GOTHIC

ARCHITECTURE.
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN - V
 STYLE - GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

INTRODUCTION - basic interpretation

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.
Gothic Architecture meaning of Gothic – “Dark Age”.Gothic
architecture was originally known as “French Style”.
“Gothic” to suggest it was the crude work of German barbarians
(Goths).Examples of Gothic architecture: Notre Dame Cathedral in
Paris andSt. Patricks Cathedral in Dublin.

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GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE -
CHARACTERISTICS

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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

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GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

FEATURES
◈ airy and bright
◈ focus on verticality
◈ pointed arches
◈ rib vaults
◈ flying buttresses
◈ large stained glass windows
◈ ornaments and pinnacles

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POINTED ARCH

The Gothic style brought innovative new

construction techniques that allowed
churches and other buildings to reach great
heights.

Pointed arches would give structures

amazing strength and stability.
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GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

POINTED ARCHES
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

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http://www.travellinghistorian.com/cath.html

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Rib Vault
While barrel vaulting carried weight on
continuous solid walls, ribbed vaulting used
columns to support the weight.

The ribs also delineated the vaults and gave a

sense of unity to the structure.

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Flying Buttress
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
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https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/11/5/627/htm
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Flying buttress- structural load transferring structure.

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Stained Glass
Window
Huge stained glass windows and a
profusion of smaller windows created
the effect of lightness and space.

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Tracery

Tracery is an architectural solution

by which windows (or screens,
panels, and vaults) are divided into
sections of various proportions by
stone bars or ribs of moulding.

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Gargoyles

Gothic cathedrals are heavily ornamented with

strange, leering creatures.
Originally, the sculptures were waterspouts to
protect the foundation from rain.

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Towers and
spires
Towers, spires and fleches were an important feature of Gothic
churches. They presented a dramatic spectacle of great height,
helped make their churches the tallest and most visible buildings
in their city, and symbolised the aspirations of their builders
toward heaven.

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https://www.gutenberg.org/

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THANK YOU

BY
MATALA HARI CHANDANA
201̀8UAR1649.