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Elements and Materials

Buttress

Structural Element

A projecting mass of masonry or timber built against a wall to resist lateral thrust, most often the outward push of a vaulted roof. In its plain, solid form the buttress stands directly against the wall it supports; the flying buttress is a later, specialized development that carries the same thrust across open space on an arch to a freestanding pier, letting the wall itself be pierced with large windows. Buttresses supporting a wall corner are further classified by plan: a clasping buttress wraps the whole corner in an L shape, an angled buttress sets two buttresses to meet at the corner, a setback buttress does the same but pulled back from the corner, and a diagonal or French buttress bisects the angle where the two walls meet. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Element Kind
Structural Element 2
First Used Era
Ancient and medieval; early buttresses appear on the Eanna Temple at ancient Uruk as early as the fourth millennium BC, with the form widespread by the Romanesque period, well before its later Gothic development into the flying buttress. 1
Era
Era (category)
Post-Classical / Medieval 1
Connections

Held Differently

Flying Buttress, Elements and Materials

The flying buttress is a specialized arched development of the plain buttress, not a rejection of it.

Source Wikipedia
Additional Source Buttress (Wikipedia)

Associated With

Gothic Architecture, Styles and Movements
Load-Bearing Wall, Elements and Materials

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Source Buttress (Wikipedia)
Romanesque Architecture, Styles and Movements
Source Wikipedia
Additional Source Buttress (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases

Era Of Origin

The Post-Classical and Medieval Period

Also in History Atlas: the era this subject comes from.

Sources
1. Buttress (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Wikipedia: Buttress, Lead section
    Early examples of buttresses are found on the Eanna Temple (ancient Uruk), dating to as early as the 4th millennium BC.
  • Wikipedia: Buttress, Terminology section, buttress plan types
    A clasping or clamped buttress has an L-shaped ground plan surrounding the corner, an angled buttress has two buttresses meeting at the corner, a setback buttress is similar to an angled buttress but the buttresses are set back from the corner, and a diagonal (or 'French') buttress bisects the angle between the walls where they meet.
  • Wikipedia: Buttress
    A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall.
  • Wikipedia: Buttress, history section
    Early examples of buttresses are found on the Eanna Temple (ancient Uruk), dating to as early as the 4th millennium BC.
  • English Wikipedia, Buttress, lead section, first sentence
    A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall.
  • Associated With: Load-Bearing Wall, Lead
    A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall.
  • In Category: Elements and Materials
  • Associated With: Flying Buttress
  • Associated With: Romanesque Architecture
View the Source
2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation
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