Vaults

Examples of Vaults in the following topics:

• 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.

• Roman Architecture under the Republic

  • Multiple arches can be used together to create a vault.
  • The simplest type is known as a barrel vault.
  • Barrel vaults consist of a line of arches in a row that create the shape of a tunnel.
  • When two barrel vaults intersect at right angles, they create a groin vault.
  • These are easily identified by the x-shape they create in the ceiling of the vault.

• 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.

• Mycenaean Architecture

  • The Mycenaeans also relied on new techniques of building to create supportive archways and vaults.
  • This tomb and others like it are demonstrations of corbeled vaulting that covers an expansive open space.
  • The vault is 44 feet high and 48 feet in diameter.
  • The citadel site of Tiyrns is known for its Cyclopean vaulted tunnels that run next to its walls and its tightly controlled access to the megaron and the main rooms of the citadel.
  • The Treasure of Atreus and others tombs like it are demonstrations of corbeled vaulting that covers an expansive open space.

• 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 groin vaults and pointed arches, which were so essential in Gothic architecture, are present in the Florence Cathedral.

• Cathedrals

  • The technique of building high vaults in masonry was revived and painted murals came into fashion.
  • Many large cathedrals and abbey churches had been constructed by the mid 12th century and the engineering skills required to build high arches, stone vaults, tall towers, and the like were well established.
  • The style evolved to one that was less heavy, had larger windows, lighter-weight vaulting supported on stone ribs, and above all, the pointed arch that is the defining characteristic of the style now known as Gothic.
  • With thinner walls, larger windows, and high pointed arched vaults, the distinctive flying buttresses developed as a means of support.

• 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).

• The Gothic Revival

  • Columns that support arches are smaller in Gothic buildings, and continue all the way to the roof, where they become part of the vault.
  • In the vault, the pointed arch can be seen in three dimensions where the ribbed vaulting meets in the center of the ceiling of each bay.
  • This ribbed vaulting is another distinguishing feature of Gothic architecture.

• English Gothic Architecture

  • English Gothic architecture (c. 1180–1520) is defined by pointed arches, vaulted roofs, buttresses, large windows, and spires.
  • This style is defined by pointed arches, vaulted roofs, buttresses, large windows, and spires.
  • Vaulting also became more elaborate, with the use of increasing numbers of ribs, initially for structural and later for aesthetic reasons.