Reverse engineering marvelous machines: The design of Late Gothic vaults from concept to stone planning and the prehistory of stereotomy

Abstract

In Late Gothic rib vaults, we admire the complex stone structures with intricate meshes of ribs interlacing in different levels, in some cases even composed of looping ribs soaring along spatial curves. On the base of case studies where detailed surveys, geometric analyses, investigations through reverse engineering, and experiments in full scale in collaboration with the workshop of Strasbourg Cathedral were carried out, we propose a complete picture of the design process from the overall concept to its implementation in the design of the single stone elements. The profound understanding of the design process in Late Gothic vaults gives a new insight to Late Medieval and Early Modern design practice for stone structures. In particular, we are able to propose a new interpretation of the early treatises of Stereotomy and the “prehistory” of the classical procedures in stone-cutting.