ARCHITECTURE

A BRIEF HISTORY
PREHISTORIC
Tumulus
mound of earth or stones raised
over a grave
Lith = stone
Hence, monolith means one stone
while megalith means big stone.
Menhir
upright monolith; sometimes in
parallel rows
Dolmen
tomb, standing stone with large
horizontal slab
Cromlech
huge stones planted on ground in
circular form (Stonehenge,
England)
Dwellings
caves, beehive hut, trullo,
wigwam/teepee, Hogan, igloo
EGYPTIAN
Character
Monumental, immortal, permanent
Character
Columnar and trabeated
Materials
Softstone (limestone, sandstone,
alabaster) and hardstone (granite,
quartite, basalt)
Capitals
Lotus, papyrus, and palm capitals
Mastaba
Funerary structure for the nobility
(not royalty). It has an
underground chamber called the
serdab.
Pyramids
Step (Zoser), slope (Giza) and bent
(Seneferu).
Giza pyramids
Khufu > Khafra > Menkhara.
Cheops > Chephren > Mykerinos.
Obelisk
Upright stone, pyramidion on top
Pylons
Gateway to the temple, slanting
walls
Temples
Either mortuary or cult
A typical temple
Pylons, hypaethral court,
hypostyle hall, sanctuary, chapels.
All enclosed by high walls.
NEAR EAST
Character
Clay and soil, arctuated, four
corners towards cardinal points
Materials
Stone and timber and mudbrick
Decoration
Islamic art, winged bulls, murals,
low relief in stone
Ziggurat
tiered (7
stages), temple at summit.
GREEK
Three phases
Aegean, Hellenic, Hellenistic
Aegean phase
Character
Rough and massive, simple capital
of square abacus and square
echinus, cyclopean wall with no
mortar.
Megaron
single-storey; central room; portico
entrance; columns supporting roof;
thalamus (bedroom) behind
Notable palaces
King Minos, Lion Gate in Mycenae
Notable tomb
Treasury of Atreus (tholos)
Hellenic
Character
Mostly religious architecture.
Columnar and trabeated.
Materials
Timber, stone, terra cotta.
Carpentry in marble.
Decoration
Sculptures, colors, murals
Entasis
Swelling of columns to correct the
optical illusion of concavity
The temple
Chief building type; resembles
megaron in plan and construction
Hellenistic
Character
Civic structures, symmetrical and
orderly, columnar and trabeated,
use of molding, use of orders
Temenos
Sacred enclosure on highest part of
a settlement; citadel or acropolis
(The Acropolis, Athens)
Propylea
monumental gateway to a sacred
enclosure
Temple
altar was outside, east front; Naos
or cella, principal chamber,
contains statue; Pronaos and
Epinaos (front and rear porticoes);
Planned by column #
1-hemo, 2-di, 3-tri, 4-tetra, 5-penta,
6-hexa, 7-hepta, 8-octa, 9-ennea,
10-deca, 12-dodeca(style)
Or column arrangement
In-antis: front columns between anta
Amphi-antis: at front and rear
Prostyle: portico at front
Amphi-prostyle: porticoes at front
and rear
By column arrangement
Peripteral, on all sides
Pseudo-peripteral, coulmns attached
to naos
By column arrangement
Dipteral, double line of columns
surrounding the naos
Pseudo-dipteral, like dipteral, but
inner columns attached to naos
The Greek orders
Doric, Ionic, Corinthian
Doric
Timber origin
Column: no base
H= 4-6 * column base diameter
Entablature: H=1 3/4 * lower diameter
Parthenon, Temple of Hera Paestrum
Ionic
Capital: Volute/scroll
Column: with base; H=9 * base dia.;
more slender; 24 flutes separated by
fillets
Entablature: H=2 * column dia.;
Ionic
Temple of Nike Apteros, Temple of
Artemis Ephesus, Erectheion
(caryatid, female; atlantes, male)
Corinthian
Capital: Acanthus
Column: H=10 * dia.
Entablature: architrave, frieze,
cornice
Temple of Apollo Epicurius
Theatron
Orchestra = stage
Cavea = tiered seating
Skene = stage backdrop
Odeion
Like a theater but for musical
performances
Agora
Market place or town square
Stoa
long colonnaded corridor; link
between buildings
Prytaneion
Senate house
Bouleuterion
Council house
Palaestra
Wrestling school
Stadium
Foot race course
Hippodrome
for horse and chariot racing
ROMAN
Etruscans
Great builders who took on large-
scale undertakings
Earliest use of true or radiating
arch, concrete
Tuscan order
Roman character
Utilitarian, practical, economic use of
materials
Complex, of great constructive ability
Adopted columnar and trabeated style
and orders (decorative only) of Greeks
Arch and vault system
Marble (mostly white) and concrete
Tuscan and Composite order capitals
(Tuscan, simplified Doric; Composite,
Ionic and Corinthian)
Tunnel, Cross vault, and Hemisperical
dome/Cupola
Forum
open market; Greek agora
Imperial Forum, Forum Romanum
Thermae
palatial baths; Thermae of
Caracalla, Baths of Diocletian
Parts of the thermae
Tepidarium-warm room
Frigidarium-unheated swimming bath
Laconium-dry sweating room
Apodyteria-dressing room
Unctuaria-oils room
Amphitheater
The Colosseum
Circus
Greek hippodrome; horse and
chariot racing; Circus Maximus
Triumphal arch
for emperors and generals;
victorious campaigns; Constantine,
Titus, Septimius
Dwellings
Domus, private house;
Villa, country house;
Insulae, apartment block
Others
Aqueducts, bridges, fountains,
archways
EARLY CHRISTIAN
Character
Construction and decoration highly-
influenced by Romans
Church, to shelter worshippers
Used materials from old Roman
temples
Simple timber roof
Vaulted or domed
Mosaics
Faade faced west
Basilican church
erected over burial place of saint
Parts of a basilican
church
Atrium, open forecourt;
Narthex, covered area for penitents;
Nave, central aisle, lit by clerestories;
Altar, under
baldacchino/tabernacle;
Apse, sanctuary;
Bema, stage for clergy;
Choir, enclosed by cancelli;
Ambo, pulpit.
Baptistery
separate structure connected to the
church by a colonnade
BYZANTINE
Setting
After the fall of Rome, Constantine
moved the capital of the Empire to
Byzantium, which was later
renamed to Constantinople
Character
Mostly church construction
Domed, centralized plan
Roman Ionic, Corinthian, and
Composite styles
Cubiform capital
Dosseret block, deep abacus
Stone bands instead of mouldings
Decorative arches
Internal marble, mosaic and fresco
decoration
Faade at west
Prime examples
Hagia
ROMANESQUE
Romanesque
Roman-like
Governed by classical traditions
Evolved from early Roman and
Byzantine architecture
Characteristics
Rounded arches for support and
decoration
Development of vaults (barrel
vaults and groin vaults)
Massive doors inset within arches
through massive walls
Small windows
Gothic-type towers began to
replace Byzantine domes
Latin cross plan for churches
Prime examples
Tower of Pisa
French Basilica of St. Sernin
GOTHIC
Character
High walls
Pointed arch
Flying buttresses and pinnacles
Traceried windows
Rose windows
Triforium and clerestory
French Gothic
lancettes
geometric traceried windows
Rayonnant
tracery
-like window
tracery
Spanish Gothic
strong Moorish influence;
horseshoe arch; pierced stone
tracery; rich surface decoration of
intricate geometrical and flowing
patterns
RENAISSANCE
1400-1600 AD
Character
A rebirth of the classic
A departure from Gothic, and a
return to the classical orders of
architecture
Periods
Early Renaissance
High Renaissance
Baroque
Early Renaissance
A period of learning, when
designers were intent of accurately
transcribing classical elements
High Renaissance
Designers became more
comfortable with the classical
language and began to create forms
more freely
High Renaissance
Includes the Mannerist period,
when designers began to employ
classical elements in designs that
had no classical precedents
Baroque
The vocabulary of the Renaissance
was used in an unprecented and
theatrical fashion to express the
triumph of the Catholic Church
Proportions were modified,
fragmentary or deliberately
incomplete architectural elements,
generous ornamentation. Baroque
coincided with European
colonialism.
REVIVALIST
Setting
Age of revivals (neoclassic),
Also an age of innovation
Rise in population
Urbanization
Transport system
New building types
Houses of Parliament, industrial
buildings, train stations, museums,
department stores, banks, police
stations, etc.
Imposing
There was a need to create an
imposing effect for new civic
buildings, and designers turned to
old styles
Two books
The Five Orders of Architecture by
Giacomo da Vignola and The Four
Books of Architecture by Andrea
Palladio
Character
Tall columns that rise the full
height of the building
Triangular pediments
Domed roofs
Prime examples
The US Capitol
The White House
US Supreme Court
MODERN
Character
Emphasis on function
Attempts to provide for specific
needs
Little to no ornamentation
Factory-made parts
Man-made materials like metal and
concrete
Rebellion against traditional styles
Bauhaus
A school in Germany that combined
architecture and the fine arts. All arts,
including architecture, would be

work of art.
Walter Gropius
Founded the Bauhaus
Mies van der Rohe
Seagram Building, Farnsworth
House
Le Corbusier
Charles-douard Jeanneret
Five points of architecture
Modulor
Pilotis
Roof gardens
Open plan
Curtain walls / separate faade
Ribbon windows
Villa Savoye
Designed by Le Corbusier to
showcase the five points of
modern architecture
Frank Lloyd Wright
Fallingwater
Prairie houses
Guggenheim New York
Organic architecture