From Gothic to Renaissance Stereotomy: The Design Methods of Philibert de l'Orme and Alonso de Vandelvira
Sergio L. Sanabria
Stereotomy is the art of cutting solids precisely so their parts fit together tightly. Although stereotomic problems arise in all masonry or wood construction which a whole must be made various parts, calculations are needed only for precise compound-angle curved cuts. Cutting simple rectangular blocks demands no special knowledge, and even complex cuts often can determined empirically by approximation fitting, way traditional carpenters ancient Greek Inca masons adjusted joints sanding down trimming points contact until matching surfaces were obtained.' Simple arches introduce trivial complication: voussoirs require adding adjustable angle protractors, bevels, to masons' tool kits. Even sloping barrel vaults Hellenistic temple Apollo at Didyma could have been constructed without resort geometric theory. Complex curves based on conic sections appear structures after Roman development intersecting groin vaults. Treatises such as Conics Apollonius Perga its lost predecessor, Four Books Euclid, provided conceptual background this architectural innovation, although fact they probably superfluous. builders avoided computations vault groins use mass concrete brick that
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