SALINAS "In the Midst of a Loneliness": The Architectural History of the Salinas Missions

WALLS AND ROOFS

Wall thickness was an important choice by the friar. The greater the weight of roofing a wall was to support, the thicker it was made. Primary walls in a friary, for example, measured 3 to 3 1/2 feet thick and carried the weight of the roof over the room. The larger the area of the roof, the greater the weight resting on the walls. Only two of the four walls of a given room actually carried the roof, because the roof was supported on beams running only across the shorter dimension of the room. When several rooms were built in a row, the wall thickness between any two rooms was determined by the area of roofing in both rooms. Secondary walls that still performed some structural function were about 2 1/2 feet thick. Simple partition walls, such as those between the celdas, had a thickness of about 1 1/2 feet. When the friar built a platform, he designed the retaining walls along the edge of the platform so that they also formed the foundations of the buildings constructed on the platform.

In "wall and beam" construction, the "beam" was the overhead piece of wood between two vertical supports. When the beam formed the overhead for an window or doorway, it was called a "lintel." When the beam was one of several supporting a flat roof it was called a "viga." Sometimes vigas received additional support in the form of a "corbel," a beam with one end set into the wall or resting on the lintel, and the other end unsupported. The viga rested on the upper surface, while the lower surface of the corbel was usually carved into a series of curves with intricate patterns cut into its surface and sides. Corbels could be either structural elements or decorative elements, depending on where they are used. A "bolster" was a short length of wood (usually with both ends carved in the same shape as the corbels) forming a platform at the top of the post to support the beam.

Wall Openings

The masons built the doorways so that they were wider on one side than on the other. This characteristic is called splay. It made the doorways through thick walls easier to pass through and allowed more light from the hall into the room. Splay also provided space for the door when it was standing open, keeping it from blocking part of the doorway. Each doorway was usually wider on the inside of a room. Most doors opened toward the interior of the room. A door pivoted on one edge, usually on a wooden peg called a "pintle" set into a hole in the sill beam, and opened by a latch or latchkey on the opposite edge. When open, each door stood back against the splayed face of the doorway.