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

Goths took Rome in 410

Wrought little damage but became known

as the first tribe of barbarians and thus the
name Gothic

Gothic Architecture

Characteristics

Structural

Visual

Skeletal stone structure

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

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 twentyeight 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/wdpt
1.html
Trachtenburg/Hyman; Architecture: From
Prehistory to Postmodernity
Wodehouse/Moffett; A History of Western
Architecture

Gothic
Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp