Pre-modern American

architecture
American architectural history
 MAJOR EONS
• Pre Colombian architecture
This is about the architectural history of America before it has been
discovered by Christopher Columbus
• Early modern
This time line continues after America has been colonized by Europeans
This shows the advanced near architectural movements in American soil
 Pre-colombian architecture
Olmec(1200-400 B.C.)
Maya(1438-1532 A.D. )
Aztek( 1100-1521)
Inca ( 1051-1572)
 Olmec architecture(1200-400 B.C.)
• One of the earliest civilizations in the Americas
• Settled along rivers with good soil for agriculture
• Farming led to the development of towns
 Olmec
• Known for their creation of colossal stone heads of their rulers
 Incan architecture
• Inherited there form from Tiwanaku
• A core characteristic of the architectural style was to use the
topography and existing materials of the land as part of the
design
• The famous royal estate of Machu Picchu (Machu Pikchu) is
a surviving example of Inca architecture
 Incan architecture
Chatacterstics
Inca buildings were made out of fieldstones or semi-worked stone blocks
and dirt set in mortar;
The most common shape in Inca architecture was the rectangular building
without any internal walls and roofed with wooden beams and thatch
Rectangular buildings were used for quite different functions in almost all
Inca buildings, from humble houses to palaces and temples
 The kancha
• The most common composite form in Inca architecture was the
kancha, a rectangular enclosure housing three or more
rectangular buildings placed symmetrically around a central
courtyard Kancha units served widely different purposes as they
formed the basis of simple dwellings as well as of temples and
palaces; furthermore, several kancha could be grouped together
to form blocks in Inca settlements. testimony of the importance
of these compounds in Inca architecture is that the central part of
the Inca capital of Cusco consisted of large kancha, including
Qurikancha and the Inca palaces. The best preserved examples of
kancha are found at Ollantaytambo, an Inca settlement located
along the Urubamba River.
 Incan architecture
Stone masonry
The Inca constructed stone temples without using mortars yet the stones
fit together so well that a knife would not fit between the stones
Twelve-angled stone in the Hatun Rumiyoc street of Cusco, is an example
of Inca masonry
 American archeologists classified Inca fine masonry in two types:
coursed, which features rectangular shaped stones, and polygonal, which
features blocks of irregular shape.
 Cellular polygonal masonry: with small blocks

 Ashlar polygonal masonry: with very large stones

Incan architecture

Suspension bridge of Inca

 Maya Architecture
built towering temples and palaces
At the top the temples, priests performed religious ceremonies and
sacrifices while people watched from the plazas below
Ceremonial platforms, temples, pyramids, observatories, ball courts all
built by the Maya
 Maya temples
Temple-pyramids were the most striking feature of a Classic Maya city.
They were built from hand-cut limestone blocks and towered over all
surrounding structures.
Although the temples themselves usually contained one or more rooms
 the rooms were so narrow that they could only have been used on
ceremonial occasions not meant for public consumption.
Maya Architecture
 Maya palaces
the bulk of construction at a Maya site was composed of palaces

single-storey structures built like temple-pyramids but on much lower

platforms and with as many as several dozen plastered rooms.

Unlike temple-pyramids, palaces often contained one or two interior

courtyards.
 Vaults and roof combs
Typical Maya architectural features included the corbel vault and the roof
comb
The corbel vault has no keystone, as European arches do, making the
Maya vault appear more like a narrow triangle than an archway.
It has been suggested that this unusual form exists because the Maya
never mastered keystone technology
the Maya vault always had nine stone layers, representing the nine layers
of the Underworld.
 vault
The Great Gate at Labna keystone
 Roof comb
The Maya roof comb was a lattice of stone added despite the height of the
temple-pyramids.
Perhaps Maya architects didn't feel the temples were grand enough, and so
added an upper extension.
The roof comb was always highly decorated with painted stucco reliefs, as
was the temple facade.
 Roof comb
• The temple of the sun
 Advances in learning
• The Maya created a writing system of hieroglyphics
 Aztec architecture
Aztec architecture is a late form of Mesoamerican architecture developed
by the Aztec civilization.
Much of what is known about it comes from the structures that are still
standing.
These structures have survived for several centuries because of the strong
materials used and the skill of the builders.
Aztec architecture is characterized by symmetry and elements like
geometric designs and sweeping lines.
Legends of Aztecs
• The gods told the Aztecs to search for an
eagle holding a snake in its beak perched
atop a cactus.
• This is where they were to build their
capital city.
• The Aztecs saw this sign on a swampy
island in lake Texcoco.
 Tenochtitlan (present day Mexico City)
• Tenochtitlan was an Aztec city that thrived from 1325 to 1521.
• The city was built on an island, surrounded on all sides by Lake Texcoco.
• It consisted of an elaborate system of canals, aqueducts, and causeways allowing
the city to supply its residents.
 Pyramids of Aztecs

Pyramid of the sun pyramid of the moon

 The Plaza
• Public space near the terraced pyramids
Courtyard of aztek
Ball Court
• Pre modern American architecture
• The architecture of the American demonstrates a broad variety of architectural
styles and built forms over centuries of time with different time line of different
influences

General time line of American architecture

 1, Colonial architecture(c.1600-1720)
• Done by the first settlers in north America
• They all come up with there own mother land
architectural design
• Diversity
 
Spanish colonial architecture
The earliest architectural form to appear in America
They first appeared in North America between the 1600s and mid-1800s,
Known for their white, stucco walls, red, clay roof tiles, and rustic appearance,
Spanish Colonial homes are extremely popular throughout the American southeast,
southwest, and California
Thick, white, stucco walls
Very few and very small windows
Red clay roof tiles
Wooden support beams
Little or no decoration
Red clay roof tile

Very few
and very small windows

thick white
stucco wall
New England colonial architecture
the movement is carried out by british people
The colonists carried the knowledge of building traditions and architectural styles.
The earliest dwellings were likely hastily-constructed sheds and cabins
as there numbers increased
Using whatever materials they could find, the
constructed timber-framed houses with steep roofs
characterized by
-wooden construction
-steep roofs
-massive chimneys
• Why the characteristics
• 1 The heavy winter of the place massive
• 2 Material supply chimneys
•
•
3 The heavy snow
4 The growing number of the
St e e p roo f
settlers
wooden construction
Dutch colonial architecture
• Indicate a broad gambrel roof with flaring eaves that extend over the long sides,
resembling a barn in construction
• which employed more stone and brick, and was based on prototypes in Flanders
and Holland
Swedish colonial
seen along the lower Delaware River, from which was derived the American 'log
cabin' design, characterized by round logs with protruding ends.

French colonial architecture,

which emerged in the northern Maritime Provinces in Canada, Quebec and the St.
Lawrence Valley. The French also introduced the so-called Quebec style to their
settlements around the Great Lakes and the Mississippi region. Down in the deep
south, another distinctive French building style was prevalent in Louisiana and its
capital New Orleans
• construction technique, the French Colonial style has many more door and
window openings," Andrew notes, with each room having access to the
outdoors, typically via tall and skinny double doors—yep, French doors.
• For the most part, French Colonial homes have steeply pitched roofs with wide
overhangs that are hipped (where all four sides slope down from the center
pitch) or side-gabled (where only the front and back sides slope down and the
sides are triangular continuations of the exterior walls). Similar to Spanish
Colonial homes, exterior walls are often thick and covered with stucco, but the
interior walls are typically half-timbered with clay and straw or soft brick infill.
 Steep roof
More doors compared to Spanish colonial
More windows
4 side hinged roof system
Half timber clay and break construction
Georgian Architecture in America (c.1700-1770)
• During the 18th century, up until the American Revolution, the basic architectural
style used in the English colonies in America was labelled Georgian after the
three English Monarchs George I, II, and III.

George I

George I
• three distinct styles
1. The Baroque idiom of Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) and his followers
2.The Palladian style of Renaissance architecture invented by the
designer Andrea Palladio
3,The Neoclassical style - a reversion to Greek and Roman architectural
principles
 1. The Baroque idiom of Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) and his followers
• The style is created by sir Christofer Wern and his collogues
• He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches in the City of London after
the Great Fire in 1666, including what is regarded as his masterpiece, St Paul's
Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710
• -good ratio of negative and positive space
• -large dome like structure on the top
• - good balance
• - decorative faced structures
 2.The Palladian style of Renaissance architecture invented by the designer Andrea Palladio (1508-80)

• First introduced by Andrea palladio

• introduced the balanced and symmetrical features for which Georgian

designs are famous
 3,The Neoclassical style - a reversion to Greek and Roman architectural principles

•- a reversion to Greek and Roman architectural principles - which came

into fashion in the second half of the 18th century. See below for more
details. Examples of Georgian architecture in America include:
Independence Hall, Philadelphia (1745), and King's Chapel, Boston (1750).
The most famous Georgian building, however, must be The White House at
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC. A Georgian mansion in the
Palladian style, it was designed by the Irish-American architect James
Hoban (1762-1831), who modelled it on Leinster House in Dublin and a
design from the Book of Architecture (1728) by James Gibbs.
Independence hall Philadalfia

Kings chapel White house

 Federal Style
The term 'Federal-style architecture' describes a loose classicist style which flourished up
to 1815

-Influenced by archeological discoveries uncovered at the ancient Roman sites of

Pompeii and Herculaneum, and by the Scottish architect Robert Adam (1728-92) and his
influential book The Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam (1773)
distinct features
-new antique features
-preference for fewer pilasters/columns
-plainer surfaces with less detail
-bright interiors with large windows
• Greek Revival Style of Neoclassicism
• Greece art based architecture
• . Late 19th century Neoclassical architecture was an expression of the
American Renaissance movement
• Beaux-Arts architecture  finish line
Lincoln Memorial (1922 Doric Order Greek temple

36 columns

Designed by Henry Bacon (1866-1924)

the National Gallery in Washington DC (1937)

The work John Russell Pope

the American Museum of Natural History's Roosevelt Memorial
(1936).

Designed in the grand Roman style by John Russell Pope

• Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826),
• Benjamin Latrobe
• Richard Morris Hunt (1827-95) “Dean of American architecture “
• Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-86)
 The Vectorian era 1840 to 1900
• Victorian architecture in America is not just one style, but many design styles, each
with its own unique array of features
• The time lapse is the reign of England's Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901
Italianate Style
1840s
With low roofs
wide eaves,
ornamental brackets
• Gothic Revival Style
houses arches
pointed windows
diamond-shaped panes
Middle age borrowed designs
Some Victorian Gothic Revival home
are grand stone buildings like
miniature castles. Others are
rendered in wood.
• Rounded towers
Rounded towers
pediments
expansive porches
• Shingle Style
Often
- built in coastal areas
-rambling and austere
-simplicity of the style is deceptive
• Octagon Style
thought behind this design was the expression of a belief that
more light and ventilation was healthier in a sooty,
industrialized America
• Arts and crafts era
• Its an artistic moral and political architectural movement Started in England
in1870s
• Dies in England in 1910
• However started and ended in England its still reaches America with a great
scar
The battle of 1820s and 1830s
Thomas cole

The architects dream

River in the Catskills
Clasical architecture seems
to be winning in this era
• The industrialization also changed the architectural movement
in a way of classifaying
The community
• Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin
• He is obsessed with bringing back gothic architecture to every aspect of
designe

The gothic ghost

 A man who remain in any length of time
In a modern gothic room and escapes with out
Being wounded with is manusha may consider him
Self fortunate
2 Basic rules of gothic designs
1there should be no features about a building
Which are not necessary for conveniouns
construction or priority
2 all ornaments should consist of the essential
Construction of the building
 Every designer should follow the manner
of gothic design if u need to add a clock
on a gothic wall no one shall shrink the
chatidral wall instead use the tight design
like tempes fuget (time flies )

Gothic clock design

• John ruskin
• Never encourage manufacture of any article not absolutely necessary in which
the production of which innovation has no share
• Never demand an exact finish for its own sake but not for practical or noble end
• Never encourage imitation or copying of any kind

• Naturalism and the imperfection of nature

• Don’t idealise nature but celebrate the the sort

• Of irrationality it is
• William moris and filip
• Has both there idea of pugin and ruskin
• Wall papers creation
• Red brick L shaped house design
• Architecture is every were
• Advanced in every aspect of our life
Ruther than designing and
Implmenting