Exploring Gothic Architecture Houses

Table Of Content

• What are the defining characteristics of Gothic architecture?
• St. Stephen's Cathedral
• The First Gothic Revival Homes
• Futuristic Architecture – The Exciting World of Futuristic Design
• Exterior features
• Elements of Romanesque and Gothic architecture compared
• Classic Gothic Style and Gothic Architecture, Examples

The project of building the main cathedral structure lasted multiple decades, but Westminster Abbey was largely completed in 1269. Gothic architecture was one of the most prevalent styles throughout Europe from the 12th to the 16th century. This type of ornate architecture spread across Europe, finding a foothold in Italy, Germany, Spain, and England. Though each country gave the style its own twist, international Gothic still retains the basic elements found in France. Built over the course of just 50 years—a relatively short time in Gothic architecture—the Amiens Cathedral is a wonderful example of the High Gothic. It represents the apex of trying to reach for the heavens and stands as France's largest cathedral.

What are the defining characteristics of Gothic architecture?

This Spanish cathedral was constructed from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. The famous cathedral in Paris, France is considered a symbol of the French nation. Despite an initial rapid start in 1386, with half of the cathedral being built by 1402, a lack of available funds put a major obstacle in the path of further construction efforts. The complex of the cathedral also includes two other buildings known as Giotto’s Campanile and the Baptistry and together the three buildings are listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The Corporal of Bolsena is a relic that tells of a miracle concerning a priest who was having doubts about certain aspects of his religion when his ritual Host bread started bleeding all over the cloth on the altar.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

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Posted: Tue, 26 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Many people travel from all over the world to Paris, France each year and one of the city’s main attractions happens to be the Notre Dame cathedral. Spain's Seville Cathedral is not only the largest Gothic church in the world, but the largest cathedral in the world. Completed in the early 16th century, it's known for its immense size, ornate tracery stonework, and the use of a former mosque minaret as a bell tower. The long history of the Milan Cathedral spans nearly 600 years, with construction beginning in 1386 and finishing in 1965. It's a wonderful example of how Gothic architecture transformed outside of France.

The First Gothic Revival Homes

Gothic architecture emerged in 12th-century France as a distinct style that spread across Europe until the 16th century. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was initially called “French Work” (Opus Francigenum). The most defining characteristic of Gothic architecture is the pointed arch, an element borrowed from Islamic architecture that was also used in vaults and windows. The first Gothic building was the Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, renovated in the mid-12th century by Abbot Suger, who pioneered light as a spiritual symbol.

Futuristic Architecture – The Exciting World of Futuristic Design

A red collar around its furry neck mimics the red wooden trim framing the window’s exterior. The cat is a resident of what appears to be a slightly sinister, yet charming, medieval cottage. It was built in 1930 based on a Gothic Revival design by architect John C. Austin, also noted as the lead architect of the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Masonic Temple.

Exterior features

The ideas of John Ruskin and other thinkers lead to a more complex Gothic Revival style often called High Victorian Gothic or Neo-Gothic. In the United States, this style was used to design the Lyndhurst Mansion in New York, the Rose Hill Mansion Plantation in South Carolina, and the Oak Bluffs Carpenter Gothic cottages in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. So let’s take a look at what makes a home Gothic and you just might find the right home style you’ve been searching for all along. In the later Gothic, the sculpture became more naturalistic; the figures were separated from the walls, and had much more expressive faces, showing emotion and personality. The torments of hell were even more vividly depicted.[109] The late Gothic sculpture at Siena Cathedral, by Nino Pisano, pointing toward the Renaissance, is particularly notable.

Elements of Romanesque and Gothic architecture compared

The style became particularly popular in Northern California, with mountains and forests perfect for a haunted cottage or mansion. Today, the Witch’s House is owned by the real estate agent Michael Libow, who has had it lovingly restored. This is the famous Tam O’Shanter, originally called Montgomery’s County Inn, which was the brainchild of Lawrence Frank, one of the co-founders of Van de Kamp’s Dutch Bakers (Oliver would also design its iconic windmills). Frank hired Oliver in 1922 to design a building that would garner as much public attention as the Witch’s House, and Oliver delivered. By the 1920s, Los Angeles was filled with talented craftspeople and artists from across the globe, lured by studio work.

Textile Center Building

Many Gothic homes have stone or brick exteriors, although some, called Carpenter Gothic homes, have wood-paneled facades. Almost all Gothic Revival style homes have steeply pitched roofs and some with gables. The exteriors also have detailed trims and millwork, sometimes called scrollwork. You’ll likely find a porch with a large window above it, stained glass or bay windows, chimneys, and maybe even a small tower.

The style also probably inspired Walt Disney, then a small-time animator living in Los Feliz. Disney became a lifelong patron of Tam O’Shanter and included many stylized storybook structures in his films and parks. Weber’s home would eventually be purchased by Conrad Hilton, one of America’s self-made capitalist kings, who renamed it Casa Encantada. Its lines sweep in regal beauty and with them carry a classical motif into the interior through columns of Doric and Ionic simplicity,” Conrad Hilton himself wrote in the self-published House of Hilton, Casa Encantada. It was extravagantly American, a perfect combination of East Coast stolidity and West Coast dramatics. But it was the famed World’s Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893, that would reestablish neoclassical styles as the byword for authority and class.

Yet, in some places like Belgium and England, the Gothic style would continue and evolve well into the 16th century. From the mid-18th century into the 20th century, there were a series of revivals of Gothic-style architecture, mostly used in the designs of university buildings and churches. Gothic architecture started to distinguish itself in the early 12th century, primarily in France. The Basilica of Saint-Denis, which broke ground in 1135, is frequently cited as one of the earliest clear examples of the style. Pointed arches and exterior buttresses allowed it to have a high, open interior filled with light. Both are identifiable by their intricate details, towering heights, large windows and pointed arches.

Islamic architecture from Spain and Sicily inspired the pointed Gothic arch, allowing asymmetrical spaces and taller, lighter walls compared to Romanesque’s rounded arches. As prosperity and stable monarchies grew in Europe, grand cathedrals symbolized civic pride with intricate stonework and towering spires. So churches were designed to flood interiors with sunlight through huge stained glass windows.

This city is home to the Basilica of Saint-Denis, which is another famous building that’s recognized for its gothic architectural characteristics and qualities. Various additions and upgrades have been made over the centuries since this time, but this church still exists as one of the most prominent gothic churches in the world. Another one of the most well-known gothic cathedrals in the world is the Reims Cathedral, which is located in the historic city of Reims, France. It is officially known as Notre-Dame de Reims, which translates to “Our Lady of Reims” in English. This medieval abbey church underwent a dramatic transformation that helped define Gothic architecture. Under the watchful eye of Abbot Suger, portions of the church were rebuilt in the mid-12th century.

The cathedral contains a litany of gothic architectural characteristics and was a church that had been officially dedicated to the Virgin Mary upon its completion. The Reims Cathedral also served as the traditional seat of coronation for the kings of France. It was finally completed nearly two centuries later in 1345 after having several architects oversee the work of the cathedral. Notre Dame de Paris has suffered extensive damage and desecration over the years, especially during the French Revolution and during the 20th and 21st centuries. One of the most famous cathedrals and churches in the world is Notre Dame de Paris.

Building higher, bigger, and grander was the guiding principle of Gothic architecture. Given that, it's no surprise that tall ceilings and ample natural light—two items still very much in demand today—were the key elements architects had in mind when drafting Gothic structures. Many of them were churches, and a bright, cool interior was even more important back then to making these buildings comfortable for parishioners. In later periods of Gothic, pointed needle-like spires were often added to the towers, giving them much greater height. A variation of the spire was the flèche, a slender, spear-like spire, which was usually placed on the transept where it crossed the nave. The original flèche of Notre-Dame was built on the crossing of the transept in the middle of the 13th century, and housed five bells.

In contrast, stained windows, standard in Gothic cathedrals, allowed colored or tinted light in the interiors. By using these new structural elements, Gothic architects were able to design and build structures that were higher and allowed in more light than the structures that came before. The primary design principles in Gothic architecture focused on creating tall, light-filled structures to inspire transcendence.