EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE ROOF-STRUCTURE OF “HORYUJI-KONDO”

Revaluation of the oldest timber-space-frame 1300 years ago

Abstract

The oldest wooden temple in the world “Horyuji-Kondo” consists of a framework of interlocking members; cloud-shaped bracket sets, diagonal tail rafters, horizontal brackets and wooden dowels which construct triangular trusses together. The axial force effect has not been cleared yet, but the tension of tail rafters should be supported by horizontal pre-tensioned arms like a whole space-frame. We try to analize the structural system of the ancient temple 1300 years ago by the experiments of 1/2 scaled models.