A Case Study for Seismic Assessment and Restoration of Historic Buildings: the Arditi Residence

Abstract

This chapter focuses on seismic assessment and restoration of one of the numerous historical buildings in Turkey; the Arditi Residence in Urla, Izmir. It is a 150 years old two story masonry building located in a seismically active region. From the structural point of view, the building can be regarded as a mixed system since three different techniques had been used during the construction. The Arditi Residence has been investigated in three stages: preliminary evaluation, seismic performance assessment and intervention. The building has been observed to possess serious deficiencies, which are not easy to handle due to the complexity of the construction system. On the other hand, the proposed intervention strategies should have the minimal impact on the historic information building carrying and provide a certain level of safety against the seismic demands. Overall, the chapter presents a contribution to seismic assessment and restoration of historical structures on the basis of Arditi Residence, a unique historical building with serious problems in an earthquake-prone region.