I. M. Pei

In northern architecture - the cathedrals of Europe and all the little churches - the details, the carving of stone, become necessary because the light is not there to help you very much. You have to enrich surfaces. The desert reduces form to its simplest nature. There is no need for gargoyles or flying buttresses in the desert.

American Architect

Marc Randolph

The biggest problem I see with early-stage entrepreneurs is they get the idea in their head, and they leave it in their head. And they begin embellishing it in their head, making it more ornate. They add on the second story to their dream house - then add the tennis court and the turrets and the gargoyles.

American Businessman

Bjarke Ingels

When I started studying architecture, people would say, you know, 'Can you tell me why are all modern buildings so boring?' Because, like, people had this idea that in the good old days, architecture had, like, ornament and little towers and spires and gargoyles, and today, it just becomes very practical.

Danish Architect

Scott Derrickson

When I went to Europe a few years ago, I felt very at home there, and I loved standing in Notre Dame and looking at all the gargoyles on the outside of that building and realizing that, as scary and frightening as they were, what I was looking at was something that was built to the glory of God.

American Director

Diane Ackerman

Even without seeing the crickets, grasshoppers, cicadas and katydids, we hear them shrilling in this season and trust that they're the tiny living gargoyles entomologists claim.

American Poet

Rosamund Pike

I decided to finish at Oxford because I looked up at the top of the buildings - the gargoyles and spires - and decided to stay.

British Actress

Keith David

And it has some weight, I mean, the whole history of the gargoyles, that's some wonderful stuff.

American Actor

Used to describe ornamental features on old buildings, especially churches and cathedrals.

Architectural Detail

Remember, a gargoyle isn’t a real creature; it’s a carved stone decoration.

Not A Creature

Frequently associated with Gothic architecture, which means they’re not common in modern buildings.

Gothic Association

Besides being decorative, gargoyles serve to divert rainwater away from buildings to prevent damage.

Practical Function

While many are grotesque, not all gargoyles are meant to be scary; some may even be whimsical.

Not Always Scary

Using 'gargoyle' to describe a person can be hurtful and offensive; use it with care.

Offensive Usage

It’s informal and usually used amongst friends in a joking way, rather than in serious conversation.

Colloquial Term

When used to describe someone, it's an exaggeration to express that someone looked especially unkempt or injured.

Visual Hyperbole

 those strange stone gargoyles just down the road, feel that we've become less than the sum of our parts, feel as though we have become profoundly diminished. And this isn't just a problem in Britain. It's a problem across the developing world,

Rory Stewart: Why...

 staircases of the north bell tower these long long stone spiral staircases and then you pop out at one of the levels and you're on this balustrad or our balcony with all of these gargoyles the famous iconic

Resurrecting Notre-Dame...

 sergeant majors all of them however including myself as we walk underneath those strange stone gargoyles just down the road feel that we become less than the sum of our parts feel as though we

Gargoyle