ARCHITECT'S FAILURES

  Each trip to Europe I like to visit some past architect's failure and this year was no different. Joy & I took a day trip from Paris by train to see what remains of the tallest cathedral in France.  The cathedral of Beauvais is the one that defined how high one could build these monuments in the 1300's.  the sketches on the right show Beavais , with it's 450' high nave, about half of which is still standing, albiet with some help with a lot of heavy timber bracing. You see the little ant in the middle? That's a person.  The cathedral on the left is Amiens, built in 1220, which is one of the more successful churches and all still standing.

 

 They have been able to do some restoration on the main entry, which is really on the side of the transept.
All of the building to the left of this has collapsed a couple of times. No mention of how many miserable lives were lost.

On the left you see some timber bracing that was installed in the 20th century.