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Terra Amata (France), c. 400,000 BCE
(^^ACTUAL DATE)
Paleolithic
Temporary home of Neanderthals (hunter gatherers) Animal hides, bark, or leaves used as roof material
Dwelling was left by the people to rot when they left the area -
Lascaux cave (France), c. 17,000 BCE
Paleolithic
Used by early homosapiens
Occupied caves which were "prebuilt"
Several caves linked like rooms
Incorporations of art; representations of art; art and architecture are inseparable
Art done by different peoples over years and years of nomadic people -
Mammoth bone hut (Mezhrych, Russia), c. 15,000 BCE
Paleolithic More permanent
Biologic symmetry
Animal hides protect against moisture -
Göbekli Tepe (Turkey), c. 11,000-8000 BCE
Mesolithic 24 oval structures, religious purpose
Oval shapes may have been made to imitate cave or refer to the heavens, or birth cycle of womb
Megaliths feature earliest examples of reliefs -
Lepenski Vir (Serbia), c. 9500-6000 BCE Transitory village built for bands of hunters
Organized and planned carefully
Semi nomadic living
More complex economy, way of managing resources
Complexity leads to organization and distinction between people -
Çatalhöyük (Turkey), c. 7000 BCE
Neolithic Agriculture and animal husbandry
Permanent settlements
No streets, just tightly packed for defense instead of having walls around the settlements
Wood frame filled with mud bricks and coated with mud
Small shrines
Trade of obsidian, economic system -
(Germany), 5500-5000 BCE A longhouse, built of wood and thatch, post and beam system
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Menhir Brisé, Locmariaquer (France), c. 4700 BCE Largest megalith (70ft tall)
Architecture that points towards the heaven for cosmic connection
Religious undertaking + community undertaking
Implies plan and design -
Avebury circle (England), c. 3600-2500 BCE
Largest henge in the world
Different stages/time of construction
Stable economy established
Most likely used for ritual or marking astronomical events -
Hagar Qim (Malta), c. 3600-2500 BCE Temple
Developed over time
Interior rooms were built independently from outer wall creating thick poche space
Megalithic construction
Corbeled vault roof
Possibly inspired by underground of Hypogeum at Hal Saflieni
Cult of motherhood
sacrifices; animal and human -
Skara Brae (Scotland), c. 3100 BCE 9 houses; all of the same size and plan
Locking doors
Drainage system
Plumbing
Furniture -
Knowth passage grave (Ireland), c. 3000 BCE Passage grave
Space beneath the surface represents the unknown -
Stage 1 (3100-2700 BC)
Henge (bank and ditch) construction, likely dug w/ deer antlers
Stage 2 (2700-2500 BC)
Wooden posts erected
Blue stones (from far away) set up in a U-shape
Stage 3
Ring of bigger bluestones put in pairs & shaped in horseshoe
Inner horseshoe (5 trilithons) & outside circle of megaliths
Horseshoes faced summer solstice sun
Stones shaped in advance
Columns/beams held-mortise and tenon
Human remains? Ancient burial ground?
Time, astrological (summer & winter solstice) -
Oval Temple (Khafaje, Iraq), c. 2650-2350 BCE Example of formal order of urban mesopotamia
Existing fabric demolished to fit the temple; hierarchy
Rectangle = godly perfection -
Mortuary complex of Djoser
Place: Saqqara
Date: c. 2650 BCE
Architect: Imhotep
Significance: stepped pyramid inspired the ziggurat towers of Mesopotamia however more abstractly because of the lack of relation to the human scale -
Stepped Pyramid of Sneferu
Place: Meidum
Date: c. 2600 BCE
Architect: n/a
Significance: 1st attempt to smooth out stepped pyramid structure into a solid pyramid; failed as the pitch was too steep to carry the loads, leading to partial collapse which revealed that pyramids inner structure rose in concentric vertical layers (onion) then was smoothed over with flat limestone to create perfect pyramid look -
Bent Pyramid of Sneferu
Place: Dahhshur
Date: c. 2600 BCE
Architect: n/a
Significance: second attempt at a solid pyramid; construction began at a steep angle however after cracks appeared halfway up, construction had to continue at a lower angle -
Kufu, Kafre, Menkaure (Pyramids of Giza)
Place: Giza
Date: 2589, 2570, 2510 BCE
Architect: n/a
Significance 1: largest building in the world, perfectly aligned to the cardinal points
Significance 2: second largest pyramid of the trio, notable for remaining limestone covering of the pyramids exterior which hints at what the pyramids might have looked like back in ancient times
Significance 3: smallest of the 3 pyramids -
Great Sphinx
Place: Giza
Date: 2550 Giza
Significance: Huge monument "guarding" the great pyramid -
Le Menec alignments, Carnac (France), c. 2500 BCE 4 fields, funerary landscapes, mass ceremonies, thousands of megaliths
Taller megaliths towards the curve of the field; leads to idea of astronomical observation
Place to remember dead, and contemplate destiny determined by the heavens
Use of objects to organize a space
Build at a monumental scale -
Passage grave (Newgrange, Ireland), c. 2500 BCE At winter solstice, sun shines directly into the rear of the grave; ritual use
Neolithic art, curvilinear and rectilinear -
Palace of Zimrilim (Mari, Syria), c. 2250 BCE 2nd major urban form of mesopotamia
Administrative and religious center -
Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu (Ur, Iraq), c. 2100 BCE Obvious exception to the densely packed city surroundings
Built on the site of another temple; a specific site is sacred
Built to last, with durable bricks on the exterior
Oriented to the cardinals axes
3 flights of stairs at right angles
arrangement of stairs reflects a ritual of hierarchical ascent -
Mortuary Temple of Mentuhotep
Place: Deir el-Bahri
Date: 2050 BCE
Architect: n/a
Significance: aligned with Mentuhotep's belief that he was a servant of the gods which contrasts with other views that kings were descended from the gods -
Gournia
Place: Crete
Date: 1600-1100 BCE
Architect: n/a
Significance: use of indirect circulation (labyrinths) as a means of defense -
Knossos/Palace of Minos
Place: crete:
Date: c. 1600 BCE
Architect: n/a
Significance: use of table leg structure symbolizing the power of the gods -
Tiryns
Place: Greece
Date: 1600-1100 BCE
Significance: the palace megaron was a predecessor of the classical temple in form and site -
Temple of Amon-Ra
Place: Karnak
Date: c. 1525-1250 BCE
Architect: N/A
Significance:
Very monumental; cleft in the middle of the pylons creating a strong axis which evoked the course of the Nile pushing through the cliff lined valley, large scale central procession surrounded by grand statues and pylons, dimly lit hypostyle with impressive and imposing columns evoked godly realm -
Temple complex at Luxor
Place: Luxor
Date: c. 1460-1250 BCE
Architect: N/A
Significance: -
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut
Place: Deir el-Bahri
Date: c. 1460 BCE
Architect: Senenmut
Significance: strong sense of central procession, rising straight into the temple -
Temple of Aten
Place: Akhentaten
Date: c. 1440 BCE
Architect: N/A
Significance: Entire structure was open to the sky which was necessary to appreciate the new religion revolving around the worship of the sun disk -
Treasury of Atreus
Place: Mycenae, Greece
Date: c. 1400 BCE
Architect:
Significance: precision; use of ashlar masonry and cyclopean dome -
Tomb of King Tutankhamen
Place: Valley of the Kings (near Luxor)
Date: c. 1350 BCE
Architect: N/A
Significance: designed to be kidden and very nondescript in order to protect from grave robbers -
Citadel Hattusha/Hattusa
Place: Turkey
Date: 1350 BCE
Significance: the buildings were adjusted to fit into the contours of the site -
Lion and Sphinx Gates at the Citadel
Place: Hattusha Turkey
Date: 1350 BCE
Significance: guarded the citadel and represented the power of the citadel -
Temple of Ramses II
Place: Abu Simbel
Date: c. 1250 BCE
Architect: N/A
Significance: In place of pylon, the cliff face itself is flanked by enormous statues of Ramses; alignment so that on the summer and winter solstices, the sun shines directly on the back of the temple chamber -
Lion's Gate
Place: Mycenae, Greece
Date: c. 1250 BCE
Architect: n/a
Significance: represented power of the gods -
The First Temple of Jerusalem
Place: Jerusalem
Date: c. 900 BCE
Architect: n/a
Significance: did not house statues of the divine but rather just their effects -
Palace of Sargon II
Place: Dur-Sharrukin
Date: 715-705 BCE
Significance: Entries to the inner palace placed asymmetrically to discourage direct access -
Ziggurat of Sargon
Place: Dur-Sharrukin
Date: 715-705 BCE
Significance: continuous upward ramp instead of extended stair (as used in Ur-Nammu) -
Dur Sharrukin
Place: Khorsabad, Iraq
Date: 705 BCE
Significance: first instance outside of Egypt to develop a city on an orthogonal plan; exceptional because of greater scale and monumentality -
New Babylon
Place: Iraq
Date: 570 BCE
Significance: religiously motivated; palace set distinctly apart from religious structure -
Ishtar Gate
Place: New Babylon
Date: 570 BCE
Significance: lined with lions to represent pride and control of Nebuchadnezzar -
Entemenanki (Enmenaki) Tower
Place: New Babylon
Date: 570 BCE
Significance: built to resemble Ur-Nammu's ziggurat at Ur with 3 stairs -
Place: Pasargadae (Iran)
Date: 530 BCE
Significance: relatively modest ad informal to reflect the values of nomadic people -
Temple of Athena
Place: Paestum, Italy
Date: 510 BCE
Significance: first instance of two orders used in the same building -
Apadana of Darius
Place: Persepolis, Iran
Date: 500 BCE
Significance: large scale -
oikos (greek urban house)
Place: Delphi, Greece
Date: c. 470 BCE
Significance: designed to be comfortable but without distinction; suggests society of equals -
rock-cut tombs of Achaemenid Dynasty
Place: Persepolis, Iran
Date: 450 BCE
Significance: cut directly into the cliff side -
Temple of Apollo
Place: Epicurus, Bassae
Date: 450-425 BCE
Architect: Iktinos
Significance: singular Corinthian column
Engaged columns inside -
Pa*R*thenon
Place: Acropolis - Athens, Greece
Date: 447-432 BCE
Architects: Iktinos and Kallikrates
Significance: Reveals refinements in the elevation which established the matchbox effect of later temples; unfamiliar breath and dignity; columns lean slightly in, upper works lean slightly out, whole structure curves toward the corners -
Propylaea
Place: Acropolis - Athens, Greece
Date: 437 BCE
Architect: Mnesikles
Significance: the gate to enter the Acropolis; transition from secular to the precinct of the sacred -
Erechtheion
Place: Acropolis - Athens, Greece
Date: 421-406 BCE
Architect: Mnesikles
Significance: Influenced the idea of the paraline drawing bc of the many interesting facades -
Temple of Poseidon
Place: Paestum, Italy
Date: 420 BCE
Significance: two story interior of cella -
Temple of Athena Nike
Place: Acropolis - Athens, Greece
Date: 420 BCE
Architect: Kallikrates
Significance: -
Temple of Athena Pronaia
Place: Delphi
Date: 380-360 BCE -
Priene
Place: Turkey
Date: 350 BCE
Significance: closed off on all four sides, signals that free movement was a thing of the past -
Choragic Monument of Lysicrates
Place: Athens
Date: 335 BCE
Significance: 1st time Corinthian order used in a monument as decoration -
Temple of Apollo at Didyma
Place: The Didymaion, Turkey
Date: 300 BCE
Significance: Stairs sized for the gods, smaller stairs for mere mortals; separation of the divine and the human -
Sanctuary of Athena Lindia at Lindos
Place: Turkey
Date: 3rd century BCE
Significance: Studied axiality, symmetry, and monumentality in the layout and interplay of light and shade -
Agora of Athens
Place: Athens
Date: 2nd century BCE-150 CE
Significance: served as the prime public space for the Greeks; located in the middle of the city unlike in front of temples or palaces as was the norm in other cultures -
Altar of Zeus
Place: Pergamon, Turkey
Date: 197-195 BCE
Significance: the gigantomachy frieze; Huge sculptural depiction of the story of gigantomachy -
Stoa of Attalos
Place: Athens Agora, Athens, Greece
Date: 159-132 BCE
Significance: Larger and more elaborate than the typical Agora, also had two stories (unusual) -
Tower of the Winds
Place: Athens
Date: 50 BCE
Significance: Each point of each sides, aligns with a cardinal direction -
The Second Temple of Jerusalem
Place: Jerusalem
Date: c. 20 BCE
Architect: n/a
Significance: built on a grand platform with a big colonnade but monumentality was criticized by nomadic peoples
