LA.219 MOD.3.WO
INTRODUCTION
There is a natural and inevitable prejudice against the impermanent in historical scholarship of architecture due to what we might call the "contemporary bias": One is inclined to pay more attention to things that exist than to those that no longer exist. Buildings that stand and are observable to us today are our contemporaries; they are contemporaneous with us, and we understandably are drawn to them. However, it would be foolish to think that the structures existing today are the only ones to have existed, or are the only ones worthy of study. Not all that is made is made to last. It has not been the intention for every built environment to be permanent, and indeed earth, wood, and grass are impermanent materials.
Impermanent buildings and landscapes can tell us just as much about human cultures as those that still stand today. In some cases, impermanence is a practical intention, such as dwelling units for nomadic peoples. In other cases, impermanence is a natural outcome of the erodible materials used, like earth, wood, and grass. One commonality that all impermanent structures seem to share is a respect for the physical properties of natural materials as expressed in form and structure; the monumental stone architecture of ancient Egyptian pyramids and temples, for example, carve and shape the stones to fit an artificial composition (the columns of a hypostyle hall, for instance), while the indigenous American tipi utilizes the natural properties already contained in branches and animal hide—compression and tension, respectively. This is a fundamental design question, one of transformation: When we transform natural matter into artificial form, just how much should we alter the matter with respect to its physical properties?
Another challenge in studying built environments made of earth, wood, and grass, is what is available to study. Since much no longer exists, historians and archaeologists have to analyze reconstructions, replicas, photographs, artist's drawings and paintings, and even orally transmitted descriptions from cultural figures. Despite many temporary structures having an ideal type, which was passed down from generation to generation, the repetition of that type over time inevitably alters and evolves in each iteration. For this reason, it would be a mistake to conclude that all Sioux earth lodges were the same, for instance, when in fact, different tribal groups at different times built slightly different variations. When there is no original to be observed, one only has the last, more recently built, to use as a model.
Be curious and ask questions about the impermanent environments in this module:
Is the intention impermanence—mobile, easily put up and taken down, temporary, disposable?
Were the materials used the only ones available, or were they chosen?
Are there any shared themes or qualities that diverse cultures share?
What are the benefits (pros) and detriments (cons) of earth, wood, and grass?
Were the structures used for sacred or secular purposes?
What information determines the layout of space—practicality, ritual, myth, weather, etc.?
Module Learning Objectives Explore a diverse range of impermanent and temporary architectural manifestations.
Articulate the benefits and detriments of impermanent structures.
Articulate the cultural values represented in the various architectures.
Compare different approaches to the use of natural materials for temporary buildings.
Readings A Global History of Architecture, 235–236, 297–302, 358–359, 437, 440, 460–462
World Architecture, all of section 1.2, 181 (section 5.2), 244–249 (section 7.2), 397–398, 402 (section 10.2), 413–417 (section 10.3), 435 (section 11.1)
Native American Architecture (excerpt)
Module Coursework Read and view all module content and media in the pages that follow.
Complete all items in any Graded Coursework, Other Activities, and Quizzes and Exams areas included in this module.
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Humans have been occupying the earth for more than a million years, and archaeologists have found huts and caves throughout France with evidence of human use dating back 400,000 to 500,000 years. By 12,000 BCE, humans pretty much inhabited the entire globe. Starting out on the African continent, they spread into Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, and finally South America. The Neolithic, or New Stone Age, period started around 9,000 BCE.
Enlarge Image +
Hadazbe returning from a hunt
At some point during Neolithic times, groups of people started to create small villages and organized themselves as early societies, often near caves, along shores or streams. With these more permanent settlements, farming was added to hunting for food to fulfill people's needs. Animals were domesticated and plants were grown. By settling firmly in one place,
︶
The Beginnings of the Built Environment
0:00 / 3:51 1x
people needed individual shelter and ritual spaces. They started to implement their own order, defining territory and creating spaces. In A Global History of Architecture, Mark M. Jarzombek and Vikramaditya Prakash write:
This required not only an understanding of the seasons but also of ways to hand down that knowledge from generation to generation. The building arts, and their specialized uses for religious and communal purposes, began to develop as well.
A Global History of Architecture
Stability created by reliable food production and built structures for housing and worship allowed for the development of leisure time (i.e., periods of life that can be spent on activities other than survival), and leisure time is vital for the creation of culture. Soon, civilizations began developing cultural hallmarks, including:
customs and practices, like rituals, burials, and rites of passage
religion, including pantheism and shamanism
technology, through the increased use of tools
government by tribal organizations
Prior to these developments, humans placed value on the things that gave them shelter and sustenance, such as plants, bison, water, and caves. But with shelter and food taken care of, humans also began to value and question what it was that provided these basic requirements. Thus, in the Paleolithic Era, or Old Stone Age, humans began to harness their leisure time to honor the environment that provided for them. Animal bones, furs, leathers, and cave walls began to acquire high spiritual and decorative value. Rituals became more elaborate and were aimed at ensuring bounty at future times. These rites in turn became the building blocks of religion, as they were seen as necessary to appease uncontrollable forces, like lightning, drought, flooding, and the movement of herds.
Enlarge Image +
Paleolithic oval hut reconstruction
Above is a drawn reconstruction of a Paleolithic hut based on archaeological findings. Note that the three basic elements of columns, entablature, and pediment (do you remember Laugier's "Primitive Hut" from Module 1?) are there; two columns in the middle support one beam (entablature), and the pediment has become a sheltering envelope wrapped around the entire oval. Stones are used to hold the base in place (and keep an air-sealed edge), but the rest is made of different sizes of wooden members.
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
CAVE PAINTINGS
In order to celebrate the cosmos and the natural phenomena that governed their lives, our ancestors were in need of spaces that allowed them to express themselves in ceremonious ways. In the Paleolithic era, humans painted images of beasts, people, and hands in caves. These spaces appeared as early as 30,000 BCE.
Enlarge Image +
The Chauvet Cave in southern Ardeche (Rhone Valley), France
Even though we can never be certain why these images were drawn onto the walls of the caves, we can safely assume that they carried symbolic and ritualistic meaning. The passageways and chambers that hold these Paleolithic artists' paintings were carefully planned to lead to inner sanctums that served as sound chambers. These sound chambers were most likely home to ritualistic chanting and drum beating.
Cave Paintings
0:00 / 0:56 1x
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
EARLY BUILDERS
In his book Building Construction Before Mechanization, John Fitchen writes:
Among primitive societies site selection was often an elaborate process that involved the whole community. An elected building committee consulted the omens, investigated the site's qualifications (particularly defensibility and an assured water supply), and tested such factors as the humidity, the degree of evaporation, the feasibility of growing crops and procuring firewood nearby. In medieval Europe, by contrast, the site was usually selected by the client, who may or may not have sought the advice of architect or engineer.
Building Construction Before Mechanization
In these early societies, designer, builder, and user were often united in the same person. Communities as a whole were most likely involved in putting up their own structures and collaborating in the process.
Early Builders
0:00 / 4:15 1x
Primitive huts
Terra Amata
Concerning the first known settlements, Spiro Kostof writes:
We have proof . . . of huts in the open, like the ones at the encampment of Terra Amata, near Nice in southern France, dating back to about 400,000 years ago.
A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals
The hearth holding the fire was most likely the early center of any dwelling, temporary or permanent. As the central fire pit, the hearth (pronounced "harth") provided light, heat, and the ability to cook raw food. Geometrically speaking, the hearth is roughly a point in space, and if multiple people want to warm themselves, they will gather around it at about the same distance, in a circle. Thus, the hearth was the magnetic center for radial architectural configurations (spaces arranged by radii). Another term we could use is "concentric" (like the expanding rings around a pebble dropped in water), as all spaces were related to and expanded from the central hearth.
Terra Amata was a Stone Age camp used repeatedly, most likely during the spring. The remains of around 20 huts were located in a cove. Constructed from tree branches, they were oval in plan and around 25 to 50 feet long. It is not known how exactly the structure worked; however, we can see a hierarchy of different activities by the remains found. Since there are no written records, historians and archaeologists have to analyze fragments found onsite: pottery, rubbish, bones, and arrangements of materials. In
other areas of the world, remains of similar small structures were found, such as huts in what is today Ukraine. They were made from mammoth bones and pine poles that presumably were covered in animal skins.
The Indigenous Earth Lodge of the Upper Plains
Enlarge Image +
Enlarge Image +
Hidatsa Earth Lodge, section and structural elevation (Gilbert L Wilson)
Description:
Enlarge Image +
Pawnee Earth Lodge, plan and cosmological associations
Description:
Enlarge Image +
1 2 3
Earth lodges of the plains natives accommodated both sacred and secular functions, used for public and private matters. If you randomly walked into one, you might find one sitting and talking with friends for hours, or an elder performing a spiritual ceremony for another. Feasts were held in earth lodges, but it was also a place of sleeping. For particularly sacred rites, an altar mound was included, typically on the west side. The entrance was typically on the east side. At the top of the earth dome was a hole for the smoke from the hearth to escape.
Women played a central role in earth lodge construction. In fact, in most plains tribes, such as the Hidatsa, men had no function in earth lodge architecture whatsoever. The specifications for how to build the earth lodge was passed down through generations of women, who collected construction materials throughout the year. Women built the entire structure, supervised by an elder woman with sacred wisdom of the details and practical experience with the process. An earth lodge was finished in as fast as a week! Depending on the size of the village (which itself depends on the time in pre- or post-colonial history), there may have been dozens of earth lodges in a settlement.
Depressions from former Earth Lodges at the Big Hidatsa Village, North Dakota (National Park Service)
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
OHIO AND THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY
Among the different cultures evolving on the North American continent, there were also the so-called mound-builders. The earliest earthworks and mounds are found in the Mississippi River Valley and date back to sometime around 1400 BCE when the Native Americans settled on the banks of the Mississippi River, near present-day Vicksburg, Virginia. There they built various earth mounds, one burial mound in the form of a cone, and other mounds shaped like birds.
Around 700 BCE another group called the Adena began to build mounds and other earthworks in southern Ohio.
The Grave Creek Mound, built between 250 BCE and 150 BCE, is the largest of the Adena mounds. It was measured at 69 feet high and 295 feet in diameter at its base. Six hundred years later, the Hopewells, who had flourished throughout the Midwest, developed thousands of villages. The villages were part of an extensive trading system, wherein they received shells and shark teeth from Florida, pipestone from Minnesota, volcanic glass from Wyoming, and silver from Ontario. The Hopewell created stratified societies and buried their leaders in earthen mounds, which were filled with art works made of materials imported from areas more than a thousand miles away.
Grave Creek Mound, West Virginia
Ohio and the Mississippi River Valley
0:00 / 3:28 1x
Around 750 CE, the Hopewells had declined, and another Native American tribe, the Mississippians, arrived at what is today the Mississippi River Valley, and the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
Improved corn crops, bigger and more frequent, led to another population boom. Soon, the Mississippians established city-states, some with populations near 20,000 residents. They built large, complex mounds, some of them flat-tops used for ceremonial purposes as well as burial grounds for high priests. One of the Mississippian tribes, the Natchez, built the Emerald Mound around 1250 CE. It is 35 feet high and spans over eight acres.
Emerald Mound, Mississippi
Another Mississippian tribe, the Cahokian, built various mounds in Illinois, including the largest mound in North America, Monk's Mound. It is over 100 feet in height, 1,000 feet in length, and 800 in width, making it bigger at is base than the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is also unique in that it has two terraces.
Monk's Mound, Illinois
Another well-known example of Mississippian mound building is the Serpent Mound, which is considered an effigy mound (i.e., representing something specific in its form). Constructed sometime around 1070 CE, it meanders some 600 feet in an oscillating curve. It is strongly believed to be related to the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1066 or the supernova that created the Crab Nebula in 1054 as a celestial event marker. A full explanation of the motivations that inspired these ancient builders has not yet been developed.
Serpent Mound, Ohio
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
TIPIS IN AMERICA
The word "tipi" means "used to dwell" in the Siouan language. Tipis were mobile dwelling units, easily transportable, erected, and taken down. They were conical in form, with peeled tree trunks tilted to meet at the top, and wrapped with sown-together tanned buffalo hides. Flaps of hide at the top could be adjusted to allow smoke to escape or deflect harsh winter winds.
Enlarge Image +
Shoshoni tipis, Wyoming (late nineteenth century)
When Francisco de Coronado arrived in North America in the 16th century, he observed the tipis of Apache tribes in what is today New Mexico and Texas. Coronado was struck by their elegance, calling them "tall and beautiful," and his scribe recorded that Coronado remarked, "Their pack dogs transport their houses for them. In addition to their other burdens they carry the poles for the tents . . . the load maybe from 30 to 50 pounds, depending on the dog" (Native American Architecture, 1989).
Tipis in America
0:00 / 1:59 1x
Enlarge Image +
Typical Blackfoot tipi
In reality, an erected tipi is not a true cone in form, nor is its plan a true circle. The plan is oval (or egg-shaped, to be more precise), and the form has an extension which braces the tipi against the prevailing winter winds from the west. Hence, the entrance is opposite those winds, on the east side.
At the individual scale, a tipi could be (depending on the tribe) painted on the outside to represent the war exploits of the man who lived there, different spirit animals or depictions of deities, and other astronomical illustrations. At the collective scale, rings or wheels of hundreds of tipis could be organized in one settlement, with the open space in the middle used for ceremonial gatherings and the entry to the circle—like the tipi itself—to the east.
Enlarge Image +
A tipi circle for the occasion of two groups camping together (in this case, the Sutayo and Cheyenne proper). The ring could be up to a mile in diameter.
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
THE WICHITA GRASS HOUSE
Construction began with four columns, beginning with a ring of wooden columns connected by a circle of wooden beams atop. Then, secondary members bent from the ground outside the ring of columns up to the apex of the form. Tertiary branches wrapped horizontally around the form like belts, creating a doubly curved grid for the grass envelope.
In the 1920s, photographer Edward S. Curtis recorded the instructions on how to build a Grass House from the local culture hero Red Bean Man. Note the importance of the number four:
The Wichita Grass House
0:00 / 2:11 1x
Enlarge Image +
Application of outer envelope to top of Grass House. Description:
Enlarge Image +
Grass House, photograph by Edward S. Curtis, 1927. Description:
Enlarge Image +
1 2 3
"First, the women will make the ground ready: they will cut away the sod on the chosen space and make smooth the surface with the pure earth. In shape it will be round like the sun. The men will go to the forest and cut many short cedar posts with crotches at the top. Of these, four of the best will be planted in the ground, in the shape of a square, beginning at the east. All of these posts must be made fine and smooth, or the spirits will way our work is not good. When the four posts of the house are secured in position, then you will set up the others about them that the form of the house may be round. In the crotches you will lay other fine cedar timbers, against which will rest all outer timbers. Next, you will divide the workers into four parties, the leader of each taking his men to one point of the land; the first to the south, the next to west, then on to the north and one to the east. Each party will cut and prepare a fine long cedar. These four from the four winds are the strength of the house. They are like the chiefs who hold up the tribe. Before these men and their leaders go out to look for the fine cedars, they will pray to Kinnikasus that their work may be good; that the cedars which they find may give the house great strength, and that through the strength of the houses the people may prosper . . . "
—Native American Architecture, 1989
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
TENTS AND HUTS IN AFRICA
Semi-nomadic people in the Sahara used the tent, made from wooden poles and fabric, as a portable type of shelter. Even though the tents emerged when the ancient people left the caves of the Sahara, similar tent structures are still in use by nomadic groups who appreciate the ease of construction and their flexibility. A large variety of portable and permanent structures emerged in different regions throughout the African continent.
In southern Morocco, for example, families erected pairs of poles in a line, creating an extruded triangle shape on top of a bed of grass flooring. Cloth was wrapped around the structure, and it was fixed to the earth with guy ropes tied to pegs.
Tents and Huts in Africa
0:00 / 3:35 1x
Different types of tent structures and sizes emerged, all accounting for the materials available and needs addressed. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), for instance, tribes used split palms that were tied together into reeds, while others used woven mats or lattice covered with clay.
Adobe is a vernacular building material used in countless different ways on the African continent, creating shelter and offering sculptural qualities at the same time. In northeastern Togo, the tribe of the Batammariba built mud tower houses that became the symbol of Togo. The huts represent an example of the Togo people working with locally available materials to create dwellings that unite symbolic expression with the function of shelter.
In addition to a large variety of free-standing huts of different configurations, many tribes have developed arrangements situating individual spaces or huts around a courtyard like the Ashanti (or Asante) people residing in Ghana. Four rectangular volumes covered by gabled roofs are typically arranged around a square or rectangular courtyard. The adobe walls are adorned with stylized animals or geometric patterns. The warrior tribe of the Zulus built dome-shaped huts in northeastern South Africa, using saplings inserted into the ground covered with grass mats.
Note: Read more at UNESCO: Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba. Please study the map of other sites on the African continent.
Thatched Huts
Zulu hut
The Zulus arranged their domed huts into large circular villages often surrounded by a palisade fortification. Parade grounds served as open pasture and offered space for military maneuvers. The Fali tribes in northern Cameroon lay out circular arrangements as well; huts with adobe walls and thatched roofs are arranged in a circular fashion forming complex compounds housing kitchens, granaries, and sleeping spaces. As seen in other early cultures, the granaries are among the most important structures.
Fazio, Moffett, and Wodehouse write:
Granaries like those of the Fali are so essential to village life that attention has invariably been lavished on their design and construction. Bernard Rudofsky celebrated such structures in areas as widely separated as Ivory Coast and Libya. In the former, miniature silos with thatched roofs are made of clay, some cylindrical, some cook-pot shaped with a curving bottom, both types raised on stubby, clay legs that serve to avoid dampness and lend a delightful anthropomorphic character to these inanimate objects.
Buildings Across Ti
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
GENERALIFE (JINNAH AL'ARIF)
Enlarge Image +
View from Generalife to The Alhambra (L); walls of the Generalife (R)
The Generalife, or Jinnah Al' Arif, lies northeast of the main palace and Court of the Lions. It is perched on a hilltop that overlooks the Valley of Granada and the distant snow-capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada.
Enlarge Image +
Approach to the Generalife (L); walls of the Generalife (R)
The Generalife also boasts the beautiful Islamic gardens that served as the summer palace of the Spanish Arabic kings. These quiet and meditative gardens with their lush plantings, reflecting pools, and bubbling fountains
Generalife Jinnah AlArif
0:00 / 0:51 1x
truly embody the human vision of Paradise! The Generalife benefits from gorgeous views of the Alhambra palace compound's towers and the mountains in the distance.
Enlarge Image +
Water fountains at the Generalife (L); lush plants at the Generalife (R)
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
PATIO DE ACEQUIA (PATIO OF THE CANAL)
The Acequia at the Generalife
Perhaps the most prominent of the gardens at Generalife is the Patio de Acequia, or Patio of the Canal. The garden's importance lies in its departures from the typical chahar bagh principles of Islamic garden design. Water flows in one centralized runnel surrounded by a garden wall. Luscious plant life grows on the east side, and a portico overlooks the Alhambra Palace and Granada Valley floor to the west.
Patio de Acequia (Patio of the Canal)
0:00 / 1:01 1x
Enlarge Image +
The Acequia at the Generalife
Leaving the Acequia, one is immediately immersed in a second courtyard that is surrounded by a covered portico, hedges, citrus trees, and bubbling fountains.
This meditative space truly captures the importance of water in Islamic gardens. A cool breeze lifts off the surface of the water, countering the intense dry heat of the arid Andalusian landscape.
Enlarge Image +
Water fountains at the Generalife
FROM MEGARON TO TEMPLE
An early form of the Greek temple emerged around 1050 BCE. As seen below in the plan, it featured a wooden chamber surrounded by upright columns. Some historians see a relationship with the early sacred groves that were surrounded by trees. Indeed, when the later temples of the classical era were built, their column orders represented organic forms like trees. What is important to take from this module page is the transfer of the temple typology from wood to stone. Despite these being two very different materials with different material properties, the ancient Greeks deployed them in generally the same way, with some detailed variances. The plan below shows a row of columns in the middle (on the axis of symmetry), likely due to the relatively short structural span of the wooden beams used; in early stone temples, you see this central colonnade, but due to its awkward intrusion in the cella (naos) space, it was soon removed from the evolution of Greek temples.
Plan of an early Greek temple
The ancient Greek phase from 750 BCE to 350 BCE took inspiration from Egypt in the realms of not only sculpture but also trabeated architecture— that is, architecture with post and lintel construction. The Greeks continued to develop the inspirations they found, further shaping the foundation of Western architecture to come.
From Megaron to Temple
0:00 / 5:21 1x
Enlarge Image +
Temple of Hera at Perachora
Enlarge Image +
Temple of Hera at Perachora
The continuous exterior colonnade of the mature temple was a Greek invention, and gabled roofs topped all stone temples. But the sequence of the columned porch in antis and the main rectangular chamber beyond is unmistakably familiar: the Greek temple borrowed heavily from the megaron. In fact, the shift from megaron to temple consisted largely of a change in occupancy, as the temple replaced the megaron's signature royal hearth with a statue of the temple's deity.
Mycenae: magaron diagram
The literary and archaeological evidence shows that, in some cases, the Greeks built early temples on the grounds of former Mycenaean palaces, such as the Acropolis of Athens. These temples were frequently situated in the wild, where the Greeks could celebrate the order imposed on nature by the human-god relationship. Indeed, two of the most famous temples were built in craggy, mountainous settings. A temple dedicated to Zeus, the father of the gods, was situated on Mt. Olympus, and another temple, dedicated to Apollo, was constructed at Delphi. The Delphi temple was particularly distinct because it housed an oracular priestess who dispensed wisdom in riddles, and was, perhaps, under the influence of hallucinogenic gasses that seeped up through the floor.
Over time, the family of gods became a kind of national religion, uniting the disparate Greek city-states through a network of temples and shrines, which became symbols of a settlement's identification with a particular deity—Athens with Athena, for example, or Ephesos with Artemis.
Eventually, the apsidal chapel was abandoned in favor of a rectangular form made possible by the introduction of the peristyle, a columned porch. In later times, a peristyle or portico often surrounded the entrance, courtyard, or central room of a structure, but the Greeks used peristyles around the entire border of their temples. This opened the temple to the world around it and made the building visually approachable from every side. The gods were not "shut up" in contained halls or rooms but, rather, were able to interact with the ordinary people and natural world. In Samos, for example, the Greek builders decided to enshrine the hall within an architectural screen. The concept of the temple changed from that of a tabernacle for the holy image to an external form that mattered in and of itself and had visual soundness on all sides. The temenos defined the precinct, with a curb or wall surrounding the temple complex. Different axis systems could be present within the same precinct. Temples appeared to be arranged without clear relationship to each other, as is evident at the sacred temenos at Olympia, from the fifth century BCE.
Enlarge Image +
Temenos area of the sanctuary of Apollo
Peristyle
Temple of Apollo at Delphi
The cella, another element found in early Greek temples, was a cult room that created a tunnel view toward the statue. This element had the opposite effect as the aforementioned peristyle.
Leland M. Roth writes:
By far the most important Greek building was the temple. Although it served a most vital public function and was symbol of the polis, it was not a public building in the sense that we use the word, for only priests and selected individuals actually entered it. In contrast to its plain interior, the exterior of the temple was lavished with artistic attention, for public rituals were celebrated at the altar in front of the temple. Because of this and the fact that the temple's enclosed volume was not a public space, the Greek temple has been described as monumental sculpture set in the landscape.
Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History, and Meaning
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
CHINESE STRUCTURAL PRINCIPLES
There are common standards, traditions, and principles in Chinese architecture that extend back for more than 2000 years. Timber was an important building material. It was clearly differentiated from masonry construction, which was common for enclosure and defensive walls and some funerary structures. Frame construction was widely used, as it was light, cheap to transport, and easily workable. Repetitive detailing was easily achieved, and lacquer could render its surface durable and pleasant. Andrew Charles Hugh Boyd writes:
Thus Chinese building evolved out of simple and direct methods, widespread in Asia—the raised platform of beaten earth, the timber posts, the thatched roof—in a climate that did not demand protection from extreme cold or heat but did demand opening up to the outside. There developed an early and elaborate society based on towns, a system of planning ideas and aesthetic ideas, for which the basic timber construction, more and more elaborated became well adapted.
Any architecture develops the kind of structure that is most suited to its social purposes and to the aesthetic to which those purposes give rise. The structural system in turn influences and limits these purposes.
Chinese Architecture and Town Planning: 1500 B.C.–A.D. 1911
The basic elements are fairly simple. Usually there was a base or podium raising the floor level above the dampness of the ground. Timber columns were placed on the podium on stone bases. Both columns and bases were often carved in elaborate ways. The columns were connected with beams in both directions, sometimes several tiers. Instead of an arch, a system of
Chinese Structural Principles
0:00 / 3:01 1x
beams of continuously reduced length was put in place. Standardization varied over the centuries but usually related to a series of standard sections and predefined proportions and bracket arrangements.
Diagrams of framing systems from a Song dynasty building manual
Kostof writes:
In China, the skeletal armature between ceiling and roof pitch consisted in progressively shorter lateral beams and a vertical spine at the top that held up the ridge.
All basic roof types were already present in the Han period: The gable roof with or without overhang, the hipped roof of four slopes, the pointed roof, the so-called "Nine Spines." The curve of the eaves, so characteristically Chinese, seems to postdate Han practice, but already roofs were being built with a decided change of pitch half way up, as if they had given way under their own weight.
Spiro Kostof
Technology and formal arrangements differed from each other in the north and south. In the south one can find a tendency to exaggerate the upturn of the eave corners, while in the north, the used timber profiles were more robust.
Pillars and beams wooden roof support system, from a building near Beijing
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
PAGODAS AND TEMPLES IN CHINA
The Chinese pagoda evolved over time into a multistory building with multiple, layered roofs. The typology of the pagoda was inspired by the finials of Indian stupas and multi-storied watchtowers of the Chinese military. Some pagodas were made of wood, some of stone, and some of both. Note the differences in form when different materials are used.
Pagodas were expected to be majestic and divine, serving to preserve Buddhist relics, with the most sacred objects representing Buddha. And at the time, the ruling class used multistoried buildings to demonstrate their power, as the structures were believed to be the residences of immortals— factors that made the architectural model ideal for enshrining Buddha.
Pagodas and Temples in China
0:00 / 2:08 1x
The earliest examples of wooden buildings are the Buddhist temple halls found on Mount Wutai in Shaanxi province. One, the Foguang Temple, was constructed in 857 CE on a terraced complex, and its main hall, which is seven bays wide and features deep, overhanging eaves, houses statues of the Buddha, bodhisattvas, guardian kings, and attendant figures.
Jinci Temple in the Hall of the Sacred Mother was constructed in 1023 to 1032 to honor ancestors in the Confucian tradition. The site is hilly with a stream that leads to water features integrated with pavilions surrounding the hall. The entire complex is arranged along a processional axis that acts as a unifying principle; visitors pass a stage, cross a bridge and terrace, and enter a hall before crossing another bridge over a square pool to reach
Enlarge Image +
Fongong Temple
The Fongong temple in Yingxian, circa 1056 CE, features the oldest surviving wood
pagoda that, at 220 feet tall, doubles as one of the tallest wooden structures in the
world. The octagonal pagoda rises five levels in ten structural tiers.
Title:
Description:
Enlarge Image +
Songyue Pagoda
The Songyue Pagoda at Dengfeng, circa 523 CE, is the oldest surviving brick
structure in China. The structure is a tapered, parabolic cylinder with a hollow center
and 15 tiers of roofs. The top tier could not be accessed.
Title:
Description:
Enlarge Image +
1 2 3
the Hall of the Sacred Mother. This hall's roof is held up by a complex system of transfer beams, leaving the interior bare but for the large statue of the Sacred Mother.
Jinci Temple
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
TRADITIONAL JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE
Enlarge Image +
Japan is comprised of four main islands and countless smaller ones. Ancient volcanic eruptions created a mountain chain which includes Mount Fuji, the best known mountain that forms the spine of the islands. The geographical spread of the various Japanese islands produces a wide range of environments, from the cold climate of northern Hokkaido to the humid, subtropical conditions in the south.
Traditional Japanese Architecture
0:00 / 1:55 1x
Shoryoin at the Horyuji
Japan's main religion is called Shinto, or "the way of the gods." It worships the natural forces essential to agriculture through rituals and celebrations at shrines. Wood was the most common building material because of its easy workability and stability in earthquakes. Japan has a highly seismic geography and geology, and when seismic events occur, they create ripples and waves in the Earth's upper surface. During such an event, it is not the in the building's best interests to be totally rigid; rather, the building wants to be flexible in order to absorb and move with the seismic activity. Hence, wood offers a relative flexibility in contrast to other more rigid materials, and it actually performs well in seismic zones. Moreover, in climates with a high variance of temperature between seasons, the wooden joints are able to expand (in winter) and contract (in summer) without losing structural integrity.
When the German modernist Bruno Taut visited Japan, he perceived a unique aesthetic of modernity at Katsura, the Imperial Villa in Kyoto. The restricted appearance and simplicity as well as traditional craftsmanship of traditional Japanese architecture intrigued architects of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and had profound influences on Western formal development.
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
SHINTO IDEALS IN THE LANDSCAPE
Shinto torri gate demarking a sacred object or space in nature
As with many other gardens, Japanese gardens were deeply rooted in religion and were used as spaces for religious rituals. The word for garden in Japanese is niwa, which is associated with spaces that were sanctified and set aside in the natural environment in order to worship Shinto gods.
Natural rock outcroppings, groups of trees, streams, or other natural elements were known to possess kami, or spirits found in nature that were to be respected and revered for their powers.
Early Shinto shrines consisted of clearly demarcated spaces that fit within a natural setting. Such demarcations included torii gates and shime-nawa— straw ropes that were tied together to clearly outline the area in which kami existed.
Shinto Ideals in the Landscape
0:00 / 2:00 1x
Torri gate at Ise Shrine in Ise City, Japan
Enlarge Image +
Iwakura, or sacred rock, demarcated by shime-nawa and torii gate at Ise Shrine
Enlarge Image +
Torii Gate demarking a body of water as a sacred space
In addition to torii gates and shime-nawa rope demarcations, an apron of white gravel at the base of a space sets it aside as sacred and almost untouchable.
One of the most sacred Shinto shrines in Japan is the Ise Shrine in Ise City. This shrine consists of a series of cleared spaces among a forest of cryptomeria trees and is demarcated by two rectangular plots of white gravel adjacent to one another and separated by fences.
In order to reach the inner shrine shown in the image, you must embark on a pilgrimage through a torii gate and on a ceremonial path through the forest.
Enlarge Image +
Ise Shrine
It is a point of discussion amongst historians that the gravel aprons that envelope the inner shrine at Ise are the predecessor for the yuniwa, or entry court of palaces that we will study later in this module.
Even though the main point of spaces such as the Ise Shrine was to worship the Shinto gods in their natural habitat, you cannot help but to see the investigation of and human desire for ordered space within nature.
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
SHINTO SHRINES
Shrines were strongly influenced by early dwellings; in fact, houses were the first Buddhist temples. Unlike the elaborate Chinese-inspired Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines were typically small in scale and modest in character.
Sadler writes:
For instance it is recorded in the Nihon Shoki that a certain Wakaomi- no-Azumabito of Shinano went to the capital of the days of the Emperor Kogyoku and brought back an image of Buddha which he installed in his house, and this is the beginning of the famous temple of Zenkoji.
Japanese Architecture: A Short History
The Ise Shrine at Uji-Yamada is one of the most celebrated Shinto shrines, and many believe it expresses the very essence of Japanese architecture. Though the shrine has been rebuilt every twenty years since it was founded in 690 CE, it has preserved, for the most part, its original shape and details. At an event which goes beyond the "crepissage" of the mosque at Djenne, locals fell trees, strip and shape the members, and completely rebuild the shrine. Ironically, this act of disassembling the existing shrine and reassembling the new one in exactly the same way may be the truest form of preservation.
Ise consists of two shrines constructed four miles apart: the outer shrine, Geku, was dedicated to Toyouke, the goddess of agriculture and the earth, and the inner shrine, Naiku, was dedicated to Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun. Both sun and earth were necessary for agricultural success, so this union of opposites expressed the system of harmony and balance.
Shinto Shrines
0:00 / 2:22 1x
Aerial view of Ise's inner shrine
Both shrines are surrounded by four concentric sets of fences that are entered through a gateway called torii. The buildings are symmetrically arranged around a central axis, and the main, central sanctuary is flanked by east and west treasure houses. Subsidiary buildings contain a kitchen and a hall of offerings. The typology of the Ise Shrine buildings derives from vernacular granary buildings, which were raised to protect their contents from dampness and vermin.
Naiku
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
NORWEGIAN STAVE CHURCHES
Stave Church, Borgund, Norway (c. 1150 CE)
Scandinavia remained outside the Christian sphere until the middle of the 11th century, when Anglo-Saxon missionaries succeeded in converting the pagans of Norway. The missionaries brought the technology and aesthetics of Anglo-Saxon church architecture, which then became the model for small Norwegian churches.
Combining the simple Anglo-Saxon church plan with native building traditions, architects in Norway created a unique church type: the stave church, predominantly found in Anglo-Saxon Britain and Scandinavia. Evidence suggests that the tectonic expression of stave church architecture—in which a sophisticated system of wooden joints (with no aid of iron or any other metal) hold everything together—was at least partially influenced by Nordic ship-building. Viking ships were highly advanced vessels, made entirely of wooden connections. If one looks up into the higher levels of the church from the inside, for instance, the wood craft and tectonic joinery is similar to that of looking down into a Viking
Norwegian Stave Churches
0:00 / 2:47 1x
boat. It is as if the boat were flipped upside down, and the stave church grew upward from there. Another detail you may notice when studying other stave churches (Borgund is the most popular), is their black color; this is tar-like substance that was brushed onto the church as a fire retardant.
Staves are simple, upright poles—usually just pine trees with the bark removed. The staves are supported on four crossed, horizontal sills, forming a rectangular chassis (i.e., a supporting frame or structure) that is raised off the ground by large flat stones. The corner stones protected the timber structure from moisture and have mitigated the impact that ground freezing usually has on excavated foundations. A carved portal on the north wall of the church shows four-legged beasts and serpent-like creatures intertwined in patterns with a scrolling vine. Scholars assume these figures were borrowed from the pagan past, as Christian missionaries often used adaptations of local practice and conditions to establish the church.
Enlarge Image +
Borgund Stave Church, Norway, interior looking up to ceiling structure. Description:
Enlarge Image +
Dragon ornaments atop a stave church spire. Description:
Enlarge Image +
1 2 3 4 5
Enlarge Image +
Interlace doorway panels from the stave church at Urnes, Norway (1125–1140 CE)
Stave churches can be found in sparsely populated valley communities along the fjords in Norway; 32 of roughly 322 original examples remain. The church at Urnes, Norway, which dates from 1125 to 1140 CE, is the oldest extant stave church. The stave church at Borgund, circa 1150, might be one of the most mature stave churches and serves as model for the restoration of other stave churches.
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
PLANK HOUSES OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Enlarge Image +
Haida Plank Houses
Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest coast, stretching from southern Alaska down to present day Oregon, built large Plank Houses as communal dwellings. Groups such as the Tlingit and Haida near Alaska, as well as the Chinook and Tillamook in Washington state, erected their own versions of Plank Houses, some adorned in symbolic paintings.
Plank Houses of the Pacific Northwest
0:00 / 1:55 1x
Kwakiutl Plank House, primary and secondary structure
Some groups built Plan Houses that were long, and some built Plank Houses that had pitched roofs. Almost all of them featured massive tree trunks as the primary central columns, supporting equally large members as beams resting on the columns. Secondary structures, such as rafters, were small members. Depending on the designation of the Plan House— some were used for sacred rituals at certain times of the year, while others were primarily dwellings or work spaces—some Plank Houses were more complex in section (in the vertical dimension); there are examples of interiors that exhibit three different levels, each telescoping lower into the earth where a fire pit is likely to be found.
Chief Weah's "Monster House," interior, Haida Plank House
Almost all Plank Houses introduced themselves from the outside with the frontal pole, more popularly known as the "totem pole." This carved column often revealed mythical creatures and beasts, as well as human figures, usually blurring and transforming into and out of each other. As the principal animal deity in myth, Raven is often observable, as well as others such as Thunderbird, Whale, Beaver, and Frog. The transformation of these
animals (Whale becoming Beaver, and then back to Whale again) reflected the transformations in tribal myths and forces many outside observers into a challenging aesthetic interpretation.
Enlarge Image +
Haida totem pole (Canadian Museum of History)
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University
HORTUS CONCLUSUS
Ever since the spread of the human species on our planet, more and more of the earth's surface area is taken up by our built environment. As humanity gradually became more urban it also longed for its once intimate relationship with nature. For some cultures, the story of paradise as a garden (Eden) became an important point of origin for our association with natural environments and natural materials. This association became so engrained in the culture, it eventually manifested in the medieval private garden in the concept of hortus conclusus. Hortus conclusus was a private walled garden, with only a few plants inside, that functioned as an allegory for Eden.
Hortus Conclusus
0:00 / 1:49 1x
Enlarge Image +
Martin Schongauer , Madonna of the Rose Bower, 1473
In the painting, Madonna of the Rose Bower, the Virgin Mary is seated on a turf bench, a typical medieval garden element, backed by a trellis of roses. The painting captures the enclosed nature of the medieval garden by encircling the Madonna and child with the wood frame.
Hortus Conclusus in Art Unfortunately, examples of the hortus conclusus only survive in illustrations and paintings of the medieval period.
Analysis of Hortus Conclusus Painting
Enlarge Image +
Paradiesgärtlein (Garden of Paradise), c. 1410
In this painting, the theme of hortus conclusus is fully developed:
Crenellated walls surround the garden, protecting the holy figures of the Vir- gin Mary, the baby Jesus, and the saints.
The Virgin Mary perches on a turf bench (a very typical medieval garden ele- ment) in the center of the composition.
Baby Jesus and Saint Barbara play at her feet on a carpet of flowers called a flowery mead.
In the bottom left hand corner of the painting, another saint draws water from the Well of Living Water.
The Archangel Michael converses under the shade of a tree with a slain dragon (evil) at his feet.
Each of the plants and flowers in the painting hold religious and allegorical meaning:
Roses, lilies, and violets refer to the Virgin Mary's exemplary womanhood, chastity, and humility.
The purple flag iris symbolizes Jesus Christ's sacrifice.
FARMING AND HORTICULTURE
Walled medieval gardens also served as agriculture farmland. It was during this time that a series of books regarding horticulture and farming were produced, giving specific instructions for designing, planting, and maintaining these gardens.
Farming and Horticulture
0:00 / 1:01 1x
Enlarge Image +
Detail from Le Livre des Prouffitz Champestres et Ruraux, "Crescentius Discussing Herb Planting"
Some of the design elements are readily apparent in the beautiful drawings that accompany these detailed "how-to" manuals. If you look, you can see:
gated walls
square planting beds
vine-clad arbors and trellises
flowery turf benches
fountains
fruit trees
Function Over Form
It is important to understand that gardens of the medieval period were devoid of the refined spatial composition seen in other eras. Functional elements—such as benches and fountains—served their purposes.
CONCLUSION
This module has, by no means, exhibited an exhaustive account of impermanent and temporary environments made of earth, wood, and grass. That would be impossible. But, hopefully, this has given you a glimpse into the signiCcant role it played for many cultures. Impermanent environments can tell us just as much about humanity as the structures that still stand today. In some cases, impermanence is a practical intention, such as dwelling units for nomadic peoples. In other cases, impermanence is a natural outcome of the erodible properties inherent to earth, wood, and grass. One motif in this module is a respect for the physical properties of natural materials as expressed in form and structure.
A fundamental question of transformation can be asked: When we transform natural matter into arti1cial form, how much should we alter the matter with respect to its physical properties?
Always remember to be curious and ask questions of the impermanent architectures you study:
Is the intention impermanence—mobile, easily put up and taken down, temporary, disposable?
Were the materials used the only ones available, or were they chosen?
Are there any shared themes or qualities that diverse cultures share?
What are the beneCts (pros) and detriments (cons) of earth, wood, and grass?
Were the structures used for sacred or secular purposes?
What information determines the layout of space—practicality, ritual, myth, weather, etc.?
Module Coursework Complete all items in any Graded Coursework, Other Activities, and Quizzes and Exams areas included in this module.
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Online Help Desk: 888-431-ARTS (2787) or 415-618-3545 online@academyart.edu Privacy and Terms | ©2024 Academy of Art University