Structural development of non-vaulted systems in medieval construction: The Gothic nef unique system in the Languedoc region of southern France

For more than a hundred years, tall, rib vaulted, multi-storied Gothic buildings such as Amiens Cathedral have fascinated both historians and engineers. Their attention, however, has centered on northern French Gothic. Gothic architecture in the Languedoc region of southern France has never been included in discussions of "mainstream Gothic architecture."; Between the end of the eleventh and the end of the thirteenth century, an indigenous form of Gothic, dependent on local structural and aesthetic traditions, developed in Languedoc. This Languedocien Gothic formula was characterized by wide aisleless naves or nefs uniques, massive wall buttresses or contreforts, thin-walled methods of construction, simple polygonal sanctuaries, and chapels constructed along the nave between the buttresses.; There were two different versions of the nef unique system: one, entirely vaulted, was concentrated in the Upper Languedoc region, and had rib vaults in the manner of northern Gothic. The other, in Lower or Mediterranean Languedoc, was non-vaulted, with a simple wooden roof supported directly on the gables of pointed diaphragm arches. Rib vaults were confined to the sanctuaries and chapels along the nave. It has been suggested that these two different structural types resulted from an increasing desire for spaciousness and lightness. It has been further suggested that while aisleless spans of less than eight meters were not difficult to build, spans greater than eight meters implied that builders were willing to confront more difficult problems of construction for the sake of aesthetic preferences. The extent, however, to which changes in span would have affected the configuration of major structural components and, by extension, reflected the relationship between aesthetic and structural concerns in the design of Languedocien Gothic architecture has never been tested.; This study focused on the non-vaulted southern Gothic nef unique structural system and re-evaluated it in terms of its construction, the dynamics of its structural system, and the impact of structural changes on architectural form. Such analyses would not have been possible without the computer modeling techniques that have become available only in recent decades. Finite element modeling methods (ABAQUS: a finite element computer program) was used to test and interpreted methodically the structural behavior of each component of the non-vaulted nef unique system. The form of the different components was altered systematically and the effect of each change on the structural system was observed and any effect on the form of other components was noted.; This research should help clarify the structural development of roofing and support systems in the non-vaulted Gothic nef unique of the Languedoc region specifically, and provide greater knowledge regarding both the structural behavior of medieval masonry architecture and the relationship between structural and aesthetic considerations in medieval design generally.