ABSTRACT
This chapter provides different building typologies, initially designed for functions, very far from the current museum destination. The study on the seismic vulnerability of historical museum buildings has shown the potentialities of an integrated methodology for collecting data on the mechanical properties of architectural heritage. The buildings were under the ordinary maintenance control of the Superintendence officers. The considerable amount of quality data collected with this method permitted the seismic verification and the possibility to formulate a preventive conservation strategy. The seismic vulnerability evaluation should be integrated as a phase of the preventive process for safeguarding the historical buildings. The vulnerability analysis should be part of the practice of the procedure for carrying out a planned and preventive conservation. A thorough treatment of the problem of upgrading the seismic capacity of existing buildings is first developed in the 1985 version of the National Building Code.
