Architectural vs. structural constraints in urban multi-hazard safety assessment

The Romanian great Vrancea earthquakes and other hazards affect large areas where heritage buildings and communities are at risk. Although the legal and technical framework exists since over a decade, the damage extent and the life safety of communities to multiple threats are not evaluated, as large data bases, sophisticated software and budgets are required. The lack of interdisciplinary university curricula and of simplified risk assessment methods, to be jointly understood and applied by architects, urban planners and structural engineers, as well as by authorities and citizens, represent additional critical constraints. The necessary approaches are at the borderline between architecture, urban planning and structural or earthquake engineering. The study of a protected area in Bucharest, presented in the paper, aims to ensure a secure habitat patrimony, using a multi-criteria evaluation of: cultural identity and functional value of buildings and materials, exposure to multiple hazards, vulnerability assessment and mapping, for alternative impact scenarios, using current data.