Elements and Materials
Rib Vault
Structural Element
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A vault in which diagonal arched ribs carry the structural load and support a thinner infill web between them, concentrating weight at discrete points rather than along continuous walls. Refined in Norman and northern French building at the end of the Romanesque period, the rib vault let builders raise thinner walls and open them with the large traceried windows that define Gothic cathedral architecture.
Facts
Element Kind First Used EraEleventh to twelfth century Europe, Romanesque to Gothic transition 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
The rib vault and the flying buttress are the paired structural solutions that define Gothic cathedral construction.
Seen In
The nave and choir of Notre-Dame de Paris are covered by quadripartite rib vaults.
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