Middle Ages

Question 1

Early WESTERN Churches

Answer 1

1. basilica: it was suitable for public gatherings, and a symbolic connotations
2. public circulation through an axis served to focus attention to the alter

Question 2

Basilica of Saint-Peter

Answer 2

• built in 4th c. AD, in Rome
• the location was believed to be where Saint-Peter was buried.
• use bracings to support the loads of the high columns with heavy walls. The snow load was transferred parallely and perpendicularly to the roof
• it was the 1st basilica and the alter was not oriented eastward where Jesus was born.

Question 3

Santa-Sabina

Answer 3

• 5th c. AD, in Rome
• Modest ornamentation
• Western church
• Example of basilical plan once Christianity was established.
• First depiction of crucifixion

Question 4

Early EASTERN Church

Answer 4

• Type of central plan with a dome covering occupied space
• derived from tombs and heroas, a building to commemorate a deceased person
• the form was used to mark the place of suffering and martyria
• also used for baptiseries

Question 5

Church of the Nativity

Answer 5

• 4th c. AD, in Jerusalem
• under Constantine
• consisted of an atrium and basilica
• instead of a transept and an apse, it has a large domed octagon

Question 6

Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Answer 6

• 4th c. AD, in Jerusalem
• under Constantine
• it was built to cover the site of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection
• had a compact atrium court, a nave and aisles
• had an apse, where pieces of the cross were found
• had a large atrium court with a cone shaped rock, containing the tomb

Question 7

Hagia Sophia

Answer 7

• 6th c. AD, in Constantinople
• double shell building
• brickwork and stone reinforcement
• dome on pendentives
• central plan with an axis

Question 8

San Vitale

Answer 8

-6th c. AD, in Ravenna

Question 9

Palace of Charlemagne

Answer 9

• 7th c., in Aachen
• the octogonal central space is braced back to the outer wall with series of relieving arches that compartmentalize the space.

Question 10

Domestic Architecture in the Middle Ages

Answer 10

1. Wood-framed manor houses

2. Castles: Baily and Mote castles

Question 11

Monte Cassino

Answer 11

• A monastery in Central Italy, 6th c. AD

Question 12

Monasteries

Answer 12

• Provided a stabilizing influence in the West

- They come to function as the political, cultural and agricultural centre of their surrounding regions

Question 13

Saint-Gall

Answer 13

• A monastery in Switzerland, 9th c. AD
• During the reign of Charlemagne
• Oldest floor plans to survive from the Middle Ages
• Represents the ideal scheme
• The main building is a large church filled with altars
• a dormitory close to the church

Question 14

Monastery of Cluny III

Answer 14

• in France, 11th c.
• By Abby Hugh
• Architect: Gunzo

Question 15

ROMANESQUE churches

Answer 15

• Massive buildings with small windows due to the memory of invasions ans uncertainty
• Roman ruins served as models

Question 16

Examples of Romanesque churches

Answer 16

1. Saint-Michael in Hildesheim, Germany, 10th c.
2. Sainte-Foy, in Conques, 11th c. (A Romanesque Pilgrimage church)
3. Saint-Sernin, in Toulouse, 11th c. (A Romanesque Pilgrimage church)
4. Saint-Philibert de Tournus, 11th c.
5. Durham Cathedral, in Durham, 11th c.

Question 17

Transfer of Loads in Romanesque churches

Answer 17

OUTWARD THRUST:

• Loads were absorbed by arches and vaults in the gallery over the side aisles
• Transferred to thick buttresses in the outer walls, which often resulted in dark churches with no clerestory windows and windows along the side aisles and gallery
• use of cross vaults which breaks the forces into 4 directions.

Question 18

Durham Cathedral

Answer 18

• Small clerestory windows
• lateral force of vaults gathered in the thick walls of the nave and conducted from the massive piers and columns
• one of the last Romanesque churches to rely on massive walls to support its vaulting
• BUT, gothic elements were present, such as ribs, pointed arches, lateral external bracing.

Question 19

GOTHIC Architecture

Answer 19

• Cathedrals were no more isolated but built in cities
• Albert Suger was the designated inventor of Gothic Architecture, whose goal was to replace the massive walls with stained glass.
• adapts to the location when it comes to materials, while keeping the main features. (Sustainable)

Question 20

Examples of Gothic Architecture

Answer 20

1. Abbey church of Saint-Denis, in France, 12th c.
2. Notre-Dame de Paris, 12th c.
3. Salisbury Cathedral, in England, 13th c.

Question 21

Abbey Church of Saint-Denis

Answer 21

• clear Geometrical composition by means of geometrical and arithmetical instruments
• great round windows, the first rose window of a typical gothic church

Question 22

Gothic Periods

Answer 22

1. Early Gothic, 1140
2. Classical Gothic, 1190
3. Rayonnant Gothic, 1230
4. Flamboyant Gothic, 1360

Question 23

Load transfers in GOTHIC

Answer 23

1. no longer a building but a skeleton
2. use of flying buttresses and pier buttresses
3. maximum concentration of forces
4. use of counterforts

Question 24

Notre-Dame de Paris

Answer 24

• where the Flying buttresses were born
• vertically domniated
• 3 parts to the interior elevation:
  
  1. Arcade
  2. Triforium
  3. Clerestory