John Ruskin in his essay,"The Stones of Venice," describes every building of the Gothic period as "differing from every other in some important respect; and many include features which if they occurred in other buildings would not be considered Gothic at all" (Ruskin 692). Throughout his life, Ruskin was known as the expert of Gothic architecture. This web site is dedicated to taking excerpts from the writings of John Ruskin and comparing his notions of authentic Gothic archiceture with that of Texan Victorian architecture. By examining the six features that Ruskin assigned to the Gothic style, we can identify whether or not buildings in Texas can be deemed Gothic as well.

The six elements that Ruskin assigned to Gothic architecture are: savageness or rudeness, love of change, love of nature, disturbed imagination, obstinacy or rigidity, and generosity. To Ruskin, these elements are essential to all buildings of the Gothic period. Throughout this web site, we will examine each element in its own right, show examples of each facet, and support our findings with passages from the readings of John Ruskin's "The Nature of Gothic". Also contributing to our web site examples will be insight from the lectures of Dr. Jerome Bump, and passages from William Wordsworth's, The worship of nature.

To begin our project, the four of us, Jennifer Bowles, Seth Fowler, Jennifer Greene, and Matt Heininger, decided that we should venture to San Antonio, Tx to take authentic photos of the historic King William District. All of the photos in this web site were taken in that location. The King William District is a Victorian community in the heart of San Antonio that prides itself on the uniqueness of the houses. Instead of deciding on one house to attribute all of Ruskin's elements of Gothic style too, we decided to take the six elements and give an example of each with a different picture. Next we explain why we feel the houses from the King William District fit into Ruskin's description of Gothic architecture. In conclusion of this web site we will post pictures contrasting a Victorian building with an example of modern architecture. This will show the great difference between the culture of today versus the culture of yesteryear.

Our goal in this project is to acquaint the internet community with the principles of Gothic architecture in order to facilitate a discussion of cultures. By posting pictures of our beloved Texas, on the web, we hope that everyone will see that even though we are heading into the 21st Century, our state is unique and authentic in its architecture, style, and culture.