Preventive Conservation of Vernacular Adobe Architecture at Seismic Risk: The Case Study of a World Heritage Historical City

Heritage is strengthened through proactive actions, known as preventive conservation, that are considered before earthquakes, rather than reactive actions addressed when the emergency situation occurs. Considering that there are several regions around the world with very active seismicity, conservat...

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Main Authors: Neda Haji Sadeghi, Hamed Azizi-Bondarabadi, Mariana Correia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Buildings
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/1/134
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author Neda Haji Sadeghi
Hamed Azizi-Bondarabadi
Mariana Correia
author_facet Neda Haji Sadeghi
Hamed Azizi-Bondarabadi
Mariana Correia
author_sort Neda Haji Sadeghi
collection DOAJ
description Heritage is strengthened through proactive actions, known as preventive conservation, that are considered before earthquakes, rather than reactive actions addressed when the emergency situation occurs. Considering that there are several regions around the world with very active seismicity, conservation interventions should guarantee human safety and the improvement of the inhabitant’s living conditions while keeping alive the earthen fabric and adobe buildings, thus preserving the lives of the residents but also preserving cultural heritage in the face of earthquakes. The main aim of this paper is to define a comprehensive conservation procedure addressing the preventive conservation of vernacular adobe vaulted houses in Yazd, an Iranian World Heritage property, since 2017. The fundamental phases of this procedure, which this paper’s structure is based on, include introducing the case study and addressing the conservation objectives, the assessment of significance and value, the seismic criteria, the conservation strategies, seismic safety assessment, and decision-making on interventions. The comprehensive preventive conservation procedure presented in this paper was determined by relevant conservation criteria, which contributed to an adequate seismic-retrofitted intervention design. This conservation approach requires evaluation of the seismic performance and the buildings’ safety, through which the decision regarding intervention could be made. Accordingly, this research also dealt with the seismic safety assessment of an adobe building through numerical research work performed using the software HiStrA Ver.2022.1.6. Based on the numerical results, decisions on the need and on the extent of intervention techniques were addressed. In addition, a comparative study was performed on different seismic strengthening techniques available in the literature to define fundamental conservation criteria. In this way, there are more chances for human lives to be preserved if an earthquake occurs.
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spelling doaj-art-c86840f889fa4cb98486cbbf1f776b812025-08-20T02:36:05ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092025-01-0115113410.3390/buildings15010134Preventive Conservation of Vernacular Adobe Architecture at Seismic Risk: The Case Study of a World Heritage Historical CityNeda Haji Sadeghi0Hamed Azizi-Bondarabadi1Mariana Correia2Department of Art and Architecture, Yazd University, Yazd 8915818411, IranDepartment of Civil Engineering, Yazd University, Yazd 8915818411, IranCIAUD-UPT—Hub of CIAUD Research Center at UPT, Department of Architecture and Multimedia Gallaecia, UPT—Portucalense University, 4200-072 Porto, PortugalHeritage is strengthened through proactive actions, known as preventive conservation, that are considered before earthquakes, rather than reactive actions addressed when the emergency situation occurs. Considering that there are several regions around the world with very active seismicity, conservation interventions should guarantee human safety and the improvement of the inhabitant’s living conditions while keeping alive the earthen fabric and adobe buildings, thus preserving the lives of the residents but also preserving cultural heritage in the face of earthquakes. The main aim of this paper is to define a comprehensive conservation procedure addressing the preventive conservation of vernacular adobe vaulted houses in Yazd, an Iranian World Heritage property, since 2017. The fundamental phases of this procedure, which this paper’s structure is based on, include introducing the case study and addressing the conservation objectives, the assessment of significance and value, the seismic criteria, the conservation strategies, seismic safety assessment, and decision-making on interventions. The comprehensive preventive conservation procedure presented in this paper was determined by relevant conservation criteria, which contributed to an adequate seismic-retrofitted intervention design. This conservation approach requires evaluation of the seismic performance and the buildings’ safety, through which the decision regarding intervention could be made. Accordingly, this research also dealt with the seismic safety assessment of an adobe building through numerical research work performed using the software HiStrA Ver.2022.1.6. Based on the numerical results, decisions on the need and on the extent of intervention techniques were addressed. In addition, a comparative study was performed on different seismic strengthening techniques available in the literature to define fundamental conservation criteria. In this way, there are more chances for human lives to be preserved if an earthquake occurs.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/1/134preventive conservationvernacularadobe heritageearthen architecturevaulted houseseismic safety
spellingShingle Neda Haji Sadeghi
Hamed Azizi-Bondarabadi
Mariana Correia
Preventive Conservation of Vernacular Adobe Architecture at Seismic Risk: The Case Study of a World Heritage Historical City
Buildings
preventive conservation
vernacular
adobe heritage
earthen architecture
vaulted house
seismic safety
title Preventive Conservation of Vernacular Adobe Architecture at Seismic Risk: The Case Study of a World Heritage Historical City
title_full Preventive Conservation of Vernacular Adobe Architecture at Seismic Risk: The Case Study of a World Heritage Historical City
title_fullStr Preventive Conservation of Vernacular Adobe Architecture at Seismic Risk: The Case Study of a World Heritage Historical City
title_full_unstemmed Preventive Conservation of Vernacular Adobe Architecture at Seismic Risk: The Case Study of a World Heritage Historical City
title_short Preventive Conservation of Vernacular Adobe Architecture at Seismic Risk: The Case Study of a World Heritage Historical City
title_sort preventive conservation of vernacular adobe architecture at seismic risk the case study of a world heritage historical city
topic preventive conservation
vernacular
adobe heritage
earthen architecture
vaulted house
seismic safety
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/1/134
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AT marianacorreia preventiveconservationofvernacularadobearchitectureatseismicriskthecasestudyofaworldheritagehistoricalcity