HOA 1 - Pre-Historic

History of Architecture

• Traces the evolution of architecture through various traditions, regions, styles, and historical periods.

Influences on Architectural Development

• Geographical: Location and its impact on materials and construction methods.
• Geological: Availability of stone, wood, and other natural resources.
• Climatic: Adaptation to weather patterns, including heat, cold, rain, and wind.
• Religious: Influence of beliefs and rituals in sacred spaces.
• Socio-political: Changes in society and power structures shaping architecture.
• Historical: Continuity and innovations over time.

Pre-historic Structures

• Earliest structures categorized into dwellings, religious monuments, and burial mounds.

Dwellings

• Earliest forms were rock caves.
• Natural cave: Unmodified, existing caves.
• Artificial cave: Modified caves with openings and features.
• Cave above the ground: Structures resembling caves built above the ground.
• Tents and Huts: Constructed using materials like tree bark, animal skins, and plant leaves.

Dwellings: Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)

• Cro-Magnon: Tall erect hominids, creating bone and antler tools with animal imagery and cave paintings.
• Structures: Typically oval huts made of branches, hides, or bone, with central hearths.
• Larger huts: Multiple fire pits and internal space division for different tasks.

Dwellings: Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)

• Characterized by microlithic tools, weapons, and changes in settlement patterns.

Dwellings: Neolithic (New Stone Age)

• Marked by development of agriculture and polished stone implements.
• Increased human collaboration and complex architectural systems.
• Structures made of flat stones stacked without mortar, forming corbelled structural systems.

Religious Monuments

• Monolith: Isolated, upright stone known as a menhir, possibly symbolizing victory.
• Menhirs: Found individually or in groups, with varying sizes and uneven, squared shapes, often tapering upwards.
• Prototypes for Egyptian pyramids.

Religious Monuments - Megalithic

• "Megalithic" refers to several stones.
• Dolmen: Two or more upright stones supporting a horizontal slab.
  • Derived from the Breton "taol maen," meaning "stone table."
  • Constructed using nearby stones
  • Structures resembling a "table".
• Cromlech: A megalithic tomb with a large flat stone supported by upright stones.
  • Indicates a site for religious rites.
• Stone Circle or Stone Row: Consists of three thousand stones.
• Stonehenge: A group of standing stones on Salisbury Plain in England, dating to 2200-1800 BC.
  • Contains concentric rings, including an outer ring, isolated blue stone, inner circle, and smaller blue stone.
  • May have served as a religious center and astronomical observatory.

Burial Mounds

• Tumuli or "Barrows": Earthen mounds used for burying individuals or groups.
• Prototypes for Egyptian pyramids and beehive huts.

Historic Architecture: Constructive Principles

• Post and Lintel (Trabeated): Strong horizontal elements supported by vertical elements, creating large open spaces (e.g., ancient Greek temples).
• Corbel or Cantilevered: Overlapping stones projecting horizontally, creating a shelf-like structure (e.g., Mayan temples).
• Arch and Vault: Curved structures distributing weight laterally (e.g., Roman arches and aqueducts).
• Trussed: Triangular framework for stability and load distribution (e.g., timber-framed houses).

Elements of Classical Supports

• Basic Forms:

  • Pier: A sturdy vertical element, often square or rectangular.
  • Pilaster: A flattened column projecting from a wall.
  • Engaged Column: A column partially embedded in a wall.
  • Column: A freestanding vertical element supporting an entablature.
  • Pedestal: A base supporting a column or statue.
  • Baluster: A small, usually decorative, vertical support.

• Special Forms:

  • Caryatids: Draped female figures, without hands, supporting an entablature.
  • Canephorae: Similar to Caryatids, but carrying a basket on their heads.
  • Atlas or Atlantes: Male figures, in kneeling position, supporting the world.
  • Telamon or Telamones: Male figures, in standing position, substituting for a column.
  • Anta Column: A pier or pilaster formed by thickening at the end of a wall.