ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
Universe of Stone
Hammer and Stone
The Sculpture of the Portals
1. Why was sculpture not practiced and all statues were decreed to be removed from temples in
408?
2. How did this affect sculpture in the middle ages?
3. Why is Chartres different in how it approached sculpture?
4. What was one o the themes of Romanesque sculpture? What was the sculpture’s purpose?
5. How do the proportions look from the ground?
6. How many statues were there and how many remain?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
Universe of Stone
7. Were the sculptures left as natural stone or colored?
8. After the fall of Rome what material were churches built from? What happened to them?
9. What material were the churches during the crusades constructed from?
10. What does Paris sit on top of?
Work in Progress
11. Were cathedrals finished in a short time? Were they planned in the same way they were built
Give examples.
12. How many workers were employed on a site according to the author?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
Universe of Stone
13. How did workers weather-proof and preserve their work during the winter months?
14. What type of work did the term “mason” include?
15. Who were some of the other workers who labored on the site?
16. What was the hardest job?
17. How was stone transported? Give several examples of how this changed over time.
18. How did the Bishop of Cambrai find the stone for the cathedral?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
Universe of Stone
19. How did Abbot Suger find the stone for his columns? What miracle happened so they could
move the stones?
20. How was stone cut and shaped?
21. Did the workers know about the stories behind the figures they were carving?
22. What were the workers paid? How long did they work?
23. How did the climate affect the construction of the cathedrals?
24. What was the workers main practical concern?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
Universe of Stone
Mysteries of the Lodge
25. What type of marks were found on the stones of the cathedrals?
26. What were the “Bauhüttes”
27. What rules and codes of conduct governed the workers of the lodges?
On Site
28. What was the “tracing floor”? how many templates were required for an entire cathedral?
29. Why did master masons work with geometry? Give details and examples.
30. How were the stones cemented together?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
The woodworks
31. What methods were used to support scaffolding?
32. What materials did the workers stand on?
33. What is a “vice” and how was it used?
34. What were the wooden supports for arches called?
35. How was the formwork removed from the church?
36. What type of machines did the workers use?
37. How was cathedral construction related to military technology?
Universe of Stone
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
Universe of Stone
Chapter 8: Underneath the Arches
The Flying Buttresses
38. According to the author, what is the defining characteristic of Gothic architecture at Chartres
cathedral?
39. How is the rose window related to the flying buttresses in Chartres?
40. How did Gothic churches hold up in the bombing of European cities in World War II?
41. What happened to Beauvais and Troyes cathedrals?
42. How was stability achieved in Romanesque churches?
43. Why do stone buildings fall down? Is it from the crushing weight or the web of forces toppling
them?
44. Does the mortar have any strength to resist the greater structural forces in the cathedral? In
what direction is mortar strong?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
Universe of Stone
45. How did the builders prevent sliding of the blocks?
46. How powerful can wind forces be?
47. Where does the line of stress need to be located in a wall of stone?
48. Is stone completely rigid?
49. How thick are the walls at times in the great medieval buildings? How big are the stones
typically, or more precisely how is the wall built? Draw a picture.
50. What do the throughstones do?
51. What are the blocks of an arch called in a Romanesque arch?
52. What is the keystone?
53. What is one way to make an arch without centering to support it?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
Universe of Stone
54. What is the “springing” of the arch?
55. What happens to the arch when the abutments spread apart?
56. How many hinge points does it take for an arch to collapse?
57. What are the buttresses and the pinnacles? Draw a picture. What does the pinnacle do
structurally?
58. How much des the pointed arch reduce lateral thrust? Was this known by medieval builders?
What did Renaissance builders believe?
59. What did the Renaissance architects believe was the origin of the Gothic arch?
60. How did the Islamic architects and buildings of the middle east influence the builders of Europe?
How did the Normans influence the shape of arches?
61. When did pointed arches begin to be seen in multiple locations in France?
62. How did stone vaults affect the acoustic of churches?
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
Universe of Stone
63. In Romanesque architecture, what is a “respond”?
64. What happened to the walls in the Romanesque churches when the aisles were introduced and
integrated with the main church? How did this affect the structure?
65. How does the grin vault help solve this problem? How did they affect light and area for
windows?
66. What did the Romanesque masons do to make the joint of the transverse arches look better?
67. What was the function of the diagonal armature on the groin lines? How was this related to the
Gothic rib vault?
68. What are advantages of the rib vault?
69. What is the tas-de-charge? Draw a picture.
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
Universe of Stone
70. What is a “rebated” voussoir?
71. What is a sexpartite vault? Draw a picture.
72. Draw the difference between a sexpartite vault and a quadripartite vault. Which one has
repeating pier diameters and which one has alternating pier diameters? Point to them in your
drawing.
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
73. Did gothic vaults have to be square as the style progressed?
74. What does “stilting” do? Draw a diagram.
75. What did Hans Jantzen say about the tent-like form of the Gothic cathedrals?
76. What are murs-boutants? How are they related to the flying buttress?
77. What is the function of the second level of flying buttresses?
Universe of Stone
ARCHI 157: History of World Architecture Middle Ages to 18th Century
Universe of Stone
Building for Eternity
78. Why was it dangerous to put up the flying buttress last?
79. How was an incomplete building sometimes strengthened?
80. What is the sequence for building a gothic cathedral? Draw a picture and number the parts as
they go in, color may help identify which pieces are built in sequence in your drawing.