Design Methodology for Seismic Upgrading of Substandard Reinforced Concrete Structures

This article presents a design methodology for seismic upgrading of existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. The methodology is based on the modification of the deflected shape of the structure so as to achieve a near-uniform distribution of interstorey drift along the building height, thereby eliminating damage localization. Yield Point Spectra are utilized for the definition of demand and a direct displacement-based design approach is implemented. The fundamental steps of the method are described in detail, including a systematic evaluation of assumptions and limitations. A full-scale tested structure is used as a case study for assessment and verification of the proposed methodology. Alternative retrofit scenarios are set according to target response and performance levels. The role of the target deflected response shape and its influence on the outcome of the retrofit strategy is investigated. The viability of the alternative retrofit scenarios is studied for different ground motions including near-fault earthquake records.     

Design and Assessment Spectra for Retrofitting of RC Buildings

This article presents a novel approach for deriving Retrofit Design Spectra (RDS) that are intended for use in preliminary development and assessment of seismic upgrading scenarios of existing structures. The new spectral representation relates the characteristics of the intervention method chosen as the core of the upgrading strategy, with the ductility and strength demand of the retrofitted structure. The methodology utilized for the derivation of the RDS is based on the Capacity Spectrum Method where the capacity curve is described by relationships for global and local intervention methods that are parameterized in terms of fundamental response quantities. The proposed spectra provide direct insight into the complex interrelation between the characteristics of the intervention method and the implications of the upgrading scenario on demand. Alternative retrofit solutions are thus assessed in an efficient way. A case study is used to illustrate practical application of the new approach.     

Urbanities: Grecanici Migration to the City of Reggio Calabria,South Italy

This paper discusses degrees of urbanity or urbanities using ethnographic data from research conducted among the Grecanici communities in the city of Reggio Calabria, south Italy. Urbanization in south Italy is usually associated with social and territorial mobility, education and natural disasters. It is further discussed in terms of a rural/urban duality that masks rather than reveals possible diversities concerning the social life in the city and the links between rural and urban which in the urban environment follow different trajectories. Following the premise that the effects of urbanization cannot be homogenously felt by the actors, I follow the Grecanici migration to the city of Reggio Calabria in the decade of the 1950s in order to argue that urbanities are directly informed by factors such as kinship, neighbourhood identification, education and socio‐economic status.     

Commensurable language and incommensurable claims among the Greek linguistic minority of Southern Italy

Abstract

More than ever, minorities reflexively engage with global frameworks in their endeavour to promote distinctiveness. Scaling local diversity through specific frameworks has resulted in familiar commensurable languages of international claim recognition. By presenting the case of the Grecanici – a Greek linguistic minority of Southern Italy – this paper critically assesses the creative mingling of global structures and local particularities which effects commensurable languages of representation. These languages in their global dimension reveal a certain degree of commensurate social commentary between global agents and local actors. This commentary is veryoften structured around master tropes such as awareness, victimization and consumption. Despite their global applicability, languages of representation do not necessarily imply commensurability at the local level. Often it is only after careful mediation by skilled rhetors that commensurability on a local level becomes possible.