| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £3.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals: A Study of Medieval Vault Erection for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £3.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
This book describes the process of erecting the great cathedrals in the Gothic era. Since there are no contemporary accounts of the techniques used by medieval builders, this study explains the building equipment and falsework needed, the actual operations undertaken, and the sequence of these operations as far as they can be deduced from manuscript illuminations and pictorial representations. The book shows the technical expertise and improvements which enabled the creative spirit of the day to find such splendid embodiment.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
THE PRIMARY STRUCTURAL PROBLEM IN BUILDING IS THAT OF spanning space. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THE PRIMARY STRUCTURAL PROBLEM IN BUILDING IS THAT OF spanning space. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In this book, originally published in 1961, John Fitchen describes and explains the falsework (i.e. scaffolding) that was used to build Gothic Cathedrals. The main focus is on the construction and use of the centering (which is the formwork used to build arcs and vaults). The chapters: 1. Sources of information - 2. Constructional means - 3. Medieval types of vaulting - 4. Gothic formwork - 5. Gothic centering - 6. Erection of rib vaulting without formwork. The text is clearly written and accompanied by excellent drawings, a very good glossary and an extensive bibliography. For everyone interested in medieval building techniques this book is a must.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased this book as I am interested in how medieval people managed to build enormous cathedrals using very simple technology.
This book discusses the methods used to construct Gothic vaulting in cathedrals concentrating on the wooden structures, scaffolding, centering etc, used to support the vaulting while under construction. However there is very little written evidence on how these wooden structures were built and much of the book is supposition on how the structures were probably built. Lots of diagrams but only two photos so sometimes its hard to understand what the author is trying to describe.
Its rather heavy going too and I get the impression that the book was probably written either as a doctorial thesis or as a text book for Professor Fitchen's students. In particular he often refers to photos which are not in this book but in book referenced in the bibliography to which most of us don't have access.
This book discusses the methods used to construct Gothic vaulting in cathedrals concentrating on the wooden structures, scaffolding, centering etc, used to support the vaulting while under construction. However there is very little written evidence on how these wooden structures were built and much of the book is supposition on how the structures were probably built. Lots of diagrams but only two photos so sometimes its hard to understand what the author is trying to describe.
Its rather heavy going too and I get the impression that the book was probably written either as a doctorial thesis or as a text book for Professor Fitchen's students. In particular he often refers to photos which are not in this book but in book referenced in the bibliography to which most of us don't have access.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
47 of 47 people found the following review helpful
A very good description of medieval building techniques
31 July 1999
Format:Paperback
In this book, originally published in 1961, John Fitchen describes and explains the falsework (i.e. scaffolding) that was used to build Gothic Cathedrals. The main focus is on the construction and use of the centering (which is the formwork used to build arcs and vaults). The chapters: 1. Sources of information - 2. Constructional means - 3. Medieval types of vaulting - 4. Gothic formwork - 5. Gothic centering - 6. Erection of rib vaulting without formwork. The text is clearly written and accompanied by excellent drawings, a very good glossary and an extensive bibliography. For everyone interested in medieval building techniques this book is a must.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Maximum height and maximum light
6 Aug 2006
Format:Paperback
Good introduction to medieval building techniques. Being a devoted admirer of Gothic cathedrals, this was one of the first books I red about the subject and it served well. If you wish to know why was pointed arch so important, or procedures used to erect butresses or types of scaffoldings used at that times... you will find the answers here. There is one drawback - it seems to me that author was repeating some ideas from the first half of the book in the second one, but still, it deserves 5 stars. Kind regards, Mario.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
needs more figures and graphics. Assumes you already know what the different areas in a cathedral are called.
28 Dec 2009
Format:Paperback
I've read about a third of this book so far, and I'm finding myself wishing the author had included more figures, sketches, and diagrams. There are already quite a few figures, sketches, and diagrams in it, but they lack callouts and arrows pointing to specific items of interest with a description, and they feel very disconnected from the text. The main reason I wish he had used even more sketches is that the author seems to assume the reader knows what all the parts of a cathedral are called. He randomly tosses out references to "triformiums" and "diaphragm wall" (there are lots of walls, which one is he considering the diaphragm wall?). The glossary at the back offers a written description of SOME of these confusing terms, but architecture and structural engineering are by nature graphical and visual fields... he needs an overall plan and section of a typical cathedral with each area and piece identified... a visual glossary. I've been so distracted trying to figure out what he is referring to that I haven't had a chance to evaluate anything else about his book.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Architecture > Planning
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Architecture > Types of Architecture > Religious Buildings
- Books > History > Religious History > Christianity
- Books > Science & Nature > Engineering & Technology > Civil Engineering > Building Construction & Materials
- Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
