Global History of Architecture - EXAM 2

Shinto

- is indigenous and polytheistic

- revolves around worship of kami

- worshiped at many shrines

- festivals, pilgrimages --> major key life passages like birth, coming of age, marriage

- Buddhism forces Shinto to formalize

- was expanded to include a rice god called Inari

Buddhism

the teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth

Guilt vs shame

- guilt : self is not the central object of negative evaluation, thing done is focus

- Shame: painful feeling about oneself as a person, negative evaluation about oneself

Jomon Period

- "Straw rope" neolithic period

- seen as first people of japan

- complex hunter/gatherers

- sedentary/ stayed in one region

- known for cord making

- impressions from rope in pottery

- had clay figurines called Dogu, found in graves

- wood architecture, thatched roofs, gives sense of community

yayoi Period

- "early spring"

- developed wet rice cultivation

- some communication with other regions

- manufactured copper weapons, ceremonial bronze bells, wheel thrown and kiln fired ceramics

- not uncommon for storage building to be lifted off the ground

- Class society emerges, clans develop, control over political and social begin to develop

kofun period (Kofun Tumuli - Royal Tombs): Lecture

- "old tombs"

- bell/key shaped tombs, mounds built primarily for members of ruling class (Grave goods)

- major building program around death

- becomes more monumental around the 4th-5th centuries, suggests more uniform power

- bodies would have been in wood or stone tombs, grave goods inside as well, had haniwa

Haniwa

- believed to have evolved form ritual vessels used for offerings to the dead

- acted as protective barrier/warding off evil spirits

- keeps soul from wandering

- became forms that resemble house, animals, people, tools

- suggests how dwellings may have looked

Roman Empire (400 CE)

- empire too large to govern effectively, corruption in the military, civil wars breaking our, head of government not always capable leader, increase in slave labor (Unemployment), prices increased and trade decreased

- split into east and west empires, west got weaker and eventually sacked by Visigoths

- roman empire becomes and ideal, dreams of restoring the empire

- emperor Constantine starts to accept that Christianity is acceptable, no longer persecuted, eventually becomes official religion

- went from polytheistic (Pagan) to monotheistic (Christian), truth is fundamentally different

- Christian system has saints, reconciling with polytheism

- bring old prestige to new capital (Constantinople)

Hippodrome

- used for chariot races

Augustine of Hippo (St. Augustine)

- reconciling Plato into Christian theology to account for differences

- idea that city of god has to be actualized in earth

- analogies being p=made between Christ and geometers (People who make things), they are not equal though

- catacombs were places of worship and burials, begin to shape iconography of early churches

Christian View of time

- has beginning and end, linear and non infinite, gods time

- second coming = time stops

- human things matter less, architect is devalued to some degree and becomes groups of people

does god want house on earth?

- embodiment of god in figure of christ legitimizes temple building, some part of him in human form of Christ

- earliest known house church is Dura-Europos, practices in private, baptism matters

- images on walls may have been used as teaching material, picture of Christ walking on water

St. Peter and St. Paul positions on churches

- St. Peter = building church of god on earth, becomes great cathedrals

- St. Paul = church in via "on the way", humble monasteries, less physical churches, should be unornamented

Christian religion

- required clear indication of in and out

- processes of initiation (Baptism)

- rituals + services now happen inside

- must determine membership

- water has a symbolic use, used for purification

- attempt to build new holy city, rushing is not high priority since time eventually ends

Roman basilica

- transforms from roman civic structure to Christian religious structure

- Basilica of Constantine, walking down long aisle to apse, altar becomes location of worship, processionals

Cruciform plan

Cross shaped floor plan

gable

a pointed part of a roof, forming a triangle

clerestory

the upper part of the nave, choir, and transepts of a large church, containing a series of windows. It is clear of the roofs of the aisles and admits light to the central parts of the building.

nave

the central part of a church building, intended to accommodate most of the congregation

aisle(s)

- in a basilica or other church, the spaces between the columns of the nave and the side walls

- leads to altars

trancept

(in a cross-shaped church) either of the two parts forming the arms of the cross shape, projecting at right angles from the nave.

apse

- A recess, usually semicircular, in the wall of a Roman basilica or at the east end of a church.

- contains the altar

- has a dome on top

altar

An elevated place or structure on which sacrifices are offered or at which religious rites are performed; in the Christian faith, a table on which the Eucharist or Holy Communion is offered.

Basilica of St. John the Lateran (Rome, Italy)

- official ecclesiastical seat of the pope

Basilica of Old St. Peter's (Rome, Italy)

- largest interior space in the world

- city and its image no longer dominated by a forum , agora, or palace

- Rome is now dominated by monasteries , baptistries, and churches scattered in clusters

- has a slightly different shape than St. J9ohns to establish it as a martyrium

- columns were taken from pre-Christian roman buildings

- on feast days it became the site of boisterous family celebrations

- the nave became a place for people to be buried

Santa Maria Maggiore (Rome, Italy)

- columns were taken from existing roman sites

- built in honor of the virgin Mary

- represented the imperial ideals of classical Rome and the new Christian Rome

Tomb of Theodoric the great (Ravenna, Italy)

- Theodoric sought to revive roman culture and government

- commissioned a palace that is known to have had a colonnaded front

- the upper level of his tomb is presumed to have been the funeral chamber where the kings remains were brought

Torii

- gate that marks the boundary between sacred and profane

Jingu (Jinja)

- public shrines for worshiping kami

- offerings cultivate harmony between humans and kami

- shrines existed after belief system was in place

- started out as stone markers, became more ornamented

Kami

Any sacred being worshipped in Shinto including nature spirits and ancestors

Chigi

rafter extensions at the gable ends of shrine buildings

Sengu Festival

- rituals involving the rebuilding of the Ise shrine

Ise Shrine Complex (Ise, Japan)

- centered around inner shrine (Naiku): dedicated to Amaterasu-Omi kami

- outer shrine (Geku): dedicated to Toyouke-Ōmikami

- almost constant rituals conducted yearly, pray for prosperity of imperial family, peace of world, abundant harvest

- most important shrine in Japan

- shrines tended to by priests

- rebuild every 20 years, alternated between two sites, cycle of renewal

Constantine the Great

- sole emperor of Rome

- built nova Roma (new Rome), second center of government

- invasions, political, economic factors led to destabilization of roman empire

- adopts Christianity as new official religion

Emperor Justinian (age of Justinian)

- starts major building campaign

- build Hagia Sophia

- effort to reclaim and restore the roman empire

- all other religions were denied legal protection and pagan temples were torn down

First entrance ritual

- had multiple symbolic meanings

- included the rejection of disbelief, the conversion of faith, and the first appearance of god

- entrance is blesses by the bishop after people bring offerings to the courtyard

- the interaction between emperor and priesthoo9d was an essential + defining moment int he integrity of the empire + the church

King Solomon & Temple of Solomon

- emperor Justinian trying to rival other great architecture at an unimaginable scale, claims he has outdone Solomon

- trying to build a universal church with hagia sophia

-

Universal Ecclesia

universal church

Pendentive Dome

- A spherical dome formed by removing four segments so that it merges with it pendentives and sits on a square plan

- like a groin vault with a hole in top middle

Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey)

- architects were Isidore & Anthemius

- domed space (one of larges int he world), meant to cover the space beneath it with its golden dome suspended from heaven

- dedicated to St. Sophia the saint of holy wisdom

- dedicated to the holy word of god (logos)

- something of this scale is seen as otherworldly

- generally quite open

- deep galleries on the north/south help create a sense of drama the pervade the building

- the windows allow for light to shine directly into the nave and help create a back lit quality

- narthex rises forcefully ad makes the church floor feel like a stage on which the Entrance of Mysteries was performed

Westwork

a monumental entrance to a Carolingian church in which two towers flank a lower central entrance

Ambulatory

a place for walking, especially an aisle around the apse or a cloister in a church or monastery to pray to relics

Tympanum

Half-round panel that fills the space between the lintle and arch over the doorway of the church.

Charles Martel

- central authority figure idea starts to go away after death of emperor Justinian

- revival of roman empire fades

- general that rules middle ages/Carolingian ages with pope

- credited with creating feudal system

- called Charles the great, eventually crowned emperor of the romans

- focuses on major building campaign, reconnect rule to roman imperial order

- church and state are not separate

- building culture through church building, investing in scholarship/knowledge

- also known as Charlemagne

Triumphal Arch

In Roman architecture, a freestanding arch commemorating an important event, such as a military victory or the opening of a new road.

Reliquary

Container for holy or revered artifact

Relic

- an object considered holy because it belonged to, or was touched by, a saint or other holy person

- can be a whole person or a piece of that person (Highest order)

- can be clothing or belongings (Second highest order)

- can be something they touched (lowest order)

Pilgrimage

- a religious journey in which physical travel had a spiritual goal

- pilgrims = Christian people who were taking a spiritual journey to visit holy sites

- would get permission from local bishop to take a vow

- travel to sites of saints with stops on the way, pay penitence for sins + offering made

- would wear robes w/ cross wide brim hats, leather bag

- was a way in which human accessed the divine

Crusade

- idea is to reclaim holy land from current residents

- most people don't travel far in this era

- starts that passage of knowledge

- brought back relics, books, etc.

- described as respected, ridiculed, treated with hostility, barbaric

- religious warfare and territorial expansion

Feudalism

(Sovereign > Lords > Knight > serf)

Romanesque

- Style of church architecture using round arches, domes, thick walls, and small windows

- early stages = undressed stones

- late stages = bigger windows, smooth stones

- materials quarried locally, craftsmanship different from place to place

Charlemagne's Palace (Aachen, Germany)

- grand entry, church +Chapel, throne room

- renovated in gothic period

- audience hall to north, inner + outer courts, Chapel to the south

Palatine Chapel (Aachen, Germany)

- auto metz = architect

- open sites, built up over time, part of urban landscape

- 16 exterior sides, 8 interior sides, altar on lowest level

- corner towers lead to tribunal area, and administrative area where Charles would sit during mass

- trying to reflect roman work to connect back to empire

- comparable to byzantine works

Gatehouse (Lorsch, Germany)

- entry threshold to complex

- called a westwork

- was an old Benedictine monastery

- held relic of St. Nazareth

- burial site on many monarchs

- refers to roman triumphal arch, less sculptural and more flat, trues to give standing of roman empire

- has upper level, uses unknown

Sainte Foy (Conques, France)

- location of pilgrimages

- plan in shape of Latin cross

- development of apses, relics are held here

- creates space for ambulation, allowed pilgrims to move around to pray to relics

- front above doorway start to tell stories of Christian text through sculpture

- Top = angels

- middle = earth (Christ)

- bottom = hell

San Clement (Rome, Italy)

- made buildings with parts of other buildings, eg. taking roman columns and using in new churches

- little concern with symmetry

Earthworks

artworks created by altering a large area of land using natural and organic materials. Earthworks are usually large-scale projects that take formal advantage of the local topography.

Fort Ancient culture

- nomadic, built defensive wood structures

- circular/rectangular houses around plaza, and they were tall

- thatched roof, supplied from local area, fenced in

Serpent Mound (Peebles, Ohio)

- 400m long

- head aligns with summer solstice, body to lunar rise, set points along it

- across the river from the village

- related to series of rituals + cosmological events

- separating domestic space form sacred space

Mayan Civilization

- starts around 2000 BCE, high point around 600-900 CE, 1200 CE = slow decline, 1400 CE = technical end

- extremely advanced and highly populated

- ruled by aristocratic nobility

- stucco base relief, cast + carved + pained material culture

- had only know written language in pre Columbian era

- pottery/ceramics are heavily ornamented + glyphs

- viewed water at animate + intelligent + living + thinking force, central to structure of universe, present at beginning of time, all water things related both literally and spiritually

- world was alive and imbued with sacredness

- locations concentrated at spaces created by the gods, tries to map civilization to god made grid to tap into godlike power left on earth (rituals)

- keep building at same site due to importance

- intention is for ruling nobility to control things

Mayan - Chichen Itza (Yucatan Peninsula)

- "mouth of the well of Itza"

- water still crucial to world views

- Cenote = water well

- temple complex/city, unwalled, jungle creates buffer

- population centers more spread out, series of raised walkways connect everything, prevents jungle from overtaking

- houses made of branches, adobe mud, painted, tied back to temple complex

- had various stepped pyramids and ball courts, includes colonnaded spaces and open spaces

Mayan - El Castillo (Temple of Kukulkan)

- stepped pyramid, masonry structure, encased in fine cut stone plastered over + painted

- arranged in a hierarchy, other sites + pyramids around it

- very steep, had 4 stair cases, 365 steps that correspond to days in a year

- 18 stepped segments = 18 months of Mayan calendar

- two room temple built on top + build over another temple

- practiced human sacrifice

- serpent appears on steps during spring + autumn equinox

Mesoamerican Ballgame (Great Ball Court - Chichen Itza)

- large rectangular courts, often very tall

- a ring sits in the middle and top of the wall

- goal is to get rubber ball through ring at top and to prevent other team from scoring or get most points, keep the ball moving

- used for more social and political reasons, used to resolve disputes

- if you lost you lose the dispute and could be put to death, could be team captain or entire team

Pueblo Bonito (Chaco Canyon, New Mexico)

- over 600 rooms, 4-5 stories high, very elaborate masonry

- called grey houses because of how distinct they are

- had begun to change form a migratory farming culture to a sedentary culture, one reason for this was the adoption of corn as food and a deity

- was a D shaped plan that stepped up, had many rooms and circular ceremonial structures, believed the stepping was to allow views of ceremonial dances

- canyon it was built in is a type of sacred site, thought that is was a ceremonial center for people who traveled from afar for certain calendrical events

Great Kiva of Pueblo Bonito

- every pueblo house had a kiva for religious purposes

- keyhole shaped

- originated as circular store houses and became semi subterranean temples

- think of the world as being a bowl and the sky as being a basket, bottom of kiva is shaped like a bowl and the wood structure that forms the top represents a basket like shape

- served as communal spaces for the performance an viewing of ritual dances

- were only for men, women allowed on special occasion

Cliff Palace (Mesa Verde, Colorado)

- The largest of its kind, this dwelling was built by the Ancestral Puebloans around 1200. It has 150 rooms and had a population of approximately 100 people.

- largest cliff dwelling in the Mesa Verde

Introduction - 400 CE

- division of China into north and south dynasties paralleled the division of the roman empire

- old Vedic world was now developing into small scale shrine cults that would eventually cohere into Hinduism, unique requirement of Buddhist temples is circumambulation around the temple

Zoroastrianism

- Zoroastrian tradition considers the dead body to be unclean

- corpse demon rushing into the body and contaminating everything

- bodies of the dead are placed atop a dakhka to be scavenged by birds

- men in outer ring, women in 2nd ring, children in center ring

- may only be entered by a special class of pallbearers

Constantinople

- built around a fusion of Christian and pagan motifs

- "pagans" were considered to be untouched by god

- Christianity injected the concept of a martyr, churches could provide both security and lawfulness

Christian Basilica

- main purpose was to enclose the devotees and focus on the apse

Ajanta Caves

- largest assemblage of Buddhist rock-cut chaityas and viharas

- located along the sheer rock wall of a dramatic c-shaped chasm carved by the waghara river

- columns were richly sculptured with floral + figural representations symbolic of the gardens where buddha preached and gained enlightenment

- capitals + bases bulge like the folds of the corpulent buddha

Vihara

- Buddhist monastery, often cut into a hill (dormitories)

- changed from simple dwellings to full fledged ceremonial spaces

- some cells associated with significant monks were transformed into shrines with their own votive buddha statues, some acquired multiple stories

- they became more ornamental + decorative, every surface was pained over

- essential symbolic message was to display the profound beauty of the life + world of buddha

caitya Window

- meditation chambers

- transformed into an abstract representation of the buddha

establishment of Chinese and central Asian Buddhism

- Baima-si is the oldest surviving temple of China, is a monastery built for the Dharmaratna by the han emperor

- not everyone thought that Buddhism was an improvement over local Confucianism and Daoist principles

Magao Caves

- the cavea are located at an important junction int he silk rout, was established as a critical center for the dissemination of Buddhist knowledge

- changes in dynasties marked new beginnings in different parts of the Dunhuang cliff

- earliest caves were simple chambers with niches _ sculptures of buddha

- most of the walls are covered by painting describing the life of buddha and various manifestations of Buddhist doctrine

- predominant colors were blue, green, red black, white, and gold

Yungang Caves

- had a small resident monk population and were meant for worship, primarily by the urban population of Datong

- first 5 caves represented the Hellenistic ideas about human representation, may have been intended as representations of the 5 north wei emperors as a way to compete with Confucian ideologies

- one cave has a column rising from floor to roof, early representation of Chinese pagoda

- the esoteric abstractions f the stupa were slowly replaced by a more graphic + literal iconography

- figure of buddha considered to be equivalent to the stupa, often superimposed onto the stupa

Kushans of Bamiyan

- protected by large Buddhist monastery

- Kushan emperor Kanishka initiated construction of two gigantic Buddhist statues among hundreds of caves, outward expression of the statues has a Hellenistic character

- most of the smaller caves were covered in paintings similar to the ones found in the Ajanta Caves

The sassanian Empire

- Hellenistic tradition of monumental architecture was revised + given its own Persian perspective

- Taq-i Kisra is an open vault flanked by massive walls decorated bottom to top with bling arcades

- the vault, iwan, was an innovation of the later Parthian era

- it thought that the arch was built without wooden supports

- the hall was adorned with a "winter carpet" of heavily woven silk adorned with gold and jewels, pattern was supposed to represent a pleasure garden

Zoroastrian Fire Temples

- fire was ranked according to its uses, lesser fires of petter and goldsmiths

- three great symbolically perceived eternal fires of the farmers, warriors, and priests

- traditionally Zoroastrians worship individually at home or in the open facing a light source, community worship was done in open air spaces around a rite lit podium

- there was a prescribed ritual for reigniting the home fire form the city fire and the city fire from the royal fire

- many ire temples were built in the vicinity of geothermal springs

- tikhi-i-Suleiman was thought to be the birthplace of Zoroaster

Hindu Renaissance

- Buddhist practices began to fuse with the surviving Vedic practices creating Hinduism

- old fire sacrifices were transformed into courtly rituals, Sanskrit became the language of the court

- Gupta maintained subject kings as vassals, did not consolidate every kingdom into one administrative unit, enabled them to maintain + profit form the trade routes

- in some cases, a Buddhist caitya hall would be reused for Hindu gods, buddha considered a manifestation on Vishnu

Hindu Temples

- temples consisted of garbha griha and the mandapa

- whole temple can be considered a two-way protal between worlds

Garbha griha

Hindi "womb chamber"; In Hindu temples the cella for the cult image or symbol

mandapa

In Hindu temples, a pillared porch or hall connected to a sanctum by a vestibule, site where most rituals and worship happened

antarala

- Vestibule or the intermediate chamber. It unites the main sanctuary and the pillared hall of the temple.

- where the worshipper and deity come into direct visual contact

Darsana

the act of visualizing the gods

Shikhara

- A tall, curving roof, often with a parabolic profile, that rises like an artificial mountain over the garbhagriha in a Hindu temple

- marks the vertical axis in the form of the cosmic mountain

- enables the worshipper to visualize the order if the complete universe as described by Hindu cosmology

- 3D model of the Hindu cosmos

Mahabodhi Temple

- started by Asoka, ordered the simple construction of a simple stone platform to mark where the buddha supposedly sat

- south gate connected to a large lotus tank, believed to be where buddha spent a week

- central chamber houses the image of the enthroned buddha of the temple

Sigirya

- was left to become a Buddhist monastery after mogdllana defeated his brother kasyapa matanga and moved back to Anuradhapura

- palace gardens were constructed on three levels

- top level was designed as a series of pavilions, cisterns, pleasure pools, and gardens

- mid level structures we4re built around the rock-cut caves used by Buddhist monks

- base level had a huge rectangular irrigated garden, Zen like, strict geometric + natural forms

- western face of the rock was covered by paintings depicting the pleasures of royal life, most destroyed so as not to disrupt meditation

The Pyu, Mon, and Funan

- pyu controlled the trade along the Irrawaddy River, was prime trade route between India and China

- had highly effective irrigation systems that allowed for agricultural production

- constructed low weirs just below natural bends in rivers to redirect water

Sri Ksetra

- "affluent holy city"

- has some of the earliest Buddhist shrines located just outside the town ( Bawbawgyi)

- is 60 meters tall, has bell shaped body that is hollow up to about 2/3 of its height

- there is an opening at the base + another one high n the other side

- contains ceramic vase, has 20 gold + silver embossed with excerpts form Buddhist manuscripts

Emergence of Christianity

- roman title "pontifer maximus" signified roman emperor was both head of state and the vicar of Christ

- synagogues stopped being built, imperial forums were abandoned and destroyed to be used for building supplies of new architecture

- milan became major center of architecture, 5 new churches built here

- has long been help that early Christian architecture evolved out of the atrium or tablinum, most churches very plain when first being built, interiors were opulent

- most services were originally held in houses and catacombs

Martyria

- Rome became an important religious and pilgrimage center, had the burial places on St. peter, St. Paul, and other martyrs

- tombs were seen as a site or reawakening on the day of the last judgement

- a churches possession of a piece of a saints/martyrs body bestowed an aura of sanctity to the edifice

Truth and History

truth and history became less centered on myths and more so on simple people doing heroic things

First Baptistries

- symbolize entry into the community of the church

- baptism is one of the 7 sacraments every member of the Christian community is subjected to

- after death a person may remain in limbo if not baptize, cleans the soul of original sin

Post - Constantinian Age

- in the east martyria became large freestanding structures

- in the west, martyr's graves are enclosed within churches

Kofun period Japan: Textbook

- each new king of the Yamato clan built a new palace + was buried in a huge earthen tomb usually int he shape of a keyhole

- round part of the tomb held the tomb, eventually built with stone chambers to allow reentry, developed into family repositories with multiple burials

- horizontal strip at top of rectangular portion was used for rituals/ceremonies

- these structures guaranteed that the spirit would have clear access to ancestor spirits

- originally the tops were filled with clay figures (Haniwas)

Haniwas

- served a substitutes for burial sacrifices + marked border of gravesite

- cylinders served as weapons or armor stands

- clay soldiers + horses were used as guardians for the journey to the spirit world

Zapotecs of Oaxaca

- believed that the universe was divided into 4 great quarters associated with 4 colors (red, black, yellow, white), center was blue green

- east/ west axis of sun was principle axis

- distinguished living things from non living this by possession of PEE (wind, breath spirit)

- PEE made things move to establish lifeforce, those with PEE had to be approached with ritual + sacrifice

- had solar and ritual calendars

- social structure was commoners + nobility

- members of nobility were descended from venerated ancestors, buried in tombs where they ascended to the sky to become "cloud people"

Monte Alban

- oldest structure is the temple of the dancers, decorated by a series of dancing figures, believed that they represent the earliest set of rulers subjugated to zapotec elite

- later zapotec temples had two chambers, and outer one for worshiper and an inner one where priests performed their rights

- rites included burning incense + both animal and human sacrifice, and practiced auto9 sacrifice by piercing parts of their body

- is primarily the place of privilege at the center of the cosmological landscape

Introduction - 600 CE

- Armenians were still building high end stone masonry buildings with techniques from the Greeks, most of their wealth came form overland trade

- the centralizing of the Chinese imperial government gave rise to large metropolitan cities, were designed as spatial imprint of imperial rule

- rice was elevated to status of a deity, rice granaries became a form of sacred architecture and eventually became a state symbol