Structure of Florence Cathedral

STRUCTURES ASSIGNMENT
NAME: SHREYOSHI DAS GUPTA

CLASS: 2-B
ROLL NO. 26
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
NOTRE DAME (Paris)
Notre-Dame measures 130 metres long, 48 metres wide, 35 metres high and can hold
more than 6000 people.
A total of 21 hectares of oak were necessary for Notre-Dames structure.
The roof was made using 1,320 lead plates weighing over 210,000 kgs.
These large constructions encouraged new inventions and technical
feats. The walls had to be built very high and be strong enough to
support the heavy roof and the immense windows that let light into
the building.
They made it so that all the constructions weight was supported by
columns instead of the walls, which now featured tall, wide
windows.
The ogival vaults inside and the flying buttresses outside made
it possible to distribute weight from the stone and the roof out to all
the cathedrals pillars. This worksite is where the wheelbarrow was
invented to make it easier to carry equipment around.
The workers also used cranes, winches and steeple jacksa type of
human hamster wheelto raise material up for construction. All this
effort was combined to erect the raise the arches 33 metres, the
holes 69 and the spire 90 metres
Wheelbarrow
flying buttresses
Cross vaults
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
FLORENCE CATHEDRAL
Planandstructure
Plan of the church with various extension phases

The cathedral of Florence is built as a basilica, having a wide central nave of four
square bays, with an aisle on either side. The chancel and transepts are of identical
polygonal plan, separated by two smaller polygonal chapels. The whole plan forms a
Latin cross. The nave and aisles are separated by wide pointed Gothic arches resting
on composite piers.
The dimensions of the building are enormous: length 153 metres (502 ft.), width 38
metres (124 ft.), width at the crossing 90 metres (295 ft.). The height of the arches in
the aisles is 23 metres (75 ft.). The height of the dome is 114.5 m.
Structure Of The Dome
Brunelleschi's design contained two shells for the dome, an inner shell made of a
lightweight material, and an outer shell of heavier wind-resistant materials. By
creating two domes, Brunelleschi solved the problem of weight during construction
because workers could sit atop the inner shell to build the outer shell of the dome.
To support the dome Brunelleschi devised an in genius ring and rib support from oak
timbers. Although this type of support structure is common in modern engineering, his
idea and understanding about the forces needed to sustain the dome was
revolutionary. The rings hug both shells of the dome, and the supports run through
them. Other than a few modifications to remove rotted wood, the supports still hold
up the entire dome.
Another fear that a lot of people observing the construction had was how to actually
get the bricks on the dome to stay up in the dome, and not fall to the ground during
the construction. Once again, Brunelleschi had an ingenious idea that is common
practice today, but revolutionary in its time. He created a herringbone pattern with the
bricks that redirected the weight of the bricks outwards towards the dome's supports,
instead of downwards to the floor. By observing carefully the curve of the dome as it
took shape, Brunelleschi was able to place this bricks in key areas.
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
PANTHEON (Rome)
Dome of the pantheon
The 4,535 metric tons weight of the roman concrete dome is concentrated on a ring of
voussoirs 9.1 metres (30 ft.) in diameter that form the oculus, while the downward
thrust of the dome is carried by eight barrel vaults in the 6.4 metres (21 ft.) thick drum
wall into eight piers. The thickness of the dome varies from 6.4 metres (21 ft.) at the
base of the dome to 1.2 metres (3.9 ft.) around the oculus.
Beam in the dome of the Pantheon
No tensile test results are available on the concrete used in the Pantheon; however,
Cowan discussed tests on ancient concrete from Roman ruins in Libya, which gave a
compressive strength of 20 MPa (2,900 psi). An empirical relationship gives a tensile
strength of 1.47 MPa (213 psi) for this specimen. Finite element analysis of the
structure by Mark and Hutchison found a maximum tensile stress of only 128 kPa
(18.5 psi) at the point where the dome joins the raised outer wall.
The stresses in the dome were found to be substantially reduced by the use of
successively less dense aggregate stones, such as small pots or pieces of pumice, in
higher layers of the dome. Mark and Hutchison estimated that, if normal weight
concrete had been used throughout, the stresses in the arch would have been some
80% greater. Hidden chambers engineered within the rotunda form a sophisticated
honeycomb structure This reduced the weight of the roof, as did the elimination of the
apex by means of the oculus.
The top of the rotunda wall features a series of brick relieving arches, visible on the
outside and built into the mass of the brickwork. The Pantheon is full of such
devices for example, there are relieving arches over the recesses inside but all
these arches were hidden by marble facing on the interior and possibly by stone
revetment or stucco on the exterior.
The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3
metres (142 ft.), so the whole interior would fit exactly within a cube (also, the
interior could house a sphere 43.3 metres (142 ft.) in diameter). These dimensions
make more sense when expressed in ancient roman units of measurements: The dome
spans 150 Roman feet; the oculus is 30 Roman feet in diameter; the doorway is 40
Roman feet high. The Pantheon still holds the record for the world's largest
unreinforced concrete dome. It is also substantially larger than earlier domes.

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How did Gothic architects support the immense weight of their cathedral roofs and walls?

What innovations did Brunelleschi introduce to construct Florence Cathedral's dome?

STRUCTURES ASSIGNMENT

NAME: SHREYOSHI DAS GUPTA

Plan of the church with various extension phases

Dome of the pantheon

Beam in the dome of the Pantheon

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