Map of the World - Spatial Conceptions and Architectural Worldviews

Vocabulary flashcards covering historical architectural worldviews, spatial conceptions, urban planning, and structural developments across Indigenous South America, the Islamic World, and Ancient China.

Spatial Conceptions

The ideas and principles that define our understanding and organization of space and the relationships between objects and people within it, involving concepts such as location, distance, order, patterns, enclosure, and flow.

Micromegas

A series of drawings by architect Daniel Libeskind demonstrating how architects use mapping to visualize abstract ideas and create three-dimensional experimentation.

Quipu (khipu)

An Incan recording system of knotted cords with the potential to encode up to 1,536 information units, exceeding the information units of ancient cuneiform or hieroglyphics.

Tawantinsuyo

A Quechua term meaning "Realm of the Four Parts," referring to the Incan Empire and its four administrative quarters radiating from the capital city of Cuzco.

Inca

A Quechua word meaning "ruler" or "lord," originally referring specifically to the divine ruler or ruling class before the Spanish adopted it to refer to all subjects of the empire.

Split Inheritance

An Incan succession process where upon an Inca ruler's death, his title passed to one son, while his lands and property went to a corporation controlled by other relatives, forcing each new ruler to build a new residence and conquer new territory.

Qhapaq Ñan

The main Inka royal road network spanning thousands of miles along both the mountain and coastal terrains of the Andes.

Chasquis

Incan relay running messengers stationed along the Inka road system to convey official communications across the empire.

Tambos

Incan roadside structures positioned at strategic intervals along roads to provide support, shelter, and supplies to travelers and llama pack trains.

Qullqas

Incan administrative center warehouses built along roads for storing and redistributing agricultural produce and manufactured goods.

Machu Picchu

An Incan royal estate developed by ruler Pachacuti around 1460 CE in the Andes, serving as a royal retreat, agricultural center, astronomical observatory, and pilgrimage site.

Coricancha (Qorikancha)

Meaning "Golden Temple" or "Temple of the Sun" in Quechua, this sanctuary built around 1200 CE in Cuzco was the holiest site in Incan mythology.

Timgad, Algeria

A Roman military encampment city established around 100 CE whose rigid orthogonal grid plan served as an urban planning prototype throughout the Roman Empire.

Pantheon

An ancient Roman temple in Rome dedicated to seven planetary deities, featuring a traditional exterior porch, a circular cella, and a hemispherical dome with a central oculus.

Caliph

An Arabic title (khalifah) meaning "successor," given to the supreme political and religious leaders of the Islamic community following Prophet Mohammed.

The Kaaba

A cube-shaped structure inside the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, revered as the most sacred site in Islam, constructed by Abraham and Ishmael according to the Qur'an.

Qibla Wall

The interior wall of a mosque oriented directly toward the Kaaba in Mecca, establishing the direction Muslims face during daily prayers.

Round City of Baghdad

A perfectly circular planned city founded on July 30, 762 CE by Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur, drawing on Sasanian urban principles to symbolize divine harmony, order, and imperial power.

Yin and Yang

A ancient Chinese philosophy representing the balance of complementary opposites (literally "shadow and light"), such as dark and light, water and fire, or female and male.

Confucianism

A conservative, ordered, and authoritarian Chinese philosophy established by Kong Fuzi (Confucius) emphasizing personal moral integrity, veneration of ancestors, respect for authority, and strict social hierarchy.

Daoism

A liberal and spontaneous Chinese philosophy founded by Laozi based on "the Dao" ("the way"), celebrating the variation, mystery, and natural patterns of the environment.

Suzhou Gardens

A group of 9 classical UNESCO World Heritage gardens in Jiangsu, China, built over 1,000 years by retired imperial officials to mimic natural scenery for meditation.

Feng Shui

The traditional Chinese spatial system of aligning buildings, settlements, and grave sites with surrounding topographic features (mountains and water) to harmonize with climate and site energy.

Lo Shu Magic Square

A 3x3 numerical grid diagram associated with Feng Shui that maps cardinal directions, seasons, elements, and trigrams in traditional Chinese cosmology.

Kao Gong Ji

A 5th-century BCE Chinese city planning manual based on Confucian principles, dictating a square walled capital city oriented to cardinal directions with 3 gates per side.

Chang'an (Xi'an)

The capital city of the Tang Dynasty covering roughly 30 square miles, organized on an orthogonal grid with 108 walled residential blocks adhering to the Kao Gong Ji.

Forbidden City

The innermost walled imperial palace complex in Beijing, accessible only after passing through four successive concentric sets of fortified city walls and surrounding moats.