首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
"Building with Arches" Round Arch and Vault Although the round arch was used by the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia several
"Building with Arches" Round Arch and Vault Although the round arch was used by the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia several
admin
2018-07-24
74
问题
"Building with Arches"
Round Arch and Vault
Although the round arch was used by the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia several centuries before our common era, it was most fully developed by the Romans, who perfected the form in the 2nd century b.c.e. The arch has many virtues. In addition to being an attractive form, it enables the architect to open up fairly large spaces in a wall without risking the building’s structural soundness. These spaces admit light, reduce the weight of the walls, and decrease the amount of material needed. As utilized by the Romans, the arch is a perfect semicircle, although it may seem elongated if it rests on columns. It is constructed from wedge-shaped pieces of stone that meet at an angle always perpendicular to the curve of the arch. Because of tensions and compressions inherent in the form, the arch is stable only when it is complete, when the topmost stone, the keystone, has been set in place. For this reason an arch under construction must be supported from below, usually by a wooden framework.
Among the most elegant and enduring of Roman structures based on the arch is the Pont du Gard at Nimes, France, built about 15 c.e. when the empire was nearing its farthest expansion. At this time, Roman industry, commerce, and agriculture were at their peak. Engineering was applied to an ambitious system of public-works projects, not just in Italy but in the outlying areas as well. The Pont du Gard functioned as an aqueduct, a structure meant to transport water, and its lower level served as a footbridge across the river. That it stands today virtually intact after nearly two thousand years (and is crossed by cyclists on the route of the famous Tour de France bicycle race) testifies to the Romans’ brilliant engineering skills. Visually, the Pont du Gard exemplifies the best qualities of arch construction. Solid and heavy, obviously durable, it is shot through with open spaces that make it seem light and its weight-bearing capabilities effortless.
When the arch is extended in depth—when it is, in reality, many arches placed flush one behind the other—the result is called a barrel vault. This vault construction makes it possible to create large interior spaces. The Romans made great use of the barrel vault, but for its finest expression we look many hundreds of years later, to the churches of the Middle Ages.
The church of Sainte-Foy, in the French city of Conques, is an example of the style prevalent throughout Western Europe from about 1050 to 1200—a style known as Romanesque. Earlier churches had used the Roman round arch and barrel vault so as to add height to their churches. Until this period most churches had beamed wooden roofs, which not only posed a threat of fire but also limited the height to which architects could aspire. With the stone barrel vault, they could achieve the soaring, majestic space we see in the
nave
of Sainte-Foy to span the spaces between the interior columns that ultimately held up the roof. With the Romanesque style, builders set a stone barrel vault as a ceiling over the
nave
, hiding the roof structure from view. The barrel vault unified the interior visually, providing a soaring, majestic climax to the rhythms announced by the arches below.
Pointed Arch and Vault
While the round arch and vault of the Romanesque era solved many problems and made many things possible, they nevertheless had certain drawbacks. For one thing, a round arch, to be stable, must be a semicircle; therefore, the height of the arch is limited by its width. Two other difficulties were weight and darkness. Barrel vaults are both literally and visually heavy, calling for huge masses of stone to maintain their structural stability. They exert an outward thrust all along their base, which builders countered by setting them in massive walls that they dared not weaken with light-admitting openings. The Gothic period in Europe, which followed the Romanesque, solved these problems with the pointed arch. A
The pointed arch, while seemingly not very different from the round one, offers many advantages. IS Because the sides arc up to a point, weight is channeled down to the ground at a steeper angle, and therefore the arch can be taller. The vault constructed from such an arch also can be much taller than a barrel vault. C Architects of the Gothic period found they did not need heavy masses of material throughout the curve of the vault, as long as the major points of intersection were reinforced. D
Glossary
nave: the long central area in a church with aisles on each side
According to paragraph 5, why are Romanesque churches so dark?
选项
A、It was a characteristic of construction with pointed arches.
B、It was too difficult to make windows in the heavy materials.
C、Openings for light could have compromised the structure.
D、Reinforcements covered the areas where light could shine in.
答案
C
解析
"... massive walls that they dared not weaken with light-admitting openings." Choice A is not correct because the Gothic period, which followed the Romanesque, solved the problem with pointed arches that allowed for windows. Choice B is not correct because the author does not mention that windows were difficult to make. Choice D is not correct because the reference to reinforcement at the major points of intersection was characteristic of Gothic, not Romanesque, architecture.
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/HxfO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.TheTawnyOwlMost【L31】______owlspeciesinUKStronglynocturna
Completetheformbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.CUSTOMER’SINFORMATIONDETAILSName:【L
CompletethenotesbelowWriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.TheGherkinBuildingCommissionedby:【L31】______firmcalledFoste
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.CLIMATEANDARCHITECTURECasesandexamplesarefrom
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.ChimpanzeeBehavioursSpeciesWecanfindPanorPanTroglody
Completethesentencebelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSfortheanswer.Therearethreefullscholarshipsthatcovertuitiona
ChooseTWOletters,A-E.WhichTWOtopicsdopeoplemostfrequentlyaskabout?Atheidealtemperaturesettingonthethermostat
Choosethecorrectletter,A,BorC.PacificTapaClothWhydidtheMaoripeopleofNewZealandstopmakingtapa?
PREPARINGFORASCHOLARSHIPINTERVIEWSophiehas
随机试题
简述归档文件的含义。
以民事责任是否因合同关系引起为标准,民事责任可以分为()。
全身骨与关节结核中发病率最高的是
甲下落不明满6年,其妻向人民法院申请宣告死亡,其父向人民法院申请宣告失踪,人民法院应当()。
甲将所持有的A公司债券交付乙,作为向乙借款的质押物。双方签订了书面质押合同,但未在债券上背书“质押”字样。借款到期后甲未还款。甲的另一债权人丙向法院申请执行上述债券。下列说法哪一个是正确的?
某工程柱下独立基础见图6.1,共18个。已知:土壤类别为三类土;混凝土现场搅拌,混凝土强度等级:基础垫层CIO,独立基础及独立柱C20;弃土运距200叫基础回填土夯填;土方挖、填计算均按天然密实土。问题:根据图示内容和《建设工程工程量清单计价规
下列关于会计档案的销毁说法中,正确的有()。
下列各项因素中,影响企业持有的持有至到期债券投资摊余成本的有()。(2015年学员回忆版)
趋避冲突又称正负冲突,是心理冲突的一种,指同一目标对于个体同时具有趋近和逃避的心态。根据以上定义,下列属于趋避冲突的是()。
在层次化网络设计结构中,__________是核心层的主要任务。
最新回复
(
0
)