attilio.pizzigoni@gmail.com
en/it
This document proposes a hypothetical reconstruction of the roof of the Tholos of Athena Pronaia on the Marmaria terrace, based on the analyses of the fragments of its ‘tiles’, which are conserved by the Archaeological Museum of Delphi. A model of the original tile was developed through plaster-cast prototypes, threedimensional drawings and 3D-PLA printing. The modelling, derived from the geometry of the reliefs and consistent with the features of the archaeological artifacts recovered, evidenced the unusual configuration of the artifact. Indeed, it is classified as a tile even though it has such significant geometric and structural complexity that it seems limiting to think of it functioning only as protection from rainwater. This study demonstrates how its features might function in a structural system composed of self-supporting interlocking tiles: self-supporting modular elements of a reciprocal structural system to create a vaulted roof without using load-bearing wooden substructures. Our investigative process highlights how, in the Greek technological culture of the fourth and fifth centuries BC, there was an awareness of the structural resistance derived from the sole geometry of shapes, and from the equilibrium of masses. Thus, it appears that there was a continuity of constructive knowledge that passed from Hellenism to the Byzantine and Arab worlds, then to the northern European Gothic culture.
We find this knowledge formally recorded in the sixteenth and seventeenth century treatises on Stereotomy written by Philibert de l’Orme and A. M. Frezier, describing this discipline which studies the statics of stone blocks and their equilibrium, as determined by their shape, their reciprocal contrasts and supports, based on the particular configuration that the masses involved assume, in order to generate the stability of large structures without the use of cementing mortars or iron tie rods – ancient knowledge which may still inspire today’s most advanced technologies.
it/en
Si propone un’ipotesi per la ricostruzione della copertura della Tholos di Atena Pronaia al terrazzamento di Marmarià attraverso lo studio dei frammenti di ‘tegole’ conservati al Museo di Delfi.
Viene elaborato un modello della tegola originale attraverso prototipi in gesso disegni tridimensionali e stampati in 3d-PLA. La modellazione, desunta dalla geometria dei rilievi e in aderenza alle caratteristiche dei ritrovamenti archeologici, ha messo in evidenza l’inusuale configurazione del reperto che viene classificato come tegola anche se presenta una tale complessità geometrica e strutturale che appare limitativo pensarne la funzionalità solo in riferimento alla protezione dalle acque meteoriche.
L’analisi ne evidenzia le caratteristiche di un sistema strutturale composto da tegole interconnesse con appoggi di autosostegno: elementi modulari autoportanti di un sistema strutturale reciproco per realizzare una copertura a volta senza sottostrutture portanti in legno.
L’indagine mette in evidenza come nella cultura tecnologica greca del V e IV secolo a.C. fosse presente la consapevolezza sulla resistenza strutturale derivante dalla sola geometria delle forme e dall’equilibrio delle masse.
Si introduce così una continuità con quella tradizione costruttiva che dall’ellenismo passa nel mondo bizantino e arabo, poi in quello gotico nordeuropeo, formalizzato nei trattati di stereotomia sei-settecentesca fino ad ispirare oggi le tecnologie più avanzate.
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