Before the Gothic period, Romanesque architecture featured open, semicircular arches. Pointed arches ended in a point, rather than being semicircular in shape. As noted in the book "Gothic Architecture," by Paul Frankl and Paul Crossley, pointed arches had been used before, and are even found in some ancient Greek and Roman architecture. However, the Gothic movement used pointed arches extensively to provide a sense of openness and to help accommodate large and ornately decorated stained glass windows, which are also characteristic of this style.
If you take a look at the ceiling of a Gothic cathedral, you'll notice that the vaulting has a ribbed pattern. Romanesque churches, on the other hand, have very simple barrel vaults without any extra ribbing, as illustrated in the Athena Review. The ribbed vaults provided more support for the vault and arches, while also adding a different esthetic feel. Vaulting became more complex as the Gothic period progressed, with the addition of quatri-partite vault and the sexpartite vault.
Buttresses are used to provide support for building walls, and are most commonly seen in churches. Traditionally, the buttresses were hidden and constructed on the interior of the church. After the dawn of Gothic architecture, however, the use of the flying buttress became more widespread. Flying buttresses are built on the exterior of the church, and resemble a structural exoskeleton. Once again, this opened up more wall space for windows and also provided an opportunity to display decorative embellishments.
The use of flying buttresses, ribbed vaults and pointed arches allowed Gothic architects to construct larger buildings with more complex layouts. Gothic churches tend to have a more vertical feeling that other styles, due to the use of large windows and high pointed archways. Although churches are common examples of Gothic buildings, the style expanded in the late Gothic period to include secular buildings like town halls, guildhouses and homes, as noted bu History World International.