Spire
A
spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from
Anglo-Saxon, so it is related to "spear," rather than the
Romance languages and "spirit."
Symbolically, spires have two functions. The first is to proclaim a martial power. A spire, with its reminiscence of the spear point, gives the impression of strength. The second is to reach up toward the skies. The celestial and hopeful gesture of the spire is one reason for its association with religious buildings. A spire on a church or
cathedral is not just a symbol of piety, but is often seen as a symbol of the wealth and prestige of the order, or
patron who commissioned the building.
As an architectural ornament, spires are most consistently found on
Christian churches, where they replace the
steeple. Although any denomination may choose to use a spire instead of a steeple, the lack of a cross on the structure is more common in
Roman Catholic and other pre-
Reformation churches. (Note, in the photo at right, that the spire was originally intended to serve as a platform for three bare crosses in imitation of
Calvary. The centre is ecumenical, with Anglican/Methodist and Roman Catholic chapels. A decision to include a kosher kitchen and rooms used by Muslims and other religious groups led to the third cross being converted to a spike before completion of the building.) The battlements of
cathedrals featured multiple spires in the
Gothic style (in imitation of the secular military fortress).
Currently, the largest spire to be part of the architecture of another building is the spire mounted on the recently completed
Q1 residential tower on the
Gold Coast in
Australia.
Spires are also common and notable as solo structures. After contact with
Egyptian architecture and the mania for Egyptian artifacts in the west in the
19th century, towers in the shape of
obelisks enjoyed a vogue. When original obelisks could be imported, such as
Cleopatra's needle in
New York City, they were, but spires as memorial structures were popular in funerary architecture and public monuments (e.g. the
Washington monument in
Washington, DC) into the
20th century. In the
Modernist movements of the 20th century, office towers in the form of free-standing spires also began to be built. Some famous buildings, such as the
Space Needle in
Seattle, Washington, use the spire as a testimony of civic power and hope; in the case of this example, it is also a reference to Seattle's participation in
aerospace. A 1,776-foot (541-m) "
Freedom Tower" is a projected feature of the
9/11 Memorial in New York City, and is to be topped by a spire.
Whatever the reason for their erection, spires were an astounding architectural
phenomenon during the
medieval gothic period of architecture. Since that time nearly 700 years ago they have never really fallen out of fashion.
In
England, "spire" immediately brings to mind
Salisbury Cathedral. Its 403-foot (123-m) spire, built between
1320 and
1380, is the tallest of the period anywhere in the world, and in its way is as remarkable as the
Coliseum in
Rome or the
parthenon in
Athens. A similar but slightly smaller spire was built at
Leighton Buzzard in
Bedfordshire,
England, which indicates the popularity of the spire spreading across the country during this period. We will never know the true popularity of the medieval spire, as many more collapsed within a few years of building than ever survived to be recorded. In the United Kingdom spires generally tend to be reserved for ecclesiastical building, with the exception to this rule being the spire at
Burghley House, built for
Elizabeth I's
Lord Chancellor in
1585.
In the early
Renaissance the spire was not restricted to the
United Kingdom: the fashion spread across Europe. In
Antwerp the 123-m spire was the tallest structure in the
low countries for over five centuries. Between
1221 and
1457 richly decorated open spires were built for the Cathedral of
Burgos in
Spain, while at
Ulm Cathedral in
Germany the 529-foot (161-m) spire was built in the imported French Gothic style between
1377 and
1417.
Interestingly, the
Italians never really embraced the spire as an architectural feature, preferring the classical styles. The gothic style was a feature of Germanic northern Europe and was never to the Italian taste, and the few gothic buildings in Italy always seem incongruous. That is not to say that no one ever attempted to blend the classical styles with a spire, but this occurred much later. In
1822, in
London,
John Nash built All Souls' Church, Langham Place, a circular classical temple, with
Ionic columns surmounted by a spire supported by
Corinthian columns. Whether this is a happy marriage of styles or a rough admixture is a question of individual taste.
During the 19th century the Gothic revival knew no bounds. With advances in technology, steel production, and building techniques the spire enjoyed an unprecedented surge through architecture,
Cologne Cathedral's famous spires, designed centuries earlier, where finally completed in this era.
Later in the 19th century,
Art Nouveau produced the most bizarre effects when incorporated into ecclesiastical architecture. It reached its most exaggerated point in the phenomenal spires of
Sagrada Familia in
Barcelona. Designed and begun by
Antoni Gaudi in
1884, they were not completed until the 20th century. A cross between a
stalagmite and a melting wedding cake, they cannot fail to amaze.
As described earlier, the spire as an architectural form has continued to metamorphose and develop into more modern and even more fantastic forms, which in turn have inspired such sculptures the
Spire of Dublin) throughout the 20th century, and will undoubtedly continue to do so in the
21st century.
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