The quake-proof houses by Porcheddu Company in the Messina reconstruction after the earthquake of 1908

The earthquake in 1908 razed to the grounds the town of Messina and Reggio Calabria, with a lot of buildings literally pulverized. Together with the loss of many thousands of lifes and the enormous amount of damages it came the destruction of the cultural heritage. Immediately after this quake, the Porcheddu Company of Turin (importer in North Italy of the Hennebique building system) was charged of 13 projects in Messina: among these, the economical houses for the “Unione Messinese” in the Orto Botanico district, the Lombardo quarter, the Homes for the State employees, with pillars made of a prefabricated steel cage and on site poured concrete. This paper is mainly based on unpublished material in the Porcheddu archive, hosted at DISEG in the Turin Polytechnic, focusing on the feature analysis of the quake-proof Porcheddu buildings in the Messina are