Gothic Workshop Print E-mail

The aim of this presentation is to show you one interesting pedagogical experience regarding the knowledge of the late gothic vault that, for the last years, has been developed in the la Escuela Superior de Arquitectura of Madrid.

This experience consists of the real construction of Gothic vaults focusing in the idea of acquiring a deeper knowledge about the technical methods that made possible the construction in the past of such a complex structures. The vaults were built in the Workshop on Gothic building Method, subject taught in the undergraduate cycle.

The history, the style, the stability of this structures are quite often analysed by the students in the Escuela de Arquitectura of Madrid but, we thought that only the real construction of a complex gothic vault could reveal the deep knowledge that this kind of structures conceals. Trough the construction, the geometrical traces, the old tools, the traditional carving methods, the centering and assembling procedures become evident and clear.

For the last years we had the opportunity to carry out the construction of four vaults, all of them from the late gothic period -15th and 16th centuries- period in which we consider that the Gothic reached the highest level of its development.

Let us present you some of the conclusions of our research.