Keeping kids safe

Tuscany inaugurated its first anti-seismic school building in Gallicano, in the province of Lucca. The school, which will house over 400 elementary and middle-school students, is not only able to withstand quakes measuring up to 9 degrees on the Mercalli scale, but it is also self-sustainable. Gallicano is located in a high-risk zone for quakes, explain local authorities. Accordingly, the school’s anti-seismic design is based on 46 cylinder-shaped ‘seismic isolators’ upon which the 1500m2 structure rests. In the event of an earthquake, the isolators would absorb the movements and force from the shocks. ‘This is a novel building technique taken from the Japanese experience and modeled to meet our needs against the threat of earthquakes in Italy’, explained architect of the project, Alfredo Macerini. ‘Other buildings being constructed in Italy using these same techniques are located in such high-risk zones as Francavilla, Mulazzo and Fivizzano. In addition to ensuring safety and stability during a quake, they are all functional, aesthetically pleasing and ecological structures’, Macerini added. Tuscany, along with Lazio and Molise, adopted legislation calling for anti-seismic construction following the 2006 earthquake in the central Italian region of Molise.In 2009, the Tuscan region set aside 19 million euro toward the reconstruction of 51 state schools. According to regional authorities, 1,454 public buildings, among them 964 schools, need to be brought up to code.