Elements and Materials
Vault
Structural Element
Citation Formats
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An arch extended into a ceiling: the barrel vault as a continuous tunnel, the groin vault where two barrels cross, and the Gothic rib vault, in which slender stone ribs carry thin webs of infill. Vaulting is how masonry architecture roofs a space in stone, and each refinement of it redistributed weight in ways that changed what walls had to be.
Facts
Element Kind First Used EraAncient; systematized by Rome, refined in the Middle Ages 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
A vault is structurally an arch extended along a line, so the two elements are named together in the atlas's own description of each.
A dome is a vault rotated around a central vertical axis, closing the shell in every direction at once.
Seen In
Rib vaults over the nave and choir.
Sources
1. Encyclopedia Britannica
Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture
Banister Fletcher, edited by Dan Cruickshank (20th edition), Architectural Press, 1996General history, vaulted construction
Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture
Banister Fletcher, edited by Dan Cruickshank (20th edition), Architectural Press, 1996Associated With: Arch, General history, structural elements chapter, on the vault as an extruded arch
Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture
Banister Fletcher, edited by Dan Cruickshank (20th edition), Architectural Press, 1996Associated With: Dome, General history, structural elements chapter, on the dome as a rotated vault
Wikipedia
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