HOA 1 - Pre-Historic

Study Notes

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

"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.

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).

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.