Vernacular architecture: A paradigm of the local seismic culture

Abstract

After the Irpinia 1980 Italian earthquake, it turned out that the usual tools of the seismic engineers were not useful enough to analyse the historical retrofitting, following the seismic shocks. In these buildings, damages were mainly caused by the lack of or bad maintenance. In 1985, the European University Centre for Cultural Heritage launched a research, to assess the traditional seismic-proof techniques existing around the world. This made it possible, to define the mastery of these retrofitting techniques, and the consistent behaviour of ‘Local Seismic Culture’ (LSC). This paper deals with the different kinds of LSC, depending on the intensity/recurrence of earthquakes, which shows the effectiveness of traditional techniques against all components of seismic shocks. It also proposes an introductory tutorial, to recognise LSC elements in vernacular architecture.