Introduction History of

Architecture

Lecture-02
 Architecture

Architecture gives a recognition / a face to

civilizations/settlements
Almost everything we know about ancient
civilization is mainly based upon what we
have found in and about it's architecture
such as the Pyramids of Egypt and the
Roman Coliseum.
Even modern cities and locations are both
visited and known by architectural
landmarks such as the Opera House in
Sydney.
HUMAN CULTURE
Definition
1. The unique way in which a group of people live
2. Generally refers to the patterns of human activity
3. "The total, generally organized way of life, including values, norms,
institutions, and artifacts, that is passed on from generation to generation"
Common Features in culture
1. Facial expressions Cultural diffusion- the exchanging of ideas
2. Religious beliefs from one culture to another usually done
3. Foods and eating habits through trade and warfare
4. Eating habits
5. Paintings and literature Cultural Assimilation- taking elements of
ones culture and making it your own
6. Concept of self
(absorbing into a new culture)
7. Work ethic
8. Styles of dress
9. Concept of fairness
10. Child raising beliefs
HUMAN CIVILIZATION
Definition
1. group of people living and working together for the purpose of creating an
organized society.
2. the highest cultural grouping of people which distinguishes humans from
other species
3. complex systems or network of cities that emerge from pre-urban culture
Basic Features of Civilization
1. Writing system
2. Infrastructure- public works such as bridges, roads etc.
3. Government / Laws
4. Art / Architecture
5. Social Classes
6. Organized Religion
7. Job Specialization
8. Development of Cities
HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION
History of the world generally divided into two
History of the physical world and the history of human
civilization
In the follow pages we will review the various periods of
human civilization and identify significant events within
the periods
These various periods are; Prehistoric period, early or
ancient civilizations, the classical periods, Dark or Middle
ages, Renaissance period, Industrial Age and Modern
History
HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION
Pre-historic Period (up to 3000BC)
Date (AD) Some Significant Events
9000 Paleolithic civilization (wanderers and food
gatherers)
8000 Beginning of Mesolithic civilization (hunters,
fishermen, food collectors)
7800 Oldest Known settlement at Jericho
6250-5400 Catal Huyuk
4000 Beginning of Neolithic civilization (Farmers)
HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION
Early or Ancient Civilizations (5000-1000 BC)
Date (AD) Some Significant Events
3000 Egyptian Civilization
2778 Stepped Pyramid at Saqqara
2759 Sumerian numeral system based on 60
2700 First true arch and vault in Mesopotamia
2500 Great Pyramid at Gizeh
2500 Height of Indus Valley civilization, India
2000 Minoan civilization
HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION
The Classical Period (1100 BC-476 AD)
Date (AD) Some Significant Events
1100 BC Emergence of Greece
432 BC The Parthenon
334 BC Temple of Athena
140 BC Greece falls under Roman rule
47 BC Rome conquers Egypt
70 BC The Coliseum
0 AD Birth of Jesus Christ
1 100 AD Vitrivius, 10 books on architecture (oldest known text on
architecture)
117 AD Rome reaches greatest extent, From Spain to Persia, and
Britain to Carthage
286 AD Rome split into two by Diocletian
324 AD Constantine reunites Roman empire at Constantinople
(Byzantium)
476 AD Fall of Rome after a century of attacks from Vandals and
Visigoths
HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION
Renaissance Period (1450 1750 AD)
Date (AD) Some Significant Events
1420-1446 Construction of the dome of the Florence Cathedral
marking the beginning of the Renaissance
1448 Gutenberg Press prints the first book, the Christian
bible
1452 Leonardo DaVinci is born, painter, engineer, designer,
scientist and philosopher
1486 First Printed edition of Vitruvius10 books on
architecture
1492 Columbus goes to America
1475 Michelangelo is born, the sistenechapel, St. Peter
dome, Campidoglioin rome
1590 Galileo, astronomer, physicist, posits a sun cantered
universe
1666 Newton devises theory on gravity Great fire in London
HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION
Industrial Age (1750 1900 AD)
Date (AD) Some Significant Events
1709 Carbon fuel for smelting iron ore led to coking of
1759 Beginning of industrial revolution with invention of
steam engine
1776 American war of independence
1789 French revolution
1804 Napolean Bonaparte and the first empire
1830 Liverpool to Manchester railway
1848 Communist Manifesto by Max and Engels
1859 C. Darwin on origin of species
1861 Civil war in the United States
1871 Great Chicago Fire
HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION
Modern History (1900 Present AD)
Date (AD) Some Significant Events
1903 The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk fly an airplane for
the first time Ford Motor Company is established
1905 Theory of Relativity by Einstein
1914 World War I
1917 Russian Revolution
1939 World War II
1945 The first electronic digital computer at the University of
Pennsylvania weighting 29 tons
1969 Apollo Moon Landing
2001 World wide web World Trade Center Bombing
2008 Economic Recession
2012 Conquer Planet Mars
2017 Trump became president of USA
What next?
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
A history of architecture is a record of mans efforts to
build beautifully.
It touches the life of man at every point.
It is concerned not only in sheltering his person and
ministering to his comfort, but also in providing him with
places for worship, amusement, and business; with
tombs, memorials, embellishments for his cities, and
other structures for the varied needs of a complex
civilization.
Everyone at some point comes in contact with the work
of the architect, and from this universal contact
architecture derives its significance as an index of the
civilization of an age, a race, or a people.
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
It is the function of the historian of architecture to trace
the origin, growth, and decline of the architectural styles
which have prevailed in different lands and ages, and to
show how they have reflected the great movements of
civilization.
The migrations, the conquests, the commercial, social,
and religious changes among different peoples have all
manifested themselves in the changes of their
architecture, and it is the historians function to show
this.
It is also his function to explain the principles of the
styles, their characteristic forms and decoration, and to
describe the great masterpieces of each style and
period.
PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE
PERIOD
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
Sub-Division of Period:Period can be further subdivided into Early (or Paleolithic)
Stone Age and New (or Neolithic) Stone AgeEarly Stone Age-Up to 9000 BCNew
Stone Age 9000 BC to 3000 BC
LOCATION
Not restricted to any particular geographical region
Occurred in different localities, Usually close to sources of food, near rivers
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
No written record from the prehistoric period
Information is gathered from scientific studies of prehistoric objects
Many academic disciplines are interested in studying human civilization-archeology,
paleontology, anthropology etc
The disciplines study prehistoric objects. They provide information about civilizations
based on studies
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS & BELIEFS
Ways of life differed between the Early Stone Age period and the New Stone Age
Period. We will examine each of the periods independently to understand the people
and their society
EARLY STONE AGE
(BEFORE 9000BC)
Nomadic, always on the move
Move about in search of food,
water, and good climate
Got their food through food
gathering, hunting and fishing
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
 NEW STONE AGE
(9000BC-3000BC)
People stopped wandering and settled down in permanent settlements
Discovered art of farming and animal husbandry
Discovery result of population pressure
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. that of the
sun and moon
Learnt to domesticate animals, farm and grow crops, make pottery and weave cloth
Skills were developed, marking start of civilization
Villages were established and grew, protected by walls
Introduction of basic social organization of society
People learnt to differentiate between spaces and places-Sacred versus everyday places
Architecture was born 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
 ARCHITECTURE OF CIVILIZATION
EARLY STONE AGE
INTRODUCTION
Nomadic people constantly on the move
Did not require permanent shelter or
settlements
Dwellings consist of simple shelters
Rock Shelter
Rock shelters and caves provided natural
protection
Reconstructed image to the right shows the
use of rock formation as shelter
CAVE DWELLING
Caves were, however, more popular as
dwelling
Caves used by Stone Age people have been
found in many regions of the world
A good example is the cave at Lascaux in
France
 ARCHITECTURE OF CIVILIZATION
EARLY STONE AGE
CAVE AT LASCAUX, FRANCE
Discovered in 1940
Used about ten to twenty thousand years ago
Used by several generation of people
Entered through one entry to a large hall
From the hall, cave braches out into other spaces
Interior has elaborate paintings of animals and
hunting scenes
The artwork celebrates the hunting life of the early
stone age people

? Why did early stone age people

adopt art as a tool of
expression?
Explanation can be found in
constant struggle between life
and death for survival
Art provides a means to explore
the struggle
 ARCHITECTURE OF CIVILIZATION
EARLY STONE AGE
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
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
 ARCHITECTURE OF CIVILIZATION
EARLY STONE AGE
TEMPORARY STRUCTURES (HUT AT TERRA AMATA, FRANCE)
Example from the Modern World
Degradable materials means buildings cannot last long
Few have survived for us to study them
We can learn by looking at primitive societies of the modern age
Evidence show improvement in technology led to covering of buildings
Bambuti Hut: The bambutti huts show evidence of use of leaves to cover hut
The Tongus (thatch)Hut : The Tongus huts show evidence of use of grass to
make huts
The Lapp Tent: The Lapp tenth shows the use of animal skins
Mud Construction: Gradual improvement in technology led to mud construction
and architecture
PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE
Prehistoric remains have little constructive sequence,
and are merely mentioned here to show from what
simple beginnings the noble art of architecture was
evolved, although unfortunately the stages of the
evolution cannot be traced, owing to the fact that the
oldest existing monuments of any pretension, as in
Egypt, belong to a high state of civilization.
Structures of the prehistoric period, although interesting
for archaeological reasons, have little or no architectural
value, and will only be lightly touched upon
PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE
The remains may be classified under :
1. Monoliths, or single upright stones, also known as
menhirs, a well-known example 63 feet high, 14 feet in
diameter, and weighing 260 tons, being at Carnac,
Brittany. Another example is at Locmariaker, also in
Brittany (No. 2 B).
2. Dolmens (Daul, a table, and maen, a stone), consisting
of one large flat stone supported by upright stones.
Examples are to be found near Maidstone and other
places in England, also in Ireland, Northern France, the
Channel Islands, Italy (No. 2 F) and India.
3. Cromlechs, or circles of stone, as at Stonehenge (No. 2
G), Avebury (Wilts), and elsewhere, consisting of a
series of upright stones arranged in a circle and
supporting horizontal slabs.
PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE
The remains may be classified under :
4. Tumuli, or burial mounds, were probably prototypes of
the Pyramids of Egypt and the beehive huts found in
Wales, Cornwall, Ireland (No. 2 D, E) and elsewhere.
That at New Grange (Ireland) resembles somewhat the
Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae.
5. Lake Dwellings, as discovered in the lakes of
Switzerland, Italy and Ireland consisted of wooden huts
supported on piles, and were so placed for protection
against hostile attacks of all kinds.
Monoliths

Dolmen
s

Cromlechs
Tumuli

Lake Dwelling