HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

DEFINITIONS

History of Architecture
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."

Historic Styles of Architecture

The particular method, the characteristics, manner of design which prevails at a certain place and time.
( Kevin Espina )

EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE

HISTORY

Egypt is a wealthy country despite the desert - every year, Nile would overflow, leaving the land

fertile for growing crops. It consists of two kingdoms, Lower and Upper Egypt, combined by

King Menes in 3100 BC

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

Stone was abundant in variety and quantity, other materials, metals and timber were imported .

They were used for monuments and religious buildings. Durability of stone is why monuments

still exist to this day.

PYRAMIDS
They are massive funerary structure of stone or brick. They are raised and enclosed causeway

leading to west

Other building types that characterize Egyptian architecture are: obelisks,pylons, fortresses and

rock-cut or rock-hewn tombs

GREEK ARCHITECTURE
HISTORY

Civilizations on Crete and Greek mainland from 1900 to 1100 BC. Knossos was the largest city,

had a magnificent palace

Aegean

The structures were rough and massive

Hellenic Period (800 to 323 BC)

City-states developed on the plains between mountains Sparta and Athens were most important.

Mostly religious architecture. carpentry in marble - timber forms imitated in stone with

remarkable exactness

Hellenistic Period (323 to 30 BC)

Hellenistic Empire established Greek civilization. It provided inspiration for Roman building

types

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

HOUSES

On islands:

Flat roofing drawn together in blocks,two to four storeys high,light admitted through light wells

On mainland:

Single-storeyed house with deep plan, columned entrance porch with central doorway

METHODS OF NATURAL LIGHTING

There were no windows but clerestory - situated between roof and upper portion of

wall. skylight is made of thin, translucent marble. Presence of temple door, oriented towards the
east

ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

HISTORY

It involved many city-states on the Italian peninsula from 800 -300 BC, among all cities in Italy,

Rome became the most powerful . It consisted of two major periods: Etuscan or Etruscan (750

BC to 146 BC) and Roman (146 BC to 365 AD)

CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM

It adopted columnar and trabeated style of Greeks. Arch and vault system started by Etruscans
combined use of column, beam and arch (arctuated). they were able to cover large spaces without

the aid of intermediate support . Other structures that characterize this style of architecture

include:

THEATERS and AMPHITHEATERS

Gladiators trained to fight each other at organized contests for the entertainment of the

townspeople

AQUEDUCTS

It carried water in pipes from the country to the heart of the city

BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

HISTORY

Fierce barbaric tribes such as the Goths and Vandals attacked from outside the empire.In 285

293 AD, the empire had split into two an Eastern and Western empire. Constantine, a converted

Christian, changed the capital of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330 AD. The

western empire based in Rome finally collapsed in 476 AD. Eastern empire lasted another

thousand years and was known as the Byzantine empire.

DESCRIPTION

First buildings constructed were churches. Dumped Early Christian style for new domical

Byzantine style. Byzantine is still official style for Orthodox church

CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM

Fusion of domical construction with classical columnar style. Domes of various types placed

over square compartments using pendentives. Semi-circular arches rest directly on columns, with

capitals able to support springing of arches

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE

HISTORY

The Roman Empire was halved into East and West,those outside the Empire were called

barbarians -German tribes such as the Franks, Saxons, Vandals, Goths; Asian tribes such as the

Huns. 4th century, Huns invaded Europe forcing the Goths and Vandals to seek shelter inside the

Roman Empire.Rome agreed to let them stay in exchange for help against the Huns. In 410 AD,

Alaric the Goth seized Rome, settled in Spain

CATHEDRALS

Mostly Basilican in plan, Rib and Panel vaulting - framework of ribs support thin stone panels

BAPTISTERIES
Large, separate buildings usually octagonal in plan and

connected to the cathedral by the atrium.it was used 3 times a year: Easter, Pentecost, Epiphany

CAMPANILES

They are straight towers shafts, generally standing alone which served as civic monuments,

symbols of power, watch towers

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

HISTORY

12th 13th centuries: Holy Roman Empire was reduced to the area of Germany. Only 3 great

kingdoms were left: France, England and Castile in Spain. Prosperous years in terms of

agriculture - warm weather and invention of the windmill and water-mill increased the

amount of food produced.Most Europeans were Catholics. Church under the Pope brought

Christians together and the entire Christianity was united against Muslims. The rulers, the church

and townspeople spent wealth on building more castles, cathedrals and monasteries. Towns

competed with each other to produce the best architecture

"Gothic" is a term used in reproach to this style. It can be identified by the general use of

pointed arch. it is also called Medieval Architecture

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
HISTORY

In 1450, series of voyages and explorations by sea led by Spain and Portugal. Warfare was

changed by the invention of gunpowder. This brought about the need for a new building type

FLORENCE

Cities of Florence, Genoa, Milan - central, chief powers of Italy. Renaissance had its birth in

Florence .With the development of gunpowder, palace-type building evolved, taking the place of

fortified castles. Large windows unnecessary and unsuitable. Low pitched roof covered by a

balustrade, parapet or boldly protruding roof cornices

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE

Architects worked with freedom and firmly-acquired knowledge.The true nature of Renaissance

as a distinctive style began to emerge. Baroque saw architecture, painting, sculpture and the

minor arts being used in harmony to produce the unified whole.

Part of its charactersistics are small Roman circular temple with Doric columns,4.5 m internal

diameter. Site where S. Peter was martyred was designed by Donato Bramante. Dome on drum

pierced with alternating windows and shell-headed niches

ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
It is a style which is primarily French in origin. Rock-like forms, fantastic scrolls, and crimped

shells.They were profuse, often semi-abstract ornamentation. They are light in color and weight
 HISTORICISM AND INDUSTRIAL ARCHITECTURE

The buildings that line the Ringstrasse were designed in the Historicist style, that is to say they

were modelled on idealized versions of historical architectural styles but adapted to the

technological and functional demands of the time in which they were built. The style chosen for

each building was that which was held to best express its function Theophil Hansen (1813

1891) designed the Parliament building in the Hellenistic style, in the belief that the form of

government in classical Athens had given birth to the truest form of democracy. The neo-Gothic

City Hall by Friedrich Schmidt (18251891) reflected the civic autonomy of the cities in landers.

Ferstel (18281883) was built in the French Gothic style, while in his designs for the university
Ferstel took as his model the Italian Renaissance, the period when art and science flowered in

Europe.

MODERN ARCHITECTURE

There were more innovations including Curtain wall, Steel and plate-glass, Folded slab by

Eugene Freyssinet, Flat slab by Robert Maillart and Laminated timber

FAMOUS ARCHITECTS

Marcel Breuer

Best known for the design of tubular steel Wassily Chair. He Studied at the Bauhaus - become

director of the school's furniture department in 1924 . He designed a series of noted structures

including innovative houses and the Whitney Museum of Art

Oscar Niemeyer

Worked with city planner Lucio Costa to conceive and build Brasilia, Brazil's capital in a record

time of just four years. Functionality and the use of pre-stressed concrete dominate his designs.

He also designed the cathedral, the national theater and the presidential palace

Buckminster Fuller

He Created the Dymaxion House, the first machine for living - a portable home inside from

metal alloys and plastics He designed all necessary mechanical systems and devices in the center

of the building, with living spaces around it, open to the arrangement tastes of the owner

POSTMODERN ARCHITECTURE
Postmodern architecture began as an international style the first examples of which are

generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a style until the late 1970s and

continues to influence present-day architecture. Postmodernity in architecture is said to be

heralded by the return of "wit, ornament and reference" to architecture in response to the

formalism of the International Style of modernism. As with many cultural fashions, some of

Postmodernism's most pronounced and visible ideas can be seen in architecture. The functional

and formalized shapes and spaces of the modernist style are replaced by diverse aesthetics: styles

collide, form is adopted for its own sake, and new ways of viewing familiar styles and space

abound. Perhaps most obviously, architects rediscovered the expressive and symbolic value of

architectural elements and forms that had evolved through centuries of building which had been

abandoned by the modern style

Gare do Oriente (Lisbon, Portugal), designed by the Spanish

architect Santiago Calatrava.
 REFERENCES

Ching, Francis D.K., A Visual Dictionary of Architecture

Fletcher, Bannister, A History of Architecture 20th Ed.

Heinrich Klotz History of Post-Modern Architecture., Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998.

Kevin Espina History of Architecture

Mercado, Jose L., The Architectural Reviewer Volume III: History & Theory of Architecture

Salvan, George S., Architectural Character & the History of Architecture

Robert Venturi Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form.,

Cambridge

The Childrens Atlas of World History

The World Atlas of Architecture