INBOX Speak your mind
CATHEDRAL CONSTRUCTION
Dear HIW,
Issue 209 had an article about how cathedrals were built. How they cut, carved and assembled the stones is amazing, but you haven’t explained how such an elaborate building was designed and how those designs were communicated to a workforce of thousands. Julian Builders relied on master masons to share instructions orally, as well as models and drawings. Tracing floors were used as large-scale drawing boards by medieval masons. These were large, smooth plaster surfaces. Using charcoal or chalk, a mason would draw full-size intricate drawings of each area. Workers would be able to use these and copy them. Only a small number of workers would need to see the full plans. These were broken down into small tasks. Small-scale wooden models could also be built to demonstrate three-dimensional plans.