Bell Towers Under (Seismic) Attack: Saving a Symbol, Once it became a Menace

The numerous high and slender bell towers that characterize the skyline of our historical city centres turned out to be particularly vulnerable in occasion of the 2012 seismic shocks in Northern Italy. The danger of collapse of these constructions, besides representing a technical structural problem, had also strong social implications, generating fear and uncertainty in the population, imposing the demarcation of wide off-limits areas. Therefore, many Mayors after the Emilia earthquake required the authorization for the demolition of these peculiar buildings, as this looked like the most rapid and cheap option to reinstate the normal activities in their city centres. However this solution is more complex than it looks, not only operationally, but also from an ethic point of view. The Regional Offices of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage blocked most of the demolition applications, addressing the managing institutions towards first aid interventions. Nevertheless, the lack of an adequate knowledge about this type of interventions soon emerged and the Regional Offices decided to contribute appointing a commission of experts in restoration and building techniques from the universities of Parma, Bologna and Padova. The commission analysed tens of bell towers, defining for each case some guidelines for fast interventions, aimed at combining conservation and safety. The present paper will analyse some of the most meaningful case studies of emergency structural interventions on bell towers after the 2012 Emilia earthquake, comparing the indications supplied by the Regional commission with the real works and discussing the implications that these interventions, often carried out in emergency situation without time for an adequate reflection, can have on the definitive intervention, both in terms of economy and function.