HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 2

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
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JULY 14, 1140

• Rebuilding of the choir of the Benedictine church of St. Denis

• Begun at the instigation of Abbot Suger.

• The choir harmoniously integrates the elements and motifs we

now consider characteristically gothic.
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ABBOT SUGER

• Earliest patron of Gothic

Architecture

• Credited with popularizing the

style.
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Rebuilding of the choir of the

Benedictine church of St. Denis

= Established basis for the emergence

of the gothic style.

Choir of the Benedictine church of St. Denis

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The innovations of St. Denis quickly spread through the Ile-de-france

With new cathedrals begun in places such as Noyon, Senlis, Laon, and Chartres.

NOYON SENLIS LAON CHARTRES

GOTHIC
ARCHITECTURE

3 MAIN
CHARACTERISTICS

• Ribbed vault

• Pointed arches

• Flying buttress
RIBBED VAULT

• Vault – a curved ceiling or roof made

of stone or bricks.

• Can be part of the load bearing

structure or purely decorative.

A- TRANSVERSE RIB
B- WALL RIB
C-DIAGONAL RIB
RIBBED VAULT

ROMANESQUE GOTHIC
• Barrel vault • Ribbed vault
RIBBED VAULT

ROMANESQUE GOTHIC
• Barrel vault • Ribbed vault
 RIBBED VAULT
CROSS or diagonal rib WALL ARCH

TRANSVERSE ARCH
RIBBED VAULT

Quadpartite ribbed vault Sexpartite ribbed vault

RIBBED VAULT

Reticulated vault elevation Stellar vault Stellar vault (wooden)

and plan elevation and plan elevation and plan
RIBBED VAULT

Basilica of St. Denis, Paris

RIBBED VAULT
RIBBED VAULT
FLYING BUTTRESS

• Vertical or stepped strip running

up the face of the wall to
reinforce it at the point where it
carries a load or a lateral force
FLYING BUTTRESS

• Consist of “flying” or open half arches

that help counter the thrust of a high
vault, allowing higher buildings but
without an increased wall thickness.
FLYING BUTTRESS
FLYING BUTTRESS
FLYING BUTTRESS
FLYING BUTTRESS
POINTED ARCHES

• Central feature of Gothic

Architecture.

• Formed from two or more

intersecting curves that meet in
a central apex or point.
RIBBED VAULT

ROMANESQUE GOTHIC
• Round arches • Pointed arches
RIBBED VAULT

ROMANESQUE GOTHIC
• Round arches • Pointed arches
POINTED ARCHES
POINTED ARCHES
ROSE WINDOW

• A circular window, usually of

stained glass with tracery
symmetrical at the center
ROSE WINDOW TREFOIL

SPHERICAL
QUADRANGLE
CUSP

QUATREFOIL

FOIL

MULLION

13th CE 14th CE
ROSE WINDOW
STAINED GLASS

• Made of small pieces of colored flat

glass which are specially cut and
arranged into decorative patterns,
joined by lead strips by rigid frame
STAINED GLASS

PURPOSE:

• Functional- enclose the building and isolate from the weather while
allowing light into the space

• Decorative- painting the interior with sunlight and color

• Create spiritual ambience to encourage meditation and prayer

• Prevalent in ecclesiastical architecture

STAINED GLASS
PURPOSE:

• Iconographic- good medium to tell stories, to convey religion and

messages from bible
STAINED GLASS
STAINED GLASS
STAINED GLASS
SPIRES

• Octagonal spire is more subtle than

square pyramid spire, but presents a
design problem: Square base leaves
gaps at corners.

Therefore, broach spire was introduced

with small hipped roof from corners to
the face of the spire
FINIAL FINIAL

• a relatively small foliated ornament terminating

the peak of a spire or a pinnacle CROCKE
T

PINNACLE
 FINIAL

CROCKE
CROCKET T

• A projecting ornament, usually in the form of PINNACLE

curved foliage used esp, in Gothic architecture to
decorate the outer angles of pinnacles, spires and
gables
 FINIAL

CROCKE
PINNACLE T

• A SLENDER spire, often highly decorated with PINNACLE

crocketting, used as a termination of a parapet or
buttress
GARGOYLE
• A grotesquely figure of a human
esp. with an open mouth that
serves as a spout and projects from
a gutter to throw rainwater clear of
a building
GARGOYLE
GARGOYLE
GARGOYLE
 CROSS-SECTION OF BASILICA
WITH BUTTRESSING (REIMS)
BASILICA

• this type of church is constructed with a nave

and at least two side aisles, the nave and aisles
being separated by arcades.

• The nave is higher than the aisles so it can be lit

by its own source of light, the clerestory.

• If a high nave is not lit with upper windows in

this what the church is referred to as psuedo-
basilica.
BASILICA
TRIFORIU
M
CLERESTO
RY
STAIRS
PIER
BUTTRESS
FLYING
BUTTRESS
RIDGE
TURRET
CHOIR POLYGON

CROSS-SECTION
HALL CHURCH
HALL CHURCH
CENTRALLY PLANNED
CHURCH
• In contrast to basilicas and hall churches which are
constructed along horizontal axis, it is designed
around a single central point.

• Are round or polygonal (from hexagonal or any

number of angles).

• A church with Greek cross plan (with four equal

arms) is also considered as a centrally planned
church
 Weather vane
CENTRALLY PLANNED
Boss
Weather vane
CHURCH Boss

Spire

Spire Transverse
hipped roof Pinnacle

Fleche Gable
Gable
Waterspout
Pinnacle
South Offset
Waterspout transept
Spiral stair
Offset
Tracery parapet
Main gable
Blind window
Offset
Tracery parapet
Tracery window
Wall passage

Pier buttress Gallery

Offset North transept
Base Sacrisity
Marburg, St. Elisabeth
 FRANCE ENGLAND
11th to 12th CE Early Gothic • LAON CATHEDRAL Early English
• Pointed Arch • SIOSSONS • lancet window
• 4 interior levels CATHEDRAL
• Flying Buttress • plate tracery
• Geometric tracery
• Sexpartite vault

1200 to 1280 High Gothic • ABBEY CHURCH OF

• four to only three tiers SAN REMI, REIMS
• Flying buttresses matured • CHARTES CATHEDRAL
• Clerestory windows changed to two windows united by a
small rose windows
• From six to four ribs
1275 to 1375 Rayonnant “Height of Gothic Architecture” • REIMS CATHEDRAL Decorated/Geometric/Curvilinear
• Combination of the triforium gallery and clerestory into • AMIENS CATHEDRAL tracery development
one large glazed area
• Radiating character of the rose window
• enlargement of windows

1375-1525 Flamboyant Perpendicular

• Increasing emphasis on decoration. • refinement and fan vault
• flamelike S-shaped
• Wall surface reduced to the minimum to allow an almost
continuous window expanse.
• Structural logic was obscured by covering buildings with
elaborate tracery.
EARLY GOTHIC
EARLY GOTHIC
REGION: FRANCE AND ENGLAND PERIOD: 12th to Mid 13th CENTURY

CHARACTERISTICS:

• Plate tracery
• Pointed arch
• Ribbed vault
• Flying buttress
• Four storey bay
• Sexpartite vault
 EARLY GOTHIC
PLATE
TRACERY

• One of the earliest types of Gothic tracery.

• Plate tracery seems to cut through a solid

stone wall, creating a robust architectural
effect that is usually loosely geometric
rather than overly decorative in
appearance.

• Far simpler than later forms of tracery.

Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, England

 EARLY
PLATE
GOTHIC
TRACERY

Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, England

 EARLY GOTHIC

RIBBED VAULT
POINTED
ARCH

Cathedral Basilica of Saint-Denis, Paris

 EARLY GOTHIC
FLYING BUTTRES

Notre Dame, Paris

 EARLY GOTHIC

Four-storey bay

• The earliest type of Gothic bay elevation.

Noyon Cathedral, Picardy, France

EARLY GOTHIC
Notre Dame, Paris
EARLY GOTHIC
Salisbury Cathedral, England
EARLY GOTHIC
Cathedral Basilica of Saint-Denis, Paris

“ THE CRADLE OF GOTHIC STYLE”

HIGH GOTHIC
HIGH GOTHIC
REGION: Europe (france and england) PERIOD: 13th to Mid 14th CENTURY

CHARACTERISTICS:

• Three storey bay

• Height
• Bar tracery
• Rose window
HIGH GOTHIC
REGION: Europe (france and england) PERIOD: 13th to Mid 14th CENTURY

• Wall elevation was modified from four to only three tiers: arcade, triforium, and clerestory.

• Clerestory windows changed from one window in each segment, holed in the wall, to two
windows united by a small rose window

• Ribbed vault changed from six to four ribs

• Flying buttresses matured--they became the canonical way to support high walls, as they
served both structural and ornamental purposes.
 HIGH GOTHIC
Three-storey bay

Amiens Cathedral, Picardy, France

 HIGH GOTHIC

HEIGHT

• High Gothic cathedrals

were considerably higher,
and the ratio of nave width
to height larger.

Beauvais Cathedral, Picardy,

France
 HIGH GOTHIC
HEIGHT

Beauvais Cathedral, Picardy, France

HIGH GOTHIC
QUADRIPARTITE
VAULT

Chartres Cathedral, France

HIGH GOTHIC West Front, York Minster, Yorkshire
BAR TRACERY
HIGH GOTHIC
DECORATION

Reims Cathedral, Marnes,

France

• High Gothic is far more

decorated than Early Gothic.
LATE
GOTHIC/FLAMBOYANT
LATE GOTHIC
REGION: Europe (Spain, Germany, England) PERIOD: 14th to Mid 15th CENTURY

CHARACTERISTICS:

• Intense ornamentation
• Complex Vaults
• Lanterns
• Ogee arch
• Spatial unity
• Perpendicular
 LATE GOTHIC

INTENSE
ORNAMENTATION

• Late Gothic was marked by a concern

for surface with thinner, lighter, and
more intricate tracery.

San Pablo, Valladoid, Spain

LATE GOTHIC
INTENSE San Pablo, Valladoid, Spain
ORNAMENTATION
 LATE GOTHIC

COMPLEX VAULTS

• Tierceron vaults featured additional

ribs emanating from the main supports
to abut on to the transverse ribs.

Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucestershire,

England
 Gloucester Cathedral, England

LATE GOTHIC
COMPLEX VAULTS
 LATE GOTHIC

LANTERNS

• The Late Gothic was characterized by

attempts at more complex spatial
configurations, often realized in
octagonal lanterns.

St. Ouen, Rouen, France

 LATE GOTHIC

OGEE ARCH

• A pointed arch, each side of which is

composed of a lower concave curve
intersecting a higher convex one.

• Moorish in origin but became a feature of

the late gothic.

Santa Maria, Requena, Spain

 Santa Maria, Requena, Spain

LATE
GOTHIC
OGEE ARCH
VENETIAN GOTHIC
VENETIAN GOTHIC
REGION: Venice, Italy PERIOD: 12th to 15th CENTURY

CHARACTERISTICS:

• Polychromy
• Arcades and balconies
• Campanile
• Ogee arch
• Brick and stucco
• Byzantine influence
 VENETIAN GOTHIC

POLYCHROMY

• Key characteristic of Venetian Gothic

Ca’ d’Oro, Venice, Italy

VENETIAN
GOTHIC
POLYCHROMY Ca’ d’Oro, Venice, Italy
 VENETIAN GOTHIC

ARCADES AND BALCONIES

• With flooding a yearly occurrence,

almost all venetian palazzi are built on
tall arcades supporting the principal
apartments.

Ca’ Foscari, Venice

VENETIAN
ARCADES ANDGOTHIC
BALCONIES
Ca’ Foscari, Venice
 VENETIAN GOTHIC

BRICK AND STUCCO

• Local red brick is the most common

material as it is relatively light and
more tolerant of movement.

Frari, Venice
VENETIAN GOTHIC Frari, Venice
BRICK AND STUCCO
 VENETIAN GOTHIC

BRICK AND STUCCO

• Local red brick is the most common

material as it is relatively light and
more tolerant of movement.

Frari, Venice
EARLY
HIGH GOTHIC LATE GOTHIC
GOTHIC
C. 1160- C. 1163 -
1190 C. 1220 1121-end 13th 1220-70 1220
C.1230 1250
CE
Abbey of St. Denis
Laon Cathedral
Notre Dame of Paris
Chartres Cathedral
REIMS Cathedral
Amiens Cathedral
Beauvais Cathedral