Antiseismic traditional architecture across the world: stone, wood, clay and brick materials

Abstract eng:
Traditional societies concerned with seismic hazard all around the world, tried to found solutions, at any time of the human history, for a better resistance of building, in order to protect their lives and goods. Earthquakes didn’t kill people but buildings do it surely without an appropriate way of conception and construction. This ability to conceive and experiment earthquake resistant construction techniques with a transmission to the next generations is what CUEBC works until the 80ths qualified as “local seismic culture” (F. Ferrigni, B. Helly). These local seismic cultures appeared during historical times through the world and now continue to be transmitted in traditional societies (G. Poursoulis, 1999, 2000, 2007). These earthquake resistant constructions used natural traditional materials like clay, wood, stone, bricks, universally widespread and used because easy to found around the settlements. In our “developed” societies, the systematic use of concrete from the beginning of the th 20 century lead to less use these old, traditional and natural materials. But to day, the climatic changes, the pollution and the many problems we meet with the global warming lead to a political mobilisation for mitigation and these old “long-term materials “ easy to found, an to reuse as centuries show us, became once again the material for future conception. In front of the seismic hazard and long-term development questions, it will be of interest to regard traditional materials and local seismic cultures as a solution for hazards mitigation, especially in societies less economically developed. The aims of this paper is to present many of these local seismic culture through the world and the historical periods in order to give them a chance to be considered for their specificities.

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