San Maria de Fiore

Architect	Various
	Begun Arnolfo di Cambio - 1292
	Cathedral Dome: Fillippo Brunelleschi - 1420
Location	Florence, Italy EU
Address
Website
Built	Various

Table of contents

1 Basic Data

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Basic Data

Also known as the Florence Cathedral. Began construction under the supervision of Arnolfo di Cambio in 1292 as a rival to neighboring Pisa, Italy. According to Wodehouse, S. Maria de Fiore was designed in the Italian Gothic style instead of Romanesque of Pisa because the flying buttresses was not an option for the following reasons:

Local sensibilities (ed. not to mention political machinations)
land-use patterns
Association with German architecture, and the Holy Roman Emperor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Emperor) (whom had political ambitions in Italy)

Fillippo Brunelleschi was awarded the the commission for building the dome after successful construction of a scale model along with Lorenzo Ghiberti as coarchitect. Brunelleschi was forced to use ribbed structure due to the lack of knowledge in concrete in contrast to the dome of the Pantheon in Rome. The dome is comprised of 105-foot-high double-shelled dome which were tied together throughout the dome by the ribs. Near the base, are twenty-four chestnut timbers, each one foot square and twenty-three feet long, forming a continuous wooden tension ring. (Wodehouse)

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