This study presents a computable methodology for examining architectural precedents through machine-derived visual similarity. Using the Serpentine Pavilion archive (2000–2025), the SigLIP vision encoder maps 210 images from 24 pavilion/year groups into a multidimensional latent space. Cosine similarity and graph-theoretical modeling generate two complementary networks: an image-level graph and a pavilion-centroid graph based on averaged, L2-normalized embeddings. The centroid graph provides the primary basis for pavilion-level interpretation by controlling for multiple photographs. Network metrics identify central, bridge, and peripheral cases. Comparison across the two analytical levels shows that network-role assignments are sensitive to image aggregation and the unit of analysis, while bridge roles exhibit greater cross-level consistency. The workflow is reproducible and inspectable without treating AI embeddings as neutral or bias-free representations of architectural morphology.
Palladio’s villas have long been interpreted through proportion, harmonic ratios, typology, and generative rules, yet wings and barchesse remain less developed as computational objects than the compact house plans. This article presents an inside-out graph method for constructing and comparing symmetry in sixteen villa and country-house plans traced from I quattro libri dell’architettura. Unlike justified access graphs rooted in space syntax studies, the method begins at the central sala or an identified principal symmetry root and reconstructs formal relations toward rooms, porticoes, wings, and estate-scale dependencies using quotient trees. Two measures are defined for the resulting morphospace analysis: symmetry propagation depth, which records the mean depth of quotient tree leaves, and Symmetry Reticulation Index, which records surplus relations in the collapsed quotient graph. The results separate outward extension from quotient-graph reticulation. Barbaro propagates deeply while remaining tree-like, Ragona is comparatively compact but highly reticulated, and Thiene combines maximum propagation with substantial surplus structure. The framework therefore identifies Palladian symmetry as an inside-out relational morphology whose extension and reticulation can be measured independently.
The dome of St Paul's Cathedral, completed in 1708, is not a single shell. It consists of two paired brick vaults, a nearly hemispherical cap forming the inner ceiling and a cone carrying the stone lantern, the whole resting on an ashlar truncated-conical drum and capped by a largely decorative outer dome of lead-covered timber. This paper argues that the load-bearing profile of the assembly can be read as an inverted weighted double catenary: the equilibrium form of a heavy chain loaded with concentrated weights, inverted so as to pass from tension to compression, with a weight per unit length determined by both the material of the fabric and the circumferential extent of the ring each element generates. Since the equation of the catenary was not established until 1690–1691, Wren and Hooke could proceed only through modelling. That procedure is reconstructed numerically by a relaxation solver that resolves the circular dependence between the weight of a link and its distance from the axis of revolution. Superimposing the computed profile on the section reveals a close agreement and, in particular, a coincidence between the angular points of the model and the constructional transitions of the fabric. A sensitivity study shows the resulting profile to be governed by the concentrated loads, which carry four-fifths of the total, and the computed horizontal thrust at the springings is related to the iron chains documented in the fabric.
This article examines the development and dissemination of a type of stone vault proposed by the Frenchman Gaspard Monge at the end of the eighteenth century, which, until now, had never been built. Monge never provided a detailed design for this type of vault. However, during the nineteenth century, various authors—Monge’s disciples—produced specific designs based on his ideas. This study demonstrates that the general concept behind these vaults, namely the geometric notion of lines of curvature, can be applied to other quadric surfaces, making it possible to imagine alternative types of vaults based on the same principles. The historical interest sparked by the geometric questions underlying these proposals, reflected in academic models, is also highlighted. Finally, the paper critically analyzes the characteristics and construction challenges anticipated by 19th-century authors, in light of the recent practical execution of these vaults.
