1. By: Binyad Maruf Khaznadar
Gothic Architecture
appearance and characteristics
By:
Binyad Maruf Khaznadar

2. Appearance
Gothic took many forms and no single definition is adequate cover them all.
It was the only kind of architecture known to match both aesthetic and technological senses.
It was the style of professional craftsmen who relied upon the accumulated experience of generations.
Gothic is remarkable because it appears to represent a complete break with the architectural inheritance of Greece and Rome.

3. Appearance & characteristics
The techniques and skills of Gothic masons evolved without interruption over a period of 400 years.
The first Gothic style building was the church of St. Denis outside Paris.
The most distinctive characteristics of this church was:
* Light and open in structure.
* Using of fine materials, antique marble.
* Stained glass windows.
* Masonry was reduced to a skeletal minimum.
* It provided a frame for the windows.

4. S. Denis

5. The great creative moment in the evolution of Gothic came at the end of the twelfth century when it was decided to dispense with galleries, and at the same time vastly to increase the overall size of cathedrals.
This was made possible by the imaginative use of flying buttresses.
This device opened the way to two far-reaching developments:
* The disappearance of the gallery as such allowed the organization of interior spaces to be greatly simplified.
* The flying buttresses made it feasible to greatly enlarge the clerestory windows.

6. Triforum
gallery
Aisle
Arcade

7. Chartres cathedral

8. Bourges cathedral

9. Although Gothic spread across the rest of Europe from its birthplace in northern France, without due deference to French prototypes.
This is true except in England.
Gothic reached Canterbury while still in its formative stage.
Late Gothic is a collective term for a variety of styles.