Global Gothic

Gothic style and contemporary architecture worldwide

Although largely overlooked in studies of architectural history, church architecture in a Gothic idiom outlived its 19th century momentum to persist worldwide throughout the 20th century and into the new millennium.

Global Gothic presents a first systematic worldwide understanding of “Gothic” in contemporary architecture, both as a distinct variation and as a competitor to recognized modern styles. The book’s chapters critically discuss Gothic’s various manifestations over the past century, describing and illustrating approaches from Gothic Revival living traditions in the former British Empire and original Gothic appropriation in Latin America to competitions of European builders in former Asian and African colonies. The focus is also on the special appropriations in North America, China and Japan, as well as contemporary solutions that tend to be transnational in style.

With contributions from renowned architecture experts from around the world, Global Gothic provides an overview of this cultural phenomenon and presents a wealth of stunning material, much of it little known. Richly illustrated in full color, it offers an important contribution to colonial and postcolonial global art history and a seldom acknowledged perspective on art history in general.

Contributors: Barbara Borngässer (Technische Universität Dresden), Martín M. Checa-Artasu (Metropolitan Autonomous University, Mexico City), Thomas Coomans (KU Leuven), Pedro Guedes (University of Queensland), Bruno Klein (Technische Universität Dresden), Bettina Marten (Technische Universität Dresden), Olimpia Niglio (Hosei University Tokyo), Peter Scriver (University of Adelaide), Amit Srivastava (University of Adelaide)

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

1 Gothic Going Global About this Book Barbara Borngässer and Bruno Klein
2 A New Old Architecture Global Gothic in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries Bruno Klein
3 Gothic in Europe after the “End” of Neo-Gothic Bruno Klein
4 Tradition in the Age of Progress Notions on Gothic Church Architecture in the United States Bettina Marten
5 Ecclesiastical Gothic in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Canada Bettina Marten
6 Gothic Down Under Barbara Borngässer and Bruno Klein
7 Neo-Gothic in India Autonomy, Fusion, Exuberance Peter Scriver, Amit Srivastava, and Pedro Guedes
8 The Persistence of Neo-Gothic Architecture in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century South America Martín M. Checa-Artasu

9 Neo-Gothic Architecture in Mexico from the Porfiriato to the Present Martín M. Checa-Artasu
10 Gótico à brasileira Gothicizing Church Building between Amazonia and Rio Grande do Sul Barbara Borngässer
11 Gothic Architecture in Africa from Colonial to Postcolonial An Attempt Bruno Klein
12 Western, Modern and Postmodern Gothic Churches in Twentieth-Century China: Styles, Identities, and Memories Thomas Coomans
13 Gothic Revival in Japan in the Early Period of the Occidentalizing Experiences between Religious and Civil Architecture Olimpia Niglio
14 Gothic and Event Culture Wedding Chapels Barbara Borngässer

Barbara Borngässer

Barbara Borngässer is an art historian, working on late medieval, modern, and contemporary architecture. She is a founding member of the German Carl Justi Association for Cooperation in Art History with Spain, Portugal, and Latin America.

Bruno Klein

Bruno Klein holds the Chair for Christian Art of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages at the Technische Universität Dresden and is a member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences. He has authored numerous publications on the historical and social development of art discourses.