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Gothic - Slide 62-65 Important PDF
Gothic - Slide 62-65 Important PDF
ARCHITECTURE
Lecture Session– 3
Dr. Binumol Tom
Professor,
Department of Architecture,
College of Engineering, Trivandrum
Gothic Architecture
(12 – 15th century)
Gothic architecture began mainly in France, where architects
were inspired by Romanesque architecture and the pointed arches of
Spanish Moorish architecture.
It's easy to recognise Gothic buildings because of their
arches, ribbed vaulting, flying buttresses, elaborate sculptures (like
gargoyles) and stained glass windows.
Gothic architecture was originally known as “French Style”.
During the period of Renaissance it fell out of fashion and it was not
respected by many artists. They marked it as “Gothic” to suggest it
was the crude work of German barbarians (Goths).
Examples of Gothic architecture: Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and
St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.
Gothic Architecture
• Meaning of Gothic
– “Dark Age”
• Invading barbarians from the north ruined ancient art
and replaced it with their own culture
– Goths took Rome in 410
• little damage but became known as the first tribe of
barbarians and thus the name “Gothic”
Gothic Architecture
• Characteristics
– Structural
• Skeletal stone structure
– Visual
• Visual arts were important
including the role of light in
structures
– Symbolic
• Scholasticism
– Translations of real events
into stone and glass
• Cathedrals served as an
image of heaven
Structure of a typical Gothic Church
Characteristics of Gothic architecture
• 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
Stained Glass Window
• Since the walls themselves
were no longer the primary
supports, Gothic buildings
could include large areas of
glass.
• Huge stained glass
windows and a profusion
of smaller windows created
the effect of lightness and
space.
However, single
units were
integrated into a
unified spatial
scheme.
• Most Gothic churches, unless they
are entitled chapels, are of the Latin
cross (or "cruciform") plan, with a
long nave making the body of the
church, a transverse arm called the
transept and, beyond it, an extension
which may be called the Ameins cathedral
choir, chancel. There are several
regional variations on this plan.
Wells cathedral
• In some churches with double
aisles, like Notre Dame, Paris, the
transept does not project beyond
the aisles.
• In English cathedrals transepts
tend to project boldly and there
may be two of them, as at
Salisbury Cathedral, though this is
not the case with lesser churches.
• In France the eastern end is often
polygonal and surrounded by a
walkway called an ambulatory
and sometimes a ring of chapels
called a "chevet".
• While German churches are often
similar to those of France, in
Italy, the eastern projection
beyond the transept is usually just
a shallow apsidal chapel
containing the sanctuary, as at
Florence Cathedral.
Gothic Engineering
• Medieval man considered
himself an imperfect reflection
of the divine light of God, and
Gothic architecture was the
ideal expression of this view.
• New techniques of
construction permitted
buildings to soar to amazing
new heights, dwarfing anyone
who stepped inside.
• Moreover, the concept of
divine light was suggested by
the airy quality of Gothic
buildings, which were much
lighter than churches in the
earlier Romanesque style.
Gothic
Architecture in
France
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 in France
15th Century
British Gothic
Architecture
English Gothic architecture
Historians sometimes refer to the styles
British
as "periods" Gothic
•Early English (c. −
•Decorated (c. −
•Perpendicular (c. −
Westminster
Abbey in
London is one
of the world's
most famous
examples of
Medieval
Gothic
architecture.
Abbey
• An abbey (from Latin abbatia, abba, "father”) is a
Christian monastery or convent, under the
authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves
as the spiritual father or mother of the
community.
• The term can also refer to an establishment
which has long ceased to function as an
abbey, but continues to carry the name — in
some cases for centuries (for
example, Westminster Abbey).
North Entrance of
Westminster Abbey
Hampton Court palace, London
Hampton Court Palace, with marked reference points referred to on this page. A: West Front
& Main Entrance; B: Base Court; C: Clock Tower; D: Clock Court, E: Fountain Court; F: East
Front; G: South Front; H: Banqueting House; J: Great Hall; K: River Thames; M: East
Gardens; O: Cardinal Wolsey's Rooms; P: Chapel.
• Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace in the London
Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Greater London, and
the historic county of Middlesex; it has not been inhabited
by the British Royal Family since the 18th century. The
palace is located 11.7 miles (18.8 kilometres) south west
of Charing Cross and upstream of central London on
the River Thames. It was originally built for
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a favourite of King Henry
VIII, circa 1514; in 1529, as Wolsey fell from favour, the
palace was passed to the King, who enlarged it.
• The following century, William III's massive rebuilding and
expansion project intended to rival Versailles was begun.
Work halted in 1694, leaving the palace in two distinct
contrasting architectural styles, domestic Tudor
and Baroque. While the palace's styles are an accident of
fate, a unity exists due to the use of pink bricks and a
symmetrical, albeit vague, balancing of successive low
wings.
Italian Gothic
Architecture
• Milan Cathedral (Italian:
Duomo di Milano) is
the cathedral church of
Milan in
Lombardy, northern
Italy.
• The Gothic cathedral
took five centuries to
complete.
• It is the largest Gothic
cathedral and the
second largest Catholic
cathedral in the world.
• Length 157 metres (515 ft)
• Width 92 metres (302 ft)
• Width (nave)
16.75 metres (55 ft)
• Height (max) 45 metres
(148 ft)
• Dome height (outer)
65.5 metres (215 ft)
• Spire height 106.5 metres
(349 ft)
• Materials Brick with
Candoglia marble
• The plan consists of a nave with four side-
aisles, crossed by a transept and then
followed by choir and apse.
• The cathedral's five broad naves, divided by
40 pillars, are reflected in the hierarchic
openings of the facade.
• Even the transepts have aisles.
• The nave columns are 24.5 metres (80 ft)
high, and the apsidal windows are 20.7 x
8.5 metres (68 x 28 feet).
• The huge building is of brick
construction, faced with marble
• The height of the nave is about 45
meters, the highest Gothic vaults of a
complete church.
• The roof carries spectacular sculpture that
can be enjoyed only from top. The roof of
the cathedral is renowned for the forest of
openwork pinnacles and spires, set upon
delicate flying buttresses.
The famous "Madonnina" atop the
main spire of the cathedral, a
baroque gilded bronze artwork.
Milan Cathedral (Duomo)