Professional Documents
Culture Documents
History of Architecture
History
A systematic, often chronological narrative of
significant events as relating to a particular people,
country, or period, often including an explanation of
their causes.
Course Outline
▪ MODULE 1: Prehistoric and Ancient Architecture
▪ MODULE 2: Classical Architecture and the Western
Succession
▪ MODULE 3: Architecture in Asia and the Pacific
Region
▪ MODULE 4: Architecture in the Philippines
MODULE 1
Prehistoric and Ancient Architecture
Module 1 Overview
1.1 Prehistoric Architecture
1.2 Mesopotamian Architecture
▪ Sumerian
▪ Babylonian
▪ Assyrian
▪ Persian
1.3 Egyptian Architecture
1.4 Minoan Architecture
Prehistoric
Architecture
A map of early human migrations.
Early Dwellings
■ Shift from nomadic, hunter-gatherer system to a
combination of farming and hunting.
■ Domestication of animals and plants.
■ Created societies of villages near caves or along
shores and streams.
Rock caves
Earliest form of human settlement.
Lascaux Cave
Lascaux, France.
Egyptian gods.
Karnak Temple
Complex
Luxor, Egypt.
Sphinx
A figure of an imaginary creature having
the body of a lion and the head of a man,
ram, or hawk.
7 androsphinx: human-headed sphinx Vatican
Museum, Rome
8 androsphinx: human-headed sphinx
Amenemhet III, 12.dynasty, c.1800 BC
9 androsphinx: human-headed sphinx
Thutmosis III, 18th dynasty, Rek-minh-re,
Thebes, Egypt
10 criosphinx: ram-headed sphinx
11 hieracosphinx: falcon-headed sphinx
Egyptian sphinxes.
Obelisk
An Egyptian monolithic four-sided
standing stone, tapering to a pyramidical
cap (a pyramidion), often inscribed with
hieroglyphs and erected as a monument.
Pylon
A gateway guarding a sacred precinct
consisting of either a pair of tall
truncated pyramids and a doorway
between them, often decorated with
painted reliefs.
Hypostyle Hall
A large hall having many columns in
rows supporting a flat roof, and
sometimes a clerestory.
Pylon temple
An Egyptian temple type with
monumental gateways, formed by
twined pylons.
Kiosk
A freestanding stone canopy structure
supported by columns in Egyptian
architecture. (Hypaethral, classical
temple that is wholly or partly open to the
sky.)
Mammisi
Dendera Temple Complex. Dendera,
Egypt.
Mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut and Shrine of Anubis, Deir el-Bahari; c.1470 BC, architect Senenmut.
Temple at Abu Simbel, near Philae, Egypt.
Abu Simbel
The facade, carved directly into the
sandstone cliff, takes the form of a pylon
and is dominated by four colossal
seated figures, 22 meters tall, all
portrayals of Ramesses.
Pyramid
A massive masonry structure having a rectangular
base and four smooth, steeply sloping sides facing
the cardinal points and meeting at an apex.
▪ Step pyramid
▪ Bent pyramid
▪ Straight-sided/Sloped pyramid
Step Pyramid
A pyramid-type whose sides are stepped with tiers rather
than smooth, in Egypt predating the true pyramids; the
primary existing Egyptian example is that of King Zoser
at Saqqara, south of Cairo.
Pyramid of Zoser
Saqqara, Egypt.
Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops); pyramid of Khafre (Chefren); pyramid of Menkaure (Mycerinus), after 2472 BC.
Plan: Mortuary and valley temples of Khafre at Giza
Section: Great pyramid of Khufu; King’s chamber.
Stela
A slab stela shows a royal personage at
a funerary repast sitting next to an
offering table covered with the loaves of
bread that have been brought to him.
Next to him on the floor, on small
platforms, are containers holding
incense, ointments, figs, and wine.
A scalar comparison of Egyptian pyramids.
Why a tapering
shape?
Ancient rulers liked these artificial
mountains for their great height
(allowing them to commune with the
gods) and commanding visual presence
over flat river valleys.
On a practical level, a pyramid
concentrates most of its building on the
lower half, so fewer stones have to be
hauled to the top.
Egyptian Capitals
C palm capital, palmiform (plume capital) F bell capital, blossom capital, campaniform, open
D papyrus capital, papyriform capital
E bud capital, closed bud capital, closed capital G lotus capital, lotiform, lily capital
H tent-pole capital
Egyptian Capitals.
1) Composite column (Hathor capital); 2) Hathor column; 3) Hathor column; 4) Osiris column, Osiris pillar
Minoan
Architecture
Minoan (1800-1300 B.C.)
▪ A Bronze Age civilization flourished in Crete.
▪ Named after King Minos of Knossos.
▪ Gate buildings with multi-columnar porches provided
access to unfortified compounds.
▪ Foundation walls, piers and lintels were stone with the
upper walls in timber framework.
Palace at Knossos, Crete, Greece. (Largest palace built by the Minoans.)
Palace at
Knossos
Crete, Greece.