Part 3: Great Cathedral Mystery

Human ingenuity has played its part in creating the world’s most iconic classical structures and one of these structures stands as a monument to the defiance of elemental forces such as gravity. The cathedral of Santa Maria de Fiore towers over the Florentina streets as a symbol of the human capacity for creativity in the face of daunting challenges. The architect behind the great dome of cathedral is Filippo Brunelleschi who used his alternate perception on engineering to the test on Florence’s biggest architectural challenge. In the NOVA documentary “Great Cathedral Mystery” professor of architecture Massimo Ricci is trying to uncover the techniques behind building a free-standing dome without any support structures. Massimo discovered in his many years of studying the constructing of the Santa Maria de Fiore dome that there were key elements that contributed to its successful construction. One of the first elements what the brick laying pattern, akin to herringbone, that strengthened the walls of the dome. This pattern prevented stress cracks from forming as well as from the bricks separating during later construction. Also, the dome holds two domes within it, an exterior dome and an interior, in-between there is a space that allowed workers to construct form inside and outside the domes. Another mystery that Massimo Ricci discovered was how the curve of the dome was precisely created. In the Florentine state archives Massimo found a document portraying a flower drawn at the bottom of the dome. “Ricci incorporated the flower into the work platform of his model, using it to guide each wall's construction. Rope lines are important building tools even today” (Murdock, 2014).

References:

Murdock, D. (2014, February 12). Great Cathedral Mystery. PBS.Org. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/great-cathedral-mystery/