Architecture is define as the art and science of designing and erecting buildings.
If we will look around us today, we would notice a wide variety of styles of architecture. Such variety has always existed.

The modern houses and buildings contrast with building and dwellings of only one generation ago.
A building, whatever it may be, must be measured by the standards of its own period rather than ours we shall take a look at various types of buildings as they have evolved through history.

 The Egyptian architecture which dates back
4,000 to 2,280 B.C. is characterized by enormous pyramidal structures.
 Art in Ancient Egypt continued strangely unchanged through the various phases of foreign influence from the Assyria, Persia,
Greece and Rome.

 The religious rites of the Egyptians were traditional, virtually unchangeable, and mysterious, and these trials are reproduced in the architecture, both of tombs and temples.
 Egyptian monumental architecture, which is essentially a columnar and trabeated style, is expressed mainly in pyramids and in temples.

 Egyptian temples are approached by impressive avenues of sphinxes – mythical monsters, each with the body of a lion and the head of the man, hawk, ram or woman – possessed in their massive pylons, great courts hypostyle halls, inner sanctuaries, and dim, secret rooms, a special character.

 Egyptian architecture persistently maintained its traditions and when there was a need for a change in the methods of construction or in materials used, the traditional forms were perpetuated in spite of novel conditions.
 It is impressive by its solidity, which suggests that the buildings were intended to last eternally.

 This is because the purpose of the pyramids was not only to preserved the mummy of the
Pharaoh for the return of the soul in the infinite hereafter, but also to be the center of the cult of the royal dead, and as a consequences, the dominant element of the vast monumental complex.

 Mesopotamian Architecture is evident in its palaces and temples.
 The Mesopotamian architecture is characterized by a brisk tower called
“ ziggurat” built at successive level having the form of a pyramid.

 Because of the use of brick, however ,
Assyrians developed the arch and its multiple, the canopy.
 In Mesopotamia ,Ziggurat, the temple of
Babylon, built by Nebuchadnezzar (6 th century
B.C.E), the stones were colored white black, blue, yellow, silver, and gold from bottom to top. The effect may have been Garish, but at the base, it was striking.

 As was the Egyptian temple, Greek architecture in its most characteristics form is found in the temple, a low building of postand-lintel construction .
 In this type of construction, two upright pieces or posts are surmounted by a horizontal piece, the lintel, long enough to reach from one to the other.

 This is the simplest and earliest types of construction, and is more commonly used than other.
 Post-and-lintel construction is well adapted to wood because wooden beams are strong and are able to uphold the weight of a roof; at the same time they are long, so that a large building may be erected.

 has no base
 the bottom of the column rests on the top step.
 can be identified by low-cushion-like shape of part of its capital.
 the freeze is divided into triglyphs and metopes.

 is taller and more slender than the Doric
 it has a base, the capital is ornamented with scrolls on each side.
 unlike in the Doric order, the freeze is continuous instead of being divided.
 the architecture below the freeze is stepped; that is , it is divided horizontally into three parts, each being slightly

 with the base and shaft resembling the Ionic, tended to become much more slender.
 the distinctive feature is the capital, which is much deeper than the Ionic.

 The Romans adopted the Columnar and trabeated style of the Greeks and developed also the arch and vault from the beginnings made by Etruscans (the early inhabitants of west-central Italy).
 The combined use of column, beam, and arch is the keynote of the Roman style in the earliest stages.

 The Romans developed the stone arch of the
Etruscans.
 Above all, the use of concrete allowed the
Romans to build vaults of a magnitude never equalled till the introduction of steel for buildings in the nineteenth century.

 The art of buttressing was developed in the course of early engineering works, which frequently required the retaining of masses of
Earth.
 Another characteristics of Roman architecture is the flat round dome that covers an entire building, as in the Pantheon. The Pantheon at
Rome, the finest of all illustrations of Roman construction, embodies every form of Roman buttress.

 It is characterized by a great central dome supported by curved triangles (pendentives) and fitted to a square.
 Byzantine takes its name from Byzantium later called Constantinople and now called
Istanbul.

 Byzantine architecture is characterized by a great central dome which had always been a traditional feature in the East.
 The grouping of small domes or semi-domes round the large central dome was effective.

 One of the characteristics features of
Byzantine churches was that the forms of the vaults and domes were visible externally, undistinguished by any timbered roof; thus in the Byzantine style.
 The exterior closely corresponds with the interior.

 Western Architecture passed through three stages of development during the middle ages. These are the:
Early Christian
Romanesque
Gothic

 The Romanesque was an outgrowth of the
Early Christian, and the Gothic , of the
Romanesque.
 The western styles follow the general type of the Roman Basilica, a long rectangular building divided by pillars into a central nave and aisle .

 Sometimes there is one aisle on each side of the nave; sometimes there are two.
 Often, the nave is higher than the aisles, and, therefore, there is opportunity for clerestory lightning.
 In the early churches, the building was one simple rectangle with an apse.

 Later, the plan was adapted to the shape of a cross by the addition of cross aisle between the nave and the choin.
 The arms thus made are known as transepts.
Directly opposite the high altar at the west, was the main entrance.

 The early Christian Basilica has grown in part from the roman house where the earliest
Christians met for worship, and in part from pagan basilicas.
 In the classic temples, the emphasis lay on the exterior; in the Christian church, on the inside.

 A second from of building, known as the central type , was designed around central vertical axis instead of longitudinal one.
 The long, internal lines of the basilica carried the eye of the visitor from the door to the altar as their ritualistic climax of the structure.

 On the other hand, the circular or octagonal buildings focused on the center.
 The interiors of early Christian churches were often decorated with mosaics, as in S.
Apollinare.

 The structure is characterized with very heavy walls with small window opening stone arch or inverted roof window.
 They have a wide nave and narrow and lower side aids with tranusepts.

 Romanesque Architecture is an extension and development of the Early Christian Basilica exemplified by S. Apollinare in Classe.
 Examples are Notre Dame la Grande at
Portiers (exterior) and the Abbayeaux – Dame
(interior).

 Light, with a simple lightweight, flat wooden roof, the Romanesque Where the Early
Christian style is structurally has very heavy walls with small window openings and a heavy stone arched or vaulted roof inside.
 In this respect, it resembles the roman style – hence the name Romanesque (‘Romanish”).

 In the Romanesque cathedral, several small windows were combined in a compound arch; in the gothic, this process was continued until the arches appeared only as stone tracery.
 Eventually, the windows became so large that the walls ceased to have any function as walls; the roof was supported by the huge buttress and the entire wall space was filled with stained-glass windows.

 The triforium space was regularly filled with small arches, and the rose window became large and important.
 The doorways became spacious. In the
Romanesque church, the façade sometimes has one doorway, sometimes three.

 The Gothic façade regularly had three doorways.
 Each was made with multiple orders, like the romanesque, though the arch, of course was pointed.
 The decorations, also, were much more elaborate.
 In the Romanesque, they were relatively simple moldings, with or without carvings of conventional designs, figures, animals, or fruit.

 In the Gothic, the human figure became the characteristic decoration, a recessed doorway being filled with rows of saints or kings.
 The Gothic style in architecture is known primarily for its cathedrals and churches.
 There are also many beautiful palaces, especially Venice.

 It is influenced by Greek and Roman styles comes to the fore but with a difference
 Renaissance Architecture , the cathedral or temple is no longer the typical building; secular architecture comes to the fore, as in
Roman times.

 Although renaissance architecture is a return to the ideals of the Greeks and Romans, it is not a slavish imitation, but rather a free use of the materials found Greece and Rome, but they used these ideas freely, according to their own taste, in a way that was original.

 Baroque Architecture flourished in the seventeenth century and the opening years of the eighteen century
 It is characterized primarily as a period of elaborate sculptural ornamentation.

 The architectural framework remained close to that of the Renaissance, although often it was far more spacious, but had a profusion of carved decoration
 Columns and entablatures were decorated with garlands of flowers and fruits, shells, and waves.

 Often alcoves were built into the wall to receive statues, thus making a pattern of light and dark.
 Surfaces were frequently carved.
 The churches of this period no longer used the
Gothic nave and aisle.
 They often have domes or cupolas, and they may or may not have spires.

 The nineteenth century is known as period of eclecticism. Eclecticism in architecture implies freedom on the part that seems to him most appropriate.
 In a sense, the Renaissance was eclectic in its attempted revival of Roman forms.

 By the middle of the 19 th century, both the
Greek and Gothic revivals were spent, to be placed by a bewildering variety of styles.
 Italian villas and Swiss chalets jostled Victorian
Gothic churches and Victorian classics post offices.

 These styles were superficial and interchangeable.
 They had in common, in this age of materialism and osternation, plans whose outlines were broken by protruding bay windows, tower, or porches; restless silhouettes; and ill-advised experiments in colored materials.

 Not all the Victorian buildings were bad; at least the best of them were bold, but the crass vulgarity of the styles as a whole typified its age.

 Modern architecture is an attempt to interpret one’s purpose through building in a style independent of fix symmetries.
 New materials came to be utilized – prestressed steel in tension, high-pressure concrete, glass block, wood, metal, chromium, plastics, copper, cork, steel, gympsum lumber, real and artificial stone, all varieties of synthetic and compressed materials, and the ver-satile plywood.

 Strength is no longer synonymous with massiveness, for more efficient new structural materials are used in varying forms, scientifically calculated to avoid waste.
 The supporting function is created by light, cage-like skeleton of steel and reinforced concrete, which is faster and easier to build.

 Reinforced concrete is made by pouring concrete over steel rods laid in temporary wooden moulds; thus mushroom-heated columns and slab-like floors are poured together to became a single monolithic unit of great strength.

 Reinforced concrete is made by pouring concrete over steel rods laid in temporary wooden moulds; thus mushroom-heated columns and slab-like floors are poured together to became a single monolithic unit of great strength.
 Thus principle was utilize in the Van Nelle tobacco factory in Rottendam, Neth., 1927, by
J.A. Van de Vlught, architects.

 The Philippines has shown knowledge and expertise in all arts.
 In this country, along Roxas Boulevard, the
Ayala, and Escolta, one can see that architecture in the Philippines has come up with the times.

 The old St. Augustine Church, the University of
Sto. Tomas, San Sebastian Church and some parts of the Intramuros, reflect not only the living proofs of the antiquity of architecture in this county but also trace back the influence of Europe on this particular art at a time when most of the civilized.

 Landscapes in tourist spots attract foreigners.
 They are impressed with the local use of the latest in our architectural technology.
 The use of concrete, wood and coconut products, thin shells, a wide choice of marble, and other locally available products is becoming extensive.

 One can note the predominance of native products used, as materials for edifices of apparently western architectural forms.
 Salazar F., in her article “RP architecture captured in churches,” says that most modern architects and writers doing analyses of Philippine churches marvel at the majetic structures which were designed and built during the Spanish regime.

 She mentioned Roger Gaspar’s comment regarding the flowering of the colonial church architecture in the Philippines which he said was a significant event in the history of the
Philippines – that the Filipinos’ spontaneous and inventive attitudes created a kind of architecture that was unique from Western architectural idioms.

 Writers noted that the massive buttresses of the church, as in the Ilocos Norte’s Paoay church are reminiscent of the builders’ struggle with earthquakes and that this church became the epitome earthquake-resistant churches.

 Morong Church in Rizal was also mentioned for its integration of the belfry with the old façade, in the effect it became one of the most well-composed architectures in colonial
Philippines.
 This feature was noted by authors Galende and Javellana in their book, The Great
Churches.

 As mentioned earlier, close connection between religious rites and architecture is manifested everywhere.
 Like the Egyptians, the religious rites of the
Japanese are merely traditional and the traits are reproduced in the architecture, both in tombs and temples.

 A Juto (longevity tower) is a kind of mausoleum in ancient times erected during one’s lifetime to celebrate his own and another’s longevity.
 Hideyoshi Toyotomi built the Tensuiji Temple in the courtyard of Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto to pray for his mother while she was seriously ill.

 Grateful for her subsequent successful recovery, he constructed a juto at Tensuji in
1452.
 During the latest repair of the building, two
Chinese-ink signatures from the 1591 were found in its square frame.

 These dates correspond to Tensuji Juto which was constructed under Toyotomi’s order. Thus, it has been confirmed that this was built in 1591.
 There are many buildings in Kyoto which are thought to be remains of Toyotomi’s jurakudai or
Fushimi Castle, but only a few have been identified as actually built by him. ( Sankien
Hoshokai Foundation, Yokohama Dai Nippon
Priting Co.
)