architectural history

The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelter and protection. The term "architecture" generally refers to buildings, but in its essence is much broader, including fields we now consider specialized forms of practice, such as urbanism, civil engineering, naval, military, and landscape architecture.

Trends in architecture were influenced, among other factors, by technological innovations, particularly in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. The improvement and/or use of steel, cast iron, tile, reinforced concrete, and glass helped for example Art Nouveau appear and made Beaux Arts more grandiose.

Neolithic

Göbekli Tepe, Urfa.jpg, Göbekli Tepe (Turkey), 9500-8000 BC

Hemudu Site Museum, 2017-08-12 13.jpg, Reconstructed wooden house (Hemudu, China), 5000-4500 BC

2018 07 12 Schottland (90) Skara Brae.jpg, Skara Brae (Scotland), 3200-2200 BC

Ireland 2010 etc 079.jpg, Decorated stone, Newgrange (Ireland), 3200-3100 BC

Architectural advances are an important part of the Neolithic period (10,000-2000 BC), during which some of the major innovations of human history occurred. The domestication of plants and animals, for example, led to both new economics and a new relationship between people and the world, an increase in community size and permanence, a massive development of material culture and new social and ritual solutions to enable people to live together in these communities. New styles of individual structures and their combination into settlements provided the buildings required for the new lifestyle and economy, and were also an essential element of change.

Although many dwellings belonging to all prehistoric periods and also some clay models of dwellings have been uncovered enabling the creation of faithful reconstructions, they seldom included elements that may relate them to art. Some exceptions are provided by wall decorations and by finds that equally apply to Neolithic and Chalcolithic rites and art.

In South and Southwest Asia, Neolithic cultures appear soon after 10,000 BC, initially in the Levant ( Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B) and from there spread eastwards and westwards. There are early Neolithic cultures in Southeast Anatolia, Syria and Iraq by 8000 BC, and food-producing societies first appear in southeast Europe by 7000 BC, and Central Europe by c. 5500 BC (of which the earliest cultural complexes include the Starčevo-Koros (Cris), Linearbandkeramic, and Vinča).

Neolithic settlements and "cities" include:
* Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, ca. 9,000 BC
* Jericho in the Levant, Neolithic from around 8,350 BC, arising from the earlier Epipaleolithic Natufian culture
* Nevali Cori in Turkey, ca. 8,000 BC
* Çatalhöyük in Turkey, 7,500 BC
* Mehrgarh in Pakistan, 7,000 BC
* Knap of Howar and Skara Brae, the Orkney Islands, Scotland, from 3,500 BC
* over 3,000 settlements of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, some with populations up to 15,000 residents, flourished in present-day Romania, Moldova and Ukraine from 5,400 to 2,800 BC.

Antiquity

Mesopotamian

Assyrian palaces had a large public court with a suite of apartments on the east side and a series of large banqueting halls on the south side. This was to become the traditional plan of Assyrian palaces, built and adorned for the glorification of the king. Massive amounts of ivory furniture pieces were found in some palaces.

Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin 048.jpg, Columns with clay mosaic cones from the Eanna precinct in Uruk, in southern Mesopotamia (Pergamon Museum, Berlin, Germany), 3600-3200 BC

File:Ancient ziggurat at Ali Air Base Iraq 2005.jpg, The Ziggurat of Ur, 21st century BC, Tell el-Muqayyar (Dhi Qar Province, Iraq)

File:Ishtar gate in Pergamon museum in Berlin..jpg, Reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate ( Babylonian); 605-539 BC; glazed bricks; Pergamon Museum (Berlin, Germany)

Mesopotamia is most noted for its construction of mud-brick buildings and the construction of ziggurats, occupying a prominent place in each city and consisting of an artificial mound, often rising in huge steps, surmounted by a temple. The mound was no doubt to elevate the temple to a commanding position in what was otherwise a flat river valley. The great city of Uruk had a number of religious precincts, containing many temples larger and more ambitious than any buildings previously known.

The word ''ziggurat'' is an anglicized form of the Akkadian word ''ziqqurratum'', the name given to the solid stepped towers of mud brick. It derives from the verb ''zaqaru'', ("to be high"). The buildings are described as being like mountains linking Earth and heaven. The Ziggurat of Ur, excavated by Leonard Woolley, is 64 by 46 meters at base and originally some 12 meters in height with three stories. It was built under Ur-Nammu (circa 2100 B.C.) and rebuilt under Nabonidus (555–539 B.C.), when it was increased in height to probably seven stories.

Ancient Egyptian

File:Sakkara 02a.jpg, The Pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt, 2667–2648 BC, by Imhotep

Kheops-Pyramid.jpg, Great Pyramid of Giza, Giza, Egypt, 2589-2566 BC, by Hemiunu

File:Pillars of Great Hypostyle Hall in Karnak Luxor Egypt.JPG, Hypostyle Hall of the Karnak Temple Complex, Luxor, Egypt, 1294–1213 BC
File:Abu Simbel Main Temple (2346939149).jpg, Great Temple of Abu Simbel (Egypt), 1264 BC

File:Philae temple at night.jpg, Temple of Philae, 380 BC–117 AD

File, Asuán, Egipto, 2022-04-01, DD 142.jpg, Trajan's Kiosk, Philae, Egypt, early 2nd century

File:Examples of Historical Ornament, Egyptian by Boston Public Library.jpg, Illustrations from 1874 of ornaments and patterns used by ancient Egyptians

Modern imaginings of ancient Egypt are heavily influenced by the surviving traces of monumental architecture. Many formal styles and motifs were established at the dawn of the pharaonic state, around 3100 BC. The most iconic Ancient Egyptian buildings are the pyramids, built during the Old and Middle Kingdoms (2600–1800 BC) as tombs for the pharaoh. However, there are also impressive temples, like the Karnak Temple Complex.

The Ancient Egyptians believed in the afterlife. They also believed that in order for their soul (known as '' ka'') to live eternally in their afterlife, their bodies would have to remain intact for eternity. So, they had to create a way to protect the deceased from damage and grave robbers. This way, the mastaba was born. These were adobe structures with flat roofs, which had underground rooms for the coffin, about 30 m down. Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian priest and architect, had to design a tomb for the Pharaoh Djoser. For this, he placed five mastabas, one above the next, this way creating the first Egyptian pyramid, the Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara (2667–2648 BC), which is a step pyramid. The first smooth-sided one was built by Pharaoh Sneferu, who ruled between 2613 and 2589 BC. The most imposing one is the Great Pyramid of Giza, made for Sneferu's son: Khufu (2589–2566 BC), being the last surviving wonder of the ancient world and the largest pyramid in Egypt. The stone blocks used for pyramids were held together by mortar, and the entire structure was covered with highly polished white limestone, with their tops topped in gold. What we see today is actually the core structure of the pyramid. Inside, narrow passages led to the royal burial chambers. Despite being highly associated with the Ancient Egypt, pyramids have been built by other civilisations too, like the Mayans.

Due to the lack of resources and a shift in power towards priesthood, ancient Egyptians stepped away from pyramids, and temples became the focal point of cult construction. Just like the pyramids, Ancient Egyptian temples were also spectacular and monumental. They evolved from small shrines made of perishable materials to large complexes, and by the New Kingdom (circa 1550–1070 BC) they have become massive stone structures consisting of halls and courtyards. The temple represented a sort of 'cosmos' in stone, a copy of the original mound of creation on which the god could rejuvenate himself and the world. The entrance consisted of a twin gateway ( pylon), symbolizing the hills of the horizon. Inside there were columned halls symbolizing a primeval papyrus thicket. It was followed by a series of hallways of decreasing size, until the sanctuary was reached, where a god's cult statue was placed. Back in ancient times, temples were painted in bright colours, mainly red, blue, yellow, green, orange, and white. Because of the desert climate of Egypt, some parts of these painted surfaces were preserved well, especially in interiors.

An architectural element specific to ancient Egyptian architecture is the cavetto cornice (a concave moulding), introduced by the end of the Old Kingdom. It was widely used to accentuate the top of almost every formal pharaonic building. Because of how often it was used, it will later decorate many Egyptian Revival buildings and objects.

Harappan

File:Archaeological Site of Harappa by smn121 -20.JPG, The ruins of Harappa (Punjab, present–day Pakistan), circa 2550 BC
File:Mohenjodaro - view of the stupa mound.JPG, The ruins of Mohenjo–daro (Sindh), circa 1700 BC

The first Urban Civilization in the Indian subcontinent is traceable originally to the Indus Valley civilisation mainly in Mohenjodaro

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