barrel vault

(noun)

A simple roof having a curved, often semicircular, cross section used to span large distances in railway stations, churches, etc, and usually supported on columns.

Related Terms

Examples of barrel vault in the following topics:

  • Roman Architecture under the Republic

    • The simplest type is known as a barrel vault.
    • Barrel vaults consist of a line of arches in a row that create the shape of a tunnel.
    • When two barrel vaults intersect at right angles, they create a groin vault.
    • Concrete was used as the primary building material and barrel vaults provide structural support both as a terracing method for the hill and in creating interesting architectural spaces for the sanctuary.
    • This diagram illustrates the structural support of an arch extended into a barrel vault.

  • Romanesque Painting and Stained Glass

    • The large wall surfaces and plain, curving vaults of the architecture of the Romanesque period lent themselves to elaborate wall paintings and mural decorations.
    • The long barrel vault of the nave provides an excellent surface for fresco and is decorated with scenes of the Old Testament, showing the Creation, the Fall of Man, and other stories.

  • Romanesque Sculpture

    • The term was invented by 19th-century art historians specifically to refer to Romanesque architecture, which retained many basic features of Roman architectural style (most notably round-headed arches, barrel vaults, apses, and acanthus-leaf decoration) while also developing many very different characteristics.

  • Mosaics in the Early Byzantine Empire

    • The vaulting is covered with floral motifs (possibly symbolic of the Garden of Eden) and stars that stand out against a blue background even seeming to sparkle with their own mystical light.
    • Mosaics cover the walls of the vault, the lunettes and the bell tower.
    • The other four apostles appear in the barrel vaults of the transepts.

  • Norman Painting

    • The large wall surfaces and plain, curving vaults of the Romanesque period lent themselves well to mural decoration in Normandy and other Norman lands.
    • The long barrel vault of the nave provides an excellent surface for fresco and is decorated with scenes of the Old Testament.

  • Architecture under the Nervan-Antonines

    • It consists of a round portico with a barrel vault supported by pillars.

  • The Swahili Culture

    • Swahili architecture, a term used to designate a whole range of diverse building traditions practiced or once practiced along the eastern and southeastern coasts of Africa, is in many ways an extension of mainland African traditions, although structural elements, such as domes and barrel vaulting clearly connect to Persian Gulf area and South Asia building traditions as well.

  • Arches, Vaults, and Domes

    • The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance.
    • An example is the thicker walls used in the case of barrel or continuous vaults.
    • Buttresses are used to supply resistance when intersecting vaults are employed.
    • The inclusion of domes represents a wider sense of the word vault.
    • Explain the architectural structure and purpose of arches, vaults, and domes.

  • Chapter Questions

    • A company buys 10 contracts for petroleum that specifies a price of $75 per barrel.
    • Each contract specifies 1,000 barrels.
    • Who pays and how much into the margin account if the price of petroleum shoots up to $150 per barrel?
    • You are holding 10 call options for petroleum with a strike price of $75 per barrel.
    • Option premium equals $0.5 per barrel, and each contract specified a quantity of 1,000 barrels.

  • Introduction to Macro Advantages of Micro-power

    • For example, although oil has traded at $147 a barrel, and may soon climb to $200, many analysts insist that the worst is yet to come.
    • In 2009, the world consumed 86 million barrels of oil a day (up from 78 million barrels in 2002) and every year consumption increases.
    • Between 1995 and 2004, for example, demand grew by 3.9 million barrels per year in the USA alone (currently, America consumes 25% of the world's oil production).
    • China's demand grew by 2.8 million barrels annually during the same period) but there's no doubt that it (as well as India) needs to secure additional amounts every year to ensure economic growth.
    • In November of 2007, he told a Wall Street conference, ‘I don't think we're going to see the supply [of oil] going over 100 million barrels a day...