Later Middle Ages Flashcards
Gothic
12th-15th centuries
13th century
greater attention to secular architecture
Colleges, castles, fortifications, town halls, and domestic architecture
Greater attention to domestic comfort
more specialized rooms to meet new functions
Feudal system and prevailing unsettled conditions influenced, what?
domestic architecture
Early Middle Ages domestic architecture
Small windows
Very thick walls
Remotely located stairs
Hammer and beam construction
short beams perpendicular to the wall plate supported by brace below, arched braces above
Why use wooden members against white walls
to display how the building is being supported
Why is the Great Hall plan very important
Severed vs serving
How is the great hall plan laid out?
with less important people spaces to the left with increasing impotence as you walk to the other side
what are the two farthest spaces of the great hall
kitchen and butler to Table of the Lord
Table of lord space is raised to give more importance
Has oriel window for light and view
Seats are numbered and predetermined
Middle of hall has large benches with table
No personal space not determined how many sit there
Major gothic domestic room types
the great hall
parlor
the chamber
long gallery
The great hall purpose
Communal living, social space, of medieval times. Used for sleeping, dining, amusement, and for executive purposes. Main purpose was dining
great hall features
Usually 2 stories in height
Entrance through screens
The focal point of the hall was dais, a raised platform reserved for the lord to oversee his subjects
Elevated position and decorative enhancement of the dais proclaimed hierarchical status of the lord
parlor purpose
An informal space adjacent to the hall used as a sitting room, dining room
parlor origin
Its origin is uncertain
Earliest use was in monasteries
parlor dates
14th century marked the secular use of parlor
By the early 16th century it was used exclusively as a dining and reception room
the chamber purpose earlier
Earlier fulfilled the need for greater privacy, solitude, or comfort of the lord.
Occasionally private meals were taken in the chamber
the chamber purpose later
became typical to locate it on the ground floor
Factors which caused the chamber to transform into a social space:
The decision of the king to move the great high table into the chamber
The removal of the bed
Use of chamber for more public and ceremonial occasions.
15th to 16th century design
Ornament overwhelmed the structure
Decorative geometry becomes more important than the simple structure
TRUSS
(A rigid frame usually of a triangular arrangement)
The timber framing of the open trusses of the hall was…
the most significant in terms of articulation of interior space
