Vault (architecture)

• 1. Neolithic Mud-Brick Domes

  ›

  In the Neolithic village of Khirokitia on Cyprus, circular buildings rose from the earth around 3000 BCE. These structures supported beehive-shaped corbel domes made of unfired mud-bricks. This settlement represents the first evidence for communities with an upper floor and curved brick architecture without stone arches. Similar beehive tombs called tholoi exist in Crete and Northern Iraq. Their construction differs from that at Khirokitia because most appear partially buried and make provision for a dromos entry. The Mycenaeans between 1800 and 1050 BC were known for their tholos tombs which were underground structures with conical vaults. This type of vault is one of the earliest evidences of curved brick architecture without the use of stone arches.

• 2. Roman Concrete Mastery

  ›

  The Romans developed barrel cross and dome vaults using concrete mixed with pozzolana mortar found near Rome. This volcanic deposit made the concrete as solid as rock itself when it had set. The Roman reservoir at Baiae known as the Piscina Mirabilis featured five aisles with semicircular barrel vaults intersected by twelve cross aisles. The vaults rested on 48 piers and thick external walls. In the Roman Baths of Caracalla the tepidarium had a span more than twice that of an English cathedral. One of the important ingredients of the mortar neutralized the thrust of the vaults which formed shells equivalent to that of a metal lid. The Romans provided amply for counteracting any thrust by erecting cross walls and buttresses.

• 3. Gothic Rib Systems

  ›

  Medieval builders reversed the process by setting up diagonal ribs first which were utilized as permanent centers. On these they carried their vault or web which henceforward took its shape from the ribs. The pointed arch had long been known and employed on account of its much greater strength and less thrust exerted on the walls. The first introduction of the pointed arch rib took place at Cefalù Cathedral and pre-dated the abbey of Saint-Denis. It was in the church at Vezelay in 1140 that it was extended to the square bay of the porch. Transverse ribs under the vaulting surfaces had been employed from very early times by the Romans perhaps the earliest examples are those in the corridor of the Tabularium in Rome.

• 4. Byzantine Pendentive Arches

  ›

  The Church of the Holy Wisdom Hagia Sophia at Constantinople represented the next great development after the Basilica of Maxentius completed by Constantine. Justinian instructed his architect to provide an immense hemicycle or apse at the eastern end and a similar apse at the western end with great arches on either side. The pendentive which carried the dome rested on four great arches. The thrust of those crossing the church being counteracted by immense buttresses which traversed the aisles. The upper portions of the dome were pierced with forty windows giving the appearance of being suspended in the air. Previous to this the greatest dome was that of the Pantheon at Rome but this was carried on an immense wall thick.

• 5. Regional Vault Variations

  ›

  In England fan vaults constructed as single surfaces of dressed stones radiated from the springing point resembling a fan. The earliest example is perhaps the east walk of the cloister at Gloucester with its surface consisting of intricately decorated panels of stonework forming conical structures. In India distinctive other ribbed vaults called Karbandi form no part of the development of European vaults. One carries the central dome of the Jumma Musjid at Bijapur built in 1559 and the other is Gol Gumbaz the tomb of Muhammad Adil Shah II between 1626 and 1660. The ribs instead of being carried across the angles only thus giving an octagonal base for the dome are carried across to the further pier of the octagon and consequently intersect one another reducing the central opening to 3 meters in diameter.

• 6. Renaissance Double Shells

  ›

  European architects of the Middle Ages protected their vaults with wooden roofs so one will not see a Gothic vault from the outside. Michelangelo's dome for St Peter's Basilica in Rome redesigned between 1585 and 1590 by Giacomo della Porta consists of two domes of which however only the inner is structural. In St Paul's Cathedral in London there is a highly complex system of vaults and faux-vaults. The dome that one sees from the outside is not a vault but a relatively light-weight wooden-framed structure resting on an invisible catenary vault of brick below which is another dome of plaster supported by a wood frame. Baltasar Neumann perfected light-weight plaster vaults supported by wooden frames in his baroque churches.

• 7. Modern Concrete Shells

  ›

  The 20th century saw great advances in reinforced concrete design allowing very thin strong vaults to be constructed with previously unseen shapes. The vaults in the Church of Saint Sava are made of prefabricated concrete boxes lifted to 40 m on chains. Hyperbolic paraboloids allowed shell construction with better mathematical understanding. The vaults were built on the ground and lifted to 40 meters high using chains. These structures demonstrate how modern engineering has expanded the possibilities of vaulted architecture beyond traditional stone and brick methods.