Timber floors made with elements shorter than the span to be covered in treatises and technical literature

The idea that the maximum dimensions attributable to an environment to be covered with a wooden floor are given by the maximum length of the available beams is intuitive, but at the same time limit-ing. Some examples of attempts to overcome this limit are present in manuscripts and buildings from the 13th to the 15th century, testifying that these ideas had long been in circulation throughout Europe in the minds of builders. The first printed treatise in which this technique appears is the one by Sebastiano Serlio; as a result this type of structure takes his name. Floors with short beams enjoyed alternating critical acclaim until the end of the 18th century, when various applications are reported in French treaties. Instead, throughout the 19th cen-tury the large space allowed in handbooks did not correspond to a similar diffusion in construction practice.