emo architecture

Definition of Goth·ic (gthk) : often gothic Of or relating to a style of fiction that emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate.

2. Gothic Barbarous; crude. - (Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Gothic )

Goth/gothic does not refer to one specific field, instead it is a culture which applies to people, architecture and beliefs. The word Gothic or Goth may refer to the “Gothic” stereotype, where the people in this circle which are those who we normally tend to think (due to the exaggeration of media and books) , are defined as those people who believe in the use of dark clothes (all the time) ,extreme use of eyeliner/guyliner and how they ultimately praise “vampires”, ideas of the end of the world and other sadistic ideas.

Goth may also refer to the era which began in mid-12^th century, medieval middle ages. During this time, when Christianity flourished, the growth of other beliefs and other ideas also grew. However, gothic architecture in contrast, was well known for the growth of churches. Other than the use of grotesque looking gargoyles, I honestly have no idea why they called this era “Gothic”. The growth of magnificent churches, vast in height, with the use of colour tinted windows, seemed majestic, and definately not “grotesque, mysterious, and desolate”, which is rather contradicting, in my opinion.

For example, churches, after learning from their mistakes from the Romanesque, they started adding flying buttresses to support the weight of the arches, and with that, they were able to add more windows, which brought more light into the churches; again, I do not know the relativity to how making a church brighter and more cheerful could lead to the categorizing of being gothic -which is usually related to being dark and gloomy. So Gothic architecture had no relation to the “gothic” stereotype that we are all familiar with today. Even the gargoyles had nothing do with sinister ideas, they were made as a way to chase away evil spirits and a way to frighten the not so educated society of that medieval era, (they were also used as some form of drainage system).

I believe that this era marked engineering advancement towards the structures. Architects learned some new ways of making roofs and of supporting walls, especially with the groin vaults and the flying buttress. They introduced pointed arches, which lessened the pressure of archs, so instead of pressure being pushed sideways with rounded archs, pressure was contributed downwards. This lessened the thickness of walls, and the use of material. Also, the introduction of flying buttresses was another smart move - they could finally install more windows to let more light in.