When I lately stood with a friend before [the cathedral of]
Amiens, . . . he asked me how it happens that we can no longer
build such piles? I replied: "Dear Alphonse, men in those days
had convictions (Ueberzeugungen), we moderns have opinions
(Meinungen) and it requires something more than an opinion to
build a Gothic cathedral.
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Grandeur . . . consists in form, and not in size: and to the eye
of the philosopher, the read more
Grandeur . . . consists in form, and not in size: and to the eye
of the philosopher, the curve drawn on a paper two inches long,
is just as magnificent, just as symbolic of divine mysteries and
melodies, as when embodied in the span of some cathedral roof.
The hasty multitude
Admiring enter'd, and the work some praise,
And some the architect: his hand was read more
The hasty multitude
Admiring enter'd, and the work some praise,
And some the architect: his hand was known
In heaven by many a tower'd structure high,
Where scepter'd angels held their residence,
And sat as princes.
The Gothic cathedral is a blossoming in stone subdued by the
insatiable demand of harmony in man. The mountain read more
The Gothic cathedral is a blossoming in stone subdued by the
insatiable demand of harmony in man. The mountain of granite
blooms into an eternal flower, with the lightness and delicate
finish, as well as the aerial proportions and perspective of
vegetable beauty.
Architecture is a social act and the material theater of human activity.
Architecture is a social act and the material theater of human activity.
The hand that rounded Peter's dome
And groined the aisles of Christian Rome,
Wrought in a sad read more
The hand that rounded Peter's dome
And groined the aisles of Christian Rome,
Wrought in a sad sincerity;
Himself from God he could not free;
He builded better than he knew;
The conscious stone to beauty grew.
No hammers fell, no ponderous axes rung,
Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung.
Majestic silence.
No hammers fell, no ponderous axes rung,
Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung.
Majestic silence.
Anon, out of the earth a fabric huge
Rose, like an exhalation.
Anon, out of the earth a fabric huge
Rose, like an exhalation.
In the elder days of Art,
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
read more
In the elder days of Art,
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
For the gods see everywhere.
Architecture is the art of how to waste space.
Architecture is the art of how to waste space.
