Volte Tardogotiche sarde: disegno, misura, materia

The thesis investigates the way how the Sardinian late Gothic vaults were built. The previous opportunities of study reinforced the need to explore this specific topic within the broad field of the Sardinian late Gothic architecture, which covers a period between the fourteenth and the seventeenth century. The aspects of research are numerous because of the large number of architectures of this kind on the island. Each of this aspect is rich in possible facets of analysis. However, the problem of vaulted roofs appear the most complex and varied both for the large number of cases available and for the opportunity to deepen the close link between the Sardinian buildings and those of Catalonia. A link already pointed out by many scholars of architectural history. The thesis highlights this link not delving into the historical aspects but especially using drawing as a tool of knowledge and inquiry. The drawing is the development tool of all the work. It contributed to the phase of territorial analysis as an instrument for the graphic display of census data. It was the tool of analysis of the vault construction and the stereotomic practice. Drawing allowed the visual interpretation of the project and the theoretical representation of the volume. Finally, the drawing appears as an inquiry element about the dimensions, as a transcription tool of the survey operations, as an instrument for the geometric and dimensional comparison. The focus of the work is certainly the survey and documentation phase which took place on two different levels. A general documentation level describes the phenomenon and draws up a catalog of late gothic buildings with ribbed vaults. A detail documentation levels makes a thorough analysis of several case studies. In parallel to the problems related to the architectural survey, each phase of work has also addressed the inherent aspect of the building material in order to: shed light on the different solutions adopted in relation to the workability of the material, and to identify, as far as possible, the extraction sites of the materials used in the analyzed cases. The work is divided into successive stages: framework of the problem that highlights the potential and shortcomings of the state of the art on the subject. The path of inquiry has been drawn to provide an initial understanding of the phenomenon in the area and identify the connection points with the regions of Spain from which was imported the constructional praxis. organization of the census and analysis of results. The data are organized into a GIS system and are designed to be queried to obtain cartographic representations that ensure an immediate visual analysis of the collected data. The census has allowed the identification of a large number of buildings on the entire region. A summary sheet has been prepared for each building. The census showed the ubiquity of the spread and the variety of building materials, even in relation to the geological diversity of the island. analysis of aspects related to the construction of the vault. Real cases were correlated with the theoretical ones obtained by encoding the treaties of stereotomy and construction published in Spain in the sixteenth century. At this stage, the relationship between the construction technique and the building materials were examined on the basis of information gathered during the census. elaboration and application of the survey process. The objective of this phase was to define and apply a survey method that allowed the rapid but accurate measurement and restitution of numerous case studies identified according to criteria of homogeneity related to dating, construction material and geographic area. The survey method developed has allowed to test the application of the Image Based Modelling software in the documentation of interior spaces. The procedure was refined to make it suitable in documenting Sardinian late Gothic vaults that have size and shape well suited to the specifications required by the software. The procedure has been tested on a large number of vaults so it was possible to highlight the strengths and limitations of the method and establish a protocol for the documentation of other similar vaults. The work ends with a dimensional comparison between the measured vaults, highlighting similarities and differences with the theoretical cases described in the Spanish construction treaties. Finally, the recurring characteristics have been identified for the decorative elements. This latter aspect outlines possible future developments of the research, which could evolve in the analysis of the stone work and the comparison between the moldings and decorative elements that most characterize keystones, capitals and corbels.