Paris

Paris is the birthplace of Gothic architecture. During the reign of Louis VI of France (1081-1137), Paris was the principal residence of the Kings of France, Reims the place of coronation, and the Abbey of Saint-Denis became their ceremonial burial place. Suger who is a counselor of Louis VI and Louis VII, as well as a historian, he oversaw the reconstruction of the ambulatory of Saint-Denis, making it the first and most influential example of Gothic architecture in France. [4] Gothic architecture was used for abbeys, churches, castles, palaces, town halls, universities, and private dwellings. Gothic cathedral usually is the landmark with tall spires and surmounted one or two pinnacles higher than other buildings in the town. Gothic architecture evolved from Romanesque architecture and supplanted by French Renaissance architecture. There are some common elements such as the flying buttress, pointed arch, ribbed vault, and verticality. Gothic architecture is historically divided into four periods, Early Gothic from 1130-1230, High Gothic from 1230-1330, Rayonnant in 14th Century, Flamboyant in 15th Century, or Late Gothic in 16th Century.

The Early Gothic evolved from Romanesque architecture, it adopted a pointed arch, the ribbed vault and focused on the height of the walls and ceiling. To heighten the walls, designer divided into four layers, arcade, gallery, triforium, and clerestory. Another new significant invention was adding the new elements verticality to the façade. The Notre Dame Cathedral is the best example, the name means “Our Lady” in French, and it was the first gothic cathedral and the first building to use flying buttress in the world. [III] This painting by Jean Froissart in 1475. The background architecture is the famous Cathedral of Notre Dame, it documents Arrival in Paris of the young Duke Louis II of Anjou and his mother Marie de Blois arrived in Paris, and a lot of citizens were welcoming in the 15th century.[IV] Originally, it was not supposed to design of flying buttress, but after the construction of the cathedral began, the thinner walls grew ever higher and stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. The cathedral's architects, in an effort to fix the problem, built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern. [5] Flying buttress is a special type of buttress, they are buttresses on the building’s exterior, and used to transmit horizontal thrust of a vault across an intervening space. The name “Flying buttress” is come from the figure, the buttress looks like flying through the air instead of resting on the ground. The purpose of using the flying buttress is to provide the horizontal support of a wall. Generally, the upper parts of the buttress are carried by the majority of the load. So changing buttress to a semi-arch shape provides the same bearing capacity, costs less money, and adds aesthetic decoration. Furthermore, the load bearing walls can be cut-outs, like large window will weaken the load of thick wall.