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This work investigates the acoustic characteristics of the double elliptical vault, which overlooks the Grand Staircase of the Royal Palace of Caserta (Italy). The Royal Palace was built by the architect Luigi Vanvitelli in the Seventeenth Century and it is the largest royal building in Italy. The double elliptical vault presents a great scenography effect. Inside the vault, on the planking level, musicians used to play for the king and his guests when the royal procession, going up the grand staircase, entered the royal apartments, creating astonishment among the guests who heard the music without understanding from where it was coming. Since the musicians were inside the vault, the long reverberation made the listeners perceive the vault to be enveloped by the music. To investigate this effect, the acoustic characteristics of the double vault were measured, putting the sound source on the planking level of the vault, while the microphones were put along the staircase and in the vestibule towards the royal apartments. Finally, the spatial distribution of several acoustic parameters is evaluated also using architectural acoustic simulations.

Позднеантичный некрополь столицы Азиатского Боспора преимущественно состоит из погребений второй половиной IV - первой половиной V в. н. э. Что может быть обусловлено раскопками локальных участков кладбища. В этом контексте интересна находка грунтового склепа под курганом Южного некрополя Фанагории, которому и посвящена эта публикация. Однокамерный грунтовый склеп состоял из дромоса и камеры, в которой стоял единственный гроб с погребением пожилого мужчины. С ним найдены: амфора, ремень с железной пряжкой, нож в деревянных ножнах, кремень и статер боспорского царя Фофорса 303/304 гг. н. э. Монета могла быть использована в качестве «обола Харона». Гробница появилась в начале IV в. - после 303 г. н. э. Она относится к редкой группе склепов, построенных для погребения одного мужчины, в то время как подавляющее большинство подобных гробниц являются семейными усыпальницами. Традиция индивидуальных погребений в склепах существовала у жителей Фанагории на протяжении всей позднеантичной эпохи. Не исключено, что так хоронили некоторых заслуженных граждан, возможно воинов. Нельзя исключать связи этой традиции с утверждением новой христианской погребальной обрядности на Боспоре Киммерийском. The late Antiquity necropolis in the capital of the Asian Bosporan Kingdom predominantly consists of graves from the second half of 4th - first half of the 5 centuries AD, which may be explained by the excavations of the cemetery local sections. In this context, of interest is the discovery of an in-ground vault under the kurgan of the Southern Necropolis in Phanagoria which is described in this paper. The one-chamber in-ground vault consisted of a dromos and a burial chamber that contained only one coffin with a buried elderly male. Other finds include an amphora, a belt with an iron buckle, a knife in a wooden scabbard, a firestone and a stater of Fophors, king of the Bosporan Kingdom, dating 303/304. The coin was probably used as the Charon's obol. The tomb was made early in the 4th century, i. e. after 303. It is referred to a rare group of vaults built to bury only one male whereas most similar tombs are family vaults. It is quite possible that some distinguished citizens, maybe, warriors were buried individually like this. We cannot exclude a link between this tradition and development of a new Christian funerary rite in Cimmerian Bosporus.

El Museo Nacional de Antropología de México resguarda una de las colecciones de objetos arqueológicos más grandes e importantes de distintas culturas, zonas y épocas del México prehispánico. Dicho museo está dividido en 11 salas, siendo la Sala Mexica la más grande de todas y se encuentra ubicada en la parte central del recorrido. Sin embargo, son pocos los estudios arqueométricos enfocados en conocer las técnicas de manufactura de los materiales mexicas en este recinto cultural, en especial los objetos lapidarios. Por ello, desde el 2019 se inició la revisión y análisis tecnológico de la lapidaria de la Sala Mexica, empezando con las piezas resguardadas en la Bóveda de Seguridad del Museo Nacional de Antropología procedentes de Tlatelolco, El Volador y Azcapotzalco. Para ello se empleó arqueología experimental y la caracterización de huellas de manufactura con microscopía óptica y electrónica de barrido. De esta manera se pudieron identificar los materiales e instrumentos de trabajo empleados en su elaboración y las semejanzas o diferencias entre los sitios, así como rastrear su filiación cultural local o foránea.

The purpose of the article is to analyze compositional types, topography, methods, and techniques used in the formal solution of mural compositions in the Catholic churches of Eastern Galicia in the second half of the XVIII century. The methodology lies in the usage of art historical methods of stylistic analysis and generally scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction. The scientific novelty of the research is in the analysis of methods and techniques used by Galician masters in the second half of XVII century for implementation of mural compositions that were interpreted, adapted to local artistic traditions. The research can be used in the attribution of saved samples of the monumental art. Conclusions. The monumental painting in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in particular in Galicia, developed in the context of artistic trends in West and Central European countries. Chronologically, the development of monumental painting in Galicia ranged from the thirties until the late XVIII century. As for the formal characteristics of monumental art, in the territory of the Commonwealth, the most common were three compositional types of polychrome: local variation of Italian «quadro riportato», illusionistic and panoramic. The basis of the first is the method of placing of the image on the vault area, framed with imitated or sculpted frame, the second is based on the quadrature and other methods and techniques of illusionistic monumental art, the third includes a panoramic image on the vault. In Galicia, the third type of vault decoration has not become widespread. Visiting masters were the bearers of these trends. They implemented the polychrome in local cathedrals, using a wide variety of methods and techniques for the formal solutions of mural compositions, typical for European art schools. Later, local artists adopted this experience, creating polychromes with certain interpretations of compositional types.

El día 19 de noviembre de 1882 Pedro Benoit, secundado por los Maestros mayores de obra de la Provincia de Buenos Aires construyeron un arco de bóveda subterráneo y cubrieron la piedra Fundamental-procedente de Azul- con ladrillos y mezcla utilizando una cuchara de oro macizo con ocho brillantes en la empuñadura de ébano y una batea para la mezcla de caoba con agarraderas de ébano e incrustaciones doradas. Este acontecimiento inauguró la etapa de construcción de la ciudad de La Plata. El proceso de urbanización de la nueva capital de la provincia de Buenos Aires, se caracterizó por un rápido desenvolvimiento y dinamismo, acompañado de un crecimiento demográfico explosivo. En este marco, se desplegó una importante red comercial caracterizada por el flujo de materiales constructivos tanto a nivel nacional como internacional. Este trabajo se propone dar cuenta de los circuitos comerciales de aprovisionamiento de las materias primas utilizadas en la construcción durante la etapa fundacional de la ciudad de La Plata entre fines del siglo XIX y principios del XX.Metodológicamente, se trabajó tanto con fuentes arqueológicas como documentales, usándose la información procedente de los expedientes de obras particulares correspondientes al Cementerio de La Plata, que posibilitaban recortar más estrictamente la etapa fundacional. En este sentido, se analizaron diversos contextos mortuorios (bóvedas) de esta primera etapa de la necrópolis de la ciudad, conjugando esta información con la proporcionada por los catálogos de arte funerario cívico y religioso disponibles para la época, los cuales constituyen una importante fuente documental patrimonial.

The paper proposes the first results of an ongoing research on the geometry of ribbed cross vaults starting from the principles and theories illustrated in some historical treatises. In the research, a particular role is assumed by algorithmic modelling which is an effective tool for the construction and verification of the geometry of the intrados surfaces of vaults. Starting from the studies conducted in this regard by the two Italian engineers. The construction of the digital models deriving from treatises by Curioni and Lamberti has allowed us to compare them with the geometry of the vaults of a side chapel of the church of Santa Lucia in Cagliari. Through the 3D laser scanner survey of these vaults, it was possible to evaluate which of the models proposed in the two treatises best approximated the case study of Santa Lucia in order to conduct algorithmic modelling of the surface closest to the geometry of the vaults revealed by the point cloud.

In 2020, Inyo County, California partnered with nonprofit VotingWorks to pilot the use of the Verifiable Audits Using Limited Transparency technique (called VAULT) to conduct an efficient, privacy-preserving, publicly verifiable risk-limiting audit of seven contests in the November general election. We describe VAULT, the pilot, and the software implementation that made this pilot possible.

Background: Vault prolapse is often occurred after hysterectomy procedure, and sometimes need a surgical repair. Objective: Study aimed to investigate the case of vault prolapse in which repeated operative procedures were performed at our teaching hospital, Dr. Soetomo General Hospital. Materials and Methods: The data in this case report were obtained through medical records and register books form Urogynecology Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology during 2015-2019. We analyse the characteristics of postoperative vault prolapse from patients after transabdominal hysterectomy and transvaginal hysterectomy procedure. Result: In 2015-2019 there were 16 patients diagnosed with vault prolapse with a preoperative diagnosis of uterine prolapse (16 cases). Of the 16 cases of vault prolapse, 10 cases (62.50%) were post transabdominal hysterectomy procedure, and 6 cases (37.5%) were post transvaginal hysterectomy procedure. From a total of 16 cases of vault prolapse that were reoperated with various procedures. The surgery success rate was 87.5%. Conclusion: Various corrective procedures were performed again by the urogynecology division of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Soetomo General Hospital with good result. Keywords: Vault prolapse, Uterine porlapse, PHVP.

St. Sophia of Kyiv, built in 1011‒1018 at the turn of the reigns of Volodymyr the Great and Yaroslav the Wise, has preserved a large number of unique secular frescoes. Their customer was Volodymyr, who owns the idea of the temple, which is reflected in the mosaics and frescoes. A triumphal fresco cycle is unfolding in the two stair towers which, according to the Byzantine tradition, glorifies its customer. The frescoes tell about a dynastic marriage between Prince Volodymyr the Great and the Byzantine Princess Anna Porphyrogenitus at the turn of 987–988, which initiated the baptism of the Kyivan State. The cycle consists of narrative historical and symbolic (ornamental, zoomorphic, and teratological 4) plots. The central composition of a symbolic nature is a mysterious teratological plot of five interconnected medallions placed on the vault of the south tower. This combined plot traces the Scandinavian influences caused by Volodymyr’s princely order, which are present in the unique emblematic image of god Odin with two wolves. The decoding of the plot revealsits semantic unity both with the triumphant fresco cycle of towers, which it is a part of, and with the ideological concept of the whole temple complex as a memorial of the baptism of Rus-Ukraine, the founder and builder of which was Volodymyr the Great. The plot reveals deep sacred and at the same time ethnically colored connotations with the image of Volodymyr as a crowned prince-baptizer and a powerful military leader. This concept fits into the general marital leitmotif of the secular cycle. The frescoes of the towers present not only a completely realistic outline of the initial event of the baptism of the people (the engagement of Volodymyr and Anna) but also a corresponding symbolic and metaphorical disclosure of this theme., Софія Київська, побудована у 1011–1018 рр. на зламі правлінь Володимира Великого і Ярослава Мудрого, зберегла велику кількість унікальних світських фресок. Їхнім замовником був Володимир, якому належить задум храму, що відобразилося в мозаїках і фресках. У двох сходових вежах розгорнуто тріумфальний фресковий цикл, що за візантійською традицією прославляє свого замовника. Фрески розповідають про укладення династичного шлюбу між князем Володимиром Великим і візантійською принцесою Анною Порфірородною на зламі 987–988 рр., який започаткував собою хрещення Київської держави. Цикл складається з оповідальних історичних та символічних (орнаментальних, зооморфних і тератологічних 1) сюжетів. Центральною композицією символічного характеру є загадковий тератологічний сюжет з п’яти взаємопов’язаних медальйонів, розміщений на склепінні південної вежі. Декодування семантичного коду сюжету виявляє скандинавський мотив і тісний смисловий зв’язок із будівничим Софії князем Володимиром. Показано семантичну єдність сюжету як із фресковим циклом веж, до якого він входить, так і з ідейною концепцією усього храмового комплексу як меморіалу хрещення Русі-України.

The cemetery of Opushki is located at 15 km to the east of modern Simferopol, in the central area of the Crimean foothills. The site has been being excavated since 2003. So far more than 300 graves of various types have been uncovered. They belong to the Late Scythian, Middle Sarmatian, and Late Sarmatian archaeological cultures. There is one cremation complex appeared as a result of the Germanic migration to the Crimea. The complex under present publication belongs to a large group of burial vaults with a short dromos (entry corridor) of the Late Roman period; this type of crypts is found in various cemeteries of the Crimean foothills. Burial constructions of this type are associated with the mediaeval Alans’ ancestors who migrated to the Crimea from the North Caucasus. Although the earliest crypts featuring dromos appeared in the foothill area of the Crimean Peninsula in the first half of the 3rd century AD, most of burials in these constructions were made in the fourth century AD. Burial vault no. 158 has two interesting features. It contains multiple burials typical for the Late Scythian vaults of the 1st and the first half of the 2nd centuries. Such a phenomenon is encountered for the first time in the Late Roman vault. According to the analysis of the grave goods, the complex under study is one of the earliest or even the earliest short-dromos vault discovered in the Crimea. It was constructed in the second half (or at the end) of 2nd or very early 3rd century AD and was in use throughout the first half of the 3rd century. The results of research of this burial construction supply new materials for the solution of highly disputable problem of the Crimean vaults with short dromos origin and of the reconstruction of ethnic processes in the Crimea in the Late Roman period.

Most studies about tunnel environments focus on the adjustment of brightness in tunnels and pay little attention to the decoration of the walls. This study is based on a highway tunnel in Jilin pro...

The purpose of the study was to examine gender differences of approach run kinematics and step parameters asymmetry. The attempts of 24 pole vaulters (11 males, 13 females) during a major indoor co...

Gothic architecture can be viewed from several perspectives, including stylistic aspects, architectural theory, and structural analysis.As Gothic architecture is a skeletal construction, it is essential to achieve an equilibrium with the multiple loads and forces. Medieval master masons' architectural knowledge was firmly based on empirical learning, which stimulated the dynamic development of structural innovations.This paper emphasises and describes a particular type of vault springer, one of the most complicated and sensitive parts of Gothic construction. Known as tas-de-charge, it became especially characteristic of high Gothic architecture. According to its principle, the springer's lower courses contain the merged vault nerves and are carved from one single stone block in each course. The beds of these courses are not radial as those of the average voussoirs, but horizontal. Without the concept of tas-de-charge, the development of late Gothic vaults could not be imaginable. This particular solution made possible the creation of elegantly narrow imposts supporting the vault ribs, the double arch and the formerets. So far, tas-de-charge has not been a focus of interest in the historiography of Hungarian medieval architecture; however, it appears that it was commonly applied in our late Romanesque and early Gothic monuments.

The ‘Amenda anecdote’ from 1856 associates the second movement of Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 18 No. 1 (Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato) with the vault scene of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Sketchbook jottings by Beethoven from 1799, in French, confirm that such a link really existed. The question of what incited him to represent in his music elements of Shakepeare has not been settled to any satisfaction. It seems unlikely that Beethoven read a French version of the play. Nor can a public theatrical or operatic staging have been the stimulus, for the original vault scene was not allowed to be performed by the authorities. This study approaches the Shakespeare connection from the perspective of a cultural practice that has received limited attention in the literature, that of Viennese Haustheater. A performance of the vault scene in this context, it is argued, informed Beethoven's quartet movement. The most crucial piece of evidence are the memoirs of Caroline Pichler, which mention a tableau given at her parents’ house at the end of eighteenth century. One of the claims of the study is that Beethoven's Shakespeare connection was a one-time digression from normal practice, and that it is thus hazardous to draw this particular event into a wider hermeneutic debate.

The histories of the 17th and 18th century Grand Tour and 16th century Wunderkammer offer perspective on the connections between foreign travel and collecting. These histories also assist in positi...

Geometrically complex masonry structures built with traditional techniques typically require either temporary scaffolding or skilled masons. This paper presents a novel fabrication process for the assembly of full-scale masonry vaults without the use of falsework. The fabrication method is based on a cooperative assembly approach in which two robots alternate between placement and support to first build a stable central arch. Subsequently, the construction is continued individually by the robots - building out from the central arch based on an interlocking diagonal brick sequence. This proposed method is validated through its successful implementation in a full-scale vault structure consisting of 256 glass and concrete standardized bricks. The paper includes strategies for developing the design, sequencing, and robotic assembly methods used to build the vault.

In 2003 the Alagir archaeological team of the Institute of History and Archaeology (IHA) at North Ossetian state University named after K. L. Khetagurov (now the IHA Republic of North Ossetia-Alania) excavated the Gusara I burial ground in the Alagirsky district of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. The destroyed and looted part about 70 square meters of the burial ground was studied. In total, three underground catacombs were excavated. They contained a few, but quite expressive archaeological material (fibulae, buckles, beads, etc.). The studied catacombs were made in T-shaped type I. There are two varieties of burials according to the details of its constructions. The first variety: entrance pits are narrow and long; the bottom of the entrance pit and the chamber are at the same level, the dromos is not expressed, the vault of the chamber is flat. The chambers are small, most likely intended for the burial of a single person. Presumably, the buried were put with their heads to the left of the entrance. The second variety: the entrance pit is short; a step separated the bottom of the entrance pit from the bottom of the chamber; the dromos is expressed; the vault is designed as an arch; under the buried is traced a bed of organic origin. The buried lay with their heads to the left of the entrance; an artificially deformed skull was fixed. According to the funeral rite and inventory, investigated underground catacombs belong to the early medieval stage of the Alan culture in the North Caucasus during the 2nd half of VI – the 1st half of VII centuries A.D. The investigated archaeological inventory is close to the materials as early Alan culture so the Hun time. The purpose of the article is the introduction into scientific activities the archaeological materials of Gusara I.

In this research, Kadincik Ana House, also known as Balim Evi, located in the Hacibektas district of Nevsehir province, is introduced. Various publications have been made about Haci Bektas Veli Complex and other buildings previously, but there has not been any detailed research made on Kadincik Ana House, which is thought to be the house, where Haci Bektas Veli stayed, when he came to Hacibektas. Therefore, it is aimed to contribute to lack of knowledge in the literature and to put forward the position of the building in Bektashism and Turkish House architecture. Accordingly, after the reviewed of the sources and archives related to the subject, the building was examined taking into account the architectural and decorative features. Although there is no information on the date of the first construction of the building, it is understood that it was repaired in the years 1896-97 and 1974 according to the inscription on the arch in the Sir Room section of the building. Built with rubble stone and cut stone material, the house consists of collateral three rooms having a rectangular plan and in front of it, there is a large garden having two tombstone headstone inside. The houses in the region are generally with sofa, but at present, Kadincik Ana House has no sofa. The walls of the Sir Room and Cem Room are plastered and embellished with hand-drawn artworks within the building. The walls of the Guest Room located between the two chambers are plasterless. We believe that the hand-drawn artworks, which have the effects of Westernization period and which are located on the walls of the Cem Room, were formed in 1896-97, and the hand-drawn artworks on the walls of the Sir Room were renovated during the restoration in 1974. The lintel arch used in the cover system of both of the rooms is widely used in the region. It is observed in the region that the vaults are built by placing sometimes a wooden beamed ceiling and sometimes a flat fine stone on the lintel arch. The covering system made in this way is generally completed with earthen roof. Herein, the Guest Room is covered with a wooden beamed ceiling, the Cem Room with a lintel arched vault and the Sir Room with a wooden beamed lintel arched ceiling. The earthen roof must be closed with a hipped roof later on. With all of its these features, the building contains the architecture of the Turkish House architecture unique to the Central Anatolia Region and constitutes an important place in the of Bektashism culture. Keywords: Nevsehir, Hacibektas, Bektashism, Haci Bektas Veli, Kadincik Ana House, Balim Evi

The great variety of geometries of the inner surface of Roman domes is still an important issue to be explored. The aim of this research is to study the geometry of the vault of the church of S. Bernardo alle Terme in Rome and the relation with its constructive techniques. The church was built using an ancient Roman structure that was part of the Baths of Diocletian and preserves its entire dome. The analysis focuses particularly on the design and distribution of coffers, which seem to respect the original ancient design. The octagonal and squared shapes adapt to the spherical surface, reducing their size progressively as they approach the top of the vault. The studies are based on a new survey of the vault that we realized with digital automated photogrammetry. Based on these reliable data, we try to extract the geometrical rules of the design of the coffers studying their general arrangement and their specific shape.

Masonry vaults are able to withstand their dead load and external forces thanks to their curved surface, therefore geometry plays a major role in their structural behaviour. Besides the well-known effects of the macro-geometry (overall shape and dimensions), micro-geometry (details of the masonry apparatus) is also expected to play a key role. The study seeks to determine the advantages (constructional and structural) that a specific masonry apparatus offered for simple forms like barrel vaults and more complex forms like cross vaults. It is carried out, firstly, through a critical review of the European technical literature concerning vault construction with particular focus on brick laying techniques; then, numerical approach is adopted to scientifically investigate the role of micro-geometry on the static behaviour of barrel and cross vaults subjected to self-weight. Comparison of results allows observing different structural behaviour (displacement field, elastic stiffness, reaction forces) for different brick patterns and provides a scientific validation to some speculations found in historical technical literature.

This study investigates the contributions made by Gaspard Monge and the students of his School to the stereotomy of vaulted systems in France between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The complexity of the apparatuses and the generality of the proposed solutions express the extent of the contributions that descriptive geometry made to the applications that preceded it. First among these stereotomy, which, though in decline from an operational point of view, was considered fundamental in the schools that were then being founded. The ellipsoidal vault, the helicoidal apparatus and the arrière voussure de Marseille are expressions of the relationship between the operability of stereotomy and the theoretical speculations of descriptive geometry, which operates through the synthetic language of drawing. These applications make explicit a modus operandi, capable of resolving the problems of defining, representing and expressing the geometric properties of figures using the synthetic methods of descriptive geometry.

The prospective illusionism of vaulted systems is a research field in which the study of geometry, survey, and architectural representation converge. The painting defines a precise scale and orientation relationship with the observer, while the morphology of the vaulted system increases the architecture’s spatiality. Therefore, the study of quadrature framed in vaulted surfaces implies investigating systems based on stratifications of real and ephemeral information. The present research examines the Camera di Giove, a vaulted room located in the Ducal Palace of Sassuolo, an important residence of the Este family. The chamber represents a typical Baroque example of an extension of spatial perception, thanks to the relationship with the nearby rooms and the vertical perspective of the vaulted painting. The research suggests a path of analysis that highlights the geometric–mathematical relationships existing between the quadrature, the vault, and the architectural space.

The Basilica of St. Juan de Dios in Granada was built between 1734 and 1757; it is considered to be one of the great works of the Baroque architecture in Spain. This paper presents an architectural and constructive analysis of the dome over the transept; it was built according to the faux vault model divulged by Fray Lorenzo de San Nicolas (encamonada dome). We present an accurate geometric modeling of the dome and its constructive system, obtained from an on-site data collection campaign. This paper presents various hypotheses regarding the structural behavior of the filling in the extrados of the timbrel vault, according to its morphological characterization. The study of historical construction is presented through the application and contrast of different structural analysis methodologies: the experimental Guastavino’s formulation, the analysis of stability by applying the slicing technique within the frame of Limit Analysis, and a new methodology based on funicular and projective geometry to determine efforts combinations in equilibrium. Finally, it presents conclusions about the combined use of them.

A brick barrel vault can be bonded basically according to three techniques depending on the arrangement of the bricks main planes: they can be radially orientated with respect to the vault axis (radial brick vault); they can be aligned with the vault surface (tile vault) or they can be vertical or slightly inclined, forming slices (vault by slices). The last two types do not require any formwork to be built. This work deals with the last case, vaults by slices, focusing on the study and comparison of two late nineteenth-century texts in France and Spain that go deeply into the geometry of this type of vault and still remain unstudied from this point of view: that of Choisy (Annales des Ponts et Chaussees 12: 439–449, 1876 and L’Art de bâtir chez les Byzantins. Librairie de la Societe Anonyme de Publications Periodiques, Paris, 1883), who addresses the study of this type of vault in Byzantium, and that of Paredes (ca. 1883), who analyses the Spanish vault building tradition of this type in the region of Extremadura.

The evolution process of Gothic construction techniques towards the Renaissance implied a remarkable change in the design of ribbed vaults. The advance from pointed designs towards curved forms gave rise to the appearance of models with multiplied ribs. This meant a great variety and diversity of forms and the incorporation of curved ribs. The Manuscript Ms. 12686 of the National Library of Spain, the oldest of the Hispanic stonecutting texts, contains a drawing of a starry ribbed vault with eight loops. This tracing stands out for its marked practical nature, contrary to the theoretical models of greater simplicity included in other contemporary and later treatises. The main research core of this work is the geometric analysis about the design process of this tracing and its constructive application in similar vaults built in Spain during the sixteenth century.

An early rescue excavation in 1900 revealed part of a medieval building of the Dominican friary of Black Friars, London. Further archaeological work in the twentieth century revealed other parts of the building. Here, the authors consider the archaeological and architectural evidence, including a preserved in situ window and two relocated ex situ architectural features. Alfred Clapham suggested in a 1912 article in Archaeologia that the building was the Dominican provincial prior’s house; the present authors instead identify the ground-floor chamber as the late thirteenth-century chapter house. Construction of the friary (the second London Black Friars) began in 1278 or 1279 and the chapter house, funded by a will of 1281, was probably built later in the 1280s. The lower chamber was a well-lit, five-bay undercroft with a quadripartite vault rising from Reigate stone responds and Purbeck marble columns: this was probably the chapter house chamber. The hall-like chamber over was approximately 57ft by 28ft (17.3m × 8.5m) and may have been the library. The building may be the work of Robert of Beverley, the king’s master mason from 1260, perhaps in conjunction with Michael of Canterbury. French royal works of the thirteenth century (such as the lower chapel of the Sainte-Chapelle, Paris) may have served as inspiration.

The article analyzes the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV) as a specific security technology created to deal with the ecological threat of biodiversity loss. Built in 2008 inside the Arctic Circle, the SGSV serves as a backup for 1,700 agricultural gene banks around the world. If seed collections are lost due to natural disasters or human error, the gene banks can request copies of their varieties from Svalbard and restore their collections to continue the endeavour of plant breeding. The article focuses on the particular temporal politics expressed in the SGSV. Drawing on Niklas Luhmann’s reflections on time, it is argued that the SGSV opens up the possibility of reversing events by expanding the duration of the present. By separating seeds from their ecological connections on the one hand and controlling their metabolic processes through the use of cold on the other, an enduring temporal zone is created that allows modern society to control the unpredictable and irreversible dynamics of life and undo its emergent effects. The SGSV therefore materializes what is herein called the politics of reversibility.

La iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús de Granada constituye uno de los ejemplos capitales del barroco andaluz gracias a sus particularidades artísticas y estilísticas. Sin embargo, la excesiva focalización hacia determinados elementos singulares de la misma por parte de la historiografía motiva una necesaria relectura de otros mucho más desconocidos. Por ello, el presente artículo ofrece un novedoso análisis iconográfico e iconológico de la bóveda de la sacristía (1617-1620), mediante el cual podemos acercarnos a la implantación de la doctrina jesuítica en la Granada de los inicios del siglo XVII.

Experimental cyclic tests on full-scale, isolated vaults, carrying their self-weight and subjected to a uniformly distributed transversal load were performed so to investigate on the effectiveness of the Composite Reinforced Mortar strengthening technique. It is based on the application, at the vault extrados or intrados, of a 30 mm thick mortar coating with Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer meshes embedded. In the tests, the reinforced layer was connected to the masonry abutments through steel bars and GFRP elements. The actual performances of these connections in preventing slides and uplifts at the spring sections, which reduce the strengthening effectiveness, are analyzed in the paper. The comparisons of the results with previous experimental tests (without connection at the abutments) and numerical simulations, evidence a good effectiveness of the strengthening intervention, with significant benefits in both resistance and displacement capacities, and permit to assess the actual effectiveness of the tested connection strategy.

In this work, the study of a complex masonry umbrella vault located within Masegra Castle (Museum of Sondrio territory, Northern Italy) is presented. Built during the renewal of the castle ...

Performance on vault in artistic gymnastics depends on the difficulty and the execution quality of the performed vault. However, differences of kinetic energy between simple and difficult vaults remain elusive. Therefore, in this study, 48 Tsukahara and Yurchenko vaults, performed by 20 top-level gymnasts, were recorded with 3D-motion capture and the flux of translational (TKE), angular kinetic (AKE), potential (PE), and total energy were calculated and compared. Results revealed that upon initial springboard contact, almost all of the kinetic energy for Tsukahara vaults is comprised of TKE, whereas Yurchenko vaults were characterized by substantially less TKE, but far greater AKE (and similar PE). During springboard contact of Tsukahara vaults, AKE is increased (+70%) and thereafter mostly preserved during push off from the table (−6%). For Yurchenko vaults, AKE is preserved during springboard contact but reduced (−30%) in exchange for PE at push off. During the second flight phase of Yurchenko vaults, total energy was 10% higher than at initial springboard contact (Tsukahara: −1%). For vaults of increasing difficulty, 5.9% more AKE is needed for each additional 180° of longitudinal-axis rotation. This knowledge may help coaches evaluate athletes’ potential and focus training on appropriate physical and/or technical aspects of the vault performance.

The monumental stairwell of the Reggia of Caserta is characterized by a double elliptical vault to create the effect of a sound rain falling from the ceiling and spread uniformly on the flights of steps. This concept design widely requested by the King, has been achieved in the reality by the construction capabilities of the architect Vanvitelli during the realization of the royal building. Different scholars have been undertaken research studies to find out more details on this effect, but the authors of this paper have been keen to extend the acoustic description of this environment with a creation of a video-overlay that allows to detect the sound energy concentration based on the color scale indicated by the contour levels. The impulse response (IR) recording has been graphically overlapped to a 360° image such that the direction of arrival of the sound wave can be detected. A brief history of the Reggia of Caserta has been introduced as well as the architectural features.

The Chase family vault (Oistins, Barbados) is widely known as the setting of a macabre nineteenth-century story of moving coffins. On several occasions between 1812 and 1821, on opening the sealed ...

This article gives a detailed account of the scholarship focusing on the stone effigy of a tortoise found in 1864 near the Yuzhno-Ussuriyskoye fortified site in Primorye by the mining geologist I. Lopatin. The accompanying events are described. The main source is the unpublished diary of F.F. Busse, who unearthed the sculpture in 1885. He also excavated a kurgan on which it had been placed, and six other burial structures. His findings suggest that before the kurgans were built, the place had been occupied by a 13 th -century Jurchen tribal cemetery. Stone tortoises with steles on their backs, called “steles on the spirit’s path”, had been placed at such cemeteries near the graves of top-ranking persons. There was no inscription on the stele nor on the top, and there was no stone vault under the adjacent kurgan. This is possibly due to the fact that the mausoleum was constructed for a person who had died far from that place. On the basis of Busse’s diaries and new archaeologicalfindings, I suggest that the cemetery with which the tortoise statue was associated might be connected with the key historical figure of the region—Puxian Wannu, who founded the Jurchen state Eastern Xia.