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Gothic architecture style critical analysis
Architecture of the gothic period
Architecture of the gothic period
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Plan of Investigation
The intent of this project is to evaluate how the Christian church changed in the Middle Ages. Talking in the grand scheme of history, the change in the Christian church to what is known as Gothic architecture was heavily influenced by Islamic architecture. Making elaborate churches in its own right, Gothic churches had a great deal to do with leading into the Renaissance as well. In this investigation, the project is going to be focused on the structure of Gothic cathedrals and analyzing the changes that were made in the transition to Gothic architecture, as well as touching upon how it lead into the Italian Renaissance. The two main sources for this investigation are Cathedrals of the World by Graziella Ciagá and the documentary Building the Great Cathedrals by NOVA.
130 Words
Summary of Evidence
At the dawn of Gothic cathedral-building, in the 1100s CE, building with rock was dirty and difficult work. And yet, architects and builders of the age were able to build stone monuments of the Middle Ages that dominated skylines for nearly a thousand years, revolutionizing architecture. In the period spanning the 12th and 15th centuries, these Gothic cathedrals borrowed from prior architectural knowledge, formulating a new building system. The gigantic Christian cathedrals took years to build, and were often left uncompleted for decades or even centuries. In fact, few cathedrals were finished in less than 100 years, taking large amounts of money and manpower to build. Despite the monumental task and resources needed, Gothic cathedrals have continued to amaze us hundreds of years later.
In considering Gothic architecture, the style first needs to be defined. The phrase “Gothic” was not created until...
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... of a height as Gothic cathedrals, Romanesque architecture had arches and columns that supported the structure above. Utilizing both prior knowledge from its predecessors, as well as utilizing its own innovation, Gothic architecture was able to create giant cathedrals that stand as a testament to human creativity and creation.
173 Words
Total Word Count: 1,881 Words
Bibliography
Amiens Cathedral. UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Last modified 2013. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/162.
Building the Great Cathedrals. Directed by Scott Tiffany. 2010; Boston, MA: WGBH Education Foundation. DVD.
Ciagá, Graziella. Cathedrals of the World. Vercelli, Italy: White Star, 2006.
Fry, Plantagenet. Great Cathedrals. New York, NY: Crescent Books, 1982.
Michael Fazio, Marian Moffett, and Lawrence Wodehouse. A World History of Architecture. London: McGraw Hill, 2008.
Taller than the ancient pyramids in Egypt, large enough to hold the statue of liberty. 100 pounds of weightless stones, heavy enough to hold the Empire state building are the Great Cathedrals (PBS, 2011). Intrigued by the beauty in structure but puzzled by the very construction, without technology for building purposes has researchers mind wondering. In reference to the NOVA program, building of Gothic cathedral begin as a race of height, which over time this plan backfired because of the recent architectural discoveries in the foundation. The NOVA program pointed out that in this race of constructing the tallest building wasn’t the only concern between two rivalry cities in Europe; it purpose was recognized as a scared space for spiritual reasoning to bring ordinary someone closer to God (PBS, 2011).
Both St. John the Baptist Cathedral and Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Chartres are constructed in French Gothic style which means that architecturally they have many similarities. However, the 700 year gap between their construction
As the timeline of humans progressed since the very first settlements, so did the way humans built structures. Human beings became smarter and the planning behind enormous structures became more intricate and marvelous. Further back in history, places of worship played an enormous part in the everyday lives of everyone in those times. Different civilizations have built great temples of worship that have expressed their love of a deity (or deities). These great buildings embody the very best that those people can offer: their best engineering, their best carpentry, their best architecture, their best decoration. Two great examples are the Romanesque Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy and the Gothic Chartres Cathedral. While these two structures are
I chose two cathedrals for my post, the Durham Cathedral and the Chartres Cathedral. The Durham Cathedral, my example of Romanesque architecture, was built from local sandstone in 1087-1133 CE (the east wing was replaced in 1242) and is currently located in Nothern England. The Gothic style structure, the Chartres Cathedral (also known as the Cathedral of Notre-Dame), was mostly constructed between 1194 and 1220 CE due to a fire causing it to be rebuilt. Assembled utilizing limestone, this colossal structure is currently located in France and is known for it’s strikingly beautiful stained-glass windows. These structures share a few similarities, like their ribbed groin vaults (the crossing segments on the ceiling of the hallways), the high-placed windows as well as their huge circular window that were added to provide light and a
Castex, Jean. Architecture Of Italy. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 5 Feb. 2012.
The story is about a blind man who visits a married couple. He is an old friend of the wife, but the husband does not look forward to see the blind man (called Robert) because he does not know what to expect. He has never known any blind persons and his picture of these is based on a very little foundation. He has a lot of prejudices against Robert, but during his visit he changes his opinion about him. While watching TV together they get each other to know better and the husband finds out that he actually likes his company. They watch a program about cathedrals and while talking about cathedrals, Robert says that he does not even know how a cathedral looks like. The husband tries to explain what a cathedral is and how it is built, but Robert does not understand it. Therefore he suggests that they can draw one together. In that way Robert gets a picture of a cathedral in his mind and even though it is not as good as seeing it with his own eyes, it is good enough to give him an idea of what a cathedral is.
The Basilica of St. Denis was originally built in 500-599 AD, but was later reconstructed by Abbot Suger in c.1135-1144. Although its original architect is unknown, it is most famous for its reconstruction that was overseen by Abbot Suger (Panofsky). This basilica is also well known for its representation of Europe’s architectural shift from the Romanesque style to Gothic. The Gothic style brought new designs and was dubbed the “transformat...
Now today, there are still over 900 Cathedrals standing today in our world thanks to our OLD generation masons! Today you wouldn’t find people building cathedrals anymore. You would find some being repaired but never built. Well technically, a tiny church can become a cathedral if a bishop uses it as his official church but other than that none are being built today that my research knows of.
The Gothic style evolved from that of Romanesque, building on concepts and ideas that led to the creation of larger and grander structures. Today, mankind looks in awe at the structures that were built hundreds of years ago without the assistance of modern technology and equipment. These architectural styles are indisputably different, but equally profound. They made use of differing techniques to become tangible structures that can still be seen
There was a greater intensity occurring in piety and literature. The Gothic style embodies this new urban society. Romanesque and Gothic shared similar characteristics, but Gothic architecture was a greater departure from its previous predecessor. The Romanesque architecture style, which occurred during the late 11th century to the middle 12th century, literally means “roman-like” architecture. The Romans, who were inspired by the Etruscans, used barreled and groined vaulting.
Gothic Art began in 1137 with the rebuilding of the chair of the abbey church of St. Denis. Gothic Art is the style of art produced in Europe from the Middle Ages up to the beginning of the Renaissance. Typically religious in nature, it is especially known for the distinctive arched design of its churches, its stained glass, and its illuminated manuscripts. Gothic, although symbolic, is a lot more anecdotal and naturalistic than Romanesque. In the late 14th century, anticipating the Renaissance, Gothic Art evolved towards a more secular style known as International Gothic.
“Romanesque is an architecture that, retaining elements of Roman, has ceased to be Roman, and anticipating elements of Gothic, is not yet Gothic”. A penetrative summing-up outlined by Quicherat, an archeologist in France, well defines the position and style of Romanesque (Edgell 218). Romanesque means “debased Roman”. Those pre-Gothic buildings between 1050 and 1200, with rounded Roman arch and column were adopted label Romanesque in the early nineteenth century. Romanesque architecture was emerged and evolved due to the influence of politics and religion. The regional and historical variations stimulated the emergence and evolution of various architectural styles. Romanesque architecture was more practical and allegorical rather than beauty.
All over the world people still come to admire the beauty of European cathedrals. Many of the cathedrals are fragile due to age, neglect, pollution, and insufficient funds available to restore these historical and beautiful buildings. Nevertheless, visitors to these architectural masterpieces are fascinated by the design and structure of these churches. The cathedral builders using their own ingenuity, expertise, and limited resources were able to defy the laws of gravity and time. (Icher 30)
Buildings almost always shape the environment within which we live. As such, the architect needs to find the perfect harmony of form, function, process and materials to bring to life their vision and design in order to achieve an element of elegance and grandeur. The norm of conventional construction is always challenged to achieve a successful construction on a grand scale. To this end, the development of the architectural design for St Paul’s Cathedral was created though five stages which also accommodated the liturgy. To meet the challenges of the intended design, rationalisation of the architectural features and design styles at the time dictated a compromise to achieve the greatness of this architectural masterpiece.