history of architecture i - lesson 1: intro

The history of architecture as a

tour

The Architect's dream 1840, T. Cole

Buildings and their representationsplans, sections, models, sketches

Malatesta Temple, Rimini, 15th century. Leon Battista Alberti

Model of the new Saint Peter church, Rome. 16th century. Antonio da Sangallo

Hagia Sophia, Constantinople-istanbul. 6th century. Isidoros, Anthemios

Sketches and plan of the National Assembly of Dakka, Banglades. 20h century. Louis Kahn

The Colosseum, painting. 19th century. J-B. Corot The Colosseum, engraving. 18 th century, G.B. Piranesi

Sources and their interpretationwritten documents, reports, bills, descriptionshow to configure a disappeared building?

The description of the Tomb of Mausolos at Alikarnassos given by Pliny the Elder furnishes important data:

It was 18 mt on the north and south sides, and shorter on the front. Its entire circuit was 130 mt, and the height [of this part?] was 11 mt, around the pteron (peristyle) were 36 columns. Four famous artists wrought the sculptures on the several fronts. A pyramid equal to the lower part in height surmounted the pteron, diminishing in 24 steps to a meta (generally a steep cone or pyramid). On the summit was a marble chariot the work of Pythis (Pythios, the architect), the total height being 41,5 mt.

Different reconstruction drawings of the Tomb of Mausolos, 19th century.

The (Total) Context of Architecture

Suleymaniye mosque, Istanbul, 16th century. Mimar Sinan.

Moreover...there is not an objective approach among

historians neither an universal or a historical method

history is manufactured by historians, hypothetically there are many histories as there

are historians

According to Spiro Kostof methodwe will consider four basic aspects:

1 Material aspects (architectural techniques, technologies,

compositions, typologies etc..)

2 Physical context (natural sites versus cities)

3 All buildings are important (monuments versus buildings)

4 Cultural aspects and meanings (why a building was built in

that shape?)

1 The Unity of Architecture

Cathedral of Monreale, Palermo, 12th century.

Structure vs Aesthetic

Tour Eiffel, Paris, 19th century. Engineer Eiffel. Parthenon, Athens, 5 th century BC. Ictinos and Callicrates

Hagia Sophia, Constantinople-istanbul. 6th century. Isidoros, Anthemios

2 The Context of Architecture

Istanbul in the 18th century.

Architecture is not static experience

How buildings are depicted inform us about their perception through history

Parthenon in a engraving of the 18th century.

Parthenon in a reconstruction of the 19th century.

Buildings built in the 19th century following the model of the Parthenon. Bank of Philadelphia, left, Walalla, right.

Parthenon in Le Corbusier sketches at the beginning of the 20th century.

3 The Community of ArchitectureArchitecture vs Buildings

Houses in Olynthos, Greece. 4th century BC. Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek, Lebanon, 2nd century.

Architecture vs BuildingsVenustas, Utilitas, Firmitas

The Vitruvius ten books of architecture, 1st century.

Architecture without Architects

Salonica in the 19th century, the Ottoman settlement.

The medieval town of Anticoli close to Rome, Italy.

Architecture and Values

an example:Ornaments or Crimes?

Non-Western Architecture

Persepolis Gate of All Lands, Iran, 6th century BC.

The giant vaulted hall of Taq Kisra, a Parthian palace on the Tigris, Iraq, 6th century.

4 Meaning of Buildingstradition vs traditions

rituals

The emperor Justinian is donating the building of Hagia Sophia Reconstruction of the Solomon temple of Jerusalem

Pyramids of Giza, 3rd Millennium BC.