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
52
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
Which of the sentences below best expresses the information in the highlighted statement in the passage? The other choices change the meaning or leave out important information.
选项
A、Architects wanted to build higher ceilings in churches, but they were limited because of the fire hazard caused by wooden beams in the roofs.
B、The majority of the churches prior to this time were constructed with wooden roofs that caused a considerable fire hazard because of their height.
C、The wood beams in the roofs of most churches before this period were a concern because of fire and the constraints they imposed on the height of the ceiling.
D、The limitations on the architecture of the churches were a result of the construction materials and the limited vision of the architects.
答案
C
解析
... a concern because of fire paraphrases "a threat of fire" and constraints they imposed on the height of the ceiling paraphrases "limited the height to which architects could aspire."
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/PxfO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.TheTawnyOwlMost【L31】______owlspeciesinUKStronglynocturna
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.TheTawnyOwlMost【L31】______owlspeciesinUKStronglynocturna
Completethesentencesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.Theaboriginalstonecarvingsareinthe______
Completetheformbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.CUSTOMER’SINFORMATIONDETAILSName:【L
Completetheformbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.CUSTOMER’SINFORMATIONDETAILSName:【L
Completethesentencesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer.Mathbooksarekeptinthe______Building.
Completetheformbelow.WriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.HOUSESERVICEINFORMATIONExampleAnswerNameBarbaraHill
CompletethenotesbelowWriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.TheGherkinBuildingCommissionedby:【L31】______firmcalledFoste
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.CLIMATEANDARCHITECTURECasesandexamplesarefrom
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.ChimpanzeeBehavioursSpeciesWecanfindPanorPanTroglody
随机试题
结膜炎症不会出现的症状有
中国证监会及其派出机构依法履行职责进行检查时,检查人员不得少于3人,并应当出示合法证件和处罚决定书。()
材料:茉莉喜高温,抗寒性差,25℃以上才能孕育花蕾,32℃~37℃是花蕾成熟开放的最适温度;喜光,根系发达,生长旺季要求水分充足,但土壤过湿不利于其根系发育。开花季节,于天黑之前采成熟花蕾。花蕾开放吐香时间是从20时左右至次日10时左右,是将茶叶染上花香
阅读下面的学生作文,回答以下问题。案例:且以作品论英雄①自孔孟以来,我们的阅读方式、欣赏模式大致便是“知人论世”。我们大多认定“文如其人”,
生物因素和社会因素是学前儿童心理发展必不可少的条件,统称为客观因素,下列关于客观因素描述不正确的是()。
核聚变比核裂变释放出更多的能量,同时不会产生放射性的核废料,因此是一种清洁高效的能源。核聚变有着如此多的优点,但是_____,比如反应过程中温度高达2亿摄氏度,物质形式为等离子体,是固态、液态和气态之外的第四态,几乎没有材料能够承受如此高的温度,因此需要用
A、 B、 C、 D、 C
在下列枚举符号中,用来定位文件开始位置的方式是
某模拟网站的主页地址是:HTTP://LOCALHOST:65531/ExamWeb/INDEX.HTM,打开此主页,浏览“天文小知识”页面,查找“水星”的页面内容,并将它以文本文件的格式保存到考生目录下,命名为“shuixing.txt”。
Formanypeopletoday,readingisnolongerrelaxation.Tokeepuptheirworktheymustreadletters,reports,tradepublication
最新回复
(
0
)