Bell Towers Under (Seismic) Attack: Saving a Symbol, Once It Became a Menace

Abstract

The numerous high and slender bell towers that characterise the skyline of historical city centres turned out to be particularly vulnerable on the occasion of the 2012 seismic shocks in Northern Italy. The danger that these constructions would collapse, besides representing a technical and structural problem, also had strong social implications, generating fear and uncertainty in the population with the imposition of extensive and clearly demarcated off-limits areas. As a consequence, after the Emilia earthquake, many mayors requested the authorisation for the demolition of these peculiar buildings, because this looked like the most rapid and cheapest option in order to reinstate normal activities in their city centres. However, this solution was more complex than expected, not only operationally, but also from an ethical point of view. The Regional Offices of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage (Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici dell’Emilia Romagna—Soprintendenza) rejected most of the applications for demolition, redirecting these institutions towards first-aid interventions. Nevertheless, the lack of adequate knowledge and experience about this type of intervention soon emerged, and the Soprintendenza decided to contribute by appointing a commission of experts in restoration and building techniques from the universities of Parma, Bologna and Padova. The commission analysed many bell towers, defining for each case some guidelines for rapid intervention aimed at combining conservation and safety. This chapter analyses some of the most meaningful examples of emergency structural interventions on bell towers after the 2012 Emilia earthquake, comparing the indications supplied by the regional Soprintendenza with the actual work executed and discussing the implications that these interventions, often carried out during the emergency without time for an adequate reflection, may and did have on the definitive intervention, both in terms of economy and function.