The art of stonemasonry in Late Gothic vaults

The ambitious Late Gothic vaults created in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with their complex shape and complicated meshes of ribs soaring along spatial curves, were extremely demanding in their geometric design. Their single stone elements fit together with astonishing precision. How were the master builders able to provide the necessary instructions for the stonemasons? Which procedures in planning and setting-out are conceivable within the context of the historical development of applied geometry? How could this knowledge, since long eclipsed by more modern procedures, be possibly made available again for the restoration practice?
A team of scientists and stonemasons attempts the recovery of this historical knowledge, working backwards from surveys of the original constructions to reconstructing the design, and by carrying out practical experiments.
ERC Proof of Concept Grant “Late Gothic Vaults and their Complex Stone Members: Recovering Historical Design Procedures, Implementing Knowledge in Restoration Practice”, PI David Wendland.
This research project has received EU funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under grant agreement No. 693779.
More information on www.late-gothic...
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A Film by Anne Burghold, Thomas Eichberg und Holger Metzner.