Gothic Revival Style: A Comparison Between Gothic And Gothic Architecture

Gothic and gothic revival styles of architecture began as revolutionary movements from their respective predecessors. Gothic is a style of architecture which gained popularity for its tall structure with pointed arches which points into the sky above. It emerged somewhere between 12th and 16th century, as an after effect or better says an evolution of the Romanesque style (Figure.01).
Gothic revival style emerged as an antidote for the fever of machine age, which later became the most influential style during the 19th century. The designs & structure of this style was inspired by the medieval architecture (Figure.02). Though both styles begin with the term ‘Gothic’, each styles has its own significance.

[Fig.01 – Saint Gatien’s Cathedral, Tours, France] [Fig.02 – St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne, Australia]

There is a common public notion that both, gothic and gothic revival styles of architecture carry similar intentions behind their designs. But, in my point of view gothic revival style has been misinterpreted to be the same as the gothic style of architecture. While in reality, the intention behind the gothic revival style is to bring out more aesthetic values to buildings such as romanticism and

The term gothic came into use in post-medieval times when the work of the Middle Ages men considered being crude & barbaric. I believe that this term was given to this style due to its structure; huge stone walls with pointed arches & gargoyles for example as mentioned by Jonathan Glancey, an architectural critic who worked as the architecture and design editor at ‘The Guardian’ in his book ‘Architecture: Eyewitness Companion Guide’, “High above the naves of these ship-like structures, and often well out of range of the human eye, we find expertly carved angels, demons, fronds, and finials: nothing was too good for the all-seeing eye of the heavenly