Trazado y construcción de arquerías en los inicios del gótico andaluz. Estudio del caso cordobés

Abstract

The Gothic arcades of the Cordovan parishes are among the earliest in Andalusia. Their design, tracing, measure and construction can be studied thanks to their characteristics and affinities, while at the same time suggest that they follow the same preset criteria. The present work demonstrates the existence of preset criteria, which determined resistant sections that the Gothic masters considered suitable within certain margins. In fact they were using a structural oversizing, of which they were barely aware. This approach was constructively very efficient, showing the masters' confidence in their craft, but it contravened the proportionality criteria of the time. In the design process, the masters used the metrical pattern established for the building to generate the main dimensions. Among these dimensions was the radius of curvature, which was often invariant to enable reuse of formwork and templates, the standardization of dowels, etc.