Arki-Texts: Too much Beauty and the Beast

// AN: I haven’t written so long because I’ve been busy with Architecture School but in between plates there are essays here and there that I happen to enjoy very much which I would like to dump in here. If you’re interested in what I have to say, stay tuned.

Let me just clarify that these are all from my takes in class.

Happy reading! //

“Gothic Insights”

I was always sure of what I wanted to become when I grow up. It was an architect or nothing else and because of that, I was fond of appreciating structures. And as someone who had family in Milan Italy, I was lucky to have been introduced to a lot of known structures in Europe because they would always send me or post grand cathedrals and amazingly detailed museums and such.

But even as I looked at them I didn’t quite appreciate them as much as I do after tackling Gothic Architecture in class. Call me cliche but as someone who loved to watch sci-fi films, Gothic Architecture meant spooky, creepy and massive to me.

Turns out, I did get one right which was that Gothic Architecture did mean grand- tall and inspiring but contrast to dim, it actually meant to light. And to elaborate a little further, I am referring to the placement of natural light, rose windows and stained glasses that are very much evident on the still existing structures that represent this style of architecture.

More so, I learned that all these details that I perceived to be creepy actually had different meanings and specific functions. Let me just add that personally, I thought that all these carvings were hidden spells to be read where demons would rise from the dead. I wish I was joking but I really am not, I guess this goes to show that I watch way too many fictional films.

I’m relieved to have learned that they all had their reasonable and realistic functions. For example, gargoyles. Who knew that they were actually water sprouts that drained rainwater from the rooftops. Ask a normal person and they would share the same thought as me, guard of the beasts that lived inside. A little too much of beauty and the beast if you ask me.

What else? Stained Glass. I thought that merely they were just aesthetic touches and partly they are but I have come to learn that Gothic stained glass windows not only were made to be pretty but they feature a lot of tracery, a decorative type of stone support, and detailed scenes from Biblical stories.

I also used to think that these pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses were designed that way merely to showcase verticality and they do but it so happens that there are engineering purposes as well- to support it’s large proportions.

I’ve learned to elaborate the saying that architecture is the reflection of time and people more with this style. The authoritative leadership that took place at this point of time played a very big role on the physical aspects of their structures. That they were intentionally created to be massive and intimidating to create a commanding statement and aura of obedience. No wonder you get this sense of bowing down upon its majestic appeal.

As redundant as it sounds from all the times I’ve written this down on my essays, I’ll mention it again. Gothic Architecture definitely taught me that Architecture is more than its aesthetics. That the details aren’t just details but they create the whole.

Yna