History of Architecture

Presented by:
Ar. Shraddha Patel
 DEFINITIONS

History Of Architecture Influences of Architecture

It is a record of man’s effort to
1. Geographical
build beautifully. 2. Geological
It traces origin, growth and decline 3. Climatic
of architectural styles. 4. Religious
5. Social
6. Historical
Historic Styles Of Architecture
Particular method, characteristics
and manner of design which
prevail at a certain place and time.
 BC and AD together, they form what is known as the Christian Era. BCE and CE History
BC Abbreviation Meaning Historians and scholars who were not
“Before Christ.” It refers to all time before the birth of Jesus Christ.
Christians used the BCE and CE.
AD Abbreviation Meaning
The abbreviation AD stands for “Anno Domini” in Latin. In English, BCE = BC and AD = CE
this means “in the year of our Lord.” all time after the birth of Jesus BCE stands for “Before the Common Era.”
Christ. CE stands for “Common Era.”
Timeline
 Architectural Timeline

PREHISTORIC

- Humans constructed earthen mounds,

stone circles, megaliths, and structures
- monumental structures such as
stonehenge, cliff dwellings, thatch and mud
structures.

NEAR EAST – Mesopotamia

4000 B.C. – 4TH CENTURY A.D

-Ziggurats as holy mountains.

-Cradle of civilizations
-Brick was used extensively.

ANCIENT EGYPT
3,050 BC TO 900 BC

- Powerful rulers constructed monumental

pyramids, temples, and shrines.
- Enormous structures such as the pyramids
of Giza were built.
CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE
850 BC TO 476 AD

Greek Architecture
8TH CENTURY B.C. – 2ND CENTURY A.D.

– Doric order
▪ simple, earliest, most perfect
– Ionic order
▪ most sophisticated
– Corinthian order
▪ slenderest, elegant & most elaborated

Roman Architecture
2ND CENTURY B.C. – 4TH CENTURY A.D

Two orders developed by Romans:

1) Tuscan order
influenced by the Doric order
simplest among the 5 orders
2) Composite order
combination of Ionic & Corinthian orders
EARLY CHRISTAIN
300 to 600 AD

- Influenced by Roman Architecture.

-The architecture style was not prevalent as
they converted Roman Basilicas to Churches
as focus was on spreading Christianity.
-Extension were made into old structures.
Timber trusses were used for roofing.

BYZANTINE
527 to 565 AD.

- The capital of the roman empire moved to

byzantium (now called istanbul) in 330 AD
- roman architecture evolved into a graceful,
classically-inspired style
- Used brick instead of stone, domed roofs,
elaborate mosaics, and classical forms
- Emperor Justinian (527 AD to 565 AD) led
The way.
ISLAMIC (Saracenic)
7th Century

-preaching of religion and

development mosques
-arch, plinth and dome as main
design elements

ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE is
categorized in 4 parts:

1. Moorish – Spain
2. Ottoman – Turkey (Istanbul)
3. Persian - Iran
4. Indo-Islamic - India MOORISH ARCHITECTURE

Indo-Islamic architecture is
further categorised into:-

a. Imperial style (Delhi

sultanate),
b. The provincial style (Mandu,
Gujarat, Bengal, and
Jaunpur),
c. The Mughal style (Delhi,
Agra, and Lahore)
d. The Deccani style (Bijapur,
Golconda).
ROMANESQUE
800 to 1200 AD

- Heavier, stocky Romanesque architecture with

rounded arches emerged.
- Churches and castles of the early medieval
period were constructed with thick walls and
heavy piers.

GOTHIC
1100 to 1450 AD

- Pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, flying

buttresses, and other innovations led to taller,
more graceful architecture.
- Gothic ideas gave rise to magnificent
cathedrals like Chartres and Notre Dame.

RENAISSANCE
1400 to 1600 AD

- Return to classical ideas ushered an "age of

awakening" in Italy, France, and England.
- Andrea Palladio and other builders looked the
classical orders of ancient Greece and Rome.
BAROQUE
1600 to 1830 AD

- The baroque style is dramatic and extravagant

ornamentation.
-Irregular shapes
- Elements of the elaborate Baroque style are
found throughout Europe.

ROCOCO
1650 to 1790 AD

- The last phase of the baroque period

- Builders constructed graceful white buildings
with sweeping curves.
- Rococo buildings are elegantly decorated with
scrolls, vines, shell-shapes, and delicate
geometric patterns.

REVIVAL (Industrial Revolution)

18th – 19th Century

-The use of steel, reinforced concrete and bricks

revolutionized what could be done.
-Stronger, higher, longer and more durable
buildings, railways and bridges became a
possibility.
MODERNISM -20th century
Art movements
PREHISTORIC ERA
Prehistoric
Before 11600 BCE – 3500 BCE
 STONE AGE
• 25000,000 – 10,000 BC

• Paleo (old) • 4000-2000 BC

• Lith (stone)
• Appeared in Africa • Neo (new)
• Lith (stone)
• Further categorized into 3: • 10,000 – 4,000 BC
• Lower 2500,000-200,000 • Making of polished
BC • Meso (middle)
stone
• Midle 200,000-40,000 BC • Lith (stone)
• Farmers
• Upper 40,000-10,000 BC • Built shelters
• Adapting hunting
• Settlements
• Developed stone tools • Collecting economy
development
• Hunter gatherers based forest and sea • Barter system
• sources
Pre-existing caves
• nomadic

PALEOLITHIC MESOLITHIC NEOLITHIC

Development of society from nomad life

3 forces that developed shelter

Physical need beliefs Availability of

local materials

Architecture Was Categorized

• Buildings for dead
• Buildings for living
• Building for praying
• Building for storing
 3 CLASSIFICATIONS
DWELLINGS

a. Rock cave
– earliest form of dwellings

b. Tents & huts

– made from animal skins, tree barks,
leaves, reeds, brushes

RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS

a. Menhir(monoliths)
– Isolated single upright stone

b. Dolmen
– 2 or more upright stone supporting a
horizontal slab

c. Cromlech/stone circle
– Monolithic stones forming
concentric circles

BURIAL MOUNDS

a. Tumuli / barrows
– Earthen mounds used for burial
 RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS

MONOLITHS
-A single large upright stone
Carnac, France
-Sometimes arranged in parallel rows
consisting of thousand stones
The Kerloas menhir, France

DOLMEN
-2 or more upright stone supporting
horizontal member.

CROMLECH
- Enclosure formed by huge stones Dolmens in Andhra Pradesh, India
planted on ground in circular form.
-A solar observatory.

Cromlech of the Almendres, Portugal

BURIAL MOUNDS

-Tomb type
-Corridor leading to
underground chamber

Burial mound of Ireland

Neolithic settlement :

CATAL HAYUK (present day Turkey)

•Supported population of more then 6000 people.

•One story house
•Catal means fork and Hayuk means mound.
•No ground level door or windows
•People moved from place to place by roof and no streets is seen
•Economy based on commerce and craft.
•Houses made of mud bricks
MESOPOTAMIA ARCHITECTURE
MESOPOTAMIA
Sumer & Akkadian Empire
New Babylonian Empire

Babylonian & Assyrian Empire

INFLUENCES

A. Geographical E. Historical
Twin rivers of Tigris & Euphrates Babylonian period
The fertile crescent Assyrian period
Neo-Babylonian period
B. Geological Persian period
Chief building materials:
Bricks – Assyria & Babylon F. Socio-political
Timber, coloured limestone – Persia Babylonia : highest degree of civilization
among 3
C. Climactic Assyria & Persia : Military superiority
Flood & heavy rains in Mesopotamia
Open type temples in Persia due to dry &
hot climate

D. Religious
Ziggurats as “holy mountains”
 Structures of Mesopotamia

BABYLON

• Ziggurats (“holy mountains”)

– Chief building structure
– Rectangular plan
a. Archaic – one flat top
White temple at warka
b. Two or more stages
Palace of Nebuchadnezzar
“Hanging gardens of Babylon”
c. Seven stages
Tower of Babel
Ishtar gate – Blue glazed tiles
Built by Nebuchadnezzar II
ASSYRIA

• Palace of Sargon, Khorsabad (built by king Sargon II)

– Contains 700 rooms
– Entrance portals with statues of headed winged bulls & lions
Important parts of the palace
1. Seraglio: palace proper
2. Harem: for women
3. Khan: service chambers
PERSIA

Persepolis
-Built by Darius I
-Ceremonial capital of the
Archaemenid empire

Apadana : public hall for

ceremony

Treasury : consisted of series

of rooms with only 2
enterances

Harem : queen quarters

EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE
 Egyptian Civilization time line
Time Description Location
Pre Dynastic Naqada culture Luxor
period
5500 B. C. – Predynastic Period Along Nile
3100 B. C.

3000 B. C. Egyptian Dynasty Egypt got divided into two

kingdom –
Upper Egypt (Ta Shemau)
Lower Egypt (Ta Mehu)
Adkins L & Adkins R
- Divide line was roughly
in area of modern Cairo
3000 b. C. Narmer – First King – Egyptian
culture was remarkably stable-
religion, culture, custom, art
expression, Architecture and
social structure.
 Time Description Location
2600 to -2480 Great Pyramids of Giza Giza, Egypt
2667 - 2648 BC Pyramid Complex of Djoser Saqqara close to modern
(Zoser) day Cairo.
2,500 BC Khufu Ship-for Khufu (King Giza pyramid complex
Cheops), the second pharaoh
of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old
Kingdom of Egypt
1450 Hatshepsut's Obelisk Karnak, Egypt
1550 Hatshepsut's Temple, by Deir el-Bahri, Egypt
Senenmut,
1408 to -1300. Temple at Luxor, by Amenophis Thebes, Egypt
III
1250 B.C Abu Simbel Great rock Abu Simbel, Egypt
temples of RamessesII, XIXth
Dynasty
1530 to -323 Temple of Amon Karnak, Egypt
380 B.C.-2nd Temples in Island of Philae Agilkia, Egypt
century (relocated to Island of Agilkia in
1972-1980), 13th Dynasty to
Roman period
237 to -57 Temple of Horus Edfu, Egypt
500 to 164 Temple of Isis, by various Philae, Egypt
181 to 30 Temple of Kom Ombo Egypt
1200. Tomb of Setnakht Egypt
 Settlement on Nile river
• Nile river was driving
force of settlement.

• Philosophy of “Belief in
life after death.” which
had impact on
architecture.

• Egypt civilization in 3
phases:
– the Old Kingdom (about
2,700-2,200 B.C.E.),
– the Middle Kingdom
(2,050-1,800 B.C.E.), and
– the New Kingdom
(about 1,550-1,100
B.C.E.)
Social structure in Egypt
Influences
RELIGIOUS
– They believed in life after
death & the preservation of
dead bodies. Anubis attending Sennedjem’s mummy, c.1292-1187 BC
Pharoah as king and god
– Pharoah as king and god god of funerary rites artisan
–Polytheistic in Practice (belief in
more than one god).

GEOLOGICAL
– Main materials:
▪ Stone – for Pyramids &
Temples
▪ Palm leaves – for Roofing
▪ papyrus – for Boats
▪ Sycamore – for Sarcophagus
(wealthy residents)

GEOGRAPHICAL
– The Nile river (communication,
highway, lifeline & “fertile soil”) Sycamore fig wood coffin: the coffin is partly hollowed out from the
trunk of a sycamore fig tree trunk and partly constructed from pieces
of wood rather roughly joined together.
 Kingdoms of Egypt

First pyramid Pyramid at Giza Large drainage Large temple

ever built, the and Sphinx were for agriculture such as Abu
step pyramid at built Simbel and
Saqqara Karnak were built
 Building Typology
• FUNERARY • RELIGIOUS • DWELLINGS
– Mastaba – Cult Temple : worship Based on social order
– Pyramid to god and goddesses
– Funerary Temple:
shrines to dead king

Mastaba of Shepseskaf, 2510–2503 BC,

Egypt
workmen’s village of Dayr al-Madīnah 1539–
1075 BCE
Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple 1500 BC

The Red Pyramid of Dahshur,

2575–2563 BCE Cairo, Egypt

Luxor Temple, 1400 BCE, Thebes Egypt

 • BRICK VAULT

Elements
1. Brick Vault
2. Pillars
3. False door
4. Obelisk
5. Sphinx
6. Stelae
7. Clerestory window Mud brick vaults at the Ramesseum
granary (1550 – 1070 BC)
PILLARS
Pillar types
 False Door In tombs and temples for
the dead there were
niches for offerings, the
back walls of which were
given the form of doors.

They served as a pathway

between the living and the
dead by which the Ka and
the other spiritual parts of
the deceased could
communicate with the
world of the living.
False door, tomb of Mereruka,
Sakkara
False doors were often
highly decorated and
marked with the names
and titles of the grave's
owner. A representation of
the deceased is also
frequently found.
 Obelisk
•The obelisk demonstrates the technological achievements
of the New kingdom.
•A monolithic square stone pillars ending in a point, often
of granite and weighing up to 350 tons.
•Obelisks were erected in honor of the sun god Re.
•During the 5th Dynasty the obelisk became the centre of
the sun temple

Southwest face of Obelisk of Tuthmosis.

Made of rose granite
Sphinx

Temple of Luxor; Doromos (Approach) with sphinxes, west Temple of Karnak - Ram-headed sphinx
side

•THE SPHINX was a female monster with the body of a lion, the head and breast of a
woman, eagle's wings and a tail.
•A ceremonial processional of stone sphinxes led to entrance of the temple, providing
symbolic entrance to those entering, and allowing a transition of spiritual realm.
•This sphinx depicted the pharaoh protected between the paws of ram headed lion-
the ram being manifestation of Amun.
Stelae

These are often freestanding upright slabs

of stone bearing inscriptions and at times
relief's.

Sometimes they were erected to indicate

borders or boundaries.

For instance, at least fourteen stelae

marked the confines of Akhetaten.

Stelae were placed at the southern border

of Egypt with Nubia.

The Kamose Stela tells of the successful

military campaign. Kamose boasts how his
highly-skilled army will smite the enemy
soldiers and generally make their lives not
worth living. 1336 BC
Clerestory Window
The term "clerestory" is applicable to
Egyptian temples, where the lighting of
the lighting of the hall of columns was
obtained over the stone roofs of the
adjoining aisles, through gaps left in the
vertical slabs of stone.

Clerestory appeared in Egypt at least as

early as the Amarna period.

Occasionally kings had to show

themselves to their subjects, perform
public ceremonies, but generally
preferred to keep their distance. A
solution was the use of the window of
appearance let into the façade of the
palace.
 Characteristics of Egyptian Architecture
• Massive structures came to be favored from the Old Kingdom.

• Sun dried mud brick was the main material for domestic building.

• Stone was favored for temples and tombs.

• Massive walls (broad walls at base)

• Temples has rectangular plan with pillared court.

• Temples had obelisks at front.

• Orientation of temples were usually towards Nile.

• Hieroglyphics – Pictorial writing used in ancient Egyptian monuments .

 Building Material & Construction
PLANT
• 3 most common materials : • reeds, papyrus and palm tree ribs
– Plant materials and shafts.
– Mud • Acacia for boats
• sycamore for mummy case.
– Stone
• Timber was available on limited
quantity and used for roofing.
MUD

The absence of rain and

abundance of sunshine made
adobe the preferred building
material.
 Loamy Nile mud mixed
with straw for strong
bricks. Amarna built in 1346 BC

 A sun baked mud brick

without straw had less
strength.
 particularly for houses
and structures within
towns

Drawing of a wall painting inside the tomb of the Vizier Rekhmire made in 1900 by an
Egyptologist called Percy Newberry. On the left, men are collecting water from a pool, the next
part shows a man gathering mud and above him a man is filling brick moulds
 STONE
•The Egyptians developed post-and-
lintel construction.
•Stone Columns
•Flat roofs, suited to the lack of rain,
were of huge stone blocks supported by
the external walls.
•Limestone and sandstone were the
preferred choices for sacred or
monumental buildings.
•granite was used for statues, temple
pillars, and other significant
architectural elements.
Red granite obelisk Hypostyle hall of Karnak Temple.
Luxor Egypt Pictured is the largest precinct of the
temple complex, dedicated to Amun-Re.
The columns are of sandstone.

Flat roof of houses

Papyriform columns in the Luxor Temple, 1400 BC

Lower Egypt, limestone, the Great Pyramid, Giza Plateau. 26th century BC
papyrus to make paper

Mummies had tongue made of gold to speak with god

pyramid of great Giza black basalt flooring

 Egyptian Art
• Artwork related to their
religion.
• They would fill the tombs of the
Pharaohs with paintings and
sculptures.
Golden funeral mask of
• Much of this artwork was there Tutankhamun
to help the Pharaohs in the
afterlife.
• Temples were another popular statues of Ramses II are shown
place for art. The temples often
held large statues of their gods
as well as many paintings on
the walls.
• used various materials including
alabaster, ivory, limestone,
basalt, wood gilded with gold, The above painting is a
picture on a tomb wall
and sometimes even solid gold. of Queen Nefertari,
• They mostly used the colours wife of Ramses the
Nefertiti Great.
blue, black, red, green, and gold
in their paintings.
It reflects the culture and lifestyle of the ancient Egyptians, as it holds many secrets and
stories that have been passed down through the ages, from the earliest known forms of
hieroglyphs to the stunningly beautiful paintings and sculptures of the New Kingdom
CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE
Classified into :

GREEK ARCHITECTURE 8TH CENTURY

B.C. – 2ND CENTURY A.D

ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
2ND CENTURY B.C. – 4TH CENTURY A.D
Influences
A. Geographical E. Historical
– Greek peninsula bounded by – Early period
the Black sea & Mediterranean aegeans, minoans & myceneans as the early
sea people of Greece
– Athens as its centre kingdom – Hellenic period
on which the upper city known the age of classical Greece
as “acropolis / citadel” is
located F. Socio-political
– music, dancing, wrestling, boxing,
B. Geological gymnastics, games, craftworks
– Marble: chief building – democratic form of government
material

C. Climactic
– Intermediate climate between
cold & hot made it favourable
for outdoor public ceremonies

D. Religious
– Aegeans : worship nature
– Greek : represents deities
through large statues