Regulatory evolution and progress in architectural construction

Abstract

With the conversion of MV-201-72 into NBE-EL-90 various aspects related structural systems of brick walls have fallen in disuse because of questions foreign to their real possibilites for contributing solutions to buildings. Because it is the system according to which the nearly all the buildings built before 1970 were constructed, these considerations need to preferably encompass structural verification procedures of that which has already been constructed. The current state of knowledge and criteria at the international level with its concretion in regulations from countries of our cultural orbit, such as Italy is succintly expressed and may serve as a reference. The recent tendencies of Italian specialists, relegatin mathematical tools to a secondary plane and stressing qualitative knowledge based on a historical treatment furthermore entails a powerful reason for reflection on the bases of the science of construction. This content is developed in the post-graduate course "Diagnosi, reparació i manteniment d'edificis d'habitatge" (Diagnosis, repair and maintenance of housing buildings) now being imparted at the Barcelona School of Architecture, especially that related to the verification of the degree of structural safety of existing buildings.