FLORENCE CATHEDRAL

ITALY ( 14 – 17 century )
Brunelleschi’s dome / Duomo.
Presentation by Ketki Darp B.V.D.U.COA ,Pune fourth year B.arch semester VII

Filippo Brunelleschi
( 1377 – 1446 )
Principal architect apart from
Arnalfo di cambio .
Brunelleschi’s dome is the largest
masonary dome ever built, tallest
untill St.peter’s church was built and
is the coverage of florence.
(structure of the dome is very
imposing )
Total length of cathedral 153m
Height 114.5m
Materials used - marble , brick
The dome is 45m wide
The impost rising to a height of
35.50m which is about 54 m above
ground level.
Architectural style
Gothic - Renaissance .
Exedrae / blind tribunes added
around the outside of the dome
look very classical compared to
the gothic church .
Also refers back to the Tuscan
Romanesque tradition in terms of
polychromy , the colored marbles ,
which he also carries up into the
The barrel just below the dome Influenced from the
itself. Pantheon of rome
which is equal in width
to the cathedral’s
dome.
But the technology
used in ancient world
had been lost, so the
dome is only the result
of the amazing
engineering of
Brunelleschi.
 The dome of Pantheon is a single shell of
concrete and is hemispherical unlike the
cathedral’s dome.
Direction of thrust

10 Feet thick walls.

Pantheon of rome

Brunelleschi’s dome was a challenge to build a dome without

centering . A dome is really just an arch which is supported by
the wooden frame work until l it can be locked in place by the
keystone.
The problem with the cathedral ‘s dome was that they could’nt
get enough lumber , that was strong enough to hold the
structure. So, they could’nt do wooden scaffolding or centering
to hold it up.
A dome exerts pressure not only down but down and out, so
the biggest challenge was to deal with downward and outward
pressure not cracking the walls underneath.
In old times, in case Pantheon they dealt with it by just creating
sheer bulk that is 10 feet thick walls but it could not be done
in case of cathedral due to less thickness of walls. Cathedral’s dome
 Skeletal Structure Of The Dome

•First decision was to make the dome as light as possible ( double shell
structure ).
•It had ribs which are doing a lot of weight bearing. Besides the major
rib visible from out side there are two within which can’t be seen from
outside and those are actually locked in place by a series of horizontal
ribs as well.
•A system was developed as the dome was being raised up, each course
of stone and brick added actually locked itself in place.
•Thus creating a self sustaining dome.
•In order to deal with downward and
outward thrust - creation of chains
inside the dome made out of stone and Main rib
wood locked together with iron to hold
the dome. Eg- An old fashioned
wooden barrel that has iron rings
around it to keep the wood together.

Wooden barrels
 Herring bone masonary used in the dome

•The revolutionary method improvised using Stages Of Construction Of

herringbone masonary by which bricks were laid Dome
sloping inward and was accomplished by the
team of masons moving around the perimeter in
succcessive rings.

•About 4 million bricks were used in its

construction and estimated weight of the dome
is 37000 tons.

Inner view of the dome

 A tall , pointed dome soaring high in the sky.
Morover what Brunelleschi did , he did without having an example to lean on , an utter invention.

“The abiding memory will be the way the rhythmn of tiled roofs culminates triumphantly in the
great dome”.

Thankyou….
Destaca, de forma singular, la grandiosa cúpula de Brunelleschi, de 100 metros de altur
de altura exterior, 41 metros de diámetro interior y 45,5 metros de diámetro ex
independiente del Giotto, de 82 m de altura, y el baptisterio de San Juan, construido en
Basílica de Santa Cruz y Santa María Novella con las famosas puertas de bronce de Ghibe