This historic vaulting technique, popular in Spain and the United States in the early 20th century, is also called “cohesive construction,” “timbrel vault,” “laminated vault,” voûte Rouss ilon (in France), bóveda tabicada (“board vault,” in Spain), and volta a foglia (“layered vault” in Italy). It uses thin, flat clay tiles (about 12 by 6 by 5/8 inches) in laminated shell structures, assembled with an extremely adhesive and fast-drying mortar into vaults, normally in three or more layers of overlapping tiles. The enormous stability stems from two major factors: the convergence of the tiles and mortar into a homogeneous, monolithic material that can absorb both compression and tension and the thin (single or double) curved surfaces that obtain additional strength by distributing them sideways as well as downward. Apart from being fireproof, the vault is lighter than any other masonry vault and produces only minimal lateral thrust at its springing points. As a result, it allows the place...