ARC423 Advanced Building Systems

Lecture Notes for Monday, February 17, 2003

• The use of primitive lifting machinery was well established from roman times.
• Difficulties arose trying to find/invent a device that could lift the extreme loads.
• Brunelleschi invents a crane using oxen to drive a crane lifting device. The crane incorporates a forward and reverse drive to allow for lowering and lifting items.
• Brunelleschi also invents a crane that can lift, rotate and move items laterally.
• Roman concrete cured relatively fast similar to modern concrete
• Medieval mortar hardened via evaporation. Formwork would often be left for over a year before the mortar was structurally sound.
• The lantern of the cupola in Florence was built by creating scaffolding on top of the dome. Pieces are made on the ground then lifted through the oculus and staged on the scaffolding/platform. When all the pieces were elevated, the lantern was assembled.

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