DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26747#0041
INTRODUCTIOX.
XXXV11
Area.
Solids.
Ratio
in Decimals.
N earest
Vulgar Fractions.
Hypostyle Hall, Karnac
Feet.
94,437
Feet.
46,538
•496
One-half.
Spires Cathedral .
56,737
12,076
•216
One-fifth.
Bourges Cathedral
61,590
11,091
•181
One-sixth.
Parthenon, Athens
23,140
4,430
• 148
One-seventh.
Chartres Cathedral
68,261
8,886
•130
One-eighth.
Salishury Cathedral
55,853
7,012
•125
One-eighth.
Paris, Notre Dame
64,108
7,852
• 122
One-eighth.
Cologne Cathedral .
81,464
9,554
•117
One-ninth.
Milan Cathedral
108,277
11,601
•107
One-tenth.
Tork Cathedral
72,860
7,376
•101
One-tenth.
St. Ouen, Rouen
47,107
4,637
•097
One-tenth.
Temple of Peace
68,000
6,928
•101
One-tenth.
St. Peter’s, Rome .
227,000
59,308
•261
One-fourth.
. Sta. Maria, Florence
84,802
17,056
•201
One-fifth.
. St. Paul’s, London
84,311
14,311
•171
One-sixth.
Ste. Genevieve, Paris .
60,287
9,269
•154
One-sixth.
. At tlie head of tlie list stands tlie Plypostjde Idall, and next to it
practically is tlie Parthenon, wliich. heing the only wooden-roofed
building in the list, its ratio of support in proportion to tlie work re-
quired is nearly as great as that of the temple at Karnac. Spires only
wants better details to be one of the grandest edifices in Europe, and
Bourges, Paris, Chartres, and Salisbury are among the most satisfac-
tory Gothic cathedrals we possess. St. Ouen, notwithstanding all its
beauty of detail and design, fails in this one point, and is certainly
deficient in solidity. Cologne and Milan would both be very much
improvedby greater massiveness ; at York the lightness of the supports
is carried so far that it never can be completecl with the vaulted roof
originally designed for the nave at least; and the Temple of Peace is
so clever a piece of engineering, that it must a-lways have been a failure
as an architectural design.
The last four buildings have quite sufficient strength for arcliitec-
tural effect, but the value of this is lost from concealed construction,
and because the supports are generally grouped into a few great
masses, the dimensions of which cannot be estimated by the eye. A
Gothic architect would have divided these masses into twice or three
times the number of the piers used in these churc'hes, and by employing
ornament designed to display and accentuate the construction, would
liave rendered these buildings far more satisfactory than they are.
In this respect the great art of the architect consists in obtaining
tlie greatest possible amount of unencumbered space internally, con-
sistent in tlie first place with the requisite amount of permanent mc-
chanical stability, and next with such an appearance of superfluity of
d
XXXV11
Area.
Solids.
Ratio
in Decimals.
N earest
Vulgar Fractions.
Hypostyle Hall, Karnac
Feet.
94,437
Feet.
46,538
•496
One-half.
Spires Cathedral .
56,737
12,076
•216
One-fifth.
Bourges Cathedral
61,590
11,091
•181
One-sixth.
Parthenon, Athens
23,140
4,430
• 148
One-seventh.
Chartres Cathedral
68,261
8,886
•130
One-eighth.
Salishury Cathedral
55,853
7,012
•125
One-eighth.
Paris, Notre Dame
64,108
7,852
• 122
One-eighth.
Cologne Cathedral .
81,464
9,554
•117
One-ninth.
Milan Cathedral
108,277
11,601
•107
One-tenth.
Tork Cathedral
72,860
7,376
•101
One-tenth.
St. Ouen, Rouen
47,107
4,637
•097
One-tenth.
Temple of Peace
68,000
6,928
•101
One-tenth.
St. Peter’s, Rome .
227,000
59,308
•261
One-fourth.
. Sta. Maria, Florence
84,802
17,056
•201
One-fifth.
. St. Paul’s, London
84,311
14,311
•171
One-sixth.
Ste. Genevieve, Paris .
60,287
9,269
•154
One-sixth.
. At tlie head of tlie list stands tlie Plypostjde Idall, and next to it
practically is tlie Parthenon, wliich. heing the only wooden-roofed
building in the list, its ratio of support in proportion to tlie work re-
quired is nearly as great as that of the temple at Karnac. Spires only
wants better details to be one of the grandest edifices in Europe, and
Bourges, Paris, Chartres, and Salisbury are among the most satisfac-
tory Gothic cathedrals we possess. St. Ouen, notwithstanding all its
beauty of detail and design, fails in this one point, and is certainly
deficient in solidity. Cologne and Milan would both be very much
improvedby greater massiveness ; at York the lightness of the supports
is carried so far that it never can be completecl with the vaulted roof
originally designed for the nave at least; and the Temple of Peace is
so clever a piece of engineering, that it must a-lways have been a failure
as an architectural design.
The last four buildings have quite sufficient strength for arcliitec-
tural effect, but the value of this is lost from concealed construction,
and because the supports are generally grouped into a few great
masses, the dimensions of which cannot be estimated by the eye. A
Gothic architect would have divided these masses into twice or three
times the number of the piers used in these churc'hes, and by employing
ornament designed to display and accentuate the construction, would
liave rendered these buildings far more satisfactory than they are.
In this respect the great art of the architect consists in obtaining
tlie greatest possible amount of unencumbered space internally, con-
sistent in tlie first place with the requisite amount of permanent mc-
chanical stability, and next with such an appearance of superfluity of
d