Editing Flying buttress (section)

== Aesthetic style of the Gothic period ==
[[File:Notre-Dame de Paris transverse section.svg|thumb|left|The early-Gothic Notre-Dame de Paris (shown here with buttresses as later modified) features flying buttresses with blocky porticoed [[pinnacle]]s, surrounding a tall nave, a [[clerestory]], a wide [[triforium]], and two [[Aisle#Church architecture|side aisles]]. Arrows show structural forces ([[:commons:File:Notre-Dame de Paris transverse section.svg|details]]).]]
The need to build large cathedrals that could house many people along multiple [[Aisle#Church architecture|aisles]] provided the stimulus for the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] style to be developed.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Development + & and character of gothic architecture.|author=Moore, Charles H.|date=1979|publisher=Longwood|isbn=0893413585|pages=[https://archive.org/details/developmentcha00moor/page/19 19-20]|oclc=632226040|url=https://archive.org/details/developmentcha00moor/page/19}}</ref> The flying buttress was the solution to these massive stone buildings that needed additional support. Although the flying buttress originally served a structural purpose, they are now a staple in the aesthetic style of the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic period]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Gothic Architecture|last=Frankl|first=Paul|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1962|location=Baltimore |pages=54–57}}</ref> The flying buttress originally helped bring the idea of open space and light to the cathedrals through stability and structure, by supporting the [[clerestory]] and the weight of the high roofs.<ref name=":0" /> The height of the cathedrals and amply sized windows among the clerestory creates an open space giving the illusion of no clear boundaries.<ref name=":0" />

It also makes the space more dynamic and less static separating the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] style from the flatter, more two dimensional, [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] style.<ref name=":0" /> After the introduction of the flying buttress this same concept could be seen on the exterior of the cathedrals as well.<ref name=":0" /> Open space below the arches of the flying buttress has the same effect as the clerestory within the church allowing the viewer to see through the arches. The buttresses also reach into the sky similar to the [[column|pillars]] within the church which creates more upward space,<ref name=":0" /> making the exterior space equally as dynamic as the interior space and creating a sense of coherence and continuity.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Experiments in Gothic Structure |first=Robert|last=Mark|date=2014|publisher=Bibliotheque McLean|isbn=978-0955886867|oclc=869186029}}</ref>{{Clear}}