Historical Periods and Agricultural Developments

History of Architecture 1

• This is an introductory course to the history of architecture.

Definitions

• History: A systematic, chronological record of significant events related to a specific people, country, or period, often explaining the causes.
• History of Architecture: A record of human efforts to build beautifully, tracing the origin, growth, and decline of architectural styles throughout various periods.
• Prehistoric: Relating to the period before written records, with knowledge gained through archaeology and research.
• Civilization: Highly developed human society with advanced cultural, technical, and political systems.
• Society: A large-scale human community with shared traditions, institutions, and collective interests and beliefs.
• Culture: An integrated pattern of human knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors transmitted between generations.
• Style: A unique artistic expression characteristic of a person, group, or period.

Stone Age Cultural Stages

• Paleolithic (Old Stone Age):
  • Used stone and bone tools
  • Depended on hunting and gathering
  • Developed fire
  • Lived in caves and rock shelters
• Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age):
  • Fashioned tools like bows
  • Developed clothing from animal hides
  • Created canoes for fishing
  • Built huts from natural materials
• Neolithic (New Stone Age):
  • Started agriculture and settled lifestyles
  • Developed polished stone tools for various tasks
  • Domesticated animals
  • Created pottery and textiles
  • Built huts from mud and stones
  • Practiced burial rituals

Stone Age Dwelling Structures

• Primitive Dwellings: Early dwellings were often simple, single-room structures.
• Rock Caves: These were natural shelters that evolved into artificial modifications.
• Cliff Dwellings: Prehistoric people carved dwellings into cliffs using niches.
• Tents and Huts: Constructed using natural materials like tree bark, animal hides, reeds, and bushes.
• Other Stone Age Dwellings: Includes structures like the Trullo, Wigwam, Tepee, Hogan, and Nigerian hut.
• Construction Principles: Includes post and lintel, arch, vault, corbel, cantilever, and trusses.
• Classification of Early Architecture: The different types of dwellings, religious monuments, and burial grounds.

Bronze Age, Iron Age

• Bronze Age: A period marked by the development of bronze metallurgy, roughly (3500-800 BCE)
• Iron Age: A period marked by the development of iron metallurgy, extending from roughly (1200 BCE-1 CE)

Influences on the Development of Architecture

• Geographical, Geological, and Climatic influences (e.g., available resources, climate, terrain)
• Religious influences (e.g., burial rituals, presence of temples, depiction of gods)
• Social and Political Influences (e.g., development of cities and kingdoms, power structures, laws etc)
• Cultural Influences (e.g., shared beliefs, practices, and artistic expressions)

Periods: Sumerian Architecture

• Location and Time: (4000 BCE – 641 AD), Mesopotamia.
• Building Materials: Mud bricks and sun-dried bricks.
• Construction System: Arcuated (arches, vaults)
• Architectural Character: Massiveness, monumentality, use of batter walls.
• Cities: Enclosing walls, Ziggurats (multi-tiered structures), Temples, and houses.
• Examples: White Temple (Uruk), Great Ziggurat (Ur).

Periods: Babylonian Architecture

• Location and Time: (2300 BCE - 1500 BCE)
• Building Materials: Burnt bricks, clay.
• Construction System: Similar to Sumerians
• Architectural Character: Importance of palaces (Ishtar Gate), defensive walls, and hanging gardens.
• City of Babylon: Fortified, defensive walls, and palaces.
• Examples: Ishtar Gate, Hanging Gardens.

Periods: Assyrian Architecture

• Location and Time: (1859-626 BCE), Mesopotamia
• Building Materials: Mud brick
• Construction System:
• Architectural Character: Influenced by militarism prominent (e.g., sculptures, relief carvings)
• Palaces: Stone reliefs (e.g., winged bulls), decorated walls, hypostyle halls.
• Examples: Palace complexes.

Periods: Persian Architecture

• Location and Time: (550-330 BCE), Persia.
• Building Materials: Mud bricks, stone, and imported materials.
• Construction System: Hypostyle halls, use of columns (ionic).
• Architectural Character: Monumentality, combination of ideas from multiple cultures (e.g., Greeks, Egyptians).
• Palace of Persepolis: Monumental gateways, decorated staircases, palaces (e.g., Audience Hall).

Periods: Egyptian Architecture

• Location and Time: (3200 BCE - 30 BCE), Nile Valley.
• Building Materials: Stone (e.g., limestone, granite). Other materials included sand dried bricks, palm leaves for roofing, acacia for boats, and sycamore for mummy cases
• Construction System: primarily use of post and lintel construction.
• Architectural Character: Monumentality, Religious symbolism, enduring tombs.
• Tombs: Mastabas (simple rectangular tombs), Pyramids (massive funerary structures), rock-cut tombs.
• Temples: Pylons, hypostyle halls, sanctuaries.
• Examples: Pyramids at Gizeh, Temple of Karnak, and Temple of Luxor, Egyptian Dwellings and Fortresses.

Architectural Character

• Material use: local and imported materials (i.e. stone, wood, reeds, etc)
• Construction systems: post and lintel, arches, vaults
• Decorations: hieroglyphics, paintings, reliefs, carving
• Orientation: consideration of cardinal points
• Openings: consideration of location (i.e. sun exposure and ventilation)
• Examples of Architectural Features: Columns, Capitals, Roofs and Ceiling, Walls

Examples

• Mastabas: Early Egyptian tombs with rectangular shapes, covering a burial chamber.
• Pyramids: Massive, often massive funerary structures, with square base and sloping triangular sides.
• Rock-cut or Rock-hewn Tombs: Carved into hillsides, used for burials of nobility.
• Pylons: Monumental gateways to temples with distinctive slanting walls.
• Temples: Includes sanctuary, hypostyle hall, and entrance columns
• Fortresses: often built from materials like stone and brick, and include projecting towers, thick walls, and defensive positions, usually built near waterways such as the Nile.
• Obelisks: tall, slender, four-sided monuments with pyramidal tops, often found in pairs, featuring hieroglyphics