The role of knowledge in defining strategies for conservation and strengthening: a case study from the 2012 Emilia earthquake

The conservation of cultural heritage implies the achievement of an adequate level of safety, fundamental basis to fully exploit the potential of the monument. Therefore, the choice of strengthening interventions plays a very important role in the field of architectural conservation, in order to optimize the few resources available. Identifying the weakest points and defining a priority scale among them allows to minimize the interventions, focusing the attention where really needed, avoiding useless or excessive actions. The identification of the more effective interventions derives from a thorough knowledge of the construction, from its historical evolution to the current state, in an almost spontaneous way. This paper aims to present the case study of Palazzo Costabili, a sixteenth-century building, located in the city center of Ferrara, widely damaged by the seismic events occurred in May 2012. This example shows how the phase of knowledge was essential for the definition of the conservation and strengthening actions aimed to the damage reduction. The collaboration between the University of Parma and the Regional Secretariat for Cultural Heritage of Emilia Romagna (MIBACT) led to the definition of a design proposal aimed to the reduction of vulnerabilities through local reinforcement interventions, chosen according to specific local conditions, arisen from the critical elaboration of all information acquired from the analysis of history, geometry, materials, degradations, past damages and past interventions and, moreover, from the data obtained from in situ surveys.