This fascinating study of the structural elements of Gothic cathedrals is written by an engineer who has spent the last 15 years applying analytical techniques of structural mechanics to Gothic buildings. Like a detective, he uses these techniques to solve continuing historical arguments about whether flying buttresses hold the roof up or are merely decorative, whether ornate pinnacles atop piers are structurally necessary or purely aesthetic, whether the ribs of the vaults hold up the ceiling as is generally believed, whether the cathedral at Chartres deserves its place in history as the height of innovative medieval design.
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Editorial Reviews
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"This is a work that will rank with the major modern scholarly inquiries into Gothic architecture... Mark is not a victim, as so many pure aestheticians are, of the fallacy of seeing Gothic cathedrals as physical objects only. For him, they are the product of complex social, economic, and cultural forces, from the growth of liquid capital as a result of the Crusades to the increasing technical abilities of masons and craftsmen. Neither is he swayed by their mystique. He explains cathedrals as a teacher might explain a fact of mathematics, and yet he makes one comprehend how remarkable was the achievement of their builders."
—Paul Goldberger, Discover
—Paul Goldberger, Discover
About the Author
Robert Mark is Professor of Architecture and Civil Engineering at Princeton University.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good content, technical style, outdated method,
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This review is from: Experiments in Gothic Structure (Paperback)
A look at the structure of Gothic cathedrals, mostly the flying buttresses and the ribbed vaulting, analyzing where the forces go and where the stresses are. Mostly done through a photoelastic modeling technique of Mark's own invention, involving heating epoxy frames--it does make for some very pretty pictures. He thinks Bourges was a magnificent oddball, and rather regrets that its style wasn't copied more widely; he thinks Viollet-le-Duc had all the details wrong, but was right to create the study of Gothic architecture.
I certainly don't have the engineering knowledge to fully appreciate the structural analysis parts, but they're kept to a low enough level that this educated layman can (barely) follow along and manage to learn something about what makes Gothic cathedrals stand up (or not, in the case of Beauvais). Advances in computer modeling since 1982 have made Mark's photoelastic technique obsolete, so the book will probably be of little interest now to the audience that's technical enough they could have kept up with it. Subject interesting, content good, style technical but still accessible, method unfortunately dated.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Experiments in Gothic Structure,
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This review is from: Experiments in Gothic Structure (Paperback)
If you enjoy studying Gothic churches this book will take you to a another level and you will be amazed at the understanding the designer/builders had in that era. Kudos to the author.
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