Theory of Landscape

Middle Ages

- Constantinople
- Hohokam canal
- Viking age
- Great Budha
- Samarra
- Babylon
 Constantinople 532CE

• Constantinople was first settled in 7th century BC

•It is a thriving port because of its geographic location linking
Europe and Asia and a natural Harbour
•In 330CE it became Roman Emperor ‘Constantine’s “new
Rome”
•It was taken over by Byzantine Empire
•Later it was captured by Mehmed II of Ottoman Empire
•Now it is called ‘Istanbul’
 Ancient Greek and Roman
structures of constantinople
•Serpent Column, a monument built
originally to honor Apollo for the victory
over the Persians at Plataea in 479 BC.
• The column was moved by Constantine
the Great when Constantinople became
the new capital, and has stood at the
Hippodrome of Constantinople ever since.

The most important

monuments of Roman
architecture in the city include
•the Column of Constantine
•the Mazulkemer Aqueduct, the
Valens Aqueduct,
Valens aqueduct •the Column of the Goths in
Gülhane Park,
•the Milion which served for
calculating the distances
between Constantinople and
other cities of the Roman
Milion Empire,
•the Hippodrome of
Constantinople which was built
following the model of the
Circus Maximus in Rome.

Hippodrome
 The water trench
which stood in front
of the triple land
walls of
Constantinople was
later filled with earth
and used for
agriculture

•Construction of the Walls of Constantinople began under

Constantine the Great
•the largest gate of the fort wall was the Porta Aurea (Golden Gate)

•The Hagia Sophia, built by Justinian between 532 and 537,

is widely regarded as the masterpiece of Byzantine
architecture.
Hohokan Canal – 700 to
1400 CE

• Hohokan people of south Arizona

•Tapped water from Salt, Gila and, San Pedro rivers
•Through a system of irrigation canals
•More than 250 miles of canals
•Constructed with simple tools and man power
•Helped to irrigate cultivation fields more than 16 miles away from water source
•Hohokam cultivated varieties of cotton, tobacco, maize, beans, and squash, as
well as harvested a vast assortment of wild plants
•extensive dry-farming systems, primarily to grow agave for food and fiber
 Viking age 750-1035

•Constant Viking raids on northern Europe

•Viking conquest of Europe in 9th and 10th century
•Landscapes unsafe
•Mind set of seeking protection from nature
•The waterways functioned like roads
•Group of islands, Scotland, Denmark etc
 Great Buddha - 752

•Daibutsu constructed by Emperor Shomu at Nara, Japan

•Marks the spread of Buddhism to Japan, from India via
China and Korea
•Influences of folk religions along the way
 Samarra – 836CE - Iraq

•Palace city
•Iconic spiral minaret at the grand mosque
•Administrative head of Abbasid Caliphs
•Irrigation channels found in excavations relate to existence
of palace gardens
 Gardens of Babylon –
around 600BC

•Accounts indicate that the garden was built by King Nebuchadnezzar, who
ruled the city for 43 years starting in 605 BC
•"It consists of vaulted terraces raised one above another, and resting upon
cube-shaped pillars. These are hollow and filled with earth to allow trees of
the largest size to be planted. The pillars, the vaults, and terraces are
constructed of baked brick and asphalt."
•Babylon rarely received rain and for the garden to survive
•One of the solutions the designers of the garden may have used to move
the water, however, was a "chain pump.“
•A chain pump is two large wheels, one above the other, connected by a
chain. On the chain are hung buckets. Below the bottom wheel is a pool
with the water source. As the wheel is turned, the buckets dip into the pool
and pick up water. The chain then lifts them to the upper wheel, where the
buckets are tipped and dumped into an upper pool. The chain then carries
the empty buckets back down to be refilled.