ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
The Gothic Enterprise
Part III The Gothic Look
Chapter 7: What is the Gothic Look?
1.
Since when have cathedrals been a part of Christianity?
2.
What is the common element found in all cathedrals?
3.
What are some of the numerical relations found at Salisbury Cathedral?
4.
What relationships and ratios are found at Sens Cathedral?
5.
What does Murray point out about ratios and numbers in cathedrals?
6.
What did Victor Hugo say about Notre Dame Cathedral regarding the dimensions?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
7.
The Gothic Enterprise
How is organic unity in a gothic cathedral achieved?
8.
What is the “principle of progressive divisibility?” Give some quotations or explanations to
demonstrate this concept.
9.
What is one of the goals in the design of a great church? How does this relate to practical issues
of construction?
10.
What primary purpose do gothic architectural elements such as pointed arches, pinnacles and
turrets serve?
11.
What is the difference between gothic churches and Romanesque churches?
12.
What are the characteristics of the light at Chartres or Canturbury Cathedral? What was the
church intended to resemble?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
13.
The Gothic Enterprise
How were windows related to the gothic structure?
14.
What types of vaults were used in cathedral construction? How is the ribbed vault different and
better than the barrel vault?
15.
What can happen to the spaces between the piers of ribbed vaulting in a Gothic church?
16.
Which are stronger, ribbed vaults or barrel vaults? Which requires more material? Which is
easier to build?
17.
What is the relationship between height and width in a round arch? How is this different from a
pointed Gothic arch?
18.
How much more sturdy are pointed arches?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
19.
What two architectural styles do we find in Winchester Cathedral?
20.
How was stress transferred in a tall Gothic wall?
The Gothic Enterprise
21.
In order to get light into the interior of a Gothic church, what had to happen to the proportions
of the walls?
22.
How did the flying buttresses work structurally?
23.
What is one possible theory of where pointed arches came from according to Jean Bony?
24.
What does Paul Frankl say about the origins of Gothic arches?
25.
At what point did the flying buttress connect to the vaults at the haunch?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
The Gothic Enterprise
26.
When was the High Gothic period according to Frankl?
27.
What was the original meaning of the word “Gothic” and when did it first appear?
28.
What is the myth about the Gothic style and the Germans?
29.
When did a more positive view of Gothic architecture emerge?