Keywords
Traditional building
Pitched bricks
Vaults without formwork
Self-supporting vaults
How to Cite
Abstract
Layered brickwork vaults—known as bóvedas de ladrillo por hojas, among other names—are those in which bricks are laid vertically or at a slight angle, forming arched courses that require no formwork, as the bricks adhere to the previous course through the mortar. Although their geographic and chronological range is wide and there is a great variety of resultant forms, here we consider details of execution and application common to them all and analyze bricklaying techniques and possible arrangements of courses according to written sources and current experience. Our conclusions confirm the possibility of establishing general criteria allowing the use of such vaults to be recovered and applied in new construction.
References
Aguirre Morales, Ramón. 2016. Bóvedas mexicanas de adobe y ladrillo. Oaxaca: Carteles Editores-P.G.O.
Albarrán, José. 1885. Bóvedas de ladrillo que se ejecutan sin cimbra. Memorial de Ingenieros del Ejército, 8: 85-96.
Choisy, Auguste. 1883. L'Art de bâtir chez les Byzantins. París: Librairie de la Société Anonyme de Publications Periodiques.
Choisy, Auguste. 1876. Note sur la construction des voûtes sans cintrage pendant la période byzantine. Annales des Ponts et Chaussées, vol. 5, 12: 439-449.
Ger y Lóbez, Florencio. 1869. Manual de construcción civil. Badajoz: Imprenta de Don José Santamaría.
López-Mozo, Ana; Alonso-Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel; Martín-Talaverano, Rafael; y Aliberti, Licinia. 2021. Brick vaults by slices in Toledo. En Mascarenhas-Mateus, João et al. (eds.), History of Construction Cultures: Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Construction History, 674-681. Lisboa: CRC Press.
López-Mozo, Ana; Rabasa-Díaz, Enrique; Calvo-López, José; et al. 2022. Geometry and Actual Construction in Brick Vaults by Slices: The Case of Carranque in Spain. Nexus Network Journal, 24: 641-655.
López-Mozo, Ana; Alonso-Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel; González Uriel, Ana; Aliberti, Licinia; Sánchez, Manuel de Miguel; y Perelló Ocaña, Marta. 2023. Forma y construcción en bóvedas de ladrillo por hojas: el caso de Cáceres. EGA, Expresión Gráfica Arquitectónica, 49: 62-75.
Marín-Sánchez, Rafael; Sánchez, Manuel de Miguel; Navarro Camallonga, Pablo; y La Spina, Vincenzina. 2021. Compound brick vaults by slices in written sources. En Mascarenhas-Mateus, João et al. (eds.), History of Construction Cultures: Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Construction History, 658-665. Lisboa: CRC Press.
Paredes, Vicente. 1883. Construcción sin cimbra de las bóvedas de ladrillo con toda clase de morteros (manuscrito). Cáceres: Archivo Histórico Provincial.
Rabasa Díaz, Enrique; López-Mozo, Ana; y Alonso-Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel. 2020. Brick Vaults by Slices in Choisy and Paredes. Nexus Network Journal, vol. 22, 4: 811-30.
Rabasa Díaz, Enrique; González-Uriel, Ana; Gil Crespo, Ignacio Javier; y Sanjurjo Álvarez, Alberto. 2021. Geographic and chronological extent of brick vaults by slices. En Mascarenhas-Mateus, João et al. (eds.), History of Construction Cultures: Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Construction History, 126-133. Lisboa: CRC Press.
Rabasa Díaz, Enrique; López-Mozo, Ana; and Alonso-Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel. 2022. Técnica y forma del sistema de bóvedas de ladrillo por hojas en las fuentes escritas. En Portal, Pedro et al. (eds.), Actas del Duodécimo Congreso Nacional y Cuarto Congreso Internacional Hispanoamericano de Historia de la Construcción, 939-948. Madrid/Mieres: Instituto Juan de Herrera.
Rabasa Díaz, Enrique; López Mozo, Ana; y Calvo López, José. 2023. El orden en la ejecución de bóvedas de ladrillo: los casos de la Fuente Grande de Ocaña y el Ayuntamiento de Toledo. Cuaderno de Notas, 24: 30-41.
Ramírez Ponce, Alfonso; y Ramírez Meléndez, Rafael. 2012. Curves of Clay: Bóvedas del Bajío. Nexus V: Architecture and Mathematics: 143-154.
Ruiz-Agudo, Encarnación; y Rodríguez-Navarro, Carlos. 2010. Micro-structure and Rheology of Lime Putty. Langmuir, vol. 26, 6: 3868-3877.
Seguí de la Riva, Javier. 2012. Dibujar, proyectar LIII. Pedagogía. Madrid: Juan de Herrera.
Wendland, David. 2007a. Lassaulx und der Gewölbebau mit selbsttragendenn Mauerschichten. Petersberg: Michael Imhof.
Wendland, David. 2007b. The vaults in “Sistani's House” in Bam Citadel (Iran): Construction principles, shape geometry and design for reconstruction. En Jäger, Wolfram (ed.), Interim Report for a Rehabilitation Project for Sistani's House, Bam Citadel, 48-51. Radebeul: Jäger Consulting Engineers.
Wendland, David. 2007c. Traditional Vault Construction Without Formwork: Masonry Pattern and Vault Shape in the Historical Technical Literature and in Experimental Studies. International Journal of Architectural Heritage, vol. 1, 4: 311-365.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.