Authors: Gordon Strachan, Oliver Perceval
ISBN-13: 9780863153914, ISBN-10: 0863153917
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Floris Books
Date Published: October 2003
Edition: (Non-applicable)
In this ground-breaking new work, Gordon Strachan explores the magnificent structure of Chartres Cathedral and its influences on the medieval master builders. Using Chartres as a starting point, Dr. Strachan shows how the origins of the Gothic style the pointed arch may lie in Islamic architecture. He goes on to a fascinating and detailed consideration of how a particular architectural space affects us, and how sacred geometry creates sacred space.
About the author:
Gordon Strachan teaches in the Department of Architecture at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of the highly acclaimed Jesus the Master Builder (Floris Books, 1998).
Acknowledgments | 7 | |
Introduction: The Sacred Site at Chartres | 9 | |
1. | The Islamic Origin of the Pointed Arch | 16 |
2. | Sacred Geometry and Abbot Suger | 35 |
3. | St Bernard and the Early Gothic Plan | 43 |
4. | Of Cubes and Ka'aba | 53 |
5. | The Plan of Chartres | 60 |
6. | Dionysius the Areopagite and the Unknown God | 74 |
7. | St Denis, Chartres and the Darkness of God | 88 |
Endnotes | 103 | |
Bibliography | 107 | |
Index | 109 | |
Photographic acknowledgments | 111 |