Gothic Vault Roof

A vaulted ceiling is a beautiful architectural feature but its main role is that the inside of the church is protected when the roof burns down gothic cathedral vaulting seems an extraordinary achievement.

Gothic vault roof.

Vault in building construction a structural member consisting of an arrangement of arches usually forming a ceiling or roof. Gothic rib vaulting reims cathedral begun 1221 nave a rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space such as a church nave composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. In the vault the pointed arch could be seen in three dimensions where the ribbed vaulting met in the center of the ceiling of each bay. A vault is a self supporting ceiling built of masonry which is stable due to its form which is curved or double curved.

This ribbed vaulting is another distinguishing feature of gothic architecture. Gothic rib vault ceiling of the saint séverin church in paris interior elevation view of a gothic cathedral with rib vaulted roof highlighted. The vault is a parallel series of arches used to form a roof the most common form being a cylindrical or barrel vault. Also known as ogival vaulting ribbed vaulting developed with the need to transfer roof loads better while freeing up inner walls for tracery and glass.

The basic barrel form which appeared first in ancient egypt and the middle east is in effect a continuous series of arches deep enough to cover a three dimensional. In architecture a vault french voûte from italian volta is a self supporting arched form usually of stone or brick serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. Furthermore gothic architects replaced the round arches of the barrel vault with pointed arches which distributed the vault s weight in a more vertical direction. However it should be noted that prototypes for the pointed arches and ribbed vaulting were seen first in late romanesque buildings.

In the case of a cathedral vault where the interior ceiling is parallel to the exterior roof line installing skylights is a simple process. Gothic architecture replaced romanesque groin vaults with ribbed vaults to counteract complexities of construction and limitations that allowed it to only span square rooms. To put it simply until gothic builders revolutionized building design the weight of the roof vault fell entirely on the supporting walls.