Rules · Roofs · Ornament · Façades · Structure
To make a small temple dominate the skyline, build a tall crest of masonry on its roof, set over the heavy rear wall and pierced with openings to lighten it; model it in painted stucco with the figure of the ruler or god.
Maya temples are small inside (a few narrow corbel-vaulted rooms) because the vaults allow nothing wider. The roof comb gives them the height and presence that their interiors lack. At Tikal the combs are solid, massive and pierced by small vaulted chambers; at Palenque they are light latticework rising from the centre line of the roof. Because the comb adds weight, it is placed over the thickest walls, where it also helps to hold the vault halves down.
Build each stage of a platform as a sloping talud surmounted by a vertical tablero: a rectangular panel framed by a projecting border and cantilevered slightly over the slope below; repeat the pair at every stage.
Teotihuacan: tablero taller than talud (often ≈ 1½–2 × its height)
Treat the stepped pyramid as a platform whose purpose is to lift a small temple towards the sky, reached by a single steep stair on its principal face; enlarge it by building a new shell over the old.
In a corbelled vault each course may project only a little beyond the one below, and each overhanging half must have its centre of gravity behind the inner face of its wall; load the tails of the stones with heavy hearting until the capstone is set.
stable if Σ W·x (behind the springing edge) > Σ W·x (in front)
Build the house of wood and daub under a steep roof of thatch or palm, to throw off the rain; divide it along its length by a wall, with a whitewashed front room for receiving guests and a back room for sleeping.
Cite this page Chris Paton, “Raise a roof comb over the temple”, The Textbook of Architecture, https://textbookofarchitecture.com/rule/roof-comb. Text, drawings and models licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.