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The town of Thera, on the island of Santorin in the Cyclades, Greece
Project of the architect Hassan Fathy, villa at Fayoum, Egypt, 1984
ARCHES, VAULTS AND CUPOLAS
A thousand-year old technology The use of arch, vault and cupola buildingsystems in construction can be traced backto most ancient times. As early as the 3rd millenium BC, theywere very widely used in the countries ofthe Middle East and Egypt.Arches, vaults and cupolas were also fairlywidely used by Roman, Sassanid andByzantine builders before being adopted inmany regions of Europe.Very many applications also emerged inNorth Africa, the SudanSahel belt of Africa,as well as in the northern regions of China.Many of these countries still boast a richheritage of this kind of building, both inurban and in rural areas. In many cases,building them is still a living tradition, wellsuited to modern popular housing needs.
Diversity The numerous types of arches,vaults and cupolas allow a greatvariety of architectural models. As aresult, the technology can adapt tothe most varied climatic conditions:zones which are arid or rainy, cold orhot. Although arches, vaults andcupolas are traditionally used to coverlimited spaces, they are perfectly wellsuited to build much larger spaces, upto tens of meters. Thus they can meetthe needs of any building programme,public or private, lowcost or qualityhousing, granaries, warehouses,shops, schools, public, religiousbuildings, etc.
Recent projectsForgotten by the formal building sector sincethe appearance of concrete, arches, vaultsand cupolas were rediscovered in the 40’s bythe Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathy, whofound inspiration in the popular Nubiantradition for the design and construction ofthe village of New Gourna.
Nubian vaults are an elegant form of extremely low-wood adobe construction originating in Egypt.
Suitability Arches, vaults and cupolas can oftenprovide a good solution for covering allkinds of buildings of all sizes.However, their acceptability andsuitability to genuine needs and localclimatic conditions cannot always betaken for granted.to ensure that structures are welldesigned and well built, specializedtraining must be given at all levels: design,engineering and construction.preliminary surveys are required.
Advantages of arches, vaults andcupolas The materials used for theconstruction of arches, vaults andcupolas can be the same as those usedfor walls and can be found orproduced locally.There is no use of wood, which alsototally eliminates the risks of fire. Themassive nature of these structuresprovides good heat storage capacityand delay in heat transmission,meeting comfort requirements,especially in dry climate regions. Thismass also gives good sound insulation.
Information and reception centre of Auroville, India; International Hassan Fathy Award 1993
ADVANTAGES AND POSSIBILITIES
Economic considerations The cost of buildings using arches,vaults and cupolas varies according tothe materials employed, the complexityof the design and of the constructiontechnique, the size of the structures,and the surface protection used.However, buildings employing sundriedearth bricks (adobe) and protected withan earth render can be built at a lowercost than traditional buildings of asimilar standard.In general, arches, vaults and cupolasmade from water-resistant materialsand protected by durable water-proofing cost more than simplebuildings covered with roof sheeting,but remain less expensive thanbuildings with reinforced concrete slabroofs.
Great aesthetic potentialThe many possibilities of forms, sizes, combinationsof different elements and types of finishing enablehighly attractive spaces to be created.Thus arches, vaults and cupolas can be used notonly for low-cost housing programmes, but also forhigh quality, luxury dwellings.Limitations of useSome local conditions can limit the benefits ofbuilding with arches, vaults and cupolas: rejection bythe inhabitants for cultural reasons, high cost oflabour, high cost of suitable building materials, use inearthquake areas requires special care, lack ofbuilding norms.The technology must be adjusted to a given contextand the techniques must be mastered, to warrant theadvantages of using arches, vaults and cupolas.
Unitarian church charleston
Forms of archesThere are many shapes of arches.
These are mainly characterized by thecurve of the intrados and the ratio ofheight to span.Most arches are connected to the wallby the extrados. The corbel arch, builtusing courses gradually jutting furtherout, and monolithic arches, whetherpoured, tamped or cut out, have noextrados and continue directly on fromthe wall.
ARCHES AND THEIR USES
Geometry1.. Flat Arch. 2. Semi-circular Arch. 3. Segmental Arch. 4 Relieving Arch. 5. Dutch of French Arch.6. Elliptical Arch.7. Parabolic Arch. 8. Four centered Arch. 9. Five centered Arch.10. Seven centered Arch. 11Tree foil Arch.12. Moorish Arch.13. Ogee Arch. 14 Multifoil Arch. 15. Tudor Arch.
Materials of Construction
1. Stone Arch. Rubble Arch, Aslar Arch.
2.Brick Arch. Rough Arch, Axed Brick Arch, Gauged Brick Arch, Arch of Brick bonds.
3. Concrete Arch Concrete block Arch Monolithic Concrete Arch R.C.C Arch
4. Wooden Arch. 5. Metal Arch.
Type of Arch
Types of Arches on Geometry
Flat Arch Semi circular Arch
French of Dutch Arch Segmental Arch
Relieving Arch
Triangular Arch
round Arch or semi-circular arch
unequalroundArch or rampant round arch
segmental Arch or arch that is less than a semicircle
lancet archEquilateral pointed arch
Elliptical Arch
Inflexed Arch
Ogee Arch
Tudor Arch
Parabolic Arch
Reverse Ogee Arch
Rough Brick Arch Axed Brick Arch
Rubble Arch
R.C.C Arch
AshlarArch
Metal Arch
Monolithic Concrete Arch
Wooden Arch
Materials of Construction
Varied uses of archesThe main function of an arch is to bridge an opening
in a wall. By juxtaposing and repeating arches restingon pillars, one can obtain arcades(1), which allow one to create very open coveredspaces. Arcature, or blind arches(2), can be used to lighten the masonry structure orsimply for decorative purposes. A partition arch(3) serves as a loadbearing element in a large roomby supporting roofing elements of restricted length,joists, purlins or even vaults or cupolas. An arch canserve directly as the springer of a cupola(4). In this case the forms of the arch and of thecupola are closely interlinked. Ancient Roman builders relied heavily on therounded arch to span large, open areas. Severalrounded arches placed in-line, end-to-end, form anarcade, such as the Roman aqueduct.Pointed arches were most often used by buildersof Gothic style architecture. The advantage to usinga pointed arch, rather than a circular arch, is that thearch action in a pointed arch produces less thrust atthe base. This innovation allowed for taller andmore closely spaced openings, typical of GothicarchitectureThe parabolic arch employs the principle thatwhen weight is uniformly applied to an arch, theinternal compression resulting from that weight willfollow a parabolic profile. It is commonly used inbridge design, where long spans are needed.
Roman aqueduct near Nimes,France Horseshoe arches (9th century) in the Mosque of Uqba, in Kairouan, Tunisia
Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels, Belgium, with its central, pointed arch window, typical of Gothic architecture.
Tyne Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne, England: An example of a parabolic arch used in bridge design.
Pont d'arcades in Móra d'Ebre, Catalonia: the bridge is designed as a series of parabolic arches.
Hindu Arch
Examples of Arches
Muslim Arch
Gothic Arch
Roman Arch
Time line
The restraining system has a number of important functions, as it controls:1. the geometry and form of the compression member;2. the stability and stiffness of the chord member;
3. the ergonomics of the internal space, the economics of the construction and the aesthetics of the enclosure envelope.
Construction method
The forces on one block in an arch
Why does the Arch stay up?
The arch is made up of blocks, and will stand with nothing attaching them
together. The central block stays up because it is wider at the top than the
bottom, so to fall down it would have to push the neighboring blocks
outwards, as long as these are held securely the central block can't fall
down.
So by a combination of this effect, friction and strong abutments holding the
sides of the arch in, an arch can stay up for thousands of years.
If you build an arch on thin pillars, the outward thrust is easily enough to push the pillars over.
One solution is to build very wide walls called buttresses.
Why can't you build an arch on narrow pillars?
An arch thrusts sideways on its abutments, this is fine if the abutments are the
ground, but if it is built on long narrow pillars, like a cathedral roof, there are
large forces trying to push the pillars or walls over.
One solution is to make the walls very thick forming buttresses which can resist
thesidewaysforces.
Another more impressive, elegant (and more expensive) solution was to build
arches on the side of the main arch. These push inwards counteracting the
outward thrust.
The roof of Kings College Chapel is essentially a large arch which pushes sideways on its supporting walls.
To counteract this force the walls have to be built very thick.
Another solution is to build a partial arch on the side of the main one which pushes inwards on the main arch. This is called a flying buttress.
Flying buttresses at Lincoln cathedral
Falsework consists of temporary structures used in construction to supportspanning or arched structures in order to hold the component in place until itsconstruction is sufficiently advanced to support itself. This usage is specificallycalled centering. Falsework also includes temporary support structuresfor formwork used to mould concrete to form a desired shape,[1] scaffolding togive workers access to the structure being constructed, and shoring which istemporary structural reinforcement used during repairs
Falseworkcentering in the center arch of Monroe Street Bridge, Spokane, Washington. 1911
Villeneuve-sur-Lot - Pont de la Libération
France96 (315)
1919There are two very thin parallel arches with a common deck Linked Image
Largest span of arch
The true arch was something that was unheard of in ancient, or even earlymedieval India. We do get quite a few examples of arch-like openings in theBuddhist rock cut architecture of ancient India.. None of these, however weretrue 'constructed' arches, applying the knowledge of the principles of arch action.They were simply openings that were 'cut out' from a single mass of rock in theshape of an arch. One of the earliest specimens of such 'arches' can be found inthe Barabar Caves in Bihar (3rd centiry BC)2. Such openings went on to occupy areasonably prominent position in the architrectural language of Indian rock cutarchitecture, as we see quite a few recurrences of such openings as it evolvedthrough the years. The 'kirtimukh' or sun windows that are to be found in anumber of the famous caves of Ajanta are in fact similar rock cut arch shapedopenings.(Fig 2.) The Buddhist chaitya halls, too were covered by rock cut barrelvaults, a few brilliant examples being Caves at Ajanta.
Fig 2: Rock cut arches at Ajanta.Fig 1. The true arch
National Assembly Building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Louis Kahn, 1962–83
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Louis Kahn at theauditorium of theKimbell Art Museum,1972.
Colonnade on the north side, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, Louis Kahn, 1966–1972.
natl assembly, louis kahn, ceiling
Louis Kahn's Dacca capital buildings
Lawrence Avenue. This Uptown apartment building's entry would have pleased architect Louis Kahn,(1901-1974)
Now the Arts United Center, 303 E. MainStreet Fort Wayne IN
IIM-Ahmedabad-LouisKahn
Laurie Baker Building Centre is one of them.
The Laurie Baker Centre for Habitat Studies (LBC Abu Abraham's House
Laurie Baker Centre for Habitat Studies
SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association) Building • Laurie Baker • Thiruvananthapuram, KL, India
A residence by Laurie Baker
Valencia Spain Futuristic Buildings
L'Umbracle at the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in Valencia, Spain (1996)
Auditorio de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Nieuw station Mons arch Santiago Calatrava (c) Santiago Calatrava
Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, Valencia, Spain (1996
The Ysios winery in Spain has sued architect Santiago Calatrava
Atrium of Brookfield Place, Toronto, Canada (1992
The Hemisferic, City of Arts and Sciences -Valencia, Spain // Architect: Santiago Calatrava 1998
La SagradaFamilia’spassion facade
Colonia Güell
Casa Batlo
Islam Modern Building
vault, in building construction, a structural member consisting of an arrangement of arches, usually forming a ceiling or roof
The basic barrel form, which appeared first in ancient Egypt and the Middle East, is in effect a continuous series of arches deep enough to cover a three-dimensional space. It exerts the same kind of thrust as the circular arch and must be buttressed along its entire length by heavy walls with limited openings.
Roman architects discovered that two barrel vaults that intersected at rightangles formed a groin vault, which, when repeated in series, could spanrectangular areas of unlimited length. Because the groin vault’s thrusts areconcentrated at all four corners, its supporting walls need not be massive andrequire buttressing only where they support the vault. The groin vault, however,requires great precision in stone cutting, an art that declined in the West with thefall of Rome. Vaulting was continued and improved in the Byzantine Empire and inthe Islamic world
Medieval European builders developed a modification, the rib vault, a skeleton ofarches or ribs on which the masonry could be laid. The medieval mason usedpointed arches; unlike round arches, these could be raised as high over a shortspan as over a long one. To cover rectangular areas, the mason used twointersecting vaults of different widths but of the same height.
vault
SYMBOLIC BACKGROUNDThrough the ages, mankind has always been attracted by arches, vaults andspecially domes. In different eras this was expressed in various forms according tothe local context – social, technical, cultural or spiritual belief.Beyond the simple approach of people, as living material creatures, lies a vasterand wider sustaining holistic concept: the cosmic or divine dimension. People arethe embodiment of souls to manifest and realise a spiritual evolution upon earth –to become united consciously with the Divinity within themselves and the EternalSpirit and One Self.Therefore, throughout Mankind’s evolution, men and women of all nations andcultures try to rediscover their divine origins. Arches, vaults and domes areparticular outer means to express their aspiration through an architecturalcreation.In many cultures arches, vaults and more particularly domes refer to a spiritualaspiration as shown in these names:• Tholos, from the Greek, which means rotunda, circular tomb with a beehiveshape.• Omphalos, from the Greek, which means umbilici, the centre, the central part.• Tegurium, from the Latin, which means shrine, round roof covering an altar or asarcophagus. It is often a pointed dome.• Domus, from the Latin, which means house (Domus Dei: the House of God).• Kalubé, from the Syrian & Palestinian, which is used for religious buildings andtabernacles.• Sacred baetyl, from the Syrian and Palestinian, which means tabernacle, tomanifest the divine.• Vihâra, from the Sanskrit and Buddhist tradition, referring to spiritualcommunity dwellings.• Dom, from the German, Icelandic and Danish, which means cathedral.• Dome, from the English, for Cathedral in the late XVIIth Century. It means alsoTown House, Guild Hall, and City Meeting House.• Dominical, from the French, which means “Day of God”.In other cultures, domes refer also to:• The Cosmic Egg: In Egypt, India, Persia and Greece, they are seen as the egg atthe origin of the Creation.• The Celestial Helmet: This is related to the Cosmic Egg in the Palestinian,Christian and Hebraic tradition. It is seen as the priest of heaven, symbol ofauthority and Divine Power.• The lotus: In the Egyptian and Indian spiritual traditions, it is seen as amanifestation of the divine.
Nineteenth-century builders, using new materials, could construct large ironskeletons as frameworks for vaults of lightweight materials—for example, the glass-vaulted Crystal Palace of the 1851 Great Exhibition in London. Because the newmaterials eliminated weight and thrust problems, the simple barrel vaultreturned tofavour for such structures as railroad terminals and exhibition halls. In manymodern frame systems the vault has lost its functional significance and become athin skin laid over a series of arches. The reinforced-concrete shell vault, a bent ormolded slab, is an important innovation. The steel-reinforced shell exerts no lateralthrust and may be supported as if it were a beam.
Four common types of vault. A barrel vault (also called a cradle vault, tunnel vault, or wagon vault) has a semicircular cross section. A groin (or cross) vault is formed by the perpendicular intersection of two barrel vaults. A rib (or ribbed) vault is supported by a series of arched diagonal ribs that divide the vault’s surface into panels. A fan vault is composed of concave sections with ribs spreading out like a fan.
VaultsForms of vaultsThere are a great many forms of vault.The simplest are barrel vaults which in fact consist of a succession of identicalarches.Barrel vaults can have steeper or nether profiles: semicircular, segmental, ogival.etc.The catenary vault is very common as its form gives maximum stability for aminimum use of material.Combining two barrel vaults with the same profile allows two other types to bedefined: the "groined vault" and the "Dominica! vault". By prolonging one of thetwo barrel vaults, the "Dominica! vault" becomes a "trough vault". Combiningbarrel vaults with different profiles forms a "lunette vault".A "Dominica! vault", the ribs of which are rounded in the form of cones startingfrom the corners, becomes a "squinch vault". Similarly the "trough vault" canevolve into a "boat vault".
Vaults and domesVaults and domes also show a wide variety of shapes, but less than the arches. The oldest vaults still standing were built around 1300 BC in Egypt: the vaults of the Ramasseum in the “rest” of Thebes which were the granaries of the pharaoh.
Ramasseum – Gourna, Egypt, ~ 1300 BCNubian vaults ± 4 m span, built with adobes
Tomb of Atreus – Mycenae, Greece, 1325 BCPointed dome ~ ∅ 18 m built with stones
Tomb of Atreus – Mycenae, Greece, 1325 BCPointed dome ~ ∅ 18 m built with stones
Basilica Haghia Sophia - Istanbul, Turkey, 6th centuryHemispherical dome on pendentives 34 x 35 m
School – Auroville, 1995Segmental vault 10.35 m span built with CSEB
Dhyanalingam Temple – Poondi, India, 1998Segmental elliptical ∅ 22.16 m, built with fired bricks
the orthogonalbarrel vault
the thrust of a barrel vault
Temple of Aesculapius, Palace ofDiocletian, Split, c AD 300: coffered vault
Qasr Amra, Jordan, c AD 711: hall roof with three parallel barrel vaults
the lightened vault
hollow tile as used in a Roman vault at Bath, England
diagram of theRoman vault atBath, England
hollow tile vaultedroofing in Sind,India, by J Fife
armchair vaultconstructionBrodribb, RomanBrick and Tile
the tied vault
Katedrala SvetiJakova [Cathedral of St James] (1431-1536), Šibenik,Croatia,1431-1536: east end & detail of the south flank
the cathedral at Šibenik: nave vault & crossing, showing the iron ties
the groin vault
Basilica of Maxentius, Rome, finished after 313
the cloister vault
stereometric vaults
annular vault in anunderground structure atPergamon, Turkey
elliptical vault near the theatre at Pergamon, Turkey
raking vaults of the stadium atPerge, Turkey, AD C2nd
the geometry of the rakingvaults at the theatre atJebleh [Gabala], Syria,probably early C3rd AD
stepped vault at the theatre at Jebleh in Syria
oblique barrel vaults
Interior vaulted ceiling of Notre Dame de Paris, showing the ribs at the intersection of several arches
1980: Sangath, Ahmedabad
Chandigarh Assembly Building , le corbusier
Kimbell art museum , Louis I Kahn
S.H.DAYA HOUSE , Nari Gandhi
Husain-Dos hi Gufa, Ahmedabad
domes are obtained by rotating an arch, except for faceted domes which moreclosely resemble the Dominical vault. A dome can be semi-circular, segmental, ogival,conical, etc. domes are circular in plan. They can, however, be used to cover squareor rectangular rooms by using pendentives or squinches. Domes on pendentives canbe used to cover any kind of polygonal shape in plan. It is possible to combine severaldomes or to combine domes with vaults.
dome
Mausoleum of Theoderic,Ravenna, c 526
the masonry dome
constructing a dome
construction of a pitched brick dome, as used in early twentiethcentury Egypt, with string used to maintain the radius
'Temple of Mercury: view from above
compression
tension
forces in domes
compression and tension rings in a monolithic dome
'Temple of Minerva Medica', or nymphaeum inthe Licinian Gardens C4th, plan & section
'Temple of Minerva Medica', plan and part-isometric
a circular templethe Pantheon,Rome, AD 120-124
Pantheoninterior view plan
section
Pantheon: section with suggested centering
Pantheon dome from below
Pantheon, detail showing dome coffering with the surface stripped.
Orthodox Baptistery detail of the dome & diagram showing thehollow pot construction
Orthodox Baptistery,Ravennna
the pumpkin or convoluted dome
Corinthian Oecus Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli
Byzantine domes
square corbel dome asused by the Romans
HH Sergios & Bakchoscutaway isometric of the dome, longitudinal section
pitched vault under construction in Afghanistan lean-Louis Bourgeois, Spectacular Vernacular: the Adobe Tradition (New York 1996),
Iranian square vault
the term does not refer to any one shape, but to the idea of spanning the corner of a plan shape to bring it closer to a circle, ega square to an octagon, or an octagon to a sixteen-sided figure
hippodrome, Jerash [Gerasa], Jordan, C1st- 3rd: stepped vault. multi-arched squinch
squinchesSS Pietro e Paolo,Agro, Sicily, C12th
the conical squinch
the pendentive andthe squinch
the pendentive
building a pendentive at Craterre, France
building of a dome on pendentives
the pendentiveand the dome
Alternative dome construction methods
Hagia Sophiacutaway view
part section of the original dome showing the ledge tosupport the centering,
The design Hagia Sophia by Anthemios of Tralles & Isodorus ofMiletus, AD 532-7
Hagia Sophia the arrangement of the domes
compound domes & drums
simple & compound domes
Byzantine and French methods of dome construction
MOSLEM BRICK VAULTING
domed house, Abu Ghal Ghal , northern Syria, showing construction
vault construction at Dehno, Iran, step 2 stringing out the vault shape
Construction technique
vault construction at Dehno, Iran, step 3constructing the barrel vault]
vault construction at Dehno, Iran, step 4: closing the barrel vault
vault construction at Dehno, Iran, step 5: setting out the pendentives
vault construction at Dehno, Iran, step 6: completed pendentive
vault construction at Dehno, Iran, step 7: completing the dome base
vault construction at Dehno, Iran, step 8: completing the dome
the false dome
Baptistery, Pisa: 12th & 14th century elevations & sections
Dome of Florence Cathedral, Filipo Brunelleschi
Ribs
ribs of the Roman cryptoporticus, Izmir, Turkey, AD c 150
Masjed-e Jameh, Esfahan, 12th-14th century vaulting
Millennium Dome
Architect Richard Rogers
Straw bale (Music) Dome in Forstmehren, Germany.
The Australian Academy of Science's Shine Dome
Geodesic domeEpcot CenterOrlando, Florida
