architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

, a semicircular arch is an

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

with an intrados (inner surface) shaped like a

semicircle In mathematics (and more specifically geometry), a semicircle is a one-dimensional locus of points that forms half of a circle. It is a circular arc that measures 180° (equivalently, radians, or a half-turn). It only has one line of symmetr ...

. This type of arch was adopted and very widely used by the Romans, thus becoming permanently associated with

Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical ancient Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often con ...

Terminology

When the arch construction involves the Roman techniques (either wedge-like stone

voussoir A voussoir ( UK: ; US: ) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.“Voussoir, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Acces ...

s or thin Roman bricks), it is known as a Roman arch. The semicircular arch is also known as a round arch.

Description

The rise (height) of a round arch is limited to of its span, so it looks more "grounded" than a parabolic arch or a pointed arch. Whenever a higher semicircular arch was required (for example, for a narrow arch to match the height of a nearby broad one), either stilting or horseshoe shape were used, thus creating a stilted arch and

horseshoe arch The horseshoe arch (; ), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is a type of arch in which the circular curve is continued below the horizontal line of its diameter, so that the opening at the bottom of the arch is narrower than the ar ...

respectively. These "shifts and dodges" were immediately dropped once the pointed arch with its malleable proportions was adopted. Still, "the Romanesque arch is beautiful as an abstract line. Its type is always before us in that of the apparent vault of heaven, and horizon of the earth" (

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

, " The Seven Lamps of Architecture"). Bell arch

A round arch that sits atop the

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

s, with corbels rounded to create a bell-like shape of intrados, is called a bell arch. When the architecture of the building dictates the rise of the arch to be less than of its span (for example, in Roman residential construction), a segmental arch with a rounded shape that is less than a semicircle can be used.

History and associated styles

The popularity of the semicircular arch is based on simplicity of its layout and construction, not superior structural properties. The sides of this arch swing wider than the perfect funicular curve and therefore experience a

bending moment In solid mechanics, a bending moment is the Reaction (physics), reaction induced in a structural element when an external force or Moment of force, moment is applied to the element, causing the element to bending, bend. The most common or simplest ...

with the force directed outwards. To prevent buckling, heavy surcharge (fill), so called

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame, between the tops of two adjacent arches, or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fil ...

, needs to be applied outside of the haunches. In addition to the Imperial Roman construction, round arches are also associated with

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

, Romanesque (and

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and Rundbogenstil styles. While the semicircular arch was known in the

Greek architecture Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greeks, or Hellenes, whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC until the 1st century AD, w ...

, it mostly played there a decorative, not structural, role.

Gallery

File:Pont du Gard-PM 48601.jpg,

( Pont du Gard) File:Church of Christ Pantocrator Nesebar.jpg,

Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great established a new Roman capital in Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the Fall of Cons ...

( Church of Christ Pantocrator) File:Plassac-Rouffiac église 2012.jpg,

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

( :fr:Église Saint-Cybard de Plassac-Rouffiac) File:Claustro del Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Almagro, Ciudad Real).jpg,

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

(bottom colonnade, :es:Convento de la Asunción (Almagro)) File:Paris - Les Invalides - Cours d'honneur - PA00088714 - 0002.jpg,

Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...

(

Hôtel des Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old soldi ...

) File:Uni KA Portal.jpg, Rundbogenstil ( Karlsruhe Polytechnic) File:Waldschmidt (West) Hall east entrance - University of Portland.jpg,

Modernist architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural architectural movement, movement and architectural style, style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco Architectu ...

(

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

)

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * {{cite book , last=Davies , first=N. , last2=Jokiniemi , first2=E. , title=Architect's Illustrated Pocket Dictionary , publisher=Taylor & Francis , year=2012 , isbn=978-1-136-44407-4 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WNosBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA41 , access-date=2024-07-04 , chapter = bell arch Arches and vaults Ancient Roman architecture Architectural history