Experiments in Gothic Structure

by Robert Mark and Erich Mark

Book Overview

This fascinating study of the structural elements of Gothic cathedrals is written by an engineer who has spent the last 15 years applying analytical techniques of structural mechanics to Gothic buildings. Like a detective, he uses these techniques to solve continuing historical arguments about whether flying buttresses hold the roof up or are merely decorative, whether ornate pinnacles atop piers are structurally necessary or purely aesthetic, whether the ribs of the vaults hold up the ceiling as is generally believed, whether the cathedral at Chartres deserves its place in history as the height of innovative medieval design. Robert Mark is a professor of architecture and civil engineering at Princeton University, where he is also Chairman of the Program of Architecture and Engineering.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262131706
• ISBN13: 9780262131704
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: MIT Press (MA)
• Length: 135 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.