A procedure for the seismic risk assessment of the cultural heritage

In the last decades, several researchers have proposed procedures for the evaluation of the seismic risk of buildings with different structural typologies. The main aim of these studies is the possibility of giving a tool to engineers and Authorities for assessing the seismic vulnerability of the existing building patrimony and, thus, planning the interventions. In the practical applications, the widespread approach expresses the seismic risk as a function of an economic parameter and a safety index. This procedure, which is regulated by the actual Italian codes, has been calibrated for the application to residential buildings. However, this approach appears to be inadequate to analyze cultural buildings due to their peculiar aspects, which cannot be re-conducted to the residential building ones, and for which a specific and deep analysis is needed. The present paper deals with this topic by proposing a new procedure, specifically calibrated on historic and/or cultural structures, which makes use of additional economic parameters to consider the historic, artistic, architectural, cultural, and socio-economical character of these buildings. The main advantage of the proposed procedure is the simplicity of implementation that may guarantee its diffusion in practical applications, and the possibility of its extension to other kinds of structures which, due to their characteristics, cannot be treated as residential buildings. The procedure and its advantages are here discussed by evaluating the seismic risk class of the Norman tower of Craco (Matera, Italy).