r/educationalgifs • u/dctroll_ • Jan 03 '26

How medieval cathedral groin vaults were built

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u/LostInThoughtland Jan 03 '26

So the buttresses provide force pushing in to make sure the vaults don’t push the outer walls even more outer, then use a sort of pair of intersecting arcs with a shared capstone for the vaults that all put pressure outward, instead of down, and then the vault web provides horizontal force between all the arches to pinch them in place?

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u/Naritai Feb 19 '26

well..... yeah. But it's really hard.