Ribbed Vault (Edited from Wikipedia) SUMMARY “Vault” is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The intersection of two to three barrel vaults produces a rib vault, or ribbed vault, when they are edged with an armature of piped masonry often carved in decorative patterns. While the mechanics of the weight of a groin vault and its transmission outwards to the supporting pillars remained as it had been, the new use of rib vaults demonstrates the skill of the masons and the grandeur of the new ideas circulating at the introduction of Gothic architecture in the end of the eleventh century. These advances in vaulting allowed for the addition of windows higher up in the building's walls. This technique was new in the late eleventh century, for example in the roofs of the choir side aisles at Durham Cathedral. Ancestors of the Gothic rib vault in the Romanesque vaults can be found at Caen and Durham, both sites of early Gothic constructions, and elsewhere. HISTORY Ribbed vaults evolved from a series of increasingly advanced vault designs which came before it, beginning with the barrel vault. The Barrel Vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design. The barrel vault is the simplest form of a vault: effectively a series of arches placed side by side, i.e., one after another. It is a form of barrel roof. As with all arch-based constructions, there is an outward thrust generated against the walls underneath a barrel vault. There are several mechanisms for absorbing this thrust. One is, of course, to make the walls exceedingly thick and strong - this is a primitive and sometimes unacceptable method. A more elegant method is to build two or more 1 vaults parallel to each other; the forces of their outward thrusts will thus negate each other. This method was most often used in construction of churches, where several vaulted naves ran parallel down the length of the building. However, the outer walls of the outermost vault would still have to be quite strong or reinforced by buttressing. The third and most elegant mechanism to resist the lateral thrust was to create an intersection of two barrel vaults at right angles, thus forming a groin vault. Barrel vaults are known from Ancient Egypt, and were used extensively in Roman architecture. They were also used to make underground sewers. Early barrel vault designs occur in northern Europe, Turkey, Morocco and other regions. In medieval Europe the barrel vault was an important element of stone construction in monasteries, castles, tower houses and other structures. This form of design is observed in cellars, crypts, long hallways, cloisters and even great halls. Ancient Romans most probably inherited their knowledge of barrel vaulting from Etruscans. Romans were the first to use this building method extensively on large-scale projects, and were probably the first to use scaffolding to aid them in construction of vaults spanning over widths greater than anything seen before. However, Roman builders gradually began to prefer the use of the groin vault; though more complex to erect, this type of vault did not require heavy, thick walls for support, and thus allowed for more spacious buildings with greater openings and much more light inside. After the fall of the Roman empire, few buildings large enough to require much in the way of vaulting were built for several centuries. In the early Romanesque period, a return to stone barrel vaults was seen for the first great cathedrals; their interiors were fairly dark, due to thick, heavy walls needed to support the vault . One of the largest and most famous churches enclosed from above by a vast barrel vault was the church of Cluny Abbey, built between the 11th and 12th centuries. In 13th and 14th Century, with the advance of the new Gothic style, barrel vaulting became almost extinct in constructions of great Gothic cathedrals; groin vaults reinforced by stone ribs were mostly used in the beginning, and later on various types of spectacular, ornate and complex medieval vaults were developed. However, with the coming of the Renaissance and the Baroque style, and revived interest in art and architecture of antiquity, barrel vaulting was re-introduced on a truly grandiose scale, and employed in the construction of many famous buildings and churches. 2 The Groin Vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross 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. In comparison with a barrel vault, a groin vault provides good economies of material and labour. The thrust is concentrated along the groins or arrises (the four diagonal edges formed along the points where the barrel vaults intersect), so the vault need only be abutted at its four corners. Groin vault construction was first exploited by the Romans, but then fell into relative obscurity in Europe until the resurgence of quality stone building brought about by Carolingian and Romanesque architecture. It was superseded by the more flexible rib vaults of Gothic architecture in the later Middle Ages. Difficult to construct neatly because of the geometry of the cross groins (usually elliptical in cross section), the groin vault required great skill in cutting stone to form a neat arris. This difficulty, in addition to the formwork required to create such constructions, led to the rib vault superseding the groin vault as the preferred solution for enclosing space in Gothic architecture. While the barrel vault was more common than the groin vault in very early architecture, including Roman and even earlier civilizations, the Romans developed the groin vault widely for applications in a variety of structures, some with significant span widths. Their application of groin vaults to vast halls in the Baths of Caracalla and Diocletian became highly influential in church architecture in the Middle Ages. The aspirations of church building reached its zenith then, and the groin vault was pursued aggressively for its ability to create strength, without massive buttress formations; in addition, it provided the church architects a remedy for the dim illumination inherent in the barrel vault design. The construction of a groin vault can be understood most simply by visualizing two barrel vault sections at right angles merging to form a squarish unit. The resulting four ribs convey the stress loading to the four corners, or piers. The more complex groin vault is intrinsically a stronger design compared to the barrel vault, since the barrel vault structure must rest on long walls creating less stable lateral stress, whereas the groin vault design can direct stresses almost purely vertically on the piers. A common association of vaulting in cathedrals of the Middle Ages involves a nave of barrel vault design with transepts of groined vaulting. Rib (or “ribbed”) vaults resemble 3 groin vaults but introduce structural ribs running along the angles which carry much of the weight, making possible much greater variations of proportion. The Ribbed Vault One of the defining characteristics of Gothic architecture is the pointed or ogival arch. Arches of this type were used in the Near East in pre-Islamic as well as Islamic architecture before they were employed structurally in medieval architecture, and are thought to have been the inspiration for their use in France, as at Autun Cathedral, which is otherwise stylistically Romanesque. In Gothic architecture, ogives are the intersecting transverse ribs of arches that establish the surface of a Gothic vault. An ogive or ogival arch is a pointed, "Gothic" arch, drawn with compasses, or with arcs of an ellipse as described. When employed for the ribs of a vault, however narrow the span might be, by adopting a pointed arch, its summit could be made to range in height with the diagonal rib. The first introduction of the pointed arch rib took place at Durham Cathedral and pre- dated the abbey of St. Denis. Whilst the pointed rib-arch is often seen as an identifier for gothic architecture, Durham is a romanesque cathedral whose masons experimented with the possibility of rib-arches before it was widely adopted by western church architecture. ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the late 10th century, this later date being the most commonly held. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style, marked by pointed arches. Examples of Romanesque architecture can be found across the continent, making it the first pan-European architectural style since Imperial Roman Architecture. The Romanesque style in England is traditionally referred to as Norman architecture. Combining features of ancient Roman and Byzantine buildings and other local traditions, Romanesque architecture is known by its massive quality, thick walls, round arches, sturdy pillars, groin vaults, large towers and decorative arcading. Each building has clearly defined forms, frequently of very regular, symmetrical plan; the overall appearance is one of simplicity when compared with the Gothic buildings that were to 4 follow. The style can be identified right across Europe, despite regional characteristics and different materials.