ARCH 301 Exam 1 Pt 1
Requirements for ba to survive death
1. A body (thus mummies). 2. Supports of daily life (food, clothing, tools, etc.). 3. A dwelling place (a tomb).
Egyptian belief in dual being
1. A material body. 2. A spirit-soul called ba.
New Kingdom time period
1600BC-1000BC (tombs and temples)
Old Kingdom time period
2700BC-2200 BC (pyramids)
Clerestory
A wall or roof element that allows light into the interior.
Axial Plan
Building laid out as an axis that runs from more public to more private, more secular to more sacred.
Great Pyramids of Giza
Built 2500-2600BC. 1. Cheops (Khufu)—oldest and largest. 2. Chephren (Khafre). 3. Mycerinus (Menkare).
substance
How does the building "feel"? Does the building seem hard or soft? Does it have a warm or cold feeling? Is it a uniformed shape or does it vary?
3 key landscape elements of Egyptian architecture
Nile River, Desert, Sun
motion
how does the building "move"? Is it structure and in place or stable? or does it have a sense of movement or seem dynamic?
weight
how does the building "weigh"? Does it seem bulky and heavy and anchored? Does it seem light or almost air-borned?
form
how the building looks in terms of its shape. EX: symmetry, balance, flow, sense of movement.
space
how the building looks in terms of regular and symmetrical space. Ex: does it look "in place" or is it "generate a sense of movement"
surface
how the building looks in terms of what it sits on. Ex: is it constant or is it varied with the land.
mortuary vs cult temples
mortuary: for worship of pharaoh cult: for worship of gods
define aesthetics
• A branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the beautiful. • Key difficulty: who is to say what is beautiful & what is not?
Hypostyle Hall
• A hall of columns. • Symbolizes a "transition space" from dark chaos to order of creation.
Step Pyramid at Saqqara
• Built about 2800BC for Pharaoh Zoser (Djoser). • Designed by architect Imhotep. • 200 ft. tall & made of limestone blocks
Temple of Khonsu
• Built c. 1170BC • One of smaller temples at Amon. • Includes a hypostyle hall—hall made of columns
Temple of Queen Hatshepsut
• Built c. 1500BC for only woman pharaoh. • Rises from valley floor in three colonnaded terraces connected by ramps.
Great Sphinx
• Built in 2500BC. • Probably commemorates Pharaoh Chefren. • Largest piece of ancient sculpture still existing. • May symbolize nature of human being.
Cheops (Khufu) Pyramid
• Built in 2600BC. • A solid mass of stone 480 feet high. • Covers 13 acres.
Egyptian culture
• Conservative, rigid, & deeply religious. • Egyptian history divided into dynasties (31). • Each ruler called a Pharaoh—both a person & god.
mastabas
• Earliest tombs. • Flat-topped, slope-sided, mud-brick tombs. • Means "bench" in Arabic. • Burial chamber below ground.
Temple of Amon at Thebes
• Grandest of Egyptian cult temples begun in 1500BC. • Amon—chief god of New Kingdom. • A "holy city" of open courts, halls, & temples.
Valley Temple of Chephren Pyramid
• Place where Chephren's corpse prepared and mummified. • Heavy, massive form represents changelessness and eternity. • Post-and-lintel system, also called a trabeated system
delight
• Relating to the aesthetics of the building. • For example, what feelings does the building evoke? Is its appearance in keeping with its function.
Temple of Ramses II
• Rock-carved temple. • Built c. 1300BC 200 miles south of Thebes (600 mi. from delta). • Entrance is a pylon—a towerlike gateway with sloping sides (120 ft. high). • Inside: Large hall with 8 columns carved in figure of Ramses. • Also ritual & storage spaces. • Threatened by Aswan Dam. • In early 1960s, moved to new location.
firmness
• The material & structural properties of the building. • For example, what is it made of & how does it stand up?
commodity
• The practical needs the building is meant to satisfy. • For example, a school should facilitate learning or a hospital, healing.
eyebeam
• The strand of attention between eye & thing looked at. • Pattern of movement can be used to examine aesthetics of a building.