Palazzo Veneziano and
Palazzo Merlato
Ravenna
Italy, 2010-2011
Client: Comune di Ravenna
The Ravenna Town Hall (Palazzo Comunale di Ravenna) looks onto the main square of the city, Piazza del Popolo. The project concerned the seismic vulnerability analysis and interventions for mitigating the structural defects of the monumental complex where the Municipal Residence of the Municipality of Ravenna is located.
The complex consists of two adjacent buildings joined by an archway (called Cavalcavia) opening onto Via Cairoli. One of these buildings is the ancient Palazzetto Veneziano, situated to the north of the square. The Venetians erected it as the seat of their governors after they conquered the city. To the west of the square sits Palazzo del Comune (also known as Palazzo Merlato), which was constructed between the late 17th and 18th centuries on the spot where the river Padenna flowed during the Middle Ages.
A global seismic analysis and local kinematic analyses were run to evaluate the safety of the complex. The two most critical zones were then subjected to further sophisticated analyses utilizing a nonlinear total strain crack constitutive bond.
