Heritage Masonry Buildings and Reduction of Seismic Risk: The Case of Slovenia

Abstract

Not all old masonry houses are considered architectural heritage. Although historic, individual buildings are also not always considered monumental. However, as clusters of buildings, old urban and rural centres represent an architectural cultural heritage of great historical importance, giving additional value to many modern European cities. As a link between the past and present, historical centres are actively included in the urban environment, usually representing the cities' most vital parts. Unfortunately, cultural heritage buildings have not been designed to resist earthquake loads. They have been built in materials and systems which resist the compression caused by the gravity loads but not the bending and shear resulting from the earthquake ground motion. In some cases, historic buildings have been poorly maintained or, even worse, reconstructed in the past by removing important parts of their lateral load resisting systems to accommodate the urban commerce and business needs. Consequently, during earthquakes in Europe in the recent past, most of the damage to buildings occurred and deaths have resulted owing to inadequate seismic performance of heritage buildings. To avoid such consequences when subjected to expected future seismic events, the buildings in historic centres in seismic-prone regions should be adequately strengthened. Permanent occupancy is one more reason why such buildings should be upgraded to attain the same level of seismic safety as is required for new constructions. Although this is often not easily possible, every effort should be made in seismic rehabilitation campaigns to improve their resistance to a required degree.