3 ms·
This article is way off base, warped by architectural déformation professionnelle. The association of Gothic architecture with eeriness dates back at least to G
by dkarl 2y ago
This article is way off base, warped by architectural déformation professionnelle. The association of Gothic architecture with eeriness dates back at least to Gothic fiction in the 18th and 19th centuries. 18th and 19th century readers devoured these popular prose depiction of Gothic horror. However, architects are obsessed with visual images, so the article quickly glosses over Gothic fiction and moves on to film depictions in the 20th century, even including a quote that implies the connection started with film, which is wrong by over a century.
The article contains photos, movie posters, and embedded videos, but not a single quote from a single Gothic novel, even though readers first experienced Gothic horror through imagination stoked by words on the page.
- akamaka 2y agoI went looking for a quote that explicitly references gothic architectural details, and quickly found one in Edgar Allen Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher, from 1839. The room I came into was very large and high. The windows were high, and pointed at the top, and so far above the black floor that they were quite out of reach. Only a little light, red in color, made its way through the glass, and served to lighten the nearer and larger objects. My eyes, however, tried and failed to see into the far, high corners of the room.
- pavon 2y agoAlso, even if we are focusing purely on visuals, it is interesting that they didn't discuss the effect of these buildings becoming darker over time as the ornate details are hard to keep clean, which was exasperated by air pollution. I imagine a bright white marble building would have looked much more "heavenly and transcendent".
- ajmurmann 2y agoI went to the article expecting pollution was going to be the answer to how the "became spooky". I remember seeing a display at the cologne cathedral as a child that showed one of the new replacement parts before installation. I was shocked seeing how the replacement are a so much brighter color than the cathedral itself is now. If these buildings were brighter, I think it would be totally different. Especially the interior of the Sagrada Familia which is very bright and feels very positive is a good example here.
- hinkley 2y agoCoal and the industrial revolution did a lot of damage to monuments.
- mmooss 2y agoAn epistemological issue: Why shouldn't someone write about your comment, "This ... is way off base", just as you write it about the article? What makes your writing better? How could a reader know? I'll contribute to the answer: In the larger world, when it's serious about knowledge, the difference is evidence, primarily, and also expertise. In HN comments, how do we evaluate these different sources and claims ...?