The Dialectic Between Heritage Value and Seismic Safety: How to Achieve a Better Balance

Proper treatment of patrimonial structures requires laser-like focus on preserving the heritage value of the structures, while accounting for their inherent seismic resistance and resolving critical vulnerabilities. This is a balancing act – a give and take – that is not for the faint of heart and is one about which there is limited, sometimes conflicting, direction set forth in published engineering guidance documents. Seismic goals ought not always dictate the outcomes of projects that involve patrimonial structures. Acknowledging the dialectic between preservation and seismic safety means accepting that the need to safeguard heritage value might sometimes limit the possibility of meeting certain seismic performance targets. Strategies for rising to the challenges that the dialectic presents are the subject of the paper.