Arches And Vaults In Architecture
Beginning of paper
Arch and Vault, a fundamental construction system in architecture used to
span the space between walls, piers, or other supports and to create a roof
or a ceiling. Until the 19th century the arch and vault were the only
alternative to the far more limited and simpler post-and-lintel system
support ....
Middle of paper
.... Its supports may be walls, piers, or
columns, and the capstones from which it springs are known as imposts. The
upper part of the arch is the crown, the portions near the impost are the
haunches, its wedge-shaped segments are voussoirs, and the central or
crowning voussoir is the keystone. The inner edge of the arch is the
intrados; the outer edge, the extrados; and the undersurface, the soffit.
The molded band that often is found around the opening of the arch is the
archivolt. The wal ....
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Word count: 935
Page count: 4 (approximately 250 words per page)