Flying Buttresses Notre Dame Paris

I may not remember much from elementary school, but for some odd reason I do remember that Notre Dame was reputed to one of the first buildings in... more

by Joan Carroll

Title

Flying Buttresses Notre Dame Paris

Artist

Joan Carroll

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

I may not remember much from elementary school, but for some odd reason I do remember that Notre Dame was reputed to one of the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress. It is a way of transmitting to the ground the sideways forces that push a wall outwards, forces that arise from heavy vaulted ceilings of stone and from wind-loading on roofs. That little nugget of information was brought to life in Ken Follet's book, The Pillars of the Earth. Although not specifically about Notre Dame, it traces the development of Gothic architecture out of the preceding Romanesque architecture in the cathedral of the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England, The advantage of such lateral-support systems is that the outer walls no longer need to be massive and heavy in order to resist the outward. Instead, the wall surface could be reduced, allowing for larger windows, as so elegantly seen in Notre Dame.

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FEATURED PHOTO, A B F A Platinum group, 5/15/16

FEATURED PHOTO, the World We See Group, 5/11/16

FEATURED PHOTO, Churches group, 4/29/16

Uploaded

April 28th, 2016