Seismic response and soil-structure dynamic interaction for a large building in Florence

The New Law Court complex of Florence, that is at present under construction, consists of some buildings having different heights, maximum 77 meters from g.l., covers a surface of about 30,000 m2 extended, and has a total volume of 750,000 m3, about 550,000 m3 of which is in elevation. Given the importance of the work, numerous geotechnical investigations, both in situ and in laboratory, have been carried out, and studies on specific topics have been developed within the framework of a research program developed through a collaboration with the Municipality of Florence. Among these the study of local seismic response and an analysis of the soil-structure dynamic interaction were carried out, the results of which will be presented in this paper.