Domes of the Transition Period between the Classical Era and the Age of Engineered Structures

This article discusses some of the domes built during a period from the late 18th to the early 20th century when domes, mostly of iron, were designed with the aid of mechanically based theories of various degrees of sophistication. The preceding era, when domes were designed purely by empirical rules, and the subsequent period, during which the theories of shells and of space frames were developed, have been described previously.