Gothic cathedral builders
He who is the Alpha and the Omega, should join a good end, with a good beginning, by way of a sound middle. - Abbott Suger
The ethereal yet monumental architecture of church facades and cathedrals that began to spread through France in the 1100s were inspired by Abbot Suger’s vision of a New Jerusalem in glass and stone. Built by anonymous craft guilds on a grand scale, Gothic architecture used carvings and stained glass to display many esoteric stories and references both inside and outside Christianity. Its designs and floor plans hinted at the man’s terrestrial condition and heavenly possibilities, and through the sheer command of upward space, light and sound the interiors elevate ordinary consciousness to a soaring, divine presence.
The ethereal yet monumental architecture of church facades and cathedrals that began to spread through France in the 1100s were inspired by Abbot Suger’s vision of a New Jerusalem in glass and stone. Built by anonymous craft guilds on a grand scale, Gothic architecture used carvings and stained glass to display many esoteric stories and references both inside and outside Christianity. Its designs and floor plans hinted at the man’s terrestrial condition and heavenly possibilities, and through the sheer command of upward space, light and sound the interiors elevate ordinary consciousness to a soaring, divine presence.