Lecture by: Ar. Aarti Pal

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE &

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT – I

LECTURE-I

WHAT IS HISTORY?History is an account of the past.

• Accounts/narratives differ depending on one’s perspective.• We rely on evidence to construct our accounts of the past.• We must question the reliability of each piece of evidence.• Any single piece of evidence is insufficient.• We must consult multiple pieces of evidence in order to build a plausible account.

• These include not just written documents, but also through objects such as buildings, artifacts and paintings.

• To Help Us Understand Change and How the Community, Nation and World We Live in Came to Be.• To Inspire Us• A respect for the past – a sense of excitement about new ideas, peoples and places; as well as a rather normative belief in its powers to inform the present.• It also behaves us to study the mistakes and mindsets of our forebears

WHY TO STUDY HISTORY?

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE ?

•The art or practice of designing and constructing buildings or any complex structure.

WHAT IS HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE ?

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

•The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates.

WHAT IS BUILT ENVIRONMENT?

•The term built environment refers to the human-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE & BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Changes in design of various building types & functions Changes in structures Changes in method of construction

PRODUCTS, INTERIORS, STRUCTURES, LANDSCAPES, CITIES, REGIONS, AND EARTH The sum of the seven defines the scope of the total built environment

Products include materials and commodities generally created to extend the human capacity to perform specific tasks: graphic symbols such as the Western alphabet (letters form words, sentences combine into paragraphs and chapters, such as in this book); tools(pen and pencil, hammer and saw, peace pipe or weapon); materials (bricks and mortar, wood, concrete and steel, polymers and plastics); machines (radios and stereos, televisions and telecommunication systems, calculators and computers, roller skates and automobiles, aircraft and spaceships).

Components of the Built Environment

Components of the Built Environment

Interior spaces are defined by an arranged grouping of products and generally enclosed within a structure. They are generally created to enhance activities and mediate external factors (living room, workrooms, private rooms, public assembly halls, stadiums, etc.)

Structures are planned groupings of spaces defined by and constructed of products; generally, related activities are combined into composite structures (housing, schools, office buildings, churches, factories, highways, tunnels, bridges, dams, etc.). Generally, structures have both an internal space and an external form.

Landscapes are exterior areas and/or settings for planned groupings of spaces and structures (courtyards, malls, parks; gardens, sites for homes or other structures; farms, countryside, national forests and parks). Landscapes generally combine both natural and built environments.

Cities are groupings of structures and landscapes of varying sizes and complexities, generally clustered together to define a community for economic, social, cultural, and/orstereos, televisions and telecommunication systems, calculators and computers, roller skates and automobiles, aircraft and spaceships). environmental reasons (subdivisions, neighborhoods, districts, villages, towns, and cities of varying sizes).

Regions are groupings of cities and landscapes of various sizes and complexities; they are generally defined by common political, social, economic, and/or environmental characteristics (the surrounding region of cities, counties, or multicounty areas, a state or multistate regions, countries, continents).

The Earth includes all of the above, the groupings of regions consisting of cities and landscapes—the entire planet, the spectacular, complex, beautiful, still mysterious Earth, which, as human power expands, may be considered the ultimate artifact.

ARX2107 - HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT – I1st – SEMESTER

August 2014 - Dec 2014Objective:To understand the role of geo-physical, societal, political and technological factors in the evolution of architectural and urban form and, to develop a holistic approach to architecture as an integral component of the built environment.

Content:Unit-I•Definition and scope of Architecture. Interdependence of various components of the built environment. Need for a holistic approach. •Man’s early/prehistoric attempts to colonise and personalise space. Examples of early shelters, Stonehenge, tumuli, etc. as expression of man’s physical and spiritual needs•Determinants of Built Form - geo-physical, societal, political and technological, etc. Global examples of vernacular architecture.•Introduction to the River Valley Civilizations. Comparative study of different manifestations with reference to location, materials and techniques, socio-cultural influences and other contextual factors

Unit-II•Egyptian Civilization: Concept of the Royal Necropolis, locational context and architectural characteristics of public buildings, e.g. mastabas, pyramids and temples(rock-cut & structural) -one example of each type to be chosen. Worker’s settlement- city of Kahun. •Mesopotamian Civilization; the urban context and architecture of public buildings (ziggurats and palaces). Examples of the city and Ziggurat of Ur, city and palace and of Khorsabad.

Unit-III•Indus Valley Civilization: Form of the Harappan City, location and role of public buildings.•Architecture of the typical Harappan dwelling, Granary and Bath.•The Vedic Village, Building typology and construction

ARX2107 - HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT – I1st – SEMESTER

August 2014 - Dec 2014Assignment - 1

On A4 size sheets give a write up on ‘What is the relevance of study of History of built environments’.

Lecture by: Ar. Aarti Pal

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE &

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT – I

LECTURE-2

The HistoricalTimeline of Architecture

Pre-Historic

Indian Chinese & Japanese

Egyptian

Near East

GothicRoman Renaissance 18th-19th C:Revival

20th C:Modern

Byzantine

Islamic

Early ChristianGreek Romanesque

INFLUENCESHISTORY• Direct human ancestors evolved in Africa from 2.3 million years ago - Homo habilis, Homo erectus, homo sapiens, homo sapiens sapiens

• The success of the human race was largely due to the development of tools – made of stone, wood, bone

• Humans spread from Africa into Southern Europe, Asia• Could not settle far north due to the cold climate• From Siberia by foot into North America• From Southeast Asia by boat into Australia•Before 9000 BC, nomadic life of hunting & food gathering• By 9000 BC, farming and agriculture was practiced• Fertile soil and plentiful food• Animal domestication for work, milk, wool• People wanted to settle down, live in communities• First villages in the Middle East, South America, Central America, India and China• Some people needed not farm, so they spent time on other work - pot-making, metal-working, art and… architecture!RELIGION• No organized religion• The dead are treated with respect - burial rituals and monuments

Pre-historic Man’s early/prehistoric attempts to colonise and personalise space

Man’s early/prehistoric attempts to colonise and personalise space

FOR SHELTER FOR FOOD FOR DRESS

Caves Lascaux, France

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERMATERIALS• Animal skins, wooden frames, animal bones

CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM• Existing or excavated caves• Megalithic, most evident in France, England and Ireland

DECORATION• Caves paintings in Africa, France and Spain• Sculpture

EXAMPLES

1.MENHIR• A single, large upright monolith• Serves a religious purpose• Sometimes arranged in parallel rows,reaching several miles and consisting of thousands of stones

2.DOLMEN• Tomb of standing stones usually capped with a large horizontal slab

PRE-HISTORIC

3.CROMLECH• Enclosure formed by huge stones planted on the ground in circular form

Stonehenge, England (2800 – 1500 BC)• Most spectacular and imposing of monolithic monuments• Outer ring, inner ring, innermost horseshoe-shaped ring with open end facing east

• Largest stones weigh 45 to 50 tons, came from Wales 200 km away• Stones transported by sea or river then hauled on land with sledges and rollers by hundreds of people, raised upright into pits, capped with lintels

Genuine architecture - it defines exterior space• A solar observatory - designed to mark the sun's path during sunrise on Midsummer Day

4.TUMULUS or PASSAGE GRAVE• Dominant tomb type• Corridor inside leading to an underground chamber

Stonehenge 1 At this stage, it was a large circular ditch or "henge" with an entrance at the northeast part, and a smaller entrance at the south part. It was about 110 meters in diameter and enclosed a circle comprised of about 56 holes that were about 1m wide by 1m deep. Many people believed that these holes held large wooden posts and created a circle of timbers. It seems that this stage was left untouched for about a millennium.

Stonehenge 2 This stage included the use of bluestones which were arranged in concentric arcs. These bluestones weighed about 4 tons each, and evidence suggests that they were transported from as far as 240 miles away. Also, there was an "avenue" that led to the entrance of the stone arch. The entrance and the avenue were aligned with the sunrise at Summer Solstice.

Stonehenge 3 This is the stage that is primarily visible today. The perimeter was formed by 30 evenly spaced sarsen stones that are placed upright in a circle. These stones are topped by horizonatlly placed and interconnected stones called lintels. The lintels were connected to each other via tongue and groove joints and were connected to the upright sarsen stones via tenon joints. Without mortar, these joints provided stability to the outer structure. There are also 5 trilithons inside the circle of sarsen stones. Each trilithon is made of 2 massive stones (over 40 tons) that are topped by a third stone. There is also a Heelstone located in the avenue about 70 to 80 meters from the center of the stone circle.

PRIMITIVE DWELLINGS• Mostly had one room• The development of more complex civilizations led to division of the room into smaller ones for eating, sleeping, socializing

• In places where no industrial revolution has occurred to transform building methods and increase population density, houses show little difference from primitive ones

Beehive HutTrullo - dry walled rough stone shelter with corbelled roof

Natural or Artificial Caves

Iraqi mudhif - covered with split reed mats, built on a reed platform to prevent settlementSumatran house - for several families, built of timber and palm leaves, the fenced pen underneath is for livestock

Wigwam or Tepee• conical tent with wooden poles as framework• Covered with rush mats and an animal skin doorHogan - primitive Indian structure of joined logs Igloo - Innuit (Eskimo)house constructed of hard-packed snow blocks built up spirallyNigerian hut - with mud walls and roof of palm leaves