HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 2
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
Ar. Roy John M. De Guzman
Ar. Jose Enrico V. Gallego
TRACING THE ROOTS
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.
TRACING THE ROOTS
ABBOT SUGER
• Earliest patron of Gothic
Architecture
• Credited with popularizing
the style.
TRACING THE ROOTS
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
TRACING THE ROOTS
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
If Suger calls this new style “modern,”
his critics called this “Gothic”
Why Gothic? Who are the Goths?
Germanic barbarians
who attacked the West
Roman Empire
Romanesque = Aspiring for the Glory of Rome
Goth = Non-Roman
X
ROMANESQUE
Critics say…
New Style (Gothic) is…
X 1. Unrefined
X 2. Barbaric
3. Non-Roman
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
3 MAIN CHARACTERISTICS
• Pointed arches
• Ribbed vault
• Flying buttress
POINTED ARCHES
• Central feature of Gothic
Architecture.
• Formed from two or more
intersecting curves that
meet in a central apex or
point.
ARCHES
ROMANESQUE GOTHIC
• Round arches • Pointed arches
ARCHES
ROMANESQUE GOTHIC
• Round arches • Pointed arches
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 Stellar vault Stellar vault (wooden)
elevation and plan elevation and plan elevation and plan
RIBBED VAULT
Basilica of St. Denis, Paris
RIBBED VAULT
RIBBED VAULT
ARCHES
ROMANESQUE GOTHIC
• Round arches • Pointed arches
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
ARCHES
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
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 CROCKET
PINNACLE
FINIAL
CROCKET CROCKET
• A projecting ornament, usually in the
form of curved foliage used esp, in PINNACLE
Gothic architecture to decorate the
outer angles of pinnacles, spires and
gables
FINIAL
CROCKET
PINNACLE
• A SLENDER spire, often highly decorated PINNACLE
with 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
Weather vane
CENTRALLY PLANNED CHURCH
Boss
Weather vane
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 Sacristy
Marburg, St. Elisabeth
FRANCE ENGLAND
11th to 12th CE Early Gothic • LAON CATHEDRAL Early English
• Pointed Arch • SOISSONS • 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
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 GOTHIC
PLATE TRACERY
Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, England
EARLY GOTHIC
RIBBED VAULT
POINTED ARCH
Cathedral Basilica of Saint-Denis, Paris
EARLY GOTHIC
FLYING BUTTRESS
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
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 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 San Pablo, Valladoid, Spain
INTENSE 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
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 GOTHIC
ARCADES AND 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 GOTHIC HIGH GOTHIC LATE GOTHIC
C. 1160- C. 1163 -
1190 C. 1220 1121-end 1220-70 1220
C.1230 1250
13th CE
Abbey of St. Denis
Laon Cathedral
Notre Dame of Paris
Chartres Cathedral
REIMS Cathedral
Amiens Cathedral
Beauvais Cathedral
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 2
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE +++
Cathedral - The principal church of a diocese, containing
the bishop’s throne called the cathedra
Monastic Church - a place reserved for prayer which may
be a chapel or church in a monastery
Chapter house- Part of the monastery cloister where the
chapter of a cathedral or monastery meets, an assembly of
the monks in monastery or a member of religious orders.
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 2
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE +++
Monk’s Choir - The part of a church occupied by the choir monks
and usually part of the chancel choir.
Chapel - A separately dedicated part of a church for the private
prayer, meditation or small religious services.
Lady Chapel - A chapel dedicated to the Blessed Mother Virgin
Mary, usually located behind the high altar of a cathedral at the
extremity of the apse.
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 2
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE +++
Paradise - An atrium or open space in a cloister.
Cloister - A covered walk having an arcade or colonnade on one
side opening onto a courtyard.
Altar - The table in a catholic church upon which the
Eucharist(bread:body of Christ; wine: blood of Christ), the
sacrament celebrating Christ’s Last Supper, is celebrated.
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 2
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE +++
Equilateral Arch - A type
of gothic pointed arch
having two centers and
radii equal to the
[Link] feature of
Gothic Architecture.
Formed from two or more
intersecting curves that
meet in a central apex or
point.
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 2
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE +++
Lancet Arch - A
type of gothic pointed
arch having two
centers and radii
greater than the span.
