Palazzo la sapienza in pisa: Structural assessment and retrofit of an historical masonry building in Italy

Abstract

Palazzo La Sapienza, historical seat of the University of Pisa since the XVI century, represents one of the most important examples of the Tuscany cultural heritage, nowadays not in use due to several problems related to maintenance and structural deficiencies. The building, in its current form, is the result of several modifications, enlargements, elevations, connection with adjacent parts, resulting finally more similar to a "structural aggregate" -made up of single units connected together without specific scheme and organization - than to a single unitary building. After the earthquake of May 2012, the Palace was temporarily closed in relation to the ordinance issued by the Major's Office and then subjected to wide in situ investigations aiming at analyzing in a very detailed manner all the criticisms related to structural, nonstructural, geotechnical and maintenance problems; the deep in situ survey campaigns allowed to reach a very deep knowledge of the building, of its progressive morphological evolution and of its actual condition, including problems not directly related to the structural condition but, as an example, to the instability and heterogeneity of the ground soil and of the foundation system. All the information so obtained allowed the execution of static and seismic vulnerability assessment - according to the actual prescriptions of Italian Standard for Constructions (D.M. 14/01/2008) - through the elaboration of complex global and local models and the final elaboration of an executive retrofit design comprehensive of local interventions on significant structural elements or subportions of the building. In the present paper, after a short description of the knowledge analysis of the building and of its safety verification, the retrofit executed to obtain a satisfying level of safety is presented.