This weekend's video treat is all about suspending gravity with bricks, mortar, and craftsmanship.
What is a Catalan vault?
From Wikipedia:
"Guastavino vaulting is a technique for constructing robust, self-supporting arches and architectural vaults using interlocking terra-cotta tiles and layers of mortar to form a thin skin, with the tiles following the curve of the roof as opposed to horizontally (corbeling), or perpendicular to the curve (as in Roman vaulting).
This is known as timbrel vaulting, because of supposed likeness to the skin of a timbrel or tambourine. It is also called "Catalan vaulting" and "compression-only thin-tile vaulting".[2]
Guastavino tile is found in some of New York’s most prominent Beaux-Arts landmarks and in major buildings across the United States."
Have a good weekend!