ARC 2208 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Gothic Architecture, Lewis Mumford, Cathedral Quartet
Document Summary
The cathedral enlarged all the dimensions of communal life, even for the poor, long after the lifetimes of builders and donors lewis mumford the city in history. In spite of all the negative aspects of medieval culture there were positive aspects. Everything in these cities was close by, very interwoven together. The cathedrals of medieval cities brought the cities together. Gothic- the era previous to the renaissance in architecture, large and magnificent, the rudest of all architecture. Author of the hunchback of norte dame de paris 1831. Made the cathedral a character itself in the story. Gothic architecture did not abandon classical proportions but used different ones. Architects used grander proportions to make gothic buildings grander. Two main innovations of gothic architecture: use of natural light: the walls become diaphanous, to christians this is symbolic of the representation of what god actually is: Need to have intersecting vaults because of the grandness of the churches and other buildings.
