Current Research Interests
Assessment and Interpretation of Masonry Arches and Vaults
- Masonry Arch Bridges
- Gothic Revival Vaulting and Load-bearing Masonry
- Development of and validation of analysis models for load-bearing masonry
- Italian Gothic Churches
- Research into the architectural and construction history of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy
- In collaboration with Elizabeth Smith, in the Department of Art History, we are looking at the design of the nave of Santa Maria Novella. The use of domical vaulting over square bays, the high aisles, and the completely hidden buttressing scheme are without precedent in Italy, and were used as the model for the nave of the later Santa Maria del Fiore. Our study has included the production of measured drawings, the application of structural analysis to various alternative vaulting schemes, and investigation of the few available documents on the construction of this important building.
Historical Structural Design Methods
- Medieval Structural Design
- Graphic Statics
- Design of Iron Truss Bridges
Historic Preservation of Thin-shell Concrete Structures