The document provides an overview of Gothic architecture through 3 paragraphs. It discusses that Gothic architecture flourished from the 12th to 16th centuries in Europe, featuring pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses. It was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. The document then summarizes some key characteristics of Gothic cathedrals, including their Latin cross floor plan, pointed arches, stained glass windows, and vertical emphasis conveyed through buttresses, tracery, and towers/spires. It concludes by briefly mentioning Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris as an iconic example of Gothic architecture.

1. Gothic
Architecture
History of Architecture (World)
D.A.A
Semester : 3rd
Butler Polytechnic

2. • Introduction
• Forms
• Construction
Methods
and Techniques
• Characteristics
of
typical
Gothic
Cathedral
• Notre Dame , Paris
• Bibliography
Gothic Architecture
Sub Topics
2

3. •
Gothic
architecture
is
a
style
of
architecture that flourished during the
high
and late medieval period.
•
It evolved from Romanesque Architecture
and was succeeded by Renaissance
Architecture.
•
It originated in France in 12th century, then
spread throughout Western
Europe till 15th century and lasted up to
16th century.
•
Gothic architecture is most familiar as the
architecture of many
great
Cathedrals,
Abbeys,
Churches,
Castles, Palaces, Town halls, Guild
halls, Universities of Europe, etc.
•
A great number of ecclesiastical buildings
of this period are considered
priceless works of art and are listed with
UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.
•
A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18thcentury England, spread
Gothic Architecture
Introduction
through 19th-century Europe and continued,
3

4. •
•
•
The various features of the Gothic Architecture were pointed arch,
the ribbed vault and the flying buttresses.
The Gothic Architecture emphasized strong vertical lines, high vaulted
ceilings, minimal wall space, pointed window & door openings and buttresses walls.
Gothic structure is a skeleton system that transfers roof loads down to ground
at discrete points, therefore freeing large expanses of walls.
•
•
The flying buttresses had automatically become the aesthetic component
by cutting out arches from it and emphasizing the end of it by raising it high..
The widespread introduction of a single feature of the Gothic Architecture, the
pointed arch, brought about the change that separated Gothic architecture
from the Romanesque tradition. It lent itself to elaborate intersecting shapes
which developed within window spaces into complex.
Gothic Architecture
Forms
4

5. •
The painted arches were more flexible in design as one could vary the angle of the
arch.
•
•
•
Ribs were used to minimize the load of
vault, as the dead load on vaulting was
created primarily by the weight of the
stone and thus, reducing this weight was
not only economical but also gave
great heights to buildings.
• The flying buttress in the Gothic
construction concentrate loads at
pillars so that there remains no need of
reinforcement at specific points, as
they were the structural members, they
carried the load of very high and long
walls.
• The entire structures were conceived as
frame works of arches and arches were
organized in the coherent systems which
reduced structural function of wall to
Window tracery, the decorative and intersecting stonework in the upper not load
minimum. Thus, the walls were
section of windows was introduced and became increasingly slender evolving
bearing walls.
from plate tracery to bar tracery as the Gothic style developed.
The technique of filling windows with stained glass, added a dimension of
color to the light within the building along with providing a medium for
figurative and narrative art.
Gothic Architecture
Construction Methods and
Techniques
5

6. •
•
•
The Gothic architects wanted to bring lights in the cathedral as the light was the
purest substance on the earth and a representative of God. Thus, the upper portion of
the nave was having large stained glass to bring adequate light.
The only mathematical calculations were the dimensions of space frames.
The technological change in the Romanesque tradition permitted a stylistic change
which broke the tradition of massive masonry and solid walls penetrated by small
openings, replacing it with a style where light appears to triumph over substance.
Gothic Architecture
Construction Methods and
Techniques
6

7. •
•
•
•
The Gothic Cathedrals have a Latin cross plan, with a long nave making the
body of church a traverse arm called the transept and, beyond it, an
extension which may be called the choir, chancel or presbytery.
The nave is generally flanked on either side by aisles, usually single,
but sometimes doubles and is generally considerably taller than the
aisles, having clerestory windows which light the central space..
The end of the cathedral is semicircular or polygonal convex termination.
At the apse end, the big idol of God is there & small chapels are laid around
it..
•
Gothic Architecture
The bays of the nave are covered at
right angles by vaulting so that
independent character of bay is
emphasized.
• The rejection of galleries and crypt
is one of the most decisive
differences between Roman and
Gothic style..
• In English cathedrals transepts tend
to project boldly and there may be
two of them but are not the case with
lesser churches.
• The eastern arm shows considerable
diversity. It is often square ended or
has a projecting Lady Chapel,
dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
Characteristics of Gothic
7
•
Cathedral The Gothic vault, unlike the semi-

8. •
•
This enabled architects to raise vaults
much higher than was possible
in Romanesque architecture. While,
structurally, use of the pointed
arch gave a greater flexibility to
architectural form, it also gave
Gothic architecture a very different and
more vertical visual character
than Romanesque.
Gothic openings such as doorways, windows,
arcades and galleries
have pointed arches.
Gothic vaulting above spaces both large
and small is usually supported
by richly molded ribs.
Rows of pointed arches upon delicate
shafts form a typical wall
decoration known as blind arcading.
Niches with pointed arches and •
containing statuary are a major
external feature.
• The pointed arch lent itself to •
elaborate intersecting shapes which
developed within window spaces into
complex Gothic tracery forming the
structural support of the large
windows.
• A characteristic of Gothic cathedral
architecture is its height, both
absolute and in proportion to its width,
the
verticality
suggesting
an
aspiration to Heaven. A section of the
Gothic body of a Gothic church Characteristics of Gothic
main Architecture
usually
Cathedral
shows the nave as considerably
•
8

9. •
Towers and spires are characteristic of
Gothic churches both great and small, the
number and positioning being one of the
greatest
variables
in
Gothic
architecture. Smaller churches usually
have just one tower, but this may also be
the case at larger buildings, such as
Salisbury Cathedral or Ulm Minster, which
has the tallest spire in the world,
slightly exceeding that of Lincoln
Cathedral, the tallest which was
actually completed during the medieval
period, at 160 meters (520 ft.).
•
On the exterior, the verticality is
emphasized in a major way by the towers
and spires and in a lesser way by strongly
projecting
vertical
buttresses,
by
narrow half-columns called attached
• On the interior of the building
shafts which often pass through several
attached
shafts
often
sweep
storeys of the building, by long narrow
unbroken from floor to ceiling and
windows, vertical moldings around doors
meet the ribs of the vault, like a tall
and
figurative
sculpture
which
tree spreading into branches. The
emphasizes the vertical and is often
verticals are generally repeated in
attenuated. The roofline, gable ends,
the treatment of the windows and
buttresses and other parts of the
wall surfaces.
building are often terminated by small
• Increase in size between windows of
pinnacles, Milan Cathedral being an
the Romanesque and Gothic periods is
extreme example in the use of this form of
Characteristics of Gothic
related to the use of the ribbed
Gothic Architecture
9
decoration.
Cathedral vault, and in particular, the pointed

10. •
•
•
Gothic Architecture
•
The flying buttress is arched externally from the springing
of the vault across the roof of the aisle to a large
buttress pier projecting well beyond the line of the
external wall. These piers were often surmounted by a
pinnacle or statue, further adding to the downward weight,
and counteracting the outward thrust of the vault and
buttress arch as well as stress from wind loading.
The internal columns of the arcade with their attached
shafts, the ribs of the vault and the flying buttresses, with
their associated vertical buttresses jutting at rightangles to the building, created a stone skeleton. Between
these parts, the walls and the infill of the vaults could be
of lighter construction. Between the narrow buttresses,
the walls could be opened up into large windows.
The façade of a large church or cathedral, often referred
to as
the West Front, is generally designed to create a powerful
impression on the approaching worshipper, demonstrating
both the might of God and the might of the institution that
it represents. One of the best known and most typical of
such facades is that of Notre Dame de Paris.
Characteristics of Gothic
Thus, these are the architectural characteristics of 10
a
Cathedral
typical

11. •
A few cathedrals are listed below:
• Durham Cathedral ( 1128-1134)
– England
– A rib vaulted and a pointed
arch roof
• Cathedral of Cefalù(1131-1471)
– Sicily
– In 1420, Portico was added
between the two towers of
the façade.
• St. Denis’ Basilica( 1135- 1140)
– France
– The
flying
buttresses,
pointed arches and ribbed
vault were used as one unit
for the first time in this
cathedral.
• Noyon Cathedral ( 1150-1231)
– France
– It is the first true Gothic
Cathedral because of the
heavy use of all features
that came to be known as
Gothic including pointed
arches, flying buttresses
and ribbed vaulting.
• Wells Cathedral ( 1174-1239)
Characteristics of Gothic
Gothic Architecture
– England
Cathedral
11

12. •
The Notre Dame de Paris is one of the
finest monumental buildings of French
Gothic style of Architecture.
•
It was started by Bishop Maurice De
Sully in 1163 and the west towers were
the last to be completed in 1250.
•
Its length is 420 ft. X 226 ft. and has
height of 226 ft.
•
The Cathedral was to be built in the new
gothic style and had to reflect Paris’s
status as the capital of the kingdom
France.
•
It was the first cathedral built on a
monumental scale and became the
prototype for future cathedrals in
France.
•
The original plan contained double
ambulatories and was on a bent axial
line.
•
The interior elevation was of four
levels with an area of pillars.
•
It has a wide nave, double aisles,
transepts surrounded with chapels and
western towers.
•
The central nave is divided into number
Gothic Architecture
Notre Dame, Paris
of bays with cylindrical columns of
12

13. •
Gothic Architecture
The façade is designed to create a
powerful impression on the approaching
worshipper, demonstrating the might of
God and of the institute that it
represents.
•
The
spectacular
eastern
flying
buttresses at the east side of the
building are 15m wide.
•
The Notre- Dame Cathedral has several
large rose windows among which the
northern 13th century window is the
most impressive with a diameter of 13.1
meter.
•
A tribune was originally covered by
barrel vaults and lit by around
windows.
•
This cathedral is with double aisles,
the transept does not project beyond
the aisles.
•
The type of tracery that evolved to
fill the spaces of equilateral arches is
known
in
England
as
Geometric
Decorated Gothic and can be seen here
to splendid effect.
Notre Dame , Paris
13
• Vigorous restoration of crumbling

14. •
•
•
•
•
The spire, which reaches 295 feet was
added in the 19th century by Viollet-leDuc.
The site of the Notre Dame is the cradle of
Paris and has always been the religious
center of the city.
The colt had their sacred ground here and
the romans built a temple to worship
Jupiter.
A Christian basilica was built in the 6th
century and the last religious structure
before the Notre Dame Construction
started was a Romanesque Church.
The building with its impressive façade and
imposing towers is one of the best
cathedrals of Gothic Buildings.
Gothic Architecture
Notre Dame , Paris
14

15. •
•
•
www.wikipedia.org
www.greatbuildings.com
History of Architecture by Sir Banister Fletcher ( CBS Publication, Delhi)
Gothic Architecture
Bibliography
15

16. • Mudra Vyas
– 126060350002
• Leena Kothalikar
– 126060350009
• Sifali Patel
– 126060350024
Gothic Architecture
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