BP # 6

For the most part the two cathedrals (Amiens and Cologne) were similarly designed, but they differed in detail based on their specific location. During this time period the so-called "Dark Ages" many structural changes were brought forth, mainly due to the fact that many people wanted to get out of the "dark" and bring forth the "light". This was achieved by creating a specific blueprint for how the Gothic Church was to be laid out, which included large windows that stretched from the bottom to the top to allow the highest ratio of sunlight in as possible. The blueprint was designed in measurement of man and Heaven and inspired by Noah's Ark which was 50 x 30 ft. encoded in the central space. Further emphasizing the higher power the central space was created in the shape of a crucifix and many scenes of the holy divinity and sacred happenings are implanted into the walls of the cathedrals.
Although, each church built at this time used this same basic layout (taken from the Holy book) to represent the divine in order to open up a way straight to Heaven, each country or region had its own interpretation of ornamentation in an attempt to make their cathedral stand out. For example, Amiens Cathedral, located in France, is known for having buildings with two towers. On the other hand, Cologne Cathedral was located in Germany, which was noted for including only one tower in its structures. Furthermore, in Amiens Cathedral the clerestory windows consisted of more panels which were more narrow in size than the windows in the Cologne Cathedral. Also, the rods at the top of Cologne are not able to be seen whereas, in Amiens they are clearly visible. This is thought to be an advancement in the architecture, due to trial and error, since Cologne is the newer of the two. Continuing with the differences, Amiens appears to have more detail in the interior (seen in the golden section) and Cologne is more detailed on the exterior (seen in the outside figures as well as, the flying buttresses). The cathedrals were built utilizing the technology and resources they had available (which differed based on location and region) because of this many architects faced issues of towers being too big or small and not having enough support. This problem caused towers and buttresses to bend and buckle.