Skyscraper Gothic: Medieval Style & Modernist Buildings

Skyscraper Gothic: Medieval Style & Modernist Buildings examines the surprising and enduring dialogue between the soaring verticality of medieval Gothic architecture and the ambitions of modernist building design in the 20th century.

Presented at the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery in 2022, the exhibition investigates how architects and designers drew on Gothic forms — pointed arches, ornamental tracery, and dramatic upward thrust — to shape some of the most iconic skyscrapers and civic buildings of the modern era.

Through architectural drawings, photographs, and related artworks, visitors are invited to reconsider the boundaries between historical revival and genuine innovation, and to reflect on how the medieval past continued to inspire the builders of the modern skyline.