Brick vaults and beyond: the transformation of a historical structural system (1830-1930)

Project Information

BELVAU

Grant agreement ID: 833030

DOI

10.3030/833030

Project closed

EC signature date 17 April 2019

Start date 1 May 2019

End date 30 April 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 166 320,00

EU contribution

€ 166 320,00

Coordinated by

VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BELVAU (Brick vaults and beyond: the transformation of a historical structural system (1830-1930))

Reporting period: 2019-05-01 to 2021-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Today, building vaults is no longer part of everyday building practice. However, for centuries vaults have been regarded as the ideal structure to span imposing spaces in cloisters, churches, cathedrals and palaces. Several studies have been devoted to the topic worldwide and cover the evolution of vaulting from Antiquity until its decline, typically situated around the 18th century. However, vaults were still being built in many representative buildings. Besides, the introduction of new construction materials such as iron, steel and reinforced concrete, together with changing architectural styles, growing structural insights and a better delineation of the role of building actors, ensures this later period is exciting to study. Nowadays, there is an increasing interest in the constructive aspects of historical vaults, but there remains a noticeable gap in studies on vaults built in the 19th and 20th centuries. BELVAU project aims to study the evolution of vault construction in Belgium in this period, taking into account the changing context of the young industrializing country.

Technical knowledge is crucial for stakeholders involved in management and restoration and the knowledge developed by BELVAU will lead to improving the heritage value assessments of vaulted buildings and also to more appropriate and sustainable interventions. Buildings built in the 19th and 20th centuries are usually overlooked for being too recent, and in many cases, the building managers themselves are not aware of their value. Direct contact with these building managers has raised awareness of the value of these buildings and the need for proper survey and maintenance. In turn, this knowledge will be passed on to society, increasing the appreciation of these buildings.

The project has developed six specific objectives:
-Studying the types of vaults that were built in Belgium, considering the migration of techniques, and comparing with other European countries;
-Studying innovations in vault construction prompted by new materials;
-Analysing the relationship between vaults, the space they are covering and the roof they are hiding;
-Studying the different actors involved in the construction;
-Studying how the development of structural analysis methods influenced the techniques and shapes;
-Developing the consideration of technical aspects about vaults in heritage value assessments.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

BELVAU has achieved its research aim and objectives through a twofold approach: the study of contemporary literature and comprehensive fieldwork.
-The study of technical texts (journals, treatises and handbooks) of the 19th and 20th centuries has been fundamental to contextualize the construction of vaults at this time. The abundance of treatises written during this period has helped to understand the construction knowledge and practice at the time, and the similarities and differences with other countries. After the study of the general texts, the case studies were selected, and the research continued with the consultation of the preserved original projects. I found information about the design and construction sequence, materials, working drawings, building specifications, photographs, and data of structural analysis. These sources were located in archives, libraries and research centres.
-Fieldwork has been a fundamental and complementary approach to understand the technical aspects of vaults. Twenty buildings have been visited, photographed and documented. From these, five have been selected for a deeper analysis and have been surveyed with a laser scanner, redrawn as-built and the geometry and construction of the vaults has been analysed.

The development and results of the project have been presented in several scientific events: Interuniversity research seminar Construction History in Belgium (Antwerp, September 2019), XI Congreso Nacional de Historia de la Construcción (Soria, October 2019), 7th Annual Conference on Construction History (online, April 2020), 3rd International Conference “Reconstruction and Restoration of Architectural Heritage” (online, March 2021), Construction History seminar at the Politecnico di Milano (Milan, June 2021) and 7th International Congress on Construction History (online, July 2021). To conclude the 2 years research project an international Symposium on Brick Vaults and Beyond (online, April 2021) has been organized. In this symposium the results of the project were contextualized in a wider framework with the participation of ten international experts, addressing different aspects of the construction of vaults. (see also https://www.vub.be/arch/project/symposiumvaults )

The main results of the project have been published in three papers in conference proceedings mentioned above and two papers in scientific and peer-reviewed journals in the field of construction history and architectural heritage. The editing of the book ‘Brick Vaults and Beyond. The Transformation of a Historical Structural System from 1750 to 1970’ in 2021 can be seen as the closing publication. Besides, the development and results of the project have been shared with stakeholders involved in the conservation and value assessment of architectural heritage.

A part of the dissemination has intended to reach different audiences through different means: collaboration in the publication of the VUB Architectural Engineering Department yearbooks, an international summer school, an evening lecture co-organised with the Brussels agency for architectural heritage urban.brussels and a collaboration in a publication of the series of the Walloon heritage agency Les carnets du patrimoine (éditions AwaP).

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The results of this project have been surprising, especially the unexpected discovery of a large number of tile vaults. This type of vaults has been built in the Mediterranean area for centuries, but there is no evidence of the construction of these vaults in Belgium before 1900. Due to the exceptional characteristics of these vaults, lightness, economy, and form versatility, there is a current interest among the scientific and professional community in these vaults, as it is a traditional technique with great potential to be used in contemporary architecture, where sustainability is considered a fundamental requirement. For these reasons, I have focused my research on these vaults. I have searched for the origin of the technique, the references in the contemporary handbooks and treatises and how the transfer to the country could have been done. I have studied the special characteristics developed in Belgium and found patents issued in the country. I have located and visited a number of buildings featuring this type of vault, and I have identified the specialized contractors who built these vaults.

Although this technique has been the focus of attention by many scholars in the last decades, the existence of tile vaults in Belgium was unknown. After two years of visiting Belgian buildings and archives, we can conclude that tile vaults were very common and well-known in this country between 1900 and 1950. Hundreds of vaults were built, taking advantage of the recognised benefits of this technique: cheap, light, quick to construct and allowing great flexibility in design. The transmission of tile vaults to this country is only one of the numerous episodes of the migration of the technique (to the United States, South America or Germany) that have been discovered in the last years.

Extrados of the tile vaults in the church of Sint-Jan-Babtist in Houthulst (Photo: Fuentes, 2019)

Tile vaults in the church Saint-François Xavier, Anderlecht, Belgium (Photo: Fuentes, 2019)

Patent by Charles Daussin, 1907 (Archives Générales du Royaume 2, dépôt J. Cuvelier)