ABSTRACT
Introduction A building’s design is the conceptual foundation on which its tangible form, visual appearance, function and subsequent history are all built so it follows logically that we comprehend historic buildings more fully if we understand how they were designed. However, the single greatest obstacle to understanding is that, as people of the twenty-fi rst century, we no longer speak the design languages of earlier times. This is particularly true of the medieval period because the spatial proportioning inherent in geometrical design is largely absent from the design languages of the present which are, in general, dominated by numerical dimensions. In seeking a deeper understanding of medieval buildings and the mindset of their designers it is an essential fi rst step to relearn the design language of the period.
