Soaring Gothic Arches

Just as each new skyscraper out-reaches the one before it, Gothic cathedrals strove to claim greater heights with engineering innovations that allowed each structure to stretch closer and closer to the heavens. 

The development of pointed arches, ribbed vaulting and flying buttresses made for a structurally sound, yet minimal architectural skeleton, creating more open interior space and room for larger windows. Such advancements infused a sense of lightness into cathedrals and drew attention from the terrestrial realm to the heavens above.

The Gothic vocabulary of pointed arches and tall, airy forms permeated various media during its time and centuries later. This chair, built in 1880, repeats Gothic cathedral motifs such as those seen in the Notre-Dame d'Amiens, constructed during the 13th century.