Structural analysis of high-rise buildings under horizontal loads: A study on the Intesa Sanpaolo Tower in Turin

In the last decades, the expansion of high-rise buildings has reached even those countries in which the past architectural conceptions and the municipal regulations have hampered their construction. Suffice it to say that in Turin (Italy), in the last few years, two tall buildings have been designed, both with an height comparable to the Mole Antonelliana, which has so far been the major landmark building of the city. The design of these structures is very complex. Indeed, from the structural viewpoint, the horizontal actions caused by wind and earthquakes represent a key issue for the designers. Therefore, the choice of an appropriate model able to thoroughly identify the foremost parameters governing the response of the structure is all along crucial. For this purpose, in this paper the three-dimensional formulation of Carpinteri et al. (2010) [32], which evaluates the displacements and the lateral load distribution of external actions in tall buildings having any combination of bracings, is reviewed. The present work evaluates the effectiveness of the method by means of a numerical example regarding the 39-storey (166 m) Intesa Sanpaolo Tower, designed by Renzo Piano. The results are compared, in terms of displacements and rotations, with those shown in the final project of the building. Finally curves concerning the main internal actions of a single bracing are presented.