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The Flying ButtressIts origins, functions, and development
Daniel E. Todd, 7-21-2005
Gothic Architecture is usually defined as a list of its components,
buttresses (flying and otherwise), pointed arches (and the rib vaultsthey comprise), and a doctrine of soaring heights and light filledchambers (stained glass, rose windows, et cetera). However, creating
a list of characteristics misses the point. Gothic Architecture can best
be defined as “… a logical adjustment of active parts whose opposingforces neutralize each other and produce a perfect equilibrium.”
(Moore p.8) It is not simply the parts that create gothic architecture;it is the way these parts interact with each other. It is a balance
created so perfectly that one element cannot exist without the others,
or would be rendered irrelevant. Still, there is one particular feature
which makes the symbiosis possible, and alone, without the otherelements, serves no purpose; the flying buttress. It was the inventionof the flying buttress which made the vast vertical expanse of the nave
crowned with the rib vault possible, and has served no other purpose
beyond that.
Roman Engineering
For medieval builders, who had no science or understanding of thrusts,
forces, or center of gravity, creating equilibrium was based on intuitiveleaps. However, it is likely that the Romans, being excellent
engineers, understood.
The Romans invented the lateral thrust arch and in doing so, createdthe origin for the flying buttress. The lateral thrust arch, as opposed
to a simple arch, was designed by the shape and positioning of the
brickwork to ensure that the load placed on the top of the arch wouldbe transferred along the curve of the arch to the sides, and thus down
to the foundations, rather than straight down through empty space.This allowed for perfect stability in situations where arches or vaulted
chambers were stacked one atop the other, sometimes to great
heights. Though rarely used by the Romans, a half arch could also beused to transfer thrust, but in this case, it was thrust placed
horizontally against the top of the arch. The thrust would again betransferred along the arch and towards the foundation, creating
stability.
More common was the groin vault, a feature which would serve to be
key to Gothic architecture. The groin vault, a perpendicular crossing
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of two barrel vaults, exerted all lateral thrust into the corner points,where pillars were placed. In order to counteract the horizontal force
which would have ruptured the pillars, support walls were erected togive stability to the construction. Illustrated in figure 1, these are true
buttresses.
Though buttresses
would become commonthroughout the middle
ages, this technique of
counteracting forceswould not be used
again until theRomanesque period,
where it steadily
evolved into thefoundation of high
gothic design.
Medieval Buttresses
Throughout the middle ages, buttresseswere used to add support to the
fortifications, such as Canterbury Castle,
seen in Figure 2. Like the Romanshowever, the Medieval buttress is never
seen as a distinct architectural feature.
Romanesque Architecture
With the advent of the Romanesque
style, it became necessary to stiffen thestructure of the walls, as they were
thinner than those used by the Romans.
As a result, the buttress as it is knowntoday came into being. As the
Romanesque chambers grew larger, andin turn the walls thicker, the buttresses
became more and more important, until
they became a necessary aspect of thearchitectural style.
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The Romanesque Basilica
In Romanesque basilicas, often
a half arched vault would be
created over the aisles ortriforium, but they were not
needed in order to support thewalls of the structure, nor
would they have been
sufficient where that the case.
Romanesque construction stillfeatured very thick and sturdy
walls which were quite adept at
standing on their own withoutthe need for lateral support.
Additionally, the flat timber oreven gabled roofs of their early
basilicas provided nowherenear enough pressure to do
the thick stone walls harm. A
remarkable resemblance isseen between it and the flying
buttress however, and it isclearly from here that the form
emerged.
But as the ideals of Romanesque architecture were embraced, vaultedchambers were employed, as seen in Figure 4. These vaulted ceilings
were extremely heavy, and exerted a high level of lateral force upon
the walls of the structure, limiting the potential size of the building. Asthe desire for taller and taller naves grew, it slowly became clear that
simple buttressing and half-arched barrel vaults in the aisles would beinsufficient.
Moving Towards Gothic
A revolution took place in the style of basilica design; light. Churchbuilders were no longer satisfied with the dark heavy chambers of their
Romanesque basilicas, desiring instead the soaring illuminated innerspace of Hagia Sophia. A solution was found, and this solution in turn
was the synthesis for the flying buttress.
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To solve the problem of illumination and
height, the rib vault was created. Thiswas based on a Romanesque invention,
the pointed arch. Seen in figure 5, the
higher pitch of the arch increased thedownward curve of the lateral thrust, and
combined with the rectangular shape,made the pointed groin vault much
sturdier, and able to be built much
thinner than a normal groin vault.
Pointed, rectangular groin vaults were placed in succession which
opened up the walls structurally to the reception of windows (stained
glass, specifically), forming the rib vault. Thus, the rib vault would beable to stand atop a long colonnade, with wide and tall stained glass
windows on either side, and would also most assuredly come crashingto the ground. As excellent as the design was, it would not be able to
stand on its own.
The builders of Abbaye-aux-
Dames were the first to make theleap towards the solution. Rather
than a continuous vault above thetriforium, individual half arches
were placed at the pier of each ribin the rib vault, and then fortifiedexternally with a buttress, as seen
in figure 6. Primitive, internal,and still not completely adequate
to do the job, it was nevertheless
the important step that lead to theinvention of the flying buttress.
It was St. Germain-des-Pres that
would take it one step farther,freeing the flying buttresses fromthe triforium, enlarging them
substantially, and raising them topress directly against the rib
vaulting. The flying buttress had truly come into being, and was hence
forth a absolute necessity in what became known as Gothic
architecture.
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Continued Development
The flying buttress continued toevolve as ambitions grew and
the height of the naves along
with it. Flying buttresses werestacked, which became a
necessity again as the need formore light inspired builders to
open up the triforium to
windows as well. Double-aislesrequired double flying
buttresses, complex systems of support beams meant to ensure
that the collapse of their
beloved cathedrals would nevercome to pass.
Another intuitive leap occurred,
for medieval builders still hadno true understanding of
physical forces, with the
invention of the spire, the lastvariation in the design of these
structures, creating finally the
Form we know of today. Far frombeing an embellishment of artistic
design, the spire adds weight tothe outer buttress, dramatically
increasing the vertical thrust and
adding considerable stability tothe structure.
With this powerful tool, Gothic
builders were able to create navesthat reached as high as 170 feetinto the air, flanked entirely by
glass, filled with light, and held upby majestic sculptures of stone
which would give the Gothic
Cathedral an unforgettable andawesome appearance.
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End of an Era
The Italian Renaissance was a powerful creative force that transformed
the continent and brought to Europe Italy’s taste in architecture, which
meant an end to Gothic architecture and a return to the classicalstyles. As new building techniques developed throughout the
enlightened age, when it again came time that people would want totempt fate by creating impossibly high structures, the flying buttress
would no longer be needed, and was thus never again used. It
remains an integral part of Gothic architecture, without which thecathedrals could never have existed.
Bibliography
Harris, Cyril M. IllustratedDictionary of Historic Architecture.
New York: Dover Publishing, 1983.
Kostof, Spiro. A History of Architecture, 2nd Edition. New
York: Oxford University Press,1995.
Toy, Sidney. Castles, Their
Construction and History. New
York: Dover Publishing, 1985.
Wilson, Christopher. The Gothic
Cathedral. New York: Thanes & Hudson, 1990.
Moore, Charles Herbert. The
Development and Character of Gothic Architecture. New York:
The Macmillan Company, 1906.
Erlande-Brandenburg, Alain.Notre-Dame De Paris. New York:Harry M. Abrams, 1998.
Shutz, Bernhard. GreatCathedrals. New York: Harry M.
Abrams, 2002.
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