the flying buttress

8/8/2019 The Flying Buttress

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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



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.



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.



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.



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.



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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