• Architectural research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2000

Ever since Viollet-le-Due began to examine Gothic structural elements using his method of geometrical analysis in the nineteenth century, art and architectural historians and a few engineers have periodically attempted to ascertain the structural advantages of the various characteristic features of Gothic architecture. In none of these studies, however, has the way forces work within the lightweight and spacious masonry Gothic buildings been precisely interpreted. The approach taken by art and architectural historians has therefore tended to be primarily descriptive and to be based on intuitive assumptions. This study intend to analyze the Gothic non-vaulted nef unique(aisleless) structures of Lower Languedoc which has never been scientifically tested, and to provide as comprehensive an explanation as possible of the way in which these non-vaulted buildings work. In order to achieve this goal, this paper Is to examine, by means of finite element analysis. the links between the width of non-vaulted aisleless structures, the configuration of the arches, diaphragm arch, and the buttress. Finite element analysis with a computer provides a more accurate analysis than the methods of analysis that have been heretofore applied to Gothic structures, as well as permits us to visualize the global stress behavior of the structure. Combined with traditional methods of studying historical buildings, therefore, finite element analysis inevitably give us a broader understanding of the processes involved in the design and construction of medieval buildings.

• Architectural research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 2002

For more than a hundred years, art and architectural historians, architects, and engineers interested in structure have attempted to interpret Gothic architecture, one of the most technologically complex and sophisticated structural systems in history. Indigenous Gothic, however, such as non-vaulted Gothic in the Lower Languedoc region of southern France, has been largely ignored. This study intends to analyze the Gothic non-vaulted nef unique (aisleless) structures of Lower Languedoc which have never been scientifically tested, and to provide as comprehensive an explanation as possible of the way in which these non-vaulted buildings work. In order to achieve this goal, this paper is to examine, by means of finite element computer analysis, a selected example of an existing building. The church of Notre-Dame de Lamourguier, the earliest surviving example of a Gothic nef unique with wide-span diaphragm arches in Lower Languedoc, is selected. Thus, hypothetical models of diaphragm arch buildings and an existing building as a complete structural system were scientifically analyzed in order to provide a comprehensive explanation of how the non-vaulted nef unique system works. The result of the analysis, allows us better to understand the structural behavior of this type of masonry arcuated system and the processes involved in the design and construction of medieval buildings.