How to reconstruct: the technical debate

Once it was agreed that the territorial layout had to remain traditional, the debate shifted to whether to adopt new building techniques for reconstruction and how to make traditional stone masonry seismic-resistant. Rebuilding ‘where it was’ and ‘as it was’ in a seismically active territory would have been completely senseless and exposed the population to further tragedy.

In August 1976, before the second tremors in September, a national competition of ideas was announced on the theme of ‘Housing types and technical procedures for the reconstruction of dwellings destroyed by the earthquake of May 6 1976 in Friuli’. Organised by the Piedmont Region (in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Turin and the University Institute of Architecture of Venice), the competition involved the immediate construction of prototypes at the expense of and under the supervision of the Promoting Committee. The announcement stated that the proposals submitted «had to be designed to support the widest possible use of local labour». No information is available about the participants or winners of this competition. It is only known that the competition was considered an act of disrespectful interference in Friuli-related matters by another Italian Region governed by an opposing political party.

Shortly after the second September tremor, the issue of reconstruction techniques using prefabricated elements was addressed at the ‘Friuli: Industrialised Building for Rapid Reconstruction’ conference, which was held in Udine from September 24 to 29 1976. The event was organised by the Province and the Italian Prefabrication Association for Industrialised Construction (Associazione Italiana Prefabbricazione per l’Edilizia Industrializzata - AIP). The exhibition showcased a series of models that demonstrated potential specific interventions and the technological, typological, production, and organisational alternatives available to address the complex problems of large-scale construction.

Industry professionals, and especially politicians, were made aware of the possibility of adapting the damaged building stock using industrialised components with seismic-resistant characteristics. Two Friulian professionals stood out during the conference proceedings: architect Domenico Bortolotti, who argued that, rather than continuing to think of ‘closed-loop’ industrialised construction as an integrated design and assembly system, it would be preferable to adopt an ‘open’ system characterised by the production of standardised components that could be used in any project by any designer and assembled by specialist installation companies. The second was engineer Marcello Conti, who also emphasised the need for a new approach to urban planning and construction, as well as a careful and accurate evaluation of the factors that define the urban «macrostructure» and the construction «microstructure». He said that the role of an industrialised building sector had to be centred on satisfying all the cultural, economic, and social requirements that underpinned the desire to rebuild Friuli, while fully respecting the environmental characteristics of the territory.

The debate on the variety of methods in using prefabricated solutions continued after the conference. At the beginning of the following year, the AIP and the Province of Udine announced a ‘Competition of ideas for the reconstruction of Friuli’, sponsored by the Extraordinary Government Commissioner, the Regional Government, and the Consortium of Autonomous Public Housing Institutes. By June 15 1977, groups of designers associated with building firms or construction companies had submitted proposals for «the design of building systems for the reconstruction of Friuli that respected the territorial housing needs and traditions». The competition provided for the selection of five winning projects and the commendation of a further five ‘flexible’ building systems suited to the diverse needs of the area, which required safe and effective solutions. Of the 68 proposals submitted, the solutions put forward by Bruno Morassutti and the group comprising Augusto Romano Burelli, Paola Gennaro, and Nino Tenca Montini were selected. Among the commended projects were those of several renowned international architects: Renzo Piano and Peter Rice with Ove Arup & Partners; Lodovico Belgioioso and Nani Valle of the BBPR studio; Federico Marconi and Vittorio Zanfagnini; the group composed of Giuliano Parmegiani, Lorenzo Giacomuzzi Moore, and Anna Buffa. This broad and high-quality participation was completed by the presence of the leading figures in Italian engineering of the era: Silvano Zorzi, who joined forces with the Rizzani company of Udine for this specific project; Riccardo Morandi; and Sergio Musmeci, who was part of Domenico Bortolotti's group. Also present was Roberto Guiducci, the urban planner who, months earlier, had proposed the creation of a linear city between Udine and Pordenone, together with Leonardo Fiori. Also on the list of participants were the artist Giuseppe Zigaina and Luciano Di Sopra, who were part of a collaborative effort between Italian and Yugoslav construction firms.

Despite the high calibre of the competition in terms of both results and participants, prefabrication remained a purely theoretical concept in the reconstruction process following the earthquake in Friuli. The designs submitted by the prominent architects involved deviated significantly from the traditional architecture that was so fervently endorsed by those who vehemently demanded the restoration of Friuli ‘as it was, where it was’. Thus, in June 1980, the Corriere dell'Economia, an economic supplement of the Corriere della Sera newspaper, ran the headline, «Not even the earthquake has succeeded in boosting prefabrication». The heavy prefabrication techniques researched by Bruno Morassutti in his winning project would not be implemented until two years after the competition, in 1979. His approach was employed in the construction of a residential development in Staranzano, in the province of Gorizia, not far from the areas of Friuli devastated by earthquakes.

In 1976, the Centre for Applied Research and Documentation (Centro di Ricerca Applicata e Documentazione - CRAD) of the Udine Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the Institute for Research on Materials and Structures (Zavod za Raziskavo Materiala in Konstrukcij - ZRMK) in Ljubljana, established the ‘Service for experimentation and dissemination of structural building restoration techniques’. This initiative aimed to assist professionals with the methods to be adopted in the restoration of buildings by publishing and distributing design handbooks that were based on advanced studies and know-how in Yugoslavia. The manuals detailed recommended techniques for strengthening stone masonry using steel tie rods and bonding mortars, as well as improving cohesion with structural timber elements such as floors, ceilings, and roofs.

From January 17 to 22 1977, a ‘Seminar on Slovenian Building Repair Techniques’ was organised by CRAD and ZRMK with the support of the government of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, building on the publication of the CRAD handbooks. This international meeting presented the rules and practices used by Slovenian technicians for the seismic retrofitting of masonry buildings, which had also been tested in small villages in the Natisone valleys during the summer and autumn of 1976. During this period, teams of technicians from the civil service of the Slovenian Republic were hosted by residents of Friulian Slavia with the aim of sharing their expertise and know-how. Since these techniques had proven effective in ensuring the stability of buildings even after the September tremors, the conference demonstrated the strong interest of Friulian professionals, technicians, and politicians in the subject. Attendees came to understand how to effectively prepare for post-earthquake reconstruction by using specific seismic retrofitting methods when restoring the heritage of existing buildings.

The dialogue pursued by Italian technicians with the most advanced Slovenian expertise in seismic monitoring and anti-seismic restoration of traditional masonry structures in Slovenian and Friulian territories was championed by the architect Valentino Simonitti from San Pietro al Natisone. He established a technical service to provide assistance to the population of the Natisone Valleys in the recovery of their homes. In May 1978, Simonitti presented this experience in Trieste during a speech at the event called Symposium on the socio-economic and environmental problems of Slovenians in Italy. Citing the pragmatic and sensible nature of peasant culture in the Friulian (and Slovenian) context, he recalled «that repairing a house is always more cost-effective than rebuilding it […], recovering the existing built heritage avoids the need for new infrastructure and surfaces […], and in the recovery work, there is scope above all for local labour, with investments that remain within the community».