Gothic Architecture

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE (12 T H –

15 T H CENTURY)
• Gothic architecture began mainly in France, where architects were

inspired by Romanesque architecture and the pointed arches of
Spanish Moorish architecture.
• Its easy to recognize 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 Ages”
• Invading Barbarians from the north ruined ancient art and
replaced it with their own culture.
Goths took Rome in 410
• Little damage but became knowns as the first tribe of
barbarians and thus the name is “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
airy and bright

focus on verticality
pointed arches
rib vaults
flying buttresses
large stained glass windows
ornaments and pinnacles
CHARACTERISTIC OF GOTHIC
STYLE
 POINTED ARCH
• Gothic architecture is not merely about ornamentation.
• The Gothic style brought innovative new construction
techniques that allowed churches and other buildings
to reach great heights.
• One important innovation was the use of pointed
arches.
• Earlier Romanesque churches had pointed arches, but
builders didn't capitalize on the shape.
• During the Gothic era, builders discovered that pointed
arches would give structures amazing strength and
stability.
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
CHARACTERISTIC OF
GOTHIC STYLE
 RIB VAULT
• Organic metaphor alluding to the
role of ribs in anatomy as the body’s
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.
RIBBED VAULTING
Earlier Romanesque churches relied on barrel vaulting.

Gothic builders introduced the dramatic technique of
ribbed vaulting.
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.
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE : THE RIB
VAULT
CHARACTERISTIC OF
GOTHIC STYLE
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
CHARACTERISTIC OF GOTHIC
STYLE
• In order to prevent the outward

collapse of the arches, Gothic
architects began using a
revolutionary "flying buttress"
system.
• Freestanding brick or stone supports
were attached to the exterior walls
by an arch or a half-arch.
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE : THE FLYING
BUTTRESS
CHARACTERISTIC OF
GOTHIC STYLE
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.
• The stained glass window shown here is from Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
GARGOYLES
Cathedrals in the High Gothic style became

increasingly elaborate.
Over several centuries, builders added towers,
pinnacles, and hundreds of sculptures.
In addition to religious figures, many Gothic cathedrals
are heavily ornamented with strange, leering creatures.
These gargoyles are not merely decorative.
Originally, the sculptures were waterspouts to protect
the foundation from rain.
Since most people in Medieval days could not read, the
carvings took on the important role of illustrating
lessons from the from the scriptures.
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE : GARGOYLES
GOTHIC FLOOR
PLANS
GOTHIC
FLOOR PLAN
Gothic buildings
were based on the
traditional plan used
by basilicas.
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
AMIENS CATHEDRAL called the choir, chancel. There are several
regional variations on this plan.
The nave is generally flanked on either side
by aisles, usually singly, but sometimes
double.
The nave is generally considerably taller than
the aisles, having clerestory windows which
light the central space.
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.
SALISBURY CATHEDRAL ST. MARY’S CHURCH, LUBECK BOURGES CATHEDRAL
AMIENS CATHEDRAL COLOGNE CATHEDRAL YORK MINISTER

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
Abbey Church of St. Denis

Definitive turning point in
early French Gothic
Space, light, line, and
geometry create transcendent
modernist architectural vision
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE : GOTHIC
ARCHITECTURE IN FRANCE
Gothic came to be associated with urban

settings and the extension of the French
King’s political influence
Two important French gothic structures
preceding Suger
o Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Laon
o Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Paris
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
G OT H I C A R C H I T E C T UR E :
G OT H I C A R C H I T E C T UR E I N
F R A NC E
Names: Notre Dame Cathedral;

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris
(Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris)
Location: Paris, Ile-de- France,
France
Date: 1163-1345
Features: Medieval Stained
Glass; Romanesque Sculpture
HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL
• The Notre Dame de Paris stands on the site of Paris first Christian church, Saint Etienne basilica, which was itself
built on the site of a Roman temple to Jupiter.
• Construction on the current cathedral began in 1163
• Construction of the west front, with its distinctive two towers, began in around 1200 before the nave had been
completed.
• Over the construction period, numerous architects worked on the site, as is evidenced by the differing styles at
different heights of the west front and towers.
• Between 1210 and 1220, the fourth architect oversaw the construction of the level with the rose window and the great
halls
• The towers were finished around 1245 and the cathedral was finally completed around 1345.
• During the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV at the end of the 17th century the cathedral underwent major
alterations, during which many tombs and stained glass windows were destroyed.
• In 1793, the cathedral fell victim to the French Revolution.
• Many sculptures and treasures were destroyed or plundered
• The cathedral also came to be used as a warehouse for the storage of food.
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE : GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN
FRANCE
 Double aisles – ambulatories on a bent axial line

 Transepts not projected beyond the aisle wall
 High vault – sexpartite vaulting covering double aisles (a ribbed vault
whose lateral triangles are bisected by an intermediate transverse rib,
producing six triangles within a bay)Vault is 100ft (30m) high
 Double span flying buttresses (earliest form)
 Interior elevation – 4 level
• arcade of columnar piers
• Tribune (originally covered by transverse barrel vault, and lit by
the round windows)
• Decorative oculi
• Small clerestory
NORTH AMBULATORY LOOKING EAST
The west front of the cathedral is one of its most notable

features, with its two 69-meter (228-feet) tall towers.
The Galerie des Chimères or Grand Gallery connects the two
west towers, and is where the cathedrals legendary gargoyles
(chimères) can be found. The gargoyles are full of Gothic
character but are not medieval - they were added during the
19th-centuryrestoration.
The Kings Gallery is a line of statues of the 28 Kings of Judah
and Israel, which was redesigned by Viollet-le-Duc to replace
the statues destroyed during the French Revolution. The
revolutionaries mistakenly believed the statues to be French
kings instead of biblical kings, so they decapitated them. Some
of the heads were found during a 1977 excavation nearby and
are now on display at the Museum of the Middle Ages.
The beautiful West Rose Window dates from about 1220.

The west rose window at Notre Dame is10 meters in
diameter and exceptionally beautiful.
Dating from about 1220, it retains most of its original
glass and tracery. The main theme of the west rose is
human life, featuring symbolic scenes such as the
Zodiacs and Labors of the Months.
On the exterior, it is fronted by a statue of the Virgin and
Child accompanied by angels.
Unfortunately, the interior view of its colorful medieval
glass is now more than half blocked by the great organ.

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GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE (12 T H –

• Gothic architecture began mainly in France, where architects were

airy and bright

 Builders turned from the semicircular, unbroken arch to the

Earlier Romanesque churches relied on barrel vaulting.

• In order to prevent the outward

STAINED GLASS WINDOW

Cathedrals in the High Gothic style became

AMIENS CATHEDRAL COLOGNE CATHEDRAL YORK MINISTER

First coherent example of Gothic architecture

Abbey Church of St. Denis

Gothic came to be associated with urban

Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Paris

Names: Notre Dame Cathedral;

 Double aisles – ambulatories on a bent axial line

The west front of the cathedral is one of its most notable

The beautiful West Rose Window dates from about 1220.

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