1. Evolution of Arcuated
Structures
Done By
Mohammed shawwa
Othman Othman
Omar Hijazi
Hashemite university
Faculty of Engineering
Department of Architecture
Instructors
Prof shaher Rababeh
Arch Mohammed Waleed
4. 2- Classification (Analysis category of
chronological evolution )
1- Definition
According to
Geometry and centers
Arch
Vault
Dome
According to structural
behavior
According to building
material and
construction
According to
Technical parts
2-1
2-2 2-3 2-4
Arch Vault Dome
Pointed Semi-
Circular
segmentalHorse-
shoe
Methodology
Cross barrel cloister
Bulbose onion cross
ribbed dome
Stone brick mud concrete
Stone brick Timber concrete
Key stone intrados
Extrados
Springer stone
Ribs groin arch
piles
Coffer cupola
Toholobate lantern
Compressive
Thrust load
Compression Tension
Stress
Compression Tension
Stress torsion
NUBIAN TECHNIQUE
FREE SPANNING TECHNIQUE
Centering work frame
Construction without centering
The Woodless Construction
Construction technique
6. Arch Definition
a curved structure member that is used to span an opening and to
support loads from above
. The arch is basic element for the make of the vault and domes .
Is an essential element of the .architecture of early civilizations.
Visually the arch was an important decorative feature that was
transmitted from architectural decoration to other forms of art,
especially furniture.
13. structural behavior
An arch is an architectural form that controls the pressure
from the weight of a building in a specific way. The arch
directs pressure downwards and outwards, creating a
strong passage underneath it that has the ability to
support heavy structures.
This is called compressive stress, because the pressure of
the weight is compressed by the shape of the arch.
Because the stress is directed both down and outwards,
walls or other structures were often required to reinforce
the arch. The arch allowed ancient builders to make
larger, more complex buildings that could hold more
space and people.
14. Structurally the thrust, in a simple arch, is exerted vertically by the weight of the masonry and any other
superimposed loads above the arch, and horizontally by the cumulative wedge action of the voussoirs.
This action gives the arch elasticity, which enables it to reach a balance corresponding to the thrust
21. Vaults are extended arches used to create large open rooms and high,
covered passageway.
Is an arch shaped structure usually of masonry used as the ceiling of room or other
enclosed space
vault Definition
22. Classification of Vault
Materials
A –Brick b- Concert
c- stone d-timber
Geometry
It made from extension
the arch element
Building techniques
1- ribbed vault
2- quad partite ribbed
vault
3- gross vault
4- cloister vault
5-light vault
6-fan vault
25. Fan vault
A fan vault is a form of vault used in the Gothic style, in
which the ribs are all of the same curve and spaced
equidistantly, in a manner resembling a fan
26. Technical Parts of vaults
Groin vault : is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. The word
"groin" refers to the edge between the intersecting vaults. Sometimes the arches of groin
vaults are pointed instead of round
Ridge rib: A principal rib of a vault along either the longitudinal or t
ransverse ridge.
Lozenge:
lozenge refers to a thin rhombus—a rhombus with
acute angles of less than 45°
31. a dome is a hollow semi-spherical structural element
Domes evolved from arches, by rotation arch 360 degree
The ‘Building Construction Handbook’ describes domes as: ‘Double curvature shells which can be
rotationally formed by any curved geometrical plane figure rotating about a central vertical axis.
A dome is a rounded vault made of either curved segments or a shell of revolution, meaning an arch
rotated around its central vertical axis
Traditional domes can be highly-efficient structures, similar to arches. They are self-supporting,
stabilized by the force of gravity acting on their weight to hold them in compression.
Definition
32. Types of Domes
Semi circular dome
1- According to Geometry HEMISPHERICAL
DOME
Onion dome:- Is a
dome tapering
smoothly to a point
Saucer dome :- it’s a low
pitched shallow dome
33. Corbel dome
1- According to Building technique
dome on pendentive Squinch dome
Umbrella dome
Geodesic dome Monolithic dome
34. Structure Behavior
However, the weight of traditional domes produces
downward and outward thrusts. The downward thrust
must be transferred to the foundations, whilst the
outward thrust must be resisted to prevent the dome
from collapsing. This resistance can be provided by the
mass of the supporting walls, by buttresses, or by a
tension element such as a perimeter ring, cable or chain
52
35. Technical Parts of dome
ELEMENTS OF Dome :-
1) cupola
2) lantern
3)dome
4) tholodate(drum)
36. Technical Parts of dome
A Coffer A coffer in architecture is a
series of sunken panels. A cupola is a small, most
often dome like structure on
top of building. It usually
crowns a larger dome.
A tholodate or drum is the upright
part of building on which dome is raised
A lantern is a day
lighting cupola
architectural element
37. Technical Parts of dome
Whispering gallery A whispering
gallery is a circular, hemispherical, enclosure,
often beneath a dome in which whispers can
be heard clearly in other parts other gallery
GOL GUMBAJ
The rotunda is any building with a
circular ground plan and covered by a dome
A pendentive is constructive device
which allows the placement of the circular
dome over the square room or elliptical over
the rectangular room.
A squinch in architecture is a
construction filling in the upper
angles of a square room so as to
form a base to receive a dome
pendentive
40. (Geological) Building Material
The main material used in ancient near eastern building was
mud. Were the stone and timber were rare . The mud is
very versatile building material, the mud can be formed
into bricks either modeled by hand or shaped and thin
dried it in the sun and become hard and they used
marsh reeds sometimes.
ReedsFired BricksMud brick
41. The Arch
1-Semi Circular
The Arch In
Mesopotamian
Semi Circular *
Arch
Corbel arch*
•The Royal Tombs at Ur
where little stone was
available.
-Dome construction and
corbelled vault are
suggested by tombs at ur
Palace of Sargon Khorsabad,
c 700 BC, reconstruction of
the arched passages
42. 2)Corbel Arch
• Corbelling is laying courses or layers of stone or
brick so that each course overhangs the one below.
When walls are corbelled out from two sides until
they meet, a corbelled arch or vault results.
Although a structure of this kind is [not as strong]
as a true arch, it is easy to make.
• Edublalmahr Temple
2100 BC. Ancient Ur,
Iraq
43. The Arch
-The chief method of erecting such structures was to tie
clusters of tall reeds into thick, sturdy bundles and then dig
holes and sink the ends of the bundles into the ground. The
bundles, which stood upright like columns, were bent over
and their tops were attached to the tops of other bundles,
forming rounded arches. Crosspieces, also made of bundled
reeds, connected and braced the arches, after which thick
reed mats were tied to the top and sides, forming the
structure's roof and walls.
One of the methods to
construct the arch :-
44. Dome
The first dome in history was found in the ziggurat that cover the ceiling
in the main hall.
45. The Vault
Laying bricks on their edge is one of
the strangest but most defining
features of ancient Mesopotamian
and Parthian architecture. This
unusual method, which was passed
on to the Sassanians and the
Umayyads, can easily be explained
for arches and vaults (due to the
described building process without
centering).
•The oldest brick vault of this kind, found at
Akkadian palace
46. The Vault
•1) The Pitched Vault
• example of a pitched
brick barrow
example of a pitched
brick barrow
47. The Vault
-The pitched brick vault is initially
supported by a single bearing wall at the
back. The courses of the vault are then
laid at right angles to the courses of the
wall. Each vault course is tipped
somewhat off the vertical so that the initial
courses lean against the back wall, and
subsequent courses rest against the first.
This vertical orientation of the courses, in
addition to the tip or pitch, distinguishes
the pitched vault from Radial
construction where the vault merges into
the wall surface.
The construction of the pitched vault :-
48. The Vault
The Brick vaulted culverted
The Assyrians
they used anew
technique to
construction the
vault
• brick vaulted culvert at
Khorsabad
49. NUBIAN TECHNIQUE
Nubian Vault construction uses local skills
and labor and renewable materials.
the courses were laid almost vertically
the blocks used were adobes,(sun dried
bricks),
The basis of this technique is that the
blocks adhere to each other with earth
glue.
The principle is that the dry block sucks by
capillarity the water along with the clay of
the glue which will bind the blocks.
It is essential that the blocks are very thin,
Ayn Asil in Daklha,
50. advantage disadvantage
build vaults and domes without
centering.
the earth glue is very
liquid (induces cracks),and the
blocks are very thin.
51. Contraction VAULTS
1)The back wall should be built first.
2) A template is needed to ensure the shape of
the vault,
3) create a net of string lines between the back
wall and the template.
4) Starting the vault,(inclined course)
5)Construct courses with applying mortar
6) When the first arch is completed Build arch
after arch
53. The Vault
Figure 1. The earliest known vaults in Egypt in tomb Qa'a at
Saqqara composed by one course of adobe masonry
ADOBE VAULT
The adobe vault is one of the most protracted
types
ever invented across the Ancient Egyptian
civilization
since First Dynasty period till the Coptic era.
Ancient Egyptians developed betimes these
vaults
after they had known the construction using
mud brick.
The Ancient Egyptian architects used the adobe
vaults above the ground (in houses and
magazines)
and under the ground (in tombs).
54. construction techniques
The adobe masonry barrel vaults in Ancient Egypt
were constructed of courses of horizontal or upright
mud-bricks laid tilted, at a slight angle to the vertical,
against the supporting wall, Figure 2 (Van Beck,
1987; Spencer, 1979a). The inclination of the bricks
from the vertical led most of the weight of each brick
to transfer to the lower course which already had
been laid rather than acting downwards, thus, the
weight of each new brick was borne by those already
laid. The brick was held in its position and stuck to
the brick of the lower course by mud mortar.
55. construction techniques
Ancient Egyptian architect used in the construction
of the adobe barrel vaults bricks with specific
shapes. To reduce the weight of the vault, the bricks
were thinner than the ordinary bricks. Also, straw
was added for weight reducing and to give some
tensile strength to the brick and thus minimizing
cracking. Bricks were given the wedged-shape to be
more appropriate to the vault construction.
57. voussoir arch
voussoir arch /ture arch is rightly considered to
be one of the fundamental elements in conquest
of space .contribution made by roman in
monumental architecture .
It is tarquins in sixth century the constriction of
Drain .gates. City wall. Vaulted tomb
Cloaca Maxima
Oldest model
Long underground vaulted channel draining
water from
the low lying forum romanun into the Tiber
60. Greek Architecture
the dome
Internal Dome of Treasury of Atreus 1250 BC, Greece
1) The Corbel Dome
It is formed of a semi-subterranean
room of circular plan, with a corbel arch
covering that is ogival
61. THE DOME
The construction of the dome
Massive stones, used to
guarantee the vault's
stability over time in
bearing the force of
compression from its own
weight
62. Geological Building Material
Concrete was probably the greatest Roman contribution to
architecture. Roman concrete, called opus caementicium was made
with a special Roman mortar or cement, called casement , created by
mixing water, lime, and a special volcanic ash sand, called pozzolana,
that gave Roman casement its special strength.
63. THE DOME
-Temple of Mercury at Baiae
2)The Monolithic Dome (masonry dome)
dome is made of one solid piece of material.
64. THE DOME
The construction of the dome
Its construction begins with a circular concrete
foundation, the Construction technique is the
centering was composed of eight equally
spaced timber trusses that were supported
with a central column
the problem : large variations in the building
plan when compared with the ideal circular
plan that a dome should have.
Theories about the problem :
1) the centering was not well constructed and
positioned
2) the centering was composed of eight timber
trusses that were accidentally unequally spaced
and there was no center column support
65. THE DOME
Temple of Minerva Medica at Rome
3) octagonal umbrella dome
the lower part octagonal and the upper part
a semicircular calotte
66. THE DOME
The construction technique :stiffening
method of brick lattice
1)the large lattice ribs land directly on
portions of the supporting octagon
that continue down to the ground.
2) The smaller lattice ribs actually
land on portions of the supporting
octagon that have openings below.
Romans did not use lattice ribbing
purely for carrying the loads of the
dome but also for distributing the
loads
67. THE DOME
The construction of the dome :-
1) the eight supporting pillars
are linked by an equal number
of flat arches.
2) built using square bricks
3) Above them is a domical
vault with eight cells
(shown as a cloister vault)
right up to the oculus
at the top
) the vault can be
interpreted as two vaults on
top of each other(
platbands
(bricks and concrete)
timber framework
supporting blocks
(travertine)
contrasting arches
(bricks and concrete)
68. The Vault
1) Barrel vault
Circular in shape and semi cylindrical in
appearance.
-Series of arches placed side by side is
known as barrel roof.
-It is the simplest form of vault.
-It is best for roofing purpose.
69. The Vault
The construction of the barrel vault :-
It’s initially supported by a single
bearing wall at the back. The courses of
the vault are then laid at right angles to
the courses of the wall
Each vault course is tipped somewhat
off the vertical so that the initial courses
lean against the back wall, and
subsequent courses rest against the first.
70. ADVANTAGES DIS-ADVANTAGES
1. VERY LIGHT FORM
OF
CONSTRUCTION
2. ARCH SHAPES
SPAN LONGER
1.GREATER
ACCURACY IN
FORMWORK IS
REQUIRED
2. GOOD LABOUR
AND SUPERVISION
NECESSARY
ADVANTAGES and DIS-ADVANTAGES for the barrel vault
71. Barrel Vault at Bath, England
Barrel Vault at Bath, England
Romans did not use large barrel vaults often, due to
the need to create thick, buttressed walls, mostly
without windows on each side to support the
outward force of the vault. One example is seen at
Bath in England where a 10.5 meter vault was created
over the baths. The builders accomplished this with a
system of brick ribs filled in between with hollow
brick voussoirs to reduce the weight of the vault. Even
so, the vault eventually collapsed.
Hollow brick ,ribs vault
73. The Vault
You make a groin vault by
building
two barrel vaults that cross
each other,
so that they make an X.
74. The Vault
The construction of the Groin Vault
Load bath way:
the Groin Vault takes all the weight of the roof
and concentrates it on just four points
at the corners of each bay (each X).
If you have a buttress at each corner,
you don't need to have a solid wall between
those buttresses,
because that wall isn't holding much weight
accomplish the multiple goals of minimum
materials use, wide span of construction,
ability to achieve lateral illumination,
and avoidance of lateral stresses.
76. The Dome
*Geometry
A squinch in architecture is a construction filling in the
upper angles of a square room so as to form a base to
receive an octagonal or spherical dome. Another solution
of this structural problem was provided by the pendentive.
Dome on pendentive
Pendentive is the term given to a construction element
that allows a dome to be placed over square or
rectangular spaces. Pendentives are triangular
segments of a sphere that spread at the top and taper
to points at the bottom
Dome on squinch
78. The Dome
*Structure Behavior
How a Squinch Works
A squinch is a wedge that fits on the top corners of a square
space. At the point where the dome's bottom edge meets the
room's upper horizontal edges, four triangular-like wedges
(often similar to a small bridge or arch) are placed in the
corners.
How a Pendentive Works
A pendentive also supports a dome but it's more complicated,
using geometry to create a series of curving and arched
supports., a pendentive is a spherical triangle that serves as an
arch. Architects used four pendentives on the upper corners of
a room, where they arched inward to meet the dome's circular
base. One of the earliest examples of pendentives can be found
in Hagia Sophia,
79. The Dome
*Hagia Sophia
*Hagia Sophia Dome is carried on four pendentives
and these pendentives enable its transition into the
square shape of its piers below
*These pendentives distribute the weight of the
dome to the walls under it.
80. The Dome
Materials used in construction
These domes were frequently constructed of bricks
or of some light porous stone
82. Horseshoe Arch
This was first employed in the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus (706-715,
They are often mounted onto front doors of houses
The horseshoe arch allowed more height then the classical (semi-circular) arch as
well as better aesthetic and decorative use.
Islamic Arches
Horseshoe
Transverse
Pointed
poly-lobed
Multi foil
The arch was first employed for
structural and functional purposes
but progressively it became used
for decorative purposes.
83. The first use of arches in Islamic architecture In
the horseshoe arch, the half-circle of the arch
starts to turn in on itself before meeting the top
of its supporting columns. The hypostyle hall in
the Great Mosque at Cordoba, Spain, is a
example of this type of arch. The shape of the
horseshoe arch allowed architects to achieve
greater height in the arches and it gave an
opportunity for greater visual pattern and rhythm
in the design.
The hypostyle hall in the Great Mosque at Cordoba, Spain
Horseshoe arch in Great Mosque at Cordoba
84. Transverse Arch
The use of the transverse arch, in which the arch
structurally spans the space between a pillar and
the wall instead of another pillar, allowed
architects to use slimmer pillars instead of thick
columns in arcades.
used in many Gothic cathedrals. Coupled with
the four-centered arch –
a low, slightly pointed arch shape that has a
center of gravity below the crown of the pillars --
transverse arches allowed Islamic architects to
cover large spaces and led to the development
of the pointed arch.
The use of the transverse arch over the nave not
only provided greater safety and durability but
also gave the final shape of the nave especially in
terms of height and roof.
the transverse arch in the Palace of Ukhaidir
85. Pointed Arch
Many art historians believe the pointed arch
originated in Islamic architecture. As early as
The Dome of the Rock, built in 691, one sees
arches with a slight point. The pointed arch
had a major architectural advantage in that it
centered the load-bearing thrust of the
building on a vertical point, so that more of
the building's weight could be supported on
the exterior, usually with the use of buttresses,
instead of with walls and interior columns. This
allowed for thinner pillars, higher ceilings, the
support of larger domes and overall gave the
building a lighter, more open feel.
86. The first appearance of the pointed
arch in the Muslim World was traced
to the Al-Aqsa Mosque,
87. Geometry two centers
The main advantage of the pointed
arch was that it concentrated the thrust
of the vault on a narrow vertical line
that could be supported by flying
buttresses, a major feature of European
Gothic architecture. The pointed arch
enabled reduction of the lateral thrust
on the foundations
Structure behavior
90. Multi foil Arch
Sometimes called the cusped arch, multifold arches
contain arches within arches. some examples can be
found in the Great Mosque in Cordoba, alongside
horseshoe arches. The main architectural benefit to
multifold arches is decorative -- like horseshoe
arches, they provide opportunity for greater visual
pattern and rhythm; and indeed the shape of
multifold arches was completely removed from arches
to become a pattern motif on some buildings. But,
like the pointed arch, multifold arches also centered
the thrust of the weight they carried to a single
vertical point, which allowed for all the structural
benefits of a pointed arch.
Great Mosque in Cordoba , spain
93. Groin (or cross) vaults & Sail (or spherical)
vaults.
Groin or cross vaults in stone masonry were
not used extensively in Umayyad period
(probably due
to its demanding technical requirements
when built entirely in stone masonry,
Construction
many of the masonry and brick-built arches,
the actual arch began at a higher level than
the
formal springing line, since the construction of
the first voussoirs, in many cases horizontally
projecting courses, didn’t require centering
94. Cross vaults
Sail, or spherical vaults can be understood as a particular case of cross vaults with semicircular
groins (the diagonal intersecting arches) and thus an apex higher than the crown of the main lateral -
-
Sail, or spherical vaults can be understood as a particular case of cross vaults with semicircular
groins (the diagonal intersecting arches)
95. Dome
The first examples known appear in Al-hakam II’s extension of the Great
Mosque of Córdoba, between the years 961 and 965.
Crossed-arch domes are a singular type of ribbed vaults. Their characteristic
feature is that the ribs that form the vault are intertwined, forming polygons or
stars, leaving an empty space in thecentre. The fact that the earliest known vaults
of this type are found in the Great Mosque of
96. GEOMETRY
3 Geometry is a key feature of crossed-arch
vaults. There is an enormous range of
possibilities for
the design of the plan projection of these vaults.
However, spatial geometry must be
simultaneously considered, as some designs
might present incompatibilities in their
geometry
when implemented in three dimensions
the central dome of the Great Mosque of Cordoba we
find a scheme originated from two
squares rotated in plan, and inscribed inside a third
square
97. Construction of Islamic dome
Arab make use of the ribs to organize the decorative
brick bond in the webs, but always constructing
a homogeneous intrados. The scale is also different: in
Armenia, these vaults are elements
applied to the whole of the building, while in Muslim
architecture the vault only covers part of
, the number of ribs increases while their thickness is
reduced, and the domes often feature stalactite
ornament and fretwork webs.
98. Structure behavior
Are the ribs the active structure and the webs only a
passive load,
or, on the contrary, the ribs have merely decorative?
(The first theory corresponds to
Viollet-le-Duc and Choisy and was considered right
until the 1930’s. The second originated in
the work of V. Sabouret and, above all, P. Abraham
(Huerta, 2009)). If this question is pertinent
for gothic vaults it will be also pertinent in the case of
the Muslim ribbed vaults and domes.
However, the whole matter of the structural behavior
of Islamic vaults and domes has been so
far neglected
99. Timber domes
In these cases we are again clearly dealing with elements
with a strong Byzantine influence in terms
of technique and shape: the double wooden ‘Dome of
the Rock’ (Qubbat Al-Sakhra) is set on a high
drum, pierced with windows by means of transverse
wooden wall-plates.