THE "BAROQUE SKYLINE" IN NAPLES. STRUCTURAL STUDIES ON 16TH AND 17TH CENTURY DOMES IN TERMS OF FORM AND STABILITY

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The majolica dome of Santa Maria della Sanità in Naples. Geometric configuration analysis and stability studies | La cúpula de mayólica de Santa Maria della Sanità en Nápoles. Configuración geométrica y estudios de estabilidad

This article deals with the survey and representation of the dome of Santa Maria della Sanità in Naples (Italy). The survey led to a geometric analysis of the spatial configuration of the dome, the drawing of its majolica decoration and its structural behavior. The overall objectives of this research can be briefly outlined as follows. First, the study focuses on defining the correct geometry of the dome obtained through accurate surveys. Finally, the study performs a simplified structural analysis of the compound dome-buttress system set within the theoretical framework of the Limit Analysis through the graphical statics

La escalera de ojo abierto del Palacio Di Majo en Nápoles entre geometría y equilibrio

The staircases represent one of the most impressive architectural expressions of the building. Many authors presented a great deal of research over the years on this matter intending to understand how they are designed and laid out. This paper is concerned with a particular structural type of masonry staircase, known as stair with open well or roman staircase. It aims to demonstrate that in masonry-vaulted staircases, the close relationship between the shape and static behavior is particularly evident, and geometry and construction are essential for their stability. The authors have proved this statement by studying Palazzo Di Majo’s open-well staircase in Naples, whose main structure consists of tuff vaults. The first part of the article is substantially descriptive and presents an in-depth description of the geometric and architectural features of the stair. The second part explains all the aspects concerning the equilibrium of this kind of stairways, within Heyman’s theory of masonry.  Las escaleras representan una de las más imponentes expresiones arquitectónicas del edificio. Varios autores han presentado muchas publicaciones a lo largo de los años sobre este tema para entender cómo han sido diseñadas y cómo se sostienen. Este trabajo se trata sobre un tipo específico de escalera de albañilería, conocida como escalera “de ojo abierto” o “a la romana”. El objetivo es demostrar que en las escaleras con bóvedas de fábrica existe una estrecha relación entre la forma y su comportamiento estático. La geometría y la construcción son imprescindibles para su estabilidad. Los autores han demostrado esta tesis estudiando la escalera de ojo abierto del Palacio Di Majo en Nápoles, cuya estructura principal está constituida por bóvedas de toba. La primera parte del artículo presenta una descripción detallada de las características geométricas y arquitectónicas de la escalera. La segunda parte, explica el equilibrio de estas escaleras a partir de la teoría del equilibrio de estructuras de fábrica de Heyman

The open-well staircase of Palazzo Di Majo in Naples between geometry and equilibrium | La escalera de ojo abierto del Palacio Di Majo en Nápoles entre geometría y equilibrio

The staircases represent one of the most impressive architectural expressions of the building. Many authors presented a great deal of research over the years on this matter intending to understand how they are designed and laid out. This paper is concerned with a particular structural type of masonry staircase, known as stair with open well or roman staircase. It aims to demonstrate that in masonry-vaulted staircases, the close relationship between the shape and static behavior is particularly evident, and geometry and construction are essential for their stability. The authors have proved this statement by studying Palazzo Di Majo’s open-well staircase in Naples, whose main structure consists of tuff vaults. The first part of the article is substantially descriptive and presents an in-depth description of the geometric and architectural features of the stair. The second part explains all the aspects concerning the equilibrium of this kind of stairways, within Heyman’s theory of masonry

SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Induced Atypical Immune Responses in Antibody Defects: Everybody Does their Best

Background: Data on immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with Primary Antibody Deficiencies (PAD) are limited to infected patients and to heterogeneous cohorts after immunization. Methods: Forty-one patients with Common Variable Immune Deficiencies (CVID), six patients with X-linked Agammaglobulinemia (XLA), and 28 healthy age-matched controls (HD) were analyzed for anti-Spike and anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) antibody production, generation of Spike-specific memory B-cells, and Spike-specific T-cells before vaccination and one week after the second dose of BNT162b2 vaccine. Results: The vaccine induced Spike-specific IgG and IgA antibody responses in all HD and in 20% of SARS-CoV-2 naive CVID patients. Anti-Spike IgG were detectable before vaccination in 4 out 7 CVID previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 and were boosted in six out of seven patients by the subsequent immunization raising higher levels than patients naïve to infection. While HD generated Spike-specific memory B-cells, and RBD-specific B-cells, CVID generated Spike-specific atypical B-cells, while RBD-specific B-cells were undetectable in all patients, indicating the incapability to generate this new specificity. Specific T-cell responses were evident in all HD and defective in 30% of CVID. All but one patient with XLA responded by specific T-cell only. Conclusion: In PAD patients, early atypical immune responses after BNT162b2 immunization occurred, possibly by extra-follicular or incomplete germinal center reactions. If these responses to vaccination might result in a partial protection from infection or reinfection is now unknown. Our data suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection more effectively primes the immune response than the immunization alone, possibly suggesting the need for a third vaccine dose for patients not previously infected

Structural failures due to anthropogenic sinkholes in the urban area of Naples

The heritage in masonry fits in any type of intervention both from the point of view of morphology than from the point of view of the material. The ability to find a new equilibrium configuration after each variation corresponds to a real capacity for adaptation. In current terms it could be said that masonry buildings embody the prototype of resilient structures. As known, the only problematic able to put in crisis a huge masonry building is the failure of the subsoil. In this sense the work aims to analyze, by relating the planimetric layout of the underground cavities of Naples with some recent collapses of structures that occurred in the city, highlighting collapse mechanisms in static terms. By analyzing the structure per macro elements, starting from individual structural components that constitute it, it is possible to trace to the global mechanism of the entire collapse and to attribute, with certainty, the cause to the corresponding existing empty. Another aspect of the problem concerns the triggering joint cause of these structural failures which generate the fragility of the subsoil. In other words, the accidental cause that induces the collapse of the structure, the same structure which has been standing for decades on the same cavity. This work intends to bring to light an already known issue to which a solution is not immediate (unless filling the cavity) but the awareness of the existence of these cavities should lead to more attention to future planning

Analysis and Landscape Planning. The Landscape Project of Taburno-Camposauro.

This work focuses on the development of the Landscape Analysis in a purposeful way to identify a new strategy in the planning process. An approach in which the cognitive analysis, at the base of the study of the landscape, do use a methodological paradigm that does not only consider the data and information from different disciplines, but also their proper aggregation oriented towards the identification of Areas of Landscape from which to assess the more appropriate type of action or intervention. The National Legislation in Italy applies the Legislative Decree no. 42/2004 which, on the one hand, considers the landscape as the result of historical and anthropogenic transformations and their interaction with the natural environment, on the other hand, seems to constrain the possible future transformations only to their compatibility with the needs of conservation and protection of landscapes already established (constraint-protection-preservation). The aim of this work, is to recognize to the landscape an evolutionary character: landscape project for the enhancement and restoration of existing landscapes, but also for creating new landscapes by using compatible transformations with the existing values consolidated. It’s about overcoming the constrained vision of landscape plans and to reach that of the transformability limits of the territory; in this way the Landscape Planning becomes a tool for the management of the Landscape

The role of geometry on stability of large domes: Roman Pantheon as cultural emblem and constructive reference

This paper focuses on large domes’ building techniques and use of geometric rules in the design and construction of religious structures. A quick excursus on the cultural heritage in Italy and abroad highlights how domes have been used almost exclusively in sacred architecture, rather than in civic buildings, for most of history. Born of the need to cover large spaces without facing with the encumbrance of vertical elements, the domed cover, ideal for places of worship crowded by hundreds of faithful, has assumed, over the centuries, a symbolic meaning to every religion. In fact, identifying the shape of a large dome in the urban landscape immediately means to recognize the sacredness of that place. The ancient Romans who believed in the gods, Christians, Hindus and Muslims, all used this very peculiar architectural element in churches or mosques to express a kind of spiritual symbolism and, as mentioned, the fact that the shape of the dome arises from a functional reason, it has over time got pushed aside. Furthermore, the circle is a geometric form that possesses a great symbolic force, generated by the idea that, having no beginning and no end, reflected perfection, the eternal, and also the heavens. In this perspective, drawing a circle both in the horizontal and vertical section, the ultimate paradigm for all monumental domes was the Roman Pantheon which, with its centrally placed "oculus" or “eye of heaven” proved to be a model for all other domes after it, retaining its position as the most ancient and well preserved dome in the world. Therefore, this article concentrates on the study of the Pantheon as an emblem and reference model for all monumental domes. By analyzing the “meaning” of its architectural design and its structural and geometric characteristics, the research dissects a comparison between similar large domes, similar to each other, such as that of St. Francesco di Paola in Naples and the Mosta Dome in Malta. The comprehension of these valuable architectural artifacts lies between the search for their original geometry and the identification of structural models through which their shape was defined, namely the geometric and proportional rules of the past