THE DOME BRUNELLESCHI S DOME IN THE CATHEDRAL IN FLORENCE SUMMARY 1 THE HISTORY OF THE DOME Pag. 2 1.1 INTRODUCTION Pag. 2 1.2 - THE INVENTORS OF THE DOME Pag. 2 2 THE PANTHEON Pag. 3 2.1 THE OCULUS Pag. 3 2.2 CASSETTONI Pag. 4 3 ST. PETER S Pag. 5 3.1 THE TROUBLE OF THE DOME Pag. 5 4 ST. PAUL S CATHEDRAL Pag. 6 4.1 FORM AND CARATHERISTICS Pag. 6 4.2 THE INTERIOR Pag. 7 5 THE MILLENNIUM DOME Pag. 8 4.1 THE MILLENNIUM DOME: SOME FIGURES Pag. 8 4.2 THE STRUCTURES OF THE DOME Pag. 9-10 SOURCES Pag. 11 The Dome 1/11
1 THE HISTORY OF THE DOME 1.1 INTRODUCTION They have been called "the kings of all roofs," and they cover some of our most important buildings. Domes are curved structures, they have no corners. They enclose big spaces without the help of the columns. Despite their thinness, domes are very strong structures. In time the churches and mosques were constructed with this new design. 1.2 THE INVENTORS OF THE DOME Around 100 A.D., Roman builders rotated an arch in a circle and discovered that it created a strong three-dimensional shape, the dome. The earliest known is the temple of Mercury at Baiae, which has an internal diameter of 21.5 meters. THE DOME OF MERCURY S TEMPLE The Dome 2/11
2 THE PANTHEON The Pantheon in Rome (Hadrian, c. 118-25 AD) has the largest dome, with a span of 43.3 meters. St Peter's in Rome, 1564 AD, has a span of 42 m., and St Paul's in London, 1675-1710, has a span of 30.8 m. The Pantheon is the best-preserved building in Rome (1,800 years old). A hemispherical dome with a constant thickness of > 2,1% diameter will be stable. 2.1 THE OCULUS They also built a hole, called oculus, at the top, so that the sunlight entered; the rain entered too, but it was drained through small holes in the marble floor. The Dome 3/11
2.2 CASSETTONI It was the earliest masonry dome; it was so heavy that engineers created complicated shapes, called cassettoni, along the walls to reduce the weight of the enormous structure. The Dome 4/11
3 ST. PETER S This dome is a work of Michael Angelo (who designed this dome following the original designs of Bramante). The influences of the dome of Brunelleschi (on the cover) constructed in Florence are more than evident. You can walk to the top of the dome, from where you will be able to see a wonderful city view. The dome has a diameter of 42 meters. 3.1 THE TROUBLE OF THE DOME When the dome on St. Peter's Basilica began cracking in the early 18th century, Vatican engineers tied many iron rings, called tension rings, around the structure to prevent it from collapsing. The Dome 5/11
4 ST. PAUL S CATHEDRAL 4.1 FORM AND CARATHERISTICS St. Paul s Cathedral was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It is built in the shape of a cross, with the dome constructed in the intersection of the arms. It is one of the largest Cathedral domes in the world, 111.3 meters high. It weighs approximately 65,000 tonnes and is supported by eight pillars. The Dome 6/11
4.2 THE INTERIOR Between the arches of the interior of the dome there are mosaics of prophets and saints, made between 1864 and 1888. The murals in the dome were created between 1715 and 1719 by court painter of Sir James Thornhill and represent scenes from the life of St. Paul. The Dome 7/11
5 THE MILLENNIUM DOME 4.1 THE MILLENNIUM DOME: SOME FIGURES The Dome is the largest such structure in the world, over 50 metres high and 320 metres in diameter. The Exhibition took place on a 130 acre site on the Greenwich peninsula (pag. 10) with a ground floor of over 80.000 square metres and has a circumference of one kilometre. Richard Rogers Partnership was in charge of the design and Buro Happold took care of the engineering. It is suspended by a series of twelve steel trees (weight 50 tonnes and long 100 m each) and supported by more than 70 km of cable. The dome is made from a translucent proof curtain and is able to accommodate 40.000 visitors. Approximately 6 million visitors paid to visit the Millennium Exhibition in the Year 2000. The Dome 8/11
4.2 THE STRUCTURES OF THE DOME An inside view showing the arc of the support of the steel tree inside the Dome Each of the steel tree is supported by four steel legs The Dome 9/11
The Dome is tall enough to accommodate Nelson's column and two Wembley stadiums. The Dome 10/11
SOURCES Domenico Cutollè Is. E.Vittorini sez. CASTELLAMONTE Classe 5 A Sperimentale www.stpauls.co.uk Images and texts from: www.virgilio.it www.google.it Particular thanks to the English teacher: Floria Conta The Dome 11/11