The Gothic period

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLQMiDsL1po

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture.

Gothic architecture was known during the period as "the French Style,with the term Gothic first appearing during the latter part of the Renaissance.

Characteristics of Gothic churches and cathedrals : 

The building plans always looked like a cross :

For the structure :

the pointed arch,

Functionality: The structural advantage is that the pointed arch channels the weight onto the bearing piers or columns at a steep angle. This enabled architects to raise vaults much higher than was possible in Romanesque architecture

Height and vertical emphasis : The pointed arch lends itself to a suggestion of height. This appearance is characteristically further enhanced by both the architectural features and the decoration of the building.

On the exterior, the verticality is emphasised in a major way by the towers and spires and in a lesser way by strongly projecting vertical buttresses, by narrow half-columns called attached shafts which often pass through several storeys of the building, by long narrow windows, vertical mouldings around doors and figurative sculpture which emphasises the vertical and is often attenuated.

It would have been the tallest building during that time giving people an empowering feel when they were at the building.
As seen by the image on your left.

the flying buttress

A further development was the flying buttress which arched externally from the springing of the vault across the roof of the aisle to a large buttress pier projecting well beyond the line of the external wall. These piers were often surmounted by a pinnacle or a statue, further adding to the downward weight, and counteracting the outward thrust of the vault and buttress arch as well as stress from wind loading.

Vaults

The increase in size between windows of the Romanesque and Gothic periods is related to the use of the ribbed vault, and in particular, the pointed ribbed vault which channeled the weight to a supporting shaft with less outward thrust than a semicircular vault. Walls did not need to be so weighty they wanted a light feeling to buildings.

Windows:

 Through the Gothic period, due to the versatility of the pointed arch, the structure of Gothic windows developed from simple openings to immensely rich and decorative sculptural designs. The windows were very often filled with stained glass which added a dimension of colour to the light within the building, as well as providing a medium for figurative and narrative art. Rose windows are also often found in the facades of churches of Spain and Italy, but are rarer elsewhere and are not found on the facades of any English Cathedrals

If my house and room was decorated this intricate it would be too weird, everything would be in black or dark colours. It would have been depressing for me i like bight colours. Influcenced my my parents i prefer things plain oddly hoever. the only thing from gothic period would be lace! I think the place would be too spooky for my liking.

Gothic fonts :

A heavy typeface with very broad counters and thick ornamental serifs.

Gothic clothes: 

Traditional period Goth garb usually consists of mostly black clothing along with some white and are often accessorized with silver or pewter. The stereotypical gothic outfit sometimes referred to as the romantic look may include elaborate gowns and corsets, veils, full skirts, neck corsets, fishnets, lace and velvets. Also popular are tight-fitting trousers, pointy boots, flouncy poet or pirate shirts and footwear with buckles.

Reflections:There is a Catholic church that was near my grandmother's church. It is quite old and i went there to take a look. I think it has many gothic characteristics. Here are some of the images i took:

Here are some of the windows that i took. The church is old and to me i think this is the main highlight of the church because its so beautiful. The reason behind it was because light shone through the windows, and you could see different colour beams of light on the floor . And this is only just 5 windows. Imagine the churches in other countries! They have so many stained glass windows.It makes me want to visit the other gothic chruches in other countries.

Below is a statue of Jesus. I think the reason why the church used the red and blue in the windows, Red symbolise Jesus and Blue Mother Mary.  Blue is calming but i wonder why didnt they use the colour white for Mother Mary? From what i know, she was a virgin when she had Jesus and white symbolises purity so why not white?

 This is what i see when i go inside the church.Vaults spotted!

The pointed edges of the church

Personally i find that it is such a shame that these beautiful buildings are no longer built in singapore today. Nowadays, people prefer the modernlist look of chruches or it could be that Singapore has very little land space, perhaps it cannot afford to have churches being built like that.Such a shame, churches should have the churches feel you know?

When i think about the Gothic period i ALWAYS think about the clothes because i find they are oh-so-georgeous to look at but not to wear. hahahha, I cannot imagine myself everyday wearing a tight fitting corset. I love comfort too much. I love the inticate details on the clothes,and i find that clothes made during that time seems to be closely related to the Romantic (Victorian, Elizabethan, Renaissance). Also to wear such clothes would be so hot ( i think it won't be suitable for singapore's weather the humidity omg i would feel so sticky.

Gothic is still present in today.There is a subculture called goths.They dress gothic and have a reigion of it. It is also reflected in today's japanese comics called manga. People can cosplay in gothic clothes like the lolita dress. Gothic movies are also present like director,drawer : Tim Burton. Have you watched a movie directed by him before? I like his style. Gothic but not too scary like too gory or too much blood. Its hilarious ,black humor really and the characters have a sense of innocence behind their pale faces.He did alot of films: Alice in wonderland, Corspe bride being my favourite.