KNOWLEDGE FOR PREVENTION. TECHNIQUES FOR REPAIRING SEISMIC DAMAGE FROM MEDIEVAL PERIOD TO MODERN ERA

Project Information

PROTECT

Grant agreement ID: 101018762

DOI

10.3030/101018762

Project closed

EC signature date 22 July 2021

Start date 1 December 2021

End date 30 November 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 196 707,84

EU contribution

€ 196 707,84

Coordinated by

ECOLE NORMALE SUPERIEURE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PROTECT (KNOWLEDGE FOR PREVENTION. TECHNIQUES FOR REPAIRING SEISMIC DAMAGE FROM MEDIEVAL PERIOD TO MODERN ERA)

Reporting period: 2021-12-01 to 2023-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The natural recurrence of seismic events and the widespread presence of historic buildings located in earthquake-prone areas characterise a large part of the Italian and European territory. The strategic problem of safeguarding the cultural heritage involves not only civil protection, but also the sphere of research and conservation. Architecture constitutes a preferential pathway whose analysis makes it possible to propose types of intervention and restoration, through the pre- and post- earthquake interventions implemented by communities over the centuries. This process is carried out through a series of traditional and innovative methods of the humanities, with the support of scientific and technological tools. This reflection appears even more interesting when we move from architecture to much more complex and interconnected organisms from the construction, urban planning and social points of view, such as historic centres. Studying the seismicity of historic centres, and more specifically the effects of specific earthquakes on the documentary and material components that constitute their framework, becomes a very useful element from various points of view (social, economic, political, etc.). Archaeoseismological analysis, historical-archival study, survey and structural analysis are linked and transformed into a complex of extremely useful information to be used, for example, for the knowledge of the study context from a historical point of view, but also with reference to future analyses of the vulnerability of architecture in function of the planning of restoration work or, from a seismological point of view, for a better knowledge of seismic history and its concrete effects on buildings and the fabric of the city. The previous reflections formed the basis and found their concrete application in the conception and development of the project PROTECT - Knowledge for PReventiOn. TEChnique for reparing seismic damage from medieval period To modern era. The project, finds its genesis and evolution through a dual perspective: historical-archaeological and methodological. On the one hand, the work, which is currently in progress, will be synthesised in the realisation of an operational protocol for historic centres, based on different types of analysis of a multidisciplinary nature at differentiated levels of depth, which will make it possible to record and document individual buildings, street fronts, aggregates and urban centres according to specific methodological criteria defined according to the different objectives of the researches. On the other hand, the project, by means of an in-depth archaeoseismological analysis of a broad and circumscribed study context, such as the historic centre of Siena, will attempt to produce data of a historical nature that will provide preliminary information in an attempt to fill a temporal gap, concentrated in the medieval period, regarding the use, systematic or otherwise, of architectural expedients to respond to preventive or constructive needs in reference to earthquakes.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project PROTECT aims to apply, on an entirely experimental basis, the methods of archaeoseismological analysis to the historic city centre of Siena (Tuscany, Italy), acquiring a more in-depth knowledge of the context of study from the point of view of seismic prevention. Methodologically, the project is based on the experimental application of archaeological reading to the effects of earthquakes on the city’s historic buildings, following a study of the architecture at different scales of detail. The final objective will be to create an operational protocol for the archaeoseismological reading of the historic centre of Siena, or at least a part of it, and to export this model to other Italian or European realities, with a view to understanding, safeguarding and preserving the historic heritage from seismic risk. From an operational point of view, the PROTECT project is based on the application and experimentation of the archaeological analysis of the effects of earthquakes on the historic buildings of Siena, following a vision with diversified scales of in-depth study of the architecture. A first, more general level concerns the study of the context in its complexity; this is a research process addressed through a historical-seismological investigation oriented on single seismic events and a transposition of this data within instruments that allow a characterisation and vision on a large scale. A second step, more in-depth than the previous one but closely linked to it, concerns the process of analysing specific portions of the city centre, useful for understanding its historical-constructive dynamics and the possible presence of specific architectural elements to mitigate the effect of earthquakes. This step of the investigation concerns earthquakes in the long term and is characterised by an expeditious archaeoseismological investigation that may vary from the district to the single street front. A third and final in-depth investigation concerns the individual architectural complex, analysed from an archaeological point of view and documented in its three-dimensionality, with a careful and specific investigation methodology, aimed at assessing the effects of specific earthquakes on the building and the pre- and post-earthquake construction techniques employed in its architecture.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The PROTECT project represents a concrete application in the field of a multidisciplinary analysis methodology, still experimental today, which uses the archaeoseismological method integrated with numerous other humanistic and scientific disciplines as its central pivot.
The project results fall mainly into three macro-categories:
1) Historical-archaeological: by analysing, on a historical-archaeological basis, the effects of earthquakes on the city of Siena as well as the interventions and restorations carried out after these events, it was possible to obtain interesting data on the social and political dynamics related to these events.
2) Technical-scientific: from the documentation and analysis of the artefacts it was possible to obtain data of interest on the construction and mechanical history of the contexts analysed, useful to make an initial assessment of the current structural conditions of the architectures involved in the study, in function of subsequent vulnerability analyses and proposals for restoration work.
3) Methodological: the project allowed the development of a survey protocol applicable and exportable to any major and minor historic centre in Europe.
In conclusion, the social impact of such research should not be underestimated. Recent research carried out in earthquake-prone areas in Italy and Europe suggests that in cultural contexts of ancient tradition there is a marked tendency to preserve the memory of dramatic events of the common past, as a factor of social cohesion and a means of constructing a shared memory, also through civic-religious ritual manifestations and artefacts. On the contrary, the contemporary cultural context is not at all conducive to preserving the memory of such events, and an awareness accumulated and preserved over time may soon be dispersed. Keeping alive the historical memory of the dangerousness of areas where a certain amount of the population lives is one of the possibilities, and one of the prerogatives, offered by the archaeological approach to historical earthquakes.

Example of the archaeoseismological analysis carried out in the city centre of Siena (Italy)