Research log
Definition
Essentially a
gargoyles is a statue or ‘grotesque’. Its sole purpose is to re direct water
away from the sides of buildings to stop erosion. The definition for its
purpose is ‘In
architecture, a gargoyle is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout
designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building,
thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the
mortar between.’
The Legend of the
Gargoyle
The origin on the
gargoyle is derived from a legend. It is claimed that in France (AD 631–641) there
was a monster called ‘Gargouille’ Which was a dragon with bat like wings, a
long neck and could breathe fire. The legend goes that the monster was burned accept
from its neck and head because of its resistance. Its head was then mounted on
the church and used to scare off evil spirits.
History
The earliest evidence
of gargoyles comes from the ancient Egyptians for the same reason of water
diversion. These Egyptian gargoyles were mostly lion heads, these lions were
also found with the Greeks, these were typically made with marble. The temple
of Zeus still has 239 of these lion heads. Gargoyles started to become popular
with medieval work, with the most famous example being the Notre Dame in Paris.
These are a mixture between grotesques and gargoyles as most are there purely
for ornamental purposes. In all the earliest examples of Gargoyles they
were animal figures. Not until the 12th century when Gargoyles were starting
to become more popular in Europe did they start to vary. As most people during
the medieval period were illiterate they were more powerful. For example
creatures with ‘mystical powers’ started cropping up. And Anthropomorphism
started becoming popular. This is where they mix human attributes and form with
animal characteristics.
Research for
final idea
For my first idea I
have decided to mix up a variety of ideas as you can see by my original mood
board. The main concept for it is ‘Cthulhu’ but I have also added in my own
ideas to merge with it. Cthulhu is a mythical creature created by H. P.
Lovecraft in the short story ‘The call of Cthulhu’. It is originally a mixture
of Human, Dragon and Octopus. It is a ginormous and evil creature. I really like the concept and it is the sole inspiration for my gargoyle. In the story Lovecraft describes it as "A monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind”. From this I have also gained inspiration from ‘Predator’ but furthermore used real life references for octopus and squid for certain aspects of the gargoyle.
Since the creation of Lovecraft's 'Cthulhu' people have made 100's of different variations of this creature, as I will be doing for this project.
How will it
work? (Physics)
As this
Gargoyle has got a lot of long thin points for the tentacles, having it made
from purely stone won’t do the job as it would simply just break and not hold
its weight. If this was to be realistic then steel reinforcements would have to
be implemented into the model as either a wire frame base or rods and then the
stone or concrete built around it. This is a method that they use a lot in
architecture and often some statues. Furthermore to make the gargoyle more
stable and to increase its structural integrity I will design it to have both
the base of the model and the backs of the wings to be in line so that it has
multiple points where it can be attached to the wall. This will increase the
strength, stability and support the weight better.
As a Gargoyles
function is to re direct water I have chosen to make the spout for my gargoyle
to come out of the mouth so that it runs from underneath the tentacles which in
turn diverts it away from eroding the wall beneath.
Aesthetics
I would like
to have my gargoyle made from stone. The most popular materials for gargoyles
are marble, limestone or terracotta. From these I am going to choose limestone
as in my opinion would suit it better but is also the most common material used.
I would love my Gargoyle to be slightly overgrown or covered in either moss or
lichen. In order to optimise this effect the gargoyle would have to be on a
south facing side of a building a then it would see the most sunlight and allow
organics to grow on it better.
Bibliography
Bibliography
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