Anarch is a curved verticalstructurespanning an open space underneath it.[1] Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the4th millennium BC, but structural load-bearing arches became popular only after their adoption by theAncient Romans in the 4th centuryBC.[2]
Arch-like structures can be horizontal, like anarch dam that withstands the horizontalhydrostatic pressure load.[3] Arches are normally used as supports for many types ofvaults, with thebarrel vault in particular being a continuous arch.[4] Extensive use of arches and vaults characterizes anarcuated construction, as opposed to thetrabeated system, where, like in the architectures of ancient Greece, China, and Japan (as well as the modernsteel-framed technique),posts and beams dominate.[5]
Arches had several advantages over thelintel, especially in themasonry construction: with the same amount of material it can have larger span, carry more weight, and can be made from smaller and thus more manageable pieces.[6] Their role in construction was diminished in the middle of the 19th century with introduction of thewrought iron (and latersteel): the hightensile strength of these new materials made long lintels possible.
"False arch" redirects here. For an arch-like construction that uses offsetting of the stones or bricks, "corbelling", to close the span, seeCorbel arch.
Atrue arch is a load-bearing arc with elements held together by compression.[7] In much of the world introduction of the true arch was a result of European influence.[2] The termfalse arch has few meanings. It is usually used to designate an arch that has no structural purpose, like aproscenium arch in theaters used to frame the performance for the spectators, but is also applied tocorbelled andtriangular arches that are not based on compression.[8][9]
Keystone, the top block in an arch. Portion of the arch around the keystone (including the keystone itself), with no precisely defined boundary, is called acrown
Voussoir (a wedge-like construction block). Acompound arch is formed by multiple concentric layers of voussoirs. Therowlock arch is a particular case of the compound arch,[13] where the voussoir faces are formed by thebrick headers.[14]
Extrados (an external surface of the arch)
Impost is block at the base of the arch (the voussoir immediately above the impost is aspringer). The tops of imposts define thespringing level. A portion of the arch between the springing level and the crown (centered around the 45° angle[15]) is called ahaunch. If the arch resides on top of acolumn, the impost is formed by anabacus or its thicker version,dosseret.[16]
Intrados (an underside of the arch, also known as asoffit[7])
Rise (height of the arc, distance from the springing level to the crown)
A (left or right) half-segment of an arch is called anarc, the overall line of an arch isarcature[19] (this term is also used for anarcade).[20]Archivolt is the exposed (front-facing) part of the arch, sometimes decorated (occasionally also used to designate the intrados).[21] If the sides of voussoir blocks are not straight, but include angles and curves for interlocking, the arch is called "joggled".[22]
Arch (A) action diagram in comparison with a beam (B)
A true arch, due to its rise, resolves the vertical loads into horizontal and vertical reactions at the ends, a so calledarch action. The vertical load produces a positivebending moment in the arch, while the inward-directed horizontal reaction from the spandrel/abutment provides a counterbalancing negative moment. As a result, the bending moment in any segment of the arch is much smaller than in a beam with the equivalent load and span.[23] The diagram on the right shows the difference between a loaded arch and a beam. Elements of the arch are mostly subject to compression (A), while in the beam a bending moment is present, with compression at the top and tension at the bottom (B).
In the past, when arches were made of masonry pieces, the horizontal forces at the ends of an arch (so calledthrust[24]) caused the need for heavy abutments (cf.Roman triumphal arch). The other way to counteract the forces, and thus allow thinner supports, was to use thecounter-arches, as in anarcade arrangement, where the horizontal thrust of each arch is counterbalanced by its neighbors, and only the end arches need tobuttressed. With new construction materials (steel, concrete,engineered wood), not only the arches themselves got lighter, but the horizontal thrust can be further relieved by atie connecting the ends of an arch.[6]
When evaluated from the perspective of an amount of material required to support a given load, the best solid structures are compression-only; with the flexible materials, the same is true for tension-only designs. There is a fundamental symmetry in nature between solid compression-only and flexible tension-only arrangements, noticed byRobert Hooke in 1676: "As hangs the flexible line, so but inverted will stand the rigid arch", thus the study (and terminology) of arch shapes is inextricably linked to the study of hanging chains, the corresponding curves or polygons are calledfunicular. Just like the shape of a hanging chain will vary depending on the weights attached to it, the shape of an ideal (compression-only) arch will depend on the distribution of the load.[25]
Arch diagram with pressure polygons drawn. A defect at the R-S portion of the intrados makes the arch susceptible to extra force along the line M-N, where the polygon curve can be pushed out of the envelope of the arch causing a collapse
While building masonry arches in the not very tall buildings of the past, a practical assumption was that the stones can withstand virtually unlimited amount of pressure (up to 100N per mm2), while the tensile strength was very low, even with the mortar added between the stones, and can be effectively assumed to be zero. Under these assumptions the calculations for the arch design are greatly simplified: either a reduced-scale model can be built and tested, or a funicular curve (pressure polygon) can be calculated or modeled, and as long as this curve stays within the confines of the voussoirs, the construction will be stable[26] (a so called "safe theorem").
for the arches with rounded intrados, by the number of circle segments forming the arch (for example,round arch is single-centred,pointed arch is two-centred);[27]
by the material used (stone, brick, concrete, steel) and construction approach.[27] For example, the wedge-shaped voussoirs of a brick arch can be made by cutting the regular bricks ("axed brick" arch) or manufactured in the wedge shape ("gauged brick" arch);[29]
structurally,by the number ofhinges (movable joints) between solid components. For example, voussoirs in a stone arch should not move, so these arches usually have no hinges (are "fixed"). Permitting some movement in a large structure allows to alleviate stresses (caused, for example, by thethermal expansion), so many bridge spans are built with three hinges (one at each support and one at the crown) since the mid-19th century.[30]
A sequence of arches can be grouped together forming anarcade.Romans perfected this form, as shown, for example, by arched structures ofPont du Gard.[31] In the interior ofhall churches, arcades ofseparating arches were used to separate thenave of a church from the side aisle,[32] or two adjacent side aisles.[33]
Two-tiered arches, with two arches superimposed, were sometimes used inIslamic architecture, mostly for decorative purposes.[34]
An opening of the arch can be filled, creating ablind arch. Blind arches are frequently decorative, and were extensively used inEarly Christian,Romanesque, and Islamic architecture.[35] Alternatively, the opening can be filled with smaller arches, producing acontaining arch, common inGothic and Romanesque architecture.[36] Multiple arches can be superimposed with an offset, creating aninterlaced series of usually (with some exceptions) blind and decorative arches. Most likely of Islamic origin, the interlaced arcades were popular in Romanesque and Gothic architecture.[37]Rear-arch (alsorere-arch) is the one that frames the internal side of an opening in the external wall.[38]
Structurally,relieving arches (often blind or containing) can be used to take off load from some portions of the building (for example, to allow use of thinner exterior walls with larger window openings, or, as in theRoman Pantheon, to redirect the weight of the upper structures to particular strong points).[36]Transverse arches, introduced inCarolingian architecture, are placed across thenave to compartmentalize (together with longitudinal separating arches) the internal space intobays and supportvaults.[39] Adiaphragm arch similarly goes in the transverse direction, but carries a section of wall on top. It is used to support or divide sections of the high roof.[40]Strainer arches were built as an afterthought to prevent two adjacent supports from imploding due to miscalculation. Frequently they were made very decorative, with one of the best examples provided by theWells Cathedral. Strainer arches can be "inverted" (upside-down) while remaining structural.[41][42] When used across railway cuttings to prevent collapse of the walls, strainer arches may be referred to asflying arches.[43][44] Acounter-arch is built adjacent to another arch to oppose its horizontal action or help to stabilize it, for example, when constructing aflying buttress.[45]
Relieving blind arches made of bricks at the Roman Pantheon
"Round"semicircular arches were commonly used for ancient arches that were constructed of heavy masonry,[47] and were relied heavily on by theRoman builders since the 4th centuryBC. It is considered to be the most common arch form,[48] characteristic for Roman,Romanesque, andRenaissance architecture.[28]
Abasket-handle arch (also known asdepressed arch,three-centred arch,basket arch) consists of segments of three circles with origins at three different centers (sometimes uses five or seven segments, so can also befive-centred, etc.). Was used inlate Gothic andBaroque architecture.[51][52]
Ahorseshoe arch (also known askeyhole arch) has a rounded shape that includes more than a semicircle, is associated with Islamic architecture and was known in areas of Europe with Islamic influence (Spain,Southern France,Italy). Occasionally used in Gothics, it briefly enjoyed popularity as the entrance door treatment in theinterwar England.[53]
Semi-circular arches usingbrick and/orstone block construction at theGreat Wall, China
Apointed arch consists of two ("two-centred arch"[54]) or more circle segments culminating in a point at the top. It originated in the Islamic architecture, arrived in Europe in the second half of the 11th century (Cluny Abbey)[55] and later became prominent in theGothic architecture.[56] The advantages of a pointed arch over a semicircular one are flexible ratio ofspan torise[57] and lower horizontal reaction at the base. This innovation allowed for taller and more closely spaced openings, which are typical of Gothic architecture.[58][59]Equilateral arch is the most common form of the pointed arch, with the centers of two circles forming the intrados coinciding with the springing points of the opposite segment. Together with theapex point, they form anequilateral triangle, thus the name.[60] If the centers of circles are farther apart, the arch becomes a narrower and sharperlancet arch that appeared in France in theEarly Gothic architecture (Saint-Denis Abbey) and became prominent in England in the late 12th and early 13th centuries (Salisbury Cathedral).[61] If the centers are closer to another, the result is a widerblunt arch.
The intrados of thecusped arch (also known asmultifoil arch,polyfoil arch,polylobed arch, andscalloped arch) includes several independent circle segments in ascalloped arrangement. These primarily decorative arches are common in Islamic architecture and Northern European Late Gothic, can be found inRomanesque architecture.[62] A similartrefoil arch includes only three segments and sometimes has a rounded, not pointed, top. Common in Islamic architecture and Romanesque buildings influenced by it, it later became popular in the decorative motifs of the Late Gothic designs of Northern Europe.[63]
Each arc of anogee arch consists of at least two circle segments (for a total of at least four), with the center of an upper circle being outside the extrados. After European appearance in the 13th century on the facade of theSt Mark's Basilica, the arch became a fixture of theEnglish Decorated style, FrenchFlamboyant,Venetian, and other Late Gothic styles.[64] Ogee arch is also known asreversed curve arch, occasionally also called aninverted arch.[41] The top of an ogee arch sometimes projects beyond the wall, forming the so-callednodding ogee popular in 14th century England (pulpitum inSouthwell Minster).[65]
Each arc of afour-centred arch is made of two circle segments with distinct centers; usually the radius used closer to the springing point is smaller with a more pronounced curvature. Common in Islamic architecture (Persian arch), and, with upper portion flattened almost to straight lines (Tudor arch[66]), in the EnglishPerpendicular Gothic.[67]Akeel arch is a variant of four-centred arch with haunches almost straight, resembling a section view of acapsized ship. Popular in Islamic architecture, it can be also found in Europe, occasionally with a small ogee element at the top,[68] so it is sometimes considered to be a variation of an ogee arch.[69]
Curtain arch (also known asinflexed arch, and, like the keel arch, usually decorative[28]) uses two (or more) drooping curves that join at the apex. Utilized as a dressing for windows and doors primarily inSaxony in the Late Gothic and early Renaissance buildings (late 15th to early 16th century), associated withArnold von Westfalen [de].[70] When the intrados has multiple concave segments, the arch is also called adraped arch ortented arch.[71] A similar arch that uses a mixture of curved and straight segments[72] or exhibits sharp turns between segments[73] is amixed-line arch (ormixtilinear arch). InMoorish architecture the mixed-line arch evolved into an ornatelambrequin arch,[74] also known asmuqarnas arch.
The popularity of the arches using segments of a circle is due to simplicity of layout and construction,[75] not their structural properties. Consequently, the architects historically used a variety of other curves in their designs:elliptical curves,hyperbolic cosine curves (includingcatenary), andparabolic curves. There are two reasons behind the selection of these curves:[76]
they are still relatively easy to trace with common tools prior to construction;
depending on a situation, they can have superior structural properties and/or appearance.
Thehyperbolic curve is not easy to trace, but there are known cases of its use.[76] The non-circumferential curves look similar, and match at shallow profiles, so a catenary is often misclassified as a parabola[77] (perGalileo, "the [hanging] chain fits its parabola almost perfectly"[78]). González et al. provide an example ofPalau Güell, where researchers do not agree on classification of the arches or claim the prominence of parabolic arches, while the measurements show that just two of the 23 arches designed byGaudi are actually parabolic.[79]
Three parabolic-looking curves in particular are of significance to the arch design:parabola itself,catenary, andweighted catenary. The arches naturally use the inverted (upside-down) versions of these curves.
A parabola represents an ideal (all-compression) shape when the load is equally distributed along the span, while the weight of the arch itself is negligible. A catenary is the best solution for the case where an arch with uniform thickness carries just its own weight with no external load. The practical designs for bridges are somewhere in between, and thus use the curves that represent a compromise that combines both the catenary and thefunicular curve for particular non-uniform distribution of load.[84] The practical free-standing arches are stronger and thus heavier at the bottom, so a weighted catenary curve is utilized for them. The same curve also fits well an application where a bridge consists of an arch with a roadway of packed dirt above it, as thedead load increases with a distance from the center.[85]
Unlike regular arches, theflat arch (also known asjack arch,lintel arch,straight arch,plate-bande[86]) is not curved. Instead, the arch is flat in profile and can be used under the same circumstances aslintel. However, lintels are subject to bending stress, while the flat arches are true arches, composed of irregular voussoir shapes (the keystone is the only one of the symmetric wedge shape),[87] and that efficiently uses the compressive strength of the masonry in the same manner as a curved arch and thus requires a mass of masonry on both sides to absorb the considerable lateral thrust. Used in the Roman architecture to imitate the Greek lintels, Islamic architecture, Europeanmedieval and Renaissance architecture. The flat arch is still being used as a decorative pattern, primarily at the top of window openings.[87]
The corbel (alsocorbelled) arch, made of twocorbels meeting in the middle of the span, is a true arch in a sense of being able to carry a load, but it is false in a structural sense, as its components are subject to bending stress. The typical profile is not curved, but has triangular shape. Invented prior to the semicircular arch, the corbel arch was used already in theEgyptian andMycenaean architecture in the3rd and2nd millennium BC.[88]
Like a corbel arch, thetriangular arch is not a true arch in a structural sense. Its intrados is formed by two slabs leaning against each other.[9] Brick builders would call triangular any arch with straight inclined sides.[89] The design was common inAnglo-Saxon England until the late 11th century (St Mary Goslany).[9]Mayan corbel arches are sometimes called triangular due to their shape.[90]
Few transformations can be applied to arch shapes.
If oneimpost is much higher than another, the arch (frequentlypointed) is known asramping arch,raking arch,[91] orrampant arch (fromFrench:arc rampant).[92] Originally used to support inclined structures, like stairs, in the 13th-14th centuries they appeared as parts offlying buttresses used to counteract the thrust of Gothicribbed vaults.[93]
A central part of an arch can be raised on short vertical supports, creating atrefoil-likeshouldered arch. The raised central part can vary all the way from a flat arch to ogee. The shouldered arches were used to decorate openings in Europe from medieval times toLate Gothic architecture, became common inIranian architecture from the 14th century, and were later adopted in theOttoman Turkey.[94]
In astilted arch (alsosurmounted[95]), the springing line is located above the imposts (on "stilts"). Known to Islamic architects by the 8th century, the technique was utilized to vertically align the apexes of arches of different dimensions in Romanesque and Gothic architecture.[96] Stilting was useful for semicircular arches, where the ratio of the rise fixed at1⁄2 of the span, but was applied to the pointed arches, too.
Theskew arch (also known as anoblique arch) is used when the arch needs to form an oblique angle in the horizontal plane with respect to the (parallel) springings,[97][98] for example, when a bridge crosses the river at an angle different than 90°. Asplayed arch is used for the case of unequal spans on the sides of the arch (when, for example, an interior opening in the wall is larger than the exterior one), the intrados of a round splayed arch is not cylindrical, but has aconical shape.[99][98]
Splayed arch over a window opening in the All Saints Church inChedgrave
A wide arch with its rise less than1⁄2 of the span (and thus the geometric circle of at least one segment is below the springing line) is called asurbased arch[100] (sometimes also adepressed arch[101]). Adrop arch is either abasket handle arch[102] or a blunt arch.[103]
Rossgraben bridge (Rüeggisberg) near Bern, Switzerland, showing thehinge at mid-span of this three-hinged arch.
The practicalarch bridges are built either as a fixed arch, a two-hinged arch, or a three-hinged arch.[104] The fixed arch is most often used in reinforced concrete bridges and tunnels, which have short spans. Because it is subject to additional internal stress from thermal expansion and contraction, this kind of arch isstatically indeterminate (the internal state is impossible to determine based on the external forces alone).[46]
The two-hinged arch is most often used to bridge long spans.[46] This kind of arch has pinned connections at its base. Unlike that of the fixed arch, the pinned base can rotate,[105] thus allowing the structure to move freely and compensate for thethermal expansion andcontraction that changes in outdoor temperature cause. However, this can result in additional stresses, and therefore the two-hinged arch is also statically indeterminate, although not as much as the fixed arch.[46]
The three-hinged arch is not only hinged at its base, like the two-hinged arch, yet also at its apex. The additional apical connection allows the three-hinged arch to move in two opposite directions and compensate for any expansion and contraction. This kind of arch is thus not subject to additional stress from thermal change. Unlike the other two kinds of arch, the three-hinged arch is therefore statically determinate.[104] It is most often used for spans of medial length, such as those of roofs of large buildings. Another advantage of the three-hinged arch is that the reaction of the pinned bases is more predictable than the one for the fixed arch, allowing shallow, bearing-type foundations in spans of medial length. In the three-hinged arch "thermal expansion and contraction of the arch will cause vertical movements at the peak pin joint but will have no appreciable effect on the bases," which further simplifies foundational design.[46]
The arch became popular in theRoman times and mostly spread alongside the European influence, although it was known and occasionally used much earlier. Many ancient architectures avoided the use of arches, including theViking andHindu ones.[2]
The use of true arches in Egypt also originated in the4th millennium BC (underground barrel vaults at theDendera cemetery). Standing arches were known since at least theThird Dynasty, but very few examples survived, since the arches were mostly used in non-durable secular buildings and made ofmud brick voussoirs that were not wedge-shaped, but simply held in place bymortar, and thus susceptible to a collapse (the oldest arch still standing is atRamesseum). Sacred buildings exhibited either lintel design or corbelled arches. Arches were mostly missing in Egypt temples even after theRoman conquest, even though Egyptians thought of the arch as a spiritual shape and used it in the rock-cut tombs and portable shrines.[113]Auguste Mariette suggested that this choice was based on a relative fragility of a vault: "what would remain of the tombs and temples of Egyptians today, if they had preferred the vault?"[28]
As evidenced by their imitations of the parabolic arches,Hittites most likely were exposed to the Egyptian designs, but used the corbelled technique to build them.[113]
TheAssyrians, also apparently under the Egyptian influence, adopted the true arch (with a slightly pointed profile) early in the 8th century.[113] Inancient Persia, theAchaemenid Empire (550 BC–330 BC) built smallbarrel vaults (essentially a series of arches built together to form a hall) known asiwan, which became massive, monumental structures during the laterParthian Empire (247 BC–AD 224).[114][115][116] This architectural tradition was continued by theSasanian Empire (224–651), which built theTaq Kasra atCtesiphon in the 6th century AD, the largest free-standing vault until modern times.[117]
The ancientRomans learned thesemicircular arch from theEtruscans (both cultures apparently adopted the design in the 4th century BC[31]), refined it and were the first builders in Europe to tap its full potential for above ground buildings:
The Romans were the first builders in Europe, perhaps the first in the world, to fully appreciate the advantages of the arch, the vault and the dome.[120]
Vaults began to be used for roofing large interior spaces such as halls and temples, a function that was also assumed bydomed structures from the 1st century BC onwards.
Islamic architecture brought to life a large amount of arch forms: the roundhorseshoe arch that became a characteristic trait of the Islamic buildings, thekeel arch, thecusped arch, and themixed-line arch (where the curved "ogee swell" is interspersed with abrupt bends).[136] TheGreat Mosque of Cordoba, that can be considered a catalogue of Islamic arches, contains also the arches with almost straight sides,trefoil,interlaced, andjoggled. Mosque of Ibn Tulun addsfour-centred andstilted version of the pointed arch.[73]
The collapse of theWestern Roman Empire left the church as the only client of major construction; with allpre-Romanesque architectural styles borrowing from Roman construction with its semicircular arch. Due to the decline in the construction quality, the walls were thicker, and the arches thus heavier, than their Roman prototypes. Eventually the architects started to use the depth of the arches for decoration, turning the deep opening intorecessed orders (orrebated arch, a sequence of progressively smaller concentric arches, each inset with arebate).[139]
While the arches used in the mediaeval Europe were borrowed from the Roman and Islamic architecture, the use of pointed arch to form therib vault was novel and became the defining characteristic of Gothic construction. At about 1400 AD, the city-states of Italy, where the pointed arch had never gotten much traction, initiated the revival of the Roman style with its round arches,Renaissance. By the 16th century the new style spread across Europe and, through the influence of empires, to the rest of the world. Arch became a dominant architectural form until the introduction of the new construction materials, like steel and concrete.[139]
The history of arch in India is very long (some arches were apparently found in excavations ofKosambi,2nd millennium BC. However, the continuous history begins with rock-cut arches in theLomas Rishi cave (3rd century BC).[73] Vaulted roof of an earlyHarappan burial chamber has been noted atRakhigarhi.[140]S.R Rao reports vaulted roof of a small chamber in a house fromLothal.[141] Barrel vaults were also used in the Late HarappanCemetery H culture dated 1900 BC-1300 BC which formed the roof of the metal working furnace, the discovery was made byVats in 1940 during excavation at Harappa.[142][143][144]
The use of arches until theIslamic conquest of India in the 12th centuryAD was sporadic, withogee arches and barrel vaults in rock-cut temples (Karla Caves, from the 1st century BC) and decorative pointedgavaksha arches. By the 5th century AD voussoir vaults were used structurally in the brick construction. Surviving examples include the temple atBhitargaon (5th century AD) andMahabodhi Temple (7th century AD), the latter has bothpointed arches andsemicircular arches.[73][145] TheseGupta era arch vault system was later used extensively in Burmese Buddhist temples inPyu andBagan in 11th and 12th centuries.[146]
With the arrival of Islamic and otherWestern Asia influence, the arches became prominent in the Indian architecture, although thepost and lintel construction was still preferred. A variety of pointed and lobed arches was characteristic for theIndo-Islamic architecture, with the monumental example ofBuland Darwaza, that has pointed arch decorated with smallcusped arches.[73]
Mayan architecture utilized the corbel arches. The otherMesoamerican cultures used only the flat roofs with no arches whatsoever,[147] although some researchers had suggested that both Maya andAztec architects understood the concept of a true arch.[148][149]
The 19th-century introduction of thewrought iron (and latersteel) into construction changed the role of the arch. Due to the hightensile strength of new materials, relatively long lintels became possible, as was demonstrated by thetubularBritannia Bridge (Robert Stephenson, 1846-1850). A fervent proponent of thetrabeated system,Alexander "Greek" Thomson, whose preference forlintels was originally based on aesthetic criteria, observed that thespans of this bridge are longer than that of any arch ever built, thus "the simple, unsophisticated stone lintel contains in its structure all the scientific appliances [...] used in the great tubular bridge. [...]Stonehenge is more scientifically constructed thanYork Minster."[150] Use of arches in bridge construction continued (the Britannia Bridge was rebuilt in 1972 as atruss arch bridge), yet thesteel frames andreinforced concrete frames mostly replaced the arches as the load-bearing elements in buildings.
As a pure compression form, the utility of the arch is due to many building materials, includingstone and unreinforcedconcrete, being strong undercompression, but brittle whentensile stress is applied to them.[151]
An arch is held in place by the weight of all of its members, making construction problematic. One answer is to build a frame (historically, of wood) which exactly follows the form of the underside of the arch. This is known as a centre orcentring.Voussoirs are laid on it until the arch is complete and self-supporting. For an arch higher than head height,scaffolding would be required, so it could be combined with the arch support. Arches may fall when the frame is removed if design or construction has been faulty.[citation needed]
Old arches sometimes need reinforcement due to decay of thekeystones, forming what is known asbald arch.
In reinforced concrete construction, the principle of the arch is used so as to benefit from the concrete's strength in resisting compressive stress. Where any other form of stress is raised, such as tensile or torsional stress, it has to be resisted by carefully placedreinforcement rods or fibres.[152]
The type of arches (or absence of them) is one of the most prominent characteristics of anarchitectural style. For example, whenHeinrich Hübsch, in the 19th century, tried to classify the architectural style, his "primary elements" were roof and supports, with the top-level basic types:trabeated (no arches) andarcuated (arch-based). His next division for the arcuated styles was based on the use of round and pointed arch shapes.[153]
The steady horizontal push of an arch against the abutments gave rise to a saying "the arch never sleeps", attributed to many sources, fromHindu[154] toArabs.[28] Thisadage stresses that the arch carries "a seed of death" for itself and the structure containing it, a statement that can be made upon observation of the Roman ruins.[28] The plot ofThe Nebuly Coat byJ. Meade Falkner, inspired by a collapse of a tower at theChichester Cathedral plays with the idea while dealing with the slow disintegration of a church building.[154] Saoud[155] explains the proverb by chain-like self-balancing of the horizontal and vertical forces in the arch and its "universal adaptability".[156]
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^Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman (2005), "Pleasure tower model", in Richard, Naomi Noble,Recarving China's Past: Art, Archaeology, and Architecture of the 'Wu Family Shrines, New Haven and London: Yale University Press and Princeton University Art Museum, pp. 279–280,ISBN0-300-10797-8.
^Wang, Zhongshu (1982),Han Civilization, translated by K.C. Chang and Collaborators, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 175–178,ISBN0-300-02723-0.
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^Stamp, Gavin (March 1998). ""At Once Classic and Picturesque...": Alexander Thomson's Holmwood".The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians.57 (1):46–58.doi:10.2307/991404.JSTOR991404.
Bradley, R.A.; Gohnert, M. (2 September 2022). "Parametric study of the catenary dome under gravity load".Current Perspectives and New Directions in Mechanics, Modelling and Design of Structural Systems. London: CRC Press.doi:10.1201/9781003348443-130.ISBN978-1-003-34844-3.
González, Genaro; Samper, Albert; Herrera, Blas (2018). "Classification by Type of the Arches in Gaudí's Palau Güell".Nexus Network Journal.20 (1):173–186.doi:10.1007/s00004-017-0355-7.ISSN1590-5896.
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