History of Architecture Lecture series

1. Abhishek K. Venkitaraman
Assistant Professor
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
LECTURE 1
Introduction: Prehistoric Architecture

4. Ea rl y H um a n Mi grati on out of A f ri ca
Earliest Homo Sapien
fossils have been
found in Ethiopia
Africa West Asia Europe
East & South
Asia
North America South America
Australia

5. The earliest people to colonize the
Eurasian landmass probably did so across
the Bab-al-Mandab Strait separating
present-day Yemen from Djibouti
Ea rl y H um a n Mi grati on out of A f ri ca

7. Living in caves - hunting
Settlements developed near caves or along
shores and streams – farming & hunting
Understanding of seasons – Cultivation –
Domestication of animals
Specialized tools were developed. Religious &
communal aspects – building arts developed
Different societies developed differently
D eve l opm e nt of Ea rl y Cul ture

9. natural determinants
topography (location)
climate
natural resources, building materials and technology
man-made determinants
trade
political power
religion
defense
mobility
ethnical issues
Etc

11. Circular Layout

12. Primitive Settlements
Non - organized
settlements
organized settlements

13. “And when we saw all those cities and villages built in
the water and other great towns on dry land, and that
straight and level causeway leading to Tenochtitlan, we
were amazed…Indeed, some of our soldiers asked if it
was not all a dream” (Spanish chronicler, Bernal Diaz
del Castillo) – describing Aztec Chinampa agriculture

15. DISCOVERY
OF
FIRE

16. DISCOVERY OF WHEEL

17. “ZERO ENERGY” HOUSE
In Popular Culture: Flintstones

18. Rock painting – Ubirr,
Australia
Apollo 11 cavestones – 25,500 B.C.E
Lascaux, France – 30,000 B.C.E
Pa l eol ithic Cave Pa i ntings, Tool s

22. Principles of Architectural Organization
Two forces shaped the form of dwellings
and settlements:
• Functional need
• Available construction materials and
technology

23. Re l i gi on, Cul ture , A rchi te cture
Mediterranean Mother Goddess, fertility cult
Mesopotamia Fertility cult, slowly replaced by a complex
set of Gods
Egypt Complex set of Gods
China Shamanistic (vast network of villages)
• Different regions developed with different environmental and social factors
• Architecture differed – Buildings for the dead, buildings for the living, temples, granaries, etc.

24. Architecture of the Civilization
NEW STONE AGE
• Established permanent dwellings
and settlements – Catal Huyuk,
Jericho
• Improvement in house form
including change to rectangular
rooms
• Introduction of multi-room houses
• Introduction of non-residential
buildings-for work, storage &
rituals

25. Architecture of the Civilization
• Funerary and religious buildings
were introduced during new Stone
Age
FUNERARY BUILDINGS
• Structures such as tombs used for
rituals and burial for the dead
• Example we studied is the Dolmen
Tomb

26. Architecture of the Civilization
RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS
• Evidence of the first practices of
religion
• Buildings used for rituals related to
worship and religion
• Example is found in the shrines
embedded within Catal Huyuk

27. Architecture of the Civilization
RITUAL BUILDINGS
• Buildings whose functions are not
entirely certain
• Usually associated with ritual
ceremonial activities
• Activities may be related to religion
• Examples are the Stone Alignment,
Carnac and the Stonehenge, England

28. Building Materials, Construction & Technologies
Characteristics of prehistoric architecture will
be examined under three headings:
Building Types
Building materials,
construction and
technologies
Principles of
architectural
organization

29. Building Types
Categories of Prehistoric buildings
• Dwellings and settlements
• Funerary and Religious buildings
• Ritual structures

30. Vocabulary
Neolithic: the “new” Stone Age (8,000 – 2300 BCE), which
marked the beginnings of monumental (extremely large)
architecture
corbeled vault: a vault formed by the piling of stone blocks in
horizontal courses, cantilevered inward until the two walls meet
in an arch
post and lintel: one of the earliest methods of architectural
construction in which two posts (sometimes called “uprights”)
support a lintel (horizontal beam which rests across the top)

31. Vocabulary
megalith: a large stone used in the construction of a prehistoric
structure
Cromlech: a circle of megaliths, as at Stonehenge

32. • Occurred before invention of written records
• Also called Stone Age period because of the
absence of metal implements
• Occurred from Human Habitation of earth to
9000 BC
Prehistoric Architecture

33. Prehistoric Architecture
• The history of man can be classified into
different stages and with it corresponding
structures were built:
1. Savage stage or the Old Stone Age or the
Paleolithic age. Up to 9000 BC
2. Barbarian stage or the New Stone Age or the
Neolithic age. 9000 BC to 3000 BC
3. Iron or Bronze Age

34. Prehistoric Architecture
• Not restricted to any particular geographical
region
• Occurred in different localities
• Usually close to sources of food, near rivers

35. Architecture of the
Civilization
• Residential building and settlements varied
between early and new Stone Age periods
EARLY STONE AGE
• Always on the move
• Used temporary structures
• Provided basic shelter and protection for
short periods of time

36. Principles of Architectural Organization
DWELLINGS AND SETTLEMENTS:
EARLY STONE AGE
• Primary requirement is for temporary
structure
• No desire to invest in construction of
dwellings
• Constructed dwellings using available
materials
• Form directly reflecting natural objects

37. Materials, Construction System & Technique
EARLY STONE AGE
• Used simple, easily available materials
• Usually of plant and animal materials
such as wooden poles, grasses, leaves,
and animal skins
• Construction system was also simple
• Usually involves digging holes, putting
wooden poles in holes and burying them
• The poles are tied together to create the
shell of the building
• The shell is covered with grasses, leaves
or animal skins

38. The Old Stone Age
• Before 9000 BC
• Where people used crude stone for their
implements.
• Man was a hunter and a food gatherer
• Got their food through food gathering, hunting
and fishing
• Constructed temporary shelters from perishable
materials such as tree trunks and leaves.
• He also made use of natural and man-made
caves both below and above ground as shelter.

39. The Old Stone Age
• The method of living was
temporary
• Nomadic, always on the move
• Move about in search of food,
water, and good climate
• Usually move about in small
bands of less than 15 persons
• Their lifestyle made them
barely able to survive
• Not much is known about their
beliefs

40. Neolithic Jericho was protected by 5-foot-thick walls and at least one
stone tower 30 feet high and 33 feet in diameter. An outstanding
achievement that marks the beginning of monumental architecture.
Great stone tower built into
the settlement wall, Jericho,
ca. 8000-7000 BCE

41. •When early man emerged
from cave dwellings into
shelters created by his
hands
•The history of architecture
began.
Cave Dwellings
Handmade
shelters
History of
Architecture
began
The New Stone Age

42. The New Stone Age
• Lasted from 8,000 to 3,000BC
• People used polished stone for their
implements
• Their method of housing was made more
permanent with the use of durable materials.
• Discovered art of farming and animal
husbandry
• People become more domesticated and were
preoccupied with cattle raising and planting
• Learned to domesticate animals, farm and
grow crops, make pottery and weave cloth

43. The New Stone Age
• Neolithic people acquired
confidence in ability to tame and
control nature
• Period saw interest in natural cycles
such as of weather and heavenly
bodies
• e.g. sun and moon
• People learned to differentiate
between spaces and places – sacred
versus everyday places
• Architecture was born

44. The New Stone Age
• Having fulfilled his basic need, Neolithic man
sought to conquer fear of the unknown
• Needed to understand forces of nature that both
nourishes and destroys
• Sought to understand the heavenly bodies
and weather cycles
• Sought to control nature through rituals and
magic
• Gradually introduced the idea of religion
• Confusion about death and life after death led
to introduction of tombs
• Tombs are evidence of social differences in
the society

45. The New Stone Age
• Skills were developed, marking start of
civilization
• People stopped wandering and settled
down in permanent settlements
• Discovery: result of population
pressure
• Introduction of basic social organization
of society
• Villages were established and grew,
protected by walls

46. Materials, Construction System & Technique
NEW STONE AGE
• More diversified construction materials
• Adobe and stone most popular materials
• Large stone was used for monuments
• Construction method also improved over
time
• Significant improvement in Adobe
construction
• Evidence of ability to quarry, shape,
transport and join large stones to create
monuments

47. Principles of Architectural Organization
DWELLINGS AND SETTLEMENTS:
NEW STONE AGE
• Became settled requiring permanent
dwellings
• Required durable construction
• Improved dwellings and settlements to
meet needs
• Change in form of house, introduction of
furniture and differentiation of space
• Improvement in village form including
introduction of streets
• Improvement in construction technology

49. Corbeled vault of the main
chamber in the passage
grave, Newgrange, Ireland,
ca. 3200-2500 BCE
The Newgrange passage
grave is an early example of
corbeled vaulting. The huge
stones (megaliths) of the
dome of the main burial
chamber beneath the tumulus
are held in place by their own
weight.

50. Aerial view of ruins of Hagar Qim, Malta, ca. 3200-
2500 BCE
One of the earliest stone temples in the world is on the
island of Malta. The 5,000-year-old structure is
remarkably sophisticated for its date, especially in the
combination of rectilinear and curved forms.

52. Stonehenge
(3100-2000 BC)
Wiltshire,
England

54. Aerial view (looking northwest) of Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain,
England, ca. 2550-1600 BCE. Circle is 97’ in diameter; trilithons 24’
high.
The circles of trilithons at Stonehenge probably functioned as an
astronomical observatory and solar calendar. The sun rises over its
“heel stone” at the summer solstice. Some of the megaliths weigh 50
tons.

56. Prehistoric Architecture: Stonehenge
• Neolithic architecture
• Post and lintel construction
• Megaliths are 21 to 24 feet tall, including height of lintel,
and buried four feet in the ground
• Cromlech – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromlech
• Solar and lunar orientation
• Stones dragged from far away to this site
• Circle of megaliths embrace structure, enclosing it

57. Functions of Stonehenge:
• Cremation / burial site
• Astrological observatory
• Solar calendar
• Sacred site

60. The oldest detailed drawing of Stonehenge, found in a
1440 manuscript, the Scala Mundi

61. Several Phases
(stages) of
Cons-truction

65. The lintels (horizontal monoliths) were fitted to one another using a
woodworking method, the “tongue-and-groove joint”

67. Bronze Age
• Started around 2,000BC, when iron
was discovered.
• Carpentry and masonry was
practiced.
• There was a gradual improvement
in the design of buildings,
particularly in Egypt.

68. Huts from vegetation
• Space inside is organized for different uses
• The hut was used by a band of people for
limited hunting days
• It is left to collapse after use and new huts built
over by the next years hunting season

69. Temporary Structures:
Hut at Terra Amata, France
•Early stone people constructed
temporary shelters using available
materials
•One of earliest known example
•Discovered in 1966 at Terra Amata in
France
•Dates back to 400,000 years
•Oval in shape and constructed of tree
branches

70. HUTS
Bambuti Hut –huts show
evidence of use of leaves to
cover hut
The Tongus Hut –show evidence
of use of grass to make huts

71. Tents from Animal Skin

72. The Lapp Tent
The Lapp tenth shows the use of animal skins

73. Mud Construction
• Improvement in technology led to mud construction and
architecture

74. Brushwood Hut
Wood framed
huts

75. Round House, Israel
Stilt House

76. Tepees of American Indians

77. trullo: Southern Italy

78. yurts : Mongolia

79. Neolithic Dwelling & Settlement: Catal Huyuk
• Neolithic monument in
present day Turkey
• Occupied between 6300
BC to 5400 BC
• Supported a population
of up to 6000 people
• Largest and most
cosmopolitan city of its
time

80. Catal Huyuk
• Had extensive economy
based on specialized
craft and commerce
• The city was a trading
center
• The size of the city and
its wealth are a product
of its status as a trading
center

81. Settlement, Catal Huyuk, Turkey