Revisiting Traditional Building Techniques for Appropriate Maintenance and Earthquake Retrofitting of Vernacular Constructions

There are many examples of vernacular and traditional constructions located in earthquake-prone areas that are known to have been built featuring earthquake resistant characteristics. Currently, such traditional building techniques are considered outdated by decision makers, experts and, especially, by the population. These constructions are often strengthened using modern materials and techniques. However, recent earthquakes (e.g. Umbria-Marche 1997, L'Aquila 2009) have shown that such strengthening approaches were, in fact, responsible for increasing the seismic vulnerability of such constructions.

Link to the project presentation

In order to address this issue and reduce this vulnerability, the global objective of the project is:

• To define a scientific framework to identify and validate the existing earthquake resistant characteristics of vernacular and traditional constructions

• To define guidelines for transferring to population criteria for the adequate maintenance of those constructions and techniques in order to ensure their adequate seismic behaviour

• To define guidelines for the appropriate seismic retrofit of those constructions by accounting for their original earthquake resistant features

• Elaboration of an atlas of traditional seismic proof techniques in Italy, Greece and Portugal

• Development of a tutorial for adequate maintenance and appropriate retrofitting of historical built up areas

• Formulation of guidelines for the involvement of local communities in recognizing and critically re-use the traditional seismic proof techniques

• Development of a report on seismic resistance of Portuguese vernacular architecture

• Cross-correlation analysis with short-term hazards and long return period hazards (i.e. seismological activity)

• Historical and technical review of the data and literature available about different regions of the country towards the development of the atlas

Development of a draft Atlas of the traditional seismic proof techniques in Morocco