College of Environmental Design
Department of Architecture, UC Berkeley
Architecture Slide Library
Architecture 170 - Fall 1996 - Dell Upton - December 5
I. BUSINESS.
II. TECHNOLOGY. Medieval technology was dynamic; technological development was part of the generally dynamic quality of medieval society and architecture.
Technology and architectural change after the High Gothic cathedrals. Minimization of technology in favor of space and light: Sainte Chapelle, Paris, 1243-48, chapel built at the royal palace for Louis IX (Saint Louis). Note: upper and lower chapels, painted decoration and stained glass, deemphasized structure, lacy surface quality. (Sainte Chapelle, Paris: Exterior; Exterior from East; Interior Lower Chapel; Interior; Plan). Often referred to as the Flamboyant style; another ex.: north rose window at Beauvais Cathedral.
Structure as decoration: English Gothic cathedrals. Wells Cathedral, Wells, Somerset, c. 1186-1240 with additions. Note: differences in scale, plan, and intentions from French cathedrals; quadripartite nave vaults; strainer arches [1338] in nave; chapter house [c. 1319] vaults; choir [1330s] and Lady Chapel [1320s] vaults. (Wells Cathedral: West Facade; Central nave; Inverted Arch, nave; Choir; Interior, Chapter House; Early Plan; Plan, east end). Lierne vaulting: an English device that creates decorative patterns out of ribs, tiercerons, and liernes. The triumph of decoration over structure: Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey, London, 1503-1519; William Vertue, master mason. Note: fan vaulting and how it is made.
Medieval technology: timber-building traditions in England. Cruck and box framing; structure as decoration (Westminster Hall, London, 1394-1400; Hugh Herland, carpenter - Hammerbeam Truss); decorative pseudostructure (ex.: the Octagon [after 1322], Ely Cathedral).
The ubiquity of machines in the middle ages.
The builder as intellectual: the sketchbook of French architect Villard de Honnecourt [c. 1200-c. 1250], who drew inventions, decorative details, and architectural models in his book. Mechanical invention in the middle ages: clocks and the new concept of time. The desire for learning and the respect for human culture in the new universities (ex.: New College, Oxford, England, 1379). The Renaissance as an outgrowth of the middle ages.
III. CONCLUDING REMARKS.
Final exam: Tuesday, Dec. 17, 12:30-3:30 PM, 1 PIMENTEL HALL