ARCH 211 Midterm Exam

Title: Stonehenge

Location: Near Salisbury, United Kingdom

Ritual center, 500 years of use and reuse

Similar to Ring of Brodgar in Orkney, Scotland, had relics such as Mace heads and rocks brought from there, showing signs of long travel and trade (part of connected system)

Orkney could be thought of knowledge hub, and relics brought back to Stonehenge for status
Evidence of travel, trade, and connections

Function changed over time, calendar function based on ditches and markers

Can see summer solstice sunrise when looking out of U shape

People buried here had status, showing signs of more hierarchical society

Heavy stone construction shows signs of social organization

Title: Prehistoric City

Location: City of Catalhöyük

Pre Pottery Neolithic B

Only houses and middens found (houses become centers of social life, labor division)

Only one main area for living, also where burials were

Clean areas where burials were, dirty areas with lots of soot

Lack of doors, houses packed together, enter from roofs

Most houses similarly sized, some taller (more burials, so more status)

Rituals for abandonment, lots of reuse and replastering (houses lasted 50-400 years)

Lots of respect for leopards

Demonstrate temporal continuity and also change over time

Title: Stepped Pyramid and Mortuary Precinct of Djoser
Location: city of Saqqara
Architect: Imhotep

Imhotep invented the column, fluted sides to imitate bundled reeds, columns on walls imitated papyrus with capital

Ziggurat (steps to sky)

Processional courtyard, rituals after funeral too (permanence)

Title: Pyramid of Khufu
Location: city of Gizeh

Largest of Giza pyramids

Changes: moved body to upper chamber, north vent oriented towards stars, changed name to the Horizon of Khufu (wanted to become solar deity)

2.3 million masonry blocks, rolled on logs with oxen
Tallest building until the 19th century

Title: Mortuary Precinct of Hatshepsut
Location: city of Deir el-Bahri, Egypt

First female pharaoh, still represented with beard

Different from pyramid; on face of cliff, depended on it for presence (cliff was like natural pyramid)

Rhythm of columnar elements similar to vertical striations on cliff; in dialogue with natural form

Very axial

Preserved her memory

Title: Parthenon
Architects: Iktinos and Kallikrates
Location: city of Athens

Phideus oversaw projects on the Acropolis during Parakleis's rule

Very percise, 4:9 ratio

First octostyle facade (8 columns in front as opposed to 6)

200 craftspeople, 50 of them were sculptors

Decisions in one part of the building reverberated to other parts (had a grammar and syntax, like the 8 column system)

Placed off axis of entrance to Acropolis hill so people could see front and side

Optical refinements created illusion of compactness for appropriate scale (curved base, swelling of columns (entasis), rake of cornices)

Title: Propylaia
Architect: Mnesikles
Location: city of Athens

Legend: worker who fell during construction was injured, had dream of seeing Athena, and was healed showing she approved

Processional gateway
Divided city of Athens from sacred sanctuary of the Acropolis

Central path is wider than rest of columns, but our eyes make this gap seem less noticeable because of cohesion and regularity of columns

Title: Erectheion
Location: Athens

Place where wood statue of Athena was kept with a sacred olive tree

Legend says Poseidon tried to claim the land and threw his trident into the group, creating a saltwater spring

Built on site of older temple

Columns on porch of Maidens has caryatids (figures) as columns
Humans in dialogue with Gods
Women looking out
Columns have similar proportions to humans

Title: Temple of Apollo

Location: city of Didyma (Turkey)

Restricted inner courtyard housing temple (where Apollo was concieved) and a laurel tree

Strict access: only through two side vaulted chambers, could see throufh window behind oracle’s chamber

Over time, inner courtyard exposed, revealing leftover architectural drawings on the wall (building never completed), showing optical refinements such as swelling of columns and raking of cornice

Revealed what architects did not mean to expose

Title: Temple of Jupiter Anxur

Location: City of Terracina, Italy

Exploration of cement, rubble-faced or brick-faced concrete: was durable, solid, inexpensive, but took long time to cure

Make mold of bricks, poured in cement

Adapted to a cliffside landscape

Giant podium of the concrete that survives today!!!

Title: Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia

Location: city of Palestrina (Praeneste is the ancient name for the Italian city)

View out into the landscape, could see Rome

Outer ramps engaged with hill, imitating ziggurat?

Mosaic depicting the Nile at the bottom in a library, showing travel

On the side of a hill

Use of concrete

Built wooden formwork, created cofferes in the vaults to make them lighter

Dedicated to Goddess Fortuna Primigenia, holy site, holy features

Title: Temple of Portunus (or the Temple of Fortuna Virilis)

Location: city of Rome

Covered with stucco to make it look like marble

Used local volcanic stone, podium made of concrete

Used some Greek elements, but distinctly Roman: front staircase not on all sides (focus on the front), only four columns on facade (length was 2x the width), very regular and boxy, so much simpler than Greek, engaged columns (illusion of full colonnade)

Came before Augustus

Title: House of the Vettii

Location: city of Pompeii

Social functions!

Direct access to the atrium, open air element with rainwater collection

Visibility into the peristyle courtyard from the atrium, showing their followers their power, what they own (able to see ornate courtyard, size of the house from just the entrance)

No separation of work from life

The columns and gabled facade of stone-faced concrete rather than rubble makes it look like public architecture even though it was in a house

Title: Forum of Augustus

Location: city of Rome

Brings forth ideas about Greek and Roman past

Creates a picture of the Greek past by incorporating elements seen on the Acropolis in Athens during the time of Pericles

Fine marble used, although just as a veneer, use of caryatids similar to Erectheion suggest revival of Greek culture

Also brough forth Roman history with row of statues with lineage of kings

Romulus, mythical founder on the right, lineage of Aeneas (son of Venus) on the left with Caesar and Augustus

Title: Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace)

Location: city of Rome

Was open to the sky, now in a museum

Conveys time of flourishing

Made of marble, sense of splendor similar to Pericles in Greece

Engravings of wreaths, plants, flowers

Shows Augustus’s family, reference to Parthenon frieze, personification of abundance

Site context

Placed with respect to monumental sundial, seasonal differences, shadow goes through the doorway on Augustus’s birthday (September 28)

Title: Octagon Room of the Domus Aurea (also known as Nero’s Golden House)

Location: city of Rome

Esquiline wing of the Domus Aurea

Concrete dome formed with wood formwork

Oculus (round opening) to the sky

Come comes down to octagonal edges

Has flanking rooms

Only supported by strong walls on the edges of the room, so the dome is supported by the full drum

Title: Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheater

Location: city of Rome

Entertainment arena

Engaged columns with all of the orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian), bringing cultures together and welcoming them

Separation of classes: different “gates” led to different seating sections, classism, hierarchical

Circulation with concessions, can look out

Vaulting of arches and exploration of concrete

Barrel vaults, groin vaults, keystones, internal pressure

Visual system different from the architecture, columns suggest post and lintel system, hides the vaulting systems

Title: Forum of Trajan/Column of Trajan

Architect: Apollodorus of Damascus

Location: city of Rome

Column was monument with statue of Trajan atop

Had interior, spiral staircase, viewing platform series of precisely made marble drums, stairs lead perfectly to the door

Height of the drum shows the amount of land cleared to make the forum

Relief narrative showing Trajan’s military campaign (celebration of war)

Libraries represented renewal of history

Huge vaulted lecture spaces

Title: Pantheon

Location: city of Rome

Temple of all the gods (pan)

Original one burnt, rebuilt, but Hadrian kept the original inscription on it rather than his name (honored the past)

Battles about how to proceed with architecture (Hadrian and Apollodorus argue)

Oculus: experiential, lets in the elements, sun leaves a trace, temporal change

Materials: 40ft tall monolithic granite columns, pink and grey, all the way from Egypt!

Ongoing use and maintained: transformed into church after Pagan sacrifices outlawed

Title: Canopus and Serapeum at Hadrian’s Villa

Location: city of Tivoli, Italy

Columns, statues, caryatids, arches, architrave

Half-dome dining structure overlooking Canopus, pool representing the body of water in Alexandria (Nile)

Couches, eat reclining, waterfall pouring into Canopus

Imperial excess, lavish living for royalty

Title: Five-Column Monument on the Rostra or the Tetrarchic Column Monument

Location: city of Rome

Represented the new established political system that split the empire into two territories

Celebration of jubilees, periods of rule

Represents idea of renewal, legitimizes process because of festivals on anniversaries of rule (jubilees), transfer of power on speaking platforms (Rostra)

Two rostras facing each other, each with the avatar for the emperor (Jove for Diocletion and Hercules for Maximian)

Other statues did NOT have specific inscriptions, represents the idea of creating a lasting system of rule for the future (symbol of the imperial system of renewal of leadership and power)

Title: Arch of Constantine

Location: city of Rome

Symbol of Christianity, as arch was monument for Constantine’s victory (night before, saw vision in sky with a cross, “in this sign you will conquer”)

Set up by Senators of Rome to honor Constantine

Tries to legitimize his rule by reusing panels of reliefs of past rulers, respecting past examples of good emperors in order to inherit the past

Title: Basilica of Constantine (Basilica of Maxentius)

Location: city of Rome

Previously built for Maxentius, acquired by Constantine, who put a colossal statue of him in it

Because Constantine vacated Rome to go to Constantinople in the East, this law court made decisions in his abscene, so the presence of his colossal statue ensured his influence remained as he “watches” over

Barrel vaults with coffers, groin vaults

Temperature regulation: marble-clad floor for coolness, tall ceiling because heat rises

Title: Old St. Peter’s

Location: city of Rome or Vatican City

Destroyed in 15th century, replaced

Crucification layout, apse, nave introduced

Built by Constantine as center for early Christianity

Timber roof with trusses

Processional central path

Monolithic marble columns, some reused, so different colors and types of marble = renewal of the past, Christian idea of renewal

Windows for airflow from Vitruvius

Pictorial representations through old and new testament mosaics for the illiterate

Title: Church of Santa Sabina

Location: city of Rome

One of the best preserved Christian basilicas

Wood-beam structure not exposed

Spolia columns, all are identical but came from same older building

Pattern on the marble floor promotes natural cooling

Title: Church of Santo Stefano Rotondo

Location: city of Rome

Focuses on central altar

Circle format has connotation of honoring a martyr: martyrium

Alternating open-air courtyards with closed spaces and windows for airflow

Ambulatory walkways

Relics of St. Steven put under the altar

Granite monolithic columns with new, reused capitals

Architects: Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus

Title: Hagia Sophia

Location: city of Constantinople, now Istanbul

Used to boost the political power of emperor Justinian, helped him rule by divine right especially with Procopius’s writings

Dome held up by series of arches, vaults, and half domes

Dome seems to be suspended, connected in mid-air, structure is hidden by angling thinner face of the sculpted piers to the center

Variety of marbles: different colors and locations, cut, splayed, showing veins

Light effects: lots of light poured in through windows on all sides, spatial effect especially during sunrise

Title: Church of San Vitale

Location: city of Ravenna (Italy)

In the capital in the west, protected by mud

Centrally-planned, different from basilica type

Entrance NOT on main axis, disoriented, throw people off, unsettling

Once inside, feel abundance; light, mosaics

Splayed marbles, compound piers, awe, mysterious splendor

Mosaics of Justinian, Theodora, and the bishop (as the emperor was not in-person here)

Title: Monastic Church (Katholikon) of Hosios Loukas
Location: city of Stiris, Greece

Example of cross-in-square plan

After iconoclasm, so had lots of pictures and mosaics

Squinch corners of dome, square to round, celebration of calendar events

Iconostasis screens that give people something to look at as work is done behind

Jesus as the ruler of everything appears up on the dome

Cyclical images of celebrations during certain events

Title: Umayyad Mosque

Location: city of Damascus, Syria

One of the best preserved mosques

Large open courtyard kept very clean with fountain, Islamic idea of purity

Urban mosque accomodating all communities

Reflects on the past: Damascus was important to Rome, placed on site of Temple of Zeus, then precinct for St. John the baptist, finally purchased by Al Walib

Kept the columns, capitals, and relics from St. John (continuity, ascendency from Christianity to Islam)

Devoid of figural representation, just mosaics of architectural motifs, plants, visions of paradise

Title: Great Mosque

Location: city of Córdoba, Spain

Hypostyle mosque, simpler, holds up “flat” roof (but gabled here)

Translated the House of the Prophet in Medina (courtyard, interior space, fountains for cleansing) into mosque format

Mihrab facing Mecca

Court of the Oranges, original irrigation preserved

Expanded as Islamic community expanded, accommodates the community, brought people together, served public functions such as school and gathering space

Horseshoe Arches, spolia, reuse of columns

Islam is very personal, Horseshoe arches spaced evenly for personal prayer

Great Mosque, Djenné, Mali

Mud construction, replastering, community has part in process, it is for the community (Vitruvian principle of local materials)

Architrave

Horizontal beam supported by columns, lowest horizontal part of a Classical entablature

Cornice

The uppermost section of a wall that caps it as a projecting element

Doric Order

System of coordinated columns in which the fluted columns are not supported by bases, the capital consists of a simple bowl-like form, and the entablature features a plain architrave supporting a row of triglyphs alternating with metopes, capped by a cornice

Entablatue

Upper horizontal part of a Classical order supported by columns

Comprised of an architrave, frieze, and cornice

Frieze

Horizontal band, often decorated with sculptural reliefs

Belongs to entablature or a band of ornamentation on a wall

Ionic Order

Characterized by volutes (scroll-shaped elements) in the capitals

Columns supported by bases

Continuous frieze usually containing relief sculptures

Metope

In frieze of Doric order

Rectangular area between triglyphs, occasionally left plain but sometimes decorated with sculptural reliefs

Triglyph

In a Doric frieze

Projecting block marked by vertical grooves (glyphs) between rectangular metopes

Order of Architecture

System for the forms and relationship of elements in the column and entablature of Classical architecture

Pediment

A triangular front of a Classical building, typically resting upon columns

Can also be found above doors and windows

Mihrab

Prayer niche located in the mosque’s wall that faces the direction of Mecca

Minaret

Tower attached to a mosque used for the call to prayer, which is called out by the human voice

Qibla

Literally, the direction of prayer

Indicating the orientation towards Mecca

In mosque architecture, the qibla wall indicates the directionality of prayer

Spolia

Refer to the reused architectural elements that have been placed in newer contexts

Literally, Latin term for “spoils” in the plural