Etiket: Architecture
Space Architecture : MoonCapital
This week I’ve had the chance to research space architecture since the first jury is behind us i wanted to give myself a break. In my research I’ve came across this project that’s called MoonCapital, it is a project that is designed to be built on the moon and it really took my attention. If you are interested in this topic i highly recommend you to check out this project 🙂 I want to share a part of the article with you.
MoonCapital is a design proposal for a second-generation habitation located on the rim of Shackleton Crater at the lunar south pole in the year 2069, 100 years after the first man arrived on the Moon. Based on current and anticipated technology and scientific knowledge, it develops a realistic scenario of how 60 and more people may live on the Moon 55 years from now. In 2009, Architecture and Vision worked on a series of extraterrestrial habitats, such as the MoonVille project, to develop an architectural vision of a settlement on the Moon 40 years after the first moon landing. MoonVille was based on the concept that the limited amount of energy and resources on the Moon results in a defined size of settlement, similar to a medieval town, that corresponds to the amount of available farmland. In contrast to this, MoonCapital is investigating the principle of cellular growth based on a series of modules. The ongoing architectural research on how humans can not only survive but also live in Space
is an important contribution to the scientific community The lunar south pole is the most promising location for a human settlement since there are peaks of eternal light, breaking the lunar day/night cycle, which last 28 earth days. On the other hand, a cable lift leading down into the Shackleton Crater would allow the establishment of an astronomical research station with a large, deep-space telescope with absolutely no light pollution- a big step forward in the exploration of our universe. The impact of micrometeorites in the south pole is also less, and moonquakes, though there is not yet enough research on them in this location are another issue to consider.
A Modular Community with Low-Gravity Sports and Sculpture
Radiation is posing one of the most severe problems of human space flight, and this has led to a proliferation of proposals for underground lunar habitations. The MoonCapital project, however, proposes the building of domes covered with lunar soil (regolith) as a controllable engineering solution that also allows humans a feeling o protected openness on the Moon’s surface The domes, over inflatable modules form an intelligent skin, protecting from radiation and micrometeorites and allowing sunlight through a daylight-direction system inside. They are also a visible architectural testimony of human presence on the Moon Built using inflatable and self-hardening concrete technologies, they are covered by a 3-metre (10-foot) thick layer of small regolith-filled sandbags, filled and mounted by small swarm robots, which also clear the site.
Inflatable light receptors collect sunlight and direct it into the domes, where it can be used to translate the 28-day lunar day/night cycle into a 24-hour terrestrial day/night cycle. A digital projection allows artificial simulation of the Earth’s skies on the surface of the domes, and can also play movies The smallest community and initial phase consists of two domes: a large one for the habitation and working modules, and a smaller one for the agriculture modules to produce food, and to recycle air and water. The modular system allows growth and extension as the new lunar society develops. MoonCapital contains facilities for research, production and leisure, and a small hotel for visitors. Spaces inside the domes not oCcupied by pressurised modules are used for rover docking and maintenance, radiation-protected surface science, and low-gravity spacesuit sports like moon soccer and moon tennis Sculptures will be installed in the vacuum environment to fulfil inhabitants’ desire for culture, but also to aesthetically explore this fascinating environment The inflatable modules are designed to fit into a 6-metre (20-foot) diameter rocket fairing, leaving many options open for future launch capabilities. They have a deployed diameter of 11 metres (36 feet) and three levels. Main circulation is on level 0, from where levels-l below and +1 above can be accessed. The modules are connected by rigid carbon-fibre nodes that allow three horizontal and two vertical connections and also contain noisy equipment such as life support. The modules have windows to allow views outside into the dome and virtual windows that allow a radiation protected view onto the lunar landscape Vertical circulation is realised by muscle powered lifts and staircases. Ceiling height is kept between 2.4 and 2.6 metres(7.9 and 8.5 feet), and uses soft padding as it is easy to reach this height by jumping in one-sixth of the Earth’s gravity For the rather compact spaces, a low ceiling height is beneficial for the perceived spatial proportions and keeps the pressurised volume low as well as the environmentally controlled volume. However, the arrangement als0 provides large spaces for gymnastics, reaching up to 6 metres (20 feet) ceiling height, in which to enjoy and explore the low gravity.
A Stimulating Interior in Monotonous Exterior
MoonCapital’s directive is human-centred: the interior planning of the modules is defined by safety,social behaviour and psychological needs. However, in reality a moon habitation is more a machine than a living environment as we know it on Earth, and space architects therefore need to consider human needs even more carefully. MoonCapital creates and respects private, semi-private, semi-public and public spaces to allow individuals maximum personal freedom in a confined environment Sensory deprivation is also a main concern where the sky is always black and going out to ‘breathe some fresh air’ is impossible: environmental control (temperature humidity, pressure, illumination, olfactory), communication, audio systems and food are all employed as stimulating countermeasures to this. A combination of sensors and algorithms can individually react on the people and expose them to the unexpected Surfaces, decor, artwork and interactive devices such as electronic sculptures can further enrich daily life on the Moon.
Module Eden: The Lunar Paradise
In the larger habitation and working dome of MoonCapital’s initial phase three Paradise Modules, or Module Eden One to Three, have a normal earth atmosphere and contain aeroponic plants such as strawberries and apples that are in blossom over the year and bear sweet fruits and berries. These modules differ from the purely food-producing, robot controlled agricultural modules: butterflies and birds fill them with movement and natural sounds, tables and benches allow people to meet there, to relax or just look at the plants, hear the birds and smell the air, creating a public park for the lunar inhabitants. The transparent skins also illuminate the dome and can be seen from the windows of other modules. Module Eden forms the green heart of the MoonCapital and a connection with home the planet Earth, casting its blue light into the black Moon sky.
further information and photographs from http://www.andreasvogler.com/portfolio/mooncapital/
Le Corbusier ‘The Modulor’
For our Arch222 History of Architecture slass we prepared a presentation about the Modulor of Le Corbusier. Here is the presentation, i hope you like it.
TEDU Juries
Hey everyone, as you know it is our jury week and all the juries are happening in this two weeks in our university. I was able to listen to some of them so here are 4th year’s jury and 1st year of city planning:
Tedu City Planning first year:
It was one of the juries that I got to listen from the start. Baykan Hoca told about how the students started the progress. They focused on human movements and not the functions. What they’ve worked on was still some kind of abstarct. They focused on geometries also.
First one to go was Meltem Aykan,
She had generated simple places for people to enjoy. She had 3 entrances in her design. The main was on left near the valley. She tried to make more constructive places on that place. She made a creation of human movement patterns. The jury criticized some parts of her design but was happy with the end result overall. Her oral presentation was liked very much, it was expressive and understandable. She didn’t have topography lines showing in the zoomed in part of her poster which was warned. One exit in her design was too open to world and why she couldn’t use the Gestalt rules on the upper sides was discussed.
She also got critiques about how the introverted spaces were too limited. She could’ve use the same language on both sides because it was found very differentiated. She was advised to find a way to control the upper part of her design because there are common places and there could be a better coming together. One one part climbing was easy but in the other controlled part getting there was not as easy. Making them more introverted or specially not that small was advised. Also one spatial experience (climbing) repeats too much in a very large area of her model. How people’s way of feeling on those spaces and how it differentiated was discussed. She was also advised to use more strong ways to show what she’s aiming for with her design.
The second one was Ece Nur Bahçekapılı,
In her design she thought that geomorphical materials were more useful for the topography. She tried to obtain a group of people’s relation to one single person. She had an enterance on top. She wanted people to predict somethşng while they were approaching the design. She putted walls around the enterance to make people wander and go up and see what’s there. She had gathering areas near the enterance, than resting places.
She had structural elements in her design which she used to connect two parts of her design, which they were allowed to use in an abstract manner. On another hill top there was another gathering place and areas for people that wanted to be alone. On the right side of the cite the pattern was found nice by jury but on the left side it was weaker. Right side was dominated by gathering places so designing that part was easier for her while on the left it was harder because there was only one hill top to use as a gathering place. The jury thought that while walking on the left side there wasn’t many options to choose from for the visitors because it was too directional. And it couldn’t relate to other places. So jury thought that left didn’t have as much potential as the right part and wanted her to connect her ideas together. Overall her sketches was also liked.
4th year juries was titled Change Climat Change. They were adding something, some approaches, to their designes than can help to change the climate change.
First one I could listen was Cansu Nur Örek
She was critisez about her linear design approach. What if the cite was square then how would the design change was talked. The transportation net in her design was too linear and how it’s relating to other elements in her design was talked.
Other one that I could listen was Irem Asena Güney
She had separated the cite to three parts according to topography. All three of them holds each other but recycleation is like the main element in her design. Recycling the trash of people that live there is what she had focused on more. There’s a place for accommodation for people that work here and come there for conferences. One of the things that jury criticized was how socializing is forced to decend when recycling is too dominant and so people wouldn’t want to live there. Simbaş Altınoran was shown as an example here. So whether or not the living conditions were appropriate for people was discussed. And to solve that problem to have a distance in between would be a good solution was questioned because then if recycle place was too far can the people that live there use it very often or not.
Another thing that was criticized was her having a main element in her design as recyclation corridor, and then using another element to travel from other places. Because her recycling corridor is related with accommodation place and goes through exhibition place so it was found enough.
She was told that she sould have a trailer of how accommodation parts could be implemented to other spaces. It could’ve been useful for the jury to understand. To show her strategic tactics/ decisions and relations. Other than that her proportions, mass transitions in topography and human scale was talked about. And it was decided that the topography is indeed hard to work on.
Here is a picture of our jury presentation to guest juries:
Beginnings by Nevzat Sayın
Last month we had a presentation by Nevzat Sayın about the topic of beginnigs. I couldn’t share the details because of the busy schedule of the studio but I’d love to tell you about the topics that he mentioned and his great works. Let me start with introducing him: Nevzat Sayın is an architect and writer that has been working in his own architecture studio since 1985. He has done really inspiring projects so far and he talked about some of his work. Here are some of them:
The Seed: A concert hall located in Istanbul, Emirgan 2008
Bilgi University; Architecture Facultiy and Library:
Anadolu University’s Architecture and Design Faculties
In his speech he talked about how the hardest part of design progress is the beginnings, which is the most that we’re struggling with as architecture students. According to him there are two ways to start: focusing on the solution or focusing on the problem. He adviced focusing on the problem and the details of the case. I really loved his speech, if you’d like to get to know him and listed to his TEDx talk you can take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVUG_iaywAU
WORLD ARCHITECTURE|1500-1600 BCE
Constantinople Becomes Istanbul
The goal of Ottoman of an Islamic Roman Empire required the capture of Constantinople, named Istanbul after, so in 1453, Istanbul was conquered by Mehmed II. After this, Fatih permit the non-Muslim ethnic groups to govern by their own rules. Also, in order to encourage merchants, he built the markets of Kapalı Çarşı like Koza Han in Bursa. It also had square bay and rounded domes too. This foundation resulted in population increase in the city. The sultan followed Italian improvements and influenced their engineering about fortifications.
The Ulu Cami differed in type from the reverse-T royal mosques. Then, it followed the hypostyle model. Each of it bays carried a rounded dome. That square bay with a rounded dome became the standard unit of Ottoman architecture, repeated in palaces, hospitals, schools, baths, and mosques. It even appeared in the impressive structures of Bursa.
The young sultan internalized the cultural and technical innovations of Italy and commissioned the Venetian painter Gentile Bellini for a portrait. In addition, Italian engineering has demonstrated its characteristics in certain parts of the city. The round castle of Rumeli Fortress, Yedikule, built in the forest and the Golden Gate built by the Byzantine to prevent the Christian sea support, is a star-shaped castle. Fatih’s secret weapon was the cannon known as Urban.
Hagia Sophia was significant for the sultan and it was converted church into royal mosque with adding a minaret. An eastern apse also was turned into mihrab and askew from the main axis to point through the Mecca. Conqueror inspired from the Hagia Sophia and built a new mosque which is Fatih Cami and extensive imaret. It had great hemispherical dome that have nearly as much as diameter with Hagia Sophia. It had a rectangular forecourt which has arcades and each bays of it topped by small cupolas and also ancient columns supported point arches. At the back of the mosque, there was a cemetery garden and it includes an octagonal turbe.
The barrel vaults of the Old Byzantine cisterns were the basis for the terraced complex. It occupied the center of a vast, a square plaza. There were eight madrassas sets on the north and south sides for the study of law and sharia. There are also two small walled areas for hospitals. thermal baths, stables, soup kitchens, and nursing homes. Conqueror designed the zoning as a social aid institution. His aim was to show the benefit of Ottoman peace.
In 1459, the palace moved from in the center of the city to extreme tip of peninsula where acropolis of the ancient Greek city of Byzantium. The new palaces made a strong connection with the natural features and the Bosphorus view, making Topkapı closer to the garden of Chinese scholars than the Italian palazzo. Topkapı Palace complex has a residential property which is more intact with the forested and rugged fortified walls. That way there was privacy and unlike the European palaces, it was asymmetrical and more like a garden than the building. Topkapı organized with three successive courts: The Imperial Gate stood a few steps from the apse of Hagia Sophia. The Middle Gate, had freestanding pavilions. It also looked like Byzantine triumphal entry and this gate for business gained entry. For formal ceremonies there was a Court of Processions which had an arcade of pointed arches on the edges. Ancient columns with sculpted muqarna-style capitals were utilized.
The most important political space in Topkapı was Diwan or the Council Hall. It was a succession of the three-domed hall and was skirted by an L-shaped portico. The Diwan served for official and daily administrative meetings. The harem was behind the Diwan as a collection of three floors small courts.
In Topkapı Palace, Fatih’s architect, Murad Halife wrapped the edges of the court with an arcade of pointed arches. He used ancient columns and capped them with freshly sculpted muqamma-style capitals.
Sinan and the Challange of Hagia Sophia
Mimar Sinan was the most prolific and successful architect over the period. He has over 300 projects including mosques and infrastructure works. He built lots of major mosques and imarets in Istanbul and his obsession with Hagia Sophia can be perceived throughout all of his mosques. This also resulted with city’s fabric transformation into patchwork which juxtaposed effective monumental enclosures studded with billowing cupolas and marble-clad minarets to neighbourhoods of narrow streets that include densely packed wooden houses. Sinan had relation with military so he gained structural and engineering solutions for the production of bridges and ships while observing various designs.
Sinan’s first work for the Süleyman I, the Şehzade Cami appeared exceptionally harmonious. The sultan founded the mosque in honor to his first son, Mehmed. Sinan also had monumental works for important two female figure in the history: Hürrem and her daughter Mihrimah. An imaret in honor of Hürrem, the Haseki Hürrem complex. He covered the mosque with a single hemispherical dome and designed the hospital, especially, for women. He also built two imarets for Mihrimah and they occupied remote sites in the city, one of them next to Edirne Gate, the other across the Bosporus in Uskadar. The mosque in the Edirne Gate has splendid dome raised on massive octagonal piers. Like Gothic builders, Sinan tried to eliminate the weight of bearing walls and allowing wide fenestration under the four parabaloid supporting arches.The Mosque had inspirations from Hagia Sophia with the central dome and four semi domes. Four small domes located at the corners and define perfectly square forecourt which is identical.
Mimar Sinan’s obsession with Ayasofya was seen also in the Suleymaniye Mosque. He designed a central dome surrounded by two semi doms and four octagonal buttress towers raised at the corners of the dome. The mosque also had gothic stanchions. Two sets of minarets harmonize with the pyramidal massing of the dome. The corners without semi domes the walls of the arched elevations were punctured by three rows of windows for sense of light and openness.
Like the Fatih Cami, Suleymaniye mosque dominated a vast terraced space. On the edges, there were seven madrasas and each have a square courtyard. The madrasas were the educational center of the Ottoman Empire. They contained their own square courtyards. There were various entrances from different levels surrounding the mosque. Behind the dome, the founder’s turbe constructed and Suleyman’s tomb has an octagonal domed structure with a colonnaded veranda. Furthermore, Sinan built his largest mosque in Edirne, Selimiye mosque. Dome of the mosque higher than the Hagia Sophia and the minarets are tallest of the Islam. The eight piers at the corners of the octagonal drum supported the dome rose as single colossal columns.
Selimiye Cami in Edirne is the largest mosque designed by Sinan. The domes of Hagia Sophia were slightly larger than the domes. Also, the minarets of the mosque were the longest minarets ever. Selimiye, the largest mosque in the courtyard of the facade, it was implying a kind of Ottoman attitude, broad and narrow coves with a changing rhythm.
PAPAL ROME:
The Fountainhead of Renaissance Classicism
The ancient Roman architecture suggested the architects the symmetry system, harmonious proportions, and the system of decorative columns that could be developed. While designing the expression of the power of the Catholic church in the 16th century, the popes supported artists and architects such as Donato Bramante, Antonio da Sangallo, Raphael and Michelangelo who played with the language of classicism. As a result of being defeated the Sack of Rome, the new theories of fortification and urban design were supported and also many of the designers of Papal Rome went to different cities in 1527. Therefore, this event had two main consequences for architecture:
It encouraged the new theories of fortification and urban design in reaction to the mobile cannon. And many of the designers of papal Rome emigrated to other cities and taking with them the Roman language of classical architecture.
The Papal Restoration: The Deconstruction and Redesign of St. Peter’s
Years later, Rome returned to its old self. In the 14th century, the popes abandoned Rome and the Papal Restoration came out in the 15th century. Along with this restoration, luxury costumes, theatrical papal ceremonies, and triumphal architecture emerged. Due to the Renaissance, the city was born again.
St. Peter was rebuilt as the biggest project of the age. In 1501, A. Castellesi began to work on the Palazzo Castellesi, a new palace. This palace offered a new elegance on an urban scale. And In 1502, a small domed, tolos-type temple was built in the monastery of San Pietro’s church. The purpose was to be surrounded by a concentric columnar formed by larger columns rather than a rectangular structure.
Afterward, Bramante was asked to build a bridge between the Vatican Palace and the Belvedere Villa. He worked with inclined topography. Also, the old-type forked stairs are revitalized. However, the project was not very successful in terms of engineering and part of it collapsed. Then, the papal architects fixed this structure.
Humanist Italy and Muslim Roman Empire
Public Spaces and Private Palaces of Renaissance
The Renaissance means the movement of the old Greco-Roman culture. It was born in Italy which is the continuity of ancient Greek and Roman culture between the 14th and early 15th century. In architecture combination of the details of Greek-Roman culture with herantica occured. Architects tried to use more than antique components and tried to discover the basic principles of design. The most important part of the design at that time was to perfect the vision of perspective. Humanism influenced new palaces and churches in Italian cities. And structures were made to be more uniform and geometric.
The Dome of Florence and Its Architect, Filippo Brunelleschi
During the fourteenth century, the wealthiest families from the merchant guilds dominate the artistic output of Florence. They channeled their collective resources into civic projects such as public palace (Palazzo Vecchio), the new cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the public grain market of Or San Michele, the city walls, and the bridges.
Many public works in late-fourteenth century Florence used rounded arches, symmetrically placed bays and harmonious proportions. The emergence of perspective vision provided the development of the principal public space of the city, the L-shaped Piazza della Signoria.
Santa Maria del Fiore’s (dome constructed in fifth century) design was entrusted to Anolfo di Cambio, who suggested a simple Gothic style. The largest masonry dome was made of vaults. Like the Pantheon in Rome, the structure had an octagon base and the dimensions of the copula was as wide as Pantheon.
The structural concept for Fioravanti’s dome derived from the baptistery of San Giovanni. Brunelleschi’s double shelled structure lay in a combination of masonry techniques while Brunelleschi preserved the dome’s pointed arches and ribs from the Gothic program, he added motifs to the exterior. Brunelleschi designed the Pazzi Chapel and it was completed by his colleague Michelozzo di Bartolomeo. The chapel served as the chapter house, with a porch resembling a triumphal arch.
The Ottoman Empire|1500-1600 : A Culture of Local Symmetries
The Ottoman Turks gave up the nomadic life and started to live in western Anatolia. They had imaret foundations which include a mosque, school, tomb, bath and soup kitchen. Strong sense of internal order was created by placing shallow dome over each bay of significant buildings. This symmetrical order contrasted with the irregular patterns of the cities.
Ottomans enlarged their territories time by time and architecture created a language for regime’s authority. Hagia Sophia affected the design of Ottoman mosques and Sinan established an Ottoman style as assured and recognizable as ancient Roman style.
The Prospect of a Muslim Roman Empire: Royal Mosque and Imarets
Ottoman architects used their architectural models from the Anatolian region, reflecting the vaulted masonry of Armenian churches.
The Orhan Gazi Cami (Mosque) (Bursa ,1339) has basic reverse-T plan of early Ottoman royal mosques. Inside, two central domes covered an axial prayer space as mihrab( the niche oriented to Mecca) Similar with Roman, a technique of opus mixtum were used.
The reverse- T mosque type appeared in many other royal foundations in Bursa, including the Yeşil Cami. It belonged to a religious enclave, imaret, a charitable institution introduced by the Ottomans.
The Yeşil Cami had also the reverse-T mosque type. The interior of Yeşil Cami seems like a palace with a foyer and stairs causing to the second floor where comfortable rooms that separated from the prayer hall.
Imarets included a mosque, a turbe (tomb of the donor), one or more madrassas (religious schools), a hammam(bath), sometimes a hospital, a tekke for dervish monks and imaret or soup kitchen.
The Ulu Cami in Bursa, differed from the reverse- T royal mosques, had the hypostyle model found throughout Southwest Asia. All of its twenty bays carried a rounded dome. A rounded dome that produced by the square bay become the standard unit of Ottoman architecture. ( mosques, schools, baths, hospitals.)
The silk market, or Koza Han extended as a rectangular court with two levels of arcades surrounding a domed treasury. The symmetrically organized public buildings in the early Ottoman capital transmitted the idea of a new, efficient political order.
Constantinople Becomes Istanbul
The Ottoman goal of an Islamic Empire required the capture of Constantine. Byzantine art, architecture, and ritual life influenced places as diverse as Damascus, Venice and Cordola. Constantinople was conquered by Fatih Mehmed II in 1453. The new name of ‘city of Constantine’ was ‘Istanbul’. He built the markets of Kapalı Çarşı which like the Koza Han in Bursa, to stimulate merchant activity. It had square bays capped with rounded, lead covered domes.
The round towers of Rumeli Hissar was built at the Golden Gate after the conquest of Constantinople. It was constructed on the Bosporus to prevent the Christian naval support to the Byzantine. Also, Hagia Sophia converted the venerable Palatine church into a royal mosque with adding a minaret.
Ribbed Dome Structural Analysis
Here is the poster for Ribbed dome. It was for pre-submission and I have better ideas to upgrade the poster. Also a dome model will be coming along. Wait for it 🙂
Research on Ribbed Domes
Here is the research that we did for our final asssignment for our Arch241 class. Our structural element is Dome. And every section is devided into groups so we are researching Ribbed Dome. We are going to do a model of this structural element and here is the information that we will use while doing it.
Ribbed dome is Type of vault giving the effect of a dome, or where the under-surface of a dome or cupola is subdivided by radiating ribs.
Rib : a three dimensional arch which projects from the dome’s interior surface.Arch: the geometric shape of the rib especially when it forms half a circle extending from the base on one side to the base on the other side of the dome.
Ribbed dome: a dome with ribs that rotate around its vertical axis.
When arches are rotated around a dome’s vertical axis, the intersection point at the apex of the dome becomes more congested as the number of arches increases When arches are rotated around a dome’s vertical axis, the intersection point at the apex of the dome becomes more congested as the number of arches increases. This problem can be avoided by using a pair of arches instead of only one, and leaving an open space in the apex where the node of intersecting ribs used to be . Increasing the number of rotated arches to 3, 4, 5 or more arches creates more complex patterns, but causes two effects which were not satisfactory to Arab builders: the first is a physical one, where the resulting arches have different radii because of their location on the dome surface. , this meant that more varied and extensive forms are required for building. A more import-ant effect, however, is a visual one, where the arches intersect in ways that did not appeal to Arab- Muslim tastes.
2.1. Mathematical Properties
Depending on the distance between the arches in a pair, the rotation creates polygonal or star shapes, which are divided into a number of cells. These cells are uniform in shape around the circumference, and become smaller in size starting from the outside and progressing towards the center. The number of star vertices is obviously twice the number of rotations of a pair of arches: n = 2r
Where n is the number of star vertices, and r is a whole number of rotations required until the last pair is superimposed over the first, and ranges from 3 to almost 50. The exterior angle (the angle farthest away from the star center) of each of the kite shaped cells corresponds to the number of rotations that created the star. The outermost angle is equal to the angle of rotation, and is given by this equation: a1 = 360°/ 2r
Where a1 is the angle, and r is the number of rotations as defied in the preceding equation the exterior angle for subsequent cells is given by this equation: ax = x a1
Where ax is the angle, x is the cell sequence number from outside towards inside, where the outermost cell number is 1; a1 is the angle of rotation obtained by the pre-ceding equation.
The cells in the last interior layer which adjoins the central polygon, are always triangles rather than kite shaped. The number of different cells in a star, including the central polygon, equals to the number of rotations that created the star.
star motifs can be produced by joining points equally distributed around the circumference of a circle. These stars can be described by a concise notation giving the data on three quantities: the number of initial vertices n , the method of joining up the vertices to produce the original star (i.e., joining every 2nd point, 3rd point, and so on) d , and the number of cells remaining in the star motif (since some cells can be removed)
2.2. Basic Types of Ribbed Domes
the rotation of a pair of arches 90° produces a square shape. This is a static form un-less placed on the diagonal of a square base. Three rotations produce a hexagonal star or polygon. This is the minimum number of rotations to produce a star motif. by rotating a pair of arches four times, the most popular ribbed dome is created, because of its simple and pleasing proportions, its dynamic qualities, and its balanced relationship to the square and the circle in the same time. Other popular domes are the 12-pointed and 16-pointed stars.
If the framing be of a form less convex than the curve of equilibrium, the weight will have a tendency to crush the ribs inwards, but this pressure may be effectually overcome by strutting between the ribs; and hence it is important that the struts be so placed as to form continuous horizontal circles.
A ribbed dome consists of a number of identical meridional girders or trusses, interconnected at the crown by compression ring
The dome has vertical compression along their meridians, but horizontally experience compression only in the portion above 51.8 degrees from the top. Below this point, the hemispherical dome experiences tension horizontally.
Gothic Europe : The Fabric of the Great Cathedrals
The great success of the Italian merchants stimulated the rest of Europe with new possibilities for cultural exhange so markets began to thrive in the cities, and the demand for public space and new cathedrals followed. Great market cities such as Bruges, Paris, Lübeck, and Cologne more than doubled in size by 1300.
In France the shared interests of the monarchy and the clergy encouraged the new Gothic style as both a cultural and a national enterprise. In cotrast to the heavy barrel vaults of Romanesque churches, the Gothic cathedral designers explored a structural system that combined pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses to achieve dazzing heights and mysterious luminosity. Traveling masons helped spread the style from France throughout Europe, leading the local interpretations wherever it appeared, to the point that the English, Germans, Spanish, Polish and Czechs considered Gothic their own.
The city Returns: Market Towns and New Towns
The new prosperity of the cities encouraged the expansion of the city walls, gigantic cathedrals, and impressive civic buildings; such as town halls, covered markets and hospitals. The quest for emancipation from feudal bonds inspired the foundation of hundreds of new towns across Europe, most built on orthogonal plans that revived the idea of public space. Seasonal markets rotated among the four Champagne towns in two-months durations throughout the year.
The Champagne fairs took place outside the city gates, where they generated permanent settlement areas known in French as ‘faubourgs’. The walls surrounding the city of Troyes doubled in 1250, they enclosed the western faubourg. In the western side, the streets took the names of the goods sold and the money changed. And the faubourg included a synagogue, a building for crusaders and two hospitals.
The growing economy of Troyes led to build a cathedral, a new church of St. Urbain, and a new hospital. St. Urbaing finished in thirty years.
The merchants of Bruges gained the right to own their houses and lands. This led to the formation of guilds and citizen councils. By the end of the thirteenth century, Bruges had rebuilt its walls as a gigantic oval enclosing the two earlier rings and improved its canal system. Also constructed several significent civic monuments including the Belfry, the Cloth Hall and the Waterhalle.
As the citizens of older towns struggled to gain new liberties, new towns were founded throughout Europe. The Zahringer counts, lords of parts of southern Germany and Switzerland, initated the conseptof the new town as an enterprise. Between 1119 and 1228 they sponsored a dozen market towns, each structured on a broad central street. The most successful of these, Freiburg-im-Breisgau and Berne, developed into important trade centers.
During the 14th and 15th centuries the town counsil permitted property owners to add deep arcades to the front of their buildings, single arches propped up on thick piers. The Zahringer planners didnt leave specific sites for cathedrals and town halls, but once a city had proven itself as successful market, the citizens found sites in secondary positions on the side streets for the religiouus and institutional buildings.
The French king Louis IX led the Seventh Crusade against Islam. He also conducted a champaign against renegade Christians. His armies destroyed lots of places and the king took one of the prime rebel forts, Carcassonne, and rebuilt it. Near the fortress of Carcassonne, the king established a polygonal new town with a grid settlement. One square in the center left unbuilt for the cities market.
During the late thirteenth century the French and English both claimed Gascony and built hundreds of bastides (new towns) to intensify their respective power over southwest France. They both followed a simple grid plan. Surveyors subdivided the blocks into oblong ‘gothic lots’. And they forced each settler to built a house within a year and participate in the expenses of preparing the streets, walls and market place. The designers calculated their spaces using proportional divisions. They allotted much more attention to public space by creating an oblong central piazza.
The Gothic Cathedral: The Crown of the City
The new gothic style appeared in European cities during the 13th and 14th century. The designers experimented with slender structural members to accentuate verticality, their aim was to create ‘heavenly’ interior light. The master builders have used that three structural expedients; pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses. While none of the three was a new invention, together they comprised an architectural theory that served symbolic potantial of light.
Gothic architecture started with Abbot Suger. He wrote down his thoughts about rebuilding the abbey church of St. Denis. The interior of the church, with it’s spindy members and stained glass windows, would become the means to achieve a new light, the lux nova, as the transcendent metaphor for Christ.
Suger began with rebuilding of the façade, he inserted an oculus between the two towers. The drive to eliminate the mass from the walls came during the next decade with Suger’s rebuilding of the choir of St. Denis. Here he achieved the crystalline formation of double ambulatory opened through the radial alignment of its piers and columns to a chevet with seven chapels. Luminous but not bright, since the thick panes of stained glass shone only under direct sunlight, the chevet modulated a hushed, chromatic glow.
By the end of the century, lots of large cathedrals were underway in Gothic style, borders extended as the state absorbed new territories. France’s territories tripled during the 13th century, and the Gothic style accompanied this expansion to cities such as Amiens, Troyes and Rouen.
The designers of Notre-Dame consolidated Suger’s disparate concepts to a comprehensive architectonic system. The rebuilding of the church began in the mid-12th century, after a conflict resulted and partial destruction of the church. The cathedral, finished in 1215 provided a symbol of cohesion for the once-divided city. The piers alternated bundles of five shats corresponding to the ribs at the primary arches, with three shafts at the minor arches between each bay. The ribbed vaults, supported by external flying buttresses, rose between large voided areas for the tall clerestory windows that brought abundant daylight into the tribunes and the nave.
The cathedral at Chartres, began as a smaller church that was rebuilt and expanded after devastating a fire. The cities prized relic and the tunic of the Virgin Mary miraculously withstood the flames, and this increased the cathedrals strong attraction for pilgrims.
Verticality became a theological imperative for the gothic cathedral builders. They have builded very high naves, they heightened the ceilings with arches and ribbed vaults. And the big, wheel windows was a symbol of patronage as seen in Chartres wheel window. The cathedral grew as a symbol of the city’s prosperity and served as much as a community center as a fall of faith, used for town meetings, law courts, and theatrical events.
During the 13th century, Louis IX reopened work at St. Denis, under the direction of his favored architects; Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montreuil. The resulting structures, which reduced the walls to shockingly thin skeletons of stone. That style named ‘rayonnant’ during the 19th century. The exterior walls dissolved into lacey stone tracery strung between the scaffold-like structure of interior piers and exterior flying buttresses.
In Paris the same architects designed the Ste-Chapelle for Louis IX, as a reliquary. Begun in 1240. In the upper chapel the designers attempted to reduce the mass of the walls to leave an ethereal curtain of stained glass. They enhanced the structure of the thin piers with concealed iron tension rods. They painted the groin vaults with a deep blue field of stars, gilded the ribs and tinted all of the exposed surfaces with patterns blending with the tones of the stained glass.
Chelles and Montreuil also redesigned the transept of Notre-Dame of Paris. Work begun around 12th century, resumed by Louis IX’s architects in the 13th century to enlarge the windows, creating a similar effect of rayonnant. Their work on the western facade appeared singularly harmonious.
Like the temples of Khmer, the great Gothic cathedrals doubled as marvels of engineering and immense piles of sculpture. Statues were tucked into the niches, cut into the columns and pitched on the roofs. The pyramidal pinnacles piled on the tops of the buttresses of Notre-Dame sprouted crockets above the level of the flyers. The pinnacles once thought to be pure decoration, served as counterweights to the thrust of the flyers. Gargoyles, sculpted on the downspouts, stuck out as fetish elements animating the upper ranges of the cathedrals. As diabolical figures, they haunted the house of God the way sins disturb human consciousness.
The spread of Gothic : lnternational yet Local
The first few bays of the pavement in the nave of Chartres Cathedral contained a labyrinth. In its center were portraits of the master builders who designed the structure. William of Sens, worked on the Gothic cathedral of Sens, gave him excellent qualifications, and the chevet he added to the new choir of the English church showed his preference for French precedents. He was deeply involved in the building process as master mason, structural engineer and building contractor.
Outside of France, people often referred to Gothic style as opus francigenum, thus associating it with French nation building but Gothic soon shook off associations with French to become English, German, Dutch, Spanish, Czech, Portuguese and Italian.
Ribbed vaults had appeared very early at Durham and took on astounding combinations at Lincoln Cathedral, contemporary with the construction of Chartres. The vaults over St Hugh’s choir looked in plan like adjacent Y figures, one inverted, leaving a rhomboid gap between them. A generation later , in the nave of Lincoln Cathedral, the masons created vaults with a profusion of radiating ribs , anticipating the fan vaults of later centuries.
One of the most common structural failures in English cathedrals involved the collapse of the central tower over the crossing. This occured at both Lincoln and Ely cathedrals. The designers at Wells, inserted huge scissor arches at the intersection of the crossing in the 1330s. These curving X shaped forms dramatically interrupted the flow of the nave, adding tangible support to the base of the spire.
Gothic style appeared in Germany through both the arrival of French masons and the preferences of elite patronage. Although the tower of Cologne remained incomplete until the 19th century, their design of open-web steeples directly inspired copies at the Spanish church.
Italy, which resisted Gothic style in favor of its strong Roman heritage, hosted new versions of ribbed vaults and pointed arches. Gothic became the preferred style of the Dominican order, which built grand churches such as SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Venice.
Parler and his descendents pursued a clear style and signed their works with a family emblem, a stylized hook. His son Peter worked with him on projects. And there was another member of the Parler clan, Michael, and his son Heinrich which worked on Strasbourg Cathedral in the 1360s.
Cohorts of experienced builders, under the patronage of knowledgeable clients, added their interpretations. Gothic became an agreed upon language of design that through the variety of regional situations developed into numerous local dialects.
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