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/