ARCH 3115 Final
Homo Sapiens spread to the Americas
20,000 BP
At the core of the Newgrange mound we find:
A Stone-lined corridor
Which DOES NOT apply when discussing Gothic cathedrals?
Brick arches
Match the following column orders, with the human figure they are associated with.
Doric: Male Ionic: Female Corinthian: Young Maiden
Which of the following DOES NOT apply to the Great Stupa at Sanchi?
It is next to the Bodhi Tree where Siddhartha first achieved enlightenment, Visitors circumambulate clockwise around it, Inside the mound is a sacred prayer chamber
Which of the following do not apply to the Tempietto?
It was the first building to experiment with concrete again after the loss of this technology with the fall of Rome, It was designed by Leonardo Da Vinci
Which of the following DO NOT APPLY to the Coleshill House in Bershire?
Its internal planning was based upon that of the roman baths which Andrea Palladio had studied
The place in a typical mosque from where the Quran is read:
Minbar
Pope Sixtus V is noted for his use of what in his renovation plans for Rome?
Obelisks, Straight streets
Other species of humans first spread around the world
1.8 Million BP
Homo Sapiens began to spread around the world
100,000-60,000 BP
The Big Bang
13.7 Billion BP
Human Society Developed in South Africa
140,000- 100,000 BP
Homo Sapiens Evolved
200,000 BP
The Earth Formed
4.5 Million BP
Homo Sapiens spread to Australia
45,000 BP
Human Evolution Began
6 Million BP
What is the simplified, ideal plan form of Palladio's villas?
A nine-square grid
The city of Mari in modern-day Iraq was unique at 2,500 BCE because it was:
A trade center that produced little
Which of the following statements about the identity of the architect by the late 16th century ARE NOT true?
Architects remained part of an architects guild which provided them financial security, Architects always worked alone as individuals
Explain how the work of Michelangelo played with and transformed the existing classical vocabulary of architecture. Give examples.
As a sculptor, self-educated in anatomy Michelangelo had given his sculptures a unique sense of weight. Turning to architecture he applied this same sense of weight to architectural elements which no longer always stood proud and erect holding things up, but now began to slump, curve, or drip. The articulation of a false window recess as a conceptually negative space that seemed to hang with weight between two columns in his new sacristy is one example of this. Another example is the way that wall brackets (which would otherwise hold something up) are, in the Laurentian Library in San Lorenzo, separated from anything above them and made to look as though they are hanging down. In addition to the unusual expression of gravity in his work, Michelangelo's architecture also created subtle ambiguities between different perceptual readings of the various architectural elements. In the Laurentian library, the columns are recessed into the wall and the plane of the wall is brought forward so that it is undecidable as to which stands forward as the frontal plane, the columns or the wall.
Which of the following were not integral to confucianism in its original inception and adoption by the Han Dynasty as state ideology?
Ascetic renunciation of society in search of nirvana, Giving votive offerings to Confucius as a deity
In one paragraph, describe the method of tapped earth (or rammed earth) used to build the great wall of china. Mention materials, tools, and techniques.
Begin by fixing two lines of vertical timber posts into the ground. Starting low, fix timber boards vertically between these vertical posts, such that they run in parallel forming a trench between them. Then pour a mixture of gravel, sticks, clay and willow reeds between these parallel framing walls (called framework). Using the end of a heavy log, beat and pound the mixture until its fully compacted. When compacted, put another layer of vertical boards and repeat the process. When the mixture is compressed and dry, you remove the timber framework from the outside. The now rammed earth should form a solid block. The willow reeds inside the mixture provide tensile resistance (resistance to being stretched) and the compressed clay and gravel provides compressive resistance (resistance to being squashed). By simultaneously resisting both tension and compression this ancient rammed earth performs much like contemporary reinforced concrete in which iron rebars (reinforcement bars) resist tension and while concrete resists compression.
Which of the following DO NOT APPLY to the Palladian Villa?
Building in the countryside was a direct result of the mini ice age in Europe from 1550 to 1700, Building in the country was necessary because there was no more available land to build upon in Venice.
The dome of the Dome of the Rock was made by masons who were _____________.
Byzantine
In one paragraph explain the difference between Perrault's ideas of Positive Beauty and Customary Beauty.
Claude Perrault described two kinds of beauty in architecture; positive beauty and customary beauty. Things that are considered beautiful in positive terms were more objectively verifiable things such as the size of something, its materials, the precision by which it was detailed or the cleanliness of it. Positive beauties are things that are based in nature. Perrault argued that the positive beauty of music was evident in the measurable harmonic proportions of the standing wave of a note. Some notes were discordant with others because of this underlying mathematics and some were not. This was not dependent upon the person listening but evident for all to hear. Customary beauty by contrast is determined by an individual's knowledge, associations or prejudices. Customary beauty thus varies according to historical context, geographical region and individual sensibility. In contrast to the beauty of music which is largely based on positive beauty, the beauty of architecture (which Perrault claims is perceived largely through vision) is based on customary beauty. Architectural proportions may have had some distant natural basis, such as in the human face, but we transfer prejudices and tastes from one thing to another quickly such that proportions in architecture are now based primarily upon knowledge and taste. The consequence of this difference is that where positive beauty can be apprehended by the untutored eye, intuitively, the customary beauty upon which architecture largely depends, requires education and knowledge of history and precedents, as Perrault writes: To be "pleased by architectural proportions requires the discipline of long familiarity with rules that are established by usage alone." Because architectural rules are essentially arbitrary, Perrault argued that the authority of human institutions was required to arbitrate them; to establish rules and laws about what is beautiful or not.
Regarding the creation of the first cities in the marshland of the Euphrates, which of these does not apply?
Control of bronze making workshops
Which of the following unique contributions of Greek culture is still a part of western culture today?
Critical thinking, Reasoning about the laws of nature, Vocabulary of classical architecture
Thomas More's reason for writing Utopia was to do which of the following?
Critique European society
Which of the following are the three orders that Vitruvius describes in Book 4 of De architectura:
Doric, Ionic, Corinthian
So called "Hunter-Gatherers" spend the majority of their time hunting animals and gathering other foods.
False
The paleoanthropological records indicate that the shift from a nomadic way of life to a settled way of life brought about an increase in the quality of life for all members of the society
False
True of False: Vitruvius wrote 9 books so that the 9 scrolls would stack into a perfect square, of three scrolls by three scrolls.
False
True or False: An odd number of columns along the front facade of a Greek temple elevation became essential to the ideal temple form.
False
We have evidence of humans making architecture as early as we have evidence that humans began to express symbolic ideas about the spiritual world of their ancestors and the surrounding landscape using pigments, markings and ornamental objects.
False
Write one paragraph that explains why large cities, with populations numbering up to 80,000, began to emerge in the Marshlands of southern Mesopotamia around 3700 BCE.
Farming grain in the marshlands required a large-scale, planned project of collective organization. Large numbers of people were required to dig thousands of kilometers of canals and dikes to drain the marsh, and then to maintain and manage them to make sure that floodwaters were safely channeled passed the fields, or that dikes did not accidentally break, flooding the fields. This large scale organization required central control and administration. This administration likely emerged out of early ritual centers in the region such as the temple of Eridu, but it soon centered on large cities, such as Uruk, and the temples within those cities, which had the administrative capacity to administer the irrigation system, and to collect and re-distribute the grain. Cities thus first emerged in the marshlands because the large scale irrigation required their prompted a scale of social organization that demanded very large numbers of people working together and centered in one place. These large centralized populations of people constituted the first cities.
The site for the Dome of the Rock was occupied _______
First by Jewish, followed by Romans, and finally Muslims
The Vastu Purusha mandala is formally like a _________
Fractal
Who was the king of Babylon around 1750BCE that established a moral and ethical code for his people?
Hammurabi
Describe the phenomena of human sacrifice in the cultures of the Americas.
Human sacrifice was more common in the Americas. Mayans would carry out human sacrifices to appease the gods. The sacrifice was conducted on top of the temple mounds by the ruler of the city, who would prepare for the sacrifice by depriving themselves of sleep, letting their own blood and taking psychoactive herbs, in order to achieve a state of consciousness where they could communicate with the gods. In Mayan culture, the captured nobles of enemy cities were often the victims of human sacrifices. So too were the losers of ball games. The Aztecs took human sacrifice to another level, making daily sacrifices in the city. The Aztec nobles would also eat the body of sacrificial victims afterwards.
When the axial age revolutionaries such as Socrates, the Jewish Prophets, Siddhartha and Confuscious focused spiritual attention upon personal behavior and self-discipline, they tended to renounce which of the following things:
Idols, The material sensuousness of architectural mass, volume and ornamentation, The tendency to treat the new axial age revolutionaries as deities themselves, Architecture's ability to make gods appear
What were the significant advantages that European explorers had over indigenous peoples in the Americas? Check all that apply.
Immunities to deadly diseases such as smallpox, Advanced metal working, Guns, Alphabetic literacy through which detailed knowledge of past military tactics could be passed on
In one paragraph, describe how Gothic cathedrals transformed structure in relationship to light in ways that differed from Romanesque cathedrals?
In contrast to Romanesque Cathedrals, which were often darker inside due to the large areas of masonry wall and small windows, Gothic Cathedrals were much lighter inside by opening up the wall to introduce a large area of windows. This was achieved through the combined use of flying buttresses and ribbed vaulting. The ribbed vaults enabled the weight of the ceiling to be more precisely channelled to specific locations along the length of the exterior wall, where the flying buttress could transfer the load away from the wall to the upright buttress. This freed the wall between these buttress points from having to perform a structural role, enabling it to be filled with stained glass. In St Chapelle the area of glass in the wall was increased to the point where it came in front of the structure, virtually concealing the structure, and making it look as though the entire building was held up by nothing other than glass.
Which of these DOES NOT apply to the site of the Great Mosque of Damascus, Syria?
It has been a Synagogue
Which of the following DO NOT apply to the Palazzo Rucellai?
It is called Palazzo Medici, It rigorously stacks the orders with Corinthian at the bottom, Ionic in the middle and Tuscan at the top.
Which of the following DO NOT APPLY to St Basil's in Moscow?
It was a synagogue because Vladimir the Great had chosen Judaism as the state religion of Russia in 988 CE, It was built by Italian architects brought to Moscow by Ivan III
Tragic Set:
It was created by Philibert De l'Orme, It includes the everyday street life of brothels, shops and workshops, It depicts a comic stage set used for comedies.
Which of the following do not apply to the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella?
It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, Its beauty derived from its size, opulence and expense, It is called San Lorenzo and it is located in Florence
Match the following figures with the projects they are credited with creating:
James Oglethorpe: Plan for Savannah, Georgia William Penn: Plan for Philadelphia Christopher Wren: Plan for London Niccolò Tribolo and Bartolomeo Ammanati: Plan for the Boboli Gardens in Florence in the 16th century Filarete: Plan for the Ideal City of Sfoirzinda in the 15th century
The Qibla wall orients muslims towards which of the following:
Mecca
Which of the following DO NOT APPLY to Peublo Bonito?
Men and Women could equally use all the spaces, It was the home of typical dwelling of the Olmecs, It was called La Venta
Which of the following was the reason that the Ming Dynasty in China neither broke the rules of architectural language, nor sail their fleet of ships to explore new continents?
Ming Dynasty rulers argued that architecture should closely follow the State Building Standards written in 1100 by Li Jie, and that sea-exploration should not be pursued because it contravened a previous imperial shipping ban as well as Confucian principles.
The Dome of the Rock marks the spot where what happened?
Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven
A Greek temple, unlike an Egyptian one, could be:
Never changed
What archeological artifacts give us a general sense of the timber architecture built during the Qin Dynasty?
Pottery models of houses & Traces of post holes in the ground
Describe, in one paragraph, the key political, social and cultural differences between the polis in general, and the specific polis of Athens after it became a democracy in 508 BCE.
Prior to 508 BCE the polis culture of the aegean was largely based on rule by either a king (monarchy) such as polis of Pella in Macedonia; rule by a group (oligarchy) such as Sparta; or rule by an aristocratic elite (aristocracy), such as Athens. Pre-democratic Athens, however, already began to establish new civic institutions that emerged out of the unique culture of solidarity in the polis culture of the aegean. Laws were established, elective offices were created, and taxes were paid in order to cover public improvements. But still individual citizens had no say in government. After the popular revolution of 508 BCE and Cleisthenes's reforms, every citizen (which meant landed, free, males over twenty years of age, whose parents and grandparents were from Athens) now had an equal vote in matters that concerned the city as a whole. A culture of deliberation, persuasive oration, sustained by patronage of public arts such as architecture, sculpture, and drama, flourished. This culture of debate and deliberation among the citizenry lead to the flourishing of philosophy and the birth of science.
Which of the following traits are thought to be unique to homo sapiens alone; i.e. that are thought NOT to be shared with other earlier hominids (with the exception of perhaps Neanderthals) in the evolutionary story of humans:
Producing Symbolic Markings on Stones, Engaging in Ritual Dancing, Understanding the Landscape in Symbolic terms, Use of Ochre, Use of complex language (as opposed to sounds and signals), Making of Ornamental Objects
What is the name for the architectural element that frames a formal entrance or gateway?
Propylon
Karnak was associated with
Ritual processions
Parts of the mosque:
Sahn: Courtyard Mihrab: Niche indicating the Quibla Wall Haram: Prayer Hall Maqsura: closed off area for the caliph Quibla Wall: wall that faces Mecca
Çatalhöyük did NOT have:
Streets
Which term describes the distinctive shape of the pillars at Göbekli Tepe?
T-Shaped
Which of the following terms represent a sacred boundary in Greek or Roman culture?
Temenos & Templum
Which of the following DO NOT APPLY to Jean-Baptist Colbert's new architectural academy created in 1671
The Academy debated and accepted the proposals put forward by Claude Perrault in his 1683 treatise
The development of Sienna was halted by what event?
The Bubonic Plague (also referred to as "The Black Death")
Describe in one paragraph the significance of the ornamentation shown in this section drawing of Dome of the Rock. (Terms you might use in your description might be: vegetation, calligraphy, geometry, Byzantine, icon, unity and diversity)
The Dome of the Rock is essentially a Byzantine building constructed by masons and mosaicists from the Byzantine empire. Like Byzantine architecture the interior of the dome is covered in a continuous luminous surface of gold mosaics. Yet, in difference to Byzantine architecture, however, which, as a Christian architecture permits the use of icons, in this earliest surviving example of Islamic Architecture, no icons (that is, images of Gods or Saints) are permitted. Instead, the mosaic surface of the dome uses motifs of vegetation, calligraphy and geometric patterns. Vegetative motifs at the base of the dome express the fecundity and diversity of the earth. More abstract geometric patterns at the top of the dome express the unity of heaven and of God. The band of calligraphy, locate in between, expresses the spoken and written word of the Quran that creates the space of Islam. The overall structure of the ornament expresses a relationship between the diversity of the world and of human beings, on the one hand, and the unity of god, on the other.
In which of the following ancient civilizations, do we find the first evidence of the figure of the architect?
The Egyptians
The original site of the First Temple of the Jews lays underneath which of the following buildings:
The Islamic mosque, the Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem
Which of the following DO NOT apply to the Athenian Polis:
The city was understood to have been created by a god, Administration took place in the central palace complex of a king, Women and men both voted in matters that concerned the city
Describe, in one paragraph, the conditions that gave rise to the new figure of the architect in the 15th century, such as Filippo Brunellschi and Leon Battista Alberti.
The nobles and the church were relatively less powerful in Europe than they had been before elsewhere, and with the Peace of Constance in 1183, a new political autonomy emerged for northern Italian cities such as Florence in which the city was governed by a citizenry composed of merchants and traders. It was the wealthier among this new class, such as the Medici who began spending their money on art and architecture in order to demonstrate their wealth, power and importance within the city. Artists rose to a new status in society as result of their mastery of disegno, (their ability to draw and conceive a project) and their ability to rhetorically express especially human themes in their art. This new status of the artist helped the new wealthy merchant families demonstrate their legitimacy within the city, by showing their concern for the culture of civic humanism.
Describe in one sentence what is meant by the phrase "domestic package."
The phrase "domestic package" describes the complementary relationship between domesticated plants and animals available in any area such that the energy yield from farming greatly increases.
In one paragraph, describe the differences between the hierarchical/non-hierarchical nature of political life of Uruk (ca. 3500) and Ur (ca. 2100), indicating evidence or lack of evidence to support your description.
The political life of Uruk appears less hierarchical and more egalitarian. This is indicated both by the absence of evidence of segregated areas of the city, wealthier families with larger houses and more possessions, or city walls and barracks used in warfare. The architecture of central precinct of Uruk also appears more open in its form, with little distinction between the ornamentation of interior and exterior spaces and more fluid and open transitions between the inside using rounded pillars. The political life in Ur, by contrast appears more hierarchical. This is indicated by the presence of a secular ruler, King Ur-Nammu, who displayed his name on the major central building project in the city, the Ziggurat. The Ziggurat was a symbol of Ur-Nammu's power as much as it was a means of seeking the favor of the gods. In Ur the temple-palace complex was also walled off from the city making ritual activities the exclusive realm of the priesthood and the king. The urban fabric of the city of Ur is itself differentiated, in terms of class status, with scribes and masons living near the temple-palace complex and merchants and shop-keepers living further away. At Ur there is also stronger evidence of warfare, first indicated in the war scenes on the side of the Standard of Ur but also in the cities walls, its fort and associated barracks.
Which of the following was a significant urban change enacted in Siena by the new town government?
The removal of family and clan towers
The process of rustication refers to what?
The roughening of stone block faces
Describe the plan organization, the construction materials, construction methods, and symbolic aspects of a typical tipi. (one paragraph)
Tipis have a circular (or slightly oval-shaped) plan, with the fireplace in the middle, and with the beds of the man and the woman in the family placed on either side. The door, and the place where a visitor would sit just inside the door, is positioned symmetrically between the two beds on an axis with the fireplace. Tipis are constructed from lightweight materials that can be easily carried; wooden poles, rope and animal hides. To construct a tipi, you first make a tripod frame by tying three poles together with rope at the top, pulling them up with the same rope, shifting the third leg of the tripod into position, and pulling down on the rope to anchor the tripod frame. You lean the remaining poles against the tripod frame, distributing them equally around the perimeter, and walk around with a rope tying all the poles together at the apex. You wrap the poles in skin by rolling the skin up around the poles on the ground, leaning it up against the poles and then unwrapping it as you walk around. By pulling and tying the skin tight "like a jacket" the whole tipi becomes rigid. Two additional poles can then be used to open and close the smoke-hole. The skin of the tipi is painted with images and markings that are unique to the family who owns it and lives there. These markings tell the life story and key events that are significant to its inhabitants.
Elite families in Rome used architecture and planning - made new squares, streets, fountains, etc. within the city - for which of the following reasons.
To imprint their conception of an idealized urban configuration on the city of Rome, To physically connect their family and residences more directly with the Vatican,To increase the prowess of their family name and business, especially in competition with rival wealthy families----ALL OF THE ABOVE
Brunelleschi was somewhat loose in his scholarly use of the classical vocabulary of architecture, occasionally including elements which were not strictly Roman believing them to be so?
True
In one paragraph, describe the relationship between the human body and the cosmos as conveyed in Vitruvius's De Architectura. Describe how Vitruvius saw this relationship as influencing the design of buildings.
Vitruvius argued that the circle (as the symbol of the heavens) and the square (as the symbol of the earth) could be found in the proportions of the human body. A circle could be inscribed around the splayed arms and legs, centered on the naval and a square could be inscribed around the equal height of the human figure and outstretched arms, centered on the genitals. The meeting of the circle and the square, the naval and the genitals, was like the connection between the augurs templum in the sky and the subsequent templum marked on the ground. In describing how to design temples, Vitruvius argued that the symmetry and proportion of a temple should follow the nature of a well-formed man. The lengths of the human body were used throughout ancient rome as measurements for buildings. Examples of human measures are: the digit (the width of the finger), the palm (the width of the palm without the thumb), the foot (the length of the human foot), the cubit (the distance from the elbow to the tip of the finger. Buildings were thus seen as related to the human body and through the human body, to the cosmos.
The first figurines that were used for cult worship and which represented the human body were depictions of:
Women
What is a trompe?
a vault structure for a stair that juts out of the building
The frescos by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the Sala Dei Nove (The Room of the Nine) in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena depicts which of the following concepts?
good and bad governments as well as their effects on the city
The mandapa is always _________
in front of the garbha griha
Why didn't Hindu temples use arches?
The didn't require the large interior space that an arch helps to create
Which of the following DO NOT APPLY to Thomas More's Utopia:
There was no king, the geographic location was land-locked
Among the Native Americans of the Plains, who usually owns and builds a tipi?
Women