Seismic Retrofitting Project

This project seeks to adapt seismic retrofitting techniques previously developed by Getty to better match the equipment, materials, and technical skills available in many countries with earthen sites. Using four Peruvian historic earthen buildings representing typologies across Latin America, the project is designing, testing, and implementing seismic retrofitting techniques and maintenance programs with locally available materials to improve the structural performance and safety of earthen buildings while minimizing loss of historic fabric.

• A retrofitting design for the Church of Kuñotambo which used local materials and techniques to stabilize and strengthen the structure. Retrofitting included strengthening the church’s foundation, reconstruction of supporting buttresses, and the installation of timber ring beams, corner keys, and roofing.
• An in-depth study and program of testing and stabilization to protect the Church of Kuñotambo’s wall paintings during construction.
• Conservation of the Church of Kuñotambo’s wall paintings and gilded 18th-century altar in addition to sculpture and other artworks.
• A program for testing and numerical modeling of building prototypes that evaluates structural performance during an earthquake, developed in collaboration with Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) and the University of Minho
• Material and structural characterization of the four building prototypes by Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, which executed over 300 static tests at its facilities in Lima
• Development of construction documents and work on the seismic reinforcement of three of the four prototype sites, demonstrating technically feasible solutions to seismic retrofitting in countries where access to high-tech construction materials and professional expertise is limited
• Peer-reviewed guidelines for the implementation of retrofitting designs and techniques that have been adopted into the Peruvian National Building Regulations, with the potential for application throughout Latin America.

Conservation Institute: Claudia Cancino, Project Manager, Senior Project Specialist; Elena Macchioni, Project Specialist; Susan Macdonald, Head of Field Projects; Benjamin Marcus, Project Specialist; Leslie Rainer, Senior Project Specialist (Wall paintings conservation)

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú: Daniel Torrealva, Professor and former Dean, Escuela de Ciencias Ingeniería; Erika Vicente, Research Assistant, Escuela de Ciencias Ingeniería

University of Minho; Paulo Lourenço, Professor, Department of Civil Engineer, Giorgos Karanikoloudis, PhD candidate, Department of Civil Engineer

Ministerio de Cultura del Perú; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Escuela de Ciencias e Ingeniería; the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Bath (2010–2012); the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, University College London (2013–2014)

GCI Council and Friends of Heritage Preservation