DARREN JOSEPH B.

VERGARA ARC-2203

TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNIQUES

Prior to Brunelleschi's ideas for the cupola of the Duomo, building a self-supporting
structure the size of the Duomo's cupola was impossible. The techniques that the
Romans had used to build such things as the Pantheon were long forgotten, and in
Brunelleschi's day the one way to build a dome that size was to use flying buttresses,
which were shunned in Italian construction.

As Santa Maria del Fiore was constructed, it became clear that building the dome was
going to be a feat of science and engineering. The Opera de Duomo, who oversaw the
construction, held a contest to see who could solve the riddle of how to put a top on the
cathedral. They received several entries with creative ideas that included filling the
center of the cathedral with dirt and building the dome on top of that, to placing supports
within the cathedral, but it was Brunelleschi who went to the Opera with drawings, but a
secretive plan where he said he could build the dome without supports, but he wouldn't
elaborate.

As Brunelleschi began to build the dome, most people in Florence shook their heads and
said it was impossible. There was no conceivable way to build a dome that size that
would be self-supporting. Brunelleschi was undaunted, and his plans began to take form.
Brunelleschi's design contained two shells for the dome, an inner shell made of a
lightweight material, and an outer shell of heavier wind-resistant materials. By creating
two domes, Brunelleschi solved the problem of weight during construction because
workers could sit atop the inner shell to build the outer shell of the dome.
To support the dome Brunelleschi devised an ingenius ring and rib support from oak
timbers. Although this type of support structure is common in modern engineering, his
idea and understanding about the forces needed to sustain the dome was revolutionary.
The rings hug both shells of the dome, and the supports run through them. Other than a
few modifications to remove rotted wood, the supports still hold up the entire dome.
Another fear that a lot of people observing the construction had was how to actually get
the bricks on the dome to stay up in the dome, and not fall to the ground during the
construction. Once again, Brunelleschi had an ingenious idea that is common practice
today, but revolutionary in its time. He created a herringbone pattern with the bricks that
redirected the weight of the bricks outwards towards the dome's supports, instead of
downwards to the floor. By observing carefully the curve of the dome as it took shape,
Brunelleschi was able to place this bricks in key areas.
Brunelleschi’s Dome:

Tools used for the construction of the dome:

HERINGBONE PATTERN
a brickwork bond in which the exposed brickwork isbonded to the heart of the
wall by concealedcourses of bricks laid diagonally to the faces of thewall in a
herringbone pattern, with the end of eachbrick butting against the side of the adjoiningb
rick; a form of raking bond.
The herringbone pattern is an arrangement of rectangles used for floor tilings
and road pavement, so named for a fancied resemblance to the bones of a fish such as
a herring. The blocks can be rectangles or parallelograms. The block edge length ratios
are usually 2:1, and sometimes 3:1, but need not be even ratios. The herringbone pattern
has a symmetry ofwallpaper group pgg, as long as the blocks are not of different color
(i.e., considering the borders alone).
Herringbone patterns can be found in wallpaper,mosaics, cloth and clothing
(herringbone cloth),security printing, herringbone gears, jewellery,sculpture, and
elsewhere.

Parallel to Boundary 45 Degree Rotated

In parquetry, more casually known as flooring, herringbone patterns can be

accomplished in wood, brick, and tile. Subtle alternating colors may be used to create a
distinctive floor pattern, or the materials used may be the same, causing the floor to look
uniform from a distance. Laying a herringbone floor is very challenging, since the
multitude of small rows must be made to line up smoothly, which can be difficult in a
room which is not perfectly plumb. Small mistakes in a herringbone floor can be rather
glaring because of the way the pattern lines up, so care must be taken.
 Masonry also utilizes herringbone, often as an accent pattern on the sides of
buildings and other structures. A floor or outdoor walkway made from stone or brick may
be made entirely from herringbone, or herringbone stripes may be integrated into other
patterns. Just like with flooring, the rows must be carefully aligned to maintain the
integrity of the pattern.
Brunelleschi's novel herringbone brick pattern made possible the laying of
the upper level bricks without centering or temporary bracing. At these higher levels the
dome curved inwards making it hard to keep the newly laid bricks with their wet mortar
from slipping off and falling to the cathedral floor 300 feet below. At each level the vertical
bricks in the herringbone pattern stuck up and provided secure points between which to
set the new bricks. The workers, perhaps with wooden clamps, could hold the bricks
between each set of vertical bricks until the mortar began to set up.
The mortar was allowed to thoroughly dry for about a week to secure the
newly laid bricks before the next course of brick was laid. The upright bricks also
separated the circumference into short 3 foot sections allowing bricklayers at different
parts of the circumference to progress at slightly different rates. These breaks made the
whole, layer-by-layer laying much more forgiving.
This herringbone pattern also bonded the layers of bricks together making a
more stable interior plastering surface.

DOUBLE DOME
Introduction of the Double Dome feature in Indo-Islamic Architecture

While numerous square-plan mausoleums

were built in Delhi, the new form of octagonal plan with
a surrounding colonnade was developed from the last
stage of the Sayyid through the Lodi rule. This is the best
represented by Muhammad Shah’s Tomb (1443) and
Sikandar Lodi’s Tomb (1517/8) in Lodi Gardens. The
tomb of Sikandar Lodi was the first example with a
double dome, lifting its height in order to get a more attractive outward appearance.
 A double dome is built of two layers. There is one layer inside which provides
ceiling to the interior of the building. The other layer is the outer one which crowns the
buildings. The devices of double dome enable the ceiling inside to be placed lower and
In better relation to the Interior space it covers. This is done without disturbing the
proportions and the effect of elevation of the exterior.
The method of making double dome was practised In east Asia for quite
sometime before it was imported into India. It was a problem for the early Muslim builders
to place a dome over an edifice effectively. If they erected it high, it left a deep void of
darkness in the ceiling of the building it cover-ed. In case they kept it low. in proportion
with the dimensions of the room. it diminished the monumental effect of the structure.
The solution was invented as double dome. In this innovation, the dome instead of
consisting of one thickness of masonry was composed of two separate shells–one Outer
and the other inner-with ample space between them. The attempts in the direction of
Double Dome started with tomb of Taj Khan (1501 ) and the tomb of Sikandar Lodi (1518),
both in Delhi. However, the fully mature form of the double dome is seen, for the first
time in India in the tomb of Humayun.

METAL CHAIN (INSIDE DOME)

The chains: Of central importance was the lack of internal or external bracing,
such as tie beams and flying buttresses. The key to making the structure stable without
bracing was the novel use of massive sandstone and wooden tension rings, called
"chains", embedded in the dome at regular intervals.
One sandstone chain was at the base of the dome, the wooden chain was
next, followed by three more sandstone chains. The sandstone chains were at 35 foot
intervals with the wood chain between the first and second stone chains. The original
design called for complete iron chains on top of each sandstone chain for added strength;
however, it's not clear that these were ever added. Today, builders would use rebar to
provide strength in tension.
BASE OF DOME (STONE CHAIN)
By the beginning of the 15th century, after a hundred years of construction, the
structure was still missing its dome. The basic features of the dome had been designed
by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296. His brick model, 4.6 metres (15.1 ft) high, 9.2 metres (30.2
feet) long, was standing in a side aisle of the unfinished building, and had long been
sacrosanct.[7] It called for an octagonal dome higher and wider than any that had ever
been built, with no external buttresses to keep it from spreading and falling under its own
weight.
The commitment to reject traditional Gothic buttresses had been made when Neri di
Fioravanti's model was chosen over a competing one by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini.[9] That
architectural choice, in 1367, was one of the first events of the Italian Renaissance,
marking a break with the Medieval Gothic style and a return to the classic Mediterranean
dome. Italian architects regarded Gothic flying buttresses as ugly makeshifts.
Furthermore, the use of buttresses was forbidden in Florence, as the style was favored
by central Italy's traditional enemies to the north.[10] Neri's model depicted a massive
inner dome, open at the top to admit light, like Rome's Pantheon, but enclosed in a
thinner outer shell, partly supported by the inner dome, to keep out the weather. It was
to stand on an unbuttressed octagonal drum. Neri's dome would need an internal
defense against spreading (hoop stress), but none had yet been designed.
The building of such a masonry dome posed many technical problems.
Brunelleschi looked to the great dome of the Pantheon in Rome for solutions. The dome
of the Pantheon is a single shell of concrete, the formula for which had long since been
forgotten. Soil filled with silver coins had held the Pantheon dome aloft while its concrete
set. This could not be the solution in the case of a dome this size and would put the
church out of use. For the height and breadth of the dome designed by Neri, starting 52
metres (171 ft) above the floor and spanning 44 meters (144 ft), there was not enough
timber in Tuscany to build the scaffolding and forms.
Brunelleschi chose to follow such design and employed a double shell, made of
sandstone and marble. Brunelleschi would have to build the dome out of brick, due to its
light weight compared to stone and being easier to form, and with nothing under it during
construction. To illustrate his proposed structural plan, he constructed a wooden and
brick model with the help of Donatello and Nanni di Banco, a model which is still
displayed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. The model served as a guide for the
craftsmen, but was intentionally incomplete, so as to ensure Brunelleschi's control over
the construction.
 Brunelleschi's solutions were ingenious. The spreading problem was solved by a
set of four internal horizontal stone and iron chains, serving as barrel hoops, embedded
within the inner dome: one at the top, one at the bottom, with the remaining two evenly
spaced between them. A fifth chain, made of wood, was placed between the first and
second of the stone chains. Since the dome was octagonal rather than round, a simple
chain, squeezing the dome like a barrel hoop, would have put all its pressure on the eight
corners of the dome. The chains needed to be rigid octagons, stiff enough to hold their
shape, so as not to deform the dome as they held it together.
Each of Brunelleschi's stone chains was built like an octagonal railroad track with
parallel rails and cross ties, all made of sandstone beams 43 centimetres (17 in) in
diameter and no more than 2.3 metres (7.5 ft) long. The rails were connected end-to-
end with lead-glazed iron splices. The cross ties and rails were notched together and
then covered with the bricks and mortar of the inner dome. The cross ties of the bottom
chain can be seen protruding from the drum at the base of the dome. The others are
hidden.
Each stone chain was supposed to be reinforced with a standard iron chain made
of interlocking links, but a magnetic survey conducted in the 1970s failed to detect any
evidence of iron chains, which if they exist are deeply embedded in the thick masonry
walls. Brunelleschi also included vertical "ribs" set on the corners of the octagon, curving
towards the center point. The Ribs, 13 feet (4 meters) deep, are supported by 16
concealed ribs radiating from center.[12] The ribs had slits to take beams that supported
platforms, thus allowing the work to progress upward without the need for scaffolding.
A circular masonry dome can be built without supports, called centering, because
each course of bricks is a horizontal arch that resists compression. In Florence, the
octagonal inner dome was thick enough for an imaginary circle to be embedded in it at
each level, a feature that would hold the dome up eventually, but could not hold the
bricks in place while the mortar was still wet. Brunelleschi used a herringbone brick
pattern to transfer the weight of the freshly laid bricks to the nearest vertical ribs of the
non-circular dome.
The outer dome was not thick enough to contain embedded horizontal circles,
being only 60 centimetres (2 ft) thick at the base and 30 centimetres (1 ft) thick at the
top. To create such circles, Brunelleschi thickened the outer dome at the inside of its
corners at nine different elevations, creating nine masonry rings, which can be observed
today from the space between the two domes. To counteract hoop stress, the outer
dome relies entirely on its attachment to the inner dome and has no embedded chains.
 A modern understanding of physical laws and the mathematical tools for
calculating stresses were centuries in the future. Brunelleschi, like all cathedral builders,
had to rely on intuition and whatever he could learn from the large scale models he built.
To lift 37,000 tons of material, including over 4 million bricks, he invented hoisting
machines and lewissons for hoisting large stones. These specially designed machines
and his structural innovations were Brunelleschi's chief contribution to architecture.
Although he was executing an aesthetic plan made half a century earlier, it is his name,
rather than Neri's, that is commonly associated with the dome.
Brunelleschi's ability to crown the dome with a lantern was questioned and he had
to undergo another competition, even though there had been evidence that Brunelleschi
had been working on a design for a lantern for the upper part of the dome. The evidence
is shown in the curvature, which was made steeper than the original model.[19] He was
declared the winner over his competitors Lorenzo Ghiberti and Antonio Ciaccheri. His
design (now on display in the Museum Opera del Duomo) was for an octagonal lantern
with eight radiating buttresses and eight high arched windows. Construction of the
lantern was begun a few months before his death in 1446. Then, for 15 years, little
progress was possible, due to alterations by several architects. The lantern was finally
completed by Brunelleschi's friend Michelozzo in 1461. The conical roof was crowned
with a gilt copper ball and cross, containing holy relics, by Verrocchio in 1469. This brings
the total height of the dome and lantern to 114.5 meters (375 ft). This copper ball was
struck by lightning on 17 July 1600 and fell down. It was replaced by an even larger one
two years later.
The commission for this bronze ball [atop the lantern] went to the sculptor Andrea
del Verrocchio, in whose workshop there was at this time a young apprentice named
Leonardo da Vinci. Fascinated by Filippo's [Brunelleschi's] machines, which Verrocchio
used to hoist the ball, Leonardo made a series of sketches of them and, as a result, is
often given credit for their invention. Leonardo might have also participated in the design
of the bronze ball, as stated in the G manuscript of Paris "Remember the way we
soldered the ball of Santa Maria del Fiore".
The decorations of the drum gallery by Baccio d'Agnolo were never finished after
being disapproved by no one less than Michelangelo. A huge statue of Brunelleschi now
sits outside the Palazzo dei Canonici in the Piazza del Duomo, looking thoughtfully up
towards his greatest achievement, the dome that would forever dominate the panorama
of Florence. It is still the largest masonry dome in the world.