Observations #1

The aisles are a huge part of the build and take up most of its space. There's a few variations of the aisle but I'm focusing on the main structure such as the pillars, piers, vaulting and how each section of aisles joins onto the next with ribbed laying and decorative pillars.

 

  

I noticed a clear difference in decorative pillars on the pier and the standard columns. The piers are in fact structurally necessary and are square but covered with small pillars to conceal the sqaure block up thus fitting in better with the aesthetics of the building.

The aisle walls can vary, some with blind arcading as seen above, other with alters, tombs and doors leading outside or into a extension to the main building body. The aisles aside the choir area also had walls, creating a divide between the area's.

Field Research / Ely Cathedral Outing #1

Why Ely Cathedral?

I've chosen to go and research Ely cathedral as it is my home town and I know the building well. The building is in very well kept condition and I will be able to collect reference material and experience the environment first hand.

The scale of the building is impressive and to think a build of this size was build over 900 years ago is a true engineering feat. Even now it impresses me and other visitors, seemingly used to tall skyscrapers and large officer buildings but this solid, cold and hard building of faith stands tall and dominate as a symbol of the old days of worship.


Overview of The Cathedral

As with most Norman / Romanesque Churches and Cathedrals, its design is mostly symmetrical and built with sections of the Nave and Aisles being build overtime with the intent to keep the sections of the structures form and appurtenance as identical as possible.

The lady Chapel was build after the main body of the cathedral was completes and is in Gothic style architecture. I will not e creating assets for this section of the building and will be focusing on the aisles, nave, transpet, octagon and then the choir, high alter areas.

My main focus is to create a modular kit to help a environment / level build create a scene fast and have a number of assets that work in conjunction with each other.

Interior Focus

I've chosen to base my modular kit on the interior of a Romanesque / Norman cathedral as this will give me the ability to create an inclosed and confined area which a player will be able to run around and explore the area. This also keeps the asset list to a minimum and allows me to focus on key features and translating the designs into 3D.

Heres a few pictures of my trip, my next post will be more pictures and some observations on the interior designs, some modular breakdown ideas and hopefully some basic prototype assets for testing.

Octagon looking down Nave

Octagon Corner

Blind Arcading in Aisle

Field Research / Ely Cathedral Outing #2

So I've collected some reference material from my trip to Ely Cathedral and I've taken some notes of scaling and some interesting features I did not expect or find when looking at images and research online.

The experience of actually going out into the field and taking the pictures was great and it has given me valuable insight into how important it is to actually go a see, touch, smell and generally feel an environment. When you see something from pictures or video it doesn't give you the understanding of size and how dominating the large, thick walls and pillars can feel.

Overall I was very happy with the reference images I gathered and will proceed to create observations from them and post my findings once I have collected and noted on them.

Ribbed Vaulting

Newer Ribbed Vaulting leading into Lady chapel (Gothic)

Arcading and Triforium

Decorative Arcading / Alter in Octagon

Octagon Corner

Pillar, Pier and Triforium

Blind Arcading in Aisle

Column/ Pillar Bottom

Column/ Pillar Bottom

Groin Vault & Top of Column / Pier

Barrel Vault Nave Ceiling

Octagon into Choir Presbytery / High altar

Groin Vault & Top of Column / Pier

Groin Vault & Down Aisle

Older Groin Vault

Pier Bottom

Nave Flooring

Close up Groin Vault / Piller and Pier Join

Romanesque Architecture - Initial Research

Where and When?

Romanesque architecture spread across Europe starting from the 8th century were the first signs of the style appeared in Germany which are referred to as "Pre-Romanesque" then spread throughout Europe into Italy and more western countries such as France & Spain which were referred to as "First Romanesque".

The Architectural style was brought to England by the Normans and around early 10th century there was the mass erection of Romanesque buildings which including the impressive cathedrals and churches that still stand to this day.

Norman Style

The Romanesque style in England is transitionally refereed to as Norman Architecture. Most of the Norman buildings are dated 11th-12th century, there are a few dating earlier, closer to the Norman invasion but the most impressive Churches and Cathedrals are 11th-12 century.

The style features arches that were developed in ancient roman architecture and also included arcading and blind arcading which had developed as the architectural style moved through Europe and was modified through that time.

Peterborough, Norwich and Ely cathedral are all Romanesque or often termed Norman architecture.

Style Traits & Features

I've been looking at the Cathedrals that the Normans built as they are close to Ipswich and also there is a one in Ely which is the city I was born in and will be visiting to collect reference material.

There are other building types built in Romanesque / Norman style such as domestic buildings, elegant town houses, grand palaces, commercial premises, civic buildings, castles, city walls, bridges, village churches, abbey churches and abbey complexes.

Some of the key features I've seen and read about are :-

• Semicircular arches
• Elaborate Exteriors
• Vaulted masonry Ceiling (Barrel Vault – Groin Vault – Ribbed Vault)
• Think walls
• Square piers, less pillars

When I go to do my field research and gather reference material, I'll be looking closely at these key features and doing some mock assets to help me translate them into 3D.

Cathedral Structure - Transept

When looking at my initial plan for the cathedral, I noticed a section that may cause issues when planning the assets out and I may have to create specially sized assets list to ensure I'm sticking to the Norman / Romanesque style of Cathedral.

From plans and diagrams I have seen, the nave is much wider than the aisles and also needs to have a path that turns and goes around the cross section. This will need to be looked at carefully when I collect the field research.

• Transept - The transept of a church separates the nave from the sanctuary, apse, choir, chevet, presbytery or chancel It extends diagonally between the nave and sanctuary

Add caption

My Chosen Theme

So after some debate and a little more research into each of my possible themes, I've chosen to create my modular asset kit based on Romanesque / Norman architecture.

Why Romanesque / Norman?

After some researching and image browsing, I felt that Romanesque / Norman architecture had a good balance of modular design translation and a good amount of structural and decorative features to really drill down into.

This architecture style also allows me to go out into the field and create my own reference material as suffolk, norfolk and cambridgeshire have multiple Norman buildings. The access to the buildings will prove valuable when I'm looking at the details, scaling and the overall experience of being in or around the style of building.

Peterborough Cathedral (Norman)

Ely Cathedral (Norman)

Norwich Cathedral (Norman)

What I Need To Translate

With any architectural style, there will be key features and traits that transfer over from a preceding style. I will be trying to collect, understand and document my finding when dealing with the most common traits found in Romanesque / Norman architecture.

Some key things I will be looking at:-

• Ceiling (Barrel / Groin / Ribbed)
• Columns/Pillars & Piers
• Structural integrity (thickness and Layout etc)
• Decorative vs Structural designs
• Arches & Arcading
• Materials

Modularity

 As the dissertation is focused on creating a Modular Asset Kit, I'll be looking at the overall design of structures and have to design assets to work not only aesthetically but also practically from a level / environment building standpoint.

Thankfully the architectural style is well documented and I will be able to use blueprints and layouts of buildings to help break it down into modular assets.

Basic Form of Ely Cathedral