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The theme for this week’s Travel Theme is Arches.
I like arches. Structurally, they are a very efficient of supporting weight from above, without causing tension in the elements.
Architecturally, they look pleasing too.
I have posts here showing the arches at Blue Mosque in Turkey, recently, I also showed some beautiful arches at the Cathedral in Cordoba, Spain – they are very Moorish but look strikingly beautiful.
The arches shown here are from a building in Geneve, Switzerland.
Accidentally, I wandered into this building and was fascinated by the arches supporting the roof. The arches do not just span orthogonally but also diagonally, presenting a very interesting pattern.
From the outside the building is interesting too. It has multiple arches and there are also ramps going up at a slant.
All these make for an interesting structure!
retireediary 
Hi Michael,
Are those the flying buttresses?
Leslie
Hi Leslie,
They are not. See the following from Wikipedia:
A flying buttress is a specific form of buttressing most strongly associated with Gothic church architecture. The purpose of any buttress is to resist the lateral forces pushing a wall outwards (which may arise from stone vaulted ceilings or from wind-loading on roofs) by redirecting them to the ground. The defining characteristic of a flying buttress is that the buttress is not in contact with the wall like a traditional buttress; lateral forces are transmitted across an intervening space between the wall and the buttress.
These are balanced arches taking vertical loads and not flying buttresses taking horizontal loads from the sides and transfer them to the ground.
Regards,
Michael
Thank you for that.
Leslie
🙂
The most beautiful arches I know are those of the french gothic cathedrals of the XII and the XIII century.
Yes, I like those gothic arches very much too. unfortunately, those photos are all lost, otherwise I will be very happy to share. Regards, Michael