Valerio MASSARO1 / Matteo SCAMPORRINO2 (1Dipartimento di Architettura Disegno Storia Progetto / 2Dipartimento di Urbanistica e Pianificazione del Territorio, Firenze, Italy) Abstract: The earthquake that hit the plain of Emilia starting in May 2012 has not yet stopped to fear, the seismic swarm continues. The buildings most affected were historical and productive ones. Apparently unrelated to each they are very connected if you look at the Po Plain as a whole. The seismic crater is comprised in a quadrilateral very particular on three sides is crossed by highways, one, in the north, by Po river, so the inside area is among the most productive in the country; at the vertex there Mantova, Ferrara, Bologna and Modena and Reggio Emilia, some of the most dense history of central Italy, architectural and cultural tourism destination. The coexistence of these two vocations, productive and historical, has up until now “peaceful”, although “chaotic”: the area of the earthquake, in fact, has the connotation of “City widespread” or Sprawl (1), to this the reconstruction can also be used as a reorganization and redefinition of margins, roles and functions of the nuclei in the future of the area, but could also erase the traces historical under a continuous and unformed urbanization. Carrying out a documentation work about the historical buildings, the urban and the territorial elements wants to serve highlighting the values which are useful for reconstruction and to limit the risk of “burying” the assets in the name of economic development needs (2). (1)   Ingersoll R., Sprawltown, Meltemi, Roma, 2004 (2)   Hass, Kates e Bowden,  Recostruction Following Disaster, MIT Press, Boston, 1977 Keyword: Earthquake, Emilia, Identity, Architecture, Regenerative...

Paolo FORMAGLINI / Filippo GIANSANTI (Dipartimento di Architettura Disegno Storia Progetto Firenze, Italy) Abstract: Within the section related to the seismic events which happened in Emilia (Italy) on May 20 and May 29 2012, our research has been transformed to more visual, more tactile aspects and more involving experience of an earthquake. For all these reasons, the result of our work substantially goes out of the typical linguistic and communicative aspects of researches in the field of preservation/rediscovery of the historical/archeological heritage. Without making an investigation of the cause and the possibilities of the reconstruction, we have examined the emptiness which an earthquake can leave by destructing a common identity, like it happened in many places in Emilia. An identity where the historical/archeological heritage has not only constituted the basis for the development of shared typological sense of aesthetics but it also established many of the social aspects. The pattern square – town hall – church which are similar in all of the villages situated in Emilia – they all demonstrate and exist like a true example of deep identity. The earthquake has interrupted a customary urban and social typological system used for centuries by damaging these key elements which can be hardly recovered. ID-Entity would like to suggest the observer to lead a reflection by focusing on the sense of emptiness and precariousness. This would make the observer to consider the necessity of preserving precious architectural sites and to think about the possibility to start a new architectural way without forgetting the traditions. The earthquake had not created a nihilistic and annihilating vacuum but has left behind a ground with a strong will to restart. The proposed poster will present a journey through images in the area of the Emilia Earthquake, spotting on the ancient -now physically lost- urban area, trying to reach the deep sense of the place between what is gone and the overcoming of the ruins. Keywords: Earthquake, Emilia, Identity, Emptiness, Social...

Andrea BRAGHIROLI (Dipartimento di Architettura Disegno Storia Progetto, Firenze, Italy) Abstract:In May 2012, two major earthquakes occurred in the Emilia-Romagna region, causing 26 casualties and widespread damage across the cities of the area, the surrounding countryside and the productive infrastructure. Also the cultural heritage, composed of little churches, castles and city buildings, was severely damaged. The first earthquake, registering magnitude 6.1, struck on 20 May 2012 at 04:03 local time; the epicenter was between Finale Emilia and San Felice sul Panaro. Two aftershocks of magnitude 5.2 occurred the same day, killing seven people. Nine days later, on 29 May, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck the same area, causing an additional eighteen deaths and widespread damage, particularly to buildings already weakened by the 20 May earthquake. In the whole area 14000 people were left homeless. Mirandola is located in the middle of the earthquake area. The town originated as a Renaissance city-fortress. For four centuries it was the seat of at Duchy, a possession of the Pico family, whose most outstanding member was the polymath Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Many buildings in the city center were severely damaged, forcing the local administration to forbid accessing to the whole area. Among them public buildings such as The Palazzo del Comune (a 15th Century Gothic edifice), the castle of the Pico family, which had been recently restored and opened to the public. Both of them are now damaged. Also churches like the Duomo, dating from the end of the 15th century, and S. Francesco, a fine Gothic church that  housed the tombs of the Pico family (14th century), were completely destroyed; the Baroque Church of the Gesù (1690) was severely damaged. Now the city center is partially accessible, but only for people who live there. Some works have been completed to secure some buildings (like the San Francesco Church facade), but mainly the old city is still desert and hoping for further intervention. The poster proposed here wants to show and to locate the sense of loss from the missing parts of the town and the effect of emergency on the people uprooted from their usual contest; at the same time, the...

Anna BOSI1 / Martina MANDIROLA2 (1Vienna Consulting Engineering (VCE), Austria / 2EUCENTRE, Pavia, Italy) Abstract: Each earthquake is a lesson for the engineering community: well-known concepts are largely confirmed, some aspects are underlined, and new ones appear or gain relevance. This applies also to the recent earthquake that heat Emila region in May: the importance of a seismic design also for industrial buildings is the new aspect that this earthquake put into the attention but well-known concepts have also been largely confirmed in particular concerning masonry structures. This paper reports the damage typologies observed during one week of post-earthquake assessment in Emilila region, in particular in the municipalities of Novi di Modena and Ferrara. In general, two main elements have been identified: In the countryside the damage is widespread and the level of damage is high. In Ferrara low level non-structural damage is prevalent; high structural damage mainly affects very poor quality structures. In particular for old structures, the damage encountered is mainly a pre-existing one. The higher level of damage that characterizes the constructions in the countryside is mainly due to proximity to the earthquake epicentre; nevertheless, the survey revealed that in general the quality of the buildings in the municipalities of the countryside is low. This applies also to the new structures visited; most of them presented low quality details and low or null seismic design. In Ferrara was found that old structures retrofitted in the recent past presented almost null damage, while not-retrofitted old structures presented a diffuse pre-existing level of damage mainly induced by the ageing of materials and elements (in particular high flexible floors). It was also interesting to notice as Ferrara still preserves a slight historical memory: a large part of the historical structures have old chains (even if probably not effective), most likely introduced after the strong seismic event that occurred in the city in the period 1570-´74....

The  area of Emilia (Italy), between Via Emilia and the river Po, has a  consistent  Cultural  Heritage  known  all  over the world that was severely affected by the earthquakes in May and June 2012. The  heritage  value  is constituted by the characteristic features of the  historical  Italian territory such as villages, churches, “pievi”(small churches) and “incastellamenti” (castle settlements). The  Heritage has specific architectural and cultural value related to the  territory,  which determine stylistic and typological uniqueness. Since the VIII century, the territorial settlement has been relying on agricultural  economy,  creating typical architectural artifacts; this Heritage,  despite  the  fact  of  belonging  to  a minor artistic and architectural  value,  can  be  considered  and  must  be preserved according   to its importance as a “grid-system” strictly connected to the social structure of this area. Behind   the   tragic  direct  accidents  caused  to  population  this earthquake  shows clearly how the damages to Cultural Heritage bring a strong  weakness  in  the  social  asset  of  a whole area, putting in evidence  the  relationship  between  people  and  urban/architectural Heritage. The  special  poster  session  dedicated to the “Earthquake in Emilia” will  try to underline this situation trying to focus on elements from the  technical to the strategies to go far behind the natural disaster and approaching correctly to what’s next. (Giorgio Verdiani, University of...

Mariapaola MONTI / Giuseppe MAINO (University of Bologna, Ravenna campus, Ravenna, Italy) Abstract: The video clip presents the excavations in the center of Ravenna town that resulted in the casual findings of Roman mosaics belonging to an urban domus. A digital restoration and reconstruction of these mosaics is further show as an example of innovative procedure as a basis for deepened studies and for popularization of this kind of archaeological findings. During the excavations carried out in summer 2011 by Hera (a multiutility company that deals with the management of water, energy and waste in Emilia Romagna) in Piazza Anita Garibaldi in Ravenna for the making of new underground waste containers for the separate collection, five rooms decorated with mosaic floors were found, probably dating to the early Roman Empire (I-II century A.D.). The mosaics were removed for restoration and musealization, however – given the size of the gaps – it would not be possible to reintegrate them in a traditional restoration without creating arbitrary reconstructions. For this reason we opted for a digital reconstruction of the gaps, making some virtual restoration hypothesis for the recovered mosaics; in this way it is possible to grasp the trend of the figuration how it could have been in the past. This video shows how the virtual restoration has been carried out. Keywords: mosaics, Roman villa, digital...