Rights statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in The Design Journal on 31/05/2019, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14606925.2019.1594942
Accepted author manuscript, 1.84 MB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Serendipity?
T2 - The Inspiration of the Medieval Masons in Cathedral Floor Plan Design
AU - Wang, Chaoran
AU - Hann, M.A.
N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in The Design Journal on 31/05/2019, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14606925.2019.1594942
PY - 2019/5/31
Y1 - 2019/5/31
N2 - Cathedrals as very large religious buildings spread worldwide, but in medieval times were peculiar to Europe. It seems that the design of cathedrals often had various symbolic implications. Usually, cathedral floor plans are considered as the first step in the whole construction process, and are related to other parts of the cathedral's construction. Previous literature suggested that complicated geometrical and numerical proportions were found in the measurements. The masons, including the master masons, were not likely to have had a sophisticated understanding of mathematical and geometrical systems. This paper suggests some simple geometric methods which may used in the design of the whole cathedral floor plan, based on the square and its derivative constructions, including golden- section rectangles, v 2 and other root rectangles and sacred cut squares. It is argued that simple methods were adopted by the masons in the planning and design process associated with cathedrals in medieval times.
AB - Cathedrals as very large religious buildings spread worldwide, but in medieval times were peculiar to Europe. It seems that the design of cathedrals often had various symbolic implications. Usually, cathedral floor plans are considered as the first step in the whole construction process, and are related to other parts of the cathedral's construction. Previous literature suggested that complicated geometrical and numerical proportions were found in the measurements. The masons, including the master masons, were not likely to have had a sophisticated understanding of mathematical and geometrical systems. This paper suggests some simple geometric methods which may used in the design of the whole cathedral floor plan, based on the square and its derivative constructions, including golden- section rectangles, v 2 and other root rectangles and sacred cut squares. It is argued that simple methods were adopted by the masons in the planning and design process associated with cathedrals in medieval times.
U2 - 10.1080/14606925.2019.1594942
DO - 10.1080/14606925.2019.1594942
M3 - Journal article
VL - 22
SP - 1821
EP - 1840
JO - The Design Journal
JF - The Design Journal
SN - 1460-6925
IS - Suppl. 1
ER -