Architecture (Structure) : Arch

The post and lintel technique was very limiting due to the fact that posts needed to be very close together to support the structure (Sporre 84). The design and discovery of the arch allowed for bigger and taller buildings to be built. The round design of the arch allows for the stress being supported by the arch to be distributed across the entire arch and to the supporting legs or posts (Sporre 85).

Several types of arches are seen in architecture. Sporre defines for us the arch terms buttress, arcade, tunnel vault, and dome. A buttress is any supporting wall or structure usually made of stone that helps to support the arch. When several arches are placed side by side it is called an arcade. Arches placed back to back form an enclosed space called a tunnel vault. When arches are joined at the top of a structure and their legs form a circle, a dome is formed (Sporre 87-88). Many of these arch designs can be identified in the cathedrals built across Europe. When looking at the magnificent cathedrals it is amazing to now know how hard architectures worked to discover ways to build the beautiful domes and arches.