Gothic Architecture

1. Gothic Architecture appearance and characteristics By: Binyad Maruf Khaznadar

2. Gothic Architecture • Gothic religious monuments were the supreme expression of Christianity in architecture. They represented a synthesis of God, humanity and nature, a blend of symbolism and efficient structures, and size became a dominant feature. From outside, the towers and pinnacles form intricate silhouettes against the sky as they soar towards Heaven; the vast, airy interiors, with hazy or colored light pouring through the stained glass, seem similarly unearthly.

3. Appearance • Gothic took many forms and no single definition is adequate cover them all. • It was the only kind of architecture known to match both aesthetic and technological senses. • It was the style of professional craftsmen who relied upon the accumulated experience of generations. • Gothic is remarkable because it appears to represent a complete break with the architectural inheritance of Greece and Rome.

4. Appearance & characteristics • The techniques and skills of Gothic masons evolved without interruption over a period of 400 years. • The first Gothic style building was the church of St. Denis outside Paris. The most distinctive characteristics of this church was: * Light and open in structure. * Using of fine materials, antique marble. * Stained glass windows. * Masonry was reduced to a skeletal minimum. * It provided a frame for the windows.

5. S. Denis

6. The great creative moment in the evolution of Gothic came at the end of the twelfth century when it was decided to dispense with galleries, and at the same time vastly to increase the overall size of cathedrals. • This was made possible by the imaginative use of flying buttresses. • This device opened the way to two far-reaching developments: * The disappearance of the gallery as such allowed the organization of interior spaces to be greatly simplified. * The flying buttresses made it feasible to greatly enlarge the clerestory windows.

7. Triforum gallery Aisle Arcade

8. Chartres cathedral

9. Bourges cathedral

10. Although Gothic spread across the rest of Europe from its birthplace in northern France, without due deference to French prototypes. • This is true except in England. • Gothic reached Canterbury while still in its formative stage. • Late Gothic is a collective term for a variety of styles.

11. Vocabulary Pinnacles: A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly used in Gothic architecture.

12. Theflying buttress: is a specific form of buttress composed of an arched structure that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey to the ground the lateral forces that push a wall outwards, which are forces that arise from vaulted ceilings of stone and from wind-loading on roofs.