the principles in Gothic style or Gothic architecture

Gothic style, despite being influenced by Romanesque architecture, still developed into a new non-standard style, which was considered as the most significant European architectural movement of the Middle Ages. With the desire to build colossal structures, during that time, several significant cathedrals and churches, particularly in Britain and France, used architectural elements of this style to reach this which the previous eras did not achieve. Therefore, in this essay, I will explore some prominent Gothic architecture principles and provide a few distinctions between Romanesque and Gothic architecture at the same time. By what I stated about the emergence of the Gothic style from the vision of Abbot Suger at the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis, Suger, and other like-minded medieval theologians, light itself was divine and could be used to elevate human consciousness from an earthly realm to a heavenly one. He and those who came after him attempted to flood their cathedrals and abbeys with light, building taller and more elegant structures. This necessitated the adoption of some of the most obvious principles of the Gothic form, which are pointed arches, rib vaults, and flying buttresses, and stained-glass windows could be used to make the walls taller and thinner by distributing the weight of the building more effectively. As opposed to the semi-circular or rounded arches commonly found in Romanesque buildings, Gothic cathedrals used a clear distinction one - a taller, thinner pointed style found in Islamic architecture - the pointed arches. The arches distributed the vault’s weight in a vertical rather than horizontal direction, which allowed cathedrals and churches to achieve architectural elements that eras cannot such as height and walls of buildings to be higher and thinner, respectively. These pointed arches were not only used for practical reasons, but they also emphasized a significant symbolic - pointed towards heaven - come closer to God. This was the pattern of the pointed arches and ribbed vaults in the interior of Salisbury cathedral. Like tripartite division in the nave, the ribbed vaults, pointed arches, and light also do the eye move up to, which help the interior create an elegant aesthetic, and lifts the faithful, and the spirit, upward toward a mystical union with God. Ribbed vaulting is an essential technique in designs of Gothic architecture. It can be used to create rectangular and irregular shapes on the roof. In Romanesque architecture, almost all buildings had generally used barrel vaults and groin vaults. Gothic cathedrals, on the other hand, used ribbed vaults as structural support to help the pointed arch and allow for much more weight to be supported without as much in terms of thicker walls. As a result, this led to the need for fewer columns and those that were used for taller, thinner. Remarkably, when the decoration developed further, the Perpendicular or International Gothic took over in the 15th century, specifically in Gothic cathedrals in Britain, the ribbed vaulting became increasingly intricate, so the masonry "skin" also became more and more lightweight, called “fan vaulting”. The designing of the complexity was one of the methods that the builders of these Gothic cathedrals used to achieve great height which was one of their greatest aims. In order to achieve the extreme height style, the weight of the building was placed on outside supports called flying buttresses. It is a free-standing buttress attached to the church by an arch or half-arch which shares with the column the weight of the ceiling arches, reducing the cross-section of the supporting columns giving the building plenty of room for large windows. In Romanesque style, because the thickness of the walls and the pillars was what had to support the weight that meant it was a very limited height that these buildings could be built to. However, with these out external supports of the flying buttresses, towns began to build these tremendously tall structures. Hence, flying buttresses became sort of a point of pride in Gothic architecture. Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the first buildings built with flying buttresses. These flying buttresses bring a very beautiful and strange architecture when looking at the whole church in the back. The most obvious development to decoration that came about from the rise of Gothic architecture was the stained-glass windows. When natural light was closely tied to the belief in religion theory that it was important in Holy settings and was linked to divinity, so windows are an important characteristic element in most architecture of places of worship. Abbot Suger described the light manipulated through the stained-glass windows at the basilica of St Denis, he writes that “my delight in the beauty of the house of God, the multicolor loveliness of the gems has called me away from external cares. ” The Gothic cathedrals were well-known for huge walls with stained-glass windows that would allow in a tremendous amount of light. Compared with Romanesque architecture, because the weight needed to be supported by the walls, and the cathedral structure had very small windows that just let in very little amounts of light. Sometimes, Gothic stained-glass windows would depict images and scenes from the Bible. In fact, during the time, literacy was not widespread, but the Bible was only written in Latin at the time, so most people could not read it. For this reason, when offering stained-glass windows with images and stories, it became the way that they actually learned about Christianity and read the stories of Jesus as well. Windows of Chartres Cathedral One of the most exquisite examples of stained-glass windows can be found at the cathedral in Chartres, France. This structure represented an ideal of harmony within its configuration and contents. The rose windows used in this cathedral are primarily compositions of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. Finally, it is vital not to say about the floorplan of the Gothic cathedrals - Cruciform Layout. The layout of most Gothic cathedrals followed a cruciform plan that was meant to resemble the shape of a cross from an aerial perspective. The horizontal arm of the cross is called a transept. It extends out from the main body of the church, called the nave. Perhaps, this floorplan seems to be a reminder of Jesus' passion and death. In conclusion, Gothic architecture marked a peak period of human creativity in the history art of the world. With a strict unity of these principles and symbolic components in the Gothic architectural style, some artists and masons during the time did not only increase relationships strength and beauty in cathedrals as well as between humankind and God but also created almost magical architectural designs that are still captivating today.