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Using all of
my current knowledge of Gothic architecture and the game
Minecraft as my medium, I built a simulated cathedral in
what was intended to be a French Late Gothic style, aiming
to be as historically accurate as possible. Although I
based my design around the principles of real cathedrals,
the design is not meant to be an exact copy of any real
piece of architecture. Since we cannot (and wouldn't
want to) take apart any old churches to see the "guts" of
them so to speak, I documented my construction hoping that
it might serve as a lighthearted educational tool. I liken it to
one of those gummy dissection frogs you can buy. It's
certainly not a real frog, but most of the pieces are in the right place when
you cut it open. Please enjoy the construction of St. Kilometer
cathedral, and kudos if you can pick up a couple new terms
along the way. If you find any of the content on this
page to be too dry or boring for your liking, skip on to
Part 2, which is
choc-full of pictures to look at.
About Gothic
architecture (briefly)
I've broken my
Minecraft cathedral down into a plan (which is essentially a
blueprint), and an elevation ("cutaway" showing the structure).
I recommend checking out Chartres cathedral as a real life
counterpart to my plan, and/or
this Wikipedia segment, which explains everything in far more
detail than I do. Also, I shall
henceforth be referring to my creation as "St. Kilometer," since it
was recently pretend-consecrated and that is what I named it.
St. Kilometer plan (north is down):
|
A -
Facade (east front) |
D
- Aisle |
G
- North
transept |
J
- Apse |
|
B
- Bell tower |
E
- South transept |
H
- Flying
buttresses |
K
- Ambulatory |
|
C
- Nave |
F
- Crossing |
I
- Choir |
L
- Chapels |
St. Kilometer elevation:
|
A -
Vaults |
|
B
- Clerestory windows |
|
C
- Triforium |
|
D
- Aisle windows |
One of my
biggest regrets in the construction of St. Kilometer is that I did not spend enough time researching
the dimensions of real buildings. At completion, the
total height of St. Kilometer's vault measures closer to the
ground than most of even the humbly-sized French Gothic
cathedrals (19m/~62ft) and it's total length is fairly short
(only 60m/~197ft). Because of this shortness in the
length and height, all other dimensions are predictably
smaller than average, too. Still, all of the essential
components are there, and my dimensions seem more or
less proportionally accurate with regards to themselves.
If I do another cathedral build, I will undoubtedly make
sure that I go BIGGER.
About Minecraft
Minecraft is a game
in which players interact with a spontaneously-generated world
composed entirely of cubes. Players collect various resource
cubes (wood, stone, and dirt, for instance) and then may place them
like building blocks in any order they would like. Players can
also use these blocks to construct items and tools including
torches, mining picks, axes, shovels, armor, and weapons to aid them
in their adventures. Monsters emerge at night, and players
encounter threats like lava, falling damage, and completely losing
their bearings above or below ground on a regular basis. The
world is fraught with peril, which adds an interesting challenge to
every project.
This cathedral was
built on a "survival" multiplayer Minecraft server with
zero helpful modifications, meaning I had to deal with gravity,
plenty of enemies night, usually-helpful-but-sometimes-nefarious
neighbors, and many other encumbrances to my character's mere
existence whilst building this. All said, this was built in an authentically "medieval"
setting.
Continue to
Part 2 - Early Construction |
