The development of buildings and the thinking behind this Since ancient times, human beings have always looked for places to live. Our ancestors lived in caves to protect themselves from different elements such as weather, dangerous animals and so on. They portrayed their world in caves. For example, Lasco in France and Altamira in Spain are caves where evidence was found. Cave paintings in Lasco http://one1more2time3.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/cave_painting_horse.jpg In Neolithic times, people dominated their surroundings, fire was discovered and they started manufacturing and changing natural environment. In order to understand human choices about where and how to live, we need to look at the factors behind their thoughts. The architecture of Neolithic people had a number of interesting features. Ancient people learned everything from nature, so because of this plan’s house was based on circles; the things that had grandeur for them such as sun and moon. Stonehenge is one of the amazing examples of this era which is located in England. Maybe they used these stones for astrology. Stonehenge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stonehenge_back_wide.jpg In terms of ancient Egyptians, they built pyramids as tombs for the pharaohs and their queen. The most well-known pyramid is great pyramid and it was built for the pharaoh Khufu. According to Wikipedia “Their architecture was based mainly on religious monuments, massive structures characterized by thick, sloping walls with few openings.”1 Generally they focused on external design. 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_architecture Great pyramid http://www.solarnavigator.net/geography/geography_images/Egypt_Sphinx_Giza_Pyramid.jpg The temple was the most common in ancient Greece, as Greek life was dominated by religion. They had three styles: 1- the plain Doric style. The temple of Athena in Acropolis is the most well- known example of this. 2-the Ionic style which is more elegant and one of the best instances is the temple of Apollo at Didyma in Turkey.3- Corinthian style is elaborate and the oldest known example is found in the temple of Apollo at Bassae. Obvious contrast can be seen with Egyptian architecture because Greek plans were highly systematic, regular and compact. Doric Ionic Corinthian The architecture of ancient Rome was so different from Greek as to create a new architectural style. “One of the reasons was social elements such as wealth and high population densities in cities forced the ancient Romans to discover new (architectural) solutions of their own”2. In that era concrete was invented and construction developed. There are several amazing examples of that time such as the Baths of Diocletian and the Baths of Caracalla, the Pantheon, the basilicas and most famous of all, the Colosseum. Colosseum http://charlesbridgway.googlepages.com/RomeColiseum1599.jpg/RomeColiseum1599-full.jpg 2 http://www.crystalinks.com/romearchitecture.html Pantheon Chinese architecture can be categorized into palaces, temples, gardens, tombs and residences. The Great Wall of China and Forbidden City are most famous. Using timber framework is the most important characteristic of ancient Chinese architecture. Paintings and carvings were added to the architectural work to make it more beautiful and attractive. On the whole, the Chinese architecture is based on internal design. Pagoda is the most important style of Chinese buildings. Most pagoda were built to meet functional religious, were often located in or near temples. (Buddhist was most common religion.) Ancient wooden pagoda near Datong, China. This is the oldest wooden pagoda in China. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/142/319917803_836262af92.jpg?v=0 Another part of the world which has been influenced by religion is the Middle East. The main building types of Persian architecture are mosques and palaces. They used abundant geometry, using pure forms such as the circle and square. The evidence shows the history of architecture and urban planning in Persia dates back some 10 thousand years ago. Pasargadae is one of the well-known examples which set the standard, according to essential-architecture “city was laid out in an extensive park with bridges, gardens, colonnaded palaces and open column pavilions.” 3 The most important monument in Pasargadae is the tomb of Cyrus the Great. Pasargadae’s style is Pre-Islamic. Isfahani style is a kind of the Post-Islamic style which has a number of interesting buildings such as Chehelsotoon, Agha Bozorg Mosque, Kashan’s house, the Shah Mosque, and the Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosque. They used brick construction combined with glazed tile revetment4 . Old houses in Kashan are the symbol of traditional architecture of deserts because they have special designs which are suitable for deserts. For example, they used simple halls, high and secure walls. Tabatabaei ha house, Abbasian House and Borujerdis House are the examples of kashan’s traditional house. Tomb of Cyrus the Great, Shiraz. Pasargadae 3 http://www.essential-architecture.com/STYLE/STY-Muslim-Persian.htm 4an ornamental facing, as on a common masonry wall, of marble, face brick, tiles, etc Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosque, Isfahan http://www.essential-architecture.com/STYLE/STY-Muslim-Persian.htm Tabatabaeies house, Kashan http://mymagicaldroplets.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/tabatabee-house-kashan.jpg From ancient history, cultures, religions, climate have had an impact on building designs. For example, architects used different material in different places and different plan’s form and colours. What about more recent times? Have these reasons changed or remained the same? After the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and the 19th centuries, population increased rapidly in big cities such as, London, Paris and New York City. It was necessary to put away traditional architecture and invent new style of architecture for new age which would better in materials and technologies. Modern architecture began in United States and Europe for the first time and deployed in rest of the world. Modernist designers thought that they have to design all necessary for society, even the most humble buildings. (In contrast with traditional ideas that architects designed just the buildings such as church, palaces and public institutions.) They began to plan low-cost housing, railroad stations, factories, warehouses, and commercial spaces; also they designed furniture, textiles, and wallpaper in house. As well as the new ideas, the modern architecture have influenced in materials development such as iron and concrete. The response of different groups of architects to the reconstruction of the city, led to the development of the skyscraper. They used different materials to solve the problems such as weight for tall buildings; curtain-wall construction 5 was one of these solutions to reduce the weight. In this system, the exterior wall of each floor is hung on the iron or steel frame so that the wall supports only its own weight and not the floors above it. 5 NEW YORK CITY http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/153/PreviewComp/SuperStock_153-1363.jpg Modern architecture is a universal style as in the most of countries is similar and it doesn’t have lots of variety, especially in skyscrapers. Generally, modern architecture is more standardized compared with ancient architecture. Whereas, we have, creative and unique works in modern time. It is worth mentioning some of the famous architects in modern style: Antoni Guadí was one of the first modern architects in Barcelona who has several powerful projects such as de la Sagrada Família6. He used natural forms in decoration as well as structure. 6 Church of the Holy Family, 1883-1929, 1979 to present. De la Sagrada Família (Plant forms to decorate the towering façades) http://blog.ratestogo.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/temple-expiatori-de-la-sagradafamilia.jpg CasaBatllo (Columns shaped like bones) http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/07/architectural-genius-of-antoni-gaudi.html What will happen to building future? We do not know, but definitely we have to respect for environment, and deploy green buildings in order to avoid global warming. As human population is growing, some believe that we must start creating a new model of human civilization, for the maximum benefit of the people and the planet. Perhaps solar panelling, wind turbines and zero carbon homes will be develop. http://weburbanist.com/2009/05/27/unbuilt-buildings-12-awesome-future-architectural-designs/ We can realize from most famous Le Corbusier's statement 'The house is a machine for living in.' that, since Neolithic times, buildings have developed for having comfortable life and meeting functional needs. In the future buildings will deploy in order to request our necessities and also to survive our planet. concerns References: teaching . http://sperlous.com/weblog/archives/post-286.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_architecture http://www2.irib.ir/amouzesh/o/page.asp?ov=199 http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/about.php http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/pyramids/home.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_architecture http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Art/ http://www.crystalinks.com/romearchitecture.html www.chinainfoonline.com/.../Dougong_Brackets.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagoda http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/architecture/ http://www.essential-architecture.com/STYLE/STY-MuslimPersian.htm http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761595616/Modern_Architectur e.html http://weburbanist.com/2009/05/27/unbuilt-buildings-12-awesomefuture-architectural-designs/