The Law as Gothic Architecture
There is a certain way buildings are intended to make us feel. Courthouses, in particular, are rarely designed to our comfort. They rise from city centres, fronted by columns or steps that elevate the entrance above street level, almost asking visitors to look up before they are allowed to enter. Inside, ceilings stretch high enough to outstrip the human voice. Light filters in indirectly. The effect is not accidental. The law, like structure, is meant to be felt before it is understood. My impression was always that the law resembles gothic form more than it does the clean rationalism we like to associate with justice. Gothic structures were not built merely to shelter, but also impress, intimidate, and communicate permanence and moral order through scale and symbolism. Their purpose was both spiritual and disciplinary. The law operates in much the same way. It is a system of rules, certainly, but it is also an aesthetic and psychological force, one that shapes behaviour through awe a...