Geometric design and construction of a Late Baroque brick vault: Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer’s Benedictine Church of the Holy Cross and St. Hedwig at Legnickie Pole (original) (raw)
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Geometric Primitives Assessing Italian-Czech Vault Construction Techniques in Baroque Period
ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2019
The developments of the latest technology in the field of Digital Cultural Heritage (DCH) are revolutionizing the methods of surveying, representing and managing the built heritage. The integrated use of 3D survey instruments such as laser scanning, digital photogrammetry and the new holistic way to represent the architecture, based on the Building Information Modeling (BIM), allows the collection, analysis and archiving of a large amount of data, by increasing information sharing among a great number of experts involved during the life cycle of the building. The paper focuses on the connection between Italy and Czech in terms of vaults patterns and construction techniques. The two case studies are the frame vault of the chapel of the Italian Cultural Institute and the barrel vault with lunettes of the Klementinum Baroque Library. They are both unique examples of the great expertise of architects and craftsmen that worked in Bohemia across the 17 th and 18 th centuries. Most of them were from the North of Italy, like the ones that worked in the building sites of the two case studies. The in-depth study of the construction techniques and the complex shapes needs the use of new scan-to-BIM modeling requirements, based on the definition of geometric primitives useful for the generation of intelligent threedimensional models able to integrate different types of data. Finally, the acquired data are included in a database that collects information coming from both Italian and Czech studies, raising awareness among citizens of the richness of their built heritage.
The geometric design of Christoph Dientzenhofer's 'radical' vaults
Studies in Construction History: Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Conference of the Construction History Society, 2023
Christoph Dientzenhofer (1655-1722) is considered one of the most important Baroque master builders of Central Europe. From his extensive architectural oeuvre, a group of six church buildings with geometrically complex forms stands out, recognised by architectural historians as particularly innovative and influential. These churches, located in Bohemia (Czech Republic), and often collectively referred to as the 'radical', 'dynamic', 'Guarinesque', or simply 'Bohemian' group, are: St. Joseph in Obořiště (1702-11), the Castle Church in Smiřice (1702-11), St. Nicholas in the Lesser Town of Prague (1703-11), St. Clare in Cheb (1707-11), St. Margaret in Břevnov (1708-16), and the Church of the Holy Assumption in Nová Paka (1709-24). The brick vaults of these six buildings, sequences of oval domes and double-curved vault areas, are of particular interest for building research. In this study, the geometric design of the vaults of Dientzenhofer's 'radical' churches is documented, analysed, and compared using 3D laser scans of the buildings as primary source. The 3D models generated from the scans enable a geometric analysis through the method of reverse geometric engineering, breaking down the vaults' complex three-dimensional forms into their basic two-dimensional components: segments of circles with different radii and orientations, curved in one or two directions. These forms can be found in the architectural and stereotomic treatises that were widespread at the time. By comparing the vault geometry of the six churches with each other and with the geometric concepts discussed in the treatises, general statements can be made about the architect's design choices. On the basis of this investigation, hypotheses are made about the design and underlying geometric ideas of the vaults of Dientzenhofer's 'radical group', and the results are placed in context.
Geometric Analysis of Two Brick Ribbed Vaults from the 14th Century in Aragón
2018
The control of the geometry during the Middle Ages allowed the right trace and drawing of ribbed vault, element that defines the gothic construction. The divulgation of this style caused a large amount of regional variances that were translated into diverse formal and material varieties. This study will carry out an architectonic surveying and following analysis of two ribbed vaults built in Aragon, both made of reloja and aljez (brick and cast), during the 14th century, with the objective to deepen knowledge and understanding. The accuracy that requires a formal exhaustive analysis, out of simplifications, has required an appropriate surveying methodology. After the construction of the 3D models it has been possible to extract the accurate geometry of the arches that defines the vaults, to be able to proceed with the geometrical analysis. As a result of this research it will be possible to establish accurately their original curvature and position, which will allow to compare the d...
The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2019
The article focuses on the analysis of the construction technique of the star vault designed by the famous Bohemian architect from the Baroque period, Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel. The vault covers St. Bernard's Chapel in the Plasy Monastery and represents a masterpiece in Santini's late career. The authors try to understand its construction technology with the help of modern surveying methods. The shape of the vault structure is complex, therefore a detailed geometrical survey of both intrados and extrados was performed. The data collected in situ, photogrammetric blocks, were used as a basis for the modeling of the vault shape. An accurate 3D model and HBIM of the structure were generated, using a novel Scan-to-BIM process based on the integrated use of a different Grade of Generation and primitive extraction to support the modeling. This survey is part of a program to implement a vault database addressed to detect permanencies and mutations in the construction techniques across Europe, that gives back unexpected, and mostly unknown, richness of vault construction patterns.
The 100 Ft Vault: The Construction and Geometry of the Sala dei Baroni of the Castel Nuovo, Naples
E. Rabasa; M. Á. Alonso; A. López Mozo; T. Gil; J. Calvo López. 2012. "The 100 Ft Vault: The Construction and Geometry of the Sala dei Baroni of the Castel Nuovo, Naples". In Nuts and Bolts of Construction History. Paris: Picard, vol. 3, p. 53-59.
After the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples in 1442, Alfonso V of Aragon transformed the Castel Nuovo, an old Angevin fortress in the capital, into a new palace. In addition to commissioning the well-known triumphal arch ascribed to Francesco Laurana, he ordered the Majorcan architect Guillem Sagrera to construct a number of singular spiral staircases, a rib vault behind the arch and an octagonal tierceron vault over the castle’s main hall. Measuring approximately 26 m. wide, the octagonal vault may be the largest of its kind in European Gothic architecture. This has led us to prepare a specific survey of the vault, carried on by means of a laser total station, in order to determine its exact geometry. In this paper, after an introductory section on the vault’s construction, we present our analysis of the geometry and tracing methods of the vault, paying special attention to the tension between the regular, octagonal layout of the vault and Sagrera’s idiosyncratic style.
Geometrical Analysis of a Brick Vault by Slices from the Aurelian Walls in Rome
Nexus Network Journal
This work focuses on the analysis of a singular case of brick vault by slices from the Aurelian Walls in Rome. The study is based on an accurate survey carried out through automated photogrammetry. This analysis aims to determine the geometry of the vault and compare it with the theoretical model of its type.
Nexus network journal/Nexus Network Journal, 2024
Extensive literature exists concerning the building and construction techniques of Late Gothic net vaults' rib systems. Nonetheless, the most influential works on this subject were authored in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries-long after these structures were constructed. During this period, the accuracy of the available survey techniques limited the knowledge about these vaults' exact geometry. Nowadays, terrestrial laser scanning allows us to gather never-before-evaluated data about them. In this article, we present a new geometry-based typology of Late Gothic net vaults' rib systemsbased on written sources and our own case studies-which challenges some premises of the literature. The typology is accompanied by a thorough explanation of our methodology for geometric analysis. We also accentuate our views on the crucial role of geometric analysis in studying building connections and genealogy.
Architectural Survey of the Vaults of Sangallo's House in Florence
Many technologies have been used in cultural heritage conservation and documentation in recent years. One of these techniques, laser scanning which is increasingly becoming popular in late years is used for various purposes like surveying, modelling, archiving and visualization in the field of cultural heritage. Plenty of works have been done in heritage documentation with laser scanning technique allowing the user to achieve different information from a 3D model and helping to investigate the shape and components of heritage. This paper deals with how a 3D model can be used to identify the construction technique of heritage and the application of laser scanning for the generation of 3D models of the vaults in Sangallo’s House in Firenze. The aim of this study is to compare the shape and the constructive techniques of surveyed vaults. To achieve this aim, we needed to obtain the thickness and the morphology of the vaults, and this information was provided by laser scanner survey. Th...
Construction Matters. Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on Construction History, 2024
The former Jesuit Church of St. Nicholas in the Lesser Town of Prague (Sv. Mikuláš na pražské Malé Straně), is considered the masterpiece of the two Prague-based members of the Dientzenhofer family of master builders, Christoph (1655–1722) and Kilian Ignaz (1689–1751), father and son. Christoph’s new vault concept of double-curved pairs of arches, although being the starting point for a new stream within Baroque architecture, was realized but not completely finished. Decades later, his son completed the building to his own unique design, drastically remodeling the existing vaults. This study seeks to determine what this change in architectural expression means at the level of vault geometry and construction. Using a laser scan of the building as the primary source, the complex vault geometry based on circle segments was analyzed with the help of Reverse Geometric Engineering, and the construction techniques, centering and alterations to the building’s fabric were described and interpreted by means of precise extrados plans. This made it possible to reconstruct the original vault design, providing a significant contribution to long-debated questions of architectural history. Furthermore, the different approaches to vault design and construction taken by Christoph and Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer respectively, were clarified, showing how Kilian Ignaz utilized simpler geometry and centering but achieved more advanced structural details than his father.