Typological classification of vaulted structures in masonry churches

The damage analysis of historical masonry buildings and in particular of churches, following the seismic events that recently affected the Italian territory, has shown how vaults and domes, which represent architectural valuable elements, are characterized by a very high structural vulnerability. Over the centuries, master builders, architects and engineers designed and built vaults relying on intuition and practical geometry knowledge, especially with in situ experience. The construction techniques of vaulted structures varied according to the skills of the different builders, as well as the choice of materials depended on socio-economic factors and the formal result to be achieved. Architectural treatises concerning the “best practice”, between the 15th and the 19th centuries, greatly influenced the design and constructional procedures of vaulted structures, providing indications on the proportions and geometric shapes to be adopted. Based on this premise, this paper provides a typological classification of existing structural types in order to identify geometric and structural affinities among different vaulted architectural elements.