A Definition for Gothic Architecture by Viollet-le-Duc

The historic centre of the city of Pilsen in western Bohemia, today a region of the Czech Republic, was constructed at the end of the thirteenth century, at a time when Gothic architecture was universal across most of western and central Europe. The Gothic style had emerged and developed during an era when social and economic changes were favouring the development of new urban settlements, and when the translation of ancient Greek natural philosophy, including astronomy, was giving rise to a new intellectual movement. This revival of the natural sciences was inevitably bound up with the Roman Catholic Church, since much of this knowledge had been preserved within monastic institutions and was now being used by theologians/natural philosophers who wanted to apply reason to theology. This paper’s analysis of the urban plan of the historic centre of Pilsen is an attempt to investigate the possible influence that the science of astronomy had on architectural thought and creativity in western Bohemia, and how this was represented in the light of scientific advancement.

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Gothic Architecture in Spain: Invention and Imitation

Hispanic Research Journal ◽

10.1080/14682737.2020.1903720 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (5) ◽

pp. 589-592

Author(s):

Matilde Mateo

Keyword(s):

Gothic Architecture

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Experience and Theory in Architectural Design: Digital Chain Case

AM Journal of Art and Media Studies ◽

10.25038/am.v0i12.172 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 121

Author(s):

Mariela Cvetić ◽

Slađana Marković

Keyword(s):

Architectural Design ◽

Design Code ◽

Gothic Architecture ◽

User Input ◽

Main Driver ◽

Design Idea ◽

Main Component ◽

And Behavior ◽

The Impact ◽

Testing Design

The aim of this paper is to research the impact to emerging theory based on the relation between the architect and his work in a digital approach to the process of design and realization by the principle of Digital Chain. Digital Chain is an uninterruptible digital process consisting of design (idea, coding, geometrics), through construction (structure, junction, prototyping) to production (fabrication) with every step as a programmed entity connected by CAAD/CAM technology universal interfaces. The term Digital Chain is defined and researched (theoretically, experimentally and practically) by the CAAD Chair at ETHZ within the research projects of this institute. Digital Chain is not continuous without the role and position of the architect as the fluid energy and expert that investigates how digital technology is changing, i.e. the entire process of the chain, simultaneously adapting to it.In that sense architecture appears as an open work (Umberto Eco) without final definitions and in a constant process of information motion as the main component of the architectural product caused by the demands of context, function, form and user input. Testing design code through changes of parameters in iterations, as well as checks in prototype on the next level, makes the theoretical playground between experiment and experience, through education and expertise. It is examplary that interest in the process (performance) was larger than the representation (appearance), what Deleuze and Guattari call supremacy of the Gothic spirit over the spirit of Romanesque or classical spirit, where Gothic deals with the generation of Gothic architecture by understanding the forces, trends and behavior of the material from the bottom to the top, contrary to the classic generation that deals with the imposition of visual aspects such as the proportion of top-down. This paper considers experience or posteriori knowledge as the main driver of the emerging theory of the Digital Chain. Article received: December 26, 2016; Article accepted: January 23, 2017; Published online: April 20, 2017Original scholarly paperHow to cite this article: Cvetić, Mariela, and Slađana Marković. "Experience and Theory in Architectural Design: Digital Chain Case." AM Journal of Art and Media Studies 12 (2017): 121-134.

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