The Creation of Gothic Architecture (COGA): Project explores the emergence of the Gothic style through analysis of nearly 1600 buildings in the greater Paris Basin constructed all or in part between 1060 and 1250

The Creation of Gothic Architecture (COGA) Project explores the emergence of the Gothic style through analysis of nearly 1600 buildings in the greater Paris Basin constructed all or in part between 1060 and 1250. From obvious stylistic changes from one part of a building to another, to subtle changes in detailing, it is the anomalies that point to changes in design direction, and most likely, changes in master mason.

The on-site survey of these buildings yields a variety of resources, from handwritten notes to panoramic photographs. Analyzing these we can generate a great variety of visual products that express the diversity of the development of Gothic architecture in countless ways. Users are invited and encouraged to use these resources to draw their own conclusions about whatever interests them. These are the core of the Creation of Gothic Architecture Project.

http://www.creationofgothic.org

Dear Colleagues,

Chris Henige and I have created a web site called The Creation of Gothic Architecture, or COGA. It may be found at http://www.creationofgothic.org. It comprises data accumulated over many years of research and site visits.

We visited almost 100 buildings last summer and hope to do a similar number next year. This is more than a static compilation of data. We are working to provide the most complete information we can on over 700 buildings with parts dating from the Early Gothic period, with the functionality to interact with the data in many different ways. Our purpose is to broaden and stimulate, to open new lines of analysis and enrich existing approaches.

Your comments and feedback will be essential for us as we extend the site.

What does the site offer?

After reviewing the information provided in the home page, clicking on “Buildings” or “Maps” icons will take you to the main results pages of the site. The default search results provide information about the most recently visited buildings, but these defaults can be changed by modifying the choices in the search panel on the left.

The Search facility provides a number of ways to filter the results. You may do this with few letters for a place or dedication and with a slider to choose a range of dates. To limit the results to meaningful groups you may prioritise for size and contribution, by Departement, Region and Affiliation in any combination by simply checking boxes. The combinations are almost limitless.

Buttons near the top of the central panel allow you to see the results of your search in numerous ways. We think you will be particularly interested in the Heatmaps and Timelines that are part of the Search facility.

When you select a building from any of these results formats, you are taken to a Synopsis of construction by decade and its graphic representation as a timeline with a list of phases. Try clicking on any decade icon to display contemporary building work elsewhere.

The buttons near the top provide access to a variety of resources available for each building, including a map, panoramic imagery, photographs, any primary source documents, and archival materials. The richest of these materials come from the buildings visited last summer. These resources will be expanded on a continuing basis as we compile them and as we conduct more on-site visits.

We are in the process of assembling the data for a section on the most commonly requested elements, such as buildings with dado arcades, flyers or tas-de-charge. In the future, all the capitals in The Ark of God will be presented with links to the building campaigns and the suggested sculptors as identified in John's Master Carvers Series, a resource that is already available on the ICMA website.

In the New Year we will start including the models of the buildings we visited last summer. These will be divided into campaigns with links to the building elements and profiles.

We see this web site as a fluid and living entity that will be subject to change as our visits proceed and as we hear back from you on its usefulness. Please take some time to look it over and provide us with any feedback that might help us to make this material more useful to you.

John James

John James (john@creationofgothic.org)

Chris Henige (chris@creationofgothic.org)