Architectural History & Theory 1: Exam 1

Orchestra

In a Greek theater, the circular floor used for dancing.

Buttress

Masonry reinforcement applied to a wall to provide additional strength.

Verdica

The fence surrounding a stupa.

Clerestory

Windows placed high in a wall, generally above lower roof elements.

Hellenistic Period

-323 to 146 BCE. -Characterized by a shift away from the traditions associated with the region around Athens -Freer use of the orders and temple form -Use of Ionic and Corinthian order rather than the Doric

Acropolis

-A plateau rising abruptly above the plain of the city of Athens -From the earliest times, the route of the Panathenaic way from the civic and commercial center (the Agora) to the Acropolis traversed a winding, stepped path up the western escarpment -As most temples face east, initially one views the backside of the temples -While the buildings are organized geometrically, the relationship between the buildings appears topological

Minoan Technological Innovations

-Advanced sanitation (sewers, water supply, slushing toilets, bath tubs) which allowed the building at higher densities -Light wells which facilitated multi-storied constructions by illuminating lower internal levels -Ashlar construction which structurally supported multiple levels

Prehistoric Period

-Approximate date 14,000 BCE -Central Russian Plain (modern day Ukraine) -Small clan or family level -Hunting and food gathering -Circular form centered on a central hearth -Constructed huts of mammoth bones, pine poles and animal skins

Megalith structures of Western Europe

-Approximate date: 4,000 - 1,400 BCE -Built by agricultural groups under the direction of a priest-king -Constructed of stones or boulders -In some cases corbelled construction was used -Most were erected as communal tombs or astronomical observatories -Stonehenge is an example of the astronomical observatory type and Newgrange passage of the tomb type

Çatal Huyuk

-Approximate date: 6,500-5700 BCE -Anatolia (part of present day Turkey) -Early urban society -Densely grouped buildings without streets which formed a perimeter town wall -Circulation was via roof tops -Rectangular spaces and building forms -Mud-brick walls with post-and-timber construction

Jerico

-Approximate date: 8,000 BCE -Modern day Israel -Inhabitants were farmers and hunters -Early urban society -Fortified city -Early dwellings were circular mud huts

Khorsabad

-Built about 700 BCE -Fortified city -Uses orthogonal geometry -Organized around a series of courtyards -City contains a palace and a seven tiered ziggurat -Freestanding and relief sculpture is integrated with the architectural design

Mortuary Temple of Mentuhotep

-Built in the middle kingdom -Combines temple and tomb chamber in a single composition -Approached by an axial route from the Nile -Two levels of colonnaded terraces -The axis continued through the hall, and a rear courtyard to the burial vault which was carved into the rock cliff

City of Mycenae

-Built with a strong concern for defense -Situated on high ground -Walls surrounding the city are 18' to 24' thick & 40' high -Dry cyclopean masonry -The main entrance was positioned so that the approaching visitor had to pass along an increasingly narrow passageway parallel to the enclosing wall

Political system of ancient Mesopotamia and how it affected city design

-City-states: independent urban communities consisting of a city and surrounding territory -Frequent warring between neighboring city-states -Walled and fortified cities sited for defense

Optical adjustments used on the Parthenon to enhance the perception of orthogonal geometry

-Columns incline slightly away from the viewer -The central axis of the columns are not vertical but lie along radii emanating from a point over 6800' above the ground -The columns are not the same distance apart - the corner ones are closer together -The stylobate from which the columns rise is actually convex -Column entasis

Ziggurat at Ur

-Constructed during the Neo-Sumerian period (ca. 2150 - 2000 BCE) -Urban temple form consisting of a temple elevated on a series of stepped platforms -Battered walls -Constructed of sun-dried brick bonded with bitumen, reed matting, or rope and finished with a layer of kiln-dried bricks -Uses axial organization

Response to the hot-arid ecosystem of Egypt

-Courtyard which trapped cool night air -High mass construction which flattened diurnal temperature swings -Shading devices: pierced slabs of stone at clerestory openings which reduce solar heat gain

Mastabas

-Earliest Egyptian tomb type -block-like structure, with battered walls, above ground containing a small room for offerings and another small chamber for the body and statue of the deceased -Later, the burial chamber was moved to a deep shaft below -Built of brick but imitating the characteristic details of reed, thatch, and wood construction

Identify the following components of the Doric order

-Entablature: Cornice/Frieze/Architrave -Triglyph -Metope -Capital -Column: Capital/Shaft/Arris -Stylobate

Propylaea

-Entrance structure to the acropolis -Doric portico flanked by projecting wings -CEntral intercolumnation is wider to accommodate the processional way -Three pairs of Ionic columns line the interior passage way

Egyptian Architecture

-Expression of an eternal order -Durable, megalithic masses -Orthogonal composition -Axial organization -Intermediary spaces between masses -Courtyards (Enclosed oasis) -Repetitive structures, such as colonnades and continuous frames

Greek Colonial City Planning

-Frequently employed regular, orthogonal composition; grid plan -Carefully considered open spaces -Consolidating and articulation the religious, social, and commercial elements in the city center -Regular blocks of housing

Stupas

-Function: pilgrims and priests circumambulate in a clockwise fashion reciting prayers -Precedent: began as a burial mound for the ashes of the Buddha -Basic components: Torana, Verdica, Cirumambulation path, Harmica, and Chatra

Hindu Temples

-Function: simultaneously dwelling of the God, places for worship, and object of worship -Honor deity with music, food, dancing, the recital of religious texts, and the singing of hymns -No congregational worship - no large interior spaces -Precedent: based on holy mountain and sacred cave -Method of construction: dry stone with corbelling -Basic components: Shikhara, Garbhagriha (sanctuary), and pillared halls -Temples are usually aligned with the cardinal directions -Entrances face east -Axial organization

Pyramid of Cheops

-It is the largest of the pyramids -Its base is about 750 ft by 750 ft -It is about 480 feet tall -Most of the stone used is limestone, but the pharaoh's chamber is made of granite -Contains three burial chambers -Like the other pyramids of Giza, it incorporates a lower or valley temple at the Nile, a mortuary temple at the base of the pyramid, and a causeway connecting the two temples

Egyptian Middle Kingdom

-It occurred from approximately 2,000 to 1,600 BCE -Royal tombs were still a major architectural type -Most of these tombs were cut into rock cliffs and provided with sheltering porticoes -An exception to this pattern is the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep, which combined temple and tomb into a single complex

Parthenon

-Largest (101' x 228') of the temples on the Acropolis -Doric temple -Octastyle -Peripteral -Proportions are based on the golden ratio -Constructed of pentelic marble

Erechtheion

-Located on the acropolis across from the northern side of the Parthenon -Smaller, but with a more complex form than the Parthenon -Ionic temple -Two level temple dedicated to Poseidon and Athena -On the south elevation is the Porch of Maidens, where six caryatids are substituted from columns

Stages of development of Egyptian tomb architecture

-Mastaba -Stepped pyramid -Onion pyramid -Bent pyramid -True pyramid

Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

-Mortuary temple only; was buried on the other side of the mountain range in the Valley of the Kings -Precedent: Mentuhotep's temple -Ramps lead up from the valley to three broad terraces -The main axis to the temple aligned with the winter solstice sunrise -The three broad terraces, each defined by colonnades, served as retaining was for the next level -Axis is terminated at a false door painted on the wall of the final rock-hewn sanctuary

Components of New Kingdom temples

-Obelisk -Pylons -Courtyards -Hypostyle Hall -Sanctuary

Greek Archaic Period

-Occurred from about 700 to 500 BCE -Political structure: city-states -Temple form developed during this period -This form was derived in part from the Mycenaean megaron -Both the doric and ionic orders developed during this period

Egyptian New Kingdom

-Occurred from approximately 1,500 - 1,100 BCE -Pharaohs were buried secretly in a desert wilderness beyond Deir-El-Bahari, known as the Valley of the Kings -Spiritual nourishment for the dead pharaohs were provided by separate funerary temples

Persepolis

-Persian city in modern day Iran -Built about 500 BCE -Influenced by Egyptian and Hittite architecture -Uses a loose orthogonal layout -Mostly constructed of stone -The hall of hundred columns was able to contain 10,000 people -Used columns with a unique double headed capital

Mycenaean Civilization and Architecture

-Second millennium BCE on the Greek mainland -Led by warrior-kings -Cities were fortified and located on high ground -Cyclopean construction was used -Megaron: long rectangular space with the entrance on the short side from an attached anteroom preceded by a court

Minoan Civilization and Architecture

-Second millennium BCE on the island of Crete -Early Cretans worshipped nature deities associated with mountains, trees, and animals -Characteristic column had a downward-tapering shaft with a capital composed of a bulbous torus ring and abacus block -Cities were a loose organization of rectangular forms -Unlike the Egyptians they did not use axial planning

Characteristics of Egyptian formal articulation

-Stone architecture embellished with plant motifs or forms borrowed from lighter wooden constructions -Simultaneous dividing and linking of parts - the first conscious and systematic attempt at an articulation of this kind -Surface reliefs depicting the actions of men and gods -These reliefs always leave the frontal plane intact, this creates a textural effect which was strengthened by the use of color -Richly carved columns (mostly derived from plant forms)

Treasury of Atreus

-The tomb is excavated into the side of a hill -Entered through a long stone walled dromos or entrance passage -The tomb is a circular called a tholos -Its conical roof is constructed of corbeled stones -The tholos is 48' in diameter and 44' high (it was the tallest and widest domed structure for over 1000 years)

Pyramids

-Type of Egyptian tomb built primarily during the old kingdom -The earliest form was an upward-stepping form like the ziggurat -The transition to a continuous sloping form occurred in the fourth dynasty after two failed attempts at Meidum and Dahshur -The first "true" form was the Red which was also at Dahshur -Constructed in stone and faced with dressed limestone

Hexastyle

A Greek temple with six columns in the portico.

Labyrinth

A building with, or arrangement of winding or confusing pathways.

Portico

A colonnaded porch.

Torus

A convex, roughly semi-circular molding often seen at the base of a column.

Dipteral

A double row of columns.

Hypostyle Hall

A large hall composed of many columns paced close together to support the roof.

Axis

A line at the end of which movement terminates at a significant feature and thereby divides a composition into two equal parts.

Colonnade

A linear series of columns with an entablature

Pylon

A massive entrance to an Egyptian temple, with sloping walls and a central opening.

Fresco

A painting executed on wall surfaces by working pigments into wet plaster.

Caryatid

A pier carved in the form of a standing woman and used in place of a column.

Pilaster

A rectangular column, engaged in a wall.

Megaron

A simple rectangular space (domus) having solid long walls without openings and an entrance in the center of one short side, generally with an attached anteroom (prodomos) Preceded by a court.

Ziggurat

A stepped pyramid form used in ancient Mesopotamia as the platform for a religious building.

Obelisk

A stone monolith, square in plan, with sides tapering toward a pyramidal top.

Octastyle

A temple having eight columns across the front.

Decastyle

A temple with a ten column front.

Chatra

A triple-tiered umbrella form set atop a stupa, symbolic of the Bodhi tree under which Buddha gained enlightenment.

Niche

A wall recess.

Mastaba

An Egyptian tomb with a flat top and sloping sides, built over a grave shaft.

Empire

An Extensive group of states under a single supreme authority.

City-State

An autonomous state consisting of a city and surrounding territory.

Torana

An elaborate entrance gate into a Buddhist shrine.

Transom

An opening above a door for light and/or ventilation.

Peripteral columns

Columns placed around all sides of a building.

Stupa

In Buddhist architecture, the mound of earth and stones erected over relics of the Buddha or, by extension, over the remains of a holy person.

Serdab

In Egyptian tombs, an above-ground chamber where offerings to the deceased were placed.

Stoa

In Greek Architecture, a linear building with one or more rows of columns. Used for shops, meetings, or exhibitions.

Agora

In Greek cities, the term applied to the area of markets and city government.

Architrave

In classical architecture, the bottom portion of an entablature.

Entablature

In classical architecture, the horizontal elements supported by columns, consisting of architrave, frieze, and cornice.

Megalith

Large stones or boulders used in prehistoric architecture.

Acropolis

Literally "high city".

Corbelling

Masonry that projects slightly from a wall and serves as a support.

Abacus

On a column, the stone set directly over the capital.

Ashlar

Smooth stone masonry laid so that the joints are visible.

Tholos

Structure with a beehive dome over a circular plan used in Mycenean Tombs.

Polis

The ancient Greek city-state.

Stylobate

The base, usually having steps, on which a colonnaded temple sits.

Opisthodomus

The enclosed room at the back of a Greek temple, often used as a treasury.

Historic

The era after the appearance of written language.

Prehistoric

The era before the appearance of written language.

Façade

The exterior elevation of a building.

Pediment

The gable end of a temple, framed by cornices.

Frieze

The horizontal element above the architrave and below the cornice.

Naos

The sanctuary of a Greek temple.

Entasis

The slight outward curve of a column, which then tapers toward the top of the shaft.

Intercolumination

The space between columns.

Shikhara

The tall curving roof, often with a parabolic profile, that rises like an artificial mountain over the garbhagriha in a Hindu temple.

Orders

The trabeated system of architecture developed by the Greeks. The Greek orders are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.

Cornice

The uppermost element of an entablature, which projects beyond the plane of the exterior wall; more generally, the overhanging molding atop any building.

Pronaos

The vestibule or antechamber to the naos of a Greek temple.

Flutes

Vertical grooves incised in the shaft of a column.

Cyclopean masonry

Walls made of very large stones, only minimally shaped.