page_title: Flying buttress
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Flying buttress / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: dievotivkirchein00thau (find matches) Title: Die Votivkirche in Wien; Denkschrift des Baucomit'es veröffentlicht zur Feier der Einweihung am 24. April 1879 Year: 1879 (1870s) Authors: Thausing, Moritz, 1838-1884 Subjects: Votivkirche (Vienna, Austria) Publisher: Wien, R. u. Waldheim Contributing Library: Getty Research Institute Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: nfeite bes gotlpfdien Ciaumcrk.es. Audi biefes rüerglieb ift an ber Uotiokirdic überaus reidilidiangemenbct. Siimmtlidic 3fenftcr ber ßirdie \n\h mit lüimpcrgen non geblenbctem itlafsmerk bekrönt, mit blofjerAusnalimc ber Seitcnfdiiff-clfenfter bes Öiugbaufes, ber Sacrifteifenfter unb ber grof;en Hole an ber i)auptfacnbc.ücberbies finb bie brei portale biefer 3Facabe mit Spikgiebeln uon burdibrodiencm J^lafnuerh überftiegen, unb bieQadigiebel ber üirdie tragen ben gleidien Sdimndi. Somolil bas Cangbaus mie bie beiben ilreujfdiiffarme fdilieljenniimlidi mit (Giebeln ab, bie ben brei .laraben ber üirdie&#160;;u belonberer Tiierbe gereidien. ijlie beiben Seitenfacaben am ürensfdiiffe finb burdi l.riiftige Strebemanen tlanlürl. An biete fdiliefsen fidipohjgone lireppeubäufer an, meldie in ben oberen Partien burdibrodiene Sdincrkcnfticgcn bilben unb&#160;;n beiben Seitenbes Dndigiebels in kleine fialcnartige iTliürmdien auslaufen. Tnuifdien ben lucituorfpringcnben Strebeumllen, lueldie Text Appearing After Image: öciii Driuiic bei ürciiifd)iffr(euiölbc ciitijcijeii- aiirl;cn, lliii) bk Uorlinllou ni ticii Q:iiujiiitujcii in Duo (Oiicrliaiiö ciinicbnut. dlebo ber beiben ücitcnpfcirteii fülirt im iLi)inpnuon obcii)nlb bcö öturjCö ein liclicf. Die llorlialle i)nnt ölTnct fidi midi mirjcii mit brci Opilibügcu, an bcveii j-lfcilcrn Hier Ciilbcrbftdicr mit Otatucii niuicbrnd)t llnb. Hier nnbcre foldier .lfii)urcn fteboii in bcn burdibrodicnen dfinlim, mit I)eium luii i)ic £itrcbcmn;Tcit obcrbalb i)e5 portnlbnucö nicrft uerjüinjcn. Der jJortnlbnu fdilidit mit einer&#160;;.l(attform, nm meldie Die Olalerie bes Cnpelleu- liranjeo meitcrgefiil)rt ifl. Qns cololTaleürcu^rdiiff- ^Ifeulter ift im nnf bie gleidic €)öl)c licrnbgcfübrt. i3ie ijnnptfncnbe mirb bnrd) bie beiben, ben OeitenfdiitTen norgelegten (ri)iinnc flnnl^irt nnb uon bem Dndigiebel bes tiodifdiit^es bchuint. Drei avolie fJcrtale fiiliren bnrd) bieötirnfcitc ober C)nnptfncnbe ber üirdie in biiG ^(Innere bcrfelben, baci ijröls Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: The flying buttress is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey to the ground the lateral forces that push a wall outwards, which are forces that arise from vaulted ceilings of stone and from wind-loading on roofs.
  The defining, functional characteristic of a flying buttress is that it is not in contact with the wall at ground level, unlike a traditional buttress, and so transmits the lateral forces across the span of intervening space between the wall and the pier. To provide lateral support, flying-buttress systems are composed of two parts: a massive pier, a vertical block of masonry situated away from the building wall, and an arch that bridges the span between the pier and the wall — either a segmental arch or a quadrant arch — the flyer of the flying buttress.
context_section_description: Given that most of the weight-load is transmitted from the ceiling through the upper part of the walls, the flying buttress is a two-part composite support that features a semi-arch that extends to a massive pier far from the wall, and so provides most of the load-bearing capacity of a traditional buttress, which is engaged with the wall from top to bottom; thus, the flying buttress is a lighter and more cost-effective architectural structure.
  By relieving the load-bearing walls of excess weight and thickness, in the way of a smaller area of contact, using flying buttresses enables installing windows in a greater wall surface area. This feature and a desire to let in more light, led to flying buttresses becoming one of the defining factors of medieval Gothic architecture and a feature used extensively in the design of churches from then and onwards. In the design of Gothic churches, two arched flyers were applied, one above the other, in which the lower flyer (positioned below the springing point of the vault) resists the lateral-thrust forces of the vault, whilst the upper flyer resists the forces of wind-loading on the roof. The vertical buttresses (piers) at the outer end of the flyers usually were capped with a pinnacle (either a cone or a pyramid) usually ornamented with crockets, to provide additional vertical-load support with which to resist the lateral thrust conveyed by the flyer.
  To build the flying buttress, it was first necessary to construct temporary wooden frames, which are called centring. The centering would support the weight of the stones and help maintain the shape of the arch until the mortar was cured. The centering was first built on the ground, by the carpenters. Once that was done, they would be hoisted into place and fastened to the piers at the end of one buttress and at the other. These acted as temporary flying buttresses until the actual, stone arch was complete.
  Remedial support application
  Another application of the flying-buttress support system is the reinforcement of a leaning wall in danger of collapsing, especially a load-bearing wall; for example, at the village of Chaddesley Corbett in Worcestershire, England, the practical application of a flying buttress to a buckled wall is more practical than dismantling and rebuilding the wall.
caption: Architectural drawing of a Neo-Gothic flying buttress for the late 19th-century Votive Church, in Vienna
exif: {}