As a group we focused on comparing the structure of Amiens and Cologne. One thing that was interesting when looking at different perspectives of the two cathedrals was, the cathedrals had more characteristics in common than contrasting each other. The conclusion is that region has a lot to do with the style of Gothic Cathedrals. Patrick said in class, “All cathedrals speak the same language, just different dialects.” We see this with the structure of Amiens and Cologne. Both Cathedrals have the same basic golden sectioned however; we see that the Amiens section is more complex in division. This makes the ceiling division tighter knit and the wall structure more spaced within the cathedral choir.
Cologne Ceiling from http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2435/3731771578_e1f608e27f.jpg
Amiens Ceiling from
When comparing the exterior of the two, Cologne cathedral shows more attention to detail. The flying buttresses of Cologne are closer to the building allowing for the slender effect that the cathedral gives off allows us to awe at its enormous height. When concluding these observations, one can see that architects over the generations of construction to the Amiens cathedral paid more attention the interior details, whereas the Cologne cathedral focuses on the exterior details.
Flying Buttresses of Cologne
http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/01550/01550m.html
As cathedrals were seen as places of sanctuary during the Gothic period, what was going on in government can have a lot to do with this change in detail. For example, Cologne cathedral can symbolize the chaos on the outside but when entering into the cathedral one is releasing the chaos and entering into a world of simplicity. Cologne was also built after Amiens so as time changed we see people views change on where detail was important and where it was omitted. One other conclusion to look at is the scale of the cathedrals. Cologne cathedral appears to me a vertical element rising above a tightly packed city. In the positioning and height of the cathedral we see that the Germans wished this to be their central point. Within the German walled cities, houses were so close together when looking from about all you see are level rooftops. The Germans made sure that the cathedral stood out above all the other buildings as a map for people. The Amiens cathedral is placed in in a semi-spacious area it appears to be bulkier. We still see that the French put it as the center of the city but due to land space and the type of area they chose to make the entrance big in scale.
Amiens Cathedral:
Cologne Cathedral:
Cognitive Map:
For my Cognatice map I chose to use the golden section because it is the bases where all gothic cathedrals began. The regions and catherdrals lie at the ends of the axis. The sections starts out in one small square where everything is the same. As the sqaures branch out and began to touch the ends of the axis we see the the evolutions of regional influence during the dark ages. The difference lie on the outside because the differences in the catherdrals are on the surface however withing the center and where the sections cross, lie all the similarities because they are the same core foundation through all regions of the dark ages.
Great job and nice photos and diagrams. Don't forget to tie in the readings somehow.
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