Architectural books and treatises: on the theory of vaults

Abstract

Our search for codified knowledge about vaulted construction systems obviously started with classical texts on architecture. We wish here to explore the possibility of finding a theory about vaults that is capable of better organising a textual corpus on the subject. The fragmentary notes on vaults in Vitruvius’ text are discussed as the foundational source for the book on construction and architecture. That being so, the contribution of Alberti’s De re aedificatoria is detailed as being the truly fundamental text on this subject, as it is in fact the first structured discourse on vaults. Other steps in our search included the connections discovered between different works from the 16th to 18th centuries, including Portuguese manuscripts, and the final stage took us to the world of the Encyclopaedia, where reasoning and mathematical methods meet architectural and engineering theory and practice to offer a robust technical-scientific approach within the specialised literature.