Garigliano nuclear power plant: seismic evaluation of the turbine building

The Italian Garigliano Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) started its energy production in 1963. At present it is in the decommissioning stage. In order to get a proper management of the radioactive waste that will be produced during the dismantling operations it has been considered convenient to convert the turbine building of the plant into a temporary waste repository. This decision posed a remarkable seismic safety assessment issue. As a matter of fact, the challenge was to extend, in satisfactory safety conditions, the use of an important facility that has reached the end of its designed lifetime and to have this extended use approved by nuclear safety agencies. In this context many tasks have been accomplished, of which the most important are: (a) a new appraisal of site seismic hazard; (b) the execution of many investigations and testing on the construction materials; (c) the set up of a detailed 3D finite element model including the explicit representation of foundation piles and soil; (d) consideration of soil structure kinematic and dynamic nteraction effects. This paper describes the adopted seismic safety assessment criteria which are based on a performance objectives design approach. While performance based design is the approach currently recommended by European Regulations to manage seismic risk and it is fully incorporated in the Italian code for conventional buildings, bridges and plants, NPP are not explicitly considered. Therefore it was necessary to delineate a consistent interpretation of prescribed rules in order to properly select the maximum and operating design earthquakes on one side and corresponding acceptable limit states on the other side. The paper further provides an outline of the numerical analyses carried out, of the main results obtained and of the principal retrofitting actions that will be realized

Pier Luigi Nervi vs Fazlur Khan: the developing of the outrigger system for skyscrapers

The structural development of tall buildings has been a continuously evolving process. There is a distinct structural history of tall buildings similar to the history of their architectural styles. In this structural history it might be interesting to investigate how one of the most popular system used nowadays to build super tall skyscrapers, the outrigger structure, was designed for the first time. A very early example of outrigger structure is the Place Victoria Office Tower of 1965 in Montreal designed by Pier Luigi Nervi and Luigi Moretti (Fig.1). It was also used by Fazlur Khan in BHP House in Melbourne, completed in the 1972 and in the First Wisconsin Center of 1973 in Milwaukee. The paper focuses on how this particular structural system was first developed, trying to link the experience of two outstanding engineers who worked after the Second World War, the Italian Pierluigi Nervi (1891–1979) and the Bangledeshi-American Fazlur Rahman Khan (1929–1982)

History and genesis of a digital revolution. The project for the new High-speed railway station in Naples Afragola by Zaha Hadid.

The chapter investigates how the typical experimental design of the Anglo-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid have been developed for a new infrastructure in the south of Italy. The text focuses on how the precedent construction processes accomplished in previous Hadid's work (i.e. for the Museum of the XXI century arts) implemented the technical knowledge of her team, increasing the level of buildability of the proposal and then reducing the time occurred for erecting the building

Vestiti d’alta moda, ossature prêt-à-porter: trends strutturali per il grattacielo contemporaneo (Haute Couture claddings, prêt-à-porter structures: new structural trends for the contemporary skyscraper)

According with 2011 report of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, high-rises buildings developments have been rapidly increasing worldwide. Presenting the impossibility to compile a new classification for the primary structural system, this paper reviews the evolution of tall-building’s structural systems. While most representative structural system are discussed, the emphasis in this review paper is on current trends such as outrigger systems and diagrid structures. Learning from the past, it is also proposed the evolution of these two systems of truss force diagram, analyzing masterpieces of Fazlur R. Khan and Pier Luigi Nervi

SOLIMENE CERAMICs FACTORY 1953-1956 Vietri (Salerno)Paolo Soleri - DOCOMOMO - Conference Poster - Italian working party for documentation and conservation of building, sites and neighbourhoods of the modern movement

The factory lies on a trapezoidal shaped plot, flanked on one side by the mountain which overlooks Vietri. The plot is orientated along a west-east axis, which was levelled out expressly for construction. The section which belongs to the Soleri project is made up of a full-height area, illuminated by a skylight, onto which overlook three levels of terraces, which are used as workspaces for lathe turners and decorators. The production cycle of ceramic proceeds from the top level to the bottom: this greatly influences the spatial lay-out of the building. The highest floor is dedicated to lathing and modelling; the first stage of cooking took place in the vertical kiln(now removed) which connected to every level of the factory; transport along an inclined floor on the lower floor, used for decoration; then the second stage of cooking, and finally the showing and sale on the ground floor, via a second ramp. The side which faces the mountain is entirely blocked, and, on the ground floor, was designed as an internal driveway, for the loading and transportation of ceramics. Today, it holds the horizontal oven which is currently in use. The only view of the factory is outlined, on three sides, by the curving profile of Via Madonna degli Angeli, and is shaped by a partition, itself as tall as the building, and made up of upturned cones of polychrome ceramic, alternated with glass semi lozenges. This continual line of ceramic and glass lies on a cement basement, which provides a level base for the cones, conforming the view from the street. The basement is moreover decorated by plates and ceramics plastered directly in the concrete, which add an element of advertising

The Italian engineering contribution in the technical development of the new Hertziana Library by Juan Navarro Baldeweg

Between 2003 and 2012, the New Bibliotheca Hertziana (Max-Planck Institute for the Art History) was built on the site of the garden of Federico Zuccari's sixteenth-century house in the historic urban fabric of Rome. The project aimed to demolish a 1960s building in the centre of Rome keeping its facades and constructing between them a more efficient, safer and more spacious building. The non-standard development of this conservation project led to the invention of several bespoke technical solutions and advanced conservation procedures. This innovative and bold construction process was developed by a pioneering engineering approach. The outcome of this experimental case study extends the building itself, having an impact on new developments in historical environments constrained by archaeological remains.Despite the foreign origin of the architect, the structural development of this building was entirely carried on by Italian engineers who relied on the ability of crafting the construction process as a unique case study. The structural engineers involved in this project were: Alberto Parducci, Alfredo Marimpietri, Marco Mezzi e Sergio Oliviero. Despite the ambition of the project, they were able to collaborate with the architect at the ‘technical design development’ stage, delivering a complete new structural design without interfering with the aesthetics of the scheme, which remained untouched.The archaeological and historical constraints, together with the complexity of demolishing and rebuilding in the centre of Rome, forced the engineers to adapt the idea of a post-tensed ribbed concrete bridge as a major building support for preserving the archaeological ruins scattered underneath the building. The structural invention allows the new building to fly over the ancient ruins without resting on the archaeological remains. This paper aims to retrospectively discuss the contribution of the structural engineers in delivering this challenging conservation project in central Rome, analysing how the new structural systems was developed, and how it was built. The ultimate aim is to disseminate an untold story, which can unlock the potential impact of this case study for similar constructions

Circularity Indicators as a Design Tool for Design and Construction Strategies in Architecture

This study addresses the challenges and barriers associated with the implementation of circular economy principles in architectural design and construction practices. It highlights the fragmented knowledge and lack of a unified approach to circular design as a major obstacle hindering the adoption of circularity. The existing frameworks for assessing circularity, such as the Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) protocol and the Level(s) assessment protocol, are applied to two projects with a high degree of deconstruction to understand their applicability in the architectural design process and identify their limitations. The study emphasises the significance of considering structural connectivity and circularity strategies during the concept-design stage, advocating for the incorporation of circularity at various scales beyond the microscale of materials. Furthermore, it emphasises the need for early implementation of Design for Disassembly (DfD) strategies on circularity scoring to enable meaningful comparisons of alternative designs using circularity metrics. The findings reveal the variability of circularity indicators based on the hierarchy of disassembly and highlights an early-stage design approach to deconstruction strategies to achieve circularity in architectural design. Overall, this study upscales the significance of a comprehensive and integrated approach to circularity in architectural design practices

A new methodology for reconstructing the building process. The case study of the new Hertziana library in Rome

The Hertziana Library is the Rome-based Italian art history research branch of the Max Planck organisation for the promotion of science in Munich1. It is located in the urban peninsula of the sixteenth-century district between the via Sistina and via Gregoriana, abutting Trinità dei Monti, near Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Stairs. The complex consists of a sequence of three buildings, side by side: the sixteenth-century palace of Federico Zuccari, designed by the famous painter as his atelier and home, expanded and remodelled over the centuries many times; the Neubau (New Building), an offspring of the old garden of Palazzo Zuccari following continuous, uncontrolled additions; and the nineteenth-century Palazzo Stroganoff. While the two historic buildings are used to house research workstations and offices, the Neubau contains the library, consisting of an immense legacy of about 27O,OOO volumes. The complete inadequacy of the building complex, from the viewpoint of fire safety, was confirmed in the mid-nineties when the Fire Department threatened to close it; furthermore, the impossibility of increasing its long-term book capacity eventually sounded the death knell of the building in 1994. In 1995 the management of the Max-Planck Institute decided on a programme of construction, calling for the demolition of the Neubau except for the historic facade, and the acquisition, through a limited competition, of a new project that would ensure compliance with modern safety standards as well as enhanced library capacity. The winner of the competition was the Spanish architect Juan Navarro Baldeweg

Up on the roof: a review of design, construction, and technology trends in vertical extensions

New spaces to accommodate growing urban populations should be created in a way that also reduces building lifecycle carbon emissions. In this context, the vertical extension (VE) has emerged as a novel building typology that can increase space in cities through the construction of additional floor area atop existing base buildings. This paper presents a review of 172 VE projects worldwide to provide an understanding of their design and construction trends, and to classify the technologies applied. Results show that VE construction has accelerated significantly over the past decade. Although most VEs consist of only small vertical additions, often one to two storeys, higher VEs can be built with innovative structural strategies and lightweight materials. Industrial buildings are often found to provide significant opportunities for VE due to their higher structural capacity. By comparing the characteristics and design of VEs, typologies based on architectural, structural, and construction technologies are presented