You see, in the old days, them Gothic buildings, they were all about being tall and skinny-like. Long and pointy, like them church steeples you see in the village. Real high, real sharp. But when it comes to that Renaissance stuff, they got different ideas. They liked things to be all nice and round. Not so pointy. More like when you stack your corn in a perfect circle, not like when you’re just tossing it up high to dry. They got them semi-circular arches instead of them pointy ones.
Now, you know how them old castles looked, all heavy and like they was built to last forever. Well, that’s how that Gothic stuff is too. It’s real solid. Thick walls, small windows, like they didn’t want to let much light in or out. I reckon they was scared someone might sneak a peek! Ha! But the Renaissance? Oh, honey, they went the other way. They liked it fancy, liked it light. Them buildings was more graceful, with lots of decorations. And they wasn’t as heavy neither, like they didn’t need to hold back no armies anymore.

The folks back in them Renaissance times, they was real into getting things just right. Like when you’re baking bread, you want it all nice and even, right? Well, that’s how they wanted their buildings. Symmetry, they called it. Everything had to match up, left and right, top and bottom. Even the windows would be all the same size, nothing out of place. I bet they’d even line up their chickens in a row if they could! That wasn’t something the Gothic folks was too worried about. They just built what they needed, no fuss about things matching up.
Now let me tell you, in them Gothic days, they wasn’t too concerned with being all neat and tidy with their shapes. But in the Renaissance, oh boy, they loved their shapes. Circles, squares, triangles, you name it. They wanted everything to fit together nice, like a good patchwork quilt. And they learned all this from the old Roman folks. Them Romans, they knew how to build back in their day, and the Renaissance folks just copied them, like how my grandkids copy my apple pie recipe!
Another thing that’s different between the two is them columns. You know them poles that hold up the roof? Well, in Gothic buildings, they used them but they was more about making the place tall and grand. In the Renaissance, though, they liked their columns to be just right, not too tall, not too short. Like Goldilocks and her porridge, I reckon! They was copying them old Roman buildings, trying to make everything look just perfect, like when you pluck all the weeds from your garden, and everything’s just so.
Oh, and don’t get me started on the doors and windows! In Gothic buildings, they liked them tall and skinny, like a ladder. But come the Renaissance, they said, “No more of that!” and made them more regular and rounded. Just like when you make round biscuits instead of long sticks of bread. Everything was softer, more welcoming. I bet if buildings could talk, them Renaissance ones would sound a lot friendlier.
To put it plain, Gothic was all about being big and strong, like an old oak tree. Renaissance was more like a fancy garden, full of flowers and all neatly arranged. Both are nice, just different ways of showing off what they got. But I gotta say, I wouldn’t mind sitting in a Renaissance house with all them pretty decorations. Makes you feel like you’re living fancy, even if you ain’t!
Tags:[Renaissance architecture, Gothic architecture, Symmetry, Proportion, Classical antiquity, Semi-circular arches, Medieval buildings, Roman architecture]
