The iconic arch is thee most structurally efficient way to build with stone making it pinnacle of human achievement. Gothicism deserves significantly more respect than the architectural community gives it.
There aren't any real castles because they were completely ineffective against the kangaroos. However, Gothic architecture confused and intimidated the roos too much for them to figure out an attack.
I had started reading about Gothic architecture about 4 years ago and attempted to sketch the buildings and stuff and even now that I'm studying architecture in university and I've read about a lot more styles this one is still one of my favourites :D I would never understand how someone could find it unappealing
potentially modern ideas of it being dark and scary? From old-schools vampire movies and some grim-dark settings. But having been in them you can really appreciate the colours and light played with in the spaces.
+Ruarscampbell Ideas of dark and scary come from 19th century (romanticism) art, mostly literature and paintings. Medieval gothic scenery, often castles, churches and graveyards, were settings for depressing moods and characters, foggy landscape etc.
It never appealed to me, they look too... gothic (xD) to me. I think it's a matter.of taste, I really prefer standard and even modern architecture over gothic.
The whole notion of it being"gothic" is due to the Renaissance which exaggerated everything about the classical world and despised this extraordinary architecture. Of course, there is also a theological meaning to these cathedrals. In Catholic theology, heaven and earth are interrelated, especially in the celebration of the liturgy, so that the Gothic Cathedral is an attempt to make heaven even more present due to the height of the cathedral and the pointed arches going upward, the effect of the light through the stain glass windows, not to mention the music of the organ, Medieval man was interested in achieving eternal happiness in union with Jesus, God the Father and the HOly Spirit, plus the angels and the saints, firstly the Virgin Mary to whom most of the Gothic Cathedrals are dedicated. The sculpture and paintings were pedagogical intended to teach the faith to those who went to worship at the Cathedral.
"The whole notion of it being"gothic" is due to the Renaissance which exaggerated everything about the classical world and despised this extraordinary architecture." The most funny thing being that it didn't have anything to do with the Goths or even their ancestors (Gothic architecture first originated from around today France). I really wonder, why the hell did they decide to suddenly call it "Gothic" in the Renaissance, there were other barbarians available.
I somehow missed this video when it came out and I'm really glad that I came back and found it, this is so well presented and it's just made so much better by your genuine enthusiasm for the subject. The architecture is literally awe inspiring. Walking into a structure like this is always a truly moving experience.
Agreed. Frank Gehry is another architect who makes rubbish. He will literally take a piece of scrunched up paper and try to "draw it" in the form of a building. Absolutely meaningless trite!
Le Corbusier's Cathedral (or Chapel... I don't remember) Has it's own beauty, but Gothic is so much better. They are both products of different times and different capabilities (In menpower, machinery, materials, etc). As much as I love Gothic we could never go back to it, life has changed so much. A clear example is the "Neogothic" movement, which turned out to be a short-lived, washed out version of the original.
@@goblez5900 What they're doing to Western Civilization, they want to inflict upon all nations and all cultures. This is because they want to set the stage for their Messiah, the Antichrist, who will come in the name of peace and unity and "saving the world".
Dude, Shad, no matter how bad my day seems, your possitive enthusiasm for what you are talking about is infectous and uplifting. thanks for the great content!
...and no mention of the brilliant acoustics??? The buildings were practical too! Singing in Gothic cathedrals is so awe-inspiring cause the sounds is caught and carries to the very back. Also the open-plan really complements the huge amounts of light let in. They really are beautiful.
Very good video, but I am not completely convinced by your explanation of the stone colors. Yes it looks good, but the primary reason is that different stones have different properties. The black stone is probably a schist or a granite, a very hard stone, probably local/cheap, but impossible to carve: schiste is anisotropic and granite is non homogeneous at a milimetric scale. Therefore they used limestone for windows and interior decoration because that is perfect for art. In Brittany we have a lot of old churches made completely in granite, and statues are very rough, almost like modern art. On the other hand, near the Loire/Seine rivers, cathedrals are made completely out of limestone, and you can't say they don't look badass ;)
That's almost right, the dark stone is bluestone, also known as basalt and it is very hard. There is a lot of it around Melbourne and it was also used to pave the streets. The lighter stone is sandstone and while it was easily carved, the quarries were 200 km from Melbourne, so getting it delivered was quite expensive.
I am amazed, that there are Gothic cathedrals in Australia, as in Europe Gothic cathedrals were usually built (or at least designed and started to build) between the 12th and 16th century, while Australia wasn't really colonized until the 18th to 19th (?) century. I guess the Australian cathedrals were built in the wave of Gothic revival in the 19th century?
Technically, this would still be Gothic, as far as the evidence presented. Styles are not limited to their date, but rather are distinct forms of construction. Once a style is manifested regardless of construction method, then it becomes Neo-Gothic. Gothicism exists as response to the most efficient ways to build specifically with stone. Once I start using faux-stone, or steel, or brick, or wood, then the use of Gothic elements are purely aesthetical. Some styles are purely aesthetical, and that's okay, even Gothicism makes moves for aesthetical not always practical reaasons, but as long as the building is solid stone, then it can deserve the title of authentic Gothic. This building just happens to be one of that last ever built, assuming it really is authentic construction.
Getting into the knitty gritty of classifying architectural styles is tricky, but I agree TheJared, anything that has some kind of gothic-style pointed arches can be described of as 'Gothic', no matter what the construction date, without getting into sub-descriptors like High Gothic/Late Gothic, Gothic Revival/Neo-Gothic, English Gothic, French Gothic, etc. etc.. Even some college campus buildings and residential buildings that may not be entirely constructed of stone or have flying buttresses, so long as they have a few distinctively gothic features, the term 'gothic' could be applied.
We really need an architectural revolution. Modern architecture is so soulless and boring. It's just cold steel and sterile glass with silly swoops and curves. It looks like melting styrofoam.
If interested check out Mark Lawrences fantasy novels. They are set in our world in the future and it hints that there was a third world war which set humanity back. Our generation is referred to as the builders and they still find buildings and what not from our time and how ugly and bland they are.
Gothic architecture (particularly French Gothic) is just incredible. The artistry, the engineering, the sheer scale... achieving all of that with the technoloy and knowledge of the times... mind-blowing. I've been enamored with Gothic cathedrals for a good year or so now, so I'm excited to see one of my new favorite RU-vidrs make a video on why it's awesome :D
Shad this video was incredible, thank you for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm. Also, as a Catholic, I appreciate your respect and reverence while filming the interior. Religious structures of any kind command respect. Also, what an extraordinary building. Thank you again for sharing.
Playing games like Resident Evil 4, Castlevania,and Bloodborne made me fall in love with this aesthetic. I’m going to visit these breathtaking structures some day 😍
I don't know whether anyone pointed it out yet. I'll tell you anyway since I don't feel like checking. There is a word we use in the Catholic Church for churches (or anything for that matter) in the shape of a cross (other than crosses of course). We say "cruciform." Thank you so much for this video. I love church architecture, and I don't know much about it, so this was exciting to watch.
Recently I watched a few of Shad's videos on architecture again and I have to say, they are all incredibly good! It really adds so much to this channel, especially this rare one, where Shad actually went to a cathedral to talk about it.
Go back and check out the Visigothic and Ostrogothic architecture and then the Romanesque style as well, understanding what gothic grew out of can help you isolate certain elements and combine them in novel ways while still remaining firmly within the gothic tradition.
What I see in this video, is myself when I look at gothic architecture. It's also not an everyday sight to see a person with camera being so respectful to places like this and adopting the customary low voice. Especially on youtube. I really enjoyed this overview of gothic style.
I wish I'd seen this sooner; I could've told you to visit the Cathedral of St John the Divine on 110th street--it's the largest Anglican cathedral in the world, built in the High Gothic style. The ceiling is 127 ft high and the nave(the bottom leg of the cross) is 230 ft long. The internal columns and buttresses are astonishing...
I like that gothic architecture is one of those styles that is really easy to identify, especially for me. Most architectural (and other) styles, often are describes to the tune of "things of the sort that were made by people who made stuff of this style," or "things typically made in this era in this place."
Thank you so much for this very descriptive and visually oriented video. This is really going to help me when I start building my 3D environment with Gothic Architecture in it.
Awesome presentation Shad, you probably know of these already but you should really look up Durham Cathedral and the York Minster absolutely bloody gorgeous they are. If you ever find yourself in the North of England you should really pay them a visit they are amazing.
All the uncovered butresses and arches in gothic architecture make the building appear sort of skeletal. It causes an impression that is very difficult to describe.
artix548 The homicide rate in the US is around 607% higher than in Germany. Even with all the migrants here its still one of the safest countries in the world. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
I've been playing dark souls (original) while watching this and am approaching Anor Londo to fight Ornstein and Smaugh. I've noticed something this time. Anor Londo appears to be a beautiful rendering of a gothic cathedral.
Great video! I really enjoy your castle and medieval architecture videos. I'm a carpenter and builder I love seeing different architecture seeing how things were built and trying to figure out logistically how I would go about building or directing a project like this. What would be the process? I would love to be able to see the foundation and footers used on this building. How deep are they and how massive the stones for the footers must be.
I watched a program on tv not too long ago talking about arches and it is really, really interesting how they hold themselves up (if I remember right, knock out the top of the arch it all falls down)...anyways, you have just added to that knowledge of directing forces and such, so thank you. The gothic style architecture is probably my favourite, and luckily we do have some good examples in Aus (mostly churches, in fact, I should check out Adelaide one day, I hear it's the city of churches...so they probably have quite a few examples).
Referring to minute 19:40 "classic gothic-style architecture": If it were in continental Europe, this cathedral would not be listed as "classic gothic" (having been built from 1858 to its consecration in 1897 and finally completed in 1993). The era of gothic architecture ended almost suddenly 1490-1500, followed by the renaissance and baroque eras, in which gothic style was no longer chosen for new buildings (with very few exceptions). The gothic churches from the era of romanticism in the 19th century are referred to as "neo-gothic", or "gothic revival". It may be different in England, where gothic style never completely went out of fashion.
Good video. I remember taking an Art History class and the gothic architecture was some of my favourite I'd seen. BTW, I'm not sure where I should suggest stuff about cogent, you might have said, but I've probably forgotten so I'll just say what's on my mind here. My friends and I have been playing with your system for a while now. We enjoy a lot of it; however, I personally despise the commerce points and tend to use "proper" currency with numbers and all that bull. Since that's just house rules and there's nothing to really screw up anyone who wants to do that over the commerce points it's no big deal. We were wondering in a few cases what we should roll for a sort of "will" defense. In some cases we could justify, oh, this is strength related, or this is definitely intelligence based, however, there was a point where I'd considered that maybe that was best left to a roleplay aspect, but in that case nobody wants to be the guy or gal who screws the whole party over (unless they're feeling a bit vindictive). I was wondering if you had any ideas for that sort of thing or if it's going to be handled a different way (I considered it might be some variation of a perception roll using the appropriate attributes. Alternatively it could be a matter of burning destiny points. Minding that this would mostly come up in niche situations such as torture and mind control shenanigans). Something that my step brother came up with was that points added by disabling characteristics could be more or less depending on severity, sort of like the way Shadowrun deals with that. This again is simple house ruling, but I have found that a simple destiny roll for a disabling trait for a character whom I've worked on for a while can completely ruin the character for me so this is a nice alternative. How would you deal with someone using a weapon like an axe if they've got a sword proficiency. The way I see it, they may not be trained to use that specific weapon, but the basic information isn't all that different so I figured if they've got two points in it then it'd be one point they could use for the axe. Thanks for your hard work, can't wait til 1.2 or whatever the next version will be. (also sorry if anything above has come up in one of your tabletoptime sessions, I just can't watch everything).
I've not played with Shad's system but it sounds cool. From my own attempts at editing DnD (which is now a full-on homebrew) I'd agree with the axe/sword thing. If you watch Lindybeige he talks about that thing too. Since lots of skills from one fighting system/weapon style apply to another. Even if it's just the ability to judge distances. You also thought about how fighting someone who is using a weapon you know how to use might help you? You know what kind of reach it has, what they can/can't do effectively with it. So you know what advantages to avoid and what disadvantages to exploit. Anywho I'll like your comment so Shad might have a say too.
The synergy of form and function in the arched windows (what you’d typically assume as a structural weakness) actually reinforcing the structure of the cathedral as a whole, is what I find to be so appealing in gothic architecture. Truly a brilliant achievement in human engineering.
Wow, many thanks for the detailed explanation. The next time I drop by the cathedral, I will take a closer look. Thanks again for your research and sharing.
I know that it is a bit late but anyway: Gothic times were from 12th to early 16th century. This one is from 19th century, but it uses the gothic architecture, so it is Gothic revival architecture. And from Shad's explenation it looks like there is a gothic architecture and a castle architecture... But there are gothic castles... a lot of them. Gothic architecture is typical for its catedrals, etc... but it also includes castles, even though they don't share the same elements of architecture it still is a gothic architecture. I hope I got it right, mabe i didn't :) Anyway, cool video. It is awesome to see people like you, who care about history and things that our ancestors left us. I feel like the society is starting to forget the important things... :)
I live in germany, so there are 4 cathedrals in a range of 2 hours drive, 2 are hybrid-styles from the transition between romanic and gothic styles(Mainz and Limburg), 2 are gothic cathedrals (Cologne and Strasbourg). They all are breathtakingly beautiful.
The entrance of the church is the narthex. Churches are oriented with the altar to the east so the main narthex is in the west. Upon entering, you enter the nave, which is the longest part of the cruciform shape and is meant for the regular people. What you are calling the outer walls are called the north and south aisles. The part where the big tower is, is called "the crossing" and the arms of the cruciform shape are called transepts and have a door in the northern transept, and sometimes also the southern. Past the crossing, you find the choir, or quire, as well as the high altar which is obviously for the clerics. The aisle that goes around and behind that is called the ambulatory.
My church was built around the same time in Alabama (1860) but has more castle-like features, like crenelations. It also has a copper roof that is flatter and weighs less, so flying buttresses are not needed, but its got plenty of angled buttresses.
I didn't expect to learn much, but I did :) Back in art history class we learned all about the identifying features of various types of architectural styles. But I never knew about the logic and physics that went into those things. I've seen most of the great gothic cathedrals of Europe, but I feel I would now see them with a whole new fascination. Thank you.
i thought it was because the goths were the main german tribes in europe at the time (spain, portugal, southern france, italy, etc. but you learn every day (i had just guested)
Goths were already long gone when the "Gothic" architecture showed up. Goths were around in the 9th, 10th century max, after that they merged with the others into Spaniard, the French etc. Gothic architecture was some three centuries younger. Rennaisance architecture came after the Gothic, the predecessor of both was the much bulkier Romanesque architecture. That was in most of Europe replaced with the Gothic style, which in Italy spread mostly only to the northern cities and everyone else morphed into the sophisticaded Rennaisance style. And adherents of the new style retrospectively named the northern, "barbaric" and "German" style as Gothic.
Did you know that even those 'spikes' you mentioned (pinnacles) have a function too? It's supposed to add more weight above the point where the flying butressess meet, again to direct forces downward
The height of a building really has nothing to do with buttress, however when the idea of space is involved, on would think of vaulting over post and lintel, which limits how much the walls can span *across*, however the gothic churches used the pointed arch, a style taken from the near east which itself isn't very wide but this gave way to very tall structures from up-scaling and loads of space in between without being limited by *load bearing walls* (it is pretty much a truss system of triangles) which hollowed out space could then be replaced with windows, however this type of arch has a problem, in that it doesn't direct all the forces towards the ground like an circular arch but has some forces known as lateral thrust, this is where the (flying) buttress comes in to redirect this lateral thrust by acting as another semi arch at the end points while the arches can be stacked to support each by cancellation (redirected down). Later into the Baroque period, they went back to rounded or segmented arches however, this time with fewer windows, because these types of arches bear more weight than pointed arches given there are no more lateral thrust and has bigger spans and weight, the walls were required to be thicker.
There's no satisfactory evidence that the pointed arch was anything but an indigenous European development. Both rounded and pointed arches thrust to the sides. Rounded arches actually thrust more to the sides than pointed arches do, and bear less weight because of the weakness of the top of the arch which is eliminated in the pointed arch. But architectural styles that make use of rounded arches and barrel vaults simply increase the wall mass to compensate rather than relying on buttresses.
Watching this after growing up in Soest, Germany is kinda cool. It's like an Aussie watching me talk about Koalas. If I was an expert on Koalas...god, this analogy didn't work at ALL. Look up Soest, though...It's a MARVELLOUS historic town center and the gothic bits are - obviously - the best!! St Maria zur Wiese, now THAT'S gothic architecture !
Gothic Architecture is so beautiful & so ahead of it's time, the hard work, design & dedication to making them is ingenious. I'd rather see all the gothic churches, castles, towers & monuments in the world than see those bloody eyesores of glass/metal or as it's called "Modern architecture".
Technically, you could never bang you head against a wall without an efficient cause. According to Aristotle, an efficient cause is the agent that affects the change. I.e, the efficient cause of a painting is the painter. Therefore, to bang your head against a wall without an efficient cause would mean that you don't exist, or that you are not banging your head against the wall-- someone else is.
If you like this kind of architecture you should visit the cathedral of cologne in Germany. It's one of the most beautiful Gothic churches in the world.
Very cool TY. Question though, how do you get into the towers? The vaulted ceiling only goes so high, so there is still a room up thier but i saw no stairs.
As a construction worker that works a fair bit with stone.. one cubic meter of stone weighs about 1800KG... so if that Wall was a castle wall.. oh boy would it be heavy xD
Well, what you might have in Australia are good examples of Neo-Gothic architecture, since real Gothic started in the European Middle Ages and stopped at the latest in the 16th Century, and what you call "Castle architecture", possibly to make people unfamiliar with architectural styles understand a bit, I gues is what in Europe would be called Romanesque style; not only castles were built with those thick walls, even churches were built that way.
A "proper" cathedral has to be Gothic. The advantage of Gothic vs castles is all that open space and light. It is interesting to look in the background. You have a modern building in the background which is larger and taller. I guess you could say exoskeleton vs modern iron or steel skeleton. If you have strong enough "bones" you don't need crutches. Arches and domes are extremely strong. Roman architecture vs the pyramids.
I don't really get why you oppose castle architecture to gothic architecture. There are gothic styled castles, but it's only that sacred architecture makes the features of a style more obvious. Gothic has to be compared with romanesque architecture. I think you should have mentionned this was neo-gothic or gothic revival, instead of saying it was classical gothic. I think it could be misleading to some viewers. The absolute reference for gothic architecture is Viollet-le-Duc's Dictionnaire Raisonné de l'Architecture Française du XI au XVIe siècle (in French obviously): fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionnaire_raisonn%C3%A9_de_l%E2%80%99architecture_fran%C3%A7aise_du_XIe_au_XVIe_si%C3%A8cle Viollet-le-Duc was an architect, and he really was the first person to develop a real academic interest on gothic architecture. He's responsible for showing the world how it was a coherent and well thought-out style. Based on his study of gothic architecture, he would develop an architectural doctrine that would end up playing a huge role in the development of Art Nouveau, and in the same time become the ground for functionalism in architecture. He is still crapped upon because he had views about building restoration that are considered unorthodox nowadays: while today we merely do conservation, he wanted to take things further, and "finish" buildings. For exemple, he wanted to give Notre-Dame de Paris his missing spires. But this guy saved the french gothic architectural patrimony, and really raised awareness about how important it was to study it and restore it. Just about the Dictionnaire Raisonné, the article about buttress (contre-fort in French): fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionnaire_raisonn%C3%A9_de_l%E2%80%99architecture_fran%C3%A7aise_du_XIe_au_XVIe_si%C3%A8cle/Contre-fort For flying-buttress (arc-boutant): fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionnaire_raisonn%C3%A9_de_l%E2%80%99architecture_fran%C3%A7aise_du_XIe_au_XVIe_si%C3%A8cle/Arc-boutant And for cathedral: fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionnaire_raisonn%C3%A9_de_l%E2%80%99architecture_fran%C3%A7aise_du_XIe_au_XVIe_si%C3%A8cle/Cath%C3%A9drale
Hm. So buttresses are analogous to fullers on a blade, making the entire structure lighter while keeping it strong, and they rely on the same I-beam principle.
If you're nitpicking, the fullers are analogous to the parts of the wall that arent' there. But yeah, the idea is the same: keep the thickness only in certain parts to make the whole thing lighter without sacrificing (much) flexibility / stability.
Thats really a nice church! You should really visit Cologne to see a real cathedral if youre able to ;P An if you're there pay a visit to Grand St. Martin Cathedral, just to become an impression of how great romanesque architecture can be, and if you fell in lowe with it, visit Maiz Cathedral and Speyer Cathedral and if you still have the time.. visit the smal but very beautifull cathedral of Limburg at Lahn river to see where Gothic started... at least for Germany ;)
Dude... you should have read my whole post before trolling :-I I was talking for the beginnig of Gothic in Germany! Actually it started in Spain as the term is related to the Wisigoths, a germanic tribe that settled there during the Migration Period. "Gothic" is related to their lancet arch architecture, that became the synonym for the stile, when they started to use it in France
There is a difference between gothic and neo-gothic architecture. The building in the video is neo-gothic, meaning it was probably built in the nineteenth century. Gothic architecture was in the late medieval period, but is pretty much the same, at leat when it comes to cathedrals (on many cathedrals, construction was started in the late medieval period, but they weren't finished until the neo-gothic period). Thus the difference in wall thickness isn't due to the technical limitations of the medieval period, but rather that they weren't defencive structures, and you wanted alot of light through the windows.
In the end, the technical limitations came from trying to get the walls higher and thinner. Beavuais cathedral was the tallest ever attempted, and after at least two major collapses, it was never finished.
Hey, I got two ads from the International University of Catalonia (I live 10min away from Barcelona), one of them about a Degree in Architecture. The stupid algorithm it's doing its job. Enjoy your ad revenue! I thought you wouldn't mention the colours. They look beautiful.
