PPT 12 - Exam 3 Flashcards
Medieval era (400-1400 AD) Western Europe
Feudalism- geo politically fragmented Western Europe governed by continual conflict and political instability
Major climate change - miniature ice age at the beginning of the 14th century
Romanesque architecture
Influenced by the Roman architecture (Roman basilica), Islamic and Christian architecture
Developed by warrior kinds (Charles the great and William of Normandy)
- castle like solidity and dark
- Continual arching
- sculpted tympanum
- solid vaults
- large columns
Gothic
Final phase of medieval architecture - initiate in Ile-de-France (northern central part, paris area) 1140-1220
Original design not based on classical antiquity architecture
Structural system - a skeletal system
- transfers of loads down to the foundation at discrete points
- walls no longer have the role of load support so they are open for more windows
Special characteristics
- emphasizes vertically
- rib vaults and pointed arches
- openness
Key elements of gothic architecture
Pointed arch Rib vault Flying buttresses Windows with tracery Colonnettes and shafts bundles around a core - piers
Pointed arch
Originally used in the Islamic architecture and in the Romanesque
Less outward or overturning thrust
More flexibility in design due to the varying angles in the arch
Rib vault
Encountered in late Romanesque
Running the arris of a groin vault provides
-a visual effect
-a structural benefit if laid up first and used as skeletal to produce a thinner vault web which reduced the material used and facilitated greater building heights
Flying buttresses
Derived from the quadrant vault over galleries meant to support the tall nave vaults
Probably first used at sens cathedral (1160)
Gothic style concentrates load at the piers which are reinforced by external buttresses and flying buttresses (arches supporting upper portions of the skeleton system)
Windows and light
Clerestory - windows placed high in a wall, generally above lower level room elements, allows a lot of natural like in
Tracery - the stonework divisions in gothic windows, decorative intersecting stone work in the upper portions of windows
Triforium- in gothic churches, the narrow passage below the clerestory corresponding to
The lean- to roof over the aisle
The abbey church of St. Denis
Architectural landmark - generally recognized as the 1st gothic building
Abbot sugar- extended the church following a new style influenced by the temple of Solomon, writings about the magic power of visual representation, and Hagia Sophia- the most outstanding Christian church at the time
Notre-Dame cathedral
Laon, France
Romanesque elements - long nave, sexpartite rib vault, lantern crossing tower, galleries
Gothic elements - pointed arch, rib vaults, 3 dimensionality of the western facade
Notre-Dame cathedral
Paris
1150-1259
Located in the Ile de la cite
The hunchback of Norte dame (1831) by Victor Hugo
19th century major restoration
Chartres cathedral
Chartres, France
1194
Site dedicated to Virgin Mary
Relics- a tunic believed to have been worn by Mary
Quadripartite vaulting- a vault over one bay divided by diagonal rubs into four parts
Bourges cathedral
Bourges, France
1195-1250
A more cost effective design
Double aisle border the nave and the choir
The saints-chapelle
Paris, France
1243-1248
Located close to notre dame cathedral
Considered among the high points of French high gothic architecture despite its small size and modest exterior
Relics- crown of thorns and a piece of the true cross; cost 2x the cost of the building
Rayonnant style
A replica of this building is the St. James chapel (early 1900s) is in Chicago adjacent to Loyola university
Barrel vaults
The simplest form of a vault
Architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves-pointed barrel vault)
