The aim of this paper is to present the potential benefits of an integrated analysis of the historical ‘rules of proportion’ that were applied to ancient masonry buildings, which can constitute a fundamental instrument from the point of view of architectural conservation. In line with this approach, a number of important architectural treatises (dating from the 15th to the 17th centuries) were analysed in terms of their construction criteria in an attempt to reconstruct the main rules that were followed over the centuries when building complex structures. This subject has been already investigated by various authors from the point of view of stability (among others, Edoardo Benvenuto, Salvatore Di Pasquale, Antonino Giuffrè and Roberto Di Stefano). In particular, Heyman has clarified the potential of the limit analysis method in the structural assessment of historic buildings and Huerta has verified some of these historic rules, also by using Rankine’s theorem. In this work, we propose a different perspective: the analysis of ancient treatises combined with the structural characteristics of the domes we analysed. This approach demonstrated that each improvement in the rules of proportion for this type of structure was due to a significant technological step forward. Over the centuries, this ‘obstacle course’ has definitively shown that, despite the fact that the ancient master-builders did not possess current mathematical instruments (specific to the modern ‘science of construction’), they nevertheless managed to build complex structures, perceiving by intuition a ‘static sense’ that permitted them to correct previous construction ‘errors’ just by observing the past (through empirical evidence). The reconstruction of this historical process can prove to be an essential additional instrument for improving our knowledge of these magnificent structures, clarifying the methods used to reinforce them through an empirical process.

L'empirismo e (o é?) la soluzione dell'errore / Ottoni, Federica. - STAMPA. - 2a:(2017), pp. 420-428.

L'empirismo e (o é?) la soluzione dell'errore

OTTONI, Federica
2017-01-01

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the potential benefits of an integrated analysis of the historical ‘rules of proportion’ that were applied to ancient masonry buildings, which can constitute a fundamental instrument from the point of view of architectural conservation. In line with this approach, a number of important architectural treatises (dating from the 15th to the 17th centuries) were analysed in terms of their construction criteria in an attempt to reconstruct the main rules that were followed over the centuries when building complex structures. This subject has been already investigated by various authors from the point of view of stability (among others, Edoardo Benvenuto, Salvatore Di Pasquale, Antonino Giuffrè and Roberto Di Stefano). In particular, Heyman has clarified the potential of the limit analysis method in the structural assessment of historic buildings and Huerta has verified some of these historic rules, also by using Rankine’s theorem. In this work, we propose a different perspective: the analysis of ancient treatises combined with the structural characteristics of the domes we analysed. This approach demonstrated that each improvement in the rules of proportion for this type of structure was due to a significant technological step forward. Over the centuries, this ‘obstacle course’ has definitively shown that, despite the fact that the ancient master-builders did not possess current mathematical instruments (specific to the modern ‘science of construction’), they nevertheless managed to build complex structures, perceiving by intuition a ‘static sense’ that permitted them to correct previous construction ‘errors’ just by observing the past (through empirical evidence). The reconstruction of this historical process can prove to be an essential additional instrument for improving our knowledge of these magnificent structures, clarifying the methods used to reinforce them through an empirical process.
2017
978-88-7140-764-7
L'empirismo e (o é?) la soluzione dell'errore / Ottoni, Federica. - STAMPA. - 2a:(2017), pp. 420-428.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2822927
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