PSI - Issue 78

Giuseppe Brandonisio et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 78 (2026) 2147–2153

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The case study is part of the broader San Giovanni a Carbonara complex. The area on which this complex was built originally lay just outside the ancient Greco-Roman city walls. It was later incorporated into the city with the construction of a new defensive wall, an intervention promoted by Alfonso II on the eastern front of the city. In its current configuration, the complex is composed of five distinct parts built during different historical periods, as shown in Fig. 1: the Cloister of Ladislao (1343), the Aragonese Wall (1484) with scarped cylindrical towers, the Portiera Cloister (1514–1522), the New Cloister (1570), and the final expansion carried out in 1707. The monastery was officially dissolved by government decrees issued on July 12 and 20, 1799, after which the complex was repurposed for military use, while the church was entrusted to the parish priest of Santa Sofia. The first structural transformations date back to 1801 and were designed by the military engineer Michele d’Aprea. In 1808, the facility was converted into a naval hospital, and the church lost its sacristy, which was located within the cloister area. In 1821, the complex was transformed into a military college, then into a barracks, and finally into judicial offices. These successive changes in use led to significant alterations of the original monastic structure 2.2. Description of the case study The complex is a conglomerate of variously assembled structural units. The two towers facing Via Cesare Rosaroll (formerly Via Carbonara) and Via Foria are part of the ancient city walls, dating back to 1484. Based on the historical chronology, five distinct construction units have been identified and grouped to form the current plan layout analyzed in this study. The entire complex is built using yellow Neapolitan tuff masonry, with varying wall thicknesses.

Fig. 2 Identification of local structural units

The horizontal structures (floor systems) display a variety of construction typologies, including small tuff barrel vaults with embedded metal profiles, reinforced concrete slabs with steel beams, and later reinforced concrete and hollow-brick floors. In detail, and according to the terminology shown inFig. 2, the oldest portion of the case study is Body 1, dating back to 1484. It includes the main façade of the entire complex and the two bastions at its ends, all developed over four levels. Body 2 is the three-storey portion located behind the main façade, built during the expansion of 1707. Body 3 is a three-storey structure surrounding a cloister, and dates back to 1570. Body 4 corresponds to the part of the building constructed in 1343, also three storeys high, which develops around the so called Cloister of Ladislao. Body 5 consists of the two-storey section built in 1514, which encloses the so-called Custodian’s Cloister. Body 6 is a single-storey connecting element between Body 1 and Body 5. Body 7 consists of a single-storey structure that runs along the intersection of Via Foria and Via Cesare Rosaroll. This subdivision allows