HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1 - Introduction to the History of Architecture
DEFINITIONS:
History – A systematic, often chronological narrative of significant events as relating to a particular people,
country, or period, often including an explanation of their causes
History of Architecture – A record of man's effort to build beautifully. It traces the origin, grow and decline of
architectural styles which have prevailed lands and ages.
Prehistoric – Of pertaining to, or existing in the time prior to the recording of human events knowledge of which
is gained mainly through archeological discoveries, study, and research.
Civilization – An advanced state of human society marked by a relatively high level of cultural, technical, and
political development
Society – An enduring and cooperating large-scale community of people having common traditions, Institutions,
and identity, whose members have developed collective interests and beliefs through interaction with one
another
Culture – thee integrated pattern of human knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors built up by a group of human
beings and transmitted from one generation to the next
Style – A particular or distinct form of artistic expression characteristic of a person, people, or period
Expression – the manner in which meaning, spirit, or character is symbolized or communicated in the execution
of an artistic work
Stone Age – the earliest known period of human culture, preceding the Bronze Age and the Iron Age and
characterized by the use of stone implements and weapons.
Paleolithic – Old Stone Age, a prehistoric period from c.600 000 to 8000 BC, predating the Mesolithic period and
characterized by the rise to dominance of the human species, Homo sapiens, during which the first implements
were struck from stone
Mesolithic – Middle Stone Age, a prehistoric period from c.8300 to 4000 BC, between the Paleolithic and
Neolithic, during which use of the axe became widespread and principal tools were struck from stone
Neolithic – of or pertaining to the last phase of the Stone Age, characterized by the cultivation of grain crops,
domestication of animals, settlement of villages, manufacture of pottery and textiles, and use of polished stone
implements, thought to have begun C9000- 8000BC
INFLUENCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARCHITECTURE:
New Stone Age, a prehistoric period in Europe from c.4000 to 2000 BC, after the Mesolithic, during which the
use of clay became widespread and the principal tools were finished by grinding
Historic Styles of Architecture
o "The particular method, the characteristics, manner of design which prevails at a certain place and time.
“
Six Influences of Architecture:
o Geographical
o Geological
o Climatic – people in warmer climates needed little clothing while those in colder climates took
protection in caves or animal hides over wooden poles
o Religious - No organized religion
The dead are treated with respect which can be seen in their burial rituals and monuments
o Social - political
o Historical - 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
CULTURAL STAGES
Stone Age Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)
o Used stone and bone as instruments
o Livelihood from hunting and food gathering
o Learned to make fire
o Lived in caves and rock shelters
Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)
o Fashioned stone tools like the bow
o Made body coverings from animal hides
o Made the canoe for fishing
o Built huts from bones, animal hides, reeds and grass
Neolithic (New Stone Age)
o human beings settle down to the business of agriculture, instead of hunting and gathering, permanent
settlements become a factor of life and story of architecture can begin.
o Polished stone tools for grinding, cutting and chopping
o Development of pottery
o Agriculture (wheat and barley) and domesticated animals
o Sew clothing from animal hides using fish bones as needles
o Built huts of stones and mud with thatched roofing
o Practiced burial rituals and built tombs
Bronze Age
o A period in the ancient and prehistoric cultures of the Near East and Europe from 3500 to 800 BC during
which forging technology for rudimentary implements etc. in bronze was first developed, running
concurrently with the Stone Age
Iron Age
o A prehistorical or historical period, running concurrent with the Bronze Age from c.1200 BC to 1 AD,
during which implements were forged from iron
STONE AGE: DWELLING STRUCTURES
Constructive Principles
o Post and Lintel (Trabeated)
o Arch and Vault
o Corbel and Cantilevered
o Trussed Classification of Early Known Types of Architecture
o Dwellings
o Religious Monuments
o Burial Grounds
Dwelling Structures
o Primitive Dwellings - mostly had one room, development of more complex civilizations led to division of
the room into smaller ones for eating, sleeping, socializing, development of agricultural civilizations
made people want to settle down, live in communities
1. Rock Shelter - a shallow cave like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff
2. Rock Caves
3 Stages of the Evolution of Cave
a) Natural Cave
b) Artificial Cave
c) Cave above the ground
3. Cliff Dwelling - the general archaeological term for the habitations of prehistoric peoples, formed by
using niches or caves in high cliffs.
Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) people of the southwestern United States
4. Tents and Huts - made from tree barks, animal skins, and plant leaves. Huts are usually made up of
reeds, bushes and wattles.
Hut – a small, simple dwelling or shelter, esp. one of natural materials
Beehive Hut (clochan); an Early Christian drystone dwelling used by monks in Ireland and the
Scottish Western Isles, constructed in the shape of a beehive with corbelled vaulting.
Trullo - a dry walled rough stone shelter with corbelled roof. Done by dabbing dry roughly
plastered walls
Wigwam - rush mats over a wooden frame, with animal skin door
Tepee - conical tent with poles as framework and bark or animal skins
Hogan - primitive Indian structure of joined logs
Nigerian hut - with mud walls and roof of palm leaves
Igloo - Innuit (Eskimo) house constructed of snow blocks with an entrance tunnel. Made of
hard packed snow blocks built up spirally
Sod house - a house built of strips of sod, laid like brickwork, and used esp. by settlers on the
Great Plains when timber was scarce.
Yurt – a circular, tent like dwelling of the Mongol nomads of central Asia, consisting of a
cylindrical wall of poles in a lattice arrangement with a conical roof of poles, both covered by
felt or animal skins
Catal Huyuk, Turkey – a Neolithic settlement in Anatolia, dated 6500 - 5000 B.C. One of the
world’s earliest cities. They were rectangular single roomed with mud plastered wall and
floors. Access was by ladder from the roof. There were no roads but everybody walked on
each other’s roof.
Ancient Jericho
STONE AGE: RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS
Classification of Megalithic Religious Structures
o Megalith
large stone used to construct a structure either alone or together with other stones, utilizing
and interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.
A very large stone used as found or roughly dressed, esp. in ancient construction work
1. Monolith - a single block of stone of considerable size, often in the form of an obelisk or
column. Isolated single upright stone also known as “ menhir ”.
o Menhir - a prehistoric monument consisting of an upright megalith, usually
standing alone but sometimes aligned with others. Arranged in parallel rows,
sometimes reaching several miles and consisting of thousands of stones
2. Dolmen – a prehistoric monument consisting of two or more large upright stones
supporting a horizontal stone slab, found esp. in Britain and France and usually regarded
as a tomb
3. Cromlech – a circular arrangement of megaliths enclosing a dolmen or burial mound.
4. Trilithon – two upright megaliths supporting a horizontal stone. Also called trilith
5. Stone circle or Stone Row – made up of 3000 stones spaced upright (e.g. Stonehenge,
located at Wiltshire and on Salisbury Plain)
o Stonehenge – a megalithic monument erected in the early Bronze Age C2700
B.C. on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, consisting of four concentric rings of
trilithons and menhirs centered around an altar stone: believed to have been
used by a sun cult or for astronomical observation
6. Tumuli/Barrow – earthen mounds used for burials of several to couple hundred of
ordinary persons.
7. Passage grave – a megalithic tomb of Neolithic and early Bronze Ages found in the
British Isles and Europe, consisting of a roofed burial chamber and narrow entrance
passage, covered by a tumulus: believed to have been used for successive family or clan
burials spanning a number of generations
