French and Non-French Gothic. History Research Paper

French and Non-French Gothic Architecture
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French and Non-French Gothic Architecture The style of Gothic architecture emerged in 1140 in northern France. Abbot Suger, the inventor of the style, stated that religious experience required felt art.  Suger’s first project that incorporated the style was the Abbey of Saint-Denis, his church. Later on, the style was incorporated in other cathedrals in Amiens, Reims, Soissons, and Paris. The move by the churches to construct structures that were much higher, lighter, and allowed more numbers of worshipers led to the adoption of the gothic design.  Later on, the design was used in building other structures such as gates, city walls, bridges, castles, and palaces. The main features of the gothic design are the window tracery, the buttresses, the rib vault, and the pointed arch. Owing to its uniqueness, the gothic design became popular in other parts of Europe as well during the early 16th century, with major cities widely adopting the style. The Gothic architectural style emerged in England and was used in buildings that were considered to be of great importance. The early infrastructure to incorporate Gothic architecture in England includes the Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral, which hosted royal coronations.  Afterward, the style was adopted by small churches and cathedrals. The popularity of Gothic architecture led to the development of different variations in the designs of both the interior and exterior of the buildings across various nations. Later versions of the Gothic style also differentiated from the original style as well. These differences are mostly associated with spatial emphasis, which is enhanced by the use of architectural features. Nonetheless, these complex and numerous differences are mainly considerate on the factors of both symbolic and functional meaning. This essay seeks to discuss the differences and some similarities between the French and non-French gothic architectures. The French and non-French Gothic architectures vary in their emphasis on horizontality and verticality. These terms define the critical focus on either length or height, as emphasized by the features of the cathedrals. The French architecture considered height as more important than length. An example of a French cathedral with such features is the Notre-Dame, which has naïve vaults that are erected 115 feet from the ground.  During the period of constructing the cathedral, this height was considered to be extremely high. As the style became more popular, the heights of the cathedrals across France continued to increase with structures such as the Beauvais Cathedral standing as tall as 160 feet.  Architectural features were also used to extend the visual heights of the cathedrals. The cathedrals used vault shafts to stress the building’s vertical nature. The designers ran vertical shafts up the piers to create a joint connection between the piers and vault shafts to achieve the illusion of a continuous vertical line.An example would be in the Beauvais, which has a vertical tracery cage that links the clerestory and the triforium to enhance the vertiginous height of the cathedral.  The exterior of the structures also plays a part in depicting the tallness of the buildings.On the other hand, structures such as the English cathedrals emphasized more on the length of their structures.For instance, the Salisbury is 473 feet long, with the majority of its length gained in the nave.  Compared to Chartres, a French cathedral that is only 237 feet, and seven inches in length, the two nations differed on their focus.  Similar to the French, the English also put much focus on the architectural features to enhance the horizontality of the structures. For instance, there are no shafts that link the three tiers together at the Cathedral of St Andrew in Wales.  Instead, the shafts are replaced by a large stringcourse that runs along the sill of “a heavy band of gallery arcades” continuously up a clerestory, which sits equally self-reliant.  This style shows the effect of the creation of layers upon layers, and the style is common among many English churches. Hence, the French and English cathedrals are different regarding horizontal and vertical focus but are similar in that they employ Gothic architectural features to enhance these visual projections.    The French Gothic architecture also differs from the Italian Gothic design. A major...