 the information of 58 wooden religious buildings was obtained through
the on-site visits, photos and surveys. The research of archives has allowed to make copies of the floor plans, façades,
sections and the old photos useful for the atlas preparation.
Currently processed aspects of the research:
A detailed filing of a series of buildings selected to represent singular examples. This filing represents the processing of
the following information: description, general information, location, territorial organization, history, plant and
typological characteristics, dates and consistency of the main changes, work on the article.
In the process of preparing the atlas of the technological solutions: analysis of the wooden species, characteristic tools
is completed as well as the technological analysis of the wooden trusses and walls structure, studying the various
structural nodes and types of connections and analyzing the connections with foundations and the roof structure. The
schedule of external walls and covering cladding systems has also been prepared.
Third year (prevision) - elaboration of the final stages of the research, operations of synthesis and collation of data
collected during the first two years; the completion of the construction techniques atlas, the process of writing and
preparation of the final thesis.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +393336086520; fax: 091488562; e-mail: liucija.berezanskyte@unipa.it.

The main objectives of the research are divided into the following study-phases:
 Knowledge of the rituals, related to the building types and stylistics and architectural solutions which were
adapted to the Lithuanian sacred architecture;
 systematization of the all sacred wooden buildings of Lithuania, with a particular attention to a detailed study of
the more significant examples;
 systematization of the building types and design of an atlas of construction techniques, useful to the future
recovery and preservation of the timber structures;
 schedules of the technological solutions, implementation of analyzed wooden buildings, related to the damage
mechanisms and detected failures;
 architectural and construction terms glossary, using the Italian – English – Lithuanian languages.
Methodology

The thesis presents general analysis of the wooden european architecture and a detailed research of the wooden sacral
architecture in Lithuania (Catholic Christian, Byzantine, Reformed, Protestant): general aspects and overview,
periodization, design, the influence of foreign architecture.
Methodology of the study and methods of investigation are described: wooden species used in Lithuania for the
construction and main carpentery tools).
Construction technics are presented: structure and parts of completion, construction systems and process, connection
types.
Analysis of failures and degradations (detailel description of the church condition): deterioration of the materials,
structural instability and alterations of the structural complex, dates and consistency of the main changes.
Restoration and conservation hypothesis: risks's analysis, hypothesis of possible conservation, possibility of recovery,
reference to the principles of ICOMOS, possible and appropriate future use, general plan of recovery and an indication
of priorities, methods, techniques and repair.

Results

The research project proceeds - according to the direct knowledge of the building and through the analysis of the actual
state of places and buildings - to define a geometric- dimensional and constructive survey, the analysis of the
constitutive geometries, the history of construction techniques, the analysis of the main failures and degradations, the
retrieval of the literature of the churches and their construction techniques.
The organization of a general atlas requires the survey of technological and structural decks and the identification of the
major technological units, the preparation of wooden species tables, the individuation of the coeval structural units and
also of any decks introduced in subsequent periods, which works for the safety or consolidation of the building. This
atlas is organized into a great number of tables that consists of the type of wooden species, kinds of craftsmanship,
connections, technological units, finishing and completion parts and decoration elements.

Bibliography

R. Bertašiūtė. Forma ir konstrukcija lietuvių sodybos medinių trobelių architektūroje. Kaunas 2002;
S. Erixon. The North – European Technique of corner timbering. Stockholm;
J. Gimbutas. Das Dach del Litauschen Baurnhauses. Stuttgart 1948;
W. Mönck. Schäden an Holzkonstruktionen. Berlin;
A. Jankevičienė. Lietuvos medinė sakralinė architektūra (Lithuanian wooden sacral architecture). Vilniaus dailės
akademijos leidykla, Vilnius 1998;
G. Tampone. Conservation of historic wooden structures Vol.1, 2. Collegio degli Ingegneri della Toscana, 2005;
G. Tampone, Michela Semplici. Rescuing the Hidden European Wooden Churches Heritage. Italy supported by
“Culture 2000” of the European Community, Florence;
K. Zwerger. Wood and Wood Joints. Building Traditions of Europe and Japan. Birkhäuser;
History of Engineering, Proceedings of the International Conference, Naples, 2014 May 19th - 20th, Vol. II. Ed. S.
D’Agostino, G. Fabricatore.
 Steel construction in Italy in the 1930s: the case of the Società
Nazionale Officine di Savigliano
Maddalena Pisanu*
Università degli Studi di Cagliari, DICAAR, Via Marengo 2, Cagliari 09030, Italy

Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

The aim of the research is to retrace that part of the Italian construction history, deemed marginal until recent years, which
concerns steel frame structures. Considering the 1930s in particular, the study focuses on the case of one of the most
important Italian company in the field of metallurgy and steel construction: the “Società Nazionale Officine di Savigliano”
(national company workshops Savigliano). © 2014MaggioliEditore. All rights reserved

History of construction; steel frame; Società Nazionale Officine di Savigliano; history of the building trades; building techniques

*
Corresponding author. Tel.:+393497740836; e-mail: maddalenapisanu@unica.it.

1. Introduction
As is known, the history of construction in Italy is a
field partly unexplored yet, especially with regard to the
20th century architecture (Poretti 2013). In particular, the
history of metal frame structures has been almost ignored
compared to that of reinforced concrete, due to the limited
spread of the metal construction in Italian architecture. One
of the main reasons for that is the fact that reinforced
concrete was more compatible with the Italian
underdeveloped construction system, substantially hand-
crafted. Indeed, it could be used without making deep
changes to construction techniques and also without the
participation of highly specialized technicians and workers.
The steel building frame follows a sort of parallel
development in the field of the modernisation of the
construction system, more connected to the research
environment, through competitions and experimental
projects. The 1930s are particularly meaningful to the
history of metallic constructions. In fact, on the one hand it
can be traced a lively cultural debate about the steel frame
from the pages of reviews such as Casabella, thanks to the
commitment of Giuseppe Pagano; on the other hand those
are the years of the “autocracy”, which determined strong
limitations to the use of metals in architecture (Zordan
2006). Although the limited spread of steel structures, this
subject is interesting from a technical point of view and
with regard to the construction methods innovations, even
if many of these projects remained on paper.
2. Research
The aim of the research, supervised by Professor Paolo
Sanjust, is to retrace this part of the Italian construction
history, deemed marginal until recent years. In particular,
the research focuses on the case of one of the most
important Italian company in the field of metallurgy and
steel construction: the “Società Nazionale Officine di
Savigliano” (national company workshops Savigliano) and
specifically on the production during the 1930s. This firm
was officially established in 1880 taking over the activity
of a previous company, founded in the middle of the
eighteenth century for the construction of the railway track
between the cities of Turin and Savigliano. Starting from
1889 a new head-quarter was established in Turin (Balbo
2006). Since the beginning of its activity, the company
specialized in mechanical and electrical constructions,
metallic bridges and railways.
Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning
of the 20th century, Savigliano gained recognition in
Europe especially for the construction of metal bridges,
such as the famous Paderno Bridge (1889), one of the
biggest arch bridges for the period.
During the Thirties, the company devoted the attention
also to steel frame buildings, applying the experience
acquired in industrial constructions to civil buildings. Two
edifices in Turin, which are also some of the first examples
of application of electrical welding in civil buildings, are
the most famous: the “Torre Littoria” and the head-quarter
of the “Reale Mutua Assicurazioni”, both designed by
Armando Melis and Giovanni Bernocco for the insurance
company “Reale Mutua Assicurazioni”.
Savigliano gave a great contribution to the renewal of
the building trade, especially with regard to the
construction industry, having introduced some important
technological innovations, for instance the application of
the electrical welding to the metal carpentry. What is more,
during the 1930s, the company collaborated with some
important architects and engineers, such as Fiorini, for the
development of the "tensistruttura" (tensile structure) and
Nervi for the project of a circular hangar (D’Orazio
2008)(Greco e Wirz 2008), among others.
The interest in this argument derives from a first case
study: the Savigliano hangar at the Elmas military airport,
near Cagliari. The first available project dates back to 1930
but the design process continued until 1933 when the
construction was completed in less than seven months. The
shed significance is also evident because it was mentioned
in the most important architectural Italian reviews of those
years, such as "L'Architettura Italiana" and "Casabella", but
without specifying the location owing to the military secret.
The “Rivista Aeronautica” described the hangar as “one of
the biggest structures electrically welded ever assembled in
Europe and maybe in the world” (Leoni 1934). As well as
the valuable architecture, the building is worth considering
because of the experimented innovations, in fact the new
technique allowed a series of improvements in the
construction process.
Starting from this case study the research will analyse
and compare the other hangars built by Savigliano during
the Thirties, which are numerous thanks to a deal with the
Aeronautic Ministry, as well as the other significant works
of the same period.
3. Methodology
The chosen methodology is based primarily on archival
research oriented towards data collection about every
specific case study, the construction company and the
architects and engineers involved. In particular, the
research focuses on the archive of the “Società Nazionale
Officine di Savigliano” preserved at the National Archive
in Turin. The aim is to analyse the structure of the company
paying close attention to the technical office and the
designers, in order to reconstruct the activity and the most
important works of the Thirties.

Another important tool for the fact-finding study is the
direct survey of the principal buildings analysed, together
with the redesign, a very useful instrument for the
discipline of construction history, especially with respect to
modern buildings. What is more, a comparative analysis
will be conducted, based on the study of reviews and
technical manuals published in the reference period, in
addition to the current literature on the subject.
4. Expected results
The study will show how the technological progress
made in the field of metal frame structures influenced the
typological, architectural and formal characteristics of the
examples considered. Specifically, the research results will
highlight the Savigliano role in the Italian construction
system modernisation, also with regard to the designers
who collaborated with the company during the 1930s. The
aim is a deep understanding of the material nature of the
object, not only as far as the technical aspects are
concerned but also considering the history of the project
and the context, giving particular attention to the evolution
of the construction techniques used, comparing them to the
local, national and international context. Starting from the
specific case studies the outcomes will give the opportunity
to deduce more general considerations. However, the
analysis can't be considered as a settled and exhaustive
study, but rather as a first attempt to highlight a significant
chapter of the history of steel construction in Italy, largely
unexplored yet. In fact, one of the main pitfall that may be
encountered is the difficulty in finding relevant documents
at the Savigliano archive, as there is not yet an inventory of
the enormous quantity of documents preserved (600 linear
meters) (Bermond 2009) (Arena & Sisto 2004).
Nevertheless, a first period of research spent at the archive
allowed, as first result, the discovery of several hangar
projects designed by the company, included the Savigliano
hangar of Elmas, as well as those of other interesting works
conducted in the 1930s.
Bibliography
Arena, L. & Sisto, M. 2004. «L’archivio della Società Nazionale
delle Officine di Savigliano: un sondaggio». Quaderni del
Cds, 87–127.
Becchi, A. (2004). Construction History: Research Perspectives
in Europe. Fucecchio (Firenze): KWB.
Becchi, A, & Benvenuto, E. (2002). Towards a history of
construction. Between mechanics and architecture. Basel ;
Boston: Birkhäuser.
Bermond, C. (2009). «Gli archivi tecnici: il caso della Società
Nazionale Officine Savigliano». In Archivi d’impresa: stato
dell’arte e controversie : atti del Convegno di studi (Spoleto,
11 novembre 2006), 61–74. Bari: Carucci.
3
Blondeau, R. (2013). Metallurgy and Mechanics of Welding. John
Wiley & Sons.
Casabella. (1933). «La casa a struttura di acciaio», n. 68-69
(settembre): 5–12.
Fava, A. (1938). «L’applicazione dell’acciaio nella costruzione di
ponti e carpenterie in Italia: 3. Capannoni e coperture».
Casabella, n. 127.
Molteni, G. 1933. «La saldatura nelle costruzioni di acciaio».
Casabella, n. 68-69: 74–77.
Jodice, R. (1985). L’Architettura del ferro: l’Italia, 1796-1914.
Roma: Bulzoni.
Leoni, C. (1934). «La saldatura elettrica nella costruzione delle
aviorimesse metalliche». Rivista Aeronautica, n. 9
(settembre): 479–95.
Chiaia, V. (1971). L’acciaio nelle costruzioni moderne. Bari:
Dedalo.
D’Orazio, M. (2008). Contributi alla storia della costruzione
metallica: progetti e realizzazioni degli anni ‘30 per l’edilizia
abitativa. ed. Florence, Italy: Alinea.
Ferrari, P. (2004). L’aeronautica italiana: una storia del
Novecento. Milano: F. Angeli.
Griffini, E. A. (1932). «Costruzioni a struttura di acciaio».
Rassegna di Architettura, n. 5: 227–33.
Greco, C, & Heinz, W. (2008). Pier Luigi Nervi: Dai Primi
Brevetti Al Palazzo Delle Esposizioni Di Torino 1917-1948.
Lucerna: Antique Collectors Club.
Ivan, B. (2006). «La Società Nazionale Officine di Savigliano». In
Storia di Savigliano - Il ’900, 189–223. Savigliano:
L’Artistica.
L’architettura italiana. (1933). «Modello di aviorimessa in
costruzione per la Regia Aeronautica Italiana».
Masi, F. (1933). La pratica delle costruzioni metalliche: case in
acciaio. Milano: Hoepli.
Nascè, V. (1982). Contributi alla storia della costruzione
metallica. Firenze: Alinea.
Pepponi, M. C. (1991). «Guido Fiorini architetto 1891 - 1965.»
Parametro. n. 187: 52–77
Poretti, S. (2013). «La storia della costruzione: una nuova frontiera
nell’architettura tecnica». In Verso un sapere tecnico
condiviso nella ricerca sulla progettazione e costruzione
dell’edilizia: Atti del VI Congresso Internazionale Ar.Tec. -
Roma 16 - 17 febbraio 2011. Roma: Gangemi
Ranisi, M. (1998). L’aeroporto italiano: dalle origini al Secondo
Conflitto Mondiale. Aeronautica italiana.
Ranisi, M. (1991). L’architettura della Regia Aeronautica. Roma:
Stato Maggiore Aeronautica.
Società Nazionale delle Officine di Savigliano. (1904). Tipi di
costruzioni metalliche. Torino.
Società nazionale delle offine di savigliano. 1928. Bollettino
tecnico savigliano
Vittorini, R. (1994). «La struttura metallica nella costruzione
moderna in Italia». Rassegna di architettura e urbanistica, n.
84/85 (settembre).
Zignoli, V. (1976). Costruzioni metalliche. Torino: UTET.
Zordan, M. (2012). «La costruzione metallica in Italia nel XX
secolo». Ambienti, costumi, costruzioni a cura di Aldo De
Marco e Giovanni Tubaro, 301–15.
Zordan, M. (2006). L’architettura dell’acciaio in Italia. Roma:
Gangemi.
 Analysis of the construction elements of tholoi
Corrado Fianchinoa, Manuela Marinoa*
a
University of Catania, DICAR, viale Doria n.6-95100,Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

The knowledge of a monument identity is necessary for it preservation. The static identity of tholoi is also made of their
features. The paper studies in depth the knowledge of construction characteristics of tholoi, their origin and historical-
construction evolution. We examined the stability of tholoi, comparing the principles of active or passive resistance; their
static membrane behavior "due to the shape". Tholoi are classified on the basis of principles of processing and construction
elements are listed according to their role. We suggest a tholos completion for the ruins of an ancient architecture, located in
the sud-est of Sicily and called "the Favorita", which was identified as a "trigona" by archaeologists.

© 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Keywords: trilith, tholos, arc, pseudo-dome, membrane

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-3923911887; e-mail: mmarino@dica.unicit.it
2
1. State of the Art
Tholoi architectures can be found in the whole euro-
mediterranean area since prehistoric times; nevertheless
they are still not very studied by the scientific community.
The Mycenaean tholoi are an exception; they are the best
known but not the oldest tholoi architectures. Tholoi are
spontaneous architectures covered by a characteristic
masonry dome realized through the successive placement
of cantilevered stone elements. Such construction
technique, is used from prehistory to XX century B.C. for
various human needs, for the life and death (neolithic and
late bronze age tombs, Sardinian Nuraghi, Apulian Trulli
etc..). Numerous surveys and descriptions of the most
important tholoi monuments exist in literature; however, it
lacks a complete and organized description of constructive
features of tholoi architecture. Also the transition from the
trilithic construction system to the tholos and to the arc is
an understudied topic. With regard to the static behaviour,
there are two theories. The first theory is based on a
“pseudo dome” or “false arc” behaviour: each of stone
slices, which ideally constitutes the dome’s meridian
section, are conceived structurally independent, through the
transmission of only vertical forces. This theory has been
replaced by a more recent one, presented by M.T. Como
during Ravenna’s congress in 2005. Various slices, unable
to sustain by themselves, start to overturn and lean against
each others leading to mutual interaction and producing
horizontal forces. A membrane behaviour of the dome
arises.
2. Steps and used methods
The first step of the study is to collect existing data, survey
and description of tholoi architecture provided by
archaeologists, journeyers of the past and modern scholars.
The indirect observation through the data collected allow to
analyse the origin of tholoi construction system. Corbelled
domes are an evolution of dolmen covered by stone slabs
based on the trilith principle. The transition from the
dolmen with vertical masonry walls, to the dolmen with
corbelled walls, was a natural evolution to decrease the
span of roofing slabs. This step is documented in the
chamber megalithic tombs of Neolithic and late Bronze
age, located in the north of the France (Cairn-Barnenez)
and in Spain (Los Millares, El Romeral, El Vaquero). Some
of these tombs have both constructive techniques: they
have a dromos with corbelled walls and stone slabs as a
cover and a chamber covered by a corbelled dome.
Corbelled technique represents a very long step of
transition from trilithic system to the arc system. the
arrangements of stones into radial courses of an arc allow
to optimize the transmission of forces, producing
compression forces perpendicular to the faces of the blocks.
According to M.T. Como opinion, this step is documented
by the finding of some greek tholoi which have courses of
stone inclined towards the inside. This arrangement
prevents the sliding of the blocks along the courses; the
sliding of blocks, in tholoi with horizontal courses, must be
contrasted by appropriate construction elements. The
stability of tholoi is studied depending on passive or
active resistance principles. The passive resistance
principle is based on the inert weight of masonry mass
which is able to contrast horizontal forces. Differently, the
active resistance principle is based on the mutual
opposition of vaulted roofs, according to the construction
method Roman and Byzantine.
The term "tholos" is used to define a wide range of
different architectures. A classification of tholoi
architectures is made with the aim of improving their
understanding. This classification is not based on
chronological criteria, but is based on principles of
processing (process of removal, process of addition,
process of modelling). Firstly we can distinguish two class
of tholoi: aboveground and underground tholoi. These two
categories can be further divided into subclasses, depending
on construction features. Construction elements in tholoi
aboveground consist of: an internal wall made of corbelled
stones making the dome as a overall envelop; a covering
mound made of earth or rubble. Mound may be external or
as a filling in interspace; in this case there is an external
wall in masonry blocks working as a hoop. Underground
tholoi may be carved into the rock with or without an
internal coating in corbelled stones. Internal wall,
consisting the dome, may be entirely or partially wedged
into the rock, in the lower part. Each construction element
has a necessary role in overall stability. The knowledge of
static behaviour of tholoi lead to comprehension of
characteristics and features of single elements; it is
essential to define the identity of the monument and to
ensure an appropriate preservation. Therefore a deep study
of static behavior is necessary. Once it is clear that a
corbelled dome has a membrane behavior (M.T. Como) and
involves the transmission of horizontal forces, it is
necessary analyse how these actions are contrasted. The
characteristic shape of curvature of the corbelled dome is
necessary to minimize horizontal force. In fact the values of
horizontal forces is maximum in hemispherical domes and
minimum in pointed profiles. The mound filled in
interspaces and the external wall of above ground tholoi
have some tasks: they oppose to the horizontal sliding of
blocks, operate as a counterweight to avoid overturning,
ensure stability through passive resistance. Moreover they
work as a hoop for the dome and ensure a resistance “due
to the shape. Horizontal forces, in underground tholoi, are
contrasted by the reaction of the rock strictly adherent to
the wall, due to the insertion of the dome into the pit. In the
case of partially wedged tholoi, the stability of the upper
part of the dome is gained by mound above. The final step
of research consist in application of the new knowledge
we have acquired to a case of study, to promote a better

understanding of its origin and features. The object of study
are some ruins of an old architecture, called “la Favorita”.
It is placed in south-eastern Sicily, and in the vicinity of
the River Axinaros, the location of a famous battle between
Athenians and Syracuseans in 413 BC., which Tucidide
writes of in his Histories. (Thuc. VII 78-85). Ruins consist
in a central architecture and include part of external walls
of a square building, and the first three rows of rough-cut
corbelled blocks from the dome, resting on internal circular
wall. The space between internal and external walls is filled
of rubble stones. Most archaeologists (Orsi, Agnello,
Trapani-Tomasello) attribute these ruins to a central
building of the Byzantine period with reference to the
Trigone model widespread in the south-eastern Sicily. The
analysis of data collected allow us to assume a new
hypotheses, based on geometric and static features.
Trigone are central buildings, externally squared, with
hemispherical niches in three sides. They are covered by an
hemispherical central dome with penditives as connecting
elements between the inner circular space and the external
square. The Trigona's behaviour is whole based on arc
principle, both in plane and in elevation. The dome is made
by mixed construction techniques: first six rows corbelled
and remaining rows closed by arch. such covering system
produces horizontal forces that are contrasted through
actively contra-load of side semi-domes This is a typical
construction method Roman and Byzantine. The
calculation of stability carried out on the simple pier of a
Trigona, without the contra-load of semi-domes, does not
appear to have been verified. The semi-domes are therefore
crucial for the global stability of this kind of structure.
Differently, the “Favorita” ruins have no elements serving
as contra-load. "Favorita" also is a central building
externally squared with a dome insisting on inner circular
wall; the first rows of dome are corbelled. However, the
connection between the square and the circle does not exist
but there an external squared wall and an internal circular
wall. The ruins do not show any application of the principle
of the arc. There is no arch in any of the internal or external
walls. The vertical section of "Favorita" shows that
basement wall is inclined towards the inside from the
ground and the inclination increases gradually upwards up
to three existing rows of the dome, according to a typical
construction thecniques used in tholoi. Differently
Trigone have a vertical pier; the first corbelled rows,
connecting to the arc, have a steep slope. On the basis of
these observations we formulated an hypothesis of tholos
completion designed according to geometric principles, to
be found in aboveground tholoi (internal height of the
tholos corresponding to the height of the equilateral triangle
calculated within the diagonal section of the base). The
calculation of stability carried out on the hypothesis of
completion with an hemispherical dome, proposed by
archaeologist, does not appear to have been verified
(resultant load external to the core of inertia); on the
contrary, the hypothesis of tholos completion is perfectly
equilibrated (resultant load internal to the core of inertia).
3
3. main research results
Tholoi classification on the basis of principle of processing
allow to individuate constructive elements and their role in
static behavior. A deep knowledge of constructive feature
and static behavior allow to verify the hypothesis of tholos
completion for the ruins of an ancient architecture, located
in the sud-est of Sicily, and called "La Favorita".
Previously, the ruins were attributed by archaeologists to
the trigona model, based on the contrast of vaulted spaces
which are absent in the above ruins and in tholoi
architecture.
4. Bibliografia
G. Agnello, ,”L’Architettura Bizantina in Sicilia”, la
Nuova Italia Editrice, Firenze 1952.
M. Almagro, A. Arribas, “ El Poblado y la Necropolis
Megaliticos de Los Millares ( Santa Fe Mondujar,
Almeria)”, in B.P.H., vol. III, Madrid 1963.
E. Benvenuto e M. Corradi, “La statica delle false
volte”, in ‘Architetture in Pietra a secco’, Atti del 1°
seminario internazionale Architettura in Pietra a secco
Noci- Alberobello, 27 – 30 settembre 1987.
G. Cataldi, “ La capanna di Pietra. Ipotesi evolutive
d’inquadramento sistematico”, in ‘Architetture in Pietra a
secco’, Atti del 1° seminario internazionale Architettura in
Pietra a secco Noci- Alberobello, 27 – 30 settembre 1987 F.
Carrion, “Dolmen de Antequerra, Malaga (Espagna) Analisis
Tecnologico I”, in Congresso di Nantes 2006 su “Tecnologia
de la antigua arquitectura oeste de Europa
M. T. Como, “ Aspetti costruttivi e statici delle tholoi
micenee”, in Seminario Internazionale “Teoria e pratica del
costruire: saperi, strumenti, modelli”, Ravenna 27-29
ottobre 2005, Edizioni Moderna, 2005.
M. Como, “Statica delle costruzioni storiche in
muratura Archi, Volte, Cupole, Architetture Monumentali
Edifici sotto carichi verticali e sotto sisma”, ARACNE
editrice, Roma, 2010
A. Evans, “ Sicily primitive and primaeval”, in “ The
Manchester Guardian”, 25 Aprile 1889
E. Freeman, “ History of Sicily”, Oxford 1892.
L’Helgouac’h (1994); Charles – Tanguy Le Roux et
Yannick Lecerf, “ Le grand cairn de Bernenez – Mausolèe
neolithique”, Monum, Ed. du Patrimoin, Paris, 2003.
G. Lilliu, “La civiltà nuragica della Sardegna”, voce
Mediterranei Occidentali Antichi Centri, EUA,
M. Miosi, “ Le Tholoi d’Italia trulli e capanne in pietra
a secco con copertura a tholos”, ed. di pagina, Bari 2012.
P. Orsi, “ Noto. Rettifica monumentale”, NSA, 1893.
P. Orsi, “Pantelleria”, in Monumenti Antichi dei Lincei,
v. 9, n . 2 (1899 – 1901).
F. Trapani, “ La Favorita presso Noto. Contributo per
lo studio degli edifici a Cupola nella Sicilia sud-orientale”,
Tesi di laurea in Lettere e Filosofia, a.a. 1998-99, relatore
prof. F. Tomasello, Università degli studi di Catania.
 The assessment of the school heritage of the early XX century
from historical research to onsite investigation
Mariella De Finoa
a
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, del Territorio, Edile e di Chimica (DICATECh), Politecnico di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70125,
Bari
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Abstract

The paper is going to discuss assessment methods and technologies for historical buildings - from analysis of historical records
to survey of construction materials and techniques, from mapping of decay patterns to onsite diagnostic investigation - in order
to point out how the integration and correlation of available sources, records and data might address the diagnosis process. In
detail, the paper is going to focus on the school heritage of the early XX century, where the requirement of high safety levels
for so-called relevant structures implies high knowledge levels to guarantee the challenging and desirable balance between
conservation and transformation. © 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Key words: historical school heritage, assessment methods and techniques, onsite diagnostic investigation
PACS: Type your PACS codes here, separated by semicolons ;

according to the well-established criteria of reversibility, low

1. Introduction
According to CRESME data [1], Italy currently counts
about 52.000 school buildings. In terms of construction
characteristics, 67% of those shows mixed stone and
reinforced concrete structure, 15% stone and brick masonry,
14% brick masonry and 2% reinforced concrete and precast
panels structure.
ANCE data [2] also reveals that about 50% of Italian
school buildings was constructed before 1974 and about
30% calls for urgent maintenance in order to guarantee
safety conditions.
Thus, looking at those statistics, the need of suitable
maintenance and retrofitting strategies arises, considering
that the school heritage is classified as:
 “Relevant” by the Italian law on seismic protection
(OCDPC 52/2013), due to the extent and magnitude of
potential danger for users in case of failure.
 “Protected” according to the national code for cultural
and landscape assets (DL 42/2004) for its historical and
architectural value.
Consequently, the assessment process is a crucial
preliminary phase in order to address the following targets:
1) Identifying materials, construction technologies and
techniques, as well as present state of conservation.
2) Defining values to be certainly preserved and
performances to be eventually improved.
3) Bordering the domain, where design solutions meet both
conservation principles and transformation requirements,
intrusiveness and compatibility.
The above-mentioned issues lead goals and
methodologies of the Research Agreement between the
Municipality of Bari and the Polytechnic of Bari
(Department of Civil, Environment, Territory, Building
Engineering and of Chemistry – DICATECh) for “Scientific
and technical support to preliminary investigation for anti-
seismic protection of primary and secondary school
buildings in Bari” (Coordination: Prof. Giambattista De
Tommasi and Prof. Fabio Fatiguso).
In detail, the research, generally focused on the
assessment process toward seismic vulnerability of all the
school built heritage in Bari, is herein presented with specific
attention for buildings of the early XX century. For those
cases, some critical issues might be pointed out:
 Occurrence of several construction phases, eventually
resulting from changes in functional use.
 Presence of mixed structure, with stone walls and iron,
wood either/or reinforced concrete slabs and staircases.
 Limited maintenance, also due to disuse and abandon of
some spaces.
2. Methods and tools
According to the methodology developed and
acknowledged by the scientific community [3] [4] [5] [6],
the research goals are summarized as follows:
 Qualification of the historical fabric, in order to
document thoroughly a phase of the traditional construction
2
practice, in terms of technical and technological solutions,
and to assess the performance behaviour of materials and
construction techniques, additionally as support for further
analysis by simulation models.
 Identification of the state of conservation, in order to
achieve the correct diagnosis of nature and origin of
anomalies and defects and the selection of appropriate
remedies.
It should be underlined that all the assessment aspects are
strictly correlated. Thus, the effort for data integration is
highly desirable. In fact, the qualification of the historical
fabric should follow the path from the original design and
construction all along the following modifications, such as
additions, demolitions, structural reinforcements, damp
treatmens, and functional changes. As a result, the
qualification might support the identification of the state of
conservation, which comes, along with “outer agents”, also
from “inner factors”. Those factors might be design and
construction failures, as well as anomalies throughout the
life cycle, resulting in performance decrease of building
materials and components, low mechanical, physical and
chemical compatibility among construction elements,
unbalanced distribution of loads either/or static schemes,
unsuitable interaction of different environmental and
microclimatic conditions.
Similarly, it is worth point out that all the assessment data
might come from different methods and techniques,
including researches of historical records from archive and
library sources, direct survey of geometry and morphology,
visual inspection of surfaces and related alterations, onsite
destructive and non-destructive testing, as well as analysis
of surrounding structural and environmental conditions.
However, those tools do not always provide with complete
information: available sources might be limited, the building
might be partially inaccessible for direct inspection, and
onsite tests might be not applicable because they interfere
with the structural integrity and stability either/or with the
current functions and ongoing activities. As a result, data
integration is required, not only for the above-mentioned
correlation of assessment aspects, but also for the variety and
complementarity of assessment tools that might be usable
within the specific investigation scenario.
3. Results
With reference to the discussed issues, the paper is going
to focus on the qualification process of the fabric, by means
of several tools, in order to highlight the potential integration
among historical sources, technical records, direct surveys
and experimental results.
Particularly, the assessment concerns herein two cases -
“Scuola Regina Margherita” and “Scuola Principessa di
Piemonte”– that are highly representative of the entire
investigated school heritage in the town of Bari.
The former was a convent in the XVII century, then a
military center in the XIX century and finally a school from
the second half of the XX century. It results from a
composite process of historical, constructional and
functional transformation, showed by the plan arrangement,
the presence of contiguous building structures, and the
variety of bearing structures, including stone masonries and
wooden/concrete slabs, beams and trusses.
Differently, the latter was originally designed as a two-
floor school building in 1929. Then, the third floor was
added in 1955. It is an isolated and symmetrical structure,
featured by stone masonries and iron beam/brick block slabs.
For both buildings, the paper is going to describe and
discuss the assessment procedure that has supported the
selection of onsite investigation methods and techniques
from the analysis of historical and technical documents and,
thus, the interpretation and improvement of those documents
from the elaboration and correlation of experimental data, in
terms of graphical schemes, thematic maps and survey
forms.
Finally, the paper is going to focus upon the non-
destructive technologies – radar scanning, thermography and
video-endoscopy - that have enabled the qualification of
several floor and wall structures, with specific focus on the
operation protocols for selection of investigation areas,
definition of experimental set-up, elaboration and
representation of results.
References
[1] Rapporto Cresme RI.U.SO 03 – Febbraio 2014
[2] Audizione dell’Ance sulla situazione dell’edilizia
scolastica in Italia – Settembre 2013
[3] Vasco Peixoto de Freitas (edited by), 2013, A State-of-
the-Art Report on Building Pathology, CIB W86 Building
Pathology. vol. 393, ISBN: 978-90-6363-082-9.
[4] Miguel Angel Rogerio-Candelera, Massimo Lazzari,
Emilio Cano, 2013, Science and Technology for the
Conservation of Cultural Heritage, CRC Press Book, ISBN
9781138000094.
[5] Vlatko Bosiljkov, Mojmir Uranjek, Roko Žarnić, Violeta
Bokan-Bosiljkov, An integrated diagnostic approach for the
assessment of historic masonry structures, Journal of
Cultural Heritage, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 3, ISSN 1296-
2074.
[6] Anna Anzani, Luiga Binda, Alberto Carpinteri, Stefano
Invernizzi, Guiseppe Lacidogna, 2010, A multilevel
approach for the damage assessment of historic masonry
towers, Journal of Cultural Heritage, Volume 11, Issue 4,
ISSN 1296-2074.
 The construction of the historic theatres in the Sicilian area:
knowledge as a tool for their rehabilitation.
Patrizia Lo Sardoa*
a
Università degli studi di Palermo, Dipartimento di Architettura, sezione Progetto e Costruzione (PEC),
Viale delle Scienze, Palermo 90128, Italia
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

Just a few theatres out of the over one hundred registered in Sicily, keep witnessing the features and widespread diffusion of
Italian-style theatre. As a result of the recent legislation bills, a number of public and private Italian authorities have begun an
intensive recovery, valorization and protection of the theatres architectural heritage, with conflicting proposals regarding the
maintenance interventions. What seems more evident is the limited knowledge of the typical construction systems used to
build a theatre, that requires an accurate and careful investigation campaign for a respectful, conscious and effective recovery.
© 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Keywords: Knowledge, Historic Theatres, Sicily, Conservation, Rehabilitation

*
Tel.: +39 349 7582964; e-mail: patrizia.losardo@gmail.com.
 This research is aimed at the in-depth analysis of the
architecture of historic theatres and focuses on the Sicilian
context. It starts from the census carried out in 1968 by the
Home Office of the Italian Reign. The investigation is
conducted directly on the sites and at local administration
and offices. The research retraces punctually the status of
the examined theatres is punctually retraced and the list of
those built after the census. Moreover, it analyses their
current state of maintenance and use and the occurred
changes. The present study aims at pointing out the theme
of historic theatres, notably for the Sicilian area. Its purpose
is also to specify lines of intervention which allow to
maintain the building organism and its theatrical function,
in order to match the respect of their original features with
the modern standards of comfort and safety.
Between the XVII and the XIX century the theatre was
an important centre of aggregation for social class: in the
Italian area all towns, large or small, were competing to
have their own theatre. From the last decades of the XVIII
century, in Sicily, in peninsular Italy and approximately
everywhere, the historical theatres were mostly realized in
the "Italian style", that means according to a system
essentially characterized by its orders of boxes, but also by
the scenic and state parts.
The current publications about the architecture of
theatres in Sicily mainly relate to the major ones and focus
on their architectural and ornamental features. Few is
known about minor theatres in Sicilian area. This research
aims notably at investigating of these constructions the
typological, distribution and aesthetic characteristics but
also the material and construction ones.
The census carried out by the Home Office of the Italian
Reign in 1868, which this research starts from, reports
around 70 theatres in Sicily. A further, capillary
investigation has shown that in the following decades the
number has considerably increased, up to 160 existing
theatres in the Sicilian area in XX century. Today, the
numbers appear discouraging, because only few of these
constructions still exist and show their original features and
the specific way how a theatre was built: a part of the
surveyed buildings has been turned into cinema, losing
their formal aspect and the original relations among the
parts. Moreover, many theatres does not exist anymore and
for others there is no meaningful documentation. Few are
the examples in which the recovery project could
synthesize the different safety needs of the building and the
renovation, where the new demands and the new
techniques of maintenance of the original structures have
been effectively considered. This issue came up already in
the last decade of the XX century, when the recovery, value
and protection of the theatrical architectural heritage has
begun. However, the excessive confidence in the
technology, but also the inadequate knowledge of the
historical technical solutions, have often brought to
dismantle the constructive culture of the craftsman in the
name of public safety issues. Through the reconnaissance it
has been verified that 38 historic theatres still survive,
almost all maintaining their own original function: a little
number if compared to those existing in the last century,
but still enough to recognize their functional, decorative
and constructive typology.
To date, there are no specific prescriptions which
preserve the peculiar features of historic theatres.
Therefore, the regulations concerning all places of public
show have to be referred to, independently from their
quality and the year of their publication. The referential
legislation is the legislative decree of 19/08/1996, evidently
calibrated on new constructions. The experience gained in
the examination of the numerous Sicilian cases has
strengthened the belief that it is possible to adapt the
historic theatre to modern needs, and thus make it more
"comfortable", without resorting to the habits of the recent
past. It highlights that the in-depth knowledge of these
architectures, of their materials, construction techniques
and evolution, enables a restoration project that preserves
and rehabilitates the forms of the historic theatres while
adapting them to current technologies, to the needs and
requirements of a modern audience.
This research uses an inductive and comparative
methodology, a cognitive process that goes from the
particular to the general: through the observation of several
case studies it identifies and defines some general
principles. At a first step, the state of the art about theatres
has been depicted referring to the Italian context. By means
of historical, bibliographic, archival and iconographic
research concerning the Sicilian theatres, an accurate
knowledge of the theatre system in this territory between
XVII and XIX century has been achieved. This has been
enriched through a widespread campaign of visits, when a
full photographic study, geometrical and material surveys
have been carried out. In this way approximately 160
theatres, realized in the Sicilian area up to the first decades
of the 20th century, have been identified. The single and
comparative analysis of the collected data and the study of
the current national regulations concerning theatres have
allowed to define intervention methods for the recovery and
enhancement of historic theatres. They show that it is
possible to adapt these particular constructions to modern
safety standards without compromising their original
character and their material and technical elements.
References
CORBO, L.; ROSSANO, D. Locali di pubblico spettacolo.
Sicurezza e prevenzione. Giuffrè editore, 1997, Milano.
FATTA, G. Architettura e tecnica nella costruzione del
teatro Massimo V. E. di Palermo. Meccanica dei Materiali
e delle Strutture, n.1 2012, Palermo.
MAZZAMUTO, A. Teatri di Sicilia. S. F. Flaccovio, 1989,
Palermo
ROSMINI, E. La legislazione e la giurisprudenza dei
teatri: trattato dei diritti e delle obbligazioni degli
impresari, artisti, autori, delle direzioni, del pubblico, degli
agenti teatrali, ecc. Manini, 1872, Milano.
 Rehabilitation of modern habitats
Silvia Mocci, Department of Civil, Environmental and Architecture, University of Cagliari,
via Santa Croce 67, Cagliari 09122, Italia*
a
First affiliation, Address, City and Postcode, Country
b
Second affiliation, Address, City and Postcode, Country
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

This research proposes a study of the existing housing situation, with particular reference to the experiences of the immediate post-
war habitat settlement in the contexts of northern Africa - specifically Morocco, Algeria and Latin America.
The research aims to develop a critical-cognitive platform and methodological analysis for the purpose of creating materials useful
for the drawing up of “Manuals for the recovery of modern habitats”, seen as essential tools for the starting of any form of active and
shared redevelopment of this significant part of the current building heritage and copyright.

© 2014MaggioliEditore. All rights reserved

Modern habitat; morphology and habitat type; rehabilitation; manuals recovery

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 0706755365;; e-mail: smocci@unica.it.

1.
This research proposes a study of the existing housing
situation, with particular reference to the experiences of the
immediate post-war habitat settlement in the contexts of
northern Africa - specifically Morocco, Algeria and Latin
America.
Starting from the 1950s, in the full crisis of the Modernist
Movement and straddling the independence of the
European North African colonies, numerous designers that
were either affiliated to or expressly part of the Team Ten
group developed the theme of habitat by placing man, his
specificity, living and the quality of living spaces at the
centre of the discipline’s attention. The relationship
between man and his context was explored in depth, along
with the permanence of the living cultures of the local rural
world and the new trend towards modernity.
The research aims to develop a critical-cognitive platform
and methodological analysis for the purpose of creating
materials useful for the drawing up of “Manuals for the
recovery of modern habitats”, seen as essential tools for the
starting of any form of active and shared redevelopment of
this significant part of the current building heritage and
copyright.
As a matter modern habitats which were originally
peripheral residential systems and separate from the
consolidated historical urban setting, are now to all effects
absorbed and incorporated into the city, whose problems
and extreme urgency mean that a rethinking is necessary, in
terms both of development, inasmuch as they are witness to
an active modern legacy, and also in terms of planning and
sustainable regeneration, always bearing in mind the
aspects of local development and social cohesion.
To achieve this objective, the research develops along two
main strands.
The first looks at the field of knowledge and in-depth
theoretical and documented studies, together with the
history of the techniques in this planning epoch which saw
reflection on the theme of the house reach the highest
levels of investigation; in this context, in-depth research is
considered to be fundamental, whether it be bibliographic
or in terms of public and private archives and the main
sector magazines.
The second strand relates to the field of planning; in fact, as
a basic assumption, it is taken for granted that conservation
is first and foremost a DRAFT of the modifications and the
metamorphosis of these same habitats and that the Manuals
should be the tools through which the transformative
practices should be shared and checked.
These themes will be explored through research carried out
in the field, in the contexts under examination, and
addressed to the gathering, documenting and checking the
state of conservation and transformation of the habitat
conceived as an architectural system, and thus analyzed
according to both a codified approach taking into
consideration the different scales that go from the urban to
the isolated, to the style, and the construction (indispensible
for the classification and documentation of characters in a
comparative format), and from a phenomenological point
of view, through sensitive and critical readings which place
the connection between space and inhabitant, and the
interaction between architecture and society at the centre of
a broader debate.
Finally, the project for the restoration of the modern
habitats, precisely through using the manuals as tools, will
attempt to lay the foundations and starting point for a
reflection on the theme of Energy, an indispensable
environmental and ethical question that research into the
current heritage must compare and deal with every day.
Within the context of a broad view of the experiences of
the modern habitat, certain case studies will be examined,
among the most important and representative – both in
terms of the quality of the projects and for the dynamism of
the modification processes – through which it will be
possible to explore this research process, checking the
methodology along the way.
2. Objectives and expected results
The research has the following as specific objectives from
the point of view of the progress of disciplinary paradigms:
1_ to confirm and strengthen the idea that conservation of
the heritage of the modern habitat should be reshaped
according to new planning qualities; the manuals for
recovery of the modern habitat in this context should on the
one hand create a platform containing knowledge of the
morphological, typological and structural work, on the
other hand offering tools for controlling the continuous
intrinsic and processual identity of the case and its
transformation.
2_to reinforce the themes related to the manuals, where the
manual for recovery should be used as a knowledge-based
operating tool for defining new planning programmes and
intervention guidelines concerning the management of the
modification processes on the different scales (urban,
morpho-typological, technological-constructive), in
accordance with the principles, regulations and techniques
that governed the original designs. In this sense the
manuals assume the role of tools that reaffirm the value of
the modern living heritage, capable of reinforcing and
firmly establishing the sense of belonging and
appropriation of the living places by the community settled
therein.
3_ reinforce the themes of the history of the building and of
the techniques of modern dwelling and the ordinary with
the aim being to be able to analyze relationships and
interaction with traditional architecture. Too often, in fact,
the reductive traditional-modern dichotomy leaves the
strong relationships of coexistence and interdependence
between places, cultures and local materials unexplored,
with constructive contributions and innovations of
modernity, especially in this era known as the Modern
Critical.

4_strengthen the interdependent disciplinary relations
between the history of the modern habitats, history and
techniques of construction, restoration design,
energy/environmental/performance enhancement and
renewal; and thus to strengthen the interdisciplinary
relationships that lie behind an entire settlement, a bearer of
history, of processes but most of all the urgency for new
planning qualities.
The research has specific objectives from the applicatory
point of view:
5_contribute to and increase the area of knowledge relating
to the complete design period of the leading characters in
the Modern Critical movement, which were developed and
tested on the theme of habitats for the masses and the
construction/reconstruction of entire districts in order to
satisfy the needs arising from the sudden urbanization of
the city and the reclamation/redevelopment of
disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
This will allow the creation of a sort of organic "Atlante"
produced and based on the experience of the modern
habitat.
This outline will be reconstructed so as to start with a
bibliographic and archive-based research on the figure of
the designers. In fact, for an in-depth knowledge of design
experience it is thought to be both indispensible and
fundamental to define a context of membership for design
thought starting precisely with the theoretical/professional
training and experience of the designer and the whole team
of co-workers, consultants and draughtsmen. This
reconstruction of the design process through research into
archives and records, (drawings, reports, building site
photos etc)will also lead to a more complete overall view of
the works.
6_draw up the "Manuals for restoration of modern habitats"
through consideration of three emblematic case studies.
3. Methods
In order to reach these objectives the following actions and
methodologies will be applied.
1_Increase knowledge through the creation of an
analytical-documentary platform.
The project anticipates analytical research and studies. In
the first place these will be aimed at identifying the main
players (planners, collaborators, designers, offspring and
family members of the planners), organizations, institutions
involve in the planning, installation and construction side.
From here, documents will be gathered dealing with the
original archive sources, building site documentation
(where possible) and photographic documentation of the
construction phases.
3
The research also allows for the creation of designs and
plastic models as a methodological, cognitive and
explanatory process. The reconstruction, through drawings
and three-dimensional representation in the form of plastic
models of the original state of the architecture of habitats as
evidenced by archival documents and original drawings
will play a key role. It is believed that the contribution of
painstaking design will be able to contribute to enhancing
the value, the quality and significance of meaning which
the designers bring to the project.
The design and re-design using different scales will become
a tool for reading, analysis and comparison; it is expected
that the reconstruction of information sheets dealing with
the fabrics of each settlement and various other elements
which, in turn, starting with the specifics of each project,
will emerge as significant narratives of urban and morpho-
typological themes (density, polarity, paths, degrees of
hierarchy of spaces, etc.).
The project also allows for the creation of:
- typological schedules, aimed at restoring the great
exploration and research of the type that the designers of
Modern Critical fielded as a response to the rigour and
rational fundamentalism of the dogmatic settings of the first
three decades of the twentieth century. The relational bonds
and descendants of traditional historical architecture will be
looked at in historical/comparative terms with regard to the
typological scale.
- information charts dealing with the complete overall
construction and its individual characteristics, able on the
one hand to cast light on the original characters through
detailed designs and cutaway drawings, and on the other
hand the intersections with materials and buildings
techniques, accretions and all the other added sections that
are often incomprehensible from either a technological or
material point of view.
- modification charts aimed at identifying and classifying
the transformative processes on an urban, typological and
constructive scale. This phase of the project will be carried
out through studies and field work.
2_Create the Research Network RMH.
The research plans for the creation of a dynamic and
interactive database for the gathering of all material and
results (publications, references, sites, sources). This data
bank, accessible through a dedicated portal, will serve a
variety of demands: to spread and promote the circulation
of materials and data, train and catalyze students, scholars
and researchers in the field.
 Extending BIM to architectural heritage
Stefano Cursia*
a
Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, Rome - 00184, Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

In Built Cultural Heritage field the activities concerning the conservation process rely on the accuracy of artifacts knowledge
representation. The different actors choose their strategies for intervention on the basis of “what is known” of the object, and
any lack of knowledge or inconsistence can lead to errors and even irreparable damages. The research proposed in this
abstract aims at extending the BIM approach to the built heritage field, providing a modeling environment able to effectively
support knowledge representation and management for historical/archaeological architecture.

© 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Keywords: BIM; Built heritage; Ontology-based systems; Archaeological investigation; Knowledge management.

the creation and use of coordinated, internally consistent

1. Introduction/State of the art
Usually the AEC Industry is focusing on new buildings
without paying attention to the cultural built heritage. To
date, the need to restore existing buildings, with the help of
“smart models”, is an essential research field, especially in
Italy. Differently from the construction industry, where all
the parts of the building are ideated and modeled very
clearly, in built heritage area the building object is a
“blurred-outlined knowledge domain” that can be only
partially enriched in terms of semantics by means of a
process of investigation and interpretation.
In order to gain a reliable and accurate understanding of
artifact, a large amount of knowledge related to different
contexts (social, historical, geographical and technological,
just to mention a few) is needed; at present, this knowledge
is “virtually” available, but practically inaccessible since it
is spread among different disciplines and restricted to
several not-integrated “knowledge islands”.
Even the introduction of digital technologies to the built
heritage field has left this problem unsolved. Several
professionals and academic studies on point clouds
translation into 3D models, have been undertaken in
building digital reconstruction field (Früh, Jain and Zakhor,
2005; Arayici, 2008). However, point clouds, although
integrated with different heritage documentation databases,
are not structured entities, since they are recorded without
topology or semantic discretization. A powerful structured
development of the concept of semantic 3D modeling is the
Building information modeling (BIM). BIM is a building
design and documentation methodology characterized by
computable information about a building project in design
and construction.
For these reasons moving toward the BIM process and
paradigm would represent a significant step for opening
considerable possibilities in Cultural Heritage
documentation, intervention and management activities. In
fact, while the purpose of a 3D model is limited to a
geometrical visualization, a BIM representation contains all
the data associated to the elements that make up the
artifact, with the result of an instrument which can allow
different kinds of reasoning.
In spite of the apparent disinterest, BIM in heritage
conservation field is not without past experiences. Some
authors (Penttila et al., 2007) provided a case study that
evaluates utilization of BIM for the retrofit of historical
buildings by means of an “inventory model” as database
about both past and present of an existing building
condition. Nevertheless, these experiments have been
focusing more on database creation and extension rather
than considering BIM as documentation hub to support and
enhance specialists’ activities and collaboration.
The main limitation in reaching an effective
representation of the historical artifact is the limited amount
and level of semantics that can be attributed to the objects
also by means of current BIM platforms: the description of
their characteristics through the use of a list of properties
has, in fact, generated information which is often redundant
or overly simplified inside many separate slots,
highlighting the inability of such data models to represent
logical associations among entities with other sections of
data relevant to different disciplines. This aspect clashes
with the requirement that, as stated before, the information
2
related to the cultural heritage have, by nature, a strong
need for correlation in order to fully express their true
worth.
2. Methodology - BIM and the investigation process
Such considerations lead to a possible solution in a
modelling approach that meets the different needs listed
above, which plays a fundamental role in the semantics of
objects. At present, ontology-based systems allow the
representation of built heritage entities not only through the
description of their properties, but also by formalizing the
relations that exist between them, focusing both on the
meaning of the concepts and on the nature of the domain of
study (Di Mascio et al., 2013). Based on this, we propose a
BIM model integrated with a knowledge base, developed
by means of ontologies, in order to include a sufficiently
accurate and computable formalization of the knowledge
related to the artifact and its components, and to expand
current BIM abilities of inferences and rules-based
reasoning on this knowledge structure.
The first logical step in the process of investigation of
an artifact is the discretization and the identification of its
different components, as well as the collection of all the
data that can be derived from the field investigation. In the
proposed model, this stage is supported mainly by the BIM
environment (developed by using Autodesk Revit), which
allows the creation of classes of artifact entities and the
formalization of all the knowledge that can be derived by
the investigation (that we defined as SKB- Survey
Knowledge Base). In this phase, even discretized but not
identified objects can be represented on the model by using
already developed specific empty classes templates.
After the introduction in the model of entities and the
knowledge derived by the survey, the actual process of
interpretation and knowledge enrichment occurs. In the
interpretative phase, each entity (or system of entities) is
connected with the vast amount of knowledge that cannot
be directly derived from the object, but that has already
been available (for instance by way of previous experience,
similar cases and artifacts, manuals, etc.) and conveniently
formalized. This is what we defined as IKB-Independent
Knowledge Base and it is effectively represented in the
ontology-based part of the model (develop by means of the
ontology editor Protégé). In this ontology environment,
inference rules can be computed to add meanings and
properties to the entities of the artifact, increasing its
definition accuracy and helping to recognize those
classes/elements that cannot be identified simply through
SKB. For instance, once a piece of a column has been
identified and represented in the BIM model, the
knowledge base and the execution of some reference rules
allow the addition of useful semantics related to its
architectural order, its possible historical period and
possible position or other columns, etc. This is very useful
in archaeological heritage field since many layers usually
overlap, many elements are re-used with different functions
over time and several interpretation inconsistences can
emerge. The connection between BIM and the ontology-
based database (developed by means of Revit DBLink) also
allows different specialists to access and filter the
information needed by means of usual BIM collaboration
tools, and makes them aware of possible incoherent
interpretations of the same object.
In order to be calibrated and to test its reliability and its
effectiveness in the practice of Built Heritage investigation,
the proposed model is currently being applied the Roman
archaeological heritage: the “Dioscuri” temple in Cori
(Italy).
3. Conclusions/Expected results
In this abstract, we propose a knowledge model aimed
at extending the BIM approach to represent built heritage
artifacts in order to support the investigation process,
interpretation and information management. In fact, its
structure, developed by integrating a BIM environment
with an ontology-based system, allows accurate
representation and effective integration of all the
knowledge related to the artifact, either gained from the
archaeological survey or inferred by other knowledge areas.
The current experiments have shown the potentialities of
the proposed model, and its ability to support the
management of the information collected, modeled, used
and shared by the different actors. It improves availability
and accessibility of all the knowledge related to a historical
artifact, making easier to interpret its nature, monitor its
changes and document each investigation and intervention
activity. As a consequence, more aware decisions will be
made by relying on the knowledge formalized in the
proposed model, supporting the identification of the
inconsistent information, the scheduling of intervention
activities and the planning of routine management and
maintenance.
4. References
Kalay, Y.E., Kvan, T. and Affleck, J. (eds): 2007, New
Heritage – New Media and Cultural Heritage, Routledge-
Taylor & Francis Group, London & New York.
Volk, R., Stengel J. and Schultmann, F.: 2014,
“Building Information Modeling (BIM) for existing
buildings — Literature review and future needs”, in
Automation in Construction, Vol 38, March 2014, pp. 109-
127.
*
Corresponding author . Tel.: +39-3337650063; e-
mail: stefano.cursi@uniroma1.it.
 Urban disaster resilience. The role of built heritage in historical
Italian towns.
Alessandro D’Amicoa*
a
University of Rome “Sapienza'', DICEA - Department of civil, building and environmental engineerin, Via Eudossiana 18, Rome 00184, Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

The concept of Resilience is now closely related to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). The built heritage plays an increasingly
important role in the definition and implementation of urban resilience to disasters. In particular, historical Italian towns
represent a significant example of urban organism, evolved and adapted itself a result of the seismic history of the country,
which has characterized morphologies, typologies and masonry construction techniques. The objective of the research is to
provide a proposal for preventive strategies for the post-crisis reconstruction, aimed to the implementation of urban resilience.

© 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Keywords: urban resilience; built heritage; urban vulnerability; disaster reduction; resilient urban structure.

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-06-44585384; e-mail: alessandro.damico@uniroma1.it

1. Introduction
Every year Italy is affected by a large number of natural
disasters, significant both in quantity and in variety of types
of events recorded. Specifically, Italy is one of the most
earthquake-prone countries in the Mediterranean area. The
close correlation among the seismic history of our country
2. State of art
The word resilience owes its derivation to the Latin
word “resiliere”, which literally means to “bounce back”.
Starting from the introduction of resilience to the
scientific world, by Holling in 1973, the concept has been
developed following generally independent paths in
disciplines like ecology, psychology, economy and physics.
From the literature emerges that in the engineering vision,
the resilience of a city or a metropolitan area depends on
the capability of all the physical components of the system,
including buildings and transportation infrastructures, to
absorb the damages due to an external shock and to quickly
restore their state before the shock (Bruneau et al., 2003;
Reed et al., 2009) and focusing on the time of return to a
global equilibrium following a disturbance (Gunderson et
al, 2002). This may seem slightly divergent from the
ecosystem approach, in which the focus is the capability of
the whole urban system as a complex system. This is
usually much more articulate than the algebraic sum of the
performances of its single components (Holling, 1996).
Nowadays the term “resilience” is widely associated
with disaster risk reduction, consequently to the United
Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction -
Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015”. The UNISDR
(2011) defines resilience as “the capacity of a system,
community or society potentially exposed to hazards to
adapt, by resisting or changing in order to reach and
maintain an acceptable level of functioning and structure.”
The assessment of the problem of implementing urban
resilience thus passes through diverse components, whether
social, economic or technical/structural ones, regarding in
particular the built environment when defying urban
resilience (ICOMOS/ICORP, 2013). The built environment
is characterized by protective features, which can represent
an important element to reduce the disaster risk. On the
contrary, the corruption of these features, such as the loss
of strategic buildings or infrastructure, can increase a
community’s vulnerability (Haigh, Amaratunga, 2010).
Despite an increasing number of academic studies
concerning the role of built environment in defining and
improving cities resilience, their major attention is still
focused on street patterns, transportation networks and
lifelines infrastructures. Undoubtedly, the efficiency of an
urban structure depends on the infrastructure network and
and the evolution of masonry constructive technique,
typologies and morphologies in the historic Italian city
(Ar.Tec. 2009), can be an important point in the analysis
and definition of urban resilience, particularly regarding the
role of the built environment. The typological processes of
growth of these cities are elements that can contribute to
the development of resilient urban planning, and which can
lead the research towards new elements of urban analysis.
services, which in turn are closely related to the properties
of street pattern. However, it should be underlined that it is
not possible to reduce the complexity of an urban system to
the analysis of street network alone, without losing the
richness of the system itself that is the outcome of intricate
processes of growth and development both in the
technological and social aspects (D’Amico, Currà, 2014).
The case of Italy and its built heritage is exemplary in
this matter, because the existing relations between the
elements of the urban system, and can be an important
point in the analysis and definition of urban resilience,
particularly regarding the role of the built environment. In
the last decade, it is possible to witness a change in Italy
regarding the level of attention given to vulnerability
reduction, moving from the building dimension to the
urban scale (D’Amico, 2014). The concept is very
important in terms of increasing urban resilience to
disasters. However there are still no explicit references in
formal documents produced by Italian authorities. In
particular, a document of national relevance developed by
the "Consiglio Superiore dei Lavori Pubblici”, raises some
important methodological issues to be addressed. Equally
important are some experimentation in regional laws,
among these are to be counted the Regional Law LR
11/2005 of the Umbria and the LR 16/2012 of the Emilia-
Romagna, both enacted following the earthquakes that
affected the respective areas.
3. Objective and Methodology
The objective of the research is to provide a proposal for
preventive strategies for the post-crisis reconstruction,
aimed to the implementation of urban resilience. The
definition of the methodology takes primary importance in
order to focus an efficient and effective management of
available resources; thus implementing the transition from
a tactical approach, aimed at the immediate reaction to the
event, to a strategic one, focused on the long-term
management.
The definition of a methodological approach has
allowed the identification of the main elements for
assessing urban vulnerability of historical towns. These
elements are the result of the critical reading of the
literature and policies related to the seismic vulnerability in
areas of heritage values and can be summarized in a series
of steps:

 the analysis of the evolution of historical settlements;
 the identification of portions of the historical settlement
with the greater seismic risk;
 the critical survey of “aggregates” in urban fabric;
 the vulnerability assessment of urban fabric;
 the cognitive synthesis.
By measuring the damage as the decay of performance
level of urban functional systems, to reduce it in advance,
the aim has to be the reduction of vulnerability. In order to
shorten the time to return to the situation preceding the
disaster is necessary to increase the resilience (Cremonini,
Balzani, 1994).
To proceed with scientific rigor, the analysis of the
urban fabric will be made starting from the cadastral and
technical representations, for the comparison of the
available cartography. This first analysis must be
accompanied by site visits to confirm and/or clarify
situations highlighted as dubious. This identification is
mainly aimed to the organization of the subsequent analysis
of vulnerability of buildings sample, representing the
recurring types in the urban fabric. This step in the
proposed methodology is linked to the study of the seismic
history of the site analyzed. It is possible to identify in this
way the strong earthquakes that have struck the area of
interest and, through the historical sources and archives, to
highlight the building and urban transformation as a result
of the event.
The detailed examination extended to the aggregate
scale, and then to the urban fabric of the historic city, must
be done by the so-called "critical survey".
From this step it is possible to obtain semi-quantitative
and qualitative data regarding the vulnerability of the
aggregates, by the use of typological models of evaluation
that take into account basically two categories of
parameters: typological parameters (eg. relationships with
the land morphology, planimetric regularity, elevation
regularity, etc.) and construction parameters (masonry
quality, state of preservation, etc.), providing a relative
index of vulnerability. These results will be the basis for
the analysis of the collapse mechanisms at the scale of
aggregate to be evaluated in detail (eg. out of plane
mechanisms and mechanisms in the plan).
The assumption that it is impossible to define criteria
and techniques of intervention is implicit, except on the
basis of objective needs emerging from the built
environment under consideration and respecting the
original architectural, historical and constructive values.
4. Results
The case studies on which we are applying the research
were selected on the basis of significant consistency of the
historical built heritage and for belonging to relatively
seismically active areas. It was decided to operate on San
Gemini, Umbria and Rieti, Lazio.
3
The analysis of the evolution of urban structure allows
us to assess the stages of transformation of the city, with
relative timeframes, to guide the reconstruction of the
succession of configurations. The summary document
produced by this part of the work is the “Map of the age of
the built heritage”, which shows the relative dating of the
architectural heritage, highlighting homogeneous cores in
the urban fabric.
Having a critical interpretation of the configuration of
the built urban heritage, at each historical and construction
stage, is important to recognize information that may be
relevant to highlight forms of vulnerability otherwise not
detectable. Examples of these forms are the elements of
occlusion, mergers and advances of built fronts.
The deepening study at the scale of the aggregate and of
structural units led to the identification of representative
models of the behavior and seismic vulnerability of the
current conformation of the historic settlement. The initial
profiling of these elements permits to create maps for
identifying elements of vulnerability in urban scale, which
will be the subject of more detailed analysis of
vulnerability and the base to elaborate damage scenario to
improve the preventive planning with quantitative datas.
From this development, the purpose is to proceed to the
examination of the elements that allow an increase of the
urban infrastructure resilience. If reducing the vulnerability
of the historic built heritage allows to increase the
robustness of the system, by analyzing the urban structure
as a whole it would be possible to act on other
characteristics of urban resilience, such as redundancy and
resourcefulness, with the goal of making the historic fabric
diffusely more resilient.
References
Ar.Tec. (Association), Fiandaca, O., Lione, R., 2009. Il sisma:
ricordare, prevenire, progettare : [1908-2009]. Alinea,
Firenze, pp. 616.
Cremonini, I., Balzani, M., 1994. Rischio sismico e pianificazione
dei centri storici. Firenze. Alinea.
D’Amico, A., 2014, “Urban Resilience and Urban Structure.
Vulnerability assessment of historical Italian towns.” in
Proceedings of ANDROID Residential Doctoral School..
D’Amico, A., Currà, E., 2014, “The role of urban built heritage in
qualify and quantify resilience. Specific issues in
Mediterranean city.” in Procedia Economics and Finance.
Haigh, R., Amaratunga, D., 2010. An integrative review of the
built environment discipline’s role in the development of
society’s resilience to disasters. International Journal of
Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment 1, 11–24.
ICOMOS/ICORP, 2013. Heritage and Resilience Book for
GP2013 Disaster Management, in: Heritage and Resilience:
Issues and Opportunities for Reducing Disaster Risks.
Geneva, Switzerland.
UNISDR 2011. Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk
Reduction. UNISDR Practical Action 2012, Geneva.
 Traditional iron building elements in Etna territory: front doors
and railings
Alessandro Lo Faroa
a
University of Catania, DICAR, via S. Sofia 64, Catania 95123, Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Abstract

In the study of traditional construction equipment the building elements in iron are generally present little if neglected at all.
In the historical centres, also in eastern Sicily, you can see the widespread presence of iron works such as railings, front doors,
shelters. The documentation of their geometrical and constructive aspects, therefore, becomes an important factor for the
preservation of the urban image. The analysis here conducted on the ironworks, in western Sicly, has been done to identify
their formal and constructive aspects and define their mensiochronological parameters.
© 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Keywords: conservation, built heritage, wrought iron, frames ;

PACS: Type your PACS codes here, separated by semicolons ;

Introduction emphasizing Italy's dependence on the products of other

In the study of traditional construction equipment, whether
it refers to the refurbishment manual of the historical centre
(Rome, Palermo, Citta di Castello, etc.) and the regional
inventories (refurbishment manual of the Sardinia region,
etc.), the building elements in iron are usually present little
if neglected at all. An exception is the manual of the
Abruzzo region which devotes a good part of the 2nd
volume.
Studies currently available in the Italian scenario focused
on the artistic elements of wrought iron and the so-called
"iron architecture", ie large covers, railways stations,
market halls, bridges, etc. Other studies focus their
attention on the decay and conservation of metal art works,
but this subject pertaining to the materials chemistry and
metallurgy.
In the European scenario, you can find numerous books and
catalogs of iron works in French (serrurerie, ferronerie)
and in English. These publications are among the second
half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth, and find
their justification in the rapid development of the steel
industry that emerged from the workshop of the blacksmith
artisan, to become more and more industrial product. The
Italian post unification situation, with an still largely
agricultural economy, motivates the need to broaden the
scope of the research also to the realities beyond the Alps,
because of the cultural debt of leading industrialized
countries, especially French speaking. In addition, the raw
material was almost exclusively imported from abroad
(Sweden, Russia, Germany) and came in the form of raw
bars, called verghe, or semi-finished, or profiles,
European countries.
In the historical centres, also in eastern Sicily, you can see
the widespread presence of iron works such as railings,
front doors, shelters; they are the main features of the
building facades and participate with plaster and stone
equipment to the perception of the genius loci. The
documentation of their geometrical and constructive
aspects, therefore, becomes an important factor for the
preservation of the urban image.
Phases, methods and materials
The works in iron forge up a wide repertoire that can be
synthesized by retaining elements (chains, brackets and
bolts), connection (nails and ankles), shelter (gates,
balustrades, railings, grates) and closing (devices locking
and handling of the doors). These categories should be
added to the iron doorway, an element of which we would
concentrate in the present study.
The analysis here conducted on the ironworks has been
studied to identify their formal and constructive aspects and
define their mensiochronological parameters.
The research, conducted with the supervision of prof. A.
Salemi, was based on the review of the literature sources
and archival which was followed by a campaign of direct
survey of the selected elements according to their
construction typology.
For the eighteenth century in the absence of written rules,
due to the mode of transmission of technical knowledge,
reference was made to the archival sources and focus on the
job accounting. The nineteenth-century sources instead
2
document a range of manufacturing solutions far more
widely through textbooks, treatises, specifications, price
lists and numerous archival documents, mainly relating to
public buildings.
This study, at first, covered the grates and protective
moving equipment, or the gates. Here we would like to
delve into the metal frames, according to a local declination
very little recurring in other parts of Italy: the iron front
doors. They have become popular since 1880 and their use
has been documented here until 1930, relative to the city of
Catania.
The methodology included a brief filing of quite 25 doors
based on their relevance and place in the historic centre of
the city. The filing has allowed the emergence of some
recurring elements (metal profiles used, type of connection
between the parties) and certain specific features. We then
proceeded to the survey of constructive details (vertical and
horizontal section 1:20, junctions 1:2/ 1:5).
Results
The presence of foundries and companies for metal
structures that worked in the territory of Catania (Sapienza
firm, Paradiso firm, etc.) justifies the spread of this type of
frames. Even the training of young people was consistent
with a specific request of the local market: in fact, in the
school of art and crafts existed apprenticeship courses for
locksmiths.
The great variety of forms can be obtained at the mill and
the distribution of iron and shaped ornaments made that the
work of the blacksmith is often resolved in the simple
assembly of parts to be connected by Labour forging (hot
or fire unions) or nails (work in cold or over the counter).
Moreover the sheets and shaped elements were sold already
provided with holes, obtained by drilling or punching.
The iron front doors, found in many formal solutions, tend
to replicate the most common wooden doors, it takes over
most cases the shapes of the opening face. The above is not
true for the closing face that most of the times has no
coating, and then demonstrates the true nature of the frame,
and also allowing the reading of the main resistant and
secondary elements. The active leaf of these front doors are
formed by a main frame, composed of equal angle and C
section (typically of 50x50x5 mm). The frame is divided
into fields by means of stiffening crosspieces even smaller
section (equal angle profiles and T bar from 40x40mm).
The panels are formed by 5 mm metal sheet of iron, or their
overlaps riveted or lap welded. The panels are softened by
frames of various sizes, obtained with iron shaped bars.
The rotation is almost always in balance, due to the
heaviness of the shutter, which is often a welded round tube
profile, inside which rotates the metal pin.
There were some recurring defects, such as the high weight
that makes it difficult to move and deform the bottom rail
often repaired inconsistently. The panels and metal profiles
are often heavily oxidized. The oxidation of but welds and
riveted unions makes these frames more sensitive to the
disconnection of the constituent parts. Compared to wood
frames, they are more sensitive to the variation of the size
as the temperature varies.
We are studying proposals for repair, consistent with the
original material.
Conclusion
The ongoing research investigates the use of iron in the
facades of the buildings belonging to the traditional
territory of Etna. Here we would like to present the results
of the first studies on iron front doors. They represent a
specific character recurring in buildings that have been
constructed in the late nineteenth century. The
technological solutions adopted to realize them place the
iron gates in a middle position between the high quality
craftsmanship and industrial production. The study of these
building elements and the understanding of performance
encountered inefficiencies, are a necessary prerequisite to
the proposal for the intervention that will be directed
towards their conservation rather than a replacement often
approximate.
References
Fairbairn W., On the application of cast and wrought iron
to building purposes, Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts
and Green, London, 1864
Liger F., La ferronnerie ancienne et moderne, vol. I e II,
Paris, 1873
Winthrop Kent W., Architectural wrought iron ancient and
modern, W.M.T. Comstock, New York, 1888.
Denfer J., Charpentiere metallique, menuiserie en fer e
serrurerie, in Encyclopèdie des travaux publics,
Architecture e constructons civiles, Tome II, Gauthier
Villars et fils, Paris, 1894
Aucamus E., Menuiserie. Serrurerie, plomberie, peinture et
vitrerie, P. Vicq Dunod et C. Editeurs, Paris, 1898
Raccolta di lavori in ferro in stile moderno, vol I e II,
Crudo e Lattuada, Torino, [19..]
Havard H., La serrurerie, Librairie Delagrave, Paris, 1921
Recueil de ferronnerie ancienne e moderne, in Recueil de
documents d’art decoratif, Librairie d’art industriel Ch.
Moreau, Paris, 1929
Zimelli U., Vergerio G., Il ferro battuto, Fratelli Fabbri
editori, 1966
Fatta G., Ruggieri Tricoli M.C., Palermo nell'età del ferro.
Architettura, tecnica, rinnovamento, Edizioni Giada,
Palermo, 1983.
Marabelli M., Conservazione e restauro dei metalli d'arte,
Edizioni dell'Accademia dei Lincei, Roma, 1995.
Catalogo della Premiata Fonderia in Ferro Arena e
Esposito, Napoli 1896, ristampa anastatica 2003.
Atlante delle tecniche costruttive tradizionali, atti del I e
del II seminario nazionale, Arti tipografiche, Napoli, 2003
 3

Roffo S., Il ferro battuto, Libritalia, Perugia, 2003

Ranellucci S. (a cura di), Manuale del recupero della
regione Abruzzo, vol II Serramenti, infissi ed opere in ferro,
DEI, Roma, 2004
Pezzati S., L'arte del ferro battuto. Storia e tecniche di
lavorazione, Edifir, Firenze, 2006
Mattone M., Ferro e architettura. L'uso del ferro e della
ghisa in territorio piemontese, Celid, Torino, 2007
Santagati F.M.C., Arti e mestieri. Una scuola artistico-
professionale a Catania fra Otto e Novecento, Bonanno
editore, Acireale, 2010
Lo Faro A., Salemi A., Wrought iron works in eastern
Sicily between XVIII and XIX century: construction and
conservation, in Biscontin G, Driussi G. (a cura di), La
conservazione del patrimonio architettonico all'aperto,
Venezia, edizioni Arcadia ricerche, 2012.
 The courtyards restoration in the "compact city": the case study of
the Ensanche in Barcelona
Andrea Tulisia*
a
Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Dipartimento di Architettura e Disegno industriale "Luigi Vanvitelli", Via San Lorenzo - Abazia di
San Lorenzo, Aversa (CE) 8103, Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

The here presented research is developed on the following main topics : 1) The dialogue between enclosed spaces and open
spaces in the "compact city"; 2) The social and environmental role of the transition spaces; 3) The courtyards as "lymphatic
system" in the urban fabric; 4) The multiscale approach on the analysis of the physical and morphological characteristic of the
courtyard system in a Barcelona district; 5) The use of thermal and acoustic simulation softwares, for the investigation of the
courtyards physical potential.

© 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Keywords: Urban Regeneration; In-between spaces; Spaces heritage; Courtyard physical and social potencial

*
Tel.: +39-339-6951286; e-mail: andrea.tulisi@unina.it.
1. Stato dell'arte
The increasingly urban sprawl of 20th century caused
a lot of strong territorial transformations, leading
cities’ development towards shapes without a proper
identity , and then dissolved in a huge suburbia, those
affecting the entire ecosystem in terms of
environmental sustainability.
From such preconditions are rising a lot of fields of
research that examine the relation between urban
shape and social-environmental issues, increasingly
interested to the “compact city” model, in which the
strait dialogue between enclosed spaces and open
spaces and their mutual influence becomes the
framework of contemporary urban design.
In this dialogue between physical entities is
particularly interesting the study of the transitional
spaces, like courtyards, which represent a link
between buildings and the urban context, private and
public spaces, artifice and nature. Is not a case that in
building tradition of many regions of the planet the
courtyard typology properly calibrated, and cleverly
integrated with technological measures (shields, use
of 'water, ventilation control and so on.), was
developed as response to the climate control.
Thanks to technological advances in the energy
assessment field, during the last three decades a
specific research field grew up around the theme of
the relationship between urban form and energetic
performance; some of those studies analyze the
environmental potential of courtyard typology in
urban areas, starting from quantifiable parameters,
such as the built potential (ratio of the floor area of
the built form to the site area) and the availability of
daylight.
2. Obiettivi
This study aimed to examine how such spaces, still
present in the urban fabric of several cities, but often
altered in form and devoid of any function, can be a
resource both environmental and social in the
regeneration process of the contemporary city,
according to the model of the compact city.
The hypothesis advanced in this research is that the
courtyards can reconfigure themselves as nodes of a
"lymphatic system" supporting the circulatory one
made by roads and public open space. In this view,
the courtyards become part of a more complex
relationship with urban spaces, filling the deficiencies
of the whole system and thus affecting the
development dynamics of the city.
3. Metodologia e articolazione della ricerca
The verification of this hypothesis was carried out
through a field survey on the case study of Ensanche,
a district of Barcelona.
It represent a case of particular interest because the
recovery of the courtyards as public spaces has been
the engine of the regeneration of an entire
neighborhood, mainly in terms of equal accessibility
to social services and open spaces.
The case study has contributed to the creation of a
survey methodology for the identification of specific
potentiality of the courtyards in relation to the urban
context in which they are located.
In Ensanche district of Barcelona, this relationship
has been investigated with a multiscale approach
through the analysis of the physical and
morphological characteristic of the courtyards and
their relationship with other elements of the urban
fabric in terms of connections, accessibility and open
spaces systems. The study of 27 case studies was
carried out through three levels of analysis - relations
with the urban landscape, interactions with the
surrounding adjacent spaces and the articulation of
the internal functions, using different indicators.
A further study was conducted at the scale of a single
courtyard; through the use of thermal and acoustic
simulation softwares, and detection tools( such as the
sound level meter), an investigation have been
performed on the incidence and distribution of solar
radiation and on the "courtyard soundscape", in order
to better understand the physical and perceptive
potential of these spaces.
4. Risultati
The analyzes carried out on the functioning of the
courtyards of this district of Barcelona have shown
that this new "lymphatic system" actually integrate
the needs (such as peace, shelter, relationship, rest,
discovery etc) that the 'circulatory system' fails to
return. The field survey carried out showed that the
rigid curtain of isolates were transformed into porous
membranes thus affecting deeply in a reintegration
process of this forgotten spaces in the urban fabric
and at same time enriching with new perceptive and
environmental elements the entire urban landscape of

the neighborhood. This study has brought to the
identification of the main features and technological
design solutions of courtyards, defining the overall
characteristics of this new kind of public space. The
acoustic dimension, in particular, has suggested a
measure of the quality of the courtyards, especially
when compared with the perception of the
surrounding urban spaces.
5. Bibliografia
- BERGHAUSER PONT M., HAUPT P.,
Spacematrix: Space, Density and Urban Form, Nai
Publishers, 2010.
- CURRELI A., COCH ROURA H., Solar access in
densely built urban environments. Formal parameters
and comparative methodology in the case of
Barcelona, Spain, proceedings of PLEA 2011 - 27th
Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture,
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 13-15 July 2011.
- FANGER P.O., Thermal Comfort, McGraw Hill,
New York, 1970.
- GIVONI B., Climate considerations in building and
Urban Design, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York,
1998.
- EDWARDS B., Courtyard housing: past, present
and future, Taylor & Francis, 2006.
- KONG J., Urban Sound Environment, CRC Press,
2006.
- MARCH L., TRACE M., The Land-use
Performances of Selected Arraysof Built Forms,
L.U.B.F.S. Working Paper No. 2, 1968.
- MARTIN L., MARCH L., Urban Space and
Structures, Cambridge University Press, UK, 1972.
- MUHAISEN A.S., Shading simulation of the
courtyard form in different climatic regions, in:
Building and Environment n.41, pag. 1731-1741,
Elsevier, 2006.
- NIKOLOPOULOU M., LYKOUDIS S., KIKIRA
M, Modelli di comfort termico per gli spazi aperti,
nel'ambito del progetto RUROS - Rediscovering the
Urban Realm and Open Spaces, coordinato dal
CRES, Buildings Department, 1998-2002.
3
- PAZOS ORTEGA T., Los espacios recobrados para
uso público en los patios interiores de manzana del
eixample. Hacer de la necesidad virtud, proyecto de
tesis, UPC, Barcelona, 2012.
- RATTI C., RAYDAN D., STEEMERS K.: Building
form and environmental performance: archetypes,
analysis and an arid climate, In: Energy and
Buildings 35, 2003.
- REYNOLDS J.S. Courtyards. Aesthetic, social, and
thermal delight, John Wiley & Sons, New York,
2002.
- SCHAFER RM., The Tuning of the World
(Soundscape), Knopf, 1977.
- SCUDO G., Il confort ambientale negli spazi aperti,
Edicom Edizioni, Monfalcone, 2005.
- SERRA R., COCH H., L'energia nel progetto di
architettura, trad. di Gianni Scudo e Alessandro
Rogora, Città Studi, Milano, 2001.
- STEEMERS K., BAKER N., CROWTHER D.,
DUBIEL J.,. NIKOLOPOULOU M.H,. RATTI
C., City texture and microclimate, Urban Design
Studies 3, 1997.
- WONG N., JUSUF S., SYAFII N., Evaluation of
the impact of the surrounding urban morphology on
the building energy consumption of a building,
PALENC 2010 3rd International Conference, Passive
& Low Energy Cooling for the Build Environment,
Rhodes,
2010.
 “Historic ports of Apulia: methodologies for risk analysis and
innovative instruments for the conservation and enhancement"

Antonello Martino a*
a
Department of Civil, Environmental, Territory and Building Engineering and of Chemistry – Polytechnic of Bari, Via Orabona n.4, Bari,
70125, Italy
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Abstract
The preservation and management of historic maritime heritage have become critical, due to the interference of industrial,
commercial and logistic activities, which represent a high risk factor. The paper is going to describe and discuss methodologies
and results achieved in the study of historic ports of Apulia, proposing an additional level of research that leads, on the one
hand, to the definition of a methodology for risk analysis and, on the other hand, to the identification of guidelines and innovative
instruments for monitoring, preservation and enhancement of built heritage. © 2014 Maggioli Editore. All rights reserved

Keywords: historic ports; risk analysis;Building Information Modeling;

PACS: Type your PACS codes here, separated by semicolons ;

Introduction the port areas, as well as the preservation of built heritage

The historic ports have developed commercial, productive
and logistic facilities with progressive transformation of
spaces. The interference of these activities could represent a
high risk factor for built heritage, the preservation of which
has become particularly critical.
These buildings and spaces have played a central role in the
urban and port dynamics until the middle of XX century:
exactly forts, customs palaces, lighthouses, warehouses,
wharves, docks and arsenals. The events of last decades led
to their abandonment, with consequences in terms of
degradation and inaccessibility. Moreover, the typological
heterogeneity of these historical buildings is definitely one
of the levels of complexity in the management and
preservation, such as the property, current use, accessibility
and state of conservation.
In the light of the above-mentioned issues, it would be
necessary a specific instrument for prevention and protection
of built heritage: starting from the identification of risks, it
should draw guidelines for immediate intervention, as well
as ensure a more effective control of the buildings.
State of the art
Specific policies have been developed by agencies and
authorities for protection of environment and historic built
heritage.
Firstly, the Research Project “Ten Ecoport” (2011-2014),
within the South-East Europe Transnational Cooperation
Program, aims to promote the sustainable management of
and its historical identity.
Secondly, the experience of “the Risk Map of the Italian
Cultural Heritage”, sponsored by the Central Institute for
Restoration (ICR), has identified a methodology of
prevention actions, instead of retrospectively curative
interventions (Accardo et al., 2003). However, the wide-
scale application of this method is also a limit, in terms of
accuracy and control of the data of territory and buildings.
An interesting evolution of the ICR project has been
implemented by the Region of Sicily, with the “Risk Local
Map”. It consists of specific fields of application for risk
analysis. One of these is the project “Waterfront Risk Map”,
where the focus is on waterfronts with cultural and historical
interest (Badami, 2011).
Finally, the scientific research has shown some innovative
opportunities for the management and control of historic
buildings, although not yet widespread: one of these is the
Building Information Modeling (BIM). The BIM application
for historic buildings is used to create a true virtual model of
the building, with geometric, materials, mechanical features.
It also possible to create a single digital archive of
information upgradeable over time and to represent the
historical phases of evolution of the building (Fai et al.,
2010). It is compatible with the Photogrammetric Survey,
Laser-Scanner and 3D GIS (Core et al., 2012). The BIM
technology could have great potential for the restoration
project, both in the construction phase of the knowledge
framework, both in the intervention project, as well as in the
building management.

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 3496170972; e-mail: antonello.martino@poliba.it
2
Methodology
The research work starts from the preliminary analysis of
morphological and historical characters of the historic ports
of Puglia, in order to create a comprehensive framework of
knowledge. The subsequent phases of investigation are
focused on three areas:
- Qualification of port architectures and open spaces
with historical and cultural value, by survey forms
ad thematic maps on state of conservation and
accessibility, original and current use, property
and restoration programs;
- Individuation of port structures and infrastructures
with environmental criticalities, by thematic maps
on abandonment and decay levels and on involved
authorities;
- Identification of poles and connections within the
port and city, by thematic maps on paths, districts,
nodes, edges and landmarks.
Discussion of results
The methodology was tested in the specific case study of the
historic port of Brindisi, in South-Adriatic coast of Puglia. It
produced a cognitive framework, including the state of
conservation of architecture (castles and fortifications,
warehouse, maritime station, buildings and monuments), of
historic spaces (piers, docks, squares and promenades) and
of the city-port system.
Firstly, most of the sites under assessment show low
accessibility and usability, except some open spaces. That
condition comes from several factors such as disuse,
abandonment or degradation. In addition, the study shows
the substantial diversification of the authorities responsible
for the management and control of the structures, which is a
critical aspect in the planning of restoration and
maintenance. The second level of analysis focused on port
areas, which are located in close proximity to sites with
historical and architectural interest. In this case, the presence
of degradation and abandonment, as well as of
inaccessibility, contributes to the fragmentation of the
waterfront. It also limits the usability of built heritage.
Finally, the analysis of the port-city system has provided an
interpretive framework of the fundamental characteristics of
the territory, as well as its state of conservation. The nodes
with greater attractiveness are located, in the most of case,
in the waterfront areas, while the road system is inadequate.
The urban contexts are currently unrelated due to natural and
artificial margins. The overall fragmentation results in the
low accessibility to the sea front, where only 4 out of 18
kilometres of sea paths are used. It is worth notice that,
despite the general decay, the local community
acknowledges the environmental and architectural sites as
symbols of identity.
Future prospects of research
The research work has been aimed to the defining of a model
for analysing the different factors, which affect the
preservation and management of the cultural and historical
heritage in the port areas, as well as their state of
conservation. The next goal of the research is to identify a
methodology for risk analysis and an innovative instrument
to enable better control of historic buildings.
The risk analysis is carried out through the implementation
of specific forms or maps of hazard and vulnerability, as
assessed through a series of indicators, selected specifically
for the port areas, ranging from environmental issues to
those of structural, anthropic and cultural.
The hazard is defined as “the level of aggressiveness of the
area” in which is placed the building and requires a large-
scale investigation of the urban and port areas. The
interference of human activities could be a factor of hazard,
as well as the strong dynamism, in terms of transformation
of spaces and technological innovation that lead to a quick
obsolescence and inadequacy of buildings.
The vulnerability is “the level of exposure of a building to
the aggression of the territory” and is obtained by evaluating
indicators belonging to subcategories (materials,
performance, technology, structure, functionality,
management and artistic- aesthetic characteristics).
The risk, therefore, is calculated as a function of hazard and
vulnerability within an intensity class. The calculation of the
risk is intended to identify a methodological process that
associates to each category and class risk an operational
procedure to be implemented immediately on the building.
The aim is to provide an instrument for the prevention and
protection of built heritage, as well as of the users who
benefit from the space.
Finally, the future research work is going to test the
methodology for risk analysis on the built heritage of some
historic ports of Puglia. In addition to this, the research is
going to test the use of BIM (Building Information
Modeling), as innovative instrument for preservation and
restoration of built heritage, in order to verify its advantages
and disadvantages in the construction of the knowledge
framework, the project and programming of interventions
and the information management. In fact, for the restoration
project you have to manage an innumerable amount of
information, often difficult to find and keep: the historical
evolution of the building, the projects and interventions
previously made, the materials and structural characters.
References
Accardo, G., Giani, E., Giovagnoli, A., (2003), The risk map of
Italian Cultural Heritage, Journal of architectural conservation, n°2
July 2003, pp 41-57
Badami, A., (2010), “Carta del Rischio per i waterfront in area
storica. Modelli di rigenerazione urbana per le città costiere in
Sicilia”, Portusplus 2010, n.1
De Fino, M., Fatiguso, F., De Tommasi, G., (2013) Assessment and
development of historical ports, Springer (in press)
Dore, C., Murphy, M., (2012), Integration of Historic Building
Information Modeling and 3D GIS for Recording and Managing
Cultural Heritage Sites, 18th International Conference on Virtual
Systems and Multimedia: "Virtual Systems in the Information
Society", 2-5 September, 2012, Milan, Italy, pp. 369-376.
Fai, S., Graham, K., Duckworth, T., Wood, N., Attar, R., (2011),
Building Information Modeling and Heritage Documentation, CIPA
2011 XXIII International Symposium, Prague, Czech Republic.
 MATERIALS FOR SUSTAINABLE TRANSFORMATION OF
WEAK CONTEXTS:

Urban-Rural Infiltration: recovery and reinterpretation of local

constructive characters
Author: Aurora Perra
Errore. Il segnalibro non è definito.
Ar.Tec use only: Received date here; revised date here; accepted date here

Highlights

The subject matter of the research, try to investigate issues such as the recovery and re-interpretation of the constructives
characters , typological, distributional, functional, belonging to a consolidated historical and cultural background in order to
propose them in terms reinterpreted through contemporary modes building and designing sites. This is possible by the method
of infiltration of characters, techniques, materials, choices, habits, between the parties and specifically among the agro and
urban.

functional and constructive. The analysis aims to

1. Objectives:
The subject of the research explores the building organisms
in relation to the rural context, in their foundational aspects,
of nature constructive, functional, formal, typological and
in relation to the hierarchy between the parties. We study
the traditional building technique and its adaptation to
modern needs. To do this, you need to retrieve and find the
rules that can be applied in several episodes, ensuring the
interests of the techniques and traditional materials. Need
to recover and identify the rules that can be applied in
several episodes, making sure to the interests of the
techniques and traditional materials. The investigations aim
at the study of characters technical-constructives and
distributive-functional, being based on a strong historical
component local. It then refers to an approach to the project
of recovery-interpretation of local characters. The objective
of the analysis is to study the opportunity, need,
appropriateness, suitability of the method of assembly and
re-assembly of the parts of the urban and agro fabrics,
objects and elements that characterize these spaces: their
interaction from the perspective of morpho-typological,
identifying these characters and the modalities ideational-
constructives within the historical context, rural-urban and
contemporary, look it to the identification of characters that
highlight their connection and can serve as a rule of
reference and interpretation for a future variation of
contemporary construction methods. The research will be
to explore the theme of urban-rural relationship in terms of
recovery and reinterpretation of consolidated rules and
material in contexts and attitudes constructive-functional
contemporary. The subject matter of the research evidence,
therefore, to investigate the issues outlined above in order
to propose them in terms reinterpreted through
contemporary methods of construct sites. This is possible
by the method of infiltration of characters, techniques,
materials, choices, uses between the parties and, in
particular, among the agro and urban. The work is based on
the analysis of specific case studies inscribed within
categories of landscapes from which it will be possible to
identify guidelines, common practices and rules in the
consolidated episodes and, conversely, to identify the
critical points on which intervene. The research focuses on
the structured dynamics and functioning in reports
typological, structural, functional, between the parties
mentioned above and, second, to study the reasons and

Author: Aurora Perra. Tel: 3495737305. mail: au.pera89@gmail.com

2
causes where there are no such reports that generate
episodes of degradation. The focus falls on the observation
of the dynamics structured and functioning in relationships
typological, structural and functional relationships between
the parties mentioned above (agricultural and urban), and
on the investigation of the reasons and causes where such
relationships do not exist, as resulting from incidents
degradation.
2. State of the art on the topic:
The theme, can be contextualized within the Italian and
international scene, examining the state of the art on the topic
and experiences begin within the department through:
research, manual of recovery of the smaller towns in
Sardinia. Laboratories and several doctoral thesis on issues
of landscape and habitat structures. The theme of recovery
of established techniques derived from local tradition refers
to the trend of building on the pre-existence with the aim to
identify and reuse in a current techniques, methods,
tradition’s materials. The project of re-use and design on the
pre-existence is headed by the Spanish school; study in
layers of local characters and their reinvention raises the
question of the project balanced between the two instances
that must communicate with them and act as a connecting
element. One of the elements that constitute the pre-
existence, in this case, is the rural area and, in this context,
of considerable importance, is the theoretical and practical
contribution to the likes of Donadieu and Remi Papillault
that put the campaign as object and material of construction
and design. The dynamics affecting the agricultural and the
urban in terms functional, typological, constructives, their
articulation, the criticality of the “assembly” lead to
reflections of Gonçalo Byrne that introduces the concept of
“vulnerability”. He argues that the city is vulnerable entity,
translated in the unsuitability of contemporary life, a
weakening of the role of the city, a loss of meaning. The
vulnerability, results and declines in all variations falling
within the urban, but, also the individual manufactured
building for which ways, habits, constructive character does
not meet the needs of today makes the subject vulnerable,
weak. However, when the structure is vulnerable must also
be able to regenerate, this, through a method capable of
mediating, reinvent techniques, materials, characteristics of
the tradition.
3. Methodology: urban-rural Infiltration.
The analysis, regards the complex material that makes up
the mode of interaction between the urban and agro forms
through its decomposition into the facts and episodes of
which you can study analytically the behavior formal,
Author: Aurora Perra. Tel: 3495737305. mail: au.pera89@gmail.com
structural, technological and from which it can then
perform the “classification” of the constituent elements.
The composition of these elements presumed assembly, a
technique based on the principle of decomposition,
recomposition, and overlap of pieces, constructives
elements, signs, techniques. To better understand the
complexity and the joints of the structural components,
constructives, technologicals, urban-rural, you can define
the categories in which identify, through a connection
between constructive culture and local territory, some
studies case. The categories are divided as: “Landscapes”
marked from the water line: settlement, texture agro and
constructive methods, distributive-functional, derived
directly from the forms generated by the watercourse;
“topographical Landscapes “ analysis of urban and agro
constructive characteristics in the continuous process of
adaptation to the ground; “Landscapes of the foundation-
reclaim”: Construction of episodes with strong productive
character in which shows the synergy between artifice and
nature. The research will address the first part of the
analysis on the basis of case studies needed to build the
foundations on which follow-up observations and get to the
second stage on which to base the first hypothesis and
intervention guidelines. The research explores and defines
the processes of change, highlights the stays. The primary
objective is to find and test a technique capable of
assimilating resources and quality to be transmitted to the
weaker episodes in the urban environment. This, can be
represented by the urban-rural infiltration such as method,
tool and technique to overcome the continuous deskilling of
local, constructive character, and instead, assert their
responsiveness to the needs functional and typological of
the context. The method makes it possible to conceive and
represent the layering of signs, models, customs, techniques
as a complex and flexible mixture. Lets break up, change,
reinterpret the assemblies and investigate the dynamics of
their re-assembly. Materially, the infiltration is
characterized as a tool with which to enter and borrow rules
of construction-distribution-typological. It ‘also a
technique, represents a set of practical rules to be applied in
the work of re-thinking of connections between urban and
rural ways of building, including the uses and methods of
soil management, crop. The infiltrations are presented as
moment of reading, interpretation, synthesis and union of
“ways to build the place.” Will research and applies a rule
borrowed from a structured context that can give quality to
the object damaged or newly developed. Through
infiltration can be studied characters and layers of space
and of the single object. The reading of the layers allows to
understand the evolution of that space-episode, any
influences, additions, subtractions over time. We read the
historical uses that generated, on the one hand, agro and
urban fabrics, an exact constructive dimension; on the other
hand, the customs, habits and present the types of
relationships that have or may have with the consolidated
processes, how they can generate stays and modifications.

The topic of infiltration urban-rural arises, therefore, the
need to act on several episodes affected by degradation
processes and move away from the established building
models. The study, by the method of infiltration, allows to
investigate the building types, the associative relations,
relationships with pathways and agro fabrics; settlement
processes, the identification of the types and their dynamics
proceedings, in relation to the structural elements, the
analysis and interpretation of the construction details, the
study of materials, their combination and implementation,
the critical issues of contemporary methods of construction
sites in proximity to the rural areas. It ‘important to focus
on the elements and factors, the characters structuring the
agro sector and the urban environment. Distinguish and
read construction models such as hedges, walls, terraces,
fences, paths, shelters, their combined functional and
morphological and typological declined in the mixture
between the two policy areas. The awareness of the
complexity, of joints and the potential integration of
inherited construction options and available today, together
with the formal and functional relationships that in a
project are established between spaces and components,
compared with upgrading and innovation techniques, with
the needs of comfort , usability and security, all of this is
also reflected in the themes of environmental sustainability.
4. Conclusions:
The study, aims to provide practical support for the
intervention in the rural and urban context translated in the
manner in which these elements interact typological,
functional, constructively. You want to undermine a
process that continues to affect the continuity of these
relations due to the phenomenon of unauthorized and over-
exploitation of the land. Emerge thus the question of
sustainability as a system of practices that ensure the needs
of the present without compromising their continue in the
future. To do this, the sustainable project, should aim at
different objectives such as: the rationalization of land use,
energy consumption, making use of materials, techniques,
uses a low environmental impact, enhancing the
relationship between object and context. The research
carried out by the method of infiltration that investigating
areas from the typological to the constructive, distributive
and functional, of recovery and technology, allows us to
understand the potential interactions in these terms between
Author: Aurora Perra. Tel: 3495737305. mail: au.pera89@gmail.com
3
the urban-rural, historical, contemporary, cultural and local
and to highlight in these, ways to use and to construct.
5. Bibliography:
C. Atzeni, A. Sanna, Manuali del recupero dei centri storici della
Sardegna. Architettura in terra cruda dei Campidani, del Cixerri e
del Sarrabus, Roma, 2008.
M. Augé, Tra i confini - Città, luoghi, integrazioni, Milano 2007
M. Augé, i non-luoghi Elèuthera, 2009
A.C. Baeza, L’idea costruita (2012), Lettera ventidue.
Baldacci, La casa rurale in Sardegna, Firenze 1952
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