Oriental rhythm by stefangrosjean

Some of the most impressive buildings in Venice are labeled as gothic architecture. This is obviously correct but to me it's always striking how everything has a little bit of an oriental feeling. After thinking about this for quite some time I've come to the conclusion that it's mostly the forms that are gothic, but the rhythms are often oriental. What I mean is this: An arc can have a gothic shape like the arcs you see on the Palazzo Ducale in Venice (not the one in this photo), but how they repeat the arc, that feels oriental to me. Or look at the photo above which shows the Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia. The rhythm here is very complex with 10 arcs on the lower floor and 18 arcs on the upper floor. There is no repeating pattern here like "for every arc on one floor there are two arcs on the other floor". I think it makes a lot of sense to look at it this way since those buildings were built while the trade with the Orient flourished in Venice. via 500px http://j.mp/1toJFXy