Arch Society Midterm 2

(11) W: Mingtang Temple

Loc. : W: Chang’an, China,

Date: 100 BCE

Cultural origin: Ancient China

Structure:

• Interlocking parts

• Aligned with the tomb 

• Intricate wooden carving/design

• Interwoven brackets, allowing for flex and bounce, incase of an earthquake for example

• ^^dougong brackets

Significance: 

• Bright hall

• Circle represents water 

• Emperor sits in the very middle

• Earth is the square, heavens all around it (circle) 

• EARTHERN core

  • Earthquakes didn't allow for super tall buildings which is why they built with earthen core.

• Axis mundi

• Outside is less civilized

(11) W: Avenue of the Dead and major monuments

Loc. : Teotihuacán, Mexico

Date: 100 CE

Cultural origin: Ancient Mexico

Structure:

• used Talud-tablero

• abundant local volcanic resources, supplemented by long-distance trade for specialized materials.

Significance:

• Biggest city at the time and until the modern era

• 200k habitants 

• Emperor controlled immediate territory and neighbors 

• Eventually surpassed by the aztecs 

• Debate about its nature, central axis etc.

• Name given by its successors.

• (1) market; (2) Temple of the Feathered Serpent

  compound; (3) Pyramid of the Sun; (4) Pyramid of the Moon (after Rene Millon).

(11) T: Great Wall of China

• Date China/oc: 221BCE - 1368 CE, Qin Dynasty

• 15 year dynasty

  • Creation of walls 

• Tryna create boundaries between chinese emperor and mongolia

  • From the north, North is where bad things come from in Chinese culture

• originally 20ft high, 13 ft thick, with guard posts

• Ming Dynasty rebuilt 

• Largest single building complex on earth 

• Built over the course of more than 1000 years

(11) T: Wangcheng diagram

• Date/loc: China, ca. 700 BCE

• Not an actual Place, just an idea

• Clear boundaries

• City inside the city

  • Relationships 

• Gateways, supervising access

• Intersecting roads 

• A big open space at the center 

• What a city should be

(11) T: building modules (bays or jian)

• Jian Proportion system 

  • It was a proportional system used to build buildings 

• Beginning in the first millennium, the jian, or bay, served as the basic unit of architectural order in China. Structural timber posts defined the jian, which had an average size of 3 x 6 m (10 x 20 ft), setting the size of a room. Chinese designers made their spaces through a process of addition, and a

• hall usually expanded to an odd number of jians.

(11) T: dougong brackets

• Intricate wooden carving/design

• Interwoven brackets, allowing for flex and bounce, incase of an earthquake for example

(11) T: siheyuan (courtyard house)

• Time: Pingyao China

• Courtyards, middle opening

• Layout: Four buildings form a square/rectangular courtyard, with the main house typically facing south.

• Symbolism: Embodies harmony, family unity, and hierarchy through designated rooms.

• Architecture: Uses grey bricks, tiled roofs, detailed woodwork, Built with perishable materials like mud and wood 

(11) T: Mesoamerica

• Mesoamerica means "Middle America" and refers to a historic cultural region stretching from central Mexico through Central America

• Architecture:

  Monumental pyramids, temples, and ball courts for ritual games, often aligned with celestial events

(11) T: Mesoamerican pyramid and talud-tablero

• Technique that was first used here, became popular all over meso-america. 

• Slabs on slopes

• A series of stacked internal structures made out of stone that is then wrapped in clad, rubble and embedded in clay, sometimes covered in a plaster, painting or/and sculpted. 

(12) W: Basilica Nova

Loc. : Rome, Italy

Date: ca. 300 CE

Cultural origin: Early Christian Italy

Structure:

• longitudinal or basilica plan

• contained spolia

• Plan: A rectangular building with a large central nave and side aisles, typical of basilicas, but with unique vaulted roofing.

Significance:

• Contains Colossus of Constantine and the Portrait of Constantine.

• The Basilica Nova's design was foundational for medieval cathedrals and basilicas across Europe

• Purpose: Built as a public space for government, court, and meetings, demonstrating imperial power. Transitioned to churches later on.

W: Old Saint Peter’s Basilica (12)

Loc. : Rome, Italy

Date: begun ca. 300 CE

Cultural origin: Early Christian Italy

Structure:

• looks like the cross 

• Nave, Transept, Apps,

Significance:

• Leaves to build his own city (Constantinople)

• New Saint Peters church is built right on top of the tomb. 

• Axis Mundi

• Death spot-> Tomb-> 4th century church -> altar -> heaven

• According to biblical traditions, Jesus said to Peter (Whose name in Latin is petris (rock)) “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church etc. etc. and they DO build the church right on top of him. All popes succeed him and align with him

  • Poetic

• Building is gone

T: Diocletian and tetrarchs (12)

• Date/loc: Split, Croatia, ca. 298-306 CE

• Diocletian: Roman emperor who started the tetrarch

• Greek Tetrarchy- four rulers 

T: Constantine the Great (12)

T: Constantinople (Istanbul) (12)

T: Triumphal arch (hemispherical arch, attic) (12)

T: Spolia (12)

T: Christianity (12)

T: Pope (Bishop of Rome) (12)

T: Catacombs (12)

T: Martyr and martyrium (12)

T: Basilica (nave, aisle, transept, apse) (12)

T: Central plan and ambulatory (12)

(13) W: Hagia Sophia

Loc. : Istanbul (Constantinople), Turkey

Date: 500 CE

Cultural origin: Byzantine Turkey

Structure:

Significance: 

(13) W: Church of San Vitale

Loc. : Ravenna, Italy,

Date: 500 CE

Cultural origin: Byzantine Turkey

Structure:

Significance: 

(13) T: Constantine the Great (r.306–37)

(13) T: Justinian (r.527–65)

(13) T: Constantinople

Loc/date: Byzantium/Istanbul, (est. 324 CE, ded. 330 CE)

(13) T: Central plan (and ambulatory) (vs. longitudinal or basilica plan)

(13) T: Dome on pendentives vs. squinches

(13) T: Clerestory fenestration

very high up

(13) T: Gold-ground mosaic (and tesserae)

Ravenna, Italy, and Ostrogoths

(13) T: Ravenna, Italy, and Ostrogoths

(14) W: Great Chaitya Hall, Karli, India, ca. 120 CE

Loc. :

Date:

Cultural origin: 

Structure:

Significance: 

(14) W: Cave of Shiva, Elephanta, India, 590 CE

Loc. :

Date:

Cultural origin: 

Structure:

Significance: 

(14) W: Shore Temple, Mahabalipuram, India, C7 CE

Loc. :

Date:

Cultural origin: 

Structure:

Significance: 

(14) T: Gupta dynasty (ca. C4– late C6)

(14) T: Chaitya hall

(14) T: Buddhism

(14) T: Stupa and parikrama

(14) T: Hinduism

(14) T: Shiva

(14) T: Hindu temple (shikhara, gopura, mandapa, gharba griha, and lingam)

(14) T: Bamiyan Buddhas

(15) W: Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, Israel/Palestine, 690 CE

Loc. :

Date:

Cultural origin: 

Structure:

Significance: 

(15) W: Great Mosque, Damascus, Syria, C8 CE, dome C12 CE

Loc. :

Date:

Cultural origin: 

Structure:

Significance: 

(15) W: Great Mosque, Kairouan, Tunisia, 836 CE

Loc. :

Date:

Cultural origin: 

Structure:

Significance: 

(15) T: Islam (basic tenets)

(15) T: Mecca

(15) T: Hypostyle hall

(15) T: Mosque (including courtyard, prayer hall, qibla, mihrab, minaret, maksura)

(15) T: Arcade vs. colonnade

(15) T: Horseshoe arch and ablaq motif

(15) T: Horseshoe arch and ablaq motif

(15) T: Mosaics (gold-ground, floral patterns, and Islamic [Kufic] epigraphy, e.g. ‘Verse of Light’)

(15) T: Carved plasterwork (stucco)

(15) T: Spolia

(15) T: Lobed arches

(15) T: Maghreb and Andalusia (Al-Andalus)

(15) T: Great Mosque, Cordoba, Spain, 786–988 CE

(16) W: Tang-era Chang’an, China, and the Damingong Palace

Loc. : Chang’an, China

Date: 700 CE

Cultural origin: Tang China

Structure:

Significance: 

(16) W: Small Wild Goose Pagoda,

Loc. : Chang’an, China,

Date: 700 CE

Cultural origin: Tang China

Structure:

Significance: 

(16) W: Shinto Great Shrine (Ise Shrine),

Loc. : Ise, Japan,

Date: 700 CE

Cultural origin: East Asia

Structure:

Significance: 

(16) T: Tang Dynasty (China) (618–907 CE)

(16) T: Silk Road/Route

(16) T: Pagoda (ta)

(16) T: Wu Zetian (623–683 CE) and Zhou Dynasty (690–705 CE)

(16) T: Silla Dynasty (Korea)

(16) T: Shintoism (and kami)

(16) T: Shinto shrine (shoden and torii gate)

(17) W: Temple I,

Loc. : Tikal, Guatemala,

Date: late C7 CE

Cultural origin: Maya Central America

Structure:

Significance: 

(17) W: Great Ball Court and El Castillo,

Loc. : Chichén Itzá, Mexico,

Date: C9 CE

Cultural origin: Maya Central America

Structure:

Significance: 

(17) T: Maya Civilization

(17) T: Mesoamerica

(17) T: Mayan “pyramid” (with stairs, levels, sanctuaries, and roofcombs)

(17) T: Chacmol

(17) T: Mesoamerican/Maya ball game