This week I have continued to work on the individual parts of the floor plan and features of the cathedral, as well as finalising the minimalist modular assets that I will be refining throughout the project. In this blog, I will be explaining each asset that I have created and how it may be used in the modular environment. I’ve included one of the photos I’ve been using for reference, which can be seen below. As the reader, this can be used as a guide to understand the assets that I will be explaining. I will be using the same terminology that this photo is annotated with, except for where it says ‘apsidioles,’ which I will be referring to as chapels since I’ve seen this term used a lot more in the research I’ve found.
This image shows the tiles representing the aisle, which can be used with many of the other tiles. One of the aisle tiles has a closed wall (far right), whereas the tile next to it has an archway opening for a room to be placed if preferred. A room can be made small, or with extensions to make a corridor. This feature is not something I found to be authentic with Romanesque cathedrals, although I saw this a lot in the Natural History Museum on the ground floor and though it worked well for modular flexibility. You can also see a basic floor which will be used to fill in gaps throughout the environment.
These tiles are made up from a number of different tiles which can be taken apart and reused for other tiles. There are two different versions – a small tile without a triforium, and a larger tile with a triforium. This includes the nave floor area, with columns and piers supporting the arches, leading up to either the triforium or clerestory. The clerestory will be where the windows are, which will be small in size because they “had to be small to keep the strength of the walls strong.” (Alchin, 2018) These two tiles are open ended, so that they can be placed next to each other, or to close off either the left or right side with the other tiles shown in the image above. The aisle tiles shown in image 1 can be attached to the open ended tiles.
In this image, there are two versions again to show the small and larger variations. On the left side you can see the convex corners which will attach to the tiles in image 2. These tiles will commonly be used at the transept crossing or at the beginning of the nave on the west side of the church. The tiles on the right show the concave corners which will also attach to the tiles in image 2, which can be used at the transept ends. The aisle tiles shown in image 1 can also be attached to either two of these tiles on the right.
This image shows tiles that can be used at the transept ends, or at the western end of the church to build the ‘narthex’ (area next to portal). The aisle tiles shown in image 1 can be attached to the two tiles in the foreground, which can then be attached to the tiles in image 2.
These tiles show all of the variations for the chapels, separate to the chapels that can be used in the eastern end of the church. These variations show the different sizes, whether there are one or two chapels in the corners, or along a straight area. The chapel tiles along the back can be used like the aisle tiles, whereas the others can be used in open areas such as around or at the end of the transepts. They can also be used at the western end of the church, especially if there isn’t a tower in the area or stairs in the way. In the moodboard that I made of the floor plans in my last blog post, you can see that there are various places the chapels can be, mostly at the eastern end of the church.
These tiles represent the eastern end of the church, including variations for the apse and ambulatory. Both of these variations can provide a closed off area, an apse with archways and an open ambulatory to place radiating chapels. The open ambulatory has 3 gaps in the wall allow for the chapels to be attached, but can also be blocked off with wall fillers if the area is being made with less than 3 chapels, (this is the same for the second floor variations of the apse and ambulatory.) There are also two closed off third floor/clerestory tiles that can be attached to the second floor variations, with the possibility of adding windows into the ambulatory wall. Other tiles at the back show an extended apse that reaches up to either the second or third floor, with arch extensions that can attach to the tiles in image 1. The apse tiles could potentially be used at the western end of the church which was often distinctive in Romanesque churches in Germany, and could also be used at the transept ends which was sometimes found in Romanesque churches in Italy.
(Shah, 2015)
This image shows the tiles that will be used for the towers, (at the crossing and at the western end of the church) the stairs that can be used within the western towers, stairs to be used in other areas of the church, two portal tiles and convex corners to be used in the western end of the church. The tiles grouped on the left in the foreground show the tiles that can be used as a tower at the crossing, which includes an extension and a ceiling for the tower. The other tiles on the left show the tower inner and outer walls where stairs can be placed, as well as a floor filler where the stairs end at the top. There is a tile that shows the first floor stairs, as well as extension stairs that can be used from the second floor and up. The other stairs tile can be used to replace aisle tiles, leading from the first floor to the second floor. The portal tiles show different sizes, which will be made with a door as one of the entrances into the church, which can also be used at the either transept ends. Since making these tiles, I have discovered that they may need extensions like the other tiles, to show the second and/or third floor wall attached.
Throughout my project, I will be thinking about footprints for my modular tiles, which will be used to explain how to use these assets in the user guide. I will be building variations of different areas of the church, to demonstrate how each tile can be used. In the table below, I have listed every asset that I will be modelling, which has been shown in this blog post. I can add the relevant footprints to this table as I work on each asset.
Feedback received on my Final Project Proposal
I received my feedback for the project proposal on Wednesday 5th December. Knowing that I have changed my project since handing in the proposal, my specialist tutor has asked me to rework my project milestones to reflect my current project. He was concerned that I hadn’t identified the specific features of the assets I’ll be making in my proposal, (which I previously described as walls, floors, ceilings and stairs) so I have made sure to be more precise with my new milestones and asset list described in this blog. He has also advised me to present my work in a few different ways in a real-time viewer, such as a full set of modular assets, several constructed interiors, and one or two of the most impressive individual assets, as well as some large mood renders. I will be considering these options throughout my project and when I’ll be developing my portfolio.
Next week I will be refining the tiles shown in images 1 & 2, which will include a minimum of the floors, walls, piers, columns, capitals, groin vaults, and clerestory windows. I have arranged the study trip to St Albans cathedral next Friday, which I will take pictures of to help inform my design work.
Bibliography
Alchin, L. (2018) “Characteristics of Romanesque Architecture” [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-art/characteristics-romanesque-architecture.htm. [Accessed 07 December 2018]
Shah, A. (2015) “Introduction to Romanesque architecture” [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/amalgshah/introduction-to-romanesque-architecture. [Accessed 07 December 2018]
Photo References
Art 3 Lecture 22 (2018) “5b22f7f52ebb84d2830bfac25085becb” [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.theslideprojector.com/art3/art3lecturepresentationssummer/art3lecture22.html [Accessed 07 November 2018].
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