Grace Cathedral In San Francisco

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Grace Cathedral in San Francisco

An Architecture is the representation of an era or the idea that was prevalent at that time. A profound understating of all the elements present in the Architecture makes it evident that every element had a specific purpose of serving. In addition to this, there are many elements which are still present in the modern Architecture and some elements prominent in the Architecture of 17th and 18th century are considered outdated in the contemporary world. Thus with this discussion under consideration, this paper aims to highlight the specific Architectural elements of the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, that were also present in the Architecture of ancient times and their relevance in the contemporary world.

Grace Cathedral was founded in 1849. The Cathedral belongs to the Diocese of California, and the Architectural style is French Gothic. This Cathedral was designed by Lewis P. Hobar. The length of this massive Cathedral is 100m width is 49m, and the height is 53m. The measure of this Architecture shows that it is one of the most prominent Architectures of the 1800s. This third largest Episcopal Cathedral was designed to express the Anglican origins of Episcopal traditions and spirituality (gracecathedral.org). The making of the Architecture is inspired by French, Spanish and English styles of Architecture. It is the reason that the twin towers, the cruciform plan, the polygonal apse, and the central fleche are inspired by French Architecture. On the contrary, the narrow piers and the absence of triforium are the Spanish gothic features. And lastly, the Clerestory is fundamentally English inspiration ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"cBS3lubx","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Mitchell Jr)","plainCitation":"(Mitchell Jr)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":105,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/Tqq4tlqy/items/6VAURIVJ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/Tqq4tlqy/items/6VAURIVJ"],"itemData":{"id":105,"type":"thesis","title":"The gargoyles of San Francisco: medievalist architecture in Northern California 1900-1940","publisher":"San Francisco State University","author":[{"family":"Mitchell Jr","given":"James Harvey"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Mitchell Jr). Thus the whole structure of the Church is based on three different Architect style.

From the inside, the cathedral gives a marvelous appearance due to its stained glass windows. The colorful pictures of prominent personalities painted on the glass increase the beauty of the Cathedral. The door is the modern replica of the original doors which were removed because of corrosion and weathering.

From an in-depth understanding of the Architecture style of Grace Cathedral, it is apparent that the Architectural element common in the cathedral and ancient Architectures is the presence of post-and-lintel construction. It is a system of building in which two horizontal beams are erected, and then a vertical shaft is placed on it ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"VsZuQC7Q","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Huang)","plainCitation":"(Huang)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":104,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/Tqq4tlqy/items/BWARGIJY"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/Tqq4tlqy/items/BWARGIJY"],"itemData":{"id":104,"type":"paper-conference","title":"Structure stress analysis of traditional stilted building","container-title":"AIP Conference Proceedings","publisher":"AIP Publishing","page":"020001","volume":"2073","ISBN":"0-7354-1801-2","author":[{"family":"Huang","given":"Qianchi"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2019"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Huang). This system is cardinal in all Greek Architectures. In the Grace Cathedral, the twin towers and the entrance of the building are also based on a similar style. Likewise, the whole architecture is based on the same style since there are pillars on each corner and there are arches present on the wall to support and distribute the weight. Thus it is evident that the post-and-lintel style of construction is present in the Grace Cathedral which defines the grace and beauty of the Structure. In the modern architecture style, the presence of an arch is missing, but there are many pillars to support the weight of the wall and the roof. Moreover, since the concrete used in modern architecture is more resilient, therefore there is no need to build an arch on the wall for the distribution of weight.

Apart from this element, the absence of doom or an arch, which is one of the most prominent features of ancient architecture, means that this Cathedral is suitable to fit into the modern style of Architecture. The flat roof is the fundamental feature for showing its contemporary aspects.

To cap it all, the paper provides a detailed analysis of the architecture of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The style of the Cathedral is the combination of both ancient and modern style of construction.

Works Cited

"Architecture - Grace Cathedral." Grace Cathedral. N. p., 2019. Web. 21 Mar. 2019. https://gracecathedral.org/architecture-2/#

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Huang, Qianchi. “Structure Stress Analysis of Traditional Stilted Building.” AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 2073, AIP Publishing, 2019, p. 020001.

Mitchell Jr, James Harvey. The Gargoyles of San Francisco: Medievalist Architecture in Northern California 1900-1940. San Francisco State University, 2016.