Hidden Above Church Vaults: The Design Evolution of Early Iron Roof Trusses in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Belgium

ABSTRACT

This article sets out to assess the first phase of iron roof construction in Belgian churches, from the 1840s to the 1860s, and the evolution of iron roof structures in this period, through an in-depth analysis of four case studies, located in Brussels, Antwerp, and Ghent. The article is based on fieldwork as well as archival and literature research. The cases are contextualized within the architectural, technical, political-economic, and intellectual environment of the time when structural iron was introduced in Belgium: a country that industrialized at an early date, with an iron industry that developed rapidly. The Belgian findings are put into an international perspective. By providing new insights into the early use of iron and the evolution of new construction principles in churches, this study seeks to encourage researchers, architects, and heritage assessors to climb above the vaults of churches and consider the hidden roof structures with greater care.

KEYWORDS:

• Belgium
• cast iron
• church architecture
• 19^th century
• roof construction
• wrought iron

Disclosure

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This article is part of the research project “Hidden innovation: roof structures of churches in Belgium, 1830–1940,” funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO-G0273118N), and it also received support from the Strategic Research Program on Construction History of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and from the Brussels-Capital Region.