ABSTRACT
In the last decade the engineering community has seen the publication of a number of performancebased earthquake engineering guidelines (e.g., FEMA, 2000) which aim at ensuring certain levels of structural performance for specified levels of seismic hazard. From a structural design perspective, the new concepts introduced in these guidelines should be reflected in changes of the main objectives implied in seismic design codes which, until now, have been largely focused on strength control and collapse prevention.
