A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH FOR PRESERVATION DESIGN OF HISTORICAL CENTERS AFTER ABRUZZO EARTHQUAKE

The earthquake occurred in Italian region Abruzzo has proposed once more the problem of the definition of suitable strategies for seismic risk mitigation and conservation of historical construction at urban scale.
Recognizing the time interval between two seismic period as the statistically more obvious for the study of intervention strategies, the research aims to investigate the possible relationship between security and preservation of historical buildings.
The Abruzzo landscape, characterized by a system of small urban centers only made up of historical construction, represent, in its whole, a monument. The data base used consists of the whole constructions set of Fontecchio, an urban centre in the epicentre zone of the earthquake of 2009. Damage suffered by the construction has been studied in connection with the current characteristics of buildings (i.e., typology, structural system, component materials) often deriving by their localization and related with building histories. Buildings information and cartographical base have been integrated to create a Geographic Information System for territorial planning in Fontecchio. Analysis performed through GIS allows to define case study and guide lines for safety and preservation design.
The study proposes strategies in three different areas of application in the municipality of Fontecchio. In accordance with the general legal framework of reference, research proposes new analysis tools of character of built historical that will be preparatory to the next phase of intervention. The Instruments presented have as their ultimate aim to fill a legislative vacuum in the direction of awareness of government and planners about the culture of preservation of historical buildings.
The first research area concerns the project of knowledge of the damage for the buildings in aggregate. The case study analyzed is Palace Paolini an historical building paradigmatic of local constructive reality. The study of the building starts from the historical research and then moves on to geometrical survey and to the constructive analysis. From these preliminary studies, work involves understanding seismic behavior of the building, identifying damages and mechanisms activated on it.
After the project of knowledge of the damage are identified project solutions oriented to the preservation of historical buildings, in particular, about theme of urban fronts. The study provides design guidelines based on a new survey card, designed to offer a control on the survey phase of the buildings and a support for designers in the selection of interventions to be made. The chosen interventions will be the most oriented to preservation among those described by current legislation.
Last theme of project is the intervention on rural village named Pagliare, fraction of the Municipality of Fontecchio. The village is characterized by small scattered buildings, realized with materials and constructive techniques very similar to each other. The location of the village (outside the historical center) and absence of aggregate buildings leads to a reconsideration of the project strategy, which passes so to the scale of single construction element. The work is oriented to the survey of the problematic features of the buildings. The project choices identify methods of contemporary intervention compatible with the historical artifact, which aim to limit propagation of instability processes in act on buildings.