Gothic the Rod Anchor Design: Representation and Structural Efficiency of Northern European Elements

Abstract

This paper aims to provide knowledge and help discover types of Baltic buildings, by recognizing and understanding their structural elements. The presented approach allows generating a recognizable spatial configuration of the structural ornamental elements that are traces of the past and re-presentation of the same line today. Tie rod anchors contemporaneously have a historical, aesthetic, formal and structural role. Their structural behavior is analyzed producing digital models. Results show the high quality of the element Gothic design, of essential historic importance, and their more structural efficiency than traditional Italian bar shaped tie rod ends. It is shown how, maintaining their formal, historical, representative value, the tie rod anchor structural functionality is increased due to the particular northern European local craft manufacture. The results presented in this paper are based on work developed with Giuseppe Faella, Full Professor of Structural Engineering at the Second University of Naples.