Nineteenth-century manuals and treatises when specially devoted to art of carpentry, like the work of Krafft (1805) or of Emy (1841), as well as when investigating the whole building theory and practice like the treatise of Rondelet (1810), paid great attention to timber trusses of large span. In fact, illustration of past and current technical capabilities of carpentry as guides to professional exercise was one of principal aims of those authors. Between the most quoted examples of large span timber trusses there are the covering structures of the “exercise halls” which were built at the end of XVIII century to allow military exercise during winter. These structures, together with some examples of the beginning of XIX century, as that designed by M. Betancourt and built in Moscow in 1818, are the apex of carpentry art before new technologies and new materials provided a different way of covering large spaces. In particular, two roof trusses designed by the German carpenter Schuhknecht show the high achievements of carpentry art, because of the large span, the structural conception and the technical arrangements: - the covering structure of the exercise hall in Darmstad (Germany), built in 1771/72 and demolished in 1892 to allow the construction of the Landesmuseum, with a span of about 44 m; - the covering structure of an exercise hall to be built in Moscow, designed in 1781, but never constructed, with a span of about 84 m. A geometrical scheme of those structures, based upon historical surveys, has been derived to study their structural behaviour; then the structural scheme has been deduced paying great attention to technological solutions designed for internal joints. The aim of this structural analysis has been not only the evaluation of the reliability of their design, but also the understanding of the carpenter structural intuitions on which this design is based. An enlightening factor is the critical review of the interpretation and judgement of these constructions couched by authors of famous and widespread treatises like Rondelet and Emy. Consequently this analysis gives also the opportunity to understand their structural ideas about timber trusses.
THE MARVELLOUS TIMBER TRUSSES OF XVIII CENTURY / Ceraldi, Carla; RUSSO ERMOLLI, E.. - STAMPA. - I:(2003), pp. 559-568. (Intervento presentato al convegno first International congress on Construction History tenutosi a Madrid nel 20-24 gennaio).
THE MARVELLOUS TIMBER TRUSSES OF XVIII CENTURY
CERALDI, CARLA;
2003
Abstract
Nineteenth-century manuals and treatises when specially devoted to art of carpentry, like the work of Krafft (1805) or of Emy (1841), as well as when investigating the whole building theory and practice like the treatise of Rondelet (1810), paid great attention to timber trusses of large span. In fact, illustration of past and current technical capabilities of carpentry as guides to professional exercise was one of principal aims of those authors. Between the most quoted examples of large span timber trusses there are the covering structures of the “exercise halls” which were built at the end of XVIII century to allow military exercise during winter. These structures, together with some examples of the beginning of XIX century, as that designed by M. Betancourt and built in Moscow in 1818, are the apex of carpentry art before new technologies and new materials provided a different way of covering large spaces. In particular, two roof trusses designed by the German carpenter Schuhknecht show the high achievements of carpentry art, because of the large span, the structural conception and the technical arrangements: - the covering structure of the exercise hall in Darmstad (Germany), built in 1771/72 and demolished in 1892 to allow the construction of the Landesmuseum, with a span of about 44 m; - the covering structure of an exercise hall to be built in Moscow, designed in 1781, but never constructed, with a span of about 84 m. A geometrical scheme of those structures, based upon historical surveys, has been derived to study their structural behaviour; then the structural scheme has been deduced paying great attention to technological solutions designed for internal joints. The aim of this structural analysis has been not only the evaluation of the reliability of their design, but also the understanding of the carpenter structural intuitions on which this design is based. An enlightening factor is the critical review of the interpretation and judgement of these constructions couched by authors of famous and widespread treatises like Rondelet and Emy. Consequently this analysis gives also the opportunity to understand their structural ideas about timber trusses.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
