Hi, how are you? I hope everybody’s doing fine. Allow me to introduce myself first. I am Mikaela Buenaventura Rebusi, a first year student of Architecture.
Here is my E-portfolio for the history of Architecture.
History of Architecture is the study of the chronological records of events (as affecting a nation or people) based on a critical examination of architectural source materials and usually presenting an explanation of their causes from ancient periods to the present day. In other words, it is a record of man’s effort to build beautifully. It traces the origin, growth and decline of architectural styles which have prevailed lands and ages.
There are 6 influential factors in architecture; (1) geography, (2) geology, (3) climate, (4) religion, (5) social and political, (6) culture and (7) history. Geography is often a key factor in shaping the design of behavioral healthcare facility and influence design choices such as color, materials, lighting, or structural elements of a building. A behavioral healthcare facility in a rainy suburb of Settle may look nothing like facility in a hot desert like Arizona. Full knowledge of geology may increase the strength, stability and durability of a project. Architecture intentionally modifies the climate of an immediate area-and traditionally, its design has been shaped by the stresses and opportunities inherent in the regional climate. Architecture is the process that directly related to the people’s beliefs and in general, their religion. As we observed that every region and country has its own architecture, we can find that religion plays a major role in architecture. Architecture represents and symbolizes our values and enacts vision of social order. It is not merely a backdrop of political life, but an important political agent itself. Architecture as a matter of human life reflects the culture in every society interacting closely with structural, historical, political, economic and social features of society.
Comparative Table of Architectural Styles (6 Influencing Factors)
DISCUSSION ABOUT PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE
Prehistoric architecture is the design of buildings from prehistoric periods. These were rather simple buildings. Early human made huts to protect themselves for rain and wild animals. Early materials involved animal parts like fiber and sticks, as well as rocks and other parts of the environment. People made small houses, occasionally with fireplaces, as well as making tombs and other structures.
Architectural advances are an important part in this period. Early man got inspiration from nature in the form of shapes and color of leaves and flowers, and exploited their effects on the eyes and mind.
The works of prehistoric architecture are predominantly made up of monoliths, dolmen, tumuli and great dwellings and cover those structures that were built during the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods. Here is a list of examples of prehistoric architecture.
Stonehenge in Amesbury (United Kingdom)
It is an ancient monolith that reveals the science and skills of the Neolithic civilization. This is where the religious rites took place for worship. It is a ring of standing stones set within earthworks. It is composed of concentric rings with the outer ring (106’ in diameter), the isolated blue stone, the innermost circles and the smaller blue stones. The Stonehenge is as one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world today and it became one of the tourist attraction.
Dolmens of North Caucasus (Russia and Abkhazia)
It is known to represent a unique type of prehistoric architecture. The dolmens were built between 25,000 and 10,000 BC with precisely dressed large stone blocks. These dolmens lie throughout the Caucasus mountain. They are represented by rectangular structures made of stone slabs or cut in rocks with holes in their façade. Some of the dolmens are being destroyed, some of it were found and were cherished again today as one of the spiritual significance.
The Olmec Heads (Mexico)
It is composed of 17 colossal heads carved from stones. It weighs between six to fifty tons and dated from 1500 to 1000 BC. Every head is carved with a unique headdress, which is believed to represent powerful Olmec rulers. The Olmec heads serves as an evidence of advanced African civilization during prehistoric times. All of the authentic Olmec heads can be found in Mexico. San Lorenzo Head (10) is located at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán Community Museum while the other heads are at Mexico City's National Anthropology Museum. Xalapa's Anthropology Museum houses the remaining San Lorenzo sculptures.
El Infiernito (Columbia)
It is a prehistoric Muisca site in Colombia. It is composed of several earthworks that surround a setting of an upright stones (menhirs). It is believed that El Infiernito is used to be a center of religious ceremonies and spiritual purification rites during the pre-Columbian era. Its name means “little hell”. It is a archaeoastronomical site that also once served as a burial and religious ceremony site in what was once Muisca territory.
Cahokia Mounds (Mississippi)
Cahokia Mounds is located near the Mississippi River. It is a large, man-made, earthen mounds that date back between 600 and 1400 CE. It is directly across the Mississippi River from the modern St. Louis and Missouri. It covers 2,200 acres and contains about 80 mounds. It is the largest structure in Cahokia. Now, it is one of the U.S. National Historic Landmark and the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
CLASSWORK
When we’re studying lesson in prehistoric architecture, this activity was given to us by our instructor. We have to explain how the six influential factors affects the prehistoric architecture. The six influential factors are geography, geology, climate, social and political, religion, and historical and cultural By doing this activity, we were able to understand the importance of considering the influential factors in making an architecture. Doing this activity also helps me in understanding the prehistoric architecture.
DISCUSSION ABOUT ANCIENT NEAR EAST ARCHITECTURE
Ancient Near East Period has the earliest rise of human civilization period around 4500 BC. The transformation from Prehistory, to villages and cities occurred there. The cultures include Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian. The building material used is mud.
The ancient Near East is considered one of the cradles of civilization. It was here that intensive year-round agriculture was first practiced, leading to the rise of the first dense urban settlements and the development of many familiar institutions of civilization, such as social stratification, centralized government and empires, organized religion and organized warfare. It also saw the creation of the first writing system, the first alphabet (abjad), the first currency in history, and law codes, early advances that laid the foundations of astronomy and mathematics, and the invention of the wheel.
The artists of the Ancient Near East used a wide range of materials in their work, including stone, metal, shell, ivory, glass, ceramics, building materials (like mud bricks), and paint. Here is a list of examples of Ancient Near East Architecture:
White Temple (Uruk)
Uruk was a major Sumerian city by 3300 BC. It is known as warka in Arabic. The white temple was built around 3000 BC. It is an example of earliest development of Sumerian temples and ziggurat. The temple is place on a great mound of earth called ziggurat, rising more than 12 meters above ground. These are built with mud bricks. White temple is rectangular in shape and was plastered white externally, making it visible for miles in the landscape. At this time, we can only see the remains of the temple for it was destroyed as time pass by. It became a tourist attraction and archeological site.
The Great Ziggurat
Ur was a Sumerian city located near the mouth of the Euphrates river. Ziggurat was constructed of mud bricks reinforced with thin layers of matting and cables of twisted reeds. The great ziggurat was located as part of a temple complex. The temple is usually accessed only by the priest, where gods are believed to come down and give instructions. The chief temple was also used as a last line of defense during times of war and the people believed that climbing the staircase of the ziggurat gives a holy experience. Small excavations occurred at the site around the turn of the twentieth century, and in the 1920s Sir Leonard Woolley, in a joint project with the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia and the British Museum in London, revealed the monument in its entirety.
Ishtar Gate
From the palace originated a procession street that cuts through the city raised above the ground to the tower of babel. The procession street enters the city through the famous Ishtar gate. The Ishtar gate is built across the double walls of the city fortification. It has a pair of projecting towers on each wall. All the facades of gates and adjoining streets were faced with blue glazed bricks and ornamented with figures of heraldic animals-lions, bulls, and dragons. These were modelled in relief and glazed in other colors. None of the buildings of old Babylon has survived to the present age. The Ishtar gate became one of the attraction as it became famous. A number of pieces from the Processional Way were sold to other museums, and these can be seen in 11 museums around the world
Nebuchadnezzar’s Palace
Nebuchadnezzar’s palace covered a land area of 900 feet by 600 feet. It had administrative offices, barracks, the king’s harem, private apartment all arranged around five courtyards. The palace is also praised for its legendary hanging garden. The palace is recorded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, but exact knowledge of the nature of this garden is not known. The Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II constructed for himself a large and ornately decorated palace, the ruins of which are still visible today
Palace of Sargon
The palace is approached at ground level through a walled citadel. Within the citadel is found the main palace, two minor palaces and a temple dedicated to Nabu. The main palace was set on a platform located on the northern side of the citadel. All the buildings within the citadel were arranged around courtyards. The palace was arranged around two major courtyards about which were grouped smaller courtyards. It consisted of large and smaller rooms with the throne room being the largest. The building was decorated with relief sculpture and glazed brick.
CLASSWORK
When we’re studying the Ancient Near East, our instructor gave us an activity to test our knowledge in the said topic. The first one is we have to write a reflection at the video about the Persian empire and next, we have to draw an architectural characters of the ancient near east architecture. These activities help me to understand the lesson. It also gave me knowledge about the architectural styles that the west Asiatic have and the history about all of it. since we discussed about this lesson before, it’s not that hard for me to finished the illustrating activates and with the help of the video documentary i've watched, it finished the reflection about the Persepolis smoothly.
DISCUSSION ABOUT ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE
Ancient Egyptian Architecture involves the buildings, sculpture, painting and decorative arts of Ancient Egypt from about 5000BC to the conquest of Egypt by Rome in 30BC. Egyptian architecture was made to serve a purely religious purpose. Temples were decorated with paintings and filled with statues of gods and kings, in the belief that doing so served the gods and was a sign of devotion to the king. Palaces were built for the worship of the kings and to serve as his dwelling place as well as for public administration. Tombs were built to ensure the enjoyment of dead kings in their life after death. Jewelry and amulets (charms) were worn not only for decoration but as protection against harm. Therefore, architecture cannot be devoid of the culture and tradition of the people. Egyptian arts and architecture were not for all Egyptians but only for kings and members of the ruling elites, and also for the gods.
Egypt is predominantly known for its many unique monumental sites that have captured the interest of thousands of tourists. The architecture is composed mainly of sun-baked mud bricks and limestone which adds to its unique appeal. Here is the list of Ancient Egyptian Architecture:
Pyramid of Giza
It is one of the seven wonders of the world, the great pyramid of Giza is the largest of all surviving pyramid in Egypt. Archeologist believe that the pyramid was built over a tomb dedicated to pharaohs named Khufu and his family. The building materials used in constructing the pyramid were granite and limestone and was 146.7 meters tall and 230 meters in length. The pyramid has three chambers; the king’s room, the queen’s room and the great gallery.
The Great Sphinx of Giza
It is a statue of the mythical creature known as Sphinx. It is gigantic structure that is 240 feet long and 65 feet high. The mythical sphinx has great prominence in the history of Egypt and is believed to be the source of the food cycle, making it one of the most ancient and revered structures in Egyptian history.
The pyramid of Djoser
It is a step pyramid made of large blocks of limestone in the Saqqara Necropolis of Egypt. It is the tomb of Pharaoh Djoser and was constructed by his chancellor Imhotep in the 27th century BC. It has a height of 62.5 meters and is built in a way that is not exactly a grave for the king but to facilitate his successful afterlife in order for him to be reborn. Inside the pyramid there are long, tunneled chambers spreading a total length of six kilometers. The tomb was not just for the pharaohs; it also was a place to bury members of the royal family. The burial chambers are made up of granite and were once filled with precious jewels which have long since been looted. In March 2020, the pyramid was reopened for visitors after a 14-year restoration.
Valley of the Kings
It is a valley which is believed to be the burial place of the great pharaohs. At first the pyramids were only used as tombs for the kings but around 1500 BC the practice was changed to the burial of prominent royal figures as well. Archaeologists have found 63 tombs and over 120 chambers ranging in size depending on the prominence of the person buried there. The walls of the underground tombs are decorated with graffiti in various languages and hieroglyphs that depict ancient Egyptian culture. The most remarkable mausoleum which was excavated here was that of King Tutankhamun. The tomb preserved the mummy of King Tut and other precious artefacts made up of gold and various other materials. The Valley of the Kings has a special place in the history of Egypt due to its great archaeological wealth. In 1979, it became a World Heritage Site, along with the rest of the Theban Necropolis. Exploration, excavation and conservation continues in the valley, and a new tourist centre has recently been opened.
The Karnak Temple
It was built over a period of 3,000 years. Over 30 different kings contributed to the construction of this temple. Its construction was initiated in the Middle Kingdom under the reign of Pharaoh Senusret I and was not completed until the emergence of the New Kingdom. The temple is dedicated to the Theban tribe with the god Amun as its head. The Karnak Temple is a part of a vast Karnak complex which is divided into four major parts: the precinct of Amun-Ra, which is open to the public, and three other parts, the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Montu, and Temple of Amenhotep IV which are private. The walls of the temple have large hieroglyphics and structures carved into them that attract a large number of tourists nowadays. It was built as a cult temple and was dedicated to the gods Amun, Mut, and khonsu. Being the largest building for religious purposes ever to be constructed, the Karnak Temple was known as “most select of places” by ancient Egyptians.
CLASSWORK
After our discussion about the ancient Egyptian architecture, our instructor made an activity related to the great ziggurat of ur. In the activity, we have to watched the video documentary about decoding of the great pyramid. I gained deeper understanding about the Egyptian pyramids with the help of the video documentary and reflection paper I made.
DISCUSSION ABOUT PRE-COLUMBIAN ARCHITECTURE
Pre-Columbian architecture includes a variety of fascinating and sophisticated architectural wonders created by vastly different groups of people for a variety of purposes. Architecture was often built according to alignment of astronomical and cosmological features.
They were noted for their advanced knowledge and understanding of astronomy and engineering, and they incorporated a heavy amount of symbolism into their city planning and architectural design. Most buildings, especially those carved of stone, were decorated with ornamental iconography depicting animals, gods, and great kings.
Pre-Columbian architecture used readily available local materials, such as limestone at Palenque and Tikal, sandstone at Quiriguá, and volcanic tuff at Copan. Blocks were cut using stone tools only. Burnt-lime cement was used to create a form of concrete and was occasionally used as mortar, as was simple mud. Here is the list of Pre-Columbian Architecture:
Monks Mounds in Cahokia, North America
It is the largest single ceremonial building of pre-Columbian North America. The mound size was calculated in 1988 as about 100 feet (30 m) high, 955 feet (291 m) long including the access ramp at the southern end, and 775 feet (236 m) wide. Its massive platform, of truncated pyramid form, has four asymmetrical levels built up entirely of earth, and dominated a palisaded ceremonial precinct. This makes Monks Mound roughly the same size at its base as the Great Pyramid of Giza (13.1 acres / 5.3 hectares). Unlike Egyptian pyramids which were built of stone, the platform mound was constructed almost entirely of layers of basket-transported soil and clay. Because of this construction and its flattened top, over the years, it has retained rainwater within the structure. This has caused slumping, the avalanche-like sliding of large sections of the sides at the highest part of the mound. The original site contained 120 earthen mounds over an area of 6 square miles (16 km2), of which 80 remain today.
Native American Town Houses
North America is such a big continent, different tribes had very different weather to contend with. In the Arizona deserts, temperatures can hit 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and in the Alaskan tundra, -50 is not unusual. Naturally, Native Americans developed different types of dwellings to survive in these different environments. Also, different American Indian tribes had different traditional lifestyles. Some tribes were agricultural-- they lived in settled villages and farmed the land for corn and vegetables. They wanted houses that would last a long time. Other tribes were more nomadic, moving frequently from place to place as they hunted and gathered food and resources. They needed houses that were portable or easy to build.
Wigwam Homes
Wigwams (or wetus) are Native American houses used by Algonquian Indians in the woodland regions. It is the word for "house" in the Abenaki tribe, and wetu is the word for "house" in the Wampanoag tribe. Sometimes they are also known as birchbark houses. Wigwams are small houses, usually 8-10 feet tall and are made of wooden frames which are covered with woven mats and sheets of birchbark. The frame can be shaped like a dome, like a cone, or like a rectangle with an arched roof. Once the birchbark is in place, ropes or strips of wood are wrapped around the wigwam to hold the bark in place. Tipis are the conical skin- or canvas-covered dwellings used by the Plains Indians as permanent or seasonal dwellings. Wigwams (or wetus) are Native American houses used by Algonquian Indians in the woodland regions. Wigwam is the word for "house" in the Abenaki tribe, and wetu is the word for "house" in the Wampanoag tribe.
Teepees
Tepees (also spelled Teepees or Tipis) are tent-like American Indian houses used by Plains tribes. It is made of a cone-shaped wooden frame with a covering of buffalo hide. Like modern tents, tepees are carefully designed to set up and break down quickly. As a tribe moved from place to place, each family would bring their tipi poles and hide tent along with them. Originally, tepees were about 12 feet high, but once the Plains Indian tribes acquired horses, they began building them twice as high. Tipis are the conical skin- or canvas-covered dwellings used by the Plains Indians as permanent or seasonal dwellings.
Igloos
Igloos are snow houses used by the Inuit of northern Canada. not all Inuit people used igloos -- some built sod houses instead, using whale bones instead of wooden poles for a frame. Like a sod house, the igloo is dome-shaped and slightly excavated, but it is built from the snow, with large blocks of ice set in a spiral pattern and packed with snow to form the dome. Igloos are good houses for the polar region, where the earth is frozen, the snow cover is deep, and there are few trees. Snow is a good insulator, and dense blocks of ice offer good protection against the arctic winds. igloos are often associated with all Inuit peoples, they were also traditionally used only by the people of Canada's Central Arctic and Greenland's Thule area.
CLASSWORK
At this time, we talked about the pre-Columbian architecture. After we discussed about it, our instructor gave us an activity. we have to compare the commonalities and differences of the pre-Columbian eras in terms 4 aspects. While doing this, we keep on acquiring knowledge that we’ll help us to understand the pre-Columbian architecture more.
As we finished to our discussion, allow me to present to you my self-realization after doing this video:
THANK YOU FOR READING SUCH A LONG BLOG. AGAIN, I AM MIKAELA REBUSI. HAVE A NICE DAY AHEAD!
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