Gothic Architecture

Architectural History ACT 322 Doris Kemp

Topics

Meaning of Gothic Gothic Characteristics Rib Vaults Flying Buttress Pointed Arch Gothic Architecture in France

Gothic Architecture

Meaning of Gothic

Dark Age

Invading barbarians from the north ruined ancient art and replaced it with their own culture Wrought little damage but became known as the first tribe of barbarians and thus the name Gothic

Goths took Rome in 410

Gothic Architecture

Characteristics

Structural

Skeletal stone structure

Visual

Visual arts were important including the role of light in structures

Scholasticism

Symbolic

Translations of real events into stone and glass

Cathedrals served as an image of heaven

Gothic Architecture: The Rib Vault

Rib Vaults
Organic metaphor alluding to the role of ribs in anatomy as the bodys skeletal structure supporting tissues Arches, usually three pairs per rectangular bay, running diagonally

Cross ribs act together with outer frame to create a complete armature of arches along the edges and main folds of the vault

Gothic Architecture: The Rib Vault

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: The Flying Buttress

Flying Buttress

Effected by powerful external arches swung above the side aisles and the ambulatory

Arches rise from colossal freestanding piers

Absorb and channel disruptive forces, such as wind and weight, safely to the ground Towering piers could be erected without much affecting the nave or choir interior

Gothic Architecture: The Flying Buttress

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: The Pointed Arch

Builders turned from the semicircular, unbroken arch to the pointed arch
Looked lighter and pointed upward Exert less thrust than semicircular arch of the same span Solves geometric difficulty inherent in ribbed vaults

Impossible to arrange all arches and ribs to a common level using exclusively semicircular ribs With a pointed arch, ribs could easily be made level

Gothic Architecture: The Pointed Arch

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

First Early Gothic Style

Roots stem back to 11th century Normandy Abbey Church of St. Etienne, Caen

Wall changed into mass-dissolving double shells and gathered into linear columnar elements

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

First coherent example of Gothic architecture

Appear in Gothic 12th century Paris Ile-de-France

Cut stone masonry employed into vaulting, rather than rubble masonry of the Normans Arches and ribs designed with independent curvatures

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Abbey Church of St. Denis

Definitive turning point in early French Gothic Space, light, line, and geometry create transcendent modernist architectural vision

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Abbot Suger
One of Gothic architectures most significant architects Elected the abbot of St. Denis in 1122 A. D. In 1137, he began to enlarge St. Denis

Built a new west front and narthex He was very conscious of colored light and introduced two large stained glass windows to the expansion

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Gothic came to be associated with urban settings and the extension of the French Kings political influence Two important French gothic structures preceding Suger
Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Laon Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Paris

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Laon

Begun about 1165 to replace an older structure Completed about 1205 In the 13th century restoration occurred

Flying buttresses were added to modernize the appearance

Retained several elements from Romanesque architecture

Long nave, lantern crossing towers, and a semicircular choir

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Paris

Bishop of Paris began construction in 1163 A very tall church, reaching some 108 feet from the floor to the crown of the vaults The clerestories were enlarged around 1225 to bring in additional light Not as well preserved as at Laon

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Notre-Dame, Paris

West front has a solid quality Triple portals Gallery of Kings

Represents twenty-eight kings of the Old Testament

Photo: Sullivan

Gothic Architecture: Gothic Architecture in France

Photo: Sullivan

References

Sullivan, Mary; http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/ http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/wdpt1.html Trachtenburg/Hyman; Architecture: From Prehistory to Postmodernity Wodehouse/Moffett; A History of Western Architecture

Gothic Architecture
Architectural History ACT 322 Doris Kemp