Traditional
Structural Systems
In Architecture
Load-bearing Construction
Also, known as stacking & piling
of bricks, stones or ice.
Window and doorways have to be quite
narrow or the pieces will collapse.
Igloos would be another example
of load-bearing construction.
Not too many load-bearing buildings are
made any longer because the building
is not very structural stability.
Great Mosque of Djenné
Mali, Africa
Stonehenge
Post-and-Lintel
Construction
The oldest formation still
used today.
Two posts and a
crosspiece.
Temple of
Poseidon
Temple of Isis
Placing post-and-lintels side-by-side
creates a colonnade.
Utilized for walkways and outer walls for temples.
Intersecting post-and-lintels
in a perpendicular formation
expands floor space in
multiple directions creating a
hypostyle vault .
Temple of Amun-Re
Karnak, Egypt
Hypostyle Vault Construction
using the Post-and-Lintel Construction
Cantilevered Roof Systems
with brackets and eaves
Cantilevers roofs are based on a variation of
the Post-and-Lintel Construction
Heian Jingu Shrine
Kyoto, Japan
Round Arch
The Romans perfected the round arch and
can be used in 4 different configurations.
The top wedge-shaped stone is call a keystone.
It is instrumental in the success of the round arch.
Scaffolding is used to support the arch as it rises on each
side. When the keystone is set in place the tension of the
arch goes back down each side leaving a sturdy structure.
Amphitheatre
Nimes, France
Pont du Gard Aqueduct
Nimes, France
Placing round arches side-by-side
and on top of one another in
a tiered formation are known as arcades.
Barrel Vault System
A barrel vault system stacks
round arches behind one another
creating a tunnel effect.
As an example, the Hall of Mirrors,
above has an arcade construction
on the lengths to support the barrel
vault on top.
This was a way to provide windows
on one side and mirrors on the other
to have a continuous reflection.
.
Hall of Mirrors
Versailles
Groin Vault System
The Abbey of Fontevraud
France
1110 CE
Groin Vaults are intersecting
round arches to expand floor space
in multiple directions.
The Pantheon
Dome Construction
Built under Emperor Hadrian’s reign
Rome, 118-125 AD
142’ diameter dome
The Romans utilized
poured
concrete pieces
Round arches assembled in a circular motion on
top of a cylinder or pendentives.
Originally, an oculus provided the only light within
the dome.
Coffered ceilings are thicker at the base and
taper thinner towards the oculus, otherwise
the dome would collapse due to the weight.
Parts of a Dome Construction:
Portico (entry)
Rotunda (interior)
Coffered Ceiling
Oculus
Dome Construction
Later on Dome Constructions windows were placed in
a short cylinder and the dome was assembled on top.
The oculus was filled in.
Hagia Sophia
Constantinople (Istanbul)
532 - 537 CE
Built under
Emperor Justinian’s reign
cathedral / mosque
Pointed Arch
In man’s quest to rise taller towards the sky,
engineers modified the arch.
Making it pointed had less tensile or stress on the posts.
Many cathedrals used the pointed arch construction.
These enormous building projects could take 85-125
years to build with cut stone.
Also, known as the Gothic style,
with exterior characteristics of lancets, bell towers,
rose window and decorative porticos.
Rose Window
Lancets
side-by-side
pointed arches
Cathedral de Notre Dame
Paris, France
1160 – 1345 CE
Buttress System
or Buttressing
The taller posts from pointed arches needed extra support
due to the natural effect to bow outwards, so
exterior walls were shored up with
solid or flying buttresses adding decorative qualities to the buildings.
Ribbed Vault System
Intersecting pointed arches edged with an armature on piped
masonry and placed on top of lancet walls create ribbed vaults.
Ulm Minster, Germany
Cathedral de Notre Dame de Paris
Cathedral de Norte-Dame de Chartres, France
Ribbed Vault
Construction
with flying buttresses
Cathedral de Notre Dame de Paris