European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 29, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Cracks in the Duomo Muhm Kojl impending disaster in Florence major crack in cupola of i y Duomo Are in j identified by f tetters a to d. By Roberto Suro new York times a 3 the lofty cupola Alo Florence s Duomo of Cathedral was being completed in 1434, a visitor from Roma described it As a Structure so Greal. Rising above the skies Large enough to shelter All the people of Tuscany in its Shadow built without i the help of any entering or of much Woodwork at a craftsmanship perhaps not even the ancients knew or in act nothing like it had Ever been built two vaults one inside the other rising 299 Teel. Lopped by 6-fool Marble lantern All held up without external buttresses. The design was so bold and novel that a lil he insurance policy was built in. A Bronze Plale Wilh a Small Hole in in was Ali cd at the lop so that in the summer solstice a Ray of sunlight shot Down to a Mark on the floor. Aside from ils astronomical value the device was a Way of checking whether the dome was moving Oft its Center of Gravity the Sun still strikes the same spot each year Bui those caring for the dome worry thai it has recently embarked on a course of sell destruction. When or if a disaster could take place is anybody s guess experts say. What is certain is that for two years four fissures that run from the top of the dome to the Church foundations and from the inside Walls to the outer skin have been steadily gelling wider. Everything from lasers to plumb lines is being used to gather informal Ion on the dome. By the end of this summer in will be hooked up to no fewer than 300 measuring devices giving it a solid claim As the world s most carefully monitored Structure changes in temperature will be recorded in dozens of spots As will the Rise and Lall of the water table beneath he foundation but most of All the Effort Aims at tracking movement up. Down and sideways data Tram earlier measurements show that the giant cupola is nol a lifeless stack of Slonic and Brick instead some architects see in is a collection of Many Active masses thai generate their own thermodynamic Energy. They sometimes move apart and sometimes collide a bit like the tectonic plates of Ifie Earlh s surface. The dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. Is one of the great symbols of the florentine Renaissance its construction helped Mark Europe s passage from the medieval to the modern because in embodied inc rediscovery of science As such the dome has been studied Over he Ages by scholars who have defined ils place in history and by scientists who with less Success have tried o understand its inner Workings. The Challenge we face now says Gastone Petrini an architect who oversees the monitoring program is to use All the Best science and technology available to try and understand the spirit and life of this dome. And Here we Are dealing Wilh mysteries 500 years old " construction of Santa Maria Del Fiore Best known As Duomo had been under Way for a a Colury when Brunelleschi began considering How to build a dome across e space 148 feet in diameter the Only models available to him were the pantheon in Rome and Saint Sophia in Istanbul both have Fine hemispherical domes but they do not reach very High and required heavy slur clues around their bases to contain their outward thrust neither came close to accomplishing what Brunelleschi wanted neither of hem soared. Over the course of 28 years Brunelleschi carefully designed every Parl of Iho Salfu Cluro irom the Highl arched ribs that form its Skeleton to he intricate patterns of brickwork thai absorb and Transfer ils weight. The intensely Geom inc logic of Iho Structure is As Complex and unseen As that of a Bach Calala. No of her dome has Ever been built to � Cathedral dome designed by Filippe drunk Teschl completed in 1434 is one of the Greal Symbol Rotthe florentine Renaissance. Exactly the same Way even before cons Duclion was finished people began noticing cracks Al least once a a Colury since then studies have been organized to figure Oul what was happening. In the 1600s. After a Long debate it was decided ii Duomo did not need Iron chains like those placed around is Peter s dome to hold in together and by 1757 a fairly detailed Survey of the cracks was completed in 1934, Pierluigi Nervi the architect and Engineer who helped develop the uses of reinforced Concrete made one of the first breakthroughs leading a sturdy commission he noted Hgt the cracks opened and closed with Iho seasons. In Tho Winter when the cupola s Stone and bricks contract. The cracks widened in the summer when the materials c ind Inlo the fissures bul now. Al Ihu Tho dome the masses run into Concrete where there was once Errity to orgy once dissipated Viii me closing of the fissures is nor c cried against the Concrete blocks and is being elsewhere into the Structure just 29,1987 the stars and stripes Page 15
