History of architecture 1 - Lecture-8

1. AN OVERVIEW OF
ARCHITECTURE
-1500 BCE-
History andTheory of Architecture (1) - 0902241
University of Jordan
Faculty of Engineering
Department of Architecture
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2. Outline & Objective of Presentation
• To discuss and highlight how architecture was influenced under different
settings in various cultures.
• To achieve that I will cite cases from various parts of the world:
• Central Asia
• India
• West Asia
• Anatolia
• China
• Louisiana
• Andes
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3. Central Asia
• In the middle of the second
millennium BCE, Central Asia
(from the Bactrian Margiana
Archaeological Complex society in
Turkmenistan to the Indus
Ghaggar Hakra region in the
south) went into a period of
turmoil and decline.
• An ecological disaster caused by the
drying up of the Ghaggar-Hakra
River—certainly played a part in
creating a political vacuum.
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4. India
• During this period, large groups of people who called themselves
Aryas, or Aryans as they are now known, moved into northern
India and introduced novel cultural elements.
• Their structures were built of wood rather than brick.
• The newcomers brought with them iron and sacred oral texts
that are among the oldest in the world.
• This period was namedVedic period.
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5. West Asia
• Assyria, Babylon, and other Mesopotamian cities were overrun by invaders of
unknown provenance, the Mitanni and Kassite people, who had moved in from the
north and east.
• A similar situation existed with the so-called Sea People, who progressed eastward
along the coast of the Mediterranean, conquering the Nile Delta.
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6. Anatolia
• The Hittites were the newcomers who settled in
Anatolia.
• There, in the north-central region, they founded
Hattusas, a capital with numerous temples.
• They recognized the importance of the camel as a
beast of burden.
• Caravans with as many as six hundred animals were
plying trade routes across the desert plains.
• The Hittites and the Egyptians became the
preeminent land powers in western Asia.
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7. China
• In 1600 BCE, the Bronze Age Shang dynasty in China controlled a large area in
northeast and north-central China, with cities such as Zhengzhou and Anyang arising.
• The period is noted for extraordinary bronze vessels.
• Chinese iron technology differed from that of the West.
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8. Louisiana
• The region of coastal Louisiana today called Poverty Point, on the Gulf Coast of North
America.
• Emerged as the center of an important chiefdom.
• Its people built enormous earthworks.
• The Poverty Point people developed an extensive trade network.
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9. Andes
• In the Andes, improvements in irrigation technology enabled farmers to:
- Move upstream, away from the ocean.
- Expand their economies.
- Build large sites such as Cardal in presentday Peru.
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10. • Among the numerous aspects of their agriculture, it was the development of cotton
that was most revolutionary.
• The ritual centers that were built involved enormous U-shaped complexes, the
architectural elements of which would remain part of the Peruvian architectural
language for millennia.
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13. Knossos
(ca. 2000–1400 BCE)
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14. Treasure of Atreus
(ca. 1250 BCE)
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15. Temple complex at Karnak
(Begun ca. 1550 BCE)
MortuaryTemple of Queen Hatshepsut
(ca. 1520 BCE)
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16. Temple of Luxor
(ca. 1350 BCE )
Abu Simbel
(ca. 1300 BCE)
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17. Huaricoto
(ca. 2200–2000 BCE)
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18. China (Shang Dynasty)
• Ancient Chinese historians talk of the ten
thousand kingdoms that existed before the
Xia dynasty (ca. 2070–1600 BCE).
• There was rise of defensive fortifications
around cities.
• Xia came to control the territory on the
Yellow River, paving the way for the rise of
the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–1050 BCE),
whose first capital was Zhengzhou.
• It was during the Shang dynasty that the
royal person became viewed as a symbol of
cosmic powers.
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19. Zhengzhou
• Zhengzhou, on theYellow River, was immense, with its east wall measuring 1.7
kilometers long.
• In the northeast section of the city, just south of a small hill, was a palace and temple.
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20. • The Shang moved their center several
times, finally settling inYin.
• The central complex (ca. 1275 BCE) atYin
consisted of a building with a 50-meter-
wide courtyard, presumably a palace.
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21. • The emphasis on cosmic symbolism manifested itself in tombs that were mini
cosmic diagrams.
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22. - During this time, porcelain wares were invented and jade carving techniques perfected; silk
weaving was of the highest quality.
• At the center of a royal grave, for example, is the wood-chambered tomb,
decorated and painted and placed some 12 meters below ground.
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