Design and analysis of cross vaults along history

The history of cross vaults began almost 2,000 years ago with a widespread use during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, becoming nowadays one of the most diffused and fascinating structural typologies of the European building cultural heritage. However, conversely to the undeniable excellence achieved by the ancient masons, the structural behavior of these elements is still at the center of the scientific debate. In this regard, with the aim of reviewing the knowledge on this subject as a concise and valuable support for researchers involved in conservation of historical buildings, with a focus on design rules and structural analysis, the present study firstly introduces the cross vaults from a historical perspective, by describing the evolution of the main geometrical shapes together with basic practical rules used to size them. Then, the article deals with the subsequent advancements in structural analysis methods of vaults, until the development of modern limit analysis.This work was partially carried out under the program "Dipartimento di Protezione Civile - Consorzio RELUIS", signed on 2013-12-27.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Art déco e indústria: Brasil, décadas de 1930 e 1940

Este artigo analisa as características assumidas pela arquitetura de tendência art déco em construções ligadas à indústria - moradias, igrejas, escolas, clubes, fábricas etc. - erguidas no Brasil nas décadas de 1930 e 1940, investigando o repertório formal utilizado em diferentes tipologias. Faz uma análise mais detalhada das construções criadas pela Companhia Industrial Fiação de Tecidos Goyanna, em Pernambuco, no período entre 1937 e o final da década de 1940. Trata-se de um conjunto notável pela unidade formal, vinculada à linguagem art déco, e pelo emprego de soluções inovadoras em termos de forma e de programa.The aim of this article is to analyze the characteristics of Art Deco tendencies in buildings related to the industry - as houses, churches, schools, clubs, plants etc - in Brazil during the 1930s and 1940s. It studies the formal repertory used in different types of construction and develops a more detailed analysis of a complex of constructions by the firm Companhia Industrial Fiação de Tecidos Goyanna, in the state of Pernambuco, built during the period between 1937 and the end of 1940s. The presented group of constructions is notable for the formal coherence, associated with the Art Deco language, and for the use of innovative program and form solutions

Communicating Heritage through Intertwining Theory and Studio Based Course in Architectural Education

This paper has emerged from a belief in the importance of architectural history for modern architectural practice and the education of young architects today. It proposes an alternative teaching approach in which theory-based and studio-based methodology are interconnected and mutually challenged to communicate heritage in the most beneficial way. The approach attempts to avoid communicating basic descriptive facts, but is rather based on the interpretation of theoretical knowledge through individual designs, and provokes discussions questioning universal messages of architecture through individual spatial solutions. It was introduced at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade, through the elective course New Reading of Architecture for the third-year students, in the school year of 2014/15 and 2015/16. Results show that critical thinking through designing, as opposed to the usual factual approach, met a favourable response from student. Both in architectural history and in designing for protected historical sites, having been made more historically aware and place-sensitive, they were actively encouraged to conduct research, and to define and shape their own design approach accordingly. It can be noted that experiencing the theory of architecture through critical reading of well-known treatises and exploring it through a design lens made the history of architecture an equal partner in the construction of the present

Between antinomy and symmetry. Architectural drawings of presentation and comparison in the XVI Century

As part of a wider enquiry on the historical typologies of architectural representation, this essay addresses a classification of XVI century architecture drawings that exploit the presence of one or more symmetry axes in the represented building. This kind of split drawings have never been studied as a specific group of works inspired by the specific peculiarities of buildings but only occasionally to mark a new role of architectural drawing. Actually, symmetry combined to orthogonal projections allowed the development of graphic procedures with peculiar goals. Initially restricted into the circle of artist and his assistants, they were gradually addressed to a wider audience. They show a diffuse attitude to draw or copy only half-building; to match interior with exterior; to combine distant elements from a building; to compare alternatives; to confront geometry and perspective effect. All of these practices deeply changed the visual code of architects, evolved the relationship between the artist and commitment; and improved the ability of ordinary people to understand partial and analytical drawings

O desenho e a história da técnica na arquitetura do Brasil colonial The history of technical design in the Brazilian colonial architecture

Com a crescente disponibilização de documentos visuais de Arquitetura, especialmente do período do Brasil colonial, esse artigo propõe aos historiadores um conjunto de procedimentos para explorar os valores artísticos e técnicos desses importantes registros documentais.<br>With the growing availability of visual documents of architecture, especially the period of colonial Brazil, this paper proposes to historians a set of procedures to explore the technical and artistic value of these important documentary records