Add to ORKGThe paper deals with the seismic protection of existing buildings using external viscous damper systems to increase energy dissipation capacity. Usually the addition of dissipative diagonals in existing frames has some drawbacks as increment of internal actions in the columns, need of intervention at foundation level, feasibility limits and indirect costs related to the interruption of the building utilization. These problems can be efficiently avoided by placing the dissipative bracings and the relevant foundations outside the existing building. Dampers and bracings can be arranged in very different configurations and the possible solutions can be grouped into different categories, depending on the specific kinematic behavior, but all perm...