GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

Gothic from France

INTRODUCTION
 Gothic architecture is a style of
architecture that flourished during the
high and late medieval period. It evolved
from Romanesque architecture and was
succeeded by Renaissance architecture.
 Originating in 12th-century France and
lasting into the 16th century. Its
characteristics include the pointed arch,
the ribbed vault and the flying buttress.
 Form France to rest of Europe:
 Gothic art began to be produced in France
about 1140, spreading to the rest of
Europe during the following century. The
Gothic Age ended with the advent of the
Renaissance in Italy about the beginning
of the 15th century, although Gothic art
and architecture continued in the rest of
Europe through most of the 15th century,
and in some regions of northern Europe
into the 16th century.
Barbarian Goths:
 Originally the word Gothic was used by
Italian Renaissance writers of the Middle
Ages, which they regarded as comparable to
the works of barbarian Goths. (Originally, the
Goths were one of the barbarian horseback riding groups
that caused trouble for the Roman Empire). Since then
the term Gothic has been restricted to the last
major medieval period, immediately
following the Romanesque .The Gothic Age
is now considered one of Europe’s
outstanding artistic eras.
Reasons and Influences:
 At the end of the 12th century, Europe was divided into a
multitude of city states and kingdoms. The area encompassing
modern Germany, southern Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium,
Switzerland, Austria, and much of northern Italy were part of the
Holy Roman Empire.
 Throughout Europe at this time there was a rapid growth in trade
and an associated growth in towns.
 Civic building was of great importance to these towns as a sign of
wealth and pride.
 The Catholic Church prevailed across Europe at this time,
influencing not only faith but also wealth and power. Bishops were
appointed by the Church and often ruled as virtual prince over
large Estates.
 From the 10th to the 13th century, Romanesque architecture had
become a pan-European style and manner of construction, affecting
buildings in countries as far apart as Ireland, Sweden and Sicily. The
same wide geographic area was then affected by the development
of Gothic architecture.
ROMANESQUE TO GOTHIC:
 Romanesque tradition
 Previously used Romanesque element by the architects of Romanesque
buildings were,
 Ribbed Vaults
 Buttresses
 Clustered Columns
 Ambulatories
 Wheel Windows
 Spires
 Richly Carved Door
 These were already features of ecclesiastical architecture before the
development of the Gothic style, but all were to develop in increasingly
elaborate ways.
 It was principally the widespread introduction of a single feature, the
pointed arch, which was to bring about the change that separates
Gothic from Romanesque. The technological change permitted a stylistic
change of massive masonry and solid walls penetrated by small openings,
replacing it lighter walls and structure. With its use came the
development of many other new architectural features.
Possible Islamic influence

The pointed arch, one of the defining attributes

of Gothic, was earlier incorporated into
Islamic architecture. Increasing military and
cultural contacts with the Muslim world,
including the Norman conquest of Islamic
Sicily in 1090, the Crusades, beginning 1096,
and the Islamic presence in Spain, may have
influenced Medieval Europe's adoption of the
pointed arch, although this point remains
controversial.
BUILDINGS TYPOLOGY:
 Gothic architecture is most familiar as the
architecture of many of the great cathedrals,
abbeys and churches of Europe. It is also the
architecture of many
 castles,
 palaces,
 town halls,
 guild halls,
 universities,
 churches and cathedrals
Construction Materials:
 The local availability of materials affected both
construction and style.
 In France, limestone was readily available in several
grades, the very fine white limestone of Caen being
favored for sculptural decoration. England had coarse
limestone and red sandstone as well as dark green
Purbeck marble which was often used for
architectural features.
 In Northern Germany, Netherlands, northern Poland,
Denmark, local building stone was unavailable but
there was a strong tradition of building in brick. In
Italy, stone was used for fortifications, but brick was
preferred for other buildings.
ARCHITECTURAL
ELEMENTS
GOTHIC VAULTS
 VAULT DEVELOPMENT AND
TRIFORIUM
(EARLY AND HIGH GOTHIC):
 The aesthetic qualities of Gothic architecture depend on a
structural development the ribbed vault.
 Medieval churches had solid stone vaults (the structure that
supports the ceiling or roof).
 These were extremely heavy structures and tended to push the
walls outward, which could lead to the collapse of the building.
 In turn, walls had to be heavy and thick enough to bear the weight
of the stone vaults. Early in the 12th century, masons developed the
ribbed vault, which consists of thin arches of stone, running
diagonally, transversely, and longitudinally. The new vault, which was
thinner, lighter, and more versatile, allowed a number of
architectural developments to take place.
 The constructive
principle of Gothic
cathedral consist in
the employment of
pointed cross vault of
stone. A skeleton
framework of ribs,
whose function is to
collect the pressure of
the vaults and to
concentrate them on
piers or legs. The
pressures are of two
kinds.
 1) Lateral
 2) vertical .
FLYING BUTTRESSES
•Inorder to prevent the outward collapse of arches, gothic architects began to
use
•A revolutionary “Flying Buttresses”.
•These were the free standing stone supports which were attached to the
exterior walls by an arch or a half-arch.
•These allowed lighter walls and bigger windows.
WINDOWS
•Idea of bringing additional light into the church also led
to many other architectural advancements within the
gothic cathedral.
•One of the most important advancements was the
development and use of the flying buttress, which served
as an arched exterior support that could transfer the
excess weight of a building outward to where it would
be supported by an attached buttress rising from the
ground. This allowed an increase in window size as well as
more wall space to be occupied by windows. One of the
best examples of the use of the flying buttress is the
Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris
Types of windows
 One of the most distinctive
characteristics of Gothic architecture is
the expansive area of the windows .
 The major categories are,
 Lancet windows
 Rose windows
 Lancet window is a
tall, narrow window
with a pointed arch at
its top. Instances of this
architectural motif are
typical of Gothic
ecclesiastical structures
of the earliest period.
Lancet windows may
occur singly, or paired
under a single molding,
or grouped in an odd
number with the tallest
window at the centre.
STAINED GLASS
 Since the walls
themselves were no
longer the primary
supports, gothic
buildings allowed large
areas of glass.
 Huge stained glass
window added effect
of lightness and space.
 GARGOYLES
•Water spout designed to convey water from a
roof and away from the side of a building
thereby preventing rainwater from running
down masonry walls

•When Gothic flying buttresses were used,

aqueducts were sometimes cut into the
buttress to divert water over the aisle
walls.
 POINTED
PINNACLES
•Add strength and stability to the
structure
•Enables buildings to the new heights
•To make it look lighter
SPIRES
GOTHIC ARCH
 One of the defining characteristics of Gothic
architecture is the pointed arch. Arches of a
similar type were used in pre-Islamic as well as
Islamic architecture before they were
structurally employed in medieval architecture.
It is thought by some architectural historians
that this was the inspiration for the use of the
pointed arch in France.
VERTICALITY
 Height and Vertical emphasis
The complexities and experiments of this
early Gothic period were finally resolved in
the new cathedrals. A simplified three-story
elevation was re established.
•Arcade
•Triforium (Gallery)
•Clerestory
Additional height was now gained by means
of a lofty clerestory that was almost as high
as the ground-story arcade. The clerestory
itself was now lighted in each bay or division
by two very tall lancet windows surmounted
by a rose window.
 A characteristic of Gothic church
architecture is its height, both
absolute and in proportion to its
width, the verticality suggesting an
aspiration to Heaven. A section of the
main body of a Gothic church usually
shows the nave as considerably taller
than it is wide. In England the
proportion is sometimes greater than
2:1, while the greatest proportional
difference can also be seen in other
areas.
 The pointed arch lends itself to a
suggestion of height. On the exterior,
the verticality is emphasized in a
major way by the towers and spires
and in a lesser way by strongly
projecting vertical buttresses.
OTHER FEATURES
OTHER FEATURES:
 Other characteristics of
early Gothic architecture,
are vertical shafts,
clustered columns,
compound piers, plate
tracery and groups of
narrow openings are
some of the architectural
features of Gothic.
 SCULPTURE AND STATUE
COLUMNS:
 A multitude of carved
figures are found in the
various buildings. Gothic
sculpture in the 12th and
early 13th centuries was
predominantly architectural
in character.
 The largest and most
important of the figures are
tall statues on either side of
the doorways. Because they
are attached to the
colonnettes by which they
are supported, they are
known as statue-columns.
PLAN
PLAN:
 Most large Gothic churches are of the Latin
cross (or "cruciform") plan, with a long nave
making the body of the church, a transverse
arm called the transept. There are several
regional variations on this plan. The nave is
generally flanked on either side by aisles,
usually single, but sometimes double. The
nave is generally considerably taller than the
aisles, having clerestory windows which light
the central space.
AN OVER ALL VIEW