Gothic Architecture: Cathedrals, Monasteries, and Innovations
Gothic Architecture: Cathedrals and Monasteries
In the mid-12th century, Romanesque buildings began to be replaced by large and slender European churches in cities. These Gothic cathedrals were financed by nobles and abbots of the great monastic orders. The groups involved in building these cathedrals were linked to the new social group: the bourgeoisie. The Gothic building style appeared around 1140, coinciding with the construction of monasteries, reflecting the influence of monastic life and thought at that time. However, Abbot Suger and Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux held divergent views on the spirit that a building intended to serve God should embody. Differing interpretations of how to represent the divine led to distinct constructive expressions:
- Great monasteries governed by the Cistercian order were built following criteria of austerity and a rural character.
- In growing cities, a constructive system evolved from Saint Denis, modified as technical advances allowed for greater height of the vaults without jeopardizing the building’s structure.
Two different constructive systems developed: one for Cistercian abbeys and another for Gothic cathedrals.
Cistercian Monasteries: Austerity and Functionality
Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux conceived churches as being far removed from any type of ornamental building. He proposed absolute constructive austerity, dispensing with the sculpted capitals of the Romanesque style. Buildings emerged characterized by decorative austerity, which was imposed on all Cistercian monasteries. The floor layout of the monasteries followed an established schema: “a large church with an attached cloister; around the cloister were distributed key community agencies, assigning the upper floors for bedrooms.” Cellars, warehouses, and kitchens appeared as adjacent rooms, grouped into secondary courtyards and cloisters.
The Cistercian monastery was characterized by its functionality and austerity, its spaciousness, and the large number of units, which made it a self-sufficient center. It combined constructive methods, incorporating the most advanced elements of Romanesque architecture and also employing elements of the Gothic style. This included big windows while rejecting any ornamental element.
Gothic Cathedrals: Light and Innovation
The cathedrals of the new towns adopted a distinguishing feature: interior ornamental richness. Light was paramount, representing the essence of divinity. The aim was to fill the church with light by removing the walls and implementing the new art of vaulting throughout the header and nave. The pointed arch and buttressing system made it possible to remove the wall and replace it with etched and stained glass, allowing the entrance of light.
The two main elements were the pursuit of light and a building system that could replace the wall with stained glass.
Constructive Basis of Gothic Cathedrals
Vaulting used the pointed arch, which allowed for greater control over the counter-weight or elimination of the weight of the roof. The use of arches was joined to the vaults, which shifted the weight of the vault to concrete stitches. The stitches evolved to form nerve networks, resulting in different vault forms: quadripartite, sexpartite, star vaults, etc., with tiercerons. This system did not eliminate the need for thick exterior walls. Therefore, the buttressing system was remodeled, and counterforts, separated from the wall by buttresses, moved the weight of the nerves outward. This resulted in a configured vaulted roof system.
The clerestory was introduced, replacing the Romanesque blind gallery that ran through the building of arches above the naves. The separation wall was divided into three: metal separation, triforium, and clerestory.
Floor Plans and Exterior Elements
The floor plans departed from Romanesque pilgrimage layouts; in the new style, the transept arm tended to increase and the space for the exterior was covered by a deambulatory. The row of composite buttresses became progressively more complex and decorated. Architectural elements used pointed arches with gables, culminating in needle towers and ornamental buttresses. The central body featured a large rose window and a gallery with statues. The portals evolved, though they remained static: the archivolts featured figures, tympanums with stories, and mullion-columns and statues in the jambs of the entry.