groin vault

Examples of groin vault in the following topics:

• Roman Architecture under the Republic

  • Multiple arches can be used together to create a vault.
  • The simplest type is known as a barrel vault.
  • When two barrel vaults intersect at right angles, they create a groin vault.
  • Furthermore, because of the direction, the thrust is concentrated along this x-shape, so only the corners of a groin vault need to be grounded.
  • This allows an architect or engineer to manipulate the space below the groin vault in a variety of ways.

• Italian Architecture 1200-1400

  • Other characteristics of the Gothic style include the increased use of flying buttresses to support walls, and a shift towards more slender and ornate columns, and vaulted ceilings.
  • The interior of the Cathedral, including the groin vaults and pointed arches, demonstrates the Gothic elements of its architecture quite clearly.

• Cluny

  • Romanesque Architecture: In keeping with the Romanesque style, Cluny was characterized by its massive quality, thick walls, round arches, sturdy piers, groin vaults, large towers and decorative arcading.
  • The construction of Cluny II, ca. 955-981, begun after the destructive Hungarian raids of 953, led the tendency for Burgundian churches to be stone-vaulted.

• Architecture

  • Massive cylindrical piers, groin vaults and low-relief sculptural decoration support rounded arches, arcades, characterize Romanesque churches.
  • The desire to increase window space drove the development of new structural techniques, which constitute most of the other distinctive features of the style: pointed arches, rib vaults, buttresses and pinnacles.
  • It is typified by the simplicity of its vaults and tracery, the use of lancet windows and smaller amounts of sculptural decoration than either Romanesque or later varieties of Gothic.
  • Increasing proliferation and elaboration of sculptural decoration and tracery and the emergence of more complex and decorative vaults marked the transition to Decorated Gothic (late 13th-late 14th centuries).

• Romanesque Art

  • Combining features of Roman and Byzantine buildings along with other local traditions, Romanesque architecture is known by its massive quality, thick walls, round arches, sturdy piers, groin vaults, large towers, and decorative arcades.

• Architecture during the Severan Dynasty

  • Architecturally, the Baths of Caracalla demonstrate the impressive mastery of Roman building and the importance of concrete and the vaulting systems developed by the Romans to create large and impressive buildings with ceilings spanning great distances.
  • This artist’s reconstruction shows a groin-vaulted interior, Composite columns, and decorative panels on the ceiling.

• Architecture of the Holy Roman Empire

  • The Romanesque period (10th - early 13th century) is characterized by semi-circular arches, robust appearance, small paired windows, and groin vaults.

• Arches, Vaults, and Domes

  • The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance.
  • When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required.
  • Buttresses are used to supply resistance when intersecting vaults are employed.
  • The inclusion of domes represents a wider sense of the word vault.
  • Explain the architectural structure and purpose of arches, vaults, and domes.

• Gothic Cathedrals

  • The Gothic vault, unlike the semi-circular vault of Roman and Romanesque buildings, can be used to roof rectangular and irregularly shaped plans such as trapezoids.
  • This enabled architects to raise vaults much higher than was possible in Romanesque architecture.
  • In Gothic architecture the pointed arch is used in every location where a vaulted shape is called for, both structurally and decoratively.
  • The increase in the use of large windows during the Gothic period is directly related to the use of the pointed arch, the ribbed vault, and the flying buttress.

• Characteristics of Romanesque Architecture

  • Romanesque design is also characterized by the presence of arches and openings, arcades, columns, and vaults and roofs.
  • In most parts of Europe, Romanesque columns were massive, as they supported thick upper walls with small windows and sometimes heavy vaults.
  • In churches, typically the aisles are vaulted, but the nave is roofed with timber, as is the case at both Peterborough and Ely.
  • In Italy where open wooden roofs are common, and tie beams frequently occur in conjunction with vaults, the timbers have often been decorated, as at San Miniato al Monte, Florence.
  • Vaults of stone or brick took on several different forms and showed marked development during the period, evolving into the pointed, ribbed arch characteristic of Gothic architecture.