Gothic Architecture
... To ask for a Gothic church without flying buttresses is to ask for a ship without a keel; for church, as for ship, it is a question of being or not being. ... Viollet-le-Duc (1854) From its beginnings, Gothic architecture has made a statement. It has been one that has been copied for centuries and has been considered one of the most daring and unique changes in architecture. ... This paper is not going to explain how Gothic cathedrals were built. Instead it is going to look at two of the goals that Gothic architects strived to achieve at the time. ... Throughout this paper, there will be personal analysis to go along with the scholars’ ideas and thoughts involving Gothic architecture. ... The goal, though, is to find some ideas in why Gothic architecture became such a phenomenon in such a short amount of time. It also will look at the effect flying buttresses had on helping differentiate and separate the Gothic from its predecessor, the Romanesque. The way that Gothic got its name is unfortunate. It was first termed “gothic” during a time when classical architecture was at its peak. Today, the term “gothic” brings to mind words such as evil, devil, witchraft, etc. Architecturally, “gothic” still brings to mind “barbaric” thoughts in some people. Movies such as Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame and Beauty and the Beast portray Gothic cathedrals with “grotesque” (gargoyles and beasts) images on the outside of the cathedral and dark, large, echoed interiors. This is true to an extent, but looking at a Gothic cathedral as a whole, some of the most innovative concepts dealing with architecture are its creations. ... “What is called the birth of Gothic is but the coming of age of Romanesque” (Bond 16). ... It draws off of years of debates and ideas on where Gothic architecture fits into the mold. ... This is like the Gothic and Romanesque. ... There are numerous things that are created, discovered, and renewed in Gothic architecture. No matter how minute it might actually be, there is a definite correlation between the Romanesque and the Gothic, no matter how minute it might actually be. The architects of the Gothic period were probably building Romanesque buildings until someone like Suger. Gothic architecture not only develops its own system of cathedral building, but it also improves on what was already being used. In this sense, Gothic architecture is a direct relative of its predecessor, the Romanesque. On the opposite end of this argument, Gothic is a totally new creation. ... Differences in size, mass, and lighting changed physically throughout the Gothic cathedral. ... New ideas that have yet to be improved on were created during the Gothic period. ... Each of these had their own spiritual purposes that Gothic architects strove to achieve in their grandest form. In contrast to the Romanesque “style of mass“ and “sensuousness” (Worringer 116,84), Gothic architects began to approach the stones with the desire for purely spiritual expression (Worringer 84).