“A versatile main text that works well for both general humanities courses

ROTH T H I R D E D I T I O N

Understanding
and more advanced classes in architectural history.”
—Dr. David Seamon, Kansas State University CLARK
“Powerful and moving.”

Architecture
—Judith Cushman-Hammer, Appalachian State University

UNDERSTANDING
ARCHITECTURE
This widely acclaimed, beautifully illustrated survey of Western architecture is now fully
revised throughout, including essays on non-Western traditions. The expanded book vividly
examines the structure, function, history, and meaning of architecture in ways that are both
accessible and engaging.
Significant features of the third edition include:
Its Elements, History, and Meaning
• Increased global coverage, with new essays on Africa, Japan, China, India, Islamic
architecture, and the architecture of the Americas.
• A new chapter covering twenty-first century architecture.
• Updated coverage of sustainable and green architecture and its impact on design.
• Revised historical survey and expanded and illustrated timeline.
• Thoroughly revised and expanded art program, including more than 650 black and
white images–135 new to this edition, and more than 200 line art drawings created
by author Leland M. Roth. A new 32-page, full-color insert features more than 50
new color images.
Understanding Architecture continues to be the only text in the field to examine architecture
as a cultural phenomenon as well as an artistic and technological achievement with its
straightforward, two-part structure: The Elements of Architecture and The History and
Meaning of Architecture. Comprehensive and clearly written, Understanding Architecture is
a classic survey of architecture.
Leland M. Roth is Marion Dean Ross Professor of Architectural History Emeritus at the
University of Oregon at Eugene. Dr. Roth is the author of American Architecture: A History
(Westview Press), McKim, Mead & White, and other works.
Amanda C. Roth Clark received her Doctor of Philosophy from The University of
Alabama, completing her doctoral work on the topic of contemporary artists’ books. She
holds Master and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Oregon in the fields of
Western architectural history and Asian art. She is the daughter of Leland M. Roth.
Cover Image: Rafael Moneo, Museum of Roman Art, Mérida, Spain, 1980-1986. © Lluís Casals, Fotografia de Arquitectura.
Cover Design: Miguel Santana & Wendy Halitzer
THIRD
EDITION

LELAND M. ROTH
AND
www.routledge.com
AMANDA C. ROTH CLARK
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:10 PM Page i

Understanding Architecture
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:10 PM Page ii

Louis I. Kahn, The Phillips Exeter Library, Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire, 1965–1971. A good example of what
Louis Kahn meant when he said “architecture is what nature cannot make.” Photo: Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of
Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:10 PM Page iii

Understanding
Architecture
Its Elements, History, and Meaning

T HIRD E DITION

Leland M. Roth
and
Amanda C. Roth Clark

New York London

9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/29/13 10:39 AM Page iv

First published 2014 by Westview Press

Published 2018 by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright © 2014 by Leland M. Roth and Amanda C. Roth Clark

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Every effort has been made to secure required permissions for all text, images, maps, and other art
reprinted in this volume.

Design and composition by Trish Wilkinson

Set in 9.5-point Goudy Old Style

Photo research by Sue Howard

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Roth, Leland M.
Understanding architecture: its elements, history, and meaning / Leland M. Roth and
Amanda C. Roth Clark.—Third edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8133-4903-9 (pbk.)
1. Architecture. 2. Architecture—History. I. Title.
NA2500.R68 2013
720.9—dc23 2013028188

ISBN 13: 9780813349039 (pbk)

9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:10 PM Page v

Contents

List of Illustrations xi
Preface xxxv

Introduction 1

Part I
The Elements of Architecture

1 Architecture: The Art of Shaping of Space 9

2 “Commoditie”: Building Functions 21

Function, 22

3 “Firmeness”: Structure, or How Does the Building Stand Up? 33

Elements of the Oldest Architecture, 36
The Elements of Lithic (Stone) Structure: The Post and Lintel, 39
The Classical Orders, 42
Structural Frames, 44
The Arch, 46
Vaults, 47
Domes, 48
Trusses, 53
Space Frames and Geodesic Domes, 54
Shells, 54
Suspension Structures, 56
Building Technology and Risk, 65
Structure as Cultural Expression, 66

4 “Delight”: Seeing Architecture 69

Visual Perception, 69
Proportion, 75
Scale, 76
Rhythm, 79

v
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vi Contents

Texture, 82
Light, 87
Color, 87
Ugliness, 91
Ornament, 91

5 Architecture and Sound 103

Hearing Buildings, 103
Sound: Focusing and Dispersing, 104
Sound: Lingering and Echoing, 105
Shaping Early Church Music, 107
The Synchronous Development of Orchestras and Orchestral Halls, 111

6 Architecture: Part of the Natural Environment 117

Buildings, Sun, and Heat, 117
Buildings and the Wind, 126
The Chemistry of Buildings, 131

7 The Architect: From High Priest to Profession 135

8 Architecture, Memory, and Economics 153

Economics and Historic Preservation, 153

Chronology 160

Part II
The History and Meaning of Architecture

9 The Beginnings of Architecture: From Caves to Cities 165

Early Hominids, 165
Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens, 167
Neolithic Dwellings and Structures, 171
Western European Megaliths, 177
From Villages to Cities, 182
The Invention of Architecture, 185

10 The Architecture of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt 187

Mesopotamia: The Land Between the Rivers, 187
Egypt: The Gift of the Nile, 194
The Landscape of Egypt, 194
The Culture of Egypt, 196
Egyptian History, 198
Egyptian Funerary Architecture, 200
Egyptian Tombs, 206
The Temple of Amon at Karnak and Other Egyptian Temples, 207
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Contents vii

Egyptian Villages and Houses, 212

Late Egyptian Architecture, 215
An Architecture for Eternity, 217

11 Greek Architecture 219

The Geography of Greece, 219
Minoan and Mycenaean Greece, 220
The Greek Character, 224
The Greek Polis, 225
Greek City Planning, 226
Domestic Architecture, 230
Public Buildings, 230
The Greek Temple, 234
Hellenistic Architecture, 244
An Architecture of Excellence, 247

12 Roman Architecture 249

Roman History, 249
The Roman Character, 251
Roman Religion and the Roman Temple, 252
Roman Urban Planning, 254
The Enclosure and Manipulation of Space, 257
Domestic Architecture, 263
Public Buildings, 266
Later Roman “Baroque” Architecture, 272
An Architecture of Universality, 272

E S S AY 1: Indian Architecture 275

13 Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture 283

The Transformation of the Roman Empire, 283
Early Christian Architecture, 285
The Movement of Peoples, 293
Monasticism, 295
Byzantine Architecture, 295
An Architecture of Heaven, 305

E S S AY 2: Islamic Architecture 307

Islamic Architecture and the West, 307
Islam Develops, 307
The Mosque, 308
Secular Islamic Buildings, 309
Islamic Architecture in Spain, 311
Islamic Architecture in India, 312
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viii Contents

14 Medieval Architecture 315

The Early Middle Ages, 316
The High Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture, 337

15 Renaissance Architecture 365

Italy in the Fifteenth Century, 365
The Renaissance Patron, 367
Humanism, 367
Roman Building Scale Re-achieved: Brunelleschi’s Dome, 368
Vitruvius and Ideal Form, 371
Brunelleschi and Rationally Ordered Space, 373
Idealized Forms and the Centrally Planned Church, 377
Alberti’s Latin Cross Churches, 379
Bramante and the New Saint Peter’s, Rome, 381
Residential Architecture: Merchant Prince Palaces, 388
Mannerism: Renaissance Perfection in Play, 393
The Palazzo del Te, 394
Late Italian Renaissance Gardens, 397
The Renaissance Exported, 400
An Architecture of Humanist Ideals, 406

E S S AY 3: Ancient Architecture in the Americas 409

Central America, 409

16 Baroque and Rococo Architecture 415

An Architecture for the Senses, 416
Baroque Churches in Rome, 417
An Architecture of Emotional Power, 418
The Central Plan Modified: Bernini’s Churches, 422
Borromini’s Churches, 424
Guarini’s Churches, 429
Baroque Scale, 431
French Baroque: Versailles, 434
English Baroque, 438
The Baroque Staircase, 442
Rococo Architecture: The End of the Baroque, 447
An Architecture of Artifice, 453

E S S AY 4: Chinese Architecture 455

17 The Origins of Modernism: Architecture in the

Age of Enlightenment, 1720–1790 463
The Emergence of Art and Architectural History, 466
A Rational Architecture: Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, 469
“Speaking Architecture,” 470
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Contents ix

Designing the City, 472

The English Garden: “Consult the Genius of the Place”, 483
Eclecticism and the Architecture of Revolutions, 489
The Industrial Revolution, 492
An Architecture of Rationality, 493

E S S AY 5: Japanese Architecture 497

18 The Roots of Modernism: The Nineteenth Century 505

Neoclassicism, 506
The Gothic Revival, 509
Egyptian Revival, 512
Creative Eclecticism, 516
The Architecture of the New Industrialism, 521
Industry and Urban Growth, 525
Reaction to the Machine, 531
Academic Eclecticism and The École des Beaux-Arts, 537

E S S AY 6: African Architecture 549

19 Versions of Modern Architecture, 1914–1970 557

An Architecture of Its Own Time, 557
Creative Eclecticism (Redux), 561
National Romanticism, 563
Modernism: Phase One, 1914–1940, 566
A Counter-Architecture to Rationalism: German Expressionism in the 1920s, 568
Functional Utilitarianism and the Rise of International Modernism, 571
Modernism: Phase Two, 1945–1970, 582
Modernism: Form Follows Function—or the Other Way Around?, 584
Brutalism: The Rough Edge of Modernism, 603
An Architecture of Perfect Function: Success or Failure?, 605

20 The Expansion of Modernism:

From the Twentieth Century into the Twenty-First 609
Postmodernism Emerges, 611
Late Modernism or Neo-Modernism, 639
Sculpted (Shaped) Modernism, 630
High Tech, 632
Megastructures, 633
Offices Above the Clouds, 636
The International Architect, 639
Resurgent Expressionism, 641
Deconstructivism, 644
Critical Regionalism, 647
Building Communities, 652
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21 Into the Twenty-First Century 657

Suggested Readings 689

Notes 685
Glossary 711
Index 725
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List of Illustrations

Louis I. Kahn, The Phillips Exeter Library, Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire, 1965–1971.
Photo: Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. ii

Introduction
1 Nest of the South American rufous-breasted castle builder. From P. Goodfellow, Birds as Builders
(New York, 1977). 2
2 Section view of the shell of a chambered nautilus. Photo: L. M. Roth. xxxviii
3 Lane Transit District Bicycle Shed, Eugene, Oregon,1984. Photo: L. M. Roth. 3
4 Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln, England, 1192–1280. Photo: Edwin Smith, London. 4
5 Henry J. Goodwin, Big Donut Shop, Los Angeles, California, 1954. Photo: L. M. Roth. 5

Part I
The Elements of Architecture

Stonehenge, 2600–2400 BCE. Photo courtesy of Marian Card Donnelly. 6

1 Architecture: The Art of Shaping of Space

1.1 Frank Lloyd Wright, Lloyd Lewis House, Libertyville, Illinois, 1939. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 10
1.2 Lloyd Lewis House. Photo by Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History Museum. 10
1.3 Lloyd Lewis House. Photo by Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History Museum. 11
1.4 Lloyd Lewis House. Photo by Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History Museum 12
1.5 Sir Charles Barry and A. W. N. Pugin, House of Commons chamber, Houses of Parliament, London,
England, 1836–1870; restored 1946. Photo: © Richard Bryant/Arcaid/Corbis. 13
1.6 Piazza di San Marco, Venice, Italy, 830–1640. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 13
1.7 Piazza di San Marco. Photo: © Yann Arthus-Bertrand/Corbis. 14
1.8 Frank Lloyd Wright, Edgar Kaufmann residence, Fallingwater, near Mill Run, Pennsylvania,
1936–1938. Drawing: M. Burgess and L. M. Roth. 14
1.9 Shokin-tei (Pine-Lute Pavilion), Imperial Villa of Katsura, near Kyoto, Japan, 1645–1649.
Photo from: Akira Naito, Katsura: A Princely Retreat (Tokyo, 1977). 15
1.10 Shoi-ken (Laughing Thoughts Pavilion), Imperial Villa of Katsura, 1645–1649.
Drawing: L. M. Roth. 15
1.11 Charles A. Platt, William F. Fahnestock House, Katonah, New York, 1909–1924 (demolished).
Drawing: L. M. Roth. 16
1.12 Salisbury Cathedral nave, Salisbury, England, 1220–1266, Interior, nave. Photo: Anthony Scibilia/
Art Resource, NY. 8
1.13 Cave temple, Karli, India, c. 100 CE. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Susan and John Huntington,
The Art of Ancient India (New York, 1985). 17
1.14 Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy, 1298–1310. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 18

xi
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xii List of Illustrations

1.15 Filippo Brunelleschi and others, Piazza Annunziata, Florence, Italy, begun 1419.
Drawing: L. M. Roth. 18
1.16 An example of personal space. Photo courtesy of photographer John Ferri, from his 2011
photo series “Bench.” 19

2 “Commoditie”: Building Functions

2.1 Peter Behrens, AEG Turbine Factory, Berlin, Germany, 1908. Photo: Foto Marburg/
Art Resource, NY. 23
2.2 Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer, Fagus Factory administrative wing, Alfeld-an-der-Leine,
Germany, 1911–1912. Photo: Vanni/Art Resource, NY. © Artists Rights Society (ARS)
New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. 23
2.3 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois,
1952–1956. Photo: Rosenthal Collection, Department of Art History, Northwestern University. 24
2.4 Charles Garnier, Paris Opéra, Paris, France, 1861–1875. Stair Hall. Painting in the Musée
Carnavalet, Paris; photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 25
2.5 Adler & Sullivan, Wainwright Building, Saint Louis, Missouri, 1890–1891. Photo by
Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History Museum. 20
2.6 Alvar Aalto, Mount Angel Abbey Library, Mount Angel, Oregon, 1967–1971.
Drawing: L. M. Roth. 26
2.7 Mies van der Rohe, Boiler House, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois, 1940.
Heating plant building. Photo by Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History Museum. 27
2.8 Pietro Belluschi, Zion Lutheran Church, Portland, Oregon, 1950. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto.
All rights reserved. 28
2.9 Cass Gilbert, Minnesota State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1895–1905. Photo: L. M. Roth. 29
2.10 Eero Saarinen, Trans World Airlines Terminal, John F. Kennedy Airport, New York, NY, 1956–1962.
Photo: L. M. Roth. 29
2.11 Todd Tierney and Bill Lee, with landscape architect, RiverBend Sacred Heart Medical Center,
Eugene-Springfield, Oregon, 2002–2008. Photo: L. M. Roth, 2013. 30

3 “Firmeness”: Structure, or How Does the Building Stand Up?

3.1 Temple of Poseidon, Paestum, Italy, c. 550 BCE. Photo: G. E. Kidder-Smith. 32
3.2 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Lever House, New York, 1951–1952. Photo: L. M. Roth. 34
3.3 Diagram illustrating varying subsoil conditions in Chicago. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 35
3.4 Guglielmo, Giovanni di Simone, and Tommaso di Andrea Pisano, Campanile Tower of Pisa,
1173–1350. Photo: Art Resource, NY. 36
3.5 Paulsen and Gardner, Shapero Hall of Pharmacy, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 1965.
Photo: University Archives, Wayne State University. 37
3.6 Frank Furness, Provident Life and Trust Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1876–1879
(demolished c. 1950). Photo: Penrose Collection, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 37
3.7 Choir of Saint-Pierre Beauvais, France 1225–1569. Photo: Anthony Scibilia/Art Resource, NY. 38
3.8 Algonquian longhouse and wigwam dwelling types. Photo: Copyright Marilyn Angel Wynn. Courtesy
of The Institute for American Indian Studies, Washington, CT. 39
3.9 Taos Pueblo, Taos, New Mexico, c. 1450. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved. 40
3.10 Diagram of the post and lintel system. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 40
3.11 Valley Temple, Pyramid of Khafre, Giza, Egypt, c. 2570–2500 BCE. Photo: Hirmer Verlag,
Munich. 41
3.12 Diagram of a cantilever. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 41
3.13 Balcony House, Mesa Verde, Colorado, c. 1250–1280. Photo: L. M. Roth. 42
3.14 Comparison of the five Classical orders. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 43
3.15 Doric capital (Parthenon, Athens). From: Stuart & Revett, Antiquities of Athens
(London, 1762). 43
3.16 Ionic Capitol (Erechtheion, north porch, Athens). From: Stuart & Revett, Antiquities of Athens
(London, 1762). 44
3.17 Corinthian capital (adapted from Choragic Monument of Lysiscrates). From: Stuart & Revett,
Antiquities of Athens (London, 1762). 44
3.18 Pilaster and engaged column. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 44
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List of Illustrations xiii

3.19 Balloon frame. Photo: L. M. Roth. 45

3.20 Steel frame of the Lake Shore Drive Apartment towers under construction, designed by
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1948–1951. Photo by Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History Museum 45
3.21 Diagram of an arch system. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 46
3.22 Diagram of an arcade. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 47
3.23 Pont du Gard Nîmes, France, 25 BCE. Photo: Touring Club de France, Paris. 47
3.24 Diagram of a tunnel or barrel vault. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 48
3.25 Diagram of a groin vault. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 48
3.26 Basilica of Maxentius, Rome, Italy, 307–312 CE. From: Boëthius and Ward-Perkins, Etruscan and
Roman Architecture (Harmondsworth, England, 1970). 48
3.27 Giovanni Paolo Panini, Interior of the Pantheon, c. 1750. Photo: Samuel H. Kress Collection
Image © 2005 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington 49
3.28 Diagram of pendentives. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 50
3.29 Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey, 532–537. Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY. 51
3.30 Diagram of rib vaulting. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 52
3.31 Robert de Luzarches, Notre-Dame de Amiens, Amiens, France, 1221–1269. Photo: L. M. Roth. 52
3.32 Comparison of truss types. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 53
3.33 C. F. Murphy and Associates, McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois, 1970–1971. Photo: Courtesy,
Murphy-Jahn. 54
3.34 C. F. Murphy and Associates, Kemper Crosby Memorial Arena, Kansas City, Missouri, 1975.
Photo: Courtesy, Murphy-Jahn. 55
3.35 R. Buckminster Fuller. United States Pavilion, 1967 World’s Fair, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1967
(destroyed by fire, 1976). Photo: Ilse Friesmen, courtesy of R. Buckminster Fuller. 55
3.36 Fèlix Candela, restaurant, Xochimilco, Mexico, 1958. Photo: George Andrews, courtesy of the
Visual Resources Collection, Architecture & Allied Arts Library, University of Oregon. 56
3.37 Cerny Associates, Minneapolis International Airport Terminal, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1962–1963.
Photo: Ron Tadsen. 57
3.38 Harrison and Abramovitz with Ammann and Whitney, engineers, University of Illinois Assembly Hall,
Champaign, Illinois, 1961–1962. Photo: Courtesy, University of Illinois. 57
3.39 Eduardo Torroja, Hippodrome, Zarzuela Horse Racetrack, Madrid, Spain, 1935–1936. Photo:
From W. Hoffmann and U. Kultermann, Modern Architecture in Color (New York, 1970). 58
3.40 Qeswachaka suspension bridge, over the Apurimac River, 62 miles from Cuzco, Peru, first built
well before 1533. Photo: Isaiah Brookshire. 58
3.41 John Augustus Roebling, Brooklyn Bridge, New York, NY, 1867–1883. Photo: Courtesy,
The Long Island Historical Society. 59
3.42 Eero Saarinen, Dulles International Airport Terminal, Washington, DC, 1958–1962.
Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved. 60
3.43 Gunnar Birkerts, Federal Reserve Bank, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1972–1973.
Drawing: David Rabbitt. 60
3.44 Rhone and Iredale, with Bogue and Babicki, engineers, Westcoast Transmission Building, Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada, 1968–1969. Photo: Jack Lindsay, Vancouver, Canada. 61
3.45 Blackfeet Yellow Buffalo tipi with a group of women preparing a new tipi cover. Courtesy of the
Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Library, Yale University. 62
3.46 Frei Otto, German Pavilion, 1967 World’s Fair Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1967. Photo:
From W. Hoffmann and U. Kultermann, Modern Architecture in Color (New York, 1970). 63
3.47 Fentress Bradburn Architects, Denver International Airport arrival terminal, Denver, Colorado,
1991–1995. Photo courtesy of Fentress Bradburn Architects. 64
3.48 Yutaka Murata Fuji Pavilion, 1970 World’s Fair, Osaka, Japan, 1970. Photo: From D. Sharp, A
Visual History of Twentieth-Century Architecture (Greenwich, CT, 1972). 64
3.49 Hyatt Regency Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri, built 1978–1980; the skybridges collapsed July 17, 1981.
Photo: From The Kansas City Star, July 18, 1981 © 1981 McClatchy. 65

4 “Delight”: Seeing Architecture

4.1 Diagram of seven dots illustrating the concept of proximity. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 70
4.2 Row of dots illustrating the concept of repetition. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 70
4.3 Diagrams illustrating the concept of continuity and closure. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 70
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xiv List of Illustrations

4.4 Figure/ground illustration. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 71

4.5 Notre-Dame de Chartres, Chartres, France, 1134–1507. Photo: Clive Hicks, London. 68
4.6 Mies van der Rohe, Federal Center Chicago, Illinois, 1959–1964. Photo by Hedrich Blessing.
Chicago History Museum. 72
4.7 Kallmann, McKinnel and Knowles, Boston City Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, 1961–1968.
Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved. 73
4.8 Walter Gropius, Memorial to the March Victims, Weimar, Germany, 1920. Photo: © Wayne
Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved. 73
4.9 Diagram of a square root of 2 rectangle. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 74
4.10 Diagram of a square root of 5 rectangle. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 74
4.11 Diagram showing how a line can be divided with drafting tools, or rope and pegs on the ground,
so that the portions have the proportion of the Golden Section. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 75
4.12 Golden Section rectangle. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 75
4.13 Logarithmic spirals based on the Golden Section. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 76
4.14 Le Corbusier, diagram of the Modulor man, 1947. Photo from Peter Blake, The Master Builders
(New York, 1960). 77
4.15 Le Corbusier, Unité d’Habitation, Marseilles, France, 1946–1952. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto.
All rights reserved. 77
4.16 Michelangelo, Basilica of Saint Peter, Rome, Italy, 1549–1564. Photo: Leonard von Matt. 78
4.17 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Beinecke Rare Book Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut,
1960–1963. Photo: Courtesy, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. 79
4.18 Giulio Romano, Palazzo del Te, Mantua, Italy, 1527–1534. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 80
4.19 Mies van der Rohe, 860–880 Lake Shore Drive (Lakeshore Drive Apartments), Chicago, Illinois,
1948–1951. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 81
4.20 Le Corbusier, Secretariat Building, Chandigarh, India, 1951–1958. Photo: John E. Tomkins, courtesy
of the Visual Resource Collection, Architecture & Allied Arts Library, University of Oregon. 81
4.21 Alvar Aalto, Baker House, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Photo: C. Condit Collection, Department of Art History, Northwestern University. 82
4.22 Paul Rudolph, Art and Architecture Building, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 1958–1964.
Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto. 83
4.23 Art and Architecture Building, Yale University. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 84
4.24 Frank Lloyd Wright, Edgar Kaufmann residence, Fallingwater, near Mill Run, Pennsylvania,
1936–1938. Photo by Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History Museum. 84
4.25 André Le Nôtre, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France, 1661–c. 1750. Photo: © Eye Ubiquitous/
Alamy. 85
4.26 Imperial Villa of Katsura near Kyoto, Japan, 1620–1658. Photo: From Akira Naito, Katsura:
A Princely Retreat (Tokyo and New York, 1977). 86
4.27 Palace at Knossos, Crete, c. 1700–1380 BCE. Photo: © Walter Bibikow/JAI/Corbis. 88
4.28 Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, France. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 89
4.29 Adolf Loos, Steiner House, Vienna, Austria, 1910. Photo: From N. Ponente, The Structures of the
Modern World, 1850–1900 (New York, 1965). 92
4.30 Samuel and Joseph Newsom, William M. Carson House, Eureka, California, 1884–1885.
Photo: Library of Congress, HABS CAL 12-EUR 6–2. 93
4.31 Notre-Dame de Amiens, Amiens, France, 1221–1269. Photo: Sandak, University of Georgia. 94
4.32 Harrison and Abramovitz, Philharmonic Hall, New York, NY, 1960–1962. Photo: ©1976 Lincoln
Center for the Performing Arts, New York, by Norman McGrath. 95
4.33 Cyril M. Harris with Philip Johnson, Avery Fisher Hall (formerly Philharmonic Hall), New York, NY,
1971–1974 (1973, during renovation). Photo: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York,
by Sam Spirito. 95
4.34 Notre-Dame de Reims, Reims, France. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 96
4.35 Cass Gilbert Woolworth Building, New York, NY, 1911–1913. Photo: C. Condit Collection,
Department of Art History, Northwestern University. 97
4.36 Notre-Dame de Chartres, Chartres, France, 1194–1220. Photo: H. Roger-Viollet. 98
4.37 Aerial view of the sacred precinct, Olympia, Greece, showing the Temple of Zeus, fifth century BCE.
From A. E. Lawrence, Greek Architecture (Harmondsworth, England, 1967). 99
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List of Illustrations xv

4.38 Libon (architect), west end of the Temple of Zeus, Olympia, Greece, 470–456 BCE.
From J. Hurwit. “Narrative Resonance . . . at Olympia,” Art Bulletin 69 (March 1987). 100
4.39 East end of the Temple of Zeus, Olympia. From Berve and Gruben, Greek Temples, Theaters
and Shrines (New York 1963). 100
4.40 Figure of Seer. Photo: Alison Frantz. 101

5 Architecture and Sound

5.1 Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese, Rome, Italy, begun 1535.
Photo: Leonard von Matt. 102
5.2 Diagram showing reflection of sound waves and how curved surfaces can disperse or focus reflected
sound. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 104
5.3 Captain Francis Fowke with George Gilbert Scott, Royal Albert Hall, London, England, 1867–1871.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after G. C. Izenour. 105
5.4 Royal Albert Hall, Section. From G. C. Izenour, Theater Design (New York, 1977). 106
5.5 Andrea Palladio, Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, Italy, 1580–1584. Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, NY. 107
5.6 Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, Italy. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after G. C. Izenour. 108
5.7 Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, Italy. From G. C. Izenour, Theater Design (New York, 1977). 108
5.8 San Apollinare in Classe, outside Ravenna, Italy, 530–549. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 109
5.9 Thomaskirche, Leipzig, Germany. Photo: Berlin, Archiv für Kunst and Geschichte. 110
5.10 Theophil von Hansen, Musikvereinsgebaude, Vienna, Austria, 1867–1870. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after Izenour. 112
5.11 Musikvereinsgebaude, Vienna. From G. C. Izenour, Theater Design (New York, 1977). 112
5.12 Otto Brückwald and Carl Brandt, Festspielhaus, Bayreuth, Germany, 1872–1876.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Izenour. 113
5.13 Festspielhaus, Bayreuth, Germany. From G. C. Izenour, Theater Design (New York, 1977). 113
5.14 McKim, Mead & White, Boston Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, 1892–1900.
Photo: L. M. Roth. 114
5.15 Boston Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts. From G. C. Izenour, Theater Design
(New York, 1977). 114

6 Architecture: Part of the Natural Environment

6.1 Le Corbusier, High Court Building, Chandigarh, Punjab, India, 1951–1956. Photo: Fernando
Stankuns. 116
6.2 Cliff Palace (Anasazi village), Mesa Verde, Colorado, c. 1200–c. 1300. Photo: Lindsay Hall, courtesy
of the Visual Resources Collection, Architecture and Allied Arts Library, University of Oregon. 118
6.3 Drawing of a typical adobe dwelling in the American Southwest, showing the thick walls and roof
structure that serve to retard solar heat buildup. From J. M. Fitch, American Building:
The Environmental Forces That Shape It (Boston, 1972). 119
6.4 Time-temperature chart for an adobe dwelling, showing properties of thermal insulation and heat
flow retardation provided by thick adobe masses. From J. M. Fitch, American Building:
The Environmental Forces That Shape It (Boston, 1972). 119
6.5 Diagram of an Inuit (Eskimo) igloo. From J. M. Fitch, American Building: The Environmental
Forces That Shape It (Boston, 1972). 120
6.6 Time-temperature chart for an igloo, showing properties of thermal insulation of packed snow.
From J. M. Fitch, American Building: The Environmental Forces That Shape It
(Boston, 1972). 121
6.7 Shaykh Baha’ al-Din (attrib.) and Ustad Abdul Qasim, Masjid-i-Shah Mosque, Isfahan,
Persia (Iran), 1611–1638. Photo: Wallace Baldinger, courtesy of Visual Resources Collection,
Architecture & Allied Arts Library, University of Oregon. 122
6.8 Frank Lloyd Wright, Frederick C. Robie House, Chicago, Illinois, 1908–1909. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after Mary Banham. 123
6.9 George Fred Keck and William Keck, Hugh D. Duncan house, Flossmoor, Illinois, 1941.
Photo: C. Condit Collection, Department of Art History, Northwestern University. 124
6.10 Le Corbusier, Cité de Refuge (Salvation Army Hostel), Paris, France, 1929–1933.
Photo: C. Condit Collection, Department of Art History, Northwestern University. 125
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6.11 Le Corbusier, High Court Building, Chandigarh, Punjab, India, 1951–1956. Photo: John E. Tompkins,
1965, Visual Resources Collection, Architecture & Allied Arts Library, University of Oregon. 125
6.12 Ken Yeang, Menara Mesiniaga (IBM) Tower, Subang Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1992.
Photo: Courtesy of Ken Yeang. 126
6.13 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with Philip Johnson, Seagram Building, New York, NY, 1954–1958.
Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto. 127
6.14 Seagram Building. Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto. 127
6.15 Philip Johnson, Johnson House, New Canaan, Connecticut, 1945–1949. Photo: Alexandre Georges,
courtesy of Philip Johnson. 128
6.16 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, John Hancock Center, Chicago, Illinois, 1965–1970.
Photo: L. M. Roth. 129
6.17 I. M. Pei, John Hancock Tower, Boston, Massachusetts, 1966–1975. Photo: Spencer Grant/
Archive Photos/Getty Images. 130
6.18 Hugh Stubbins, House of World Cultures (originally built as the West Berlin Congress Hall),
Berlin, Germany, 1957; roof collapsed 1980; rebuilt. Photo: Vanni/Art Resource, NY. 131

7 The Architect: From High Priest to Profession

7.1 Portrait sculpture of Anton Pilgrams (c. 1460–1516), sculptor of the pulpit of St. Stephens and
architect of several churches in Swabia and Rottweil, in St. Stephens, Vienna. Photo: Gianni Dagli
Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY. 134
7.2 Portrait of Senmut holding Nefurure, princess and daughter of Pharaoh Hatshepsut, c. 1470 BCE.
© The Trustees of the British Museum/Art Resource, NY. 136
7.3 Redrawing of an Egyptian papyrus drawing showing the side elevation of a shrine, c. Eighteenth
Dynasty (Turin, Italy). Drawing: L. M. Roth, after a XVIII Dynasty papyrus, Museo Egiziano,
Turin. 137
7.4 Plan of a house inscribed on a clay tablet, c. 2300 BCE; found in Tell Asmar, Iraq.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after a tablet from Tell Asmar, Oriental Museum, Chicago. 137
7.5 Portrait figure of Gudea of Lagash. c. 2200 BCE. Photo: The Louvre, Paris. 138
7.6 Plan of ideal monastery, Saint Gall, Switzerland, c. 814. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after the Saint Gall
parchment in Horn, Born, and Adalard, The Plan of St. Gall . . . (Berkeley, 1979). 139
7.7 Schematic diagram of Saint Gall Monastery plan showing layout of the various buildings.
Diagram by Kenneth J. Conant. From Kenneth J. Conant, Carolingian and Romanesque
Architecture, 800 to 1200 (Harmondsworth, England, 1966). 140
7.8 Villard de Honnecourt, c. 1220. From J.B.A. Lassus, Album de Villard de Honnecourt, architecte
du XIIIe siècle; manuscript publié en facsimile (Paris, 1858). 141
7.9 Tombstone of Hugh Libergier, Notre-Dame de Reims, thirteenth century. Photo: Drawing Association,
Cathedral of Our Lady of Reims, courtesy of Père Jean-Marie Guerlin, Curé de la Cathedrale de
Reims. 142
7.10 Raphael, School of Athens fresco, Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican Palace, Rome, Italy, 1509–1511.
Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 143
7.11 Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, “The Tuscan Doric Order,” Plate 4 from Regola delli cinque ordini
d’architettura, Book IV (Rome, 1562). Courtesy, Avery Library, Columbia University. 145
7.12 Andrea Palladio, Villa Capra (Villa Rotonda), outside Vicenza, Italy, c. 1550, plate 13 from
Book II of Palladio’s Four Books of Architecture. Courtesy, Avery Library, Columbia University.
146
7.13 Gian Lorenzo Bernini, first design for the east facade of the Louvre, Paris, France, 1664–1665.
Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY. 147
7.14 Claude Perrault, Louis Le Vau, and Charles Le Brun, East Wing, the Louvre, Paris, 1667–1671.
Photo: L. M. Roth, 2003. 147
7.15 Sir John Soane, Bank of England, Consols Transfer Office, London, England, 1799.
From M. Richardson and M. Steens, eds., John Soane, Architect: Master of Space and Light
(London, 1999). 149
7.16 Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Baltimore Cathedral, Baltimore, Maryland, 1804–1821. Photo: Courtesy,
Diocese of Baltimore and the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore. 150
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8 Architecture, Memory, and Economics

8.0 Pennsylvania Station, New York, June, 1965, showing the construction of the new subterranean
station spaces while demolition was already in progress. Photo: Louis Reens, published on the cover of
Progressive Architecture, June 1965. 152
8.1 McKim, Mead & White, Pennsylvania Station, New York, NY, 1902–1910, demolished 1963–1965.
Photo: Avery Library, Columbia University, New York. 156
8.2 Charles Luckman Associates, Pennsylvania Station, New York, NY, 1966–1968. Photo: William E.
Sauro, The New York Times/Redux. 157
8.3 Taj Mahal, Agra, India, 1630–1653. Photo: Scala/Art Resource NY. 158

Part II
The History and Meaning of Architecture

Göbekli Tepe, southeastern Turkey. Photo: Berthold Steinhilber/laif/Redux. 162

9 The Beginnings of Architecture: From Caves to Cities

9.1 Map of Europe, 30,000–5,000 BP. 167
9.2 Terra Amata, Homo erectus dwelling, Nice, France, c. 400,000–300,000 before present (BP).
From Scientific American, May 1969. 168
9.3 Cro-Magnon dwelling, Ukraine, c. 46,000–14,000 BP. From Scientific American, June 1974. 169
9.4 Monte Verde dwellings plan, together with reconstructed view, Monte Verde site, Chile, c. 14,800 to
13,800 years ago. Drawing: L. M. Roth after T. Dillehay, Monte Verde (Washington, DC, 1997);
with conjectural perspective view from Scientific American, October, 1984, with permission. 172
9.5 Middle Stone Age village, Lepenski Vir, Serbia, c. 5200–4800 BP. From D. Srejović, New Discoveries
at Lepenski Vir (New York, 1972). 173
9.6 Clay model of a house, Strelice (near Brno), Czech Republic, c. 4700 BP. From N. K. Sandars,
Prehistoric Art in Europe (Harmondsworth, England, 1968). 173
9.7 View of the reconstructed village at Lake Biskupion, Poland, archaeological remains dated 1000–500
BCE. Photo: Ludek. 174
9.8 Temple structure, Göbekli Tepe, southeastern Turkey, c. 9,600 BCE. Photo: © National Geographic
Image Collection/Alamy. 175
9.9 Star observatory, Nabta Playa, Egypt, 4,800–4,000 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth after
T. G. Brophy, The Origin Map . . . (2002). 176
9.10 Aerial view of aligned stone uprights, Carnac, Brittany, France, c. 4700 BP and after.
Photo: French Government Tourist Office, New York. 177
9.11 Temple complex called Ggantija, Malta, c. 4200–2900 BP. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 178
9.12 Lanyon Quoit, Cornwall, England, c. 3200 BP. Photo: Visual Resources Collection, Architecture &
Allied Arts, University of Oregon. 179
9.13 New Grange tomb, Boyne Valley, near Dublin, Ireland, c. 3200–3000 BCE.
Drawing: L. M. Roth. 180
9.14 Stonehenge III, Salisbury plain, Wiltshire, England, c. 2000–1500 BCE. Photo: Aerofilms,
London. 181
9.15 Stonehenge, on the Salisbury plain of Wiltshire, England. Photo: © Adam Woolfitt/Corbis. 164
9.16 Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, off Scotland, c. 3200–2200 BCE. Drawing: David Rabbitt. 182
9.17 Skara Brae. Photo: Courtesy, Marian Card Donnelly. 183
9.18 View of Level I, Çatalhöyük, Turkey, c. 7500 BCE. From J. Mellaart, Çatal Hüyük (New York,
1967). 184

10 The Architecture of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt

10.1 Map of Ancient Mesopotamia. 188
10.2 A view of the inside of a “vaulted” house in the southern delta of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Source: US Army Corps of Engineers. 190
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10.3 White Temple, Uruk (in present-day southern Iraq), c. 3500–3100 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after H. Frankfurt, Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient (New Haven, 1966). 190
10.4 Ziggurat of the moon god Nannar, Ur (in present-day southern Iraq), c. 2113–2006 BCE. Photo:
Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich. 191
10.5 The Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar with the Ishtar Gate, c. 575 BCE. Photo: Courtesy, the
Oriental Institute, University of Chicago. 193
10.6 Map of Ancient Egypt. 195
10.7 Village at El Kahun, Egypt, c. 1897–1878 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after W.M.F. Petrie,
Illahun, Kahun, and Gurob (London, 1891). 197
10.8 Cutaway view of a mastaba. From Smith, Egyptian Architecture As Cultural Expression
(New York, 1938). 200
10.9 Palace of Khasekhemwy, Abydos, Egypt, c. 2780 BCE. Photo: © Mike P Shepherd/Alamy. 201
10.10 Imhotep Pyramid of Zoser, Saqqara, Egypt, c. 2750 BCE. Drawing: A. Stockler and L. M. Roth. 202
10.11 Pyramid of Zoser. Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich. 203
10.12 Pyramid complex at Giza, Egypt, c. 2680–2560 BCE. Photo: Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY. 203
10.13 Plan of the Giza pyramid group. Drawing: A. Stockler. 204
10.14 Pyramid of Khufu, Giza, Egypt, c. 2680–2560 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after A. Fahkry,
The Pyramids (1961). 205
10.15 Senmut, Tomb of Queen Hatshepsut, Deir el Bahri, Egypt, c. 1500 BCE. Photo: Hirmer Verlag,
Munich. 208
10.16 Plan of the Tomb of Queen Hatshepsut. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after J. L. de Cenival, Living
Architecture: Egyptian (New York, 1964). 208
10.17 General plan of the temple complex at Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, c. 2000–323 BCE.
Drawing: A. Stockler and L. M. Roth, after Badawy, Architecture in Ancient Egypt
(Cambridge, MA, 1966). 210
10.18 Temple of Khonsu at Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, c. 1170 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after B. Fletcher,
A History of Architecture (New York, 1931). 211
10.19 Cutaway perspective of Temple of Khonsu. From B. Fletcher, A History of Architecture
(New York, 1931). 211
10.20 Temple of Amon at Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, c. 2000–323 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after B. Fletcher, A History of Architecture (New York, 1931). 212
10.21 Hypostyle Hall, Temple of Amon, Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, c. 1315–1235 BCE. Photo: Erich Lessing/
Art Resource, NY. 186
10.22 Hypostyle Hall, Temple of Amon, Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, c. 1315–1235 BCE. Photo: Gianni Dagli
Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY. 213
10.23 Suburban villa, Akhetaten (today’s Tel el Amarna), “Horizon of the Aten,” Egypt, c. 1379–1362
BCE. Photo: Courtesy, University of Chicago. 214
10.24 Plan of villa at Akhetaten (Tel el Amarna). Plan Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Lloyd, Muller, and
Martin, Ancient Architecture (New York, 1973). 214
10.25 Plan of the tomb-artisans’ village of Deir el-Medina, Egypt, begun c. 1530 BCE. Drawing: L. M.
Roth, after Lloyd, Muller, and Martin, Ancient Architecture (New York, 1973). 215
10.26 One of the artisans’ houses at Deir el-Medina. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after James, Introduction to
Ancient Egypt (New York, 1989). 216
10.27 Temple of Horus, Edfu, Egypt, 237–212 BCE. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 216

11 Greek Architecture
11.1 Map of Ancient Greece. 220
11.2 Royal Palace, Knossos, Crete, 1600 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after S. Hood and W. Taylor,
The Bronze Age Palace at Knossos (London, 1981). 221
11.3 City walls and Lion Gate, Mycenae, Greece, c. 1300 BCE. Photo: Manuel Cohen/The Art Archive at
Art Resource, NY. 222
11.4 Akropolis Palace, Tiryns, Greece, c. 1400–1200 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 223
11.5 Megaron unit, Akropolis Palace, Tiryns, Greece, c. 1400–1200 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 223
11.6 Topographic Map of Athens, c. 400 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Travlos, Pictorial Dictionary
of Ancient Athens (London, 1971). 227
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11.7 Akropolis, Athens, Greece, viewed from the west. Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich. 228
11.8 Agora, Athens, Greece, c. 100 BCE. Drawing: B. Huxley and L. M. Roth, after Travlos, Pictorial
Dictionary of Ancient Athens (London, 1971). 228
11.9 Hippodamos (architect), plan of the city of Miletos, Asia Minor, c. 450 BCE.
Drawing: L. M. Roth. 229
11.10 Plan of Priene, Asia Minor, c. 450 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 230
11.11 Artisans’ houses near the Agora, Athens, Greece, c. 350 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Travlos,
Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens (London, 1971). 231
11.12 House, Priene, Asia Minor, c. 450 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 231
11.13 Stoa of Attalos, Athens, Greece, c. 150 BCE. Photo: © Bettmann/Corbis. 231
11.14 Bouleuterion, Priene, Asia Minor. 200 BCE. From Lawrence, Greek Architecture (Harmondsworth,
England, 1967). 232
11.15 Polykleitos the Younger, Theater, Epidauros, Greece, c. 350 BCE. Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv,
Munich. 233
11.16 Theater, Epidauros, Greece. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after G. C. Izenour, Theater Design
(New York, 1977). 233
11.17 Temenos, or sacred precinct, Olympia, Greece, fifth century BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
Lawrence, Greek Architecture (1967). 235
11.18 Libon (architect), Temple of Zeus, Olympia, Greece, c. 468–460 BCE. Drawing: A. Stockler. 235
11.19 Akropolis, Athens, Greece. Drawing: L. M. Roth after Travlos, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient
Athens (London, 1971). 236
11.20 Temple of Athena Nike, Akropolis, Athens, Greece, c. 435–420 BCE. Photo: NGS Image Collection/
The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY. 237
11.21 Temple of Athena Nike, Akropolis, Athens, Greece, c. 435–420 BCE. Photo: A. Frantz. 218
11.22 Mnesikles (architect), Propylaia, Akropolis, Athens, Greece, c. 437–432 BCE.
Photo: A. Frantz. 237
11.23 Propylaia. Drawing: G. P. Stevens. 238
11.24 Erechtheion temple, Akropolis, Athens, Greece, 421–405 BCE. Photo: A. Frantz. 239
11.25 Erechtheion. Plan Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Travlos, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens
(London, 1971). 239
11.26 Iktinos and Kallikrates (architects), Parthenon (Temple of Athena Parthenos), Athens, Greece,
447–438 BCE. Drawing: A. Stockler. 241
11.27 Parthenon. West front viewed from lower court. Restoration drawing by Gorham Phillips Stevens. 241
11.28 Parthenon. View of the west end. Photo: A. Franz. 242
11.29 Parthenon. Detail of corner columns. Photo: © Werner Forman/Corbis. 243
11.30 Paionios of Ephesos and Daphnis of Miletos (architects), Temple of Apollo Didyma, outside
Miletos, Asia Minor, begun c. 330 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Lawrence, Greek
Architecture (1967). 245
11.31 Temple of Apollo at Didyma. Photo: Hirmer Verlag, Munich. 245
11.32 “The Treasury,” Petra, Jordan, c. 100–200 BCE. Photo: © 2006 John Hedgecoe/TopFoto/
The Image Works. 246

12 Roman Architecture
12.1 Map of Roman Empire. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 250
12.2 Maison Carrée, Nîmes, France (the Roman city of Nemausus, Gaul), begun c. 19 BCE.
Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved. 253
12.3 Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia Praeneste (Palestrina), Italy, c. 80 BCE. From Brown,
Roman Architecture (New York, 1961). 254
12.4 Pompeii, Italy. Plan of the city. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Boethius and Ward-Perkins,
Etruscan and Roman Architecture (Harmondsworth, England, 1970). 255
12.5 Plan of the Forum, Pompeii, Italy. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Boethius and Ward-Perkins,
Etruscan and Roman Architecture (Harmondsworth, England, 1970). 255
12.6 Plan. Thamugadi (Timgad), Algeria, founded in 100 CE. Drawing: A. Stockler and L. M. Roth. 256
12.7 Schematic map of the City of Rome, third century CE, showing major buildings and forums.
Drawing: L. M. Roth. 257
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xx List of Illustrations

12.8 The Forum Romanum and the Imperial Forums, Rome, c. 54 BCE–117 CE. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after Sear, Roman Architecture (London, 1982). 258
12.9 Apollodorus of Damascus, Basilica Ulpia, Forum of Trajan, Rome, Italy, 98–117 CE.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after MacDonald, Architecture of the Roman Empire (New Haven, 1965).
260
12.10 Basilica Ulpia. From B. Fletcher, A History of Architecture (New York, 1931). 260
12.11 Basilica of Maxentius, Rome, Italy, 307–325 CE. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 261
12.12 Pantheon, Rome, Italy, 118–28 CE. Plan Drawing: M. Burgess. 262
12.13 Pantheon. Drawing: M. Burgess. 262
12.14 Forum of the Pantheon, Rome, Italy. From Axel Böethius and John B. Ward-Perkins, Etruscan and
Roman Architecture (Baltimore, 1970). 263
12.15 Severus and Celer (architects), House of Nero, the Domus Aurea (House of Gold), Rome,
64–68 CE. Drawing: M. Burgess, after MacDonald, Architecture of the Roman Empire
(New Haven, 1965). 263
12.16 Domus Aurea. Photo: Fototeca Unione, American Academy in Rome. 264
12.17 Apartment blocks (insulae), Ostia, Italy, late first and second centuries. Model. Photo: From Brown,
Roman Architecture (1961). 265
12.18 House of Pansa, Pompeii, Italy, second century BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after W. F. Jashemski. 265
12.19 Theater of Marcellus, Rome, Italy, finished 12 BCE. From Axel Boëthius and John B. Ward-Perkins,
Etruscan and Roman Architecture (Harmondsworth, England, 1970). 267
12.20 Theater of Marcellus. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Kähler, The Art of Rome and Her Empire
(New York, 1963). 267
12.21 Zeno of Theodorus, Theater, Aspendos, Pamphylia (Turkey), c. 155 CE. From G. C. Izenour, Theater
Design (New York, 1977). 268
12.22 Flavian Amphitheater (the Colosseum), Rome, Italy, begun, c. 80 CE. From Axel Böethius and John
B. Ward-Perkins, Etruscan and Roman Architecture (Harmondsworth, England, 1970). 269
12.23 Flavian Amphitheater (the Colosseum). Photo: Fotocielo. 269
12.24 Baths of Caracalla. Rome, Italy, 212–216 CE. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after B. Fletcher, A History of
Architecture (New York, 1931). 270
12.25 Baths of Caracalla. Photo: Album/Art Resource, NY. 271
12.26 Baths of Caracalla. From R. Phené Spiers, The Architecture of Greece and Rome
(London, 1907). 248
12.27 Temple of Venus, Baalbek, Lebanon, third century CE. Photo: From T. Wiegand, Baalbek, vol. 2
(Berlin, 1923–1925). 273

Essay 1 Indian Architecture

IN-1 Angkor Wat, Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, begun c. 1120 CE. Photo: SEF/
Art Resource, NY. 274
IN-2 Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, India, c. 1025–1050 CE.
Photo: © DeA Picture Library/Art Resource, NY. 277
IN-3 Angkor Wat, Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, begun c. 1120 CE. SEF/Art Resource, NY. 278
IN-4 The Great Stupa, Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India, 273–236 BCE. Photo: © Robert Harding
Picture Library Ltd/Alamy. 279

13 Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture

13.1 Map of Europe, 300–850. 284
13.2 Christian church, Dura-Europus, Syrian-Iraqi border, c. 230–232. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after M. Rostovtzeff. 286
13.3 Basilica of Saint Peter (Old Saint Peter’s), Rome, Italy, 319–329. Drawing: Kenneth J. Conant;
courtesy, Loeb Library, Harvard University. 288
13.4 Old Saint Peter’s. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 289
13.5 Santa Sabina, Rome, Italy, 422–432. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 289
13.6 San Apollinare in Classe, outside Ravenna, Italy, c. 531–549. Photo: Alinari/Art Resource,
New York. 290
13.7 San Apollinare in Classe. Drawing: W. Chin. 290
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13.8 San Apollinare in Classe. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 291

13.9 Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Israel, c. 326–333. Drawing: M. Waterman. 292
13.10 Zenobius (architect), Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem, Israel, 325–336.
Drawing: M. Waterman. 292
13.11 Mausoleum of Constantina (Santa Costanza), Rome, Italy, 350. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 293
13.12 Mausoleum of Constantina (Santa Costanza). Drawing: L. M. Roth. 294
13.13 Mausoleum of Constantina (Santa Costanza). Photo from Henry A. Millon, ed., Key Monuments of
the History of Architecture (New York, 1964). 296
13.14 San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, 532–548. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Mango, Byzantine Architecture
(New York, 1977). 296
13.15 San Vitale. Photo: Cameraphoto Arte, Venice/Art Resource, NY. 296
13.16 Anthemios of Tralles and Isidoros of Miletos, Hagia Sophia (Church of Divine Wisdom), Istanbul,
Turkey, 532–537. Photo: G. E. Kidder Smith, New York. 297
13.17 Hagia Sophia. Drawing: L. Bier and L. M. Roth. 298
13.18 Hagia Sophia. Drawing: T. Cheun. 299
13.19 Hagia Sophia. Drawing: T Cheun. 299
13.20 Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey, 532–537. Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY 282
13.21 Diagram of Byzantine church types, showing arrangement of domes. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 300
13.22 Hagia Eirene (Church of the Holy Peace), Istanbul, Turkey, begun 532. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after Mango, Byzantine Architecture (New York, 1977). 300
13.23 Hagia Eirene, Istanbul. Photo: Josephine Powell, from Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine
Architecture (New York, 1986). 301
13.24 Church of the Holy Apostles, Salonika, Greece, 1312–1315. Photo: Alison Frantz. 302
13.25 Church of the Holy Apostles, Salonika. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Mango, Byzantine Architecture
(New York, 1977). 302
13.26 Church of San Marco (Saint Mark’s), Venice, Italy, 1063–1095. Photo: Erich Lessing/
Art Resource, NY. 303
13.27 Church of San Marco, Venice. Photo: From Henry A. Millon, ed., Key Monuments in the
History of Architecture (New York, 1964). 304
13.28 Church of San Marco, Venice. Drawing: L. Mack and L. M. Roth, after Mango, Byzantine
Architecture (New York, 1977). 304

Essay 2 Islamic Architecture

IS-1 Jameh (Friday) Mosque of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran, eighth to twelfth centuries. Photo: Gianni Dagli
Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY. 306
IS-2 Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, Israel, 689–691. Photo: SEF/Art Resource, NY. 309
IS-3 Masjid-i shah Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 1611–c. 1630. Photo: Mondadori Portfolio/Electa/
Art Resource, NY. 310
IS-4 Court of the Lions, Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain, c. 1362–1391. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/
The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY. 311
IS-5 King’s Gate, Palace of Fatehpur Sikri, India, 1571–1586. Photo: © imagebroker/Alamy. 313

14 Medieval Architecture
14.0 Elias of Dereham, Wells Cathedral, Wells, England, 1174–1490. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/
The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY. 314
14.1 Map of Europe, c. 814. 316
14.2 Palace of Charlemagne, Aachen, Germany, c. 790–810. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 317
14.3 Odo of Metz, Palace Chapel of Charlemagne, Aachen, Germany, 792–805. Photo: Dr. Harald Busch,
Frankfurt am Main. 318
14.4 View of a motte and bailey castle. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 319
14.5 Keep of Dover Castle, Dover, England, 1180s. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 320
14.6 Dover Castle. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Brown, The Architecture of Castles
(New York, 1984). 320
14.7 Krak des Chevaliers, near Tartus, Syria, 1142–1170. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at
Art Resource, NY. 321
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14.8 James of Saint George, Harlech Castle, Merionethshire, Wales, 1283–1290. Photo: Aerofilms,
London. 322
14.9 Harlech Castle. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Brown, The Architecture of Castles
(New York, 1984). 322
14.10 Monastery of Saint-Martin-du-Canigou in the French Pyrenees, 1001–1026. Photo: From Gustav
Künstler, ed., Romanesque Art in Europe (Greenwich, CT, 1968). 324
14.11 Saint-Martin-du-Canigou. Photo: From Kenneth J. Conant, Carolingian and Romanesque
Architecture, 800 to 1200 (Harmondsworth, England, 1966). 325
14.12 Saint-Martin-du-Canigou. Photo: Foto Mas. 326
14.13 Plan at Saint Gall Monastery Library, Saint Gall, Switzerland, c. 814. From Kenneth J. Conant,
Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture, 800 to 1200 (1966). 326
14.14 Gunzo (architect), Monastery of Cluny III, Cluny, France, 1088–1130. Drawing: Kenneth J. Conant;
courtesy of Loeb Library, Harvard University. 327
14.15 Cluny III. Drawing: Kenneth J. Conant; courtesy, Loeb Library, Harvard University. 328
14.16 Monastery Church of Saint Michael, Hildesheim, Germany, 993–1022. Photo: A. F. Kersting,
London. 329
14.17 Church of Saint Michael, Hildesheim, Germany. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 329
14.18 Map of the medieval pilgrimage routes, 1000–1250. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
Kenneth J. Conant. 330
14.19 Church of Sainte-Foy, Conques, France, 1040–1130. Photo: Richard Tobias. 331
14.20 Sainte-Foy, Conques. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 332
14.21 Sainte-Foy, Conques. Photo: Architecture Photos, Paris, SPADEM. 333
14.22 Church of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, France, 1077–1125. Photo: Yan, Toulouse. 334
14.23 Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. Drawing: C. Zettle, after Dehio. 335
14.24 Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Dehio. 335
14.25 Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. Photo: Jean Roubier, Paris. 336
14.26 Saint-Philibert, Tournous, France, c. 1008–c. 1120. Photo: Jean Roubier. 337
14.27 San Miniato al Monte, Florence, Italy, 1062–c. 1200. Photo: Vanni Archive/Art Resource, NY. 338
14.28 Durham Cathedral, Durham, England, 1093–1133. Photo: A. F. Kersting, London. 339
14.29 Durham Cathedral. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Kenneth J. Conant, Carolingian and Romanesque
Architecture, 800 to 1200 (1966). 340
14.30 Map of Europe, 1250–1450. 341
14.31 Abbey Church of Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, France, 1135–1144. Photo: © Vanni Archive/
Art Resource, NY. 343
14.32 Saint-Denis. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after S. Crosby. 345
14.33 Saint-Denis. Photo: University of Munich, Kunstgeschichtliches Seminar. 345
14.34 Church of Notre-Dame de Paris, Paris, France, 1163–1250. Photo: Jean Roubier, Paris. 346
14.35 Notre-Dame de Paris. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after B. Fletcher, A History of Architecture
(New York, 1931). 346
14.36 Robert de Luzarches, Thomas de Cormont, and Regnault de Cormont, Notre-Dame de Amiens,
Amiens, France, 1220–1269. Photo: © LL/Roger-Viollet/The Image Works. 347
14.37 Notre-Dame de Amiens. Drawing: L. Maak, after Dehio. 348
14.38 Notre-Dame de Amiens. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Dehio and Viollet-le-Duc. 348
14.39 Notre-Dame de Amiens. Photo: Vanni Archive/Art Resource, NY. 349
14.40 Church of Saint-Pierre, Beauvais, France, 1225–1548. Photo: Prèsidence du Conseil Phototèque,
Paris. 351
14.41 Saint-Pierre, Beauvais. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Dehio. 351
14.42 Saint-Pierre, Beauvais. Photo: Anthony Scibilia/Art Resource, NY. 352
14.43 Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, England, 1220–1266. Photo: Aerofilms Ltd. 353
14.44 Salisbury Cathedral. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Dehio. 354
14.45 Thomas de Cormont, Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, France, 1240–1247. Drawing: P. Boundy,
after H. Stierlin. 355
14.46 Henry Yevele and Hugh Herland, Westminster Hall, Palace of Westminster, London, England, 1394.
Photo: Country Life, London. 356
14.47 Saint-Maclou, Rouen, France, 1434–1514. Photo: Bildarchiv Foto Marburg; Art Resource.
New York. 357
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14.48 New choir, Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester, England, 1337–1351. Photo: W. Swaan. 358
14.49 Reginald Ely and John Wastell, King’s College Chapel, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England,
1446–1515. Photo: A. F. Kersting, London. 359
14.50 Merchant’s house, Cluny, France, twelfth century. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 360
14.51 House of Jacques Coeur, Bourges, France, 1443–1451. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
Viollet-le-Duc. 360
14.52 House Jacques Coeur. Photo: Bridgeman-Giraudon/Art Resource, NY. 361
14.53 Cloth Hall, Bruges, Belgium, c. 1240 to late fifteenth century. Photo: L. M. Roth. 362

15 Renaissance Architecture
15.1 Map of Europe, c. 1500. Map: L. M. Roth. 366
15.2 Filippo Brunelleschi, Dome of Florence Cathedral, Florence, Italy, 1418–1436. Photo: Scala/
Art Resource, New York. 369
15.3 Dome of Florence Cathedral. From P. Sanpaolesi, La cupola di S. M. del Fiore (Florence, 1965). 370
15.4 Leonardo da Vinci, drawing of the ideal Vitruvian man, c. 1485–1490. Photo: Alinari/
Art Resource, NY. 371
15.5 Antonio Averlino (called Filarete), plan of the ideal city of Sforzinda, from his treatise on architecture,
written c. 1461–1462. Photo: From Filarete, Il trattato d’architettura. 372
15.6 Vincenzo Scamozzi (attrib.), Palmanuova, Italy, begun 1593. Photo: Aerofilms, London. 373
15.7 Filippo Brunelleschi, Foundling Hospital, Florence, Italy, 1419–1424. Photo: Scala/
Art Resource, NY. 374
15.8 Filippo Brunelleschi, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy, 1418–1446. Photo: Marvin
Trachtenberg. 375
15.9 San Lorenzo. Drawing: M. Burgess. 375
15.10 Filippo Brunelleschi, Church of Santo Spirito, Florence, Italy, 1436–1482. Photo: Nicolas Sapieha/
Art Resource, NY. 376
15.11 Santo Spirito. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 376
15.12 Giuliano da Sangallo, Santa Maria delle Carceri, Prato, Italy, 1485–1491. Photo: Alinari/
Art Resource, NY. 377
15.13 Santa Maria delle Carceri. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Murray, Architecture of the Italian
Renaissance (London, 1963). 378
15.14 Santa Maria delle Carceri. Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, NY. 378
15.15 Cola da Caprarola (possibly with Baldassarre Peruzzi) Santa Maria della Conzolazione, Todi, Italy,
1508–1607. Photo: © Tips Images/Tips Italia Srl a socio unico/Alamy. 364
15.16 Leon Battista Alberti, Church of San Francesco (the Tempio Malatestiano), Rimini, Italy, 1450–1461.
Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 379
15.17 Leon Battista Alberti, detail from letter to Matteo de’ Pasti, November 18, 1454.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, based on Alberti’s sketch. 380
15.18 Leon Battista Alberti, facade of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy, 1458–1471. Photo: Scala/
Art Resource, NY. 381
15.19 Leon Battista Alberti, Sant’ Andrea, Mantua, Italy, 1470–1493. Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, NY. 382
15.20 Sant’ Andrea. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 382
15.21 Sant’ Andrea. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 383
15.22 Donato Bramante, Tempietto of San Pietro in Montorio, Rome, Italy, 1500–1502. Photo: Scala/
Art Resource, NY. 384
15.23 Donato Bramante, medal showing Bramante’s design for the new San Pietro in Vaticano
(the new Saint Peter’s), Rome, Italy, 1504–1514. Photo: British Museum, London. 385
15.24 Saint Peter’s, Rome. Plan (reconstructed from a half plan). Drawing: C. Zettle and L. M. Roth. 386
15.25 Maerten van Heemskerck, drawing of Saint Peter’s under construction, c. 1532–1535.
Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 386
15.26 Michelangelo Buonarroti, Saint Peter’s, Rome, 1547–1590. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Letarouilly.
387
15.27 Michelozzo di Bartolommeo, Palazzo Medici, Florence, Italy, 1444–1460. Photo: Scala/
Art Resource, NY. 389
15.28 Palazzo Medici, Florence. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Murray, Architecture of the Italian
Renaissance (New York, 1963). 389
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xxiv List of Illustrations

15.29 Leon Battista Alberti, Palazzo Rucellai, Florence, Italy, begun c. 1452. Photo: Scala/
Art Resource, NY. 390
15.30 Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (the upper floor was completed by Michelangelo), Palazzo Farnese,
Rome, Italy, 1515–1559. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 391
15.31 Andrea Palladio, Villa Badoer, Fratta Polesine, Italy, begun 1556. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto.
All rights reserved. 392
15.32 Palladio, Villa Capra (Villa Rotonda), outside Vicenza, Italy, begun c. 1550. Photo: © Wayne
Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved. 392
15.33 Michelangelo, Medici Chapel, in San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy, 1520–1526. Photo: Scala/Art Resource,
NY. 393
15.34 Michelangelo, Staircase, Library of San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy, 1558–1571. Photo: Scala/Art
Resource, NY. 395
15.35 Staircase, Library of San Lorenzo. Drawing: W. Chin. 395
15.36 Staircase, Library of San Lorenzo. Drawing: W. Chin. 395
15.37 Michelangelo, Capitoline Hill (Campidoglio), Rome, Italy, designed 1536. Photo: Charles E. Rotkin/
Corbis (detail). 396
15.38 Giacomo Barozzi do Vignola, Church of Santa Anna dei Palafrenieri, Rome, Italy, begun c. 1565.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after P. Murray, Architecture of the Italian Renaissance
(New York, 1963). 396
15.39 Giulio Romano, Palazzo del Te, Mantua, Italy, 1527–1534. Photo: Gabinetto Fotografico
Nazionale, Rome. 397
15.40 Giulio Romano, house of the architect, Mantua, Italy, 1544. Photo: Gabinetto Fotografico
Nazionale, Rome. 398
15.41 Vignola (attrib.), Villa Lante, Bagnaia, near Viterbo, Italy, begun 1566. From G. Lauro,
Roma Vetus et Nuova, 1614; courtesy of Avery Library, Columbia University. 399
15.42 Villa Lante. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 399
15.43 Pirrio Ligorio, Orazio Olivieri, and Tommaso da Siena, Villa d’Este, Tivoli, Italy, begun c. 1550.
Photo: Engraving by G. Lauro, 1641; courtesy of Avery Library, Columbia University. 400
15.44 Villa d’Este, Terrace of the Hundred Fountains. Photo: Vanni Archive/Art Resource, NY. 401
15.45 University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain, 1533. Photo: Kavaler/Art Resource, NY. 402
15.46 Pedro Machuca, Court of the Palace of Charles V added to the Alhambra, Granada, Spain, begun
1527. Photo: © imagebroker/Alamy. 403
15.47 Robert Smythson, Wollaton Hall, Nottinhamshire, England, 1588. Photo: Jarrold Publishing/
The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY. 404
15.48 Inigo Jones, Banqueting House, Palace at Whitehall, London, England, 1619–1622. Photo: © Angelo
Hornak/Corbis. 405
15.49 Domenico da Cortona with Pierre Nepveu, Château de Chambord, Chambord, France, 1519–1550.
Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY. 405
15.50 François Mansart, Château de Maisons, originally the village of Maisons, near Paris, France,
1642–1646. Photo: Bridgeman-Giraudon, Art Resource, New York. 406

Essay 3 Ancient Architecture in the Americas

AM-1 Temple I, Tikal, Guatemala, c. 730–745 CE. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art
Resource, NY. 408
AM-2 La Venta central plaza, La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico, built c. 1000–600 BCE.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after M. Coe, Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs, 2nd ed.
(New York, 1994), p. 71. 410
AM-3 View of the Avenue of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacán, Mexico, c. 600–700 CE.
Photo: © SuperStock/Alamy. 411
AM-4 Mesa top plaza, Monte Alban, Mexico, begun c. 500 BCE. Photo: ©Jack Kurtz/
The Image Works. 412
AM-5 Ceremonial complex, the plaza major, and the Templo Mayor, Tenochtitlan, Mexico, fifteenth century.
Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY. 413
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16 Baroque and Rococo Architecture

16.1 Map of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 417
16.2 Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, Church of the Gesú, Rome, Italy, 1568–1577. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after Peter Murray, The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance (London, 1963). 418
16.3 Giacomo della Porta, facade of the Gesù, Rome, Italy, 1573–1577. Photo: Scala/
Art Resource, NY. 419
16.4 Martino Lunghi the Younger, Church of Saints Vincent and Anastasius, Rome, Italy, 1646–1650.
Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, NY. 420
16.5 Francisco Hurtado, Sacristy of La Cartuja, Granada, Spain, 1730–1747. Photo: MAS,
Barcelona. 421
16.6 Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome, Italy, 1647–1652.
Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY. 422
16.7 Padre Andrea Pozzo, nave vault fresco, Church of San Ignazio, Rome, Italy, 1691–1694.
Photo: Archivi Aliknari, Florence, Italy. 423
16.8 Cosmas Damien Asam and Egid Quirin Asam, altar of the Priory Church of the Assumption, Rohr,
Germany, 1717–1722. Photo: Hirmer-Verlag, Munich. 424
16.9 Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Church of Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale, Rome, Italy, 1658–1670.
Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 425
16.10. Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Norberg-Schulz, Baroque Architecture
(New York, 1974). 425
16.11 Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Piazza of Saint Peter’s, Rome, Italy, 1656–1667. Photo: Charles Rotkin/
PFI. 426
16.12 Piazza of Saint Peter’s. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Letarouilly and Nolli. 427
16.13 Francesco Borromini, Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, Italy, 1634–1641.
Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, NY. 428
16.14 San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Borromini. 428
16.15 San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, facade built 1662–1667. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 429
16.16 Francesco Borromini, Collegiate Church of Sant’ Ivo della Sapienza, Rome, Italy, 1642–1660.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Borromini. 430
16.17 Sant’ Ivo della Sapienza. Photo: Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le Attività culturali/Art Resource, NY. 430
16.18 Guarino Guarini, Santa Maria della Divina Providenza, Lisbon, Portugal, 1652–1663
(destroyed by earthquake, 1755). Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Guarini. 431
16.19 Guarino Guarini, Cappella della Santissima Sindone (Chapel of the Holy Shroud), Turin, Italy,
1667–1690. Photo: Wim Swaan, London. 432
16.20 The new streets of Rome planned by Sixtus V in 1585. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Nolli. 433
16.21 Diagram of the replanning of Rome by Sixtus V. From S. Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture
(Cambridge, MA, 1941). 434
16.22 André Le Nôtre (landscape designer) and Louis Le Vau (architect), Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte,
Maincy, near Melun, France, 1657–1661. Photo: Roger Viollet/Getty Images. 435
16.23 Louis Le Vau and André Le Nôtre, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France, 1661–c. 1750.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after the Delagrive engraving of 1746. 436
16.24 Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart, aerial view of the Château de Versailles, 1661–1688,
and later. Photo: Caisse Nationale des Monuments Historiques et des Sites/SPADEM. 437
16.25 Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors), Château of Versailles, 1678–1688.
Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY. 437
16.26 Sir John Vanbrugh with Nicholas Hawksmoor, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England, 1705–1725.
Photo: Aerofilms, London. 438
16.27 Entrance court, Blenheim Palace. Photo: Angelo Hornak, London. 439
16.28 Blenheim Palace. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 439
16.29 Sir Christopher Wren, new plan for rebuilding the City of London, 1666. From the engraving
published of Wren’s plan, 1666 (Historic Urban Plans, Inc., Ithaca, New York, USA). 441
16.30 Sir Christopher Wren, assorted plans for London churches, 1670–1685 and after.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after E. Sekler. 441
16.31 Sir Christopher Wren, Church of Saint Mary-le-Bow, London, England, 1670–1680.
Photo: A. F. Kersting. 442
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16.32 Sir Christopher Wren, Great Model design for Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London, England, 1673. 443
16.33 Saint Paul’s Cathedral, c. 1675. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after A.F.E. Poley, St. Paul’s Cathedral,
London . . . (London, 1927). 443
16.34 Saint Paul’s Cathedral. Photo: A. F. Kersting, London. 444
16.35 Saint Paul’s Cathedral. Photo: Dave Pressland/FLPA/Science Source. 445
16.36 Saint Paul’s Cathedral. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Poley. 445
16.37 Johann Balthasar Neumann, Prince-Bishop’s Palace, Würzburg, Germany, 1737–1742.
Photo: Helga Schmidt-Glassner, Stuttgart. 446
16.38 Prince-Bishop’s Palace, Würzburg, Germany. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 447
16.39 Jean Courtonne, Hôtel de Matignon, Paris, France, 1722–1724. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
Levey and Kalnein, Art and Architecture of the Eighteenth Century in France (Harmondsworth,
England, 1972). 448
16.40 Germain Bouffrand, Salon de Princesse, Hôtel de Soubise, Paris, France, 1732–1745. Photo:
Scala/Art Resource, NY. 449
16.41 François Cuvilliés, exterior view of the Amalienburg Pavilion, on the grounds of the Nymphenburg
Palace, outside Munich, Bavaria, Germany, 1734–1739. Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY. 450
16.42 Johann Balthasar Neumann, Vierzehnheiligen (Pilgrimage Church of the Fourteen Helpers),
Franconia, Germany, 1742–1772. Photo: Marion Dean Ross. 451
16.43 Vierzehnheiligen. Drawing: P. Boundy, after H. Stierlin. 452
16.44 Vierzehnheiligen. Drawing: P. Boundy, after H. Stierlin. 452
16.45 JohannBalthasar Neumann, Pilgrimage Church of Vierzehnheiligen, Franconia, Germany, 1742–
1772. Photo: Helga Schmnidt-Glassner, Stuttgart. 414

Essay 4 Chinese Architecture

CH-1 Sakyamuni Pagoda, Fogong Buddhist Monastery, Yingxian, Shanxi Province, China, 1056.
Photo: © Li Wenkui/Xinhua Press/Corbis. 454
CH-2 Fogong Monastery, Yingxian, Shanxi Province, China, 1056. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after L. Liu,
Chinese Architecture (New York, 1989). 457
CH-3 Nanchan Buddhist Temple, Nanchan Temple at Mt. Wutai, Shanxi Province, China, 782. Photo:
Christopher Liu, Chinastock. 458
CH-4 Plan of a typical Beijing siheyuan or northern-style walled courtyard house, nineteenth century.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after L. Liu, Chinese Architecture (New York, 1989). 459
CH-5 Garden of the Humble Administrator, Suzhou, southern China, begun 1510. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after L. Liu, Chinese Architecture (New York, 1989). 461

17 The Origins of Modernism: Architecture in the Age of Enlightenment, 1720–1790

17.1 Richard Boyle, Third Earl of Burlington, Chiswick House, Chiswick, outside London, England, 1725.
Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved. 465
17.2 Frontispiece of Marc-Antoine Laugier, Essai sur l’architecture, 2nd edition (Paris, 1755).
Photo: From Essai sur l’architecture. 467
17.3 James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, restoration drawing of the Parthenon, Athens, c. 1755–1785.
Photo: From The Antiquities of Athens, vol. 1. 469
17.4 Robert Adam, library, Kenwood House, London, England, 1767–1768. Photo: Edwin Smith,
London. 470
17.5 Jacques-Germain Soufflot, Church of Sainte-Geneviève (“Le Panthéon”), Paris, France, 1755–1790.
Drawing: T. Cheun. 471
17.6 Jacques-Germain Soufflot, Church of Sainte-Geneviève (“Le Panthéon”), Paris, France, 1755–1790.
Photo: Bridgeman-Giraudon/Art Resource, NY. 462
17.7 Sainte-Geneviève. Photo: L. M. Roth. 472
17.8 Sainte-Geneviève. The facade incorporates a Roman temple portico. Photo: Giraudon/
Art Resource, NY. 473
17.9 Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Barrière de la Villette, Paris, France, 1784–1789. Photo: L. M. Roth,
2003. 474
17.10 Etienne-Louis Boullée, cenotaph for Isaac Newton, project, c. 1784. Photo: Bibliothèque Nationale,
Paris. 474
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17.11 Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, house for a river surveyor, project, c. 1785–1790. Photo: From C.-N.
Ledoux, L’Architecture considerée . . . (Paris, 1804). 475
17.12 Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Royal Saltworks at Chaux (Saline de Chaux), Arc-et-Senans, near Besançon,
France, begun c. 1775. Photo: From C.-N. Ledoux, L’Architecture considerée . . . (Paris, 1804). 475
17.13 Place Dauphine, Ile-de-la-Cité, Paris, 1607–1610. From the Plan of Paris commissioned by
M.-E. Turgot, 1734–1739, published in twenty plates in 1739. 476
17.14 Place des Vosges (Place Royale), Paris, France, 1605–1610. From the Turgot Plan of Paris, 1739. 477
17.15 Jules Hardouin Mansart, Place Vendôme, Paris, France, 1702–1720. From the Turgot Plan of
Paris, 1739. 478
17.16 Pierre Patte, Part of a General Plan of Paris Marking Out the Different Placements Selected for
[Proposed] Equestrian Statue of Louis XV, Paris, France, 1765. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais/
Art Resource, NY. 479
17.17 Ange-Jacques Gabriel, Place Louis XV (later renamed the Place de la Concorde), Paris, France,
1755–1772. Engraving by Le Rouge, from E. Comte de Fels, Ange-Jacques Gabriel (Paris, 1912). 480
17.18 John Wood (the elder), and John Wood (the younger), Plan of Bath, England, 1720–1803. From A
New and Accurate Plan of the City of Bath to the Present Year, 1799 (Bath 1799; Historic
Urban Plans, Inc., Ithaca, New York, USA). 481
17.19 Emmanuel Héré de Corny, aerial view of Place Stanislas and Hemicycle, Nancy, France, 1741–1753.
From Werner Hegemann and Elbert Peets, American Vitruvius (New York, 1922). 481
17.20 Charles Pierre L’Enfant, Plan for the City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia, designed in
1791. From Plan for the City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia (Philadelphia, 1792;
Historic Urban Plans, Inc., Ithaca, New York, USA). 482
17.21 Sir Henry Hoare, English Garden, Stourhead, Wiltshire, England, 1741–1781. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after F. M. Piper, 1779. 484
17.22 Henry Flitcroft, Pantheon garden pavilion, Stourhead, Wiltshire. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto.
All rights reserved. 484
17.23 James Stuart, “Doric Portico,” Hagley Park, Worcestershire, England, 1758. Photo: Country Life,
London. 485
17.24 Sanderson Miller, sham Gothic ruin, Hagley Park, Worcestershire, England, 1747.
Photo: A. F. Kersting, London. 486
17.25 Sir William Chambers, Chinese Pagoda, Kew Gardens, London, England, 1761–1762.
Photo: From Plans, Elevations, Sections and Perspective Views of the Gardens and Buildings at
Kew (London, 1763); author’s collection. 486
17.26 Rustic Temple, gardens at Ermenonville, France, c. 1764–1778. Photo: From S. Girardin,
Promenade . . . des jardins d’Ermenonville (1788), in Transformations in Late Eighteenth Century
Art, by Robert Rosenblum (Princeton, NJ, 1967). 487
17.27 Richard Miqué, Antoine Richard, and Hubert Robert, Hameau (Hamlet), Versailles, France,
1778–1782. Photo: Marvin Wit, 1953, courtesy of the Visual Resources Collection, Architecture &
Allied Arts Library, University of Oregon. 488
17.28 Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Plate XI from the Carceri series, c. 1745–1761. Photo: Print courtesy
The British Museum, London, England. 489
17.29 Thomas Jefferson, Virginia State Capitol, Richmond, Virginia, 1785–1789. Photo: L. M. Roth. 490
17.30 Horace Walpole and others, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, near London, begun 1748.
Photo: A. F. Kersting, London. 492
17.31 John Wilkinson, Thomas F. Pritchard, and Abraham Darby III, Coalbrookdale Bridge, Coalbrookdale
(Ironbridge), England, 1777–1779. Photo: British Museum, London; Courtesy, the Trustees. 493
17.32 Swainson, Birley and Co. cotton mill, near Preston, Lancashire, England, c. 1800. Photo: From
E. Baines, History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain (London, c. 1835). 494
17.33 View of cotton weaving (carding, drawing, and roving), unidentified British factory, c. 1828. Photo:
From E. Baines, History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain (London, c. 1835). 494

Essay 5 Japanese Architecture

JP-1 Pagoda, Hōryū-ji Monastery, Hōryū-ji, Japan, c. 607. Photo: © Ivan Vdovin/Alamy. 496
JP-2 Ise Jing Inner Shrine (the Kotai Jingū), Uji-tachi, south of central Ise City, Mie Prefecture, Japan.
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS. 498
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xxviii List of Illustrations

JP-3 Hōryū-ji temple complex, Hōryū-ji, Nara Prefecture, Japan, begun c. 607. Photo: © amana images
inc./Alamy. 500
JP-4 Rōanji Zen Buddhist Temple, Rōanji, near Kyoto, Japan, c. 1450–1550. Photo: © Ei Katsumata/
Alamy. 501

18 The Roots of Modernism: The Nineteenth Century

18.1 Leo von Klenze, Glyptothek (Sculpture Gallery), Munich, Germany, 1816–1830. Photo: © Wayne
Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved. 506
18.2 Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Altes Museum, Berlin, Prussia, Germany, 1822–1830. From K. F. Schinkel,
Sammlung architektonischer Entwürfe (Berlin, 1865). 507
18.3 Altes Museum. Drawing: N. Nguyen, after Schinkel, Sammlung architektonischer Entwürfe
(Berlin, 1865). 508
18.4 Altes Museum. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Schinkel, Sammlung architektonischer Entwürfe
(Berlin, 1865). 508
18.5 Thomas Ustick Walter, Girard College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1833–1847. Photo: Sandak,
University of Georgia. 510
18.6 Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, New Palace of Westminster (Houses of
Parliament), London, England, 1836–1870. Drawing: P. Boundy. 511
18.7 Houses of Parliament, London, England. Photo: © Royalty-free/Corbis. 511
18.8 A.W.N. Pugin, plate from his Contrasts (London, 1836). Photo: Courtesy, Avery Library, Columbia
University. 513
18.9 A.W.N. Pugin, Church of Saint Giles, Cheadle, Staffordshire, England, 1840–1846.
Photo: National Monuments Record. 514
18.10 Saint Giles, Cheadle. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 515
18.11 Devonport Town Hall, Ker Street, by John Foulston. Watercolour. Devonport, Plymouth, England,
1823. Photo: Plymouth City Council (Arts & Heritage). 515
18.12 Louis Visconti and Hector-Martin Lefuel, the new Louvre, Paris, France, 1852–1857.
Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, NY. 516
18.13 Charles Garnier, Paris Opéra (Opéra Garnier), Paris, France, 1861–1875.
Photo: Art Resource, NY. 517
18.14 Paris Opéra. Drawing: N. Nguyen, after Garnier. 518
18.15 Paris Opéra. Drawing: N. Nguyen, after Garnier. 518
18.16 Paris Opéra. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 519
18.17 Charles Garnier, Paris Opéra. Grand staircase,1861–1875. Photo: Bridgeman-Giraudon/Art
Resource, NY. 504
18.18 Sir George Gilbert Scott, Saint Pancras Station and Midland Grand Hotel, London, England,
1868–1874. Photo: National Monuments Record. 520
18.19 Saint Pancras Station and Midland Grand Hotel. Drawing: C. Amberson. 520
18.20 Sir Joseph Paxton, Crystal Palace, London, England, 1851 (destroyed 1936). Photo: Victoria and
Albert Museum, London; Crown Copyright. 521
18.21 Crystal Palace. From: B. Dunlop and D. Hector, eds., Lost Masterpieces (London, 1999). 522
18.22 W. H. Barlow and R. M. Ordish, engineers, Saint Pancras Station Train Shed, London, England,
1863–1865. Photo: Science Museum, London. 523
18.23 Charles-Louis-Ferdinand Dutert, with Contanmin, Pierron, and Charton, Palais des Machines,
Paris, France, 1886–1889. From N. Ponente, The Structures of the Modern World, 1850–1900
(New York, 1965). 524
18.24 Gustave Eiffel, Eiffel Tower for the World’s Fair, Paris, France, 1884–1889. Photo: © nobleIMAGES/
Alamy. 526
18.25 Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Central Park, New York, NY, designed 1857, built over the
decades following. From J. G. Fabos, G. T. Milde, and V. M. Weinmayr, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr.
(Amherst, MA, 1968). 528
18.26 Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann, plan for Paris, 1852. From J. Alphand, Les Promenades de Paris
(Paris, 1867–1873). 529
18.27 Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand, landscape designer, Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Paris, France,
1860–1864. Photo: From A. Alphand, Les Promenades de Paris (Paris, 1867–1873). 530
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List of Illustrations xxix

18.28 Nathan F. Barrett, landscape architect, and Solon S. Beman, architect, general plan of Pullman, Illinois
(now incorporated in Chicago), 1879–1895. From Harper’s Magazine, February 1885. 531
18.29 Ebenezer Howard. Diagram showing a portion of a satellite garden city, proposed adjacent to a large
urban center. From E. Howard, Garden Cities of To-morrow (London, 1902). 532
18.30 William Morris with Philip Webb, Red House, Bexley Heath, near London, England, 1859–1860.
Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved. 533
18.31 Charles Francis Annesley Voysey, The Orchard, Chorleywood, near London, England, 1899–1900.
Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved. 533
18.32 Sir Edwin L. Lutyens, The Deanery, Sonning Berkshire, 1900–1902. Photo: Lucinda Lambton/
arcaid.co.uk. 534
18.33 Frank Lloyd Wright, Ward Willits House, Highland Park, Illinois, 1900–1902. Photo: Rosenthal
Collection, Department of Art History, Northwestern University. 535
18.34 Frank Lloyd Wright, Frederick C. Robie House, Chicago, Illinois, 1908–1909. Photo: Sandak,
University of Georgia. 536
18.35 Frederick C. Robie House. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after HABS drawings and Wright. 536
18.36 Frederick C. Robie House. Photo: Rosenthal Collection, Department of Art History, Northwestern
University. 537
18.37 Henri Labrouste, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, France, 1838–1850. Photo: L. M. Roth,
2003. 538
18.38 Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. Drawing: B. Huxley. 539
18.39 Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. From R. Middleton and D. Watkin, Neoclassical and 19th Century
Architecture (New York, 1987), v. 2, pl. XXIX. 539
18.40 Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. Drawing: B. Huxley. 540
18.41 Henry Hobson Richardson, Allegheny County Courthouse, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1885–1887.
Photo: Carnegie Collection. 541
18.42 Henry Hobson Richardson, Marshall Field Wholesale Store, Chicago, Illinois, 1885–1887 (demolished
1930). Photo: Charles Allgeier, Chicago, c. 1887; author’s collection. 542
18.43 William Le Baron Jenney, Home Insurance Office Building, Chicago, Illinois, 1883–1886
(demolished 1931). From A. T. Andreas, History of Chicago (Chicago, 1884–1886). 543
18.44 Adler & Sullivan, Guaranty Building, Buffalo, New York, 1895. Photo: Rosenthal Collection,
Department of Art History, Northwestern University. 544
18.45 McKim, Mead & White, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts, 1887–1895.
Photo: L. M. Roth. 545
18.46 McKim, Mead & White, Pennsylvania Station, New York City, 1902–1910 (demolished 1963–1965).
Photo: Dreyer photo, c. 1909; courtesy of Avery Library, Columbia University. 545
18.47 Pennsylvania Station. Drawing: M. Waterman and L. M. Roth. 546
18.48 McKim, Mead & White, Pennsylvania Station. Photo: Avery Library, Columbia University,
New York. 547

Essay 6 African Architecture

AF-1 Great Mosque at Timbuktu, Mali, Africa, fourteenth century. Photo: Werner Forman/
Art Resource, NY. 548
AF-2 Musgum house, in Cameroon, Africa, late twentieth century. Photo: © Anthony Asael/Art in
All of Us/Corbis. 550
AF-3 Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, Africa, twelfth or thirteenth century. Photo: Werner Forman/
Art Resource, NY. 551
AF-4 Djenné Mosque, Djenné, Mali, Africa, 1906–1907. Photo: AFP/Getty Images. 552
AF-5 Diébédo Francis Kéré, Primary School, Gando, Burkina Faso, Africa, 2004. Photo: © Siméon
Douchoud of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. 555

19 Versions of Modern Architecture, 1914–1970

19.1 Antoni Gaudí, Casa Milá (La Pedrera, “The Quarry”), Barcelona, Spain, 1905–1910.
Photo: MAS, Barcelona. 558
19.2 Casa Milá. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Martinel and Gaudí. 559
19.3 Casa Milá. Photo: Ampliaciones y Reproduciones MAS, Barcelona. 559
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xxx List of Illustrations

19.4 Victor Horta, Tassel House, Brussels, Belgium, 1892–1893. Photo: Ch. Bastin & J. Evrard
Photographes, Bruxelles, Belgique. 560
19.5 Hector Guimard, Metro Station (Les Abbesses stop) in Montmartre, Paris, France, 1900–1913.
Photo: L. M. Roth, 2003. 561
19.6 John Russell Pope, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington, DC, 1937–1943. Photo: © idp eastern
USA collection/Alamy. 562
19.7 Sir Edwin Lutyens, The Viceroy’s House, New Delhi, India, 1912–1931. Photo: Country Life
Picture Library, London. 563
19.8 Marinus Jan Granpré Molière, Town Hall, Waalwijk, The Netherlands, 1939.
Photo: M. M. Minderhoud. 564
19.9 Gunnar Asplund with Sigurd Lewerentz, Woodland Cemetery chapel, outside Stockholm, Sweden,
1917. Photo: © Arcaid Images/Alamy. 565
19.10 Giuseppe Terragni, Casa del Fascio, Como, Italy, 1932–1936. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY. 567
19.11 Albert Speer Zeppelin Field Stadium, Nuremburg, Germany, 1934–1935. Photo: © CORBIS. 567
19.12 Erich Mendelsohn, sketch for an optical instrument factory, project, 1917. From Zevi,
Erich Mendelsohn (New York, 1985). 569
19.13 Erich Mendelsohn, Einstein Tower, Potsdam, near Berlin, 1917–1921. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/
Esto. All rights reserved. 570
19.14 Hans Scharoun, Schminke house, Löbzu, Saxony, Germany, 1933. Photo: Achim Bednorz,
Architekturfotografie, Achim Bednorz, Siemensstrasse 29, D-50825 Cologne, Germany. 556
19.15 Peter Behrens, AEG Large Assembly Building, Berlin, Germany, 1911–1912. Photo: bpk, Berlin/
Art Resource, NY. 572
19.16 Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer, Fagus Factory, administrative wing, Alfeld-an-der-Leine, Germany,
1911–1912. Photo: Vanni Archive/Art Resource, NY. © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS),
New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. 574
19.17 Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer, Bauhaus, Dessau, Germany, 1925–1926. Photo: Courtesy,
Museum of Modern Art, New York. 575
19.18 Workshop wing, Bauhaus, Dessau. Photo: Courtesy, Museum of Modern Art, New York. 576
19.19 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Weissenhof Siedlung (“White Housing Estate”), Stuttgart, Germany, 1927.
Photo: Foto Marburg/Art Resource, NY. 576
19.20 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain, 1929. Photo: Courtesy, Mies van der
Rohe Archive, Museum of Modern Art, New York. 577
19.21 German Pavilion. Drawing: L. Maak and L. M. Roth. 578
19.22 Le Corbusier, page 125 from Vers une architecture (Paris, 1923; translated as Towards a
New Architecture, London, 1927). From Towards a New Architecture (London, 1927). 580
19.23 Le Corbusier, model of the Citrohan House, 1920–1922. Photo: Rosenthal Collection,
Department of Art History, Northwestern University. 581
19.24 Le Corbusier, drawing for the City for Three Million, project, 1922. From Le Corbusier, Oeuvre
complète de 1910–29 (Zurich, 1946). 581
19.25 Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye, Poissy, near Paris, 1928–1931. Photo: Ludwig Glaeser. 582
19.26 Villa Savoye. Drawing: L. Maak and L. M. Roth. 583
19.27 Villa Savoye. Photo: © Jeff Goldberg/Esto. 584
19.28 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Lake Shore Drive Apartments, Chicago, Illinois, 1948–1951.
Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved. 585
19.29 Lake Shore Drive Apartments. Drawing: David Rabbitt. 586
19.30 Frank Lloyd Wright, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, 1943–1959.
Photo: L. M. Roth. 588
19.31 Guggenheim Museum. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Wright. 588
19.32 Guggenheim Museum. Photo: L. M. Roth. 589
19.33 Guggenheim Museum. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Wright. 589
19.34 Alvar Aalto, Baker House, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
1946–1948. Photo: Rosenthal Collection, Department of Art History, Northwestern University. 590
19.35 Alvar Aalto, Mount Angel Abbey Library, Mount Angel, Oregon, 1967–1971.
Photo: L. M. Roth. 590
19.36 Mount Angel Abbey Library. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 591
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List of Illustrations xxxi

19.37 Mount Angel Abbey Library. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 591

19.38 Mount Angel Abbey Library. Photo: L. M. Roth. 592
19.39 Mies van der Rohe, Chapel, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois, 1949–1952.
Photo: Hedrich-Blessing, Chicago. 593
19.40 Eero Saarinen, Chapel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
1953–1955. Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto. All rights reserved. 594
19.41 MIT Chapel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto.
All rights reserved. 595
19.42 Le Corbusier, Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, France, 1950–1955. Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto.
All rights reserved. 596
19.43 Notre-Dame-du-Haut. Drawing: W. Chin and L. M. Roth. 597
19.44 Notre-Dame-du-Haut. Drawing: W. Chin. 597
19.45 Notre-Dame-du-Haut. Photo: G. E. Kidder Smith, New York. 598
19.46 Eero Saarinen, Trans World Airlines Terminal, John F. Kennedy Airport, New York, NY, 1956–1962.
Photo: L. M. Roth. 599
19.47 Trans World Airlines Terminal, John F. Kennedy Airport. Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto.
All rights reserved. 599
19.48 Hans Scharoun, Berlin Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany, 1957–1965. Photo: German Information
Center, New York. 600
19.49 Berlin Philharmonie. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 600
19.50 Berlin Philharmonie. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 601
19.51 Berlin Philharmonie. Photo: German Information Center, New York. 601
19.52 Jorn Utzon, Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia, 1957–1973. Photo: © Jack Sullivan/
Alamy. 602
19.53 Louis I. Kahn, Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, 1959–1965.
Photo: Courtesy, L. I. Kahn. 604
19.54 Salk Institute. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 604
19.55 Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Photo: L. M. Roth. 605
19.56 Dynamiting the Pruitt-Igoe Housing Complex, Saint Louis, Missouri. Photo: St. Louis
Post-Dispatch. 606

20 The Expansion of Modernism: From the Twentieth Century into the Twenty-First
20.1 Sixth Avenue at 50th Street, New York, NY. Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto. All rights reserved. 610
20.2 Venturi and Rauch with Cope and Lippincott, Vanna Venturi house, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, 1959–1964. Photo: Courtesy of Venturi, Scott Brown, and Associates. 611
20.3 Venturi and Rauch with Cope and Lippincott, Guild House, Philadelphia, 1960–1965.
Photo: Courtesy of Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates. 612
20.4 Michael Graves, Portland Building, Portland, Oregon, 1978–1982. Photo: Dallas Swogger,
Portland. 614
20.5 Philip Johnson, AT&T Building, New York, NY, 1978–1983. Photo: Richard Payne. 615
20.6 Michael Graves, Team Disney Corporate Headquarters, Burbank, California, 1986.
Photo: © Jeff Goldberg/Esto. Disney characters © Disney. All rights reserved. 616
20.7 Philip Johnson, University of Houston School of Architecture, Houston, Texas, 1982–1985.
Photo: Richard Payne. 617
20.8 Kevin Roche, General Foods Headquarters, Rye, New York, 1977–1983. Photo: Courtesy of
Kevin Roche. 618
20.9 Mario Botta, house, Viganello, Switzerland, 1981–1982. Photo: Alo Zanetta. 618
20.10 Aldo Rossi, Hotel Il Palazzo, Fukuoka, Japan, 1989. Photo: Uchida Design and
Nacasa & Partners. 619
20.11 Herzog & de Meuron, Goetz Art Gallery, Munich, Germany, 1989–1992.
Photo: Margherita Spiluttini, Schonlaterngasse 8, A–1010 Vienna, Austria. 620
20.12 Langdon and Wilson, with Dr. Norman Neuerberg, J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California,
1970–1975. Photo: L. M. Roth. 621
20.13 Allan Greenberg, Diplomatic Reception Rooms, US Department of State, Washington, DC, 1984.
Photo: Courtesy of Allan Greenberg. 622
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xxxii List of Illustrations

20.14 Quinlan Terry, Maitland Robinson Library, Downing College, Cambridge University, Cambridge,
England, 1992. Photo: © Dennis Gilbert/View Pictures. 623
20.15 Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates, Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery of Art, London, England,
1985–1991. Photo: Courtesy of Venturi, Scott Brown, & Associates. 624
20.16 Robert A. M. Stern, Observatory Hill Dining Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia,
1982–1984, demolished c. 2005. Photo: Whitney Cox. 625
20.17 Hammond, Beeby, and Babka, Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago, Illinois, 1987–1991.
Photo: Courtesy of Hamman, Beeby and Babka. 627
20.18 Richard Meier, Douglas House, Harbor Springs, Michigan, 1971–1973. Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto.
All rights reserved. 629
20.19 Richard Meier, Getty Center II, Los Angeles, California, 1984–1998. Photo: © Scott Frances/Esto.
All rights reserved. © The J. Paul Getty Trust. 630
20.20 Richard Meier, Getty Center II. Photo: Scott Frances/Esto © The J. Paul Getty Trust. 631
20.21 Peter Eisenman, House X, 1976–1978. From P. Eisenman, House X (New York, 1982). 632
20.22 Philip Johnson, “Roofless Church,” for the Blaffer Trust, New Harmony, Indiana, 1960.
Photo: L. M. Roth. 632
20.23 Philip Johnson, Pennzoil Place, Houston, Texas, 1972–1976. Photo: Courtesy, Philip Johnson. 633
20.24 Pennzoil Place. Drawing: L. M. Roth. 634
20.25 I. M. Pei, The Grand Louvre, Paris, France, 1983–1989. Photo: © Michael S. Yamashita/
Corbis. 634
20.26 Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, 1971–1977.
Photo: Michel Proulx, Architectural Record. 635
20.27 Santiaga Calatrava, Lyon-Satolos TGV Terminal, Lyon, France, 1990–1994.
Photo: © Patrick Durand/Sygma/Corbis. 635
20.28 Norman Foster, Hong Kong Shanghai Bank, Hong Kong, China, 1979–1985.
Photo: Ian Lambot/arcaid.co.uk. 608
20.29 Cesar Pelli, Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1992–1998. Photo: © Jose Fuste Ragal/
Corbis. 637
20.30 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2003–2010. © Jose Fuste
Raga/Corbis. 638
20.31 Santiago Calatrava, The Chicago Spire (proposed project), Chicago, Illinois, 2005–2010.
Photo: REUTERS/Handout. 640
20.32 Günther Domenig, industrial office building, Völkermarkt, Austria, 1995. Photo: Gisla Erlachet/
arcaid.co.uk. 641
20.33 Frank Gehry, American Center, Paris, France, 1988–1994. Photo: View Pictures Ltd/
SuperStock. 642
20.34 Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, 1987–1997. Photo: © Jeff Goldberg/Esto.
All rights reserved. 644
20.35 Frank Gehry, 8 Spruce Street, New York, NY, 2005–2011. Photo: © Ty Cole Ty Cole/Arcaid/
Corbis. 645
20.36 Coop Himmelb(l)au (“Blue Sky” Cooperative), rooftop remodeling (law office), Vienna, Austria,
1983–1988. Photo: Gerald Zugmann/Vienna. 646
20.37 Rem Koolhaas and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Seattle Central Library, Seattle,
Washington, 1998–2004. Photo: © Russell Kord/Alamy. 647
20.38 Hassan Fathy, Market building for a new agricultural settlement, New Baris, in the Kharga Oasis,
Egypt, 1967. Photo: Courtesy of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, William O’Reilly, Aga Khan Trust
for Culture. 648
20.39 Balkrishna Doshi, Gandhi Labour Institute, Ahmedabad, India, 1980–1984. Photo: From W.J.R.
Curtis, Balkrishna Doshi: An Architecture for India (New York 1988). 650
20.40 Geoffrey Bawa, Parliament, near Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1978–1982. Photo: From Steele,
Architecture Today (London, 1997). 651
20.41 Andres Duany and Elizabeth Platter-Zyberk, Seaside, Florida, 1978–1983. Courtesy of Duany and
Platter-Zyberk. 653
20.42 Ricardo Bofill, Palace of Abraxas Apartment Complex, Marne-la-Vallée, near Paris, 1978–1982.
Photo: Ricardo Bofill, Paris/Deidi von Schawen. 654
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List of Illustrations xxxiii

20.43 Michael Pyatok, Tower Apartments, Rohnert Park, California, 1993. Photo: Courtesy of
Michael Pyatok. 655

21 Into the Twenty-First Century

21.1 Herzog & de Meuron with artist/designer Ai Weiwei, Olympic National Stadium, Beijing, China,
2001–2008. Photo: REUTERS/Alvin Chan. 658
21.2 Samuel Mockbee and the Rural Studio, Mason’s Bend Community Center, New Bern, Alabama,
2000. Photo: Timothy Hursley. 661
21.3 Renzo Piano, California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California,
2005–2008. Photo: © Lee Foster/Alamy. 662
21.4 Emilio Ambasz, ACROS Fukuoka Building, Fukuoka City, Japan, 1995.
Photo: © Andrea Balzano. 663
21.5 Ken Yeang, Menara Mesiniaga (IBM) Tower, Subang Jayan, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1992.
Photo: Courtesy of Ken Yeang. 665
21.6 Ken Yeang, Singapore National Library, Singapore, 1998–2005. Photo: Courtesy of Ken Yeang. 666
21.7 Ken Yeang, Solaris Building, Singapore, 2009–2010. Photo: Courtesy of Ken Yeang. 656
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Preface

T his book is about learning to understand our

human-made environment. It is about archi-
tecture as a physical vessel, a container of human
aside from those who were obliged by political or re-
ligious persecution to flee their homelands and seek
refuge elsewhere, such as Walter Gropius, Mies van
activity. But since architecture is a social activity, der Rohe, and Erich Mendelsohn.
building is also a social statement and the creation Discussion of this late-twentieth-century inter-
of a cultural legacy. Moreover, every building, national dimension to contemporary architectural
whether a commanding public structure or a pri- practice has brought into focus the realization that
vate shelter—whether a cathedral or a bicycle global cultural influences have been in effect for
shed—is constructed in accordance with the laws more than twenty-five hundred years—a period in
of physics in ways that crystallize the cultural values which early trade and exploration brought various
of its builders. This book is an introduction to the parts of the world together. As it seems appropriate
artistic urge that impels humans to build, as well as to examine these global interactions and the archi-
to the structural properties that enable buildings to tecture outside of the Western world, we have in-
stand up. It is also an introduction to the silent cul- terspersed the main text with special essays that
tural language that every building expresses. This sketch how other cultures first began to interact
book, then, might be thought of as a primer for vi- with Western culture. And just as the original chap-
sual environmental literacy. ters with their Western focus never aimed to exam-
I should clarify that this is not a history of archi- ine the full breadth of architectural history, even less
tecture in the normal sense of the word. There is do the new essays try to cover the breadth of archi-
historical information in the second part of the tecture outside the West; rather, the endeavor has
book, but the first part focuses on how the aesthet- been to explore the encounters and interchanges,
ics of architecture influence our perception. conflicts and accommodations between the dis-
The first edition of Understanding Architecture parate global communities. Since limited space pre-
was published in 1993, and numerous additions cludes providing an illustration of every building
were made in 2005 for the second edition. In this mentioned, readers are encouraged to avail them-
third edition, the material is brought up to date, in- selves of the various encyclopedias and search en-
cluding developments since the opening of the new gines available online to locate images for review.
millennium. This restructuring, however, necessi- Since the Protestant Reformation, the West has
tated rethinking how to tell the story of twentieth- preferred to stress the written cultural record,
century architecture. Hence, there are now revised whether historical or literary, and to give little se-
chapters on the development of Modernism: how it rious attention to the meaning of visual imagery. In
was defined in Europe in the first third of the twen- the United States, in most community schools
tieth century, then how it was exported around the (other than some private academies) there are no
globe in the second third of the century, and, finally, courses in the history of art, much less on architec-
how reactions to Modernism proliferated and have tural history. It is usually not until college that stu-
diverged in the last third of the century and have dents first encounter art history and perhaps the
continued into the opening of the twenty-first cen- history of architecture. Hence, very few young
tury. Up to the mid-twentieth century, architects people are taught how to “read” or otherwise inter-
tended to work primarily in their native countries, pret the physical environment in which they will

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xxxvi Preface

live and work. In a very few secondary schools, stu- elements of design. Individual chapters deal with
dents are offered classes in the visual arts, music, how architecture affects and is affected by climatic
and dance, even though only a fraction of them will elements, what the role of the architect has been
put such knowledge to use explicitly when they over time, and what has been considered good or
enter the work world. In fact, because of worsening economical architecture. The discussion in Part I
public budget constraints, even these few classes is illustrated by building examples drawn from all
are increasingly being cut. As a result, most people parts of the world, past and present.
are taught next to nothing about the architecture Part II is a historical survey of architectural de-
they will encounter throughout life; they learn very velopment in the West, from prehistoric times to
little about the history of their built environment the present. In all these chapters, the focus is on
or how to interpret the meaning of the environ- architecture as a cultural artifact, as a systematized
ment they have inherited. What they know is— statement of values. This leads to the concluding
literally—what they learn “in the street.” This argument that what we build today, whether pri-
environmental illiteracy has long been accepted as vately or on a grand public scale, is an embodiment
the normal state of affairs. of our values. Interspersed are new essays on inter-
This book seeks to bridge the gap. It is aimed at actions between Western architecture and other
the inquisitive student or general reader interested cultures: the architecture of India, Islam, the
in learning about the built environment and the Americas, China, Japan, and Africa.
layered historical meaning embodied mute within In writing this book, I have been influenced by
it. In short, it is intended not as a comprehensive numerous studies, including detailed general works,
historical survey tracing the entire evolution of specialized monographs, and theoretical studies.
built forms but rather as a basic introduction to Initially, the most informative were Niels Luning
how the environment we build works on us physi- Prak’s The Language of Architecture (The Hague,
cally and psychologically, and what historical and 1968) and Steen Eiler Rasmussen’s classic Experi-
symbolic messages it carries. encing Architecture (Cambridge, MA, 1959; 2nd ed.,
The basic structure of this book grew out of my 1962). Other influential sources are listed in the
outline for the architecture section of a telecourse, Suggested Readings for each respective chapter.
“Humanities Through the Arts,” produced in the A historical survey such as that found in Part II
1970s by the Coast Community College in Foun- cannot help but be influenced by Nikolaus Pevsner’s
tain Valley, California, and by the City Colleges of An Outline of European Architecture (Harmonds-
Chicago. The idea was that architecture should be worth, England, 1943; 7th ed., 1963), which, despite
examined not only as a cultural phenomenon but its date, is still in print and considered one of the
also as an artistic and technological achievement. most important books of its kind. Many other broad
The content of the book was subsequently devel- and comprehensive histories have followed—but,
oped in introductory courses on architecture that unlike those encyclopedic surveys, the present com-
I taught at The Ohio State University, Northwest- pact book examines architecture as a cultural expres-
ern University, and the University of Oregon. sion and focuses on selected examples or case studies
The assumption behind the book’s form and or- as types rather than trying to trace in detail the
ganization is that the reader knows little in either chronological intricacies of historical development.
a technical or historical sense about the built envi- Whatever I may have absorbed from reading all
ronment. Hence, Part I of the book deals with the these studies was modified and enlarged in the
basic properties of architecture. It is here that basic classroom. And I must acknowledge, too, the con-
design and technical concepts are outlined and a tributions made by my students over the years
working vocabulary is introduced. Then, in Part II, through their questions, expressed both verbally
the historical evolution of architecture is explored and in furrowed brows. It is impossible to thank ad-
through an examination of basic cultural themes, equately my professional colleagues, who offered
with selected buildings as case studies. Such a di- comments in their areas of expertise; my special
vision enables the reader of, say, Chapter 12, on gratitude is extended to Professors G. Z. Brown,
Roman architecture, to focus on the symbolic Deborah Hurtt, Jeffrey Hurwit, Charles Lachman,
image presented by the vast dome of the Pantheon, Andrew Morrogh, John Reynolds, Richard Sundt,
since the essential structural properties of domes and Akiko Walley.
have already been dealt with in Chapter 3. A word should also be said about the plans il-
Part I, then, begins with a definition of what ar- lustrated throughout the book, for here, too, stu-
chitecture is and continues with chapters that ex- dents contributed significantly. Aside from those
plore space, function, structural principles, and drawings that I prepared myself, many others were
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Preface xxxvii

drawn to uniform conventions by architecture stu- and they deserve particular thanks. Among them are
dents in several special media courses that I taught Stephen Pinto at Westview/Perseus, who directed
during 1985–1986. The students are individually the final production of the book; Trish Wilkinson,
identified in the List of Illustrations. who designed this new edition; Sue Howard, who
For more than a quarter-century, my writing located many of the new images; and Cisca L.
and publishing endeavors were greatly encouraged Schreefel, Christine J. Arden, and the many others
by Cass Canfield Jr., my original editor at Harper & whose dedication to the details of producing this
Row and then HarperCollins. He provided bound- book is acknowledged with grateful appreciation.
less support and initiated both the first and second Special thanks are due to Carol, who sustains me
editions. Following a transfer of HarperCollins’ col- always, who read the drafts of the earlier editions
legiate text division to Westview Press, the second with a critical eye, and who painstakingly, analyti-
edition was completed under new editors Sarah cally, and dispassionately read this third edition, en-
Warner, and then Steve Catalano and Cathleen suring the logical and graceful continuity of each
Tetro, who were especially supportive. chapter. And a unique thanks must be rendered to
The impetus for this third edition was a request Amanda, to whom, when an infant, my books were
by Priscilla McGeehon, but following her departure first dedicated. Now grown, and having started on a
from Westview the project was taken up with great life’s career in the history of the visual arts, she has
enthusiasm and support by Cathleen Tetro. One im- co-written the most recent changes in the book with
portant initial undertaking was to engage long-time me, bringing to it the benefits of her perspective as a
editor Marcus Boggs as the initial reader and critic student, teacher, critic, and, now, colleague.
who provided me with invaluable advice and en-
couragement. A book like this, with its many illus- Leland M. Roth
trations, entails the help of numerous individuals, Eugene, Oregon
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:10 PM Page xxxviii

2. Section view of the shell of a chambered nautilus. The nautilus shell, incrementally built by means of an unconscious
biological process, is the record of the life of its inhabitant. Photo: L. M. Roth.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:10 PM Page 1

Introduction

R
Architecture is what nature cannot make.
The architect Louis I. Kahn wrote that “archi-
tecture is what nature cannot make.”2 Humans are
—Louis I. Kahn among several animals that build, and indeed some
R structures built by birds, bees, and termites, to name
but a few, demonstrate human-like engineering skill
in their economy of structure. One particular bird,

A rchitecture is generally something people take

for granted, moving toward it, around it,
through it, using it without a thought. It is simply
the rufous-breasted castle builder of South America,
weaves two chambers connected by a cantilevered
tube between the two, creating a double-chambered
there, an unassuming backdrop, a mute, utilitarian nest in the form of a dumbbell [1]. Certain blind
container. Architecture is much more, however; it termites build soaring arches of mud, starting at two
is the crystallization of ideas. It has been defined distinct springing points, pushing their sections up-
many ways—as shelter in the form of art, a blos- ward until they meet in the air.3 Mollusks, such as
soming in stone and a flowering of geometry (Ralph the chambered nautilus, construct their protective
Waldo Emerson), frozen music (Goethe), human houses around them, creating a hard shell of cal-
triumph over gravitation and the will to power cium carbonate [2, facing page]. As the nautilus
(Nietzsche), the will of an epoch translated into grows, it adds a new and somewhat larger chamber
space (architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe), the to its curved shell, the vacated chamber then being
magnificent play of forms in light (architect Le Cor- filled with nitrogen gas to add buoyancy to the en-
busier), a cultural instrument (architect Louis I. larged mass; the older parts of the shell, however,
Kahn), and even inhabited sculpture (sculptor remain as a record of the history of the animal. Ar-
Constantin Brancusi). More recently, architectural chitecture is the chambered nautilus shell of the
critic Ada Louise Huxtable framed a rather clinical human species; it is the environment that we build
definition, calling architecture a “balance of struc- for ourselves, and that, as we grow in experience
tural science and aesthetic expression for the satis- and knowledge, we change and adapt to our ex-
faction of needs that go far beyond the utilitarian.”1 panded condition. If we wish to understand our-
Architecture is the unavoidable art. Almost selves, we must take care not to eliminate the
every moment of our lives, awake or asleep, we are “shell” of our past, for it is the physical record of our
in buildings, around buildings, in spaces defined by aspirations and achievements.
buildings, or in landscapes shaped by human arti- It was once customary to think of architecture
fice. It is possible to deliberately avoid looking at as consisting only of those buildings that we deemed
paintings, sculpture, drawings, or any other visual important, the great church and state buildings that
art, but architecture constantly touches us, shapes involved substantial expenditure of energy and
our behavior, and conditions our psychological funds. Perhaps this viewpoint came about because,
mood. The blind and deaf may not see paintings or in past centuries, histories of architecture were writ-
hear music, but they must deal with architecture. ten largely by architects, princely patrons, or court
Moreover, aside from being shelter or a protective historians who wished to sharpen the distinction
umbrella, architecture is also the physical record of between what they had achieved and the surround-
human activity and aspiration; it is the cultural ing mass of vernacular buildings. In his compact
legacy left to us by all preceding generations. Outline of European Architecture, first published in

1
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2 INTRODUCTION

1. Nest of the South American rufous-breasted castle builder. This nest exemplifies deliberate construction in the animal
kingdom, largely driven by genetic programming. From P. Goodfellow, Birds as Builders (New York, 1977).

1943, Nikolaus Pevsner began by making the dis- we would forget all the townspeople and local arti-
tinction that “a bicycle shed is a building; Lincoln sans who had built them.
Cathedral is a piece of architecture” [3, 4].4 Con- We must consider both the “architecture” and
ventional wisdom often makes the same distinction, the “buildings,” the cathedral and the ordinary
as demonstrated in this now-folkloric story: A houses surrounding it, for all the buildings as a group
metal-building manufacturer who made barn struc- constitute the architecture of the Middle Ages. So,
tures offered buyers a wide choice of historically too, if we wish to understand the totality of the
themed clip-on door frames as embellishment— architecture of the contemporary city, we must con-
American Colonial, Mediterranean, and Classical, sider all its component elements. For example, to
among many others. After a severe windstorm dam- understand Eugene, Oregon, we would need to ex-
aged many barns in one area, the factory represen- amine the bicycle sheds and the bus transfer shelters
tative telephoned customers to find out how the that are an integrated part of the public transporta-
structures had fared. One customer, whose Colonial tion system. In this city, bicyclists can lock their
door frame had been stripped off while the barn it- bikes under a roof and transfer to motorized public
self survived, replied, “The building’s fine but the transit. The bicycle sheds are part of a municipal
architecture blew away.”5 ecological response, an effort to enhance the physi-
We cannot, however, focus solely on the “Ar- cal living environment by encouraging modes of
chitecture” of Lincoln Cathedral or Notre-Dame transportation other than private automobiles.
in Amiens, France, or any medieval cathedral, for Pevsner’s emphatic distinction between architec-
that matter, without taking into account the scores ture and building is understandable, considering the
of “mere buildings” among which it sits. If we ig- limits of his compact book, for it made the material
nore all the humble houses that made up the city he needed to cover more manageable. His view grew
around the massive cathedrals, we would misinter- out of the extended influence of the nineteenth-
pret the position occupied by the church in the so- century critic John Ruskin, who made the same dis-
cial and cultural context of the Middle Ages, and tinction in the second sentence of his book, The
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Introduction 3

3. Lane Transit District Bicycle Shed, Eugene, Oregon,1984. Far from being an undistinguished shed, the bicycle cover here
is part of a citywide network of shelters designed to encourage the use of bus transportation. Photo: L. M. Roth.

Seven Lamps of Architecture (London, 1849): “It is of communication, a mute record of the culture that
very necessary, in the outset of all inquiry,” wrote produced it.
Ruskin, “to distinguish carefully between Architec- These ideas—the totality of the built environ-
ture and Building.” Ruskin wanted to concentrate ment as architecture, and the environment as a form
his attention on religious and public buildings, but of dialogue with the past and future—underlie this
at the same time he recognized that architecture was book. Architecture is understood to be the whole of
a richly informative cultural artifact. In another of the human-built environment, including buildings,
his many writings, the Preface to St. Mark’s Rest cities, urban spaces, and created landscapes. And
(London, 1877), he cautioned that “great nations while it is not possible in a book of this size to exam-
write their autobiographies in three manuscripts— ine in detail all types of buildings in all ages, the
the book of their deeds, the book of their words, and reader needs to keep in mind the idea that the broad
the book of their art. Not one of these books can be spectrum of building of any period, and not just a
understood unless we read the other two; but of the few special buildings, constitutes its architecture.
three, the only quite trustworthy one is the last.”6 Building is a conscious act that embodies count-
As Ruskin correctly recognized, to understand the less reflective, evaluative choices. These choices are
architecture of the past, of any period or culture not what distinguish human building from birds’ nests
our own, we must absorb the history and literature and beehives, for these animals build as the result of
of that period and place, the record of its acts and genetic programming. It could be said, as a counter-
thoughts, before we can understand fully what mes- argument, however, that male bower birds build
sage the architecture conveys. Architecture, then, their elaborate courting enclosures by making delib-
is like written history and literature—a record of the erate choices of what colorful or light-catching em-
people who produced it—and it can be “read” in a bellishments to add. Humans also build to satisfy a
comparable way. Architecture is a nonverbal form felt need, but even as they do so, they give expression
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4 INTRODUCTION

4. Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln, England, 1192–1280. This building was

constructed as a public demonstration of both church power and civic pride.
Photo: Edwin Smith, London.

to feelings and values; they are expressing in wood, of the private automobile and their desire for instant
stone, metal, plaster, and plastic what they believe alimentary gratification.
to be vital and important, whether it is a bicycle shed Architecture is the unavoidable art. We deal
or a cathedral. It may be a message clearly under- with it every waking moment when not in the
stood and deliberately incorporated by both client wilderness; it is the art form we inhabit. Perhaps
and architect, or it may be an unconscious or sub- this familiarity causes us to think of architecture as
conscious statement, decipherable by a later ob- only a utilitarian agent, as simply the largest of our
server. Hence, the US Capitol in Washington, DC, technical contrivances, requiring of us no more
has as much to tell us about the symbolism of repub- thought than any other appliance we use through-
lican government in the nineteenth century as the out the day. And yet, unlike the other arts, archi-
World Trade Center in New York City once told us tecture has the power to affect and condition
about American capitalism and soaring urban land human behavior; the color of walls in a room, for
values in the twentieth century. But equally impor- example, can help determine our mood. Architec-
tant as a cultural artifact and as architecture is the ture acts on us, creating in some buildings a sense
Big Donut Shop in Los Angeles, built in 1954 by of awe such as one might feel while walking among
Henry J. Goodwin [5], for it reflects Americans’ love the huge stone columns of the hypostyle hall of
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Introduction 5

5. Henry J. Goodwin, Big Donut Shop, Los Angeles, California, 1954. Photo: L. M. Roth.

the Egyptian temple at Karnak [p. 186]; or being have no Gothic architectural heritage, the recon-
pulled forward, as if by gravity, to the center of the struction of the Houses of Parliament in London in
vast space covered by the dome of the Pantheon in the mid-nineteenth century in the medieval Gothic
Rome; or sensing the flow of space and a connec- style might seem at first puzzlingly anachronistic. Yet
tion to the earth as in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling- it becomes more understandable when we remem-
water [1.8, 4.24, 10.21]. ber that actual Gothic buildings were to be incorpo-
Part of our experience of architecture may be rated into the new Parliament complex and, more
based largely on our innate enjoyment of these importantly, that Gothic architecture was perceived
physiological responses—which the skillful archi- by nineteenth-century Englishmen as inherently
tect knows how to manipulate to maximum effect. English and thus had a long connection with parlia-
But the fullest experience of architecture comes mentary government. The argument could be made
from expanding our knowledge of a building, its that, for them, Gothic was the most appropriate
structure, its history, and its meaning, while reduc- style.
ing our prejudices and ignorance. Architecture is the science and the art of build-
We should remember, too, that architecture, be- ing. To understand more clearly the art of architec-
sides providing shelter, is symbolic expression. As ture and its symbolic discourse, we are best served
Sir Herbert Read wrote, art is “a mode of symbolic by first gaining an understanding of the science
discourse, and where there is no symbol and there- of architectural construction. So, in the following
fore no discourse, there is no art.”7 This symbolic chapters of Part I, the pragmatic concerns of space,
content is most easily perceived in religious and pub- function, structure, and design are explored. Then,
lic buildings, where the principal intent is to make a in Part II, the symbolism of architecture as a non-
broad and emphatic proclamation of communal val- verbal means of discourse is taken up. Interspersed
ues and beliefs. If a building seems strange to some- throughout are six brief essays on world archi-
one, it is likely because the symbol being presented tecture, placed within the text where intersections
is not in that person’s vocabulary. To those of us who between differing traditions are discussed.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:10 PM Page 6

Stonehenge, 2600–2400 BCE. Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. One of the trilithons (“three stones”), with uprights
standing 13 feet high, emblematic of the essence of architectural construction. Photo courtesy of Marian Card Donnelly.
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Part I

The Elements
of Architecture
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:10 PM Page 8

1.12. Salisbury Cathedral nave, Salisbury, England, 1220–1266, Interior, nave. The repeated bays and strong horizontal
layering draw the eye strongly along the axis, illustrating directional space. Photo: Anthony Scibilia/Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/29/13 11:31 AM Page 9

Chapter 1

Architecture
The Art of Shaping of Space

R
The history of architecture is primarily a history of
The architect manipulates space of many kinds
in many ways. There is first the purely physical
man shaping space. space, which can be imagined as the volume of air
—Nikolaus Pevsner, An Outline of bounded by the walls, floor, and ceiling of a room.
European Architecture, 1943

R
This can be easily computed and expressed as so
many cubic feet or cubic meters. But there also is
perceptual space—the space that can be perceived
or seen. Especially in a building with walls of glass,

T oday, at the dawn of the twenty-first century,

digital artists can create a virtual image of the
inside of a building. This is a most useful operation,
this perceptual space may extend well beyond the
boundary of the glass and may be impossible to
quantify. Related to perceptual space is conceptual
suggesting what a building will be like long before space, which can be defined as the mental map we
costly construction is begun. But the total physio- carry around in our heads, the plan stored in our
logical, kinesthetic, sensory, and psychological expe- memory. We navigate through our house, work-
rience is missing. Architecture must be experienced place, or community by referring to our mental map
by walking around and into it.1 of its conceptual space. Buildings that work well are
Architecture is the art into which we walk, the those whose plans and spatial arrangements can be
art that envelops us. Besides making a distinction easily grasped and held by users in their mind’s eye
between “architecture” and “building”—a concept and through which they can move about easily with
with which there might be disagreement—Nikolaus a kind of inevitability; such buildings can be said to
Pevsner’s further observation that architecture is the have clear conceptual space. The architect can also
shaping of space is undisputed.2 As he notes, painters decisively shape behavioral space, or the space we
and sculptors affect our senses by creating changes actually move through and use. Behavioral space
in patterns, and in proportional relationships be- can be imagined as a clearly defined room with four
tween shapes, through the manipulation of light and walls, a ceiling, and a floor—an easily calculated
color, but only architects shape the space in which volume. But now picture a large hole that has been
we live and through which we move. Frank Lloyd cut into the floor, with the opening covered by a
Wright believed space was the essence of architec- cloth. The physical space has not changed at all,
ture and, early in his career, discovered that the same but a person now must walk around the periphery
idea had been expressed centuries earlier by Laozi of the room instead of diagonally across it. The
(Lao-Tse) and paraphrased in 1906 by Okakura behavioral space has been changed.
Kakuzo in The Book of Tea. The reality of architec- All the types of space just mentioned can be il-
ture, Kakuzo observed, lay not in the solid elements lustrated by examining the Lloyd Lewis House in
that seem to make it but in the empty space defined Libertyville, Illinois, 1939, by Frank Lloyd Wright
by those elements: “The reality of a room, for in- [1.1]. From within the living room, as we look to-
stance, was to be found in the vacant space enclosed ward the fireplace, the view is defined by the built-
by the roof and walls, not in the roof and walls them- in bookcases, the brick of the fireplace mass, the
selves. In just the same way, the usefulness of a water floor, and the ceiling [1.2]. All the surfaces are
pitcher dwelt in the emptiness where the water opaque and suggest a clear sensation of confinement
might be put, not in the form of the pitcher or the and protection; the physical space is evident. As we
material out of which it was made.”3 look left, however, the view stretches out through a

9
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10

1.1. Frank Lloyd Wright, Lloyd Lewis House, Libertyville, Illinois, 1939. Plans of the lower level and the upper living level.
Drawing: L. M. Roth.

1.2. Lloyd Lewis House. View of the living room, looking toward the fireplace; from this vantage point, the space is sharply
defined and suggests comforting enclosure. Photo by Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History Museum, negative HB-19240-C.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:10 PM Page 11

Architecture: The Art of Shaping of Space 11

1.3. Lloyd Lewis House. View of the living room, looking toward the screen of French doors; from this direction,
a person’s view can pass into the countryside, into a large perceptual space. Photo by Hedrich Blessing. Chicago
History Museum, negative HB-06485I.

broad bank of glazed French doors to the meadow Commons. The chamber in which the Commons
and woodland beyond [1.3]. From this vantage had been meeting for nearly a century was gutted
point, the perceptual space reaches out across the by a German bomb in 1941, and Parliament was
field and to the sky, as far as the eye can see. Moving considering alternative ways of reconstructing the
toward the dining area, we see the built-in dining chamber. When Parliament had first begun to meet
table, fastened to a brick pier [1.4]. To move from in the thirteenth century, it had been given the
the living room through the dining area and into use of rooms in medieval Westminster Palace and
the kitchen, we must move around that built-in had occupied the palace chapel. A typical Gothic
table, since it cannot be moved. In purely physical chapel, it was narrow and tall, with parallel rows of
terms, the table takes up very little volume, a very choir stalls facing each other on either side of an
few cubic feet compared to the many hundreds of aisle down the center. The members of Parliament
cubic feet in the combined living and dining space, sat in the choir stalls, dividing themselves into two
but in behavioral terms, it determines in a decisive groups: on one side the government in power and
way how we can move about in that space. on the other the loyal opposition. Seldom did mem-
Architectural space, in all its various forms, is a bers take the brave step of crossing the aisle to
powerful determinant of behavior. Winston Chur- change, and hence visibly declare, their new politi-
chill understood this well when he addressed the cal allegiance. When the Houses of Parliament had
House of Commons in 1943, noting that first “we to be rebuilt after the catastrophic fire of 1834, the
shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings old Gothic archetype had been followed, and Chur-
shape us.”4 What prompted his observation was a chill argued that this ought to be done again in
debate on rebuilding the severely burned House of 1943. There were those who advocated rebuilding
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12 1. ARCHITECTURE: THE ART OF SHAPING OF SPACE

1.4. Lloyd Lewis House. View of the

dining area, showing the built-in table;
the fixed table clearly determines how a
person is directed through this space,
thereby determining behavior. Photo by
Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History
Museum, negative HB-06485i.

the House with a fan of seats in a broad semicircle, turns around and faces east, toward the Church of
as used in legislative chambers in the United States San Marco, but with this perspective the light com-
and France. But Churchill convincingly argued that ing from the right gives a hint of an opening. Mov-
the essence of English parliamentary procedure had ing eastward, approaching the front of the church,
been permanently shaped by the physical envi- one must move around the soaring tower of the
ronment in which it had first been housed: to so fun- Campanile, which stands in the piazza and deter-
damentally change that environment, to give it a mines one’s walking behavior. Once around the
different behavioral space, would be to change the Campanile, one sees the smaller piazzetta, which
very nature of parliamentary discourse and govern- extends toward the south. Past the pair of free-
ment. The English had first shaped their architec- standing columns that mark the boundary of the
ture, he said, and that architecture in turn had piazzetta, one’s view crosses the canal, and the en-
shaped English government and history. Through closed physical space opens up in a virtually bound-
Churchill’s persuasion, the Houses of Parliament less perceptual space.
were rebuilt with the old arrangement of parallel The plan of the Lloyd Lewis House also illus-
seats looking across a central aisle [1.5]. trates clearly the possibility of fluidity of space—
These concepts of physical, perceptual, and be- interwoven spaces as contrasted with static spaces.
havioral space have been applied here to spaces Wright was a master of interweaving connected
within individual buildings. With slight redefining, spaces, creating what has been described as fluid or
such terms can be used to describe experiences in flowing spaces, beginning in his Prairie Houses of
large outdoor spaces as well. Consider the huge 1900 to 1910 and continuing in Fallingwater, near
outdoor living room in Venice—the Piazza di San Mill Run, Pennsylvania, built for the Kaufmann
Marco [1.6, 1.7]. From the middle of the piazza as family in 1936–1938 [1.8]. In these houses, there
one looks west, the space is clearly defined and en- is no isolation of the living and dining rooms or the
closed by the walls of the buildings on either side library alcove; all are loosely defined as component
and straight ahead. Much the same is true if one areas of a larger fluid space. Wright developed this
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13

1.5. Sir Charles Barry and A. W. N. Pugin, House of Commons chamber, Houses of Parliament, London, England,
1836–1870; restored 1946. Following extensive damage after being hit by a German bomb, the House of Commons chamber,
an example of the impact of behavioral space, was rebuilt at the urging of Winston Churchill nearly exactly as it had been,
since to have changed it, he argued, would change the operation of parliamentary governance. Photo: © Richard Bryant/
Arcaid/Corbis.

1.6. Piazza di San Marco, Venice, Italy, 830–1640. Plan of piazza. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 14

14

1.7. Piazza di San Marco. This exterior enclosure contains aspects of physical, perceptual, and behavioral forms of space.
Photo: © Yann Arthus-Bertrand/Corbis.

1.8. Frank Lloyd Wright, Edgar Kaufmann residence, Fallingwater, near Mill Run, Pennsylvania, 1936–1938. Plan.
Here space is molded in a fluid way; it opens out through the banks of glass on the south to the wooded ravine. Drawing:
M. Burgess and L. M. Roth.
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Architecture: The Art of Shaping of Space 15

1.9. Shokin-tei (Pine-Lute Pavilion), Imperial Villa of Katsura, near Kyoto, Japan, 1645–1649. View from inside the
pavilion out toward the Middle Islands. This view indicates the sense of difference between internal enclosed space and
the expanding external space in the garden. Photo from: Akira Naito, Katsura: A Princely Retreat (Tokyo, 1977).

conception of space as a result of studying Japanese series of planes arranged in space, capable of defin-
architecture. In the traditional Japanese house, a ing a group of interrelated areas.
wooden structural frame supports rails along which Conversely, more traditional European or Amer-
screens slide. These screens define the “rooms” of ican houses of the turn of the century were sub-
the Japanese house by being closed, or they permit divided into discrete rooms, each intended to
the house to be opened up by being pushed back accommodate a clearly understood function: for
[1.9, 1.10, Plate 1]. In the traditional Japanese lounging, dining, reading, receiving guests, and so
house, there are no solidly enclosed rooms in forth. One example is the William F. Fahnestock
the conventional Western sense. The influence of House at Katonah, New York, 1909–1924 (now
Wright’s earlier decompartmentalized Prairie House demolished), by Charles A. Platt, with its cluster of
plans on European architects is illustrated in Ludwig individual rooms [1.11]. This was similar in many
Mies van der Rohe’s German Pavilion for the inter- ways to Platt’s Harold F. McCormick House in Lake
national exposition held in Barcelona in the sum- Forest, Illinois, 1908–1918. Originally, a different
mer of 1929 [19.20]. There are no rooms in the house had been designed for the McCormicks in
ordinary Western sense here, either, but rather a 1908 by Frank Lloyd Wright (it would have been

1.10. Shoi-ken (Laughing Thoughts Pavilion), Imperial Villa of Katsura, 1645–1649. Plan. The plan arrangement, based on the
module of the tatami floor mat, and the use of sliding wall screens, allows for many spatial arrangements. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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16 1. ARCHITECTURE: THE ART OF SHAPING OF SPACE

his largest Prairie House ever), and in it, he devised rience. In contrast, we can speak of negative space,
a number of broad, interwoven spaces that opened created by hollowing out a solid that already exists.
up and flowed into one another. As it happened, The earliest ready-made habitations of the human
Mrs. Edith McCormick wanted a more formal species may have been naturally hollowed-out
and traditionally compartmentalized lifestyle, and caves, memories of which linger in such rock-cut
for that, Platt’s compartmentalized plan proved caves as those at Ajunta and Karli, India, carved
more suitable. out from 2000 BCE through 650 CE [1.13].5 In
Space can determine or suggest patterns of be- these cave temples, the space was created by labo-
havior by its very configuration, regardless of barri- riously cutting away the existing solid rock to create
ers or hindrances. We speak of directional space, as the desired void, often leaving columns and vaults
distinct from nondirectional space. The plan of the that resemble buildings built of wood.
German Pavilion at Barcelona effectively illustrates The concepts of positive and negative space can
nondirectional space, for there is no one obvious be applied in a somewhat analogous way to urban
compelling path through the building but, rather, a space as well. In this context, negative space might
variety from which to choose [19.21]. In contrast, be defined as open space that is simply left over after
in a Gothic cathedral, the emphatic axis directs the construction of surrounding buildings, but pos-
movement toward the single focus—the altar at the itive urban space would then be defined as deliber-
end [1.12, see p. 8]. This gravitational pull seems ately and abstractly conceived and constructed in
especially strong in English cathedrals, such as the accordance with a preconceived plan. These two
cathedral at Salisbury, with its superimposed and differing ideas can be seen in the city of Florence,
emphasized horizontal lines creating a strong visual Italy. The major public space, the Piazza della Sig-
focus on the altar in the distance. noria, is in front of the principal municipal building,
We can speak, too, of positive and negative the medieval Palazzo Vecchio, 1298–1310, which
space. A positive space is one that is conceived as juts out into the irregularly shaped open space
a void, then wrapped in a built shell specifically [1.14]. The irregular Piazza della Signoria, given
erected to define and contain it. One example shape as disparate buildings were erected over sev-
would be the plaster interior shell of the pilgrimage eral centuries, could be described as a resultant neg-
church of Vierzehnheiligen (Fourteen Saints), in ative space. However, as the Renaissance developed
the countryside of Franconia, southern Germany, in Florence during the following century, an entirely
1742–1772, by Johann Balthasar Neumann [16.45, new attitude toward space and its definition arose
p. 414]. There is nothing structurally substantial there—a notion of space closely related to the in-
about this suspended plaster shell; it is there solely vention of mathematical perspective in painting and
as an envelope to define a particular space and to the grid concept being used in contemporaneous
shape a particular architectural and religious expe- mapmaking. In 1419, when Filippo Brunelleschi

1.11. Charles A. Platt, William F. Fahnestock House, Katonah, New York, 1909–1924 (demolished). In this residence the
spaces are clearly compartmentalized for separation of activities and for acoustical privacy. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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Architecture: The Art of Shaping of Space 17

1.13. Cave temple, Karli, India, c. 100 CE. Plan and section. This example of “negative space” was created by hollowing out
the solid rock of the cliff, leaving columns and a vaulted chamber inspired by traditional wooden architecture. Drawing: L. M.
Roth, after Susan and John Huntington, The Art of Ancient India (New York, 1985).

designed his Ospedale degli Innocenti (Foundling themselves. This is illustrated by the way birds
or Orphans Hospital) about half a mile north of the space themselves along the ridgeline of a building
Piazza della Signoria, he divided the facade into a or on a telephone wire, or by the way humans space
row of identical square arcade modules. The space themselves when resting on a bench in a shopping
in front of the hospital was then opened up into an mall [1.16].6 For most animals, this zone of comfort
urban square, the Piazza Annunziata, and the archi- is genetically programmed. On rocky coastal out-
tects of all the surrounding subsequent buildings croppings, seals and walruses heap themselves on
based their facades on the Brunelleschian arcade top of each other in apparent bliss, while swans and
module. The result was that the piazza became an hummingbirds generally take great care to avoid
orderly rectangle governed by an implied mathe- contact with or close proximity to others of their
matical grid that seems to determine the placement kind. Experiments in which animals are forced to
of every part of its defining walls [1.15 and 15.7]. exist in crowded conditions, in conflict with their
The Piazza Annunziata could be described as a pos- internal genetically programmed code, can produce
itive space, defined in accordance with precon- seriously aberrant behavior.
ceived geometric ideas. Humans, however, have proven themselves to
There is still another social way of defining be extremely flexible in their determination of per-
space, and although it might not be thought of as sonal space; they seem not to have any particular
strictly architectural, the architect nevertheless is programmed genetic spatial code; or perhaps hu-
well advised to take it into account. This is personal mans train themselves to ignore biological alarms.
space, the distance that members of a particular Instead, among humans, personal space is cultur-
species naturally and automatically put between ally determined and is largely fixed in childhood,
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18

1.14. Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy,

1298–1310. This “negative urban space”
developed out of what was left after the
construction of the surrounding buildings.
L = Loggia della Signoria (Loggia dei
Lanzi); PV = Palazzo Vecchio; U =
Uffizi (municipal offices). Drawing:
L. M. Roth.

1.15. Filippo Brunelleschi and others,

Piazza Annunziata, Florence, Italy, begun
1419. This “positive urban space” was
deliberately planned in conjunction with the
modular facade of Brunelleschi’s Foundling
Hospital. FH = Founding Hospital
(Ospedale degli Innocenti); SA = Santa
Annunziata. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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Architecture: The Art of Shaping of Space 19

1.16. An example of personal space. This photo taken in Toronto (at the Eaton Centre shopping mall) clearly indicates the
degree of acquaintance between individuals. While the young couple snuggle together closely, the other disparate adults keep
as much distance between each other as is possible on this crowded bench. Photo courtesy of photographer John Ferri, from his
2011 photo series “Bench.”

so that later in life, enforced changes in personal strated by the design of the Pruitt-Igoe public hous-
distance may produce severe anxiety. Typically Ital- ing of Saint Louis, Missouri, 1952–1955. This hous-
ians and the French prefer much more densely ing had been designed by well-intended, well-trained
packed social arrangements, as in the seating in middle-class architects for very low-income residents
outdoor cafés, than do northern Europeans, Amer- but was done in such a way that its inhabitants could
icans, or the English. Asians, however, customarily not visually supervise either the public spaces or the
place themselves in extremely dense congregations. hallways in their long apartment blocks. The design-
Even within the same culture, however, different ers had little or no idea of how the intended residents
sets of rules are adopted by males and females. Two might use (or misuse) the buildings. As a result, mug-
unacquainted men will maintain a greater distance gings steadily increased once the complex was occu-
than will two unacquainted women, particularly in pied. In growing numbers, prospective residents
the United States. If an architect should happen simply began refusing to live there. Eventually, the
to violate these unstated dimensions of personal housing proved so hazardous to inhabit that the city
space—for example, by placing workers in an office destroyed it in 1972 [19.56].7
arrangement too close together, even if every other In short, architects must think in terms of space:
architectural variable is optimized—the result may the space around and outside of a building, the
be an environment that is resisted by the users and space that people walk through when moving in-
hence detrimental to the entire business operation. side a building, the “borrowed perceptual space”
Failure to understand these nuances of personal that they can see but perhaps not directly access,
space and similar cultural factors creates a particular the behavioral impact of that space, and the per-
risk when an architect is designing for users belong- sonal spatial interval that people desire to have be-
ing to a culture or social group to which he or she tween each other. The shaping of usable space is
does not belong. This problem was vividly demon- the primary function of architecture.
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2.5. Adler & Sullivan, Wainwright Building, Saint Louis, Missouri, 1890–1891. The arrangement of the parts of this office
building clearly expressed the differing functions of the parts of the building, effectively demonstrating what Sullivan meant
when he wrote later that “form ever follows function.” Photo by Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History Museum,
negative HB-19240-C.
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Chapter 2

“Commoditie”
Building Functions

R
Haec autem ita fieri debent, ut habeatur ratio
hindrance to use and so that a building is perfectly
adjusted to its site. Firmness referred to foundations
firmitatis, utilitatis, venustatis. (Now these [aspects that were solid and to building materials being used
of building] should be so carried out that account wisely to do their required work. Beauty meant that
is taken of strength, utility, grace.) “the appearance of the work is pleasing and in good
—Marcus Vitruvius, De Architectura, c. 25 BCE taste, and [that] its members are in due proportion
according to correct principles of symmetry.”2 No
In architecture as in all other operative arts, the end matter how this notion of beauty, or venustas, may
must direct the operation. The end is to build well. have been construed in the intervening centuries,
Well-building hath three conditions: Commoditie, the Vitruvian triad still remains a valid primary sum-
Firmeness, and Delight. mary of the elements of good architecture. The ul-
—Sir Henry Wotten, The Elements of Architecture, 1624

R
timate tests of architecture are these: First, does a
building work by supporting and reinforcing its
functional use; does it enhance its setting? Second,
is it built well enough to stand up; will its materials

T he basic definition of architecture framed by

the ancient Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius
Pollio (c. 90–c. 20 BCE), in about 25 BCE, has
weather well? But third and equally important, does
the building appeal to the visual senses; does it pro-
vide a full measure of satisfaction and enjoyment—
never been improved upon. However, Vitruvius does it provide delight?
noted that architecture had been the subject of In the creation of architecture, there is another
critical writing long before his time. Several Greek fundamental triad, however, that Vitruvius does
architects compiled books on their profession dur- not discuss directly. First is the person or group who
ing the centuries before the Common Era, leading calls the building into being, the client who pro-
up to the text written by Vitruvius. He listed sixty- vides the commission. The client is the source of
three Greek and Roman books on architecture that funding—and of all the arts (except the perform-
he consulted, some dating back to the fourth cen- ance of large-scale musical and dance works, and
tury BCE.1 Sadly, with time and periodic upheavals, making motion pictures), architectural building is
both natural and human-caused, all but the treatise the most expensive to produce. And in terms of all
by Vitruvius himself have been lost. Consequently, aspects of building, it is the client who ultimately
his sole surviving book has carried extraordinary calls the shots. Second is the architect or designer
importance for Western architecture. who gives the client’s wishes physical form, whether
The basic elements of architectural design de- on clay tablets, papyrus, parchment, or paper or in
scribed by Vitruvius have remained essentially un- bits of binary memory. To this should be added the
changed since the time that humans first began to assistant architects, the scores of drafts-people, cost
shape their environment. Architecture, Vitruvius estimators, materials specialists, and many other
wrote, must provide utility, firmness, and beauty employees in a large architectural office. Third is
or, as Sir Henry Wotten later paraphrased it in the the even larger army of builders who carry out the
seventeenth century, commodity, firmness, and de- construction process following the architect’s in-
light. By utility, Vitruvius meant the functional structions: those who excavate and build the foun-
arrangement of rooms and spaces so that there is no dations, fabricate the structural frame and walls,

21
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22 2. “COMMODITIE”: BUILDING FUNCTIONS

apply the external and internal surface finishes, must be investigated and fully grasped. A thing
install the complex plumbing and mechanical sys- must answer its purpose in every way, that is fulfill
tems (which today can easily account for half the its function in a practical sense, and must thus
cost of a building), and construct the furnishing be serviceable, reliable, and cheap.”5 The Swiss-
called for by the architect. Architecture, in contrast French architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (who
to all the other durable arts, requires the services wrote under the pen name Le Corbusier) described
and contributions of many hundreds of partici- the functional inadequacy of the contemporary
pants, especially in large structures. Because of this house, saying that, for the twentieth century and
commitment of energies and resources, building is the new architecture demanded by it, “the house is
no trivial or impulsive endeavor; it is a “bottom- a machine for living in.”6 The architect Bruno Taut
line” activity, involving the expenditure of signifi- summarized the intent of International Modern
cant amounts of money. William A. Starrett, the architecture in 1929: “The aim of architecture is
general contractor of the Empire State Building, the creation of the perfect, and therefore most
wrote in 1928 that “building skyscrapers is the beautiful, efficiency.”7 In short, beauty would result
nearest peace-time equivalent of war,” so complex automatically from the expression of the leanest,
are the intertwined logistics of such construction. strictest utility.
Architecture is arguably the most accurate, the The problem that became increasingly manifest
most truly revealing, human cultural artifact.3 from the mid-twentieth century onward, however,
was that few buildings (other than factories or
other similar industrial structures) have the kind of
Function internal process that can determine building form
The Vitruvian three-part definition of architecture, in such a direct, linear, and utilitarian way. Most
incorporating utility, firmness, and beauty, begins human activities cannot be reduced to a kind of
with the element that, on the surface, would appear mechanical formula. And if the internal functional
most straightforward but that, since the mid- use is changed, does beauty shift? Stanley Aber-
twentieth century, has proved extremely complex crombie made an interesting observation regarding
and multifaceted. This element is function. Func- functional accommodation equating to beauty. He
tion, or the pragmatic utility of an object—its being noted that Brunelleschi’s Foundling Hospital in
fitted to a particular use—was a criterion analyzed Florence, Italy, was essentially built by 1427 but was
by such Greek philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, and not completely finished until January 1445 and,
Xenophon.4 Part of the difficulty we face is that further, that it was not put into operation for the
there is only one word in English for function, care of orphans until February 5 [15.7]. When did
whereas we need variations to describe different it become beautiful—in 1427 or 1445, in January
kinds of function. Our alternative has been to make or February?8 Furthermore, simply accommodating
compound words such as circulatory function or all the utilitarian functional requirements ignores
acoustical function. much. The American architect Louis I. Kahn be-
Making the problem worse, in about 1920 the lieved that “when you make a building, you make
definition of function became restricted to a nar- a life. It comes out of life, and you really make a
rowly utilitarian or mechanical sense with the rise life. It talks to you. When you have only the com-
of what became called International Modern prehension of the function of a building, it would
architecture—the “International Style,” as it was not become an environment of a life.”9
christened in 1932 by Henry-Russell Hitchcock Another problem we have had to face in the last
and Philip Johnson. Two models of this type of two centuries is that few buildings have continued
building are the AEG turbine factory, Berlin, 1908– to accommodate the function for which they were
1909, by Peter Behrens, and the Fagus factory, originally designed. This has necessitated enlarge-
Alfeld, Germany, 1911, by Walter Gropius [2.1, ments, modifications, or the construction of wholly
2.2]. In both of these buildings, the form was al- new buildings, with the original building being con-
most totally determined by a linear analysis of the verted to a new use. The temptation would be to
internal industrial processes. In 1926, Gropius de- say that an old building was never functional be-
signed the new building for the Dessau (Germany) cause it cannot easily accommodate the new use we
Bauhaus school, whose workshop wing exemplified want it to serve. It may, in fact, have accommo-
the same industrial determinism [19.18]. At the dated its original use very well.
same time, Gropius wrote of the new architecture: An alternative is to design a building so that any
“A thing is determined by its nature and if it is to possible future activity can be accommodated. This
be fashioned so as to work properly, its essence approach was taken in the mid-twentieth century
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 23

23

2.1. Peter Behrens, AEG Turbine Factory, Berlin, Germany, 1908. Behrens hoped in such factory buildings to create a more
noble architecture, to raise the design of the factory to a higher aesthetic plane as a type to inspire all architecture. Photo: Foto
Marburg/Art Resource, NY.

2.2. Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer,

Fagus Factory administrative wing,
Alfeld-an-der-Leine, Germany, 1911–1912.
Gropius followed the direction of his teacher
Behrens in using an industrial expression for
the administrative office wing of the factory.
Photo: Vanni Archive/Art Resource, NY.
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/
VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.
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24 2. “COMMODITIE”: BUILDING FUNCTIONS

by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who devised what he the mid-twentieth century because of its apparent
called the Vielzweckraum, the “all-purpose space” or simplicity, ignores the idea that function is socially
“universal space.” Indeed, Mies said that he and his and culturally determined and that a building’s form
associates did not fit form to function: “We reverse is, in addition, a response to its psychological char-
this, and make a practical and satisfying shape, and acter, its physical setting, and the climate. As will
then fit the functions into it. Today this is the only be noted in Chapter 20, the impact of social con-
practical way to build, because the functions of most vention and of regional and ethnic factors was re-
buildings are continually changing, but economi- discovered late in the twentieth century.
cally the building cannot change.”10 This multifunc- Function, therefore, has many components, the
tional approach is demonstrated in the huge single most basic of which is utilitarian or pragmatic util-
room of Crown Hall, the school of architecture of ity, or the accommodation of a specific use or ac-
the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, 1952– tivity in a specific room or space. A room might be
1956 [2.3]. While such a vast single room can in- used to contain a single bed for sleeping, it might
deed hold any variety of future activities, it does not be an office cell containing a desk, or it might be a
function at all well acoustically, for a sound gener- large orchestral hall or some other public space.
ated in any part of the room ripples and reverberates Most buildings, of course, are composed of nu-
through the entire space. Mies van der Rohe put merous rooms with interrelated functions. People
into built form what a number of International therefore need to move from one room to another,
Modernist architects had believed since the 1920s: so that almost as important as the utilitarian func-
that there was a universality of human needs and tion is the circulatory function, the making of
function. Le Corbusier even claimed it was possible appropriate spaces to accommodate, direct, and fa-
to design “one single building for all nations and cli- cilitate movement from area to area. When Charles
mates.”11 Unfortunately, this notion, so appealing in Garnier designed the Paris Opéra, 1861–1875, he

2.3. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois, 1952–1956. The interior
consists of one vast room designed to house a variety of differing utilitarian functions. Photo: Rosenthal Collection,
Department of Art History, Northwestern University.
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Function 25

2.4. Charles Garnier, Paris Opéra, Paris, France, 1861–1875. Stair Hall. For the
Paris Opéra, social interaction, observing and greeting one another in the circulation
spaces, was perhaps the primary function. Painting in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris;
photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.

analyzed just what the true function of the opera portant as the stage house and the auditorium, and
was. Certainly, he realized, Parisians went to hear as his plan clearly reveals, the grand stair, the foyer,
the latest opera, but as Garnier also correctly un- and the vestibules make up a significant portion of
derstood, there was perhaps an even more impor- the total floor area [2.4, Plate 2].
tant social reason for going to the opera—people Similarly, when, toward the end of the nine-
went there to see and be seen. Its social function teenth century, Louis Sullivan set out to design
was as important as, or even more important than, some of the first metal-framed commercial skyscrap-
its musical function. In fact, Garnier spent time at ers, he first examined just what this new type of
existing facilities around Paris examining how building enclosed.12 He discovered that there were
people moved, the numbers of people strolling in five distinct utilitarian zones. The bottom-most was
small groups, and how much distance the groups the basement, which contained machinery, storage,
maintained between themselves as they moved and other strictly utilitarian uses [2.5, p. 20]. Above
about. These became his modules of measurement that were four distinctly different functional uses:
in designing the new Opéra. Further, as he quickly (1) the ground floor (containing the entrances, the
realized, the circulatory areas were every bit as im- elevator lobby, and shops at the perimeter facing
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26 2. “COMMODITIE”: BUILDING FUNCTIONS

the street); (2) a mezzanine level that might house principal pragmatic function is simply to contain
support rooms for the shops below or offices opening books, which are arranged in bookcases that fan
onto an internal court; (3) the central section (floor out northward from the central reading and circu-
upon floor of identical office cells arranged around lation core. But its other support activities require
the elevator); and (4) the terminating upper floor different spaces, so on the north side are closely fit-
or floors (with elevator machinery, water tanks, stor- ted rectangular offices and workrooms for the staff
age, and other miscellaneous uses). For simplicity’s and to the south is a wedge-shaped auditorium.
sake, Sullivan himself often described this as being Each of the spaces is placed where it needs to be, is
like a Classical column with a base, a mid-section shaped in the best way to accommodate its use, and
shaft, and a capital or top. Since the new, tall office joins with the other spaces to form a harmonious
block was decidedly vertical in form, Sullivan ar- whole.
gued that it was the architect’s responsibility to em- A building often also has a symbolic function
phasize this verticality and to express clearly the and makes a visible statement about its use. We
three functional zones, as he did in the Wainwright usually expect some correspondence between what
office building, Saint Louis, Missouri, 1890–1891. the building’s use appears to be and what the use
Another architect who exploited the potential actually is. From the time of the Egyptians, Greeks,
for expressive form by celebrating different func- and Romans, up through Renaissance and Baroque
tional activities was the Finnish architect Alvar architecture (that is, until about 1750), there were
Aalto. Among his best examples is one of the two general guidelines regarding the form and appear-
buildings he designed in the United States: the li- ance of buildings for ceremonial uses, but now there
brary for the Benedictine monastery at St. Benedict is much greater latitude. Since roughly 1920, there-
near Mount Angel, Oregon, 1967–1971 [2.6]. Its fore, architects have had to do two things simulta-

2.6. Alvar Aalto, Mount Angel

Abbey Library, Mount Angel,
Oregon, 1967–1971. The plan
arrangement illustrates the
differing functional activities:
public entry, staff work areas, the
auditorium, and reading/book
storage. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 27

Function 27

2.7. Mies van der Rohe,

Boiler House, Illinois Institute of
Technology, Chicago, Illinois,
1940. Heating plant building.
With its tower-like chimney and
high clerestory windows, this
building has the physical
attributes of early churches.
Photo by Hedrich Blessing.
Chicago History Museum,
negative HB-12979B.

neously: invent original forms using new building viewing the chapel as an all-purpose space and
technologies and, at the same time, devise appropri- shunned the creation of a fixed image, allowing a
ate new symbolic representations for the functions new use to be accommodated later (in fact, by
that their structures are housing. Often, the ex- 1998, the IIT chapel had been converted to storage
ploitation of new technologies has taken prece- space). One might contrast the all-purpose IIT
dence over symbolic representation, and many chapel with the interior of the Zion Lutheran
mid-twentieth-century buildings truly tell us almost Church, Portland, Oregon, 1950, by Pietro Bel-
nothing about what goes on inside them. As an ex- luschi [2.8], which to most observers suggests the
ample, compare two buildings designed by Mies van character of a church without attempting to liter-
der Rohe for the campus of the Illinois Institute of ally re-create Gothic vaults, crockets, or finials.
Technology (IIT) during 1940–1950 [2.7, 19.39]. In the United States, the national Capitol
One is the boiler house, perhaps the most utilitarian Building in Washington established an image of
building of the ensemble; the other is the chapel. governmental architecture, and since 1800, that
Yet nothing in either the form or the material of the image was recalled many times in successive new
chapel tells us how its function differs from that of state capitols. One example is the Minnesota State
the boiler house. In fact, using Early Christian Capitol, Saint Paul, 1895–1905, by Cass Gilbert
buildings as prototypes, since one of the IIT build- [2.9]. Like the national capitol, this has two cham-
ings has high clerestory windows with a tower set bers on either side of a central circulation chamber
to the side, we might mistakenly take the power that is capped by a tall dome. The Minnesota dome
plant for a church. Perhaps Mies van der Rohe was is specifically patterned after that of the Basilica of
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28 2. “COMMODITIE”: BUILDING FUNCTIONS

2.8. Pietro Belluschi, Zion Lutheran Church, Portland, Oregon, 1950. Through the simple use of colored glass and laminated
arches in wood, the traditional image of a church is suggested. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.

Saint Peter in Rome, but the image conveyed is of and symbolic elements shifts over time. In the mid-
a building in which the legislature does its business; twentieth century, a public library or a city hall
the high dome of glistening white marble proclaims might have been more purely utilitarian, but by the
that function across the landscape of Saint Paul. In end of the twentieth century, just as in the nine-
another more abstract example, when Eero Saari- teenth century, these buildings favored symbolic
nen was engaged in 1956 to design a terminal function much more. With the general spread of
building for Trans World Airlines at Idlewild (now the various Postmodernism alternatives at the end
Kennedy) Airport, New York, he set out to shape a of the twentieth century, such buildings have been
building that, in architectural terms alone, would given a greater component of symbolic functional
convey symbolically the mystery and magic of flight expression.
[2.10]. He and his associates conceived a building Architecture also has important psychological
with great concrete shells cantilevering out from and physiological functions to fulfill. For example, a
the center like giant wings, and interior surfaces hospital emergency waiting room is a place where
that sweep, curve, and rise without sharp angles or most people experience great apprehension and dis-
corners. The fluid, sculptural architectural form tress. The architect might determine that creating
psychologically prepared travelers for the miracle a restful, domestic atmosphere like that of a home
of flight as they passed through to board a plane. living room—perhaps with a view out to an en-
Seldom is a building devoted wholly to one kind closed garden, rather than an antiseptic, clinical
of function. Most buildings contain a mixture of space—would help reduce those anxieties. To men-
purely utilitarian function and symbolic function. tion just one example among many, the Riverbend
For any given building type, the mix of utilitarian Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene-Springfield,
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 29

29

2.9. Cass Gilbert, Minnesota State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1895–1905. Based on the Capitol in Washington, DC,
this building clearly evokes the image of an American government building. Photo: L. M. Roth.

2.10. Eero Saarinen, Trans World Airlines Terminal, John F. Kennedy Airport, New York, NY, 1956–1962. With its
soaring cantilevered concrete wings, Saarinen endeavored to shape in the TWA Terminal a symbolic representation of the
magic of flight. Photo: L. M. Roth.
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30 2. “COMMODITIE”: BUILDING FUNCTIONS

Oregon, 2002–2008, by Todd Tierney and Bill Lee fine as the optimum satisfaction of all the types of
of Anshen + Allen Architects, was conceived from function just described. One modern architect who
the outset as a place not just for physical healing but strikingly achieved psychological function on an ab-
for mental healing as well. Accordingly, the site se- stract level was the American architect Louis I.
lected is adjacent to the McKenzie River in a mature Kahn, whose work is represented in the Jonas Salk
grove of towering Douglas firs, allowing for a paved Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California,
path to weave among the trees where family mem- 1959–1965 [19.55]. Just as Garnier did for the
bers can stroll and reconnect with the natural envi- Paris Opéra, Kahn penetratingly analyzed what
ronment. The exterior of red brick with massive the range of functions was to be in the laboratory,
wood beams and trusses opens to a two-story visi- and he saw that satisfying the purely utilitarian and
tors’ entry lobby with wood paneling and a stone highly specialized function of providing space for
fireplace that suggests more the lobby of a ski lodge conducting experiments was only part of his task.
than that of a sterile clinic. Small lounges on the He was fortunate, too, that his client, the scientist
upper floors, strategically located near intensive care Jonas Salk, likewise perceived the need for some-
and cancer wards, have broad windows that open thing more than the utilitarian. As Kahn said, Salk
onto roof gardens arnd use rain water to form “green recognized that “the scientist . . . needed more than
roofs” [2.11]. In each patient’s room is a built-in win- anything the presence of the unmeasurable, which
dow seat/daybed so that, for example, a parent can is the realm of the artist.”13 Accordingly, the labo-
sleep overnight to comfort an ill child. Clearly, in ratory spaces were separated into two parts: large
the design of this building, the needs of distressed antiseptic spaces for work and small, private hu-
family members were as carefully considered as those mane spaces for reflection. The large, universal
of the injured and seriously ill patients. spaces for setting up the experiments are on the out-
Besides what was achieved in this hospital there side of the U-shaped plan, while budding from their
is a special psychological function that we might de- inward faces are the private studies. The work

2.11. Todd Tierney and Bill Lee, with landscape architect. RiverBend Sacred Heart Medical Center, Eugene-Springfield,
Oregon, 2002–2008. In various internal locations, and on various rooftops, where the most at-risk patients would be located,
healing gardens are provided either as visible respite or as quiet places to withdraw, places to promote spiritual and
psychological healing. Photo: L. M. Roth, 2013.
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Function 31

spaces are expansive and functionally efficient, clear, science is more than simply the raw accumu-
whereas the studies are small, intimate, and private, lation of data. Although medical science grows out
paneled in teak, with windows angled so that the of the inextinguishable human desire to know, such
researchers look out westward toward the open ex- knowledge inevitably influences the quality of
panse of the Pacific Ocean. The work spaces are fo- human life and hence calls for the most penetrating,
cused on empirical research; the private studies are sober reflection.
designed to encourage a community of minds and Architecture is more than functional utility or
private contemplation of the meaning of the re- structural display—it is the vessel that silently, per-
search at hand. As Kahn and Salk wished to make petually, and inescapably shapes human life.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 32

3.1. Temple of Poseidon, Paestum, Italy, c. 550 BCE. This stone column, larger than structurally necessary, conveys a clear
impression of its strength. Photo: G. E. Kidder-Smith.
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Chapter 3

“Firmeness”
Structure, or How Does the Building Stand Up?

R
Architecture . . . is the crystallization of its inner
the building up. Since we sense from experience
that sheets of glass by themselves cannot hold up a
structure, the slow unfolding of form. That is the building of that size, we must therefore visually hunt
reason why technology and architecture are so for the actual structure (the architects force us into
closely related. a kind of game) until we finally see the columns
—Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, speech to emerge at the base of the building. This play be-
Illinois Institute of Technology students, 1950

R
tween what we know to be a heavy building and
its apparent weightlessness is part of the visual tease
of these glass-skinned skyscrapers. Some modern
viewers take delight in the idea that gravity has been

T he most apparent part of a building is its struc-

ture, or what makes it stand up. This has been
more obvious since the mid-twentieth century,
cheated (although observers of earlier periods might
have considered the structure of the building poorly
expressed).
when architects and engineers took particular de- The emphasis in the preceding paragraphs on
light in making structures do more work with less visible structure ignores perhaps the most important
material, seemingly in defiance of gravity, while structural element in a building, the nonvisible por-
showing the structure more clearly. The tension we tion—how it is supported on the ground itself (that
may feel when looking at a modern structure so del- is, on its foundation). There is a balancing act be-
icate as to seem in danger of imminent collapse il- tween the weight of the finished building and what
lustrates the difference between the physical the soil beneath it can bear. In mid-town New York
structure, that is, the “bones” of the building that City it is typically the case that the Manhattan
do the work, and the perceptual structure, or what Schist bedrock is just below the surface (and above
we see. They are not the same, for a column may the surface in parts of Central Park), so that exca-
be much larger than structurally necessary in an en- vating a basement means drilling and blasting the
gineering sense simply to reassure us that it is in- bedrock to create a hole. Buildings erected directly
deed big enough for its job. Such is the case with on this bedrock sit solidly and immovably. In
the extraordinarily thick columns of the Temple of Chicago the conditions below the sidewalk level are
Poseidon at Paestum, Italy [3.1, p. 32]. altogether different. During the Ice Ages the gla-
In a comparison between Lever House, New ciers that repeatedly pushed through this area left
York, by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, 1951–1952 behind layer upon layer of material—soft clay, hard-
[3.2], and the neighboring New York Racquet and packed clay, gravel, sand—multiple layers in no par-
Tennis Club, by the office of McKim, Mead & ticular order. Solid Joliet Limestone bedrock can lie
White, 1916–1919, we see a contrast between a anywhere from 100 to 200 feet below the many lay-
wall of glass that hides the structure and a tradi- ers of softer materials [3.3]. The earliest commercial
tional massive masonry wall. The wall of the Rac- buildings built there in the 1850s through the 1870s
quet and Tennis Club looks stronger than it needs had spread footings below their supporting masonry
to be and reassures us through its structural excess, walls, but as the buildings got taller and taller in the
whereas the actual physical columns of Lever House 1880s, problems began to emerge in connection
are covered by a suspended skin of green glass, and with uneven settling of the larger, heavier buildings.
there is no readily perceptible clue as to what holds By the 1880s, Chicago architects and engineers had

33
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34 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

3.2. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill,

Lever House, New York, 1951–1952.
With its glass envelope suspended
from the inner skeleton, Lever House
visually hides its structure, whereas the
adjacent New York Racquet and Tennis
Club (by McKim, Mead & White,
1916–1919) has a boldly expressed
wall structure. Photo: L. M. Roth.

developed ways of measuring the bearing capacity to lean to the side when construction had reached
of the soil underneath the various parts of a pro- only the second-floor level in 1178. Foundations
jected building and then proportioning the size of only 9 feet deep rested on soil that had less bearing
each footing pad under a wall or column to match capacity on one side. Construction was stopped
the bearing capacity at that point; the buildings set- (since, in any case, Pisa was involved in political and
tled into the soft soil as anticipated, but they did so military contests with surrounding cities) but re-
evenly. Architects who did not adopt this practice sumed in 1272 when the architect at that time
started to notice that parts of their buildings, par- decided to build the new floors with one side higher
ticularly high towers, began to settle more and cause than the other, making the tower look straighter but
cracks to open up in their just-finished buildings. giving it a curve. The final seventh floor was built
The same foundation problems seen in Chicago in 1319, continuing this countercurve. The tower
had been observed centuries earlier in the city of continued its slow leaning, year after year. In 1964
Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, in the twelfth century [3.4]. the Italian government requested aid from engi-
Begun in 1173, when the foundations for the free- neers worldwide to prevent the tower from toppling
standing bell tower were laid, the tower soon began (though there was no thought of trying to undo
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“Firmeness”: Structure, or How Does the Building Stand Up? 35

the sideways lean altogether, due to its appeal for cordingly, long before we can articulate the concept
tourism). Considerable study was focused on the in scientific terms, as infants we have a clear idea
problem, and the tower closed to the public while that objects that are not supported will fall straight
it was stabilized with cables attached to anchors sev- down, or, to be exact, toward the center of the
eral hundred meters away. The solution involved earth. And that is the essence of architectural
the removal of around 100 cubic meters of soil structure—making sure that objects will not fall to
under the higher side of the tower base, allowing it the earth, despite the incessant pull of gravity.
to slowly lean back and straighten up slightly— We develop early a way of understanding objects
pulling back roughly 45 cm (15 in) to re-achieve its around us through empathy, of imagining ourselves
angle as of 1838. In 2008, engineers declared that, inside the object and feeling how gravity works on
due to the remedial measures taken, the tower had it. So, for example, when we see the pyramids in
stopped its slow leaning motion for the first time in Egypt, we sense that they are inherently stable ob-
its history; it is now open to the public once again. jects, whereas when we see something like the
Through our childhood play we grow up devel- inverted pyramid of Shapero Hall of Pharmacy at
oping a good intuitive sense of gravity and how it Wayne State University, Detroit [3.5], we feel a
affects objects around us, for from the first moment sense of instability and perhaps marvel at the work
we try to move our limbs (once removed from the of the architect and the engineer who placed such
comparative weightless state of the womb), we ex- a structure on its head. In the case of Lever House,
perience the unceasing pull of gravity. As infants, the architect played with our differing perceptions
we must figure out how to raise our bodies erect of solid stone and transparent glass, knowing that
and maintain a state of equilibrium, or stasis, while we would sense one building (the Racquet and Ten-
standing, and then how to move on two legs. Ac- nis Club) as solid and heavy, and Lever House as

3.3. Diagram illustrating varying

subsoil conditions in Chicago. Because
of repeated glacial scrapping and deposit
of differing soils over many millennia,
the subsoil of Chicago is made up of
numerous layers of sand, gravel, and
clay, all varying in bearing capacity.
Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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36 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

3.4. Guglielmo, Giovanni di Simone, and

Tommaso di Andrea Pisano, Campanile Tower
of Pisa, 1173–1350. The alluvial soil beneath
Pisa is made up of varying layers, with the
bearing capacity per square inch on one side of
the tower being less than on the other side,
resulting in the tower’s settling more into the
softer side. Photo: Art Resource, NY.

light. Some architects, in fact, have taken pains to plicity of vertical lines [3.7]. All of this suggests as-
accentuate the sense of weight, as did Frank Fur- cent, lift, weightlessness, aspiration, and a visual
ness, a nineteenth-century architect from Philadel- denial of the tremendous forces being generated by
phia. His Provident Life and Trust Company, the roof and inner stone vaults 140 feet (42.7 m)
Philadelphia, 1876–1879 [3.6], a building regret- in the air, both vertically and laterally or spreading
tably now demolished, projected a sense of immense outward, all insistent on being conducted safely
weight, so that the parts of the building seemed to down to the ground and to the invisible founda-
be compressed, sliding downward and telescoping tions below.
into one another under the pull of gravity.
Part of our perception of architecture has to do
with this empathetic analysis of how forces are han- Elements of the Oldest Architecture
dled in buildings. Hence, what we perceive at Paes- We will likely never be certain just when humans
tum and in the Parthenon in Athens [11.28] is a began to fabricate structures to protect themselves,
careful balance of vertical and horizontal elements, because once out from under the shelter of the
neither of which dominates, suggesting a delicate primeval cave, the earliest structures humans put
equilibrium of forces and thus exemplifying the together used tree saplings, thatch, grass, animal
classical Greek philosophical ideal. In contrast, skins, and other organic materials that all quickly
Gothic architecture, as represented by the east end returned to the earth. Most such shelters probably
of the cathedral of Beauvais, France, is character- lasted no more than 10 or 20 years. In at least one
ized by soaring, thin, vertical supports and a multi- instance (discovered so far), such organic dwelling
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37

3.5. Paulsen and Gardner, Shapero

Hall of Pharmacy, Wayne State
University, Detroit, Michigan,
1965. This unusual building,
seeming to rest on its smallest point,
makes the viewer wonder how it is
held up. Photo: University
Archives, Wayne State University.

3.6. Frank Furness, Provident Life

and Trust Company, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, 1876–1879
(demolished 1959). The architect
deliberately exploited strong
contrasts in form, scale, and texture
to create an image that was bold
and unique. Photo: Penrose
Collection, Historical Society of
Pennsylvania.
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38 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

3.7. Choir of Saint-Pierre Beauvais,

France 1225–1569. In this
building, devoted to the aspiration
to heaven, the vertical line dominates
everywhere. Photo: Anthony Scibilia/
Art Resource, NY.

building materials did survive for more than 13,000 Americans (to name just the tribes encountered
years, to be uncovered in the 1970s. These were by the first English settlers in Virginia and New
the wood timbers and hides of shelters found at England). Rounded wigwams, and also somewhat
a site called Monte Verde, Chile, discussed in elongated rectangular round-topped houses, were
Chapter 9 [9.4, p. 171]. Far older, however, are the built of saplings pushed into the ground and bent
indications of branches being used to enclose a over in a series of parallel U-shaped hoops, the
shelter some 400,000 years ago, at a location called frame then being covered with sheets of elm or
Terra Amata off the Mediterranean coast of south- birch bark, layers of sewn reed mats, or animal skins
ern France. The branches themselves long ago [3.8]. In analogous ways—also exploiting local ma-
disappeared, though their indentations remained terials such as thin saplings, wood lattice covered
in the ancient soil when it was uncovered in the with adobe (wattle and daub), palm, grass thatch,
1960s. or even adobe bricks—various African tribes
When European settlers first arrived on the At- continue to use ancestral building techniques to
lantic coast, dwellings similar in construction to construct dwellings.
those found at Monte Verde, Chile, were being Another ancient building material is adobe, used
lived in by the Powhatan and Wampanogue Native to great advantage around the world where earth
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The Elements of Lithic (Stone) Structure: The Post and Lintel 39

3.8. Algonquian longhouse and wigwam dwelling types. An Algonquin Indian village traditionally was made of bark-covered
dwellings such as wigwams and longhouses in the Northeast woodlands. Photo: Copyright Marilyn Angel Wynn. Courtesy of
The Institute for American Indian Studies, Washington, CT.

with a clay content can be mixed with water (with

perhaps an admixture of grass or straw to serve as an
The Elements of Lithic (Stone)
additional binder) to form building blocks or bricks.
Structure: The Post and Lintel
Typically these building units are dried and “baked” The beginning of a more durable structure is the
in the sun. Adobe’s density and mass make it a good stone wall, but a room enclosed with walls has no
thermal insulator (or heat storage mass); these as- light or view, so the wall must be opened up. The
pects of adobe are discussed in Chapter 6. Adobe blocks or bricks over that opening must be sup-
is highly serviceable in dry desert-like environments ported against the pull of gravity, and this is done
where rain is light and infrequent. So long as a sac- either by means of a beam (of wood or, after 1750,
rificial outer coat of adobe plaster is continually metal) or by means of an arch. Such a beam inserted
maintained through periodic replastering, the pro- in a wall to support the wall above is called a lintel.
tective plaster keeps the inner structural adobe The wall could also be cut away, so to speak, and
building blocks from dissolving. That this easily replaced with slender stacks of blocks to form piers,
crumbled and rain-vulnerable material can be used or rounded shafts forming columns, with lintels
for long-term durable buildings is illustrated well by spanning the spaces between them. The architect
the Taos Pueblo structures built in northern New Louis Kahn spoke of “the momentous event when
Mexico during 1000 to 1450 CE (and replastered the wall parted and the column became.”1 The col-
every autumn) [3.9], as well as the Great Mosque at umn and beam—or post and lintel—system is as old
Djenné, Mali, Africa, built initially in the thirteenth as human construction [3.10]. Archaeological and
century and rebuilt in 1906–1907. The projecting anthropological evidence suggests that post and lin-
bundles of rodier palm provide scaffolding for annual tel systems of wood or bound papyrus reeds were
maintenance [AF-4, p. 552]. used long before they were translated into more
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40 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

3.9. Taos Pueblo, Taos, New Mexico, c. 1450. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.

durable stone. Such a post and beam system is called

a trabeated system (from the Latin trabs, “beam”).
One of the most straightforward examples of post
and lintel construction is the Valley Temple east of
the pyramid of Khafre, in Giza, Egypt, built between
2570 BCE and 2500 BCE [3.11]. Here, finely pol-
ished square lintel beams of red granite rest on
square piers of the same material, contrasting with
the alabaster floor. All beams, whether of stone,
wood, or any other material, are acted on by gravity.
Since all materials are flexible to varying degrees,
beams tend to sag or deflect in the middle of their
span as a result of their own weight, and even more
as loads are applied. This means that the upper part
of a beam between two supports is squeezed to-
gether and is in compression along the top surface,
while the lower part is stretched and is said to be in
tension.
Extending the beam over the end of the column
results in a cantilever [3.12]. In a cantilever, the
situation is exactly reversed over the supporting
post, for as the extended projecting beam sags due 3.10. Diagram of the post and lintel system. Drawing:
to the pull of gravity, the upper part is stretched L. M. Roth.
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The Elements of Lithic (Stone) Structure: The Post and Lintel 41

3.11. Valley Temple,

Pyramid of Khafre, Giza,
Egypt, c. 2570–2500 BCE.
This is one of the purest
and most direct expressions
of stone post and lintel
construction. Photo:
Hirmer Verlag, Munich.

(put in tension) and the lower portion experiences sile forces. The solution to this problem, used by
squeezing compressive stresses. In the cantilever, early Romans and modern-day builders alike, is to
these forces are strongest just over the support. In place iron (and now steel) rods in the formwork
fact, it is the continuity of the material of the beam into which the liquid concrete is then poured. The
over the support that makes the cantilever possible. result is reinforced concrete. As the dotted lines in
The perception of weightlessness that the can- 3.10 and 3.12 indicate, the steel is placed where
tilever suggests (together with the strong emphasis the tensile forces accumulate—on the bottoms
on the horizontal line) were characteristics greatly of concrete beams and at the top of concrete
favored by Frank Lloyd Wright, perhaps nowhere cantilevers.
more so than in the dramatic cantilevers he incor-
porated in his famous weekend house for Edgar
Kaufmann called Fallingwater [4.24].
Wood, being a fibrous material, resists tensile
stresses relatively well, as do wrought iron and
rolled modern steel; beams of steel can span signifi-
cant distances. The tensile forces along the bottom
of a beam (or along the top of a cantilever) are de-
termined by the length of the span and the load
placed on the beam, so that eventually, given a suf-
ficiently great span and high load, the tensile
strength of the material will be exceeded; the beam
will crack at the bottom (or along the top in a can-
tilever) and will eventually collapse. Stone and
solid plain concrete have far less tensile strength
than do fibrous wood or metal, so that a wooden
beam over a given span might carry a load that
would crack a stone beam [3.13]. Of course, the
stone beam starts out being far heavier by itself, cre-
ating a significant load from the outset. In beams
of concrete, which has great strength in areas of
compression, the solution is to place something
within the concrete that will take or resist the ten- 3.12. Diagram of a cantilever. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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42 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

3.13. Balcony House, Mesa Verde, Colorado, c. 1250–1280. Photo: L. M. Roth.

The ancient Greeks also faced this problem. from the Renaissance in the fifteenth century down
The central opening of the gateway to the Akropo- to our own times. The columns of each Greek order
lis in Athens, the Propylaia, built in 437–432 BCE consist of three basic parts—base, shaft, and
[11.21], had to accommodate the passage of pairs capital—and, in Greek usage, rise from the three-
of sacrificial oxen with their handlers. The gateway stepped temple base composed of the top stylobate
had to have a broad span of 18 feet (5.5 m), far too (from the Greek stulos, “column,” plus bates, “base”),
great for a solid block of marble that also had to with a two-step stereobate below. In all the Greek
carry the roof load. The solution adopted by the ar- orders, the height of the column and the relative
chitect Mnesikles was to hollow out the beam to size of all the related component parts, as well as of
reduce its own weight (it still weighed eleven tons) the entablature, are proportional derivatives based
and to place iron bars along the top of the beam, on the diameter of the column.
apparently to carry the weight of the marble blocks Aside from each of the orders rising from some
above. In this unique instance, the iron bars are at sort of base platform, each carries a stylized beam
the top of the beam, not the bottom, where they and cross-beam ends, all capped with a cornice. This
would be expected today. Even so, over the cen- assembly of beams atop the column is called the
turies, cracks developed in the marble lintel beam. entablature and consists of three basic layers, varying
slightly between the different orders. The entabla-
ture of the Doric order is made up of (1) the lower
The Classical Orders architrave (from arch, “main,” plus trabs, “beam”),
The columns of the Propylaia are splendid examples (2) the middle range made up of alternated triglyphs
of one of the three column types the Greeks devel- (stylized beam ends) and metopes (sculpted infill
oped for their civic and religious architecture: panels), and (3) the uppermost cornice, formed of
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian [3.14]. These three several progressively projecting moldings.
columnar types, or orders, were adapted by the Ro- Doric columns [3.15], the most massive of the
mans, who added more ornate variations of their three Greek orders, are four to six and a half times
own (Tuscan and Composite), and the orders later as tall as the diameter, and the Doric entablature
became part of the basic architectural vocabulary (the stylized system of beams and beam ends resting
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The Classical Orders 43

3.14. Comparison of the five Classical orders. The Greek orders consisted of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. To these the
Romans added the Composite (a combination of the Ionic and Corinthian) and the simpler and thicker Tuscan Doric.
Drawing: L. M. Roth.

on the column) is roughly one-fourth the height of

the column. The shaft of the Doric order rises di-
rectly from the stylobate platform; it has no base.
The shaft itself has twenty broad scalloped inden-
tions, or flutes, with sharp outer edges. Atop the
shaft, the capital of the Doric column consists sim-
ply of a banded necking, a gently outward-swelling
echinus, and a final square abacus slab.
The more slender Ionic order [3.16] has an or-
namental base, from which the shaft rises. The col-
umn itself is roughly nine times as high as its
diameter, and the shaft has twenty-four flutes with
flattened edges. The capital has unique curled vo-
lutes resting on an egg-and-dart molding; over the
egg-and-dart molding is a swelling pulvinus (Latin
for “pillow”), connecting the curling volutes. The
Ionic entablature is roughly one-fifth the height of
the column and is made up of an architrave of two
or three vertical flat surfaces or faces, with a middle
frieze, most often filled with a continuous narrative
band of relief sculpture. Atop this is the cornice.
Slightly more slender still is the Corinthian
order [3.17], whose column is ten times the height
of its diameter. It rises from a base similar to that
of the Ionic order and, like it, normally has twenty-
four flutes. The Corinthian capital is the tallest of
the three, with two or three concentric bands of
3.15. Doric capital (Parthenon, Athens). From: Stuart &
lush outward-curling acanthus leaves. The entab-
Revett, Antiquities of Athens (London, 1762).
lature is similar to that of the Ionic order.2
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44 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

The Greek orders were subsequently adopted by

the Romans, who used them largely as decorative
elements; one of the principal changes introduced
by the Romans was making the Doric order into
the more slender Tuscan Doric, with the addition
of a base and usually a smooth, unfluted shaft
[3.14]. The other major addition was the Com-
posite order, formed by placing the volutes of the
Ionic capital atop the curled acanthus leaves of the
Corinthian. The Romans also introduced a deco-
rative adaptation of columns, merging the column
with the wall, so that a half-column, or engaged
column, seems to emerge from the wall [3.18]. The
Romans also developed a flat, pier-like projection
on the wall, the pilaster, complete with base and
capital corresponding to those of a column of the
same order. Both these devices allow the rhythm
of a colonnade to be continued along an expanse
of an otherwise flat wall.

Structural Frames
If the two-dimensional planar structural system of
posts and lintels is extended into three dimensions,
3.16. Ionic capital (Erechtheion, north porch, Athens). the result is a frame. This can be a frame like that of
From: Stuart & Revett, Antiquities of Athens the stone columns and beams of the Valley Temple,
(London, 1762). or of large, square, wood timbers fitted together with
mortise and tenon joints. Today frames are more
typically of nailed wood lumber [3.19], as in the con-
ventional balloon frame used for home construction
in North America since the mid-nineteenth century,
or made of riveted or welded steel members [3.20],
as in much commercial construction. (The differing
nature of iron and steel as building materials is dis-
cussed in Chapter 19.)

3.17. Corinthian capital (adapted from Choragic

Monument of Lysiscrates). From: Stuart & Revett,
Antiquities of Athens (London, 1762). 3.18. Pilaster and engaged column. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 45

45

3.19. Balloon frame. Photo: L. M. Roth.

3.20. Steel frame of the Lake Shore

Drive Apartment towers under
construction, designed by Ludwig Mies
van der Rohe, 1948–1951. Photo by
Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History
Museum, negative HB-13809I4.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 46

46 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

dition to vertical forces (those generated by gravity

The Arch and going straight down). This is especially true in
In masonry construction, the alternative for span- the semicircular arch, and the problem increases in
ning an opening is the arch [3.21]. Like the lintel, direct proportion to the vertical forces the arch car-
the arch can be made of stone, but the arch has two ries. These lateral forces would cause the base of
great advantages. First, the masonry arch is made the arch to spread unless suitably restrained, as in
up of many smaller parts, the wedge-shaped vous- a large arched bridge in which the feet of the arch
soirs, so the necessity of finding a large stone lintel push against the bedrock on either side of a gorge.
block free of cracks or flaws is eliminated, as are the In an arch that has no superimposed wall bearing
delicate logistics of handling large blocks of stone down on it, there is another problem—the arch’s
for lintels. Second, because of the physics involved, own weight. A single point load focused at the
the arch can span much greater distances than can apex, or crown, of the arch will cause the arch to
a stone lintel, and within certain constraints can rupture or bulge upward on its upper surface at
span long distances. The gravitational forces gen- roughly 40° up from the horizontal, but this prob-
erated by the wall above the arch are distributed lem quickly diminishes as an additional uniform
over the arch and converted in the voussoirs to di- load (such as a superimposed wall) is spread over
agonal forces roughly perpendicular to the lower an arch and also pushes down against the arch.
face of each voussoir. Each voussoir is subjected to Several arches placed end to end form an ar-
compressive forces. One of the drawbacks of arch cade. In an arcade, the lateral forces of one arch
construction, however, is that during construction, are exactly counteracted by the opposed lateral
all the voussoirs must be supported by a wooden forces of the adjacent arch, with the resulting force
framework, called centering, until the uppermost over the column being purely vertical [3.22]. With
voussoir, called the keystone, is inserted, locking this arrangement, the arches can be placed on slen-
the arch in place. At that precise instant, the arch der piers or columns, for the lateral forces are can-
becomes self-supporting and the centering can be celed out—except, that is, at the very ends, where
removed to be used to build the next arch. there must be buttressing. The Romans used this
Traditionally, centering was semicircular in structural action to excellent advantage in their ar-
form, as this shape was the easiest to lay out with cades and aqueducts, as for example in the Pont du
pegs and rope on the job site. Unfortunately, the Gard, a combination bridge and aqueduct over the
semicircular arch is not a truly perfect structural Gard River near Nîmes, in the south of France,
form for the arch, because the forces at the base of built in the late first century BCE [3.23]. The total
an arch of this shape are not going straight down. length of the bridge is 900 feet (274.3 m), with arch
In many structural forms that span an opening, spans of 64 feet (19.5 m), except for the center
there are lateral (sideways) forces generated in ad- span, which is roughly 80 feet, 5 inches (24.5 m).

3.21. Diagram of an arch system. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

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Vaults 47

3.22. Diagram of an arcade. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

built in 1077–1096 [14.25]. But, as Saint-Sernin also

Vaults shows, solid barrel vaults result in dark interiors. A
In an arcuated structure, one built up of arches, the solution devised earlier by the Romans was to run ad-
arch acts structurally along a flat plane, but if the arch ditional barrel vaults at right angles to the main vault
is imagined pushed through space, the form that re- so that they intersected, resulting in a groin vault,
sults is a semicircular vault. In the case of a semicir- opened up by wide, semicircular lunettes at each end
cular arch, the resulting vault is called a tunnel or and along the sides [3.25]. With this arrangement,
barrel vault [3.24]. Usually, such masonry vaults the forces are channeled down along the groins,
were placed on thick walls. Since the solid barrel where the vaults intersect and are concentrated at
vault is heavy, this causes the walls to spread out at points at the foot of the vaults. A three-section, or
the top. These lateral forces can be resisted by sub- three-bay, groin vault was used by the Romans in
stantial buttresses along the walls or by thickening many of their large public buildings, such as baths and
the wall. An example of a barrel vault raised to great basilicas. An excellent example is the immense Basil-
height is the nave of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, France, ica of Maxentius, Rome, c. 307–c. 312 CE [3.26,

3.23. Pont du Gard Nîmes, France, 25 BCE. A combination bridge and aqueduct with superimposed arches. Photo: Touring
Club de France, Paris.
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48 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

3.24. Diagram of a tunnel or barrel vault. 3.25. Diagram of a groin vault. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
Drawing: L. M. Roth.

12.11]. Built with a form of concrete developed by

the Romans, this had three center bays measuring 88 Domes
by 83 feet (26.8 by 25.3 m) each, for a total length of An arch rotated about its center vertical axis gen-
265 feet (80.8 m). The lateral forces of the groin erates a dome; a semicircular arch thus makes a
vaults, lifted nearly 80 feet (27.8 m) into the air, were hemispherical dome. Domes, too, were much used
carried to the foundations by walls of adjoining cham- by the Romans, both for structural reasons and also
bers on each side, each chamber measuring 76 by 56 because domes symbolically suggested the over-
feet (23.2 by 17.1 m). Three of these side chambers, arching heavens. The largest, clearest, and most
themselves barrel-vaulted, are the only portions that impressive of all was the immense dome of the
survive today. Pantheon, Rome, c. 118–c. 128 CE [3.27, 12.13].

3.26. Basilica of Maxentius, Rome, Italy, 307–315 CE. This legal hall (that is, court house), now largely destroyed,
demonstrated how the Romans could cover vast public spaces with concrete vaults. From: Boëthius and Ward-Perkins,
Etruscan and Roman Architecture (Harmondsworth, England, 1970).
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Domes 49

3.27. Giovanni Paolo Panini,

Interior of the Pantheon, c. 1750.
This painting conveys better than
any modern photograph the effect
of the space inside the Pantheon.
Photo: Samuel H. Kress
Collection Image © 2005 Board
of Trustees, National Gallery of
Art, Washington, c. 1734, oil on
canvas, 128 x 99 cm (50½ x 39
inches); framed: 144.1 x 143 cm
(56¾ x 56 inches).

Here, the clear span is 142 feet, 6 inches (43.4 m). and stubby barrel vaults set in the concrete to help
The dome is a massive shell of concrete, 4 feet direct the forces to the supporting piers.3
(1.2 m) thick at the top, where there is the broad, Concrete (commonly and incorrectly called ce-
single opening of the eye, or oculus, 30 feet (9.1 m) ment) was a material developed and exploited by
across. The thickness of the dome is greatly in- Roman builders. Their remarkable structures prob-
creased at the point where rupture would tend to ably could not have been built without the use of
occur (at about 40°), and continues to increase in concrete. Concrete is in essence an artificial stone
thickness down to its base, where it is 21 feet that begins as a viscous mixture of water and as-
(6.4 m) thick. The total weight of the dome is sorted aggregate pieces of broken rock (caementa in
reduced by deep recesses, or coffers. In fact, as a re- Latin), combined with a binding material, or ce-
sult, the Pantheon dome functions structurally as ment, derived from lime that will bond everything
twenty-eight radial quarter-arches run from the together. By changing the type of caementa used in
oculus to the wall of the supporting drum below. the concrete, the weight per cubic foot of concrete
The wall of the lower supporting drum is equal in used in the Pantheon could be varied by the Roman
height to the hemispherical dome; it is 21 feet architects and engineers. At the top of the dome,
(6.4 m) in depth but is structurally made up of eight where the weight to be carried was the least, the
pairs of double-wall piers (acting like radial but- caementa aggregate was light volcanic pumice filled
tresses) connected at their tops by radial barrel with gas bubbles; at the foundation ring at the base
vaults. Moreover, both the dome and the drum wall of the drum, where the weight carried is greatest,
are interlaced by numerous brick relieving arches the aggregate is the very densest and heaviest basalt.
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50 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

It might be well to clarify the difference between large structures, both in Roman times and now,
Roman concrete and what is commonly used today. the construction of substantial and expensive form-
In both materials, the basic composition is similar, work is time-consuming and expensive, and then
but the binding agent in Roman concrete was poz- the formwork must often be destroyed to reveal
zuolana, a volcanic ash that undergoes a chemical the concrete structure. In the last two centuries,
action when ground and mixed with water, forming builders have partly surmounted this disadvantage
an artificial stone. In modern concrete, developed by using reusable, standardized forms to make build-
in 1824 in England by Joseph Aspdin, the binding ing parts of precast concrete.
cement is made of chalk and clay, carefully roasted Domes, particularly those the size of the Pan-
or fired, with the resulting nodules ground to a fine theon in Rome, are powerfully evocative spaces,
powder. When this cement powder is mixed with but they require circular plans, making it somewhat
water, sand, and gravel aggregate, the resulting ar- difficult to add adjacent spaces. This problem be-
tificial stone closely resembles the fine-grain natu- came acute by the fourth century CE, but the so-
ral limestone found in the region of Portland, lution devised by Byzantine architects was to place
England, as Aspdin observed. As a result, this arti- a dome over a square plan. What made this possible
ficially produced cement is still called Portland ce- was the curved-triangle-shaped, spherical segment
ment to this day. For both the Romans and us, the called a pendentive [3.28]. Imagine a square over
cement or binding material itself is far too costly for which you wish to place a dome. First, cover the
people to make entire buildings, sidewalks, or other square with a larger hemisphere, which just touches
constructions out of it alone. Even the mortar used the corners of the square; then slice straight down
between bricks and stone is stretched by the addi- along the sides of the square so that looking down
tion of sand aggregate, and in making concrete, on the cut hemisphere, you see a square. Then, just
gravel and sand are mixed in as the aggregate. An- at the top of the semicircles now forming the sides,
other major difference in Roman concrete is that slice off the top parallel to the square below. The
the Romans incorporated large volumes of fired tile resulting form has a circular shape at the top while,
and brick, formed as in the relieving arches, and at the bottom, it is a square. The four curved seg-
this also served as a kind of large-scale aggregate. ments that remain are the pendentives, making the
In all likelihood, newly mixed Roman concrete was transition from the square plan below to the circu-
thick with a consistency like dense oatmeal, lar plan above. An excellent example of the use of
whereas modern concrete is a more liquid slurry. pendentives is found in the church of Hagia Sophia
Like stone, concrete is immensely resistant to (Holy Wisdom), Istanbul, 532–537, designed by
compressive, or squeezing, forces, but relatively
weak resisting tensile, or stretching, forces. Realizing
this, the Romans added iron bars to concrete in
some instances, but they preferred to use integrated
relieving arches of brick and tile. Since the mid-
nineteenth century, iron or steel rods have been
placed in the formwork for modern concrete wher-
ever tensile forces will occur, resulting (as described
earlier) in reinforced concrete.
While the new viscous concrete is curing or
hardening in its first days and weeks, it must be held
in place by formwork, which constitutes one of the
cost disadvantages of using concrete. The formwork
(called shuttering in England) is like the centering
used for arch construction. Unlike arch construc-
tion, however, which becomes instantly structurally
self-supporting the moment the keystone is dropped
into place (so that the centering can be moved else-
where and reused), the formwork around and under
concrete must remain in place during the early cur-
ing process. As a common saying reveals, to make a
concrete structure you construct two buildings—
the first one in wood and the second one in con-
crete, and then you throw the wooden one away. In 3.28. Diagram of pendentives. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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Domes 51

3.29. Hagia Sophia,

Istanbul, Turkey, 532–537.
Interior view. Photo: Erich
Lessing/Art Resource, NY.

Isidoros of Miletos and Anthemios of Tralles [Plate on the remaining sides by the two half-domes,
3, 3.29]. As with the Pantheon in Rome, the space which in turn were buttressed by smaller half-domes
enclosed is huge; here the dome is 107 feet and stubby barrel vaults resting on columns and
(32.6 m) across, but with the extended half-domes piers. The result was that along the main axis, the
below and the barrel-vaulted spaces beyond, the forces exerted outward and downward by the dome
total clear distance from one end of the church to were conducted by this cascade of half-domes and
the other is more than 250 feet (76.2 m). vaults to the broad expanse of the lower part of the
The base of the dome of Hagia Sophia is raised church and to the foundations [13.18]. But on the
nearly 132 feet (40.2 m) above the floor, and the shorter cross axis, on the other two sides, the origi-
considerable weight of the brick dome gradually nal piers proved inadequate to resist the stresses ac-
caused the side walls to spread. After two earth- centuated by earthquakes; it was here that the later
quakes, in 553 and 557, the dome collapsed; al- external buttress towers were added [13.19].
though rebuilt, it collapsed again after another Once the hemispherical Roman dome was
quake in 989. To prevent further spreading, enor- placed on pendentives, it became possible to put a
mous buttresses were then built against the penden- dome over a square or rectangular room, and to
tives on the northeast and southwest sides; along add additional spaces to the sides, each perhaps
the main axis, the dome was already well buttressed with its own lesser dome, as in the arrangement of
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52 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

the cross-shaped church of San Marco, Venice,

with five domes [13.26, 13.27, 13.28].
As serviceable as the Roman groin vault was, its
disadvantage was that it worked well only over
square bays; when the bays became rectangular or
especially trapezoidal, the lines of the groins (where
two vaults intersect) became curved and the vault
lost structural strength. Besides, such vaults were
difficult to cut in stone. The solution to this prob-
lem was the rib vault, which was developed in
about 1100 at Durham, England, and at Saint-
Denis, France, in 1135–1144. Construction of the
rib vault entailed first building the ribs, or free-
standing diagonal arches, along the lines of inter-
section of the groin vault, as well as along the outer
edges of the vaults [3.30, 3.31]. The remaining
webs of the vaults could be filled in afterward. One
advantage of the rib vault was the great reduction

3.30. Diagram of rib vaulting.

Drawing: L. M. Roth.

3.31. Robert de Luzarches, Notre-Dame de

Amiens, Amiens, France, 1221–1269. The
vaults of Notre-Dame in Amiens are
quadripartite, having four diagonal curved webs
crossing in each bay section of the choir and
nave. Photo: L. M. Roth.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 53

Trusses 53

3.32. Comparison of truss types. The trusses include medieval types (queen post, king post, and hammerbeam) and patented
nineteenth-century forms (Howe, Pratt, Whipple, Warren, Fink). Drawing: L. M. Roth.

in the amount of centering needed; in a structure changed in shape without distorting, bending, or
with repeated bays, only one set of centering sup- breaking one of its sides. Hence, through the
ports was needed. Once the ribs and webs were up process of adding triangle to triangle, it is possible
in one bay, the centering could be moved to the to construct extended figures that are quite strong
next bay. Even better, in addition to the rib vault, despite being relatively light. Wooden trusses were
medieval masons soon substituted ribs of pointed used in a wide variety of forms for roof construction
or “broken” arches, made up of two segments of cir- in Roman buildings and continued to be used dur-
cles. By shifting the centers of the two arcs making ing the Middle Ages, especially in the roofs of the
up the arches, masons could create arches on all large tithe barns. One superb example of medieval
sides of a trapezoid or any irregular square or rec- wooden truss construction is the hammerbeam
tangle, all of roughly equal height, some arches truss roof of Westminster Hall, London, built in
sharply pointed, others less so. The result was 1394–1399 by Henry Yevele and Hugh Herland
Gothic rib vaulting as used in most French, English, and spanning 68 feet (20.7 m). This building has
and German Gothic cathedrals, such as Notre- the broadest wooden span of medieval times in the
Dame of Amiens, France, begun in 1221. West [14.46]. The great Gothic cathedrals such as
Amiens were covered by such wooden roofs built
over and protecting the masonry of the rib vaults
Trusses below [14.38].
In timber construction, the Romans also used an- During the nineteenth century, many new forms
other structural type that has proved basic to large of trusses were devised, often identified by the name
constructions since the nineteenth and twentieth of the engineer who first used or patented them
centuries—the truss. A truss is made up of straight (some of these are shown in 3.32). The truss, partic-
wood timbers (or, nowadays, steel members) ar- ularly when built up of steel members, proved capa-
ranged in triangular shapes or cells [3.32]. By virtue ble of great spans and hence was used to enclose vast
of its built-in geometry, the triangle cannot be spaces. An example is the Palais des Machines, the
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54 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

3.33. C. F. Murphy and Associates, McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois, 1970–1971. Designed by Gene Summers, this space
frame has spans of 150 feet (45.7 m) in both directions and covers a total area of 19 acres. Photo: Courtesy, Murphy-Jahn.

largest of the buildings in the international exhibi- and having a clear span of 342 feet (104.2 m), carry
tion held in Paris, in 1889 [18.23]. The building had the roof slung from their underside.
a series of curved steel arch trusses that spanned 377 Just as the arch can be rotated to form a dome,
feet (114.9 m). Here, as with any arch, there were so a truss can be curved in three dimensions to
considerable outward-pushing lateral forces at the form what R. Buckminster Fuller christened the
base, but massive buttresses were made unnecessary “geodesic dome.” Like the truss, the geodesic dome
because the bottom ends of the arched trusses were is built up of small, light, easily handled steel mem-
connected by steel rods just beneath the floor. bers. Fuller began designing and building these
domes after 1945, and in 1967 he was asked to de-
sign the US Pavilion for the international exhibi-
Space Frames and tion held in Montreal, Canada [3.35].
Geodesic Domes
Like the post and lintel or the arch, the truss can
be extended in three dimensions, forming a new Shells
type of structure. The truss extended in three di- Another innovative structural type developed dur-
mensions becomes a space frame, a relatively new ing the twentieth century is curved shells. Typically
structure in widespread use only since about 1945. constructed of concrete, shells can be very thick and
Like the planar, or flat, truss, the space frame can heavy or extremely thin and light. The American
span considerable distances. Properly designed, it architect Eero Saarinen was particularly interested
can be supported at virtually any of the junctures in shell forms and used a portion of a sphere cut to a
of its members, permitting large cantilevers, as in triangular plan in his Kresge Auditorium at Mas-
McCormick Place, Chicago, 1970–1971, by C. F. sachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
Murphy and Associates [3.33]. An intriguing vari- in 1954. He then devised sweeping, reinforced-
ation is the R. Kemper Crosby Memorial Arena, concrete cantilevered shells for the Trans World Air-
Kansas City, Missouri, 1975, also by C. F. Murphy line Terminal at Idlewild (Kennedy) Airport, New
and Associates [3.34]. In the arena, substantial York, 1956–1962 [19.46]. The total covered space
three-dimensional trusses, built up of tubes of steel is 212 by 291 feet (64.6 by 88.7 m), with enormous
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 55

Shells 55

3.34. C. F. Murphy and Associates, Kemper Crosby Memorial Arena, Kansas City, Missouri, 1975. Designed by a young
Helmut Jahn, this has three lateral trusses, each 27 feet high and spanning 324 feet (8.2 by 98.8 m), from which the roof is
suspended. Photo: Courtesy Murphy-Jahn.

cantilevers at the ends of 82 feet (24.9 m). Typically, One can, however, build shells with much less
the edges of such shells are subject to significant in- material, as the Mexican architect Félix Candela
ternal stresses and deformation, so large curved demonstrated in a number of buildings in the 1950s
beams run along the edges of such shells to stiffen and 1960s. A good example is his restaurant at
them. As can be imagined, the massive, foot-shaped Xochimilco, Mexico, 1958 [3.36]. The concrete,
piers that support the cantilevered shells are packed applied by hand over steel wire mesh, is only about
with reinforcing rods to take up the enormous tensile 4 inches (10 cm) thick, but what gives the structure
stresses generated by the 82-foot overhangs. its strength is not the mass of the material itself but

3.35. R. Buckminster Fuller.

United States Pavilion, 1967
World’s Fair, Montreal,
Quebec, Canada, 1967
(destroyed by fire, 1976). In
this structure a space frame is
curved to enclose a sphere.
Photo: Ilse Friesmen, courtesy
of R. Buckminster Fuller.
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56 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

3.36. Fèlix Candela, restaurant, Xochimilco, Mexico, 1958. The building shell is built of concrete applied over a mesh of steel
wire, with a total thickness of about 4 inches. Photo: George Andrews, courtesy of the Visual Resources Collection,
Architecture & Allied Arts Library, University of Oregon.

the geometric curves of the shell. The rigidity of the around the base of the folded-plate dome. Even
structure is, in a truly mathematical sense, a func- more visually dramatic are the protective awnings
tion of its double curvature, for it is curved radially of the Hippodrome in Zazuela, Madrid, 1935–1936,
as well as circumferentially. This was the structural by engineer Eduardo Torroja, working with archi-
technique used by the Spanish architect Antoni tects Arniches and Dominguez. Here, one sees a
Gaudí in Barcelona at the end of the nineteenth combination of slightly curved concrete shells held
century, although his shells were built of thin tile out over the seating by cantilevered concrete
laid in a very tenacious cement mortar [19.3]. beams [3.39].
A shell may also be curved or folded in only one
direction—for instance, an accordion-fold shell, as
in the Minneapolis International Airport terminal Suspension Structures
building, 1962–1963, by Cerny Associates [3.37]. Technologically emerging peoples have used vines
A particularly interesting use of a folded shell is and ropes for suspension bridges since time imme-
in the Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois, morial; good examples are the rope suspension
Urbana-Champaign, 1961–1962, by Harrison and bridges built by the Incas in Peru. Among many still
Abramovitz, and engineers Ammann and Whitney being built is the Qeswachaka bridge about 62
[3.38]. This dome consists of an enormous radially miles outside Cuzco, Peru [3.40]. Spanning 120 feet
folded plate, 394 feet (120 m) in diameter, which over the Apurimac River, the bridge cables must be
rests on a series of radial supports reaching upward rewoven every year by a group of roughly one hun-
from a footing ring at the base. The enormous lat- dred Incan descendants who weave together many
eral forces exerted at the outer edge of the dome strands of the local Qoya herb to form the rope.
are taken up by a girdle belt of almost 622 miles How long the bridge has been in existence is not
(1,000 km) of steel wire wound under tension clear, but the fact that it was destroyed by the Inca
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 57

57

3.37. Cerny Associates, Minneapolis International Airport Terminal, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1962–1963. The roof has the
form of a folded plate similar to a simple accordion-fold fan. Photo: Ron Tadsen.

3.38. Harrison and Abramovitz with Ammann and Whitney, engineers, University of Illinois Assembly Hall, Champaign,
Illinois, 1961–1962. This folded plate shell dome has folded corrugations radiating from the center. Photo: Courtesy,
University of Illinois.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 58

58

3.39. Eduardo Torroja, Hippodrome, Zarzuela Horse Racetrack, Madrid, Spain, 1935–1936. In an elegant combination of
efficient structural forms, Torroja used cantilevered thin curved concrete shells to create an awning over the hippodrome
seating. Photo: From W. Hoffmann and U. Kultermann, Modern Architecture in Color (New York, 1970).

3.40. Qeswachaka suspension bridge, over the Apurimac River, 62 miles from Cuzco, Peru, first built well before 1533.
Photo: Isaiah Brookshire.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 59

Suspension Structures 59

3.41. John Augustus Roebling,

Brooklyn Bridge, New York, NY,
1867–1883. This bridge
established the structural basis for
all modern suspension bridges; its
wrapped steel wire cables were
among the first instances of steel
being used in an American
structure. Photo: Courtesy, The
Long Island Historical Society.

in 1533 to prevent the troops of Francisco Pizarro beam, which is in compression along the top and in
from reaching Cuzco gives some idea of its antiq- tension along the bottom). A suspended cable as-
uity. (The maneuver failed to stop the advance, and sumes a curve described mathematically as a cate-
the bridge was rebuilt several years later and has nary (very close to a parabola) and is an ideal
been annually rebuilt ever since by the present-day structural form, for it is entirely in tension. In fact,
Inca as a ceremony of respect for their ancestors.) if it were possible to freeze that form and invert it,
Beginning in the early nineteenth century, sus- the result would be a catenary curve virtually en-
pension bridges began to be built of iron chains and tirely in compression. Gaudí used such arches, and
then bundled iron or steel wire cables. The classic the vault forms derived from them, at the start of
example of the modern suspension bridge is the the twentieth century in Barcelona [19.3].
Brooklyn Bridge, begun by John Augustus Roebling Only since 1955 has the principle of cables in
in 1867 and finished by his son, George Washing- tension been used extensively for buildings other
ton Roebling (with construction supervised by than bridges. Eero Saarinen, so interested in pow-
George’s wife, Emily), in 1883 [3.41]. In this bridge, erfully expressive shell forms, also used suspension
steel wire was used in the cables for the first time. in a number of buildings. In his Ingalls Hockey
The Brooklyn Bridge has remained the model for Rink, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut,
iron (later steel) cable suspension bridges since its 1955–1956, Saarinen built a reinforced-concrete
construction. parabolic arch rising like a spine and running the
A tension structure is especially efficient in length of the rink. From it, suspended cables sweep
structural terms, since the entire cable is in tension, down to curved ground-level walls on either side of
whereas most other structural forms have mixed the rink. A wooden roof deck was then laid on the
stresses (as was noted in connection with the simple cables. Saarinen enlarged on this idea in his Dulles
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60 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

3.42. Eero Saarinen, Dulles International Airport Terminal, Washington, DC, 1958–1962. The roof is suspended on cables
anchored in the beams running along each side of the building. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.

Airport Terminal, outside Washington, DC, 1958– for this building stipulated that there be a large,
1962 [3.42]. Here he created two opposing rows of column-free area below the ground-level paving, so
outward-leaning column arms, curving over at the that within this open subterranean area armored
top to carry beams running the length of the ter- vans could move about to deliver and pick up ship-
minal. Between these two elevated parallel beams, ments of currency. This meant that there could be
cables were suspended. Concrete slabs were placed no supporting columns coming down from any
on the cables to create the roof deck. This was not structure above. Birkerts’s solution to this dilemma
a lightweight structure, since fairly heavy concrete was to concentrate the support structure for the en-
roof panels had to be used to keep the roof from tire building into two towers and then to support
lifting and fluttering in the wind. all the upper floors on cables suspended from the
Another building using the same principle is the tops of two towers, much like a suspension bridge
Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis, 1968–1973, [3.43]. The side walls are rigid grids attached to the
by Gunnar Birkerts. The written requirements cables, and all floor beams are fastened to these

3.43. Gunnar Birkerts, Federal Reserve

Bank, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
1972–1973. Diagram of the structural
parts, showing the principal structural
cables and the restraining truss at the
top. Drawing: David Rabbitt.
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Suspension Structures 61

3.44. Rhone and Iredale, with

Bogue and Babicki, engineers,
Westcoast Transmission Building,
Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada, 1968–1969. The floors
are carried on beams and
columns attached to exterior
cables that angle back to the
central structural mast. Photo:
Jack Lindsay, Vancouver,
Canada.

cable-supported wall grids; hence all floor and wall mast supporting the ends of the boom of the crane.
loads are carried by the cables back up to the tops A striking early example of this cable-stay technique
of the towers and from there down to the founda- employed as the principal structure of a building is
tions. However, with the tops of the towers being the Westcoast Transmission Building, Vancouver,
constantly pulled in, they would be drawn together; British Columbia, Canada, 1968–1969 [3.44], by
to counter this, spanning the top of the building is Rhone and Iredale, architects, and Bogue and
a truss serving to keep the towers apart. Birkerts Babicki, engineers. In this building, the floors are
also provided for the construction of two arches suspended by cables coming out from the central
atop the towers from which additional floors could core that rises above the topmost floor. More re-
be hung if the building needs to be enlarged verti- cently, since the mid-1980s, Spanish-born and
cally. If that is ever done, the outward-directed lat- Zurich-based architect and engineer Santiago Cala-
eral forces created by the arch carrying the added trava has used striking mast and cable-stay designs
upper floors will counteract some of the inward- for several successive bridges.
directed lateral forces created by the lower floors
hanging from the cables.
Buildings and bridges can also be suspended Membrane (Tent) and
by cables from a single support or from multiple Inflated Structures
mast supports. In fact, most large buildings are con- The use of tents for human shelter is likely a tra-
structed nowadays using such a suspension-based dition thousands of years old, and tent structures
device: the cranes that lift construction materials. are still constructed around the globe, such as by
These cranes have cables or steel rods from a central Berber groups in the Moroccan desert. Another tent
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62 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

3.45. Blackfeet Yellow Buffalo tipi with a group of women preparing a new tipi cover. Although constructed in the traditional
way, the tipi cover here was canvas since the buffalo had already been severely depleted. Photo: Photographed by Walter
McClintock in western Montana in the later 1890s. Courtesy of the Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke
Library, Yale University.

dwelling overly familiar to Americans and people upper ends of the cover, the wind flaps pushed out
around the globe who have watched cowboy and In- by two individual poles, opened up just above the
dian movies is the tipi of the American high plains. center of the tipi so that the dense mass where all
Used originally by the central plains natives, it may the poles converged was just behind the wind flap
seem a simple and perhaps crude enclosure, but the opening. Depending on the weather, the wind flaps
Native American tipi (“dwelling place” as it was could be either adjusted to the wind direction or
called by the Sioux) was a highly sophisticated struc- closed during beating rain storms. Like the door
ture incorporating many aerodynamic refinements opening next to the ground, the wind flap opening
[3.45]. Beyond the rich symbolism associated with at the top was in a low-pressure area so that, in ac-
living within the protection of the bison (for the cov- cordance with the Bernoulli Principle (see Chapter
ering was made by sewing together ten to twelve 6), smoke from the central fire would automatically
bison hides), the tipi was traditionally positioned fac- be drawn outside. Inside, an inner dew lining facili-
ing east, meaning that the door was on the eastern tated better ventilation, and during winter months
downwind low-pressure side. The hide cover was at- the space between outer cover and inner liner was
tached to the last of many lodgepole pine poles, often stuffed with dry grass to provide insulation.
which in turn was placed centered on the west side. Since the mid-twentieth century, a number of
The hide cover could then be pulled around to the manufactured materials including fiberglass and
east side, where the two edges were fastened to- various plastics have permitted exotic construction
gether by willow pins. The tent poles were positioned techniques. Eventually, these may become just as
not in a true circle but in the oval shape of an egg, commonplace as metal framing. Remember that in
with the wider side just west of the center (meaning 1851, when masses of identical precast iron mem-
that the tipi was larger west to east but had a nar- bers were used to build the Crystal Palace in Lon-
rower width north to south—the dimension that don, cast iron was a novel building material. Today,
faced the prevailing winds). The poles were arranged iron-based steel is one of the most common framing
so that they leaned slightly west into the wind. The materials. In the 1960s, the German architect and
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Suspension Structures 63

3.46. Frei Otto, German Pavilion, 1967 World’s Fair Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1967. In this building the protective
enclosure is provided by a membrane held taut by cables stretched from masts to the ground. Photo: From W. Hoffmann and
U. Kultermann, Modern Architecture in Color (New York, 1970).

engineer Frei Otto focused his energies on devel- building need not be pressurized. A good example
oping membrane structures in which the tent is of this type was the Fuji Pavilion at the international
supported by masts carrying a net of interwoven ca- exhibition at Osaka, Japan, 1970, designed by Yu-
bles stretched to tie-downs anchored in the earth taka Murata [3.48]. This structure was made up of
(this prevents the membrane from fluttering in sixteen tubes, each 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter, po-
the wind). Over this net, the membrane itself is sitioned in a circular plan measuring 150 feet across;
attached. A good example was his German Pavilion the tubes rose to 75 feet (22.9 m). Far larger is the
for the international exhibition in Montreal, Pontiac Stadium, Pontiac, Michigan, built in 1980,
Canada, 1967 [3.46]. Similar to this is the tent-like its roof designed by David Geiger. This has a cable-
roof of Teflon-coated fiberglass fabric enclosing the reinforced fiberglass Teflon skin attached to the
entry pavilion of the Denver International Airport, upper rim of the octagonal building wall. Supported
1991–1995, by C. W. Fentress, J. H. Bradburn and by an internal air pressure of 3.5 pounds per square
Associates [3.47]. foot, the skin covers an area of 10 acres. The dis-
Another new membrane building type is the in- advantage of inflated structures is that they require
flated structure, also made possible by new advances a nearly constant input of energy to power the fans
in textile fibers, weaving, and plastic impregnation. to maintain the pressure, and they are susceptible
One application is for temporary covers over swim- to holes and rips in the fabric. (The Pontiac Stadium
ming pools and other such seasonal facilities. Often, roof fabric was damaged by a heavy snowstorm on
a pneumatic structure has a single membrane sealed March 4, 1985, and was subsequently replaced by a
to the ground or floor deck, and the atmosphere new roof supported by steel girders.) Membrane and
within the structure is pressurized by fans, inflating inflated structures are increasingly being used to
the structure. An alternative is the double-wall in- cover sports areas and other structures needing
flatable (a sort of enlarged version of the inflated broad covered spans, but it remains to be seen how
tubular child’s swimming pool), in which tubes are well these materials will stand up to decades of ex-
fastened together so that the inflated tubes have posure to the elements so successfully resisted by the
structural integrity and the atmosphere inside the Pantheon in Rome and medieval Gothic churches.
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64

3.47. Fentress Bradburn Architects, Denver International Airport arrival terminal, Denver, Colorado, 1991–1995.
Fiberglass-reinforced fabric is stretched from several masts to create this multi-peaked tent-like pavilion. Photo courtesy of
Fentress Bradburn Architects.

3.48. Yutaka Murata Fuji Pavilion, 1970 World’s Fair, Osaka, Japan, 1970. In this building the protective enclosure is
provided by a membrane held taut by cables stretched from masts to the ground. Photo: From D. Sharp, A Visual History
of Twentieth-Century Architecture (Greenwich, CT, 1972).
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Building Technology and Risk 65

The result has been that some designs have

Building Technology and Risk proved deadly, as in the case of the suspended “sky-
It seems that part of the expression of human aspi- walks” of the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Hotel,
ration in recent times, at least in modern Western Kansas City, Missouri, built in 1978–1980. The
cultures, has been to push the limits and immedi- U-shaped building was wrapped around a large
ately exploit new technologies and building meth- atrium court, with the upper floors connected by
ods. Humans have an apparently irrepressible skywalks suspended by the slenderest of steel rods
desire to “push the edge of the envelope.” And, as to steel trusses overhead. Designed only for periodic
is often sadly the case, the risks and disadvantages use by occasional guests who needed to walk from
of a new procedure or material are discovered only one side of the building to the other, the skywalks
after a structure is in use. Perhaps Greek architects nevertheless became highly popular among the
learned by bitter experience just how big a stone hundreds of people who came to the hotel on week-
lintel could be lifted into place before cracking and end afternoons for refreshments and big-band danc-
collapse occurred, and French Gothic architects re- ing. The skywalks offered excellent elevated vantage
alized they had reached the limits of their technol- points from which to watch the dancing below. The
ogy when the vaults of the Beauvais cathedral manner in which the walks were fastened to the
repeatedly collapsed (see Chapter 14). The com- slender rods, however, proved too weak to with-
pulsion toward extreme structural leanness and stand the pulsing, rhythmic loads generated by the
novelty became particularly evident in modern ar- crowds of dancing people—a use totally unimagined
chitecture after 1920, when the goal was the visual and unanticipated when the skywalks were de-
dematerialization of architecture (as in the trans- signed. On the afternoon of Friday, July 17, 1981,
parent glass wall of Lever House). The objective the aerial walkways, one placed above the other,
was to get the maximum structural performance were filled with stomping crowds. Suddenly, the
from the minimum amount of material, with joints minimal connections of the suspension rods gave
and connections made as small and invisible as pos- way, with everything crashing to the floor in a mat-
sible, so that the building seemed immune to the ter of seconds, instantly crushing 113 people and
pull of gravity. permanently maiming 180 more [3.49].4

3.49. Hyatt Regency Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri, built 1978–1980; the skybridges collapsed July 17, 1981. Photo: From
The Kansas City Star, July 18, 1981 © 1981 McClatchy. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the
Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this Content without express
written permission is prohibited.
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66 3. “FIRMENESS”: STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE BUILDING STAND UP?

The collapse of the Hyatt Regency skywalks, structural columns, although the towers initially re-
due to unanticipated intensive dynamic loads, was mained standing.6 It was the enormous and long-
one of the worst building disasters up to that time, sustained heat of the subsequent fires that caused
the result of minimal and defective support for the the ultimate disaster. The impact explosions not
skywalks subjected to loads never dreamed of by only blew off the insulating sprayed-on concrete, ex-
the designer and engineers. posing the thin steel rods of the open-web floor
Yet that death toll, bad as it was, paled in the joists to extreme heat, but also destroyed the fire-
shadow of the thousands of deaths caused by the control sprinkler systems. In addition, they blew
2001 terrorist attack directed at the twin World away the gypsum board enclosing all the exit stairs,
Trade Center Towers, built in 1962–1973. As so all of the people working above the impact zones
American office towers soared from 90 to 100 sto- became trapped. Soon the exposed open-web floor
ries and beyond in the 1960s and 1970s, the logis- joists began to soften and collapse, leaving the struc-
tical problems of construction resulted in the taking tural columns without lateral support. In time, even
of calculated risks to reduce the amount of material the enormously thick steel structural columns soft-
in the ever-taller towers. Moreover, there was a ened in the heat and started to buckle. The weight
push to devise construction methods streamlining of the intact upper floors started causing the struc-
construction and the building process, since delays tural columns below to buckle. The stored kinetic
had significant financial implications. Every pound energy invested by raising the steel to 110 stories
lifted up 110 stories was money spent. Such was the could not be stayed; the upper sections of the towers
case with the design and construction of the World dropped to the floors below, causing the columns
Trade Center Towers. The 110-story towers were below to collapse in turn under the unanticipated
designed to be just adequate in strength to meet dynamic vertical load surge. The towers pancaked
anticipated worst-case hurricane wind loads; the down, one floor after another. Once started, the
designers even factored in the improbable possibil- total collapse took only a matter of seconds.
ity of an accidental collision by an errant Boeing Because the towers had been the target of a pre-
707, the largest commercial aircraft at the time the vious unsuccessful terrorist attack in 1993, and reg-
building was designed. In an effort to reduce costs ular exit drills had been implemented, workers
and maximize rentable floor space, the designers inside below the impact levels of 2001 were able to
made the interiors column-free by moving some of quickly exit the buildings, even as rescue workers
the structural steel columns to the exterior, spacing poured into the towers behind them in an effort to
them close together, and placing the rest around assist the people on the upper floors. Although the
an inner core. The structural columns around the towers did indeed stand for many minutes, as mor-
perimeter and the core were connected by the long, tally wounded as they were, the ensuing collapse
lightweight, open-web steel trusses supporting the took the lives of hundreds of firefighters and police
floors. Then, the steel columns and the open-web as well as those trapped on the upper floors. It was
floor joists were given the required legal minimum the single worst building disaster ever recorded,
of fireproofing in the form of a lightweight sprayed- resulting in nearly three thousand deaths. The
on concrete mixture. As a means of further reduc- question remains whether the economies taken in
ing total building weight (and building time), the design and construction in the 1960s and ’70s
emergency-exit stair towers in the core were en- exacerbated the collapse. But as strong as the
closed in standard gypsum board instead of being twin towers seemed to be, clearly no buildings are
encased in their own protective concrete walls. destruction-proof when targeted by persons intent
Structurally, the towers met the letter of the law on mass annihilation.7
(in 1962) and were adequate to the task of standing
up—but only just barely. There was no margin for
any extreme imposed conditions.5 Structure As Cultural Expression
The towers were targeted by radical Islamic ter- Structure is more than just a simple matter of cre-
rorists who, on September 11, 2001, shortly after ating a frame or an envelope. The materials that
takeoff, hijacked several large commercial passenger are selected and the way they are assembled, sug-
aircraft scheduled for nonstop transcontinental gesting either massiveness or dematerialization, are
flights (and hence fully loaded with jet fuel). Using part of a culture’s view of itself and its relationship
the planes as aerial missiles, the terrorists flew two to history. Thus, as will been seen in Part II, the
of them at full speed into both towers, one after the massiveness of the Egyptian pyramids was an ex-
other. The built-in safety measures were totally pression of the unchanging nature of the universe
overwhelmed. The impact sheared off numerous held by the ancient Egyptians, the balance in Greek
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Structure As Cultural Expression 67

temples a representation of the ideal of equilibrium Center, at least in the minds of their attackers, were
in Greek philosophy, the upward reach of the interpreted as the preeminent symbol of American
Gothic cathedrals an expression of the hope of economic hegemony and arrogant cultural domi-
heaven, and the slender supports of the Hyatt Re- nance over the rest of the world. In the attackers’
gency skywalks a demonstration of cockiness in the view, the towers had to be destroyed, taking with
modern desire to defeat gravity. The proud, free- them as many people as possible. What we build
standing, soaring slender towers of the World Trade says as much as how we build.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 68

4.5. Notre-Dame de Chartres, Chartres, France, 1134–1507. The simpler south tower, built 1134–1155 in the Early Gothic
Period, contrasts sharply with the more ornate north tower, begun in 1507 in the Late Gothic Period. Photo: Clive Hicks, London.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 69

Chapter 4

“Delight”
Seeing Architecture

R
Our eyes are made to see forms in light. Visual Perception
—Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture, 1927 Because our visual pleasure in architecture arises
from our perception of it, we must start by consid-
Life is not life at all without delight. ering how the human eye and mind receive and in-
—C.V.D. Patmore, The Victories of Love, 1863

R
terpret the visual data of architectural experience.
How does the psychology of vision and sensory
stimulation affect our perception of architecture?
Perhaps the most fundamental concept is that

A s Sir Henry Wotten put it, the third element

in Vitruvius’s description of architecture, fol-
lowing utility and sound structure, is delight. This
the mind, particularly the human mind, is pro-
grammed to seek meaning and significance in all
sensory information sent to it. This, no doubt, is
is the most complex and diverse of all the compo- linked with the instinct for survival, for eons ago, the
nents of architecture, for it involves how architec- eye, the ear, and the mind learned to interpret a
ture engages all our senses, how it shapes our change in color in the grass or the snap of a twig as
perception and enjoyment of (or discomfort with) indications of an approaching predator. The result,
our built environment. It is perhaps the area with as far removed from our primeval origins as we be-
which most people, architects and users alike, have lieve ourselves to be, is that the mind seeks to place
difficulty. This is partly because delight involves, at all information fed into it into a meaningful pattern.
every turn, subjective responses that differ from in- The mind does not interpret incoming data as signi-
dividual to individual, culture to culture. But per- fying nothing. Even purely random visual or aural
haps even more important, for over half a century, phenomena are given a preliminary interpretation
from 1910 to 1965, Western architects and others by the mind on the basis of what evaluative infor-
around the world whom they influenced chose to mation it has already stored away. Hence, what we
believe that delight in architecture had no inde- perceive is based on what we already know. How the
pendent existence, that beauty resulted automati- mind interprets forms and patterns presented to it is
cally through maximizing functionality and the the subject of Gestalt psychology (from the German
clear expression of structure. Advocates of what Gestalt, “form” or “shape”).2 Faced with random or
came to be called International Modernism argued unknown visual information, the mind organizes the
that the Vitruvian formula had been forever dis- data according to certain built-in preferences. These
pelled, so that commodity plus firmness equaled de- preferences are for proximity, repetition, simplest
light, or, as Bruno Taut wrote, architecture was and largest figure, continuity and closure, and figure-
the creation of “the perfect, and therefore most to-ground relationship.
beautiful, efficiency.”1 Since about 1965, however, Proximity: Objects close to one another are
architects, critics, and historians have reversed this seen to represent a pattern, and points in space are
position, arguing again that there can be an inde- interpreted as lying on a single plane, even if one is
pendent quality of delight in architecture and that distant and another is closer. The ancient interpre-
the most esteemed architecture endeavors to pro- tation of star constellations as the figures of the
duce the greatest pleasure for the price, with func- Zodiac and as gods and goddesses is a classic exam-
tion and durability being satisfied as well. ple [4.1]. Although the seven stars making up the

69
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70

4.1. Diagram of seven dots illustrating the concept of proximity. The dots are close enough to be interpreted as a unified
figure, commonly called the Big Dipper. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

4.2. Row of dots illustrating the concept of repetition. The slight irregularities in the spacing are largely ignored by the
eye/mind in favor of seeing an even row. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

4.3. Diagrams illustrating the concept of continuity and closure. The mind attempts to complete each form on the basis of
known forms in the simplest way possible (the principle of simplest and largest form). Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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Visual Perception 71

Big Dipper are in fact at various distances from the

earth, we cannot see those astronomical differences
in distance and so we interpret the stars as being
on a single plane and forming the outline of a dip-
per with a long handle (or a bear with a long tail,
or a caribou with extended antlers).
Repetition: Equalities of spacing or distance are
seen even where none exist, so that a row of lines
or dots will be seen as being equidistant and two
parallel lines, slightly different in length, will be seen
as equal in length [4.2]. This is one reason why the
corner columns of Greek temples are of interest, for
they were purposely made a little thicker than the
others and were positioned a little closer to each
other, so that what we want to see as a series of
equal objects arranged in space is, in actuality, a
carefully calculated sequence of subtle inequalities
[11.29].
Simplest and largest figure: When presented
with elements that suggest an image it can recog-
nize, the mind fills in any missing pieces to form the 4.4. Figure/ground illustration. Depending on what the
simplest and largest meaningful figure. The related mind chooses to interpret as the background, one sees either
mental operation that makes this possible is the im- a turned white vase in front of a dark background or the
pulse toward continuity and closure [4.3]. What ap- profiles of two faces against a light background. Drawing:
pears to be a fragment of a circle will be completed L. M. Roth.
as a circle rather than as a crescent or some other
shape, and the curved line will be seen as being
solid where the short line “crosses” it. result of a conscious mental decision; we choose
Figure-to-ground relationship: A shape seen in not to hear street traffic at night so that we can
the context of an enclosing shape will be interpreted sleep, but the slightest cry of an infant rouses par-
as a form against a background, with the mind delib- ents from sleep as a distress signal—it is the infor-
erately choosing which is which [4.4]. In the standard mation that deviates from the accustomed accepted
illustration of this phenomenon, we can choose to norm. Again, the Greek temple illustrates this point
see either a turned white vase against a dark back- [11.28]. One reason the Parthenon in Athens has
ground or two faces in silhouette against a white been considered intriguing for so long may be be-
background. This principle, too, seems to have been cause there is not a single straight or regular line in
employed in the Greek temple colonnade. The cor- it. What appears at first glance to be repetitively
ner columns were thickened, since they alone of all uniform is in fact, as will be shown in Part II, a subtle
the columns were seen silhouetted against the sky; and mathematically precise arrangement of inequal-
these corner columns would have been seen as a dark ities and curves. So, too, many observers prefer the
mass against a light sky, whereas the other columns facades of the Gothic cathedrals of Chartres and
would have been seen as light masses against the Amiens [4.5, p. 68] because their facades are not
shaded naos wall behind them. (The naos chamber is bilaterally symmetrical. In fact, the towers of the
discussed in more detail below.) west end of Chartres were built four centuries apart
The mind seeks to find order, regularity, and uni- (1134 and 1507) and represent two different stages
formity. It craves information, constantly varying of architectural development in France. Or, to take
information, and when that input is cut off—when more contemporary examples of similar function,
sight, hearing, smell, and touch sensors are com- we might contrast the repetitive facades of the Fed-
pletely unstimulated, as in an isolation flotation eral Center buildings in Chicago, by Mies van der
tank—the mind will eventually invent its own stim- Rohe, 1959–1964 [4.6], which exploit the industrial
uli, and hallucination will result. Alternatively, production of building parts, with the variation of
when information becomes purely repetitive, the window shapes and sizes in Boston City Hall, by
mind tunes it out and focuses instead on the devia- Kallmann, McKinnel & Knowles, 1961–1968 [4.7].
tions from the anticipated pattern. This happens There is also a kinesthetic, empathic bodily re-
automatically, or it can be made to happen as the sponse to forms and lines. Thus, the horizontal line
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72 4. “DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTURE

4.6. Mies van der Rohe, Federal Center Chicago, Illinois, 1959–1964. In this design, Mies van der
Rohe pulled the glass curtain wall outside the columns, resulting in absolutely uniform window bay
units, and suggesting that activities within were all similar. Photo by Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History
Museum, negative HB-27043d3.

is sensed empathetically as being at rest, just as the bodies are maintained erect by a multitude of con-
human body is at rest when horizontal. Frank Lloyd stant, dynamic muscle actions). But the line that
Wright exploited this response in his Prairie Houses most strongly conveys dynamic action and move-
around Chicago [18.34], stressing and emphasizing ment is the diagonal. This phenomenon was ex-
the horizontal lines and planes of his houses—not ploited in numerous compositions in Baroque and
only to relate their form to the flat Midwestern Romantic paintings from 1600 through 1900, but
prairie but also to convey the image of domestic it has also been used for dramatic effect in such
tranquility. In contrast, the vertical line is sensed architecture as Walter Gropius’s Memorial to the
as one of aspiration, reaching, assertiveness [4.5]. March Victims at Weimar, Germany, 1920 [4.8]. It
There is a sense of dynamic equilibrium as a result can be seen, too, in the well-known Marine Corps
of forces at work in the vertical line (just as our War Memorial in Washington, DC, 1945–1954, by
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:11 PM Page 73

73

4.7. Kallmann, McKinnel and Knowles, Boston City Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, 1961–1968. Although housing functional
activities similar to the Chicago Federal Center, this building has considerable variations in external window forms. Photo:
© Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.

4.8. Walter Gropius, Memorial to the March Victims, Weimar, Germany, 1920. A series of sharp diagonals is used for
dramatic effect in this memorial to victims shot in a street uprising; the pointed angularity can also be described as being
“hard.” Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.
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74 4. “DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTURE

the sculptor Felix W. de Weldon, based on the grip- Vitruvius, was that such geometric figures could be
ping Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph by Joe laid out on the flat earth of the construction site
Rosenthal taken on Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945. with only wooded pegs and lengths of rope. Whole
The crystalline angularity of Gropius’s memorial building plans, therefore, could be scratched out on
also enhances its visual effect. Such faceted objects the ground with utmost regularity of part to part. By
can be described as hard, in contrast to the rounded measuring off the diagonal of a square, and then
Einstein observatory tower in Potsdam, Germany, rotating it down along one side of the square, one
1919–1921, by Erich Mendelsohn, which, in con- creates what is described as a M2 rectangle [4.9] in
trast, could be said to be soft [19.13]. In literal fact, which the sides have the proportional relationship
both are hard, for the Einstein observatory is built of 1 to 1.414 (or 1:M2). Or, one might lay out two
of brick covered with stucco. squares, end to end, measure off the diagonal of this
rectangle, and then rotate it down to the long side
to form a M5 rectangle [4.10], in which the sides
Proportion have the proportional relationship of 1 to 2.2361 (or
The mind also seeks out mathematical and geomet- 1:M5). Many medieval churches show these propor-
rical relationships—or proportions—in patterns. tional systems in the arrangement of their plans. An-
The ancient Greeks believed that all nature was other proportional system followed by the Greeks
governed by abstract universal laws. The philoso- was the relationship of x to (2x + 1), so that Greek
pher Pythagoras demonstrated that two taut temples normally had six columns across the ends
strings, having a ratio in their lengths of 2 to 3, and thirteen along the sides (6 to 2×6 + 1) or, less
would produce what is called a fifth when plucked often, eight columns by seventeen (8 to 2×8 + 1).
together. And a string twice as long as another Perhaps the proportional system most associated
(having a ratio of 2 to 1) would produce the same with Greek architecture and design, and with Clas-
tone an octave lower. Moreover, since the ancients sical architecture as a whole, is what is called the
also believed that human form was based on that Golden Section, or Golden Mean. Just as gold is
of the gods, universal and divine geometric and the most imperishable and thus the most perfect of
proportional relationships could be observed in the metals, so too was this proportional relationship be-
proportions of the human body. Vitruvius described lieved to be perfect. It can be described as the rela-
how, by taking the navel as the center, the extrem- tionship of two unequal parts such that the smaller
ities of the human body lie on the edges of both a part is to the larger as the larger is to both parts
square and a circle, the most elemental and ideal combined. Today, we can write this algebraically,
of geometric figures [15.4]. with a being the smaller unit and b the larger:
Vitruvius also described how to generate geomet-
a b
ric figures with irrational numbers (that is, numbers W 5 W
b aW1b
that cannot be expressed as the ratio of two whole
numbers). His demonstrations all begin with a This can be rewritten as an equation: b2 = a2 +
square. The particular advantage of this system, and ab. If a is assigned a value of 1, and the equation is
the basis of many Greek proportional systems before solved for b, the result is that b equals 1.61804. Or,

4.9. Diagram of a square root of 2

rectangle. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

4.10. Diagram of a square root of 5

rectangle. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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Proportion 75

4.11. Diagram showing how a line can be

divided with drafting tools, or rope and pegs
on the ground, so that the portions have the
proportion of the Golden Section; that is, the
ratio of the short to the long part is the same
as that between the long portion and the
entire line: 1 to 1.618. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

if b is given the value of 1, the result is that a is algebraic equation; the length of D–B is to A–D as
0.61804; the proportional relationship between 1 A–D is to A–B.
and 1.618 and between 0.618 and 1 is the same. Even more simply, a Golden Section rectangle
The Greeks demonstrated this theory geomet- may be generated from a given square. The objec-
rically in two alternative ways, with ropes and pegs tive is to create a rectangle in which the short side
in the field or with drafting instruments on a sheet and the long side represent the Golden Mean. First,
of vellum (sheepskin). The problem is to divide a the square is divided in half, so that each half mea-
line A–B into two parts so that the short part is to sures one unit by two units [4.12]. Then, the diag-
the long part as the long part is to the entire origi- onal of one of these rectangles is rotated down
nal line [4.11]. First, the line A–B is bisected; then along the side of the original square. From the end
half of the line is swung up to the perpendicular to of the rotated diagonal, the desired Golden Section
form the triangle A–B–C. Using C as the center rectangle is constructed. The proportions of the
point, the line B–C is swung up to strike the hy- finished rectangle are 2 to (1 + M5), which is 2 to
potenuse A–C to locate the point B'. Then, using 3.236, or 1 to 1.618.
A as the center, the line A–B' is swung back down A further derivative from the Golden Section
to the original line, A–B, to locate the desired point rectangle results in a most interesting curve [4.13].
of division, D. The ratio of the two lengths of the In a Golden Section rectangle, the square is marked
divided A–B is mathematically the same as in the off at one end; a smaller square is drawn in the end

4.12. Golden Section rectangle. The short side is to the long side as the long side is to the two
sides added. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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76 4. “DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTURE

4.13. Logarithmic spirals based on the Golden Section. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

of the remaining rectangle, and another square is a proportional system he called the Modulor [4.14].
then drawn in the leftover rectangle, and so on, He used this as the basis of design for a large apart-
until no more squares can be drawn. If the corners ment block, the Unité d’Habitation in Marseilles,
of these nested rectangles are then connected by a France, 1946–1952, casting the image of the Mod-
curved line, the result is a logarithmic spiral, or vo- ulor man with upraised arm in the concrete of its
lute, very much like that found in the patterns of elevator tower. In fact, among twentieth-century
seeds in a sunflower or in the section of a cham- architects, Le Corbusier was the most frequent user
bered nautilus. It was also such a curve that the of proportional systems, both in arranging the
Greeks used in the volute of the capital of the Ionic placement of walls and structural supports and in
order [see 3.16].3 the sizing and placement of windows and doors in
There is yet another intriguing correspondence exterior walls [4.15].
to a proportional system based on a numerical se-
ries, first described by the medieval mathematician
Leonardo Fibonacci (c. 1170–c. 1240). The numer- Scale
ical sequence is generated by starting with the num- Architecture and landscape architecture are the
ber one, adding that to itself, and then generating largest and most encompassing of the visual arts.
the next in the series by adding the last number to One of the challenges faced by the user is to deter-
the number preceding it, thus: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, mine just how big a building is, and the yardstick
34, 55, 89, and so on. The larger these numbers be- against which we measure the size of a building is
come, the closer the last two approach the Golden our own human size. How big a building is, relative
Section; for example, 21 to 34 equals 1 to 1.61905, to the size of the average human being, is said to be
and 34 to 55 equals 1.61765, and 55 to 89 equals its scale.4 In the Unité d’Habitation, Le Corbusier
1:61818. On the basis of the Fibonacci series, the conveniently cast into its side a clear ruler by which
architect Le Corbusier developed in the late 1930s we can see just how big the building is. Frank Lloyd
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77

4.14. Le Corbusier, diagram of

the Modulor man, 1947. Photo
from Peter Blake, The Master
Builders (New York, 1960)

4.15. Le Corbusier, Unité d’Habitation, Marseilles, France, 1946–1952. The entire

building, in all its parts, was proportioned using the Modulor and its numerical
relationships based on the Fibonacci series (1:2:3:5:8, etc.). Photo: © Wayne
Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.
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78 4. “DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTURE

4.16. Michelangelo, Basilica of Saint Peter, Rome, Italy, 1549–1564. East end. In an effort to give visual unity to this huge
building, Michelangelo deliberately used overscaled elements to reduce the number of parts, but the result also makes it
difficult to judge the true scale of this building relative to human size. Photo: Leonard von Matt.

Wright designed his houses for what he considered built under the direction of Michelangelo, for the
the ideal height, 5 feet 8½ inches (which, of course, windows and pilasters are two and three times
just happened to be his own height). As he himself larger than what we would expect [4.16].
wrote, had he stood 6 feet 2 inches tall, his archi- One of the problems inherent in the austere and
tecture might have been significantly different. industrially inspired architecture of the International
For the most part, there are many clues in a Modernism of the mid-twentieth century was that
building as to its size—windows, doors, steps—but it lacked such scale clues. Architects, in fact, were
even all these may be enlarged so that our sense of quite proud of the way they stripped away details
scale is distorted. Such is the case with the east ex- that for centuries had provided visual clues. The
terior wall of the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome, dilemma is well illustrated in the Beinecke Rare
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Rhythm 79

4.17. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Beinecke Rare Book Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 1960–1963.
The scale-less forms of the Beinecke Library contrast sharply to the much finer and more easily interpreted scale elements of
the Yale Law School, 1931, in the distance. Photo: Courtesy, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Book Library at Yale University, New Haven, Con- is one way that architecture is like music, for both
necticut, 1960–1963, by Skidmore, Owings and must be experienced in time. So, too, one can ex-
Merrill [4.17], especially when the building is viewed perience the rhythm of a colonnade or an arcade
in the context of the surrounding buildings dating by walking along it, sensing the passage of the piers.
from the 1920s. The older buildings provide many We can also speak of the continuous, unvarying
clues as to their size relative to human beings, but rhythm of Mies van der Rohe’s federal buildings in
the library provides few. Only when the students and Chicago, for the pattern of the windows does not
bicycles in the foreground are viewed in relation to change at all, whether one reads from top to bot-
the library does its size begin to be revealed. Al- tom or from left to right. We can see a similar, even
though in some situations the game of trying to guess rhythm in the arcade that runs across the facade of
the scale can be amusing—and this is the basis of the Foundling Hospital in Florence, 1419–1424, by
the whimsy in the sculpture of Claes Oldenburg— Brunelleschi [15.7]. There are slight differences in
ordinarily, the task of trying to determine scale, the end bays, added later, where the Corinthian
when it occurs again and again in the modern urban columns of the arcade are framed by taller Corin-
cityscape, becomes unsettling. thian pilasters. If we take the center line of the
columns or piers as marking the edge of each bay,
and we scan the facade from left to right, we find
Rhythm that the first bay differs slightly from the next to the
There are a number of ways by which ordered va- right, and that it in turn differs slightly from the
riety can be given to buildings. One is the use of next, but after that, the bays are identical until we
rhythm, or what can be called the alternation be- approach the other end. So, we can assign symbols
tween incident and interval, between solids and to this reading, saying that the facade has this
voids. Rhythm in architecture is the pattern cre- rhythm: a-b-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-b-a.
ated in windows spaced in a wall, or columns in a Such order and clarity of form are characteristic
colonnade, or piers in an arcade. This architectural of the Renaissance in Italy and began with the
rhythm is read by visually scanning the surface, Foundling Hospital. But we might compare that ar-
much as one might scan, say, a musical score, read- cade to the garden facade of the Palazzo del Te in
ing the patterns the notes make through time. This Mantua, Italy, 1527–1534, by Giulio Romano [4.18].
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80 4. “DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTURE

4.18. Giulio Romano, Palazzo del Te, Mantua, Italy, 1527–1534. Garden facade. What appears at first glance to be a
simple repetition of arcade units turns out, after closer examination, to be a complex series of variations on a theme. Photo:
Scala/Art Resource, NY.

At a first casual glance, there appears to be an As in music, we can find two rhythms played
equally even rhythm in the arcade, except, of course, against each other simultaneously. This occurs in
that the center arches are slightly larger. But closer many of the arcades and colonnades of the Renais-
observation reveals that no two adjacent bays are the sance and Baroque periods, as well as in more recent
same.5 Reading the rhythm from left to right, we find times. Consider the facades of Mies van der Rohe’s
that the end bay is butted up against the wall of the apartment towers at 860–880 Lake Shore Drive,
garden enclosure and framed with doubled pilasters Chicago, 1948–1951 [4.19, 19.28]. Mies devised a
on the other side. The next bay is framed with dou- structural frame of square bays, so that each tower
bled pilasters and a wall with a niche on the left and measures three by five bays. The structural steel
doubled pilasters and an opening to the right. The columns, in accordance with Chicago building
next bay is framed with a single column and a pi- codes, had to be insulated in protective concrete
laster; the next one is a flip-flop inversion, but with fireproofing, which Mies encased in steel skins. Mies
its pilaster lying behind the large pilaster of the larger then divided the interval from the center lines of
central unit. The next bay is the outer bay of the en- the structural columns into four equal parts, using
larged central pavilion and is framed with a pilaster these secondary dividing lines for the centers of the
and a column on the left and a pair of columns on mullions supporting four windows. The windows
the right. Finally, the centermost bay is framed with were made flush with the edge of the structural col-
doubled columns (actually, it is a cluster of four, two umn, so that the thickly insulated structural column
in front of two others). Assigning symbols to this used up some of the width of the adjoining window,
reading, we would get a-b-c-d-E-F-E-d-c-b-a. It is a making the outer windows in each structural bay
bilaterally symmetrical composition, with every ele- slightly narrower than those in the middle. The re-
ment to the left of the center mirrored by what is on sult is two overlaid rhythms. The larger structural
the right, but each part of that rhythm varies slightly rhythm is absolutely even, A-A-A, but the window
from the part next to it—an excellent example of or- rhythm within the structural bay is a-b-b-a. As will
dered variety. be shown in Part II, the rhythms in Italian Renais-
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Rhythm 81

4.19. Mies van der Rohe, 860–880 Lake Shore Drive (Lakeshore Drive Apartments), Chicago, Illinois, 1948–1951. Plan of
one wall bay showing windows and structural columns. What seems at first a simple repeated window module is in fact varied
by the thickness of the supporting columns. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

sance buildings were normally governed by deliber- State in India, Chandigarh, 1951–1958 [4.20]. This
ate mathematical Vitruvian relationships, but the office building required a number of identical office
rhythms in Mies van der Rohe’s Lake Shore Drive cells, expressed externally by the repetitive rhythm,
apartments were the result of the application of whereas at the center, the rhythm changes dramat-
mass-production techniques to window frames. In ically in favor of larger, asymmetrical patterns cor-
his later buildings, such as the Seagram Building, responding to larger chambers and differing internal
New York, 1954–1958 [see 6.13], and the federal functions.
buildings in Chicago [see 4.6], Mies pulled the It is also possible to speak of rhythm in architec-
plane of glass in front of the structural columns, ture in reference to undulating or curving walls.
causing the structural rhythm to disappear behind Buildings with frame construction, whether of
an absolutely even window rhythm. wood or steel, tend to have rectilinear forms; hence
In architecture, rhythm also can be created by their facades tend to be flat planes. Curved forms,
the alternation of solid and void. In his later archi- however, have more dramatic impact. During the
tecture, Le Corbusier excelled in this. One particu- Baroque period, curved walls were exploited exten-
larly interesting example is the elongated Secretariat sively, for they suggested not only that they bound
Building he designed for the new capital of Punjab space but that space pushed back on them. A good

4.20. Le Corbusier, Secretariat Building, Chandigarh, India, 1951–1958. In this elongated building, Le Corbusier varied
the rhythm of the shape and sizes of the sun screens, breaking up the long facade, and indicating office cells contrasted to
committee rooms. Photo: John E. Tomkins, courtesy of the Visual Resource Collection, Architecture & Allied Arts Library,
University of Oregon.
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82 4. “DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTURE

4.21. Alvar Aalto, Baker House, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Viewed at close range,
the randomly placed and protruding rough bricks create a visual and tactile texture in the wall. Photo: C. Condit Collection,
Department of Art History, Northwestern University.

example is the facade by Francesco Borromini of Unité d’Habitation apartment block in Marseilles
the Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane in [see 4.15], has a similar bold texture pattern when
Rome, 1662–1667 [see 16.15]. The facade is a se- viewed from a distance. But we can also speak of
ries of curves and countercurves that establishes a the tactile texture, for the roughness of surface can
play of rhythms. Such curved buildings have been be felt. When one gets close to the Unité apart-
rare in the twentieth century, particularly before ments, one can see that the concrete was poured in
1960, but a notable exception is Baker House at the forms specially made of rough lumber so that when
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, the forms were removed, a bold pattern was left im-
1946–1948, by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto printed in the concrete. Moreover, Le Corbusier
[4.21]. Here, the undulating form was not only a had the workers rotate alternate panels of the form-
way of fitting what needed to be a long building work, creating a basketwork checkerboard pattern
into a restricted site but also a response to the in the concrete that adds to the textural richness at
oblique views across the Charles River that Aalto both the optical and the tactile levels. In addition
discovered the students preferred. to the visual rhythm of his Baker House, Aalto had
the wall laid up with rough clinker bricks—those
that had become twisted and darkly burned during
Texture firing and normally would have been rejected. The
Another of the many devices used to add variety to bricks were placed randomly to add a visual and tac-
architecture is texture, a term that has various tile texture to the walls [see 4.21]. At certain times
meanings. The visual, or optical, texture of a build- of the day, when the sun rakes along the surfaces,
ing refers to its visual pattern at the large scale, the protruding, misshapen bricks cast irregular shad-
whereas its haptic, or tactile, texture refers to what ows along the wall.
can be physically felt with the human hand. So, for Concrete, in particular, lends itself to the cre-
example, the Secretariat at Chandigarh, seen from ation of texture, for it must be poured into a form
a distance [4.20], has a rich optical texture in the of some kind. It is virtually impossible to make the
variation between the uniform office cells and joint invisible between successive pours of con-
the more irregular “texture” of the larger meeting crete, for even slight variations in the composition
rooms. Another of Le Corbusier’s buildings, the of the cement will cause color variations. An archi-
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Texture 83

tect can take care to design the details where the the wood and chipped off the building. Rudolph
panels of the formwork come together, accentuat- then had all the edges of the concrete ridges ham-
ing that line and thereby creating a texture in the mered off, exposing the sharp crushed-rock aggre-
finished concrete that is a record of the act of con- gate and creating minute variations in color as well
struction. Louis I. Kahn did this with great care, es- as a brutally abrasive surface.
pecially in the concrete for the Salk Institute at La Architects may create strong contrasts between
Jolla. In another attempt to create a special texture different textures, as did Michelozzo di Bartolomeo
in concrete, there resulted an even rougher texture in the Palazzo de’ Medici in Florence, 1444–1460
than originally planned. When erecting the Art [15.27]. He began with aggressively rough stone ma-
and Architecture Building for Yale University, sonry (called quarry-faced ashlar masonry) at the
1958–1964 [4.22], the architect Paul Rudolph used lower level, changing to rusticated masonry in the
forms made of plywood panels to which chamfered middle level (the individual blocks have their edges
strips of wood had been screwed [4.23]. The forms cut back to emphasize the joints), and then to com-
were oiled in the expectation that the concrete pletely smooth ashlar masonry in the uppermost
would not stick to the forms, so they could be level, where the joints between the stone blocks are
pulled off easily for reuse. Nonetheless, the con- almost impossible to see from the street. Frank Lloyd
crete bonded to the formwork. When the forms Wright created an equally dramatic contrast in
were pried off, either the wooden battens pulled Fallingwater, near Mill Run, Pennsylvania, 1936–
away from the plywood, sticking fast in the con- 1938 [4.24]. The house was built in a ravine about
crete, or the corners of the concrete stuck fast to 51 miles (82 km) from Pittsburgh, where the client,

4.22. Paul Rudolph, Art and Architecture Building, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 1958–1964. Rudolph used
cast-in-place concrete, placed in forms to create a bold texture of vertical ridges in the concrete walls. Photo: Ezra Stoller
© Esto.
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84

4.23. Art and Architecture Building,

Yale University. Section diagrams of
the wooden forms for the concrete in
the Yale Art and Architecture Building,
illustrating the results of a failure of a
clean release when the forms were
removed. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

4.24. Frank Lloyd Wright, Edgar Kaufmann residence, Fallingwater, near Mill Run, Pennsylvania, 1936–1938. Wright
created strong contrasts between the rough vertical masonry piers (with stone slabs laid to imitate natural rock strata) and the
smooth horizontal concrete floor slab upstands. Photo by Hedrich Blessing. Chicago History Museum, negative HB-04414-5d.
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Texture 85

4.25. André Le Nôtre, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France, 1661–c. 1750. The gardens, designed by Le Nôtre, exhibit
a variety of textures in plant materials, paving, architectural embellishments, and the use of water. Photo: © Eye Ubiquitous/
Alamy.

Edgar Kaufmann Sr., liked to get away from the city. Modern architects have had to rediscover tactile
Wright learned from Kaufmann that he most en- texture, for it was suppressed by International Mod-
joyed sitting on a large rock ledge over the stream. ernism from 1920 to 1960. Curiously, since humans
Wright then built the house over that very spot, lev- first began to make objects, roughness of surface
eling part of the rock outcropping for the floor of the was equated with unskilled handwork, whereas
house. Stone from the site was used to build up the smoothness of surface was achieved by careful and
major structural piers of the house, laid in a rough painstaking craftsmanship. With the rise of indus-
and random pattern emulating the texture of the ad- trialization, however, smoothness became easier to
jacent rock outcroppings themselves. But the con- achieve in factory-made products. Smoothness then
crete used for the cantilevered balconies was made became equated with mechanized production and
especially smooth, so that the greatest possible con- eventually with cheap mass production. Roughness
trast was created between the rough, dark vertical and irregularity then became equated with hand-
piers and the smooth, light-colored horizontals. work. The great irony was that much International
Variation of texture is also a large part of land- Modern architecture, in its early phase, which was
scape architecture and garden design, in which plants made to appear machine-made with smooth, tex-
with different foliage patterns, colors, and heights are tureless surfaces, was very often achieved through
played against one another. To this can be added the the most painstaking handwork, as in the sleek,
textures of gravel, rock, and water. In the sprawling chromium-plated columns in the work of Mies van
gardens of Versailles, first laid out in the seventeenth der Rohe in the 1920s. By 1930, avant-garde archi-
century, nearly all these variations can be found, from tecture had no tactile texture. Rudolph’s Art and
the geometrically laid-out and close-clipped parterres Architecture Building at Yale is important, there-
near the château itself, with their hedge-framed fore, as one of the first to deliberately and dramat-
flower beds, gravel walks, splashing fountains, and ically exploit texture once again.
quiet reflecting basins, to the large masses of trees Perhaps the most sensitive and subtle interplay
and more rustic woodlands farther out [4.25]. of textures is to be found in the traditional Japanese
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86 4. “DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTURE

4.26. Imperial Villa of

Katsura near Kyoto, Japan,
1620–1658. The gate
combines a wide variety of
textures in architectural and
landscape materials. Photo:
From Akira Naito, Katsura:
A Princely Retreat (Tokyo
and New York, 1977).

house and its surrounding garden. In this fusion of Gate [4.26]. The view through that gate is a study
building and landscape, the architect uses plant ma- in the play of textures: gravel and pebble walkways,
terials, rocks, gravel, water, and architectural mate- a fieldstone threshold, and a bamboo fence and gate
rials to create a full range of textures, from rough to with a thatch roof contrast and complement the
smooth. This exploitation of texture is summarized house beyond, which has smooth plaster surfaces
in the most elegant and understated way in the and dark-stained wood frame members.
pavilions and gardens of the imperial villa of Kat- Within the villa buildings themselves, one finds
sura, about 3.5 miles (6 km) southwest of central on the floor thick, grassmat- covered tatami mats
Kyoto.6 The villa was built in three stages, on a site contrasted with the grain of the wood in the veran-
of about 16.5 acres (66,000 square meters), from das at the house’s edge. The walls are defined by
1620 to 1658. Included were a main house sur- paper-covered and silk-brocade-covered sliding
rounded by five tea pavilions overlooking a series of screens. The ceilings in the main house are a care-
ponds fed by the Katsura River. As one approaches fully finished wooden lattice, whereas in the garden
the complex, a hedge, or screen, of living bamboo teahouses, one looks up to the bamboo rafters and
trees is seen first. The screen leads to a fence of cut bamboo mat beneath the thatch. As viewed from
bamboo; this in turn leads to a hedge that frames the various openings in the house and tea pavilions
the Imperial Gate, which is protected by a gable roof [see Plate 1], every square inch in the gardens is a
of thick thatch. One then proceeds along a broad study of the interplay of plants, rock, and water—
path paved with carefully fitted flat pebbles. The an interplay that changes throughout the course of
entrance to the main house is through the Central the day as well as the cycle of the seasons.
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Color 87

as one’s eyes adjust to the dim light, and the silo-

Light like towers first seen from outside are discovered to
Perhaps the most powerful element in our percep- be giant scoops capturing and filtering light down
tion of architecture is light. Louis I. Kahn insisted onto devotional altars below. It is an architecture
that there was no true architecture without natural that, from the inside, is almost entirely shaped and
light. Our eyes are receptors for sensing the envi- defined by the accomplished manipulation of light.
ronment, and the light illuminating that environ-
ment is critical for the information we receive. The
perception of textures is dependent upon the qual- Color
ity of light falling on the building. Moreover, light The term light has been used so far to mean the en-
creates psychological responses and has a strong tire visible solar spectrum, with its mixture of vari-
physiological effect. ous wavelengths. But sunlight is composed of many
In 1647, in designing the chapel for Cardinal colors, and color, too, is a powerful evoker of moods
Federico Cornaro for the left transept arm of the and physiological response.8 During the nineteenth
Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome, the century, much was written about the effects of color
sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini de- on humans. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe discussed
signed what is in effect a miniature theater. He in- optics and the physiological effects of colors in 1810;
cluded portrait figures of the cardinal and members in 1877, Niels Finsen began color therapy for pa-
of the cardinal’s family in “boxes” to the sides ob- tients. As with all stimuli, the human organism ad-
serving the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa depicted on a justs to and compensates for continuous, unvarying
“stage” at the center [16.6].7 The action is lit by a stimuli, but even so, it is possible to measure distinct
window hidden behind the architectural frame of physiological responses to colors in the spectrum.
the stage, and the image of the flood of heavenly Exposed to red, for example, the body experiences
light down on the miraculous event is accentuated an increase in muscular tension, the release of
by the golden rays that radiate from that hidden adrenaline, an increase in heartbeat, and a stepping-
light source. Everything else in the chapel is dimly up of gastric activity. In other words, one might say
lit, so that one’s eye is automatically drawn to that the human organism prepares for flight or for diges-
brightest spot in the entire composition. tion at the sight of blood.9 It is for this reason that
Light is a most effective element in creating a restaurants often employ red or red-checked table
sense of mystery and awe, and the manipulation of linens. The atmosphere in such places often in-
light is a principal agent in the creation of shrines cludes dark, so-called warm colors (oranges and
and religious buildings. In his later architecture, Le browns, for example) and candles with low light
Corbusier proved himself extremely sensitive to the output that is rich in the red and orange portion of
atmospheric role of light, beginning with Notre- the spectrum, augmented with directed beams of
Dame-du-Haut at Ronchamp, France, 1950–1955 concentrated low-level artificial light to enhance
[19.42, 19.45]. A pilgrimage church on a promon- the physiological effect of red while also creating an
tory in the Jura foothills near the Alps of the intimate psychological environment—all directed
French-Swiss border, it was reconstructed after to enhancing the dining experience.
being severely damaged during World War II. Le On the other hand, when exposed to green or
Corbusier covered the church in white stucco, so blue (so-called cool colors), the body experiences a
that from afar, its gleaming whiteness, seen over the release of muscular tension, a slowing of the heart-
surrounding green landscape, acts as a beacon. As beat, and a slight lowering of body temperature. This
one approaches the hill, only the swelling gray con- is why summer clothing is often in pale blues and
crete roof of the chapel is visible, but as one ascends lime greens. This is also why fast-food eateries, at
the hill, the white southern wall comes increasingly least until recently, tended to make the eating expe-
into view. When the pilgrim reaches the top of the rience less genial by using high light levels, achieved
hill, especially at midday, the full brunt of the sun- by using fluorescent tubes rich in blue light, and
light is reflected back into his or her face. Proceed- color schemes avoiding reds and oranges, thus en-
ing through the southern door into the chapel, the couraging a rapid turnover of customers and thereby
visitor is then plunged into near-total darkness, as increasing the volume of food sold and profits made.
if going into a cave. Through this device, Le Cor- A standard color wheel shows the spectrum with
busier suggests the separateness of the world out- the two groups of principal hues arranged around
side and the mystical world created inside, at first the wheel [Plate 4]. The red, red-orange, orange,
shrouded in darkness. Then, as if in revelation, the and yellow-orange group is said to consist of warm
details of the interior space gradually become clear colors, while the yellow-green, green, blue-green,
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88 4. “DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTURE

blue, and blue-violet group is said to consist of cool the desire is to make it seem smaller, a shade in the
colors. The so-called primary colors (when mixing warm part of the spectrum might be the color of
pigments for paint, for example) are red, yellow, and choice. Even when one selects an off-white, the
blue, and all other colors can be created by mixing choice of the pigment to be mixed in will have per-
these together in appropriate proportions; when all ceivable if subliminal results; a subtle, warm pig-
three are mixed together, the result is a deep gray ment makes the room more intimate, and a cool
approaching black. When mixing light itself, how- pigment makes the room more expansive. Thus,
ever, the three primary colors are different (reddish without affecting the physical space at all, the psy-
blue, or magenta; yellow; and bluish green, or cyan), chological perception of that space can be changed.
and a mix of these three produces white light; this Color has been used effectively in architecture
is the principle of color television. We say a color, since Paleolithic times, as the paintings in caves
or chroma, is saturated when it cannot be made any suggest. Fragments of plaster used to cover the
more intensified than it is, that a red or a blue can- wooden Neolithic houses at Hǎbǎşeşti, Romania,
not be made any redder or bluer. If gray or black is built about 3130 BCE, are covered with decorative
added to a color pigment, darkening it, the result painted patterns. Dwellings built on Crete during
is a shade. If white is added to a color, the result is the Minoan period in the Mediterranean (c. 2000–
a tint, commonly called a pastel. 1300 BCE) had brilliant red columns, while cere-
Various theorists suggest an optical phenomenon monial and living chambers were vividly painted
in which the mind interprets warm colors as being with murals and decorative bands, as seen in the
closer to the eye than they physically are, while cool restored palace at Knossos, built around 1600 BCE
colors are interpreted as being slightly farther away. [4.27 and Plate 5]. Later, the Greeks similarly
The same is true for dark shades and light tints, the painted their white marble temples—a fact that
darker shades being sensed as closer and the lighter long went unnoticed, since the exposed ruins had
tints as slightly farther away. So, in selecting paint been bleached by centuries of exposure to the sun
for a room, if the room is small, the color of choice and rain. Only in the mid-nineteenth century did
to make it seem larger would be a tint of green or the French architect Jacques-Ignace Hittorf dis-
blue. If a room is extremely large and barn-like and cover in the protected recesses of the ornament of

4.27. Palace at Knossos, Crete, c. 1700–1380 BCE. The columns, tapering inward toward the bottom, were found to be
painted deep red when excavated after 1900. Photo: © Walter Bibikow/JAI/Corbis.
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Color 89

4.28. Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, France. This view of the lower chapel (for lesser members of the medieval French court) has a
deep blue painted ceiling with red borders and silver stars. Restored under E.-E. Viollet-le-Duc in the 1840s. Photo: Scala/Art
Resource, NY.

Greek temples in Sicily the traces of intense red, symbols. The dazzling brilliance of such murals,
blue, and other saturated colors that had been used combined with veined marble columns and inlaid
to pick out and accentuate parts of the orders. In floor patterns, is evident in the decoration of the
the Doric order, for example, the flat background apse of San Apollinare, a church built circa 532–549
of the sculpted metope panel was painted a deep in Classe, then a suburb of Ravenna, Italy [Plate 7],
saturated red, to point up the raised relief figures and in the Church of San Vitale, built in 532–548
[Plate 6]. The publication of Hittorf’s theories in Ravenna by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian.
caused an uproar among some Neoclassicists who The two mosaics of the sanctuary area in San Vitale
were convinced that Greek buildings has always show the emperor and his court presenting the
been pure white. Egyptian temples, particularly the bread and wine used in the Eucharist service.
engraved hieroglyphic inscriptions, were also bril- Gothic churches also were alive with color, al-
liantly painted, but since these too have been though much of their painting (unlike the earlier
bleached out by thousands of years of exposure, the mosaics) has also faded and disappeared. The
nearest approximation of the rich colors of the tem- stained-glass windows, however, and the patterns
ples can now be seen in Egyptian tomb walls, whose created by the light that passes through those color
murals were never exposed to the blast of the sun. filters as it strikes the internal walls, have endured.
Early Christian churches, built after the end of In the mid-nineteenth century, Eugène-Emmanual
the Roman Empire, were exceedingly plain exter- Viollet-le-Duc restored the small royal chapel in
nally, but inside, the walls and vaults were covered Paris, the Sainte-Chapelle, 1242–1448, repainting
with vivid mosaics made of tiny bits of stone and the deep-blue vaults with twinkling golden stars
glass, forming images of biblical figures and Christian [4.28 and Plate 8].
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90 4. “DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTURE

Perhaps the most colorful buildings of all were ent color. Thus, the red of brick contrasted with
those built by Muslims in what is now Iran and in polished marbles, white and cream limestone, and
Spain. The practice originated in the ancient Near the wide spectrum of slate from gray, green, and red
East in the Tigris-Euphrates valley, where buildings to beige [Plate 11]. Color of this kind, employing
were made of soft brick. Since the structural brick the rich effects achieved in building materials, was
was soft-fired (to save wood used for brick firing), severely restricted with the rise of International
it was susceptible to damage by rain. Hence, the Modernism. One exception, however, was Mies
soft-brick buildings were covered with a protective van der Rohe’s elegant German Pavilion in Barce-
outer skin of hard-fired glazed ceramic tiles, so that lona, 1929, with its polished marble and onyx pan-
the outer surfaces of the buildings were ablaze with els [see Plate 30]. That pavilion, however, was a
brilliant colors. This practice is well illustrated in demonstration piece, representing the best of Ger-
the mosques of Isfahan, Persia (now Iran), espe- man industry. In large measure, the color scheme
cially the Masjid-i-Shah Mosque, 1611–1638, in of International Modernist architecture—as it was
which the tile is used to convey passages from the crystallized in the 1920s by the designers associated
Koran in stylized calligraphy [Plate 9]. This practice with the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany—was in-
of using ceramic tile as covering and embellishment spired by the architects of the Dutch De Stijl move-
was carried to Spain, where, as part of Moorish ment. De Stijl architects proposed an objective and
architecture, it eventually became part of tradi- systematic use of saturated primary colors applied
tional Spanish vernacular architecture; from Spain as paint to the planes shaping space, with black
this tradition of using highly colored tile was carried being reserved for structural members. In their fifth
to Mexico and the Spanish colonies in the New manifesto, which was published in 1923, De Stijl
World. theorists asserted, “We have given color its rightful
Renaissance architects were comparatively far place in architecture” [Plate 12].10
more interested in clearly delineating the compo- How effective primary colors can be, especially
nent volumes of a building than in exciting the eye, when used in conjunction with carefully controlled
but they did use dark stone for the pilasters and lighting, is demonstrated in the chapel design by
entablatures of their interiors to draw the mathe- Le Corbusier for the priory of La Tourette near
matical edges of their geometrical designs [15.14, Lyons, France, 1956–1959. The chapel was a large,
15.33]. Otherwise, the walls of their interiors were rectangular box of reinforced concrete with only a
of plain white plaster. Andrea Palladio restricted few narrow slits for windows. At the bottom of the
the color schemes of his mid-sixteenth-century box and extending to the sides were lateral chapels
churches even more, creating interiors that are es- containing the numerous altars at which the friars
sentially studies of creams, whites, and light grays. said Mass once a day. The light coming into the
By contrast, in the Baroque period that followed, side chapels is admitted through tubular light mon-
architects deliberately set out to captivate the eye itors overhead; sunlight is caught and splashed
of the beholder, so that once again color became a across the walls behind the side altars, where it
major element of design and embellishment. This rakes the rough-cast surfaces painted in deep satu-
reached its culmination in the Late Baroque- rated reds, blues, and yellows. Thus, using concen-
Rococo architecture of the early eighteenth century, trated strong light and pure color to direct the eye,
and perhaps nowhere better than in the carved and Le Corbusier focused attention on the most impor-
gilded stuccowork of the artisans Johann Michael tant functional part of the monastic chapel, the al-
Feichtmayr and Johann Übelhör in the Church of tars used by the friars.
Vierzehnheiligen (Pilgrimage Church of the Four- In recent years, with the rise of Postmodernism,
teen Saints) in Franconia, Germany, designed by architects have turned with renewed vigor to ex-
Johann Balthasar Neumann and built in 1742–1772 ploiting a rich complexity of ornament, color, and
[Plate 10]. The colors and patterns evident in such texture in an effort to entice and stimulate the eye
south German Rococo interiors, however, were of the observer. One architect who did this with par-
largely the result of highly skillful painting on pol- ticular gusto was the American Charles Moore, as
ished plaster, so that what appears to be marble usu- is dramatically evident in his design for the Piazza
ally is not. d’Italia in New Orleans, 1975–1980 [Plate 13]. In
Color continued to be an important element in most instances, however, as with Late Baroque and
nineteenth-century European and American archi- Rococo architecture, the colors arise not so much
tecture, but in accordance with the then-held view from the natural weathering of materials as from
that architecture ought to be real and truthful, applied paint that must periodically be renewed.
building materials were used to exploit their inher- Nonetheless, such environments have reinstituted
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Ornament 91

a measure of vivacity and energy, which was sup- “baroque” pearls, called barroco by the Portuguese.
pressed by the austerity of International Modernism During the 1970s, the angular forms of Art Deco of
in the mid-twentieth century. the 1930s, as well as the pseudo-streamlined forms
of the early 1950s, were nostalgically appreciated,
but the structurally determined architecture of Mies
Ugliness van der Rohe of the late 1950s and 1960s was
Among the major contributions of philosophy in the ridiculed. But then in the late 1990s, the precision
late eighteenth century were the notions of the “pic- and clarity of Mies van der Rohe’s architecture
turesque” and the “sublime,” extolling the virtues began to elicit renewed acclaim among academics,
of irregular and rough forms, and the delight in the culminating in major dual exhibitions focused on
thrill of implied physical danger. Out of the sensi- his life and work in the summer of 2001.
bility of the picturesque came an awareness of the Each generation thus rejects its parents and em-
aesthetic power of ugliness.11 Certain nineteenth- braces its grandparents; it tends to think of the work
century architects, such as William Butterfield in of the previous generation as barbaric, since it does
England and Frank Furness in the United States, not conform to contemporary standards or values.
took pleasure in devising compositions that reveled In the same way, during the 1950s, the work of Fur-
in dramatic juxtapositions of forms and collisions ness in Philadelphia was considered irredeemably
of colors. ugly, and much of it was wantonly demolished be-
Ugliness can be defined in a number of ways: as fore a new sensitivity to Furness’s deliberate and in-
a quality that is confusing because it is ambiguous dividualistic “ugliness” arose during the 1960s with
or displays an absence of a perceivable pattern of the birth of Postmodernism. In part, the prejudice
relationships, as a quality that is monstrous because against Furness may have arisen as much because of
it does not conform to accepted norms, or as artis- the accumulation of three-quarters of a century of
tic willfulness and capriciousness. For example, atmospheric pollution on the rough surfaces of his
Frank Furness’s Provident Life and Trust Company buildings as because of the bold and very personal
Building, Philadelphia, 1876–1879 [see 3.6], now ornament that Furness invented. In the mid-
destroyed, had a facade that displayed a clear, bi- twentieth-century International Modernist propa-
laterally symmetrical pattern, but it deviated em- gandists tried to convince us that ornament was a
phatically from accepted norms of its own period crime against nature and society.12 And yet, as
(and, even more so, those of the mid-twentieth Furness’s deliberate flouting of the rules of taste of
century), suggesting a certain artistic willfulness. his time shows, the value of ugliness is that it forces
Moreover, this stylistic idiosyncrasy was exacer- us to examine our accepted conventions. We may
bated by the most dramatic contrasts of building find that our preconceptions do not have much
material color. substance.
The late twentieth century and early twenty-first
century are an age of pluralism in which various
conflicting artistic values and standards, present Ornament
and past, are mutually acceptable or at least toler- In the past century and a half, the value attached to
ated. But this is a recent development. Most periods architectural ornament has swung from one extreme
have denigrated the art and architecture of the to another. In the mid-nineteenth century, the En-
period immediately preceding. During the Renais- glish critic John Ruskin could readily persuade his
sance, for example, the architecture of the Middle readers that “ornament is the chief part of architec-
Ages was despised, since it seemed without logic in ture.”13 And yet, in 1908, the Viennese architect
its form in comparison to the newly rediscovered Adolf Loos laid the groundwork for International
Classical humanist architecture. Medieval architec- Modernism with his article “Ornament and Crime,”
ture was said to be the work of barbaric Goths asserting that “the evolution of culture is synony-
(hence Gothic). Similarly, in the eyes of the ratio- mous with the removal of ornament from utilitarian
nalists of the late-eighteenth-century Enlighten- objects.”14 He equated the use of ornament in mod-
ment, the exuberantly embellished and curved ern architecture to degeneracy and the smearing of
architecture of the preceding century and a half was erotic graffiti on lavatory walls. It is a risky proposi-
said to be misshapen and formless. The critics of the tion, however, to use this equation to evaluate ar-
Enlightenment even applied to it the pejorative chitecture while ignoring other information. For
term (for them) of baroque, for to them the wildly example, using Loos’s criteria literally, what are we
curved architecture of the seventeenth century was to make of a comparison between his Steiner House
as much a freak of nature as twisted and misshapen in Vienna, 1910 [4.29], in which he exemplified
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92 4. “DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTURE

4.29. Adolf Loos, Steiner House, Vienna, Austria, 1910. This house is a good example of the elimination of ornament that
Loos advocated in his article “Ornament and Crime,” published in 1908. Photo: From N. Ponente, The Structures of the
Modern World, 1850–1900 (New York, 1965).

his austere principles, and the William M. Carson The ornament of the Carson House, then,
House in Eureka, California, 1884–1885 [4.30]? served specific economic and social purposes for
The temptation would be to say that the first was its time. Ornament may serve many other purposes
the work of a virtuous person and the second the as well. There is nothing wrong with saying, at the
work of someone deranged. If, however, we look into very outset, that ornament can be used solely for
historical circumstances, a very different picture the reason given by Vitruvius and Wotten—for
emerges. Loos was working in Vienna in an avant- pure visual delight. This would be the case for the
garde cultural environment in the early twentieth remarkable interior of the church sacristy of the
century—an environment that was intent on creat- Cartuja Carthusian monastery, Granada, Spain,
ing a new and scientifically objective architecture built in 1730 and decorated in 1742–1747 [16.5].
suited to the new century. The Carson House, de- Underlying all the carved plaster flourishes is a
signed by Samuel and Joseph Newsom, was built straightforward Classical pilaster and entablature
much earlier by a prominent developer of the Cali- system, but the intent here was to add element
fornia redwood lumber industry. The year 1884 was upon element, layer upon layer, for the sheer delight
marked by a severe though short-lived nationwide of the eye. The same is true of the mirrored interior
business recession. As there was, temporarily, greatly of the small Amalienburg pavilion in the grounds
reduced demand for redwood, it is likely that Carson of the Nymphenburg Palace outside Munich, Ger-
had this house built as a kind of local public works many, 1734–1739, designed by François Cuvilliés
project to keep his mill-hands busy and also as a and decorated by J. B. Zimmermann and Joachim
demonstration of what could be done with redwood. Dietrich [Plate 22]. Every surface is covered either
Small wonder that so much attention was lavished with glass or with small-scale gilded ornament, and
on this showpiece while Carson and his employees the whole is a treat for the eyes. It is all there solely
waited for the economy to recover. for visual delight.
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Ornament 93

4.30. Samuel and Joseph Newsom, William M. Carson House, Eureka, California, 1884–1885. This elaborate house was
built of redwood to illustrate the extreme versatility of this durable soft wood and also to keep Carson’s lumber mill workers
busy during a recession period. Photo: Library of Congress, HABS CAL 12-EUR 6-2.

Ornament can also have a strictly utilitarian conditions, the same beneficial weathering effect is
purpose, such as enhancing the longevity of a build- achieved. Even though the Gothic Revival lime-
ing. For example, the demon-like gargoyles stretch- stone veneer of the Chicago Tribune Tower of
ing out from Gothic cathedrals, from a purely 1922–1925 was once ridiculed—because this me-
functional point of view, are water spouts to throw dieval shell was said to be inappropriate for the
the water collected from the upper roofs away from twentieth century—the Gothic detailing has meant
the building [4.31]. The same purpose is served by that the building has stood up to weathering much
the many projected moldings that serve as horizon- better than adjacent Modernist (and detail-less)
tal ridges on Gothic buildings, forcing rainwater to skyscrapers built three decades later.
drip away from the wall surface. When these details Ornament also can serve an acoustical func-
are reused on later buildings, under similar climatic tion. An excellent case study is Philharmonic Hall,
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94 4. “DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTURE

4.31. Notre-Dame de
Amiens, Amiens, France,
1221–1269. The gargoyles
on the buttresses of the choir
serve the very practical
purpose of throwing
rainwater away from the
building. Photo: Sandak,
University of Georgia.

designed by Harrison and Abramovitz in 1960– among the foremost symphony halls in the world,
1962 as part of the prestigious Lincoln Center, New but the mistakes took $4.5 million to correct!
York, which became the official home of the New Articulation (clear expression) of the parts of a
York Philharmonic Orchestra. The original unusual building is another function of ornament. A good
design was quickly christened the “Coke bottle” example is Adler & Sullivan’s Wainwright Building
plan. From the ceiling, elongated hexagons were in Saint Louis, 1890 [2.5], in which each of the dis-
suspended as “acoustical clouds,” to disperse the tinct functional zones, as analyzed by Sullivan, is
sound to the audience below [4.32]. As quickly be- expressed by a change in the stone or terra cotta
came clear, however, the room did not function blocks enclosing and protecting the steel skeletal
well acoustically. Among several problems, the frame. The separate functional activities are di-
sound was unevenly dispersed throughout the hall. rectly indicated in the skin of the building.
Eventually, a number of celebrated soloists and or- Ornament can serve an expressive utilitarian
chestras flatly refused to perform there. In 1971, purpose as well. One example might be to accentu-
with the donation of funds by Avery Fisher, it was ate a functional aspect of a building. Looking at the
decided that the interior of the hall would be re- west front of the Gothic cathedral of Reims, France,
built. The revised plan, devised by the architect we see the doors announced unmistakably by broad,
Philip Johnson with the acoustical consultant Cyril recessed archways [4.34]. At close range, the carv-
M. Harris, was a more traditional rectangular-box ings of individual figures from the Bible, showing the
room, and among the important changes was the life of Christ and episodes from the Old Testament,
incorporation of large, massive ornamental reflect- are evident. But from somewhat farther back, these
ing panels [4.33].15 Today, the rebuilt concert merge in a series of concentric arches to form hoods
house, renamed Avery Fisher Hall, is considered over the doors, showing clearly where to enter.
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95

4.32. Harrison and Abramovitz,

Philharmonic Hall, New York, NY,
1960–1962.The original interior
shows the suspended “acoustical
clouds” intended to disperse sound.
Photo: ©1976 Lincoln Center for
the Performing Arts, New York, by
Norman McGrath.

4.33. Cyril M. Harris with

Philip Johnson, Avery Fisher Hall
(formerly Philharmonic Hall),
New York, NY, 1971–1974
(1973, during renovation).
Gutted, redesigned, and rebuilt,
Avery Fisher Hall bears little
resemblance to its original state;
the acoustical results, however,
are far superior. Photo: Lincoln
Center for the Performing Arts,
New York, by Sam Spirito.
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96

4.34. Notre-Dame de Reims, Reims, France. Where the entrances are located is immediately evident to the observer.
Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
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Ornament 97

At the beginning of the twentieth century, when

the modern metal-framed skyscraper was devel-
oped, Gothic ornamental devices were used for a
different expressive purpose. Some architects em-
ployed Gothic details in these early skyscrapers to
emphasize and accentuate their vertical character.
Such is the case with the Gothic detailing of the
Chicago Tribune Tower, as well as with the earlier
and taller Woolworth Building, New York, 1911–
1913, by Cass Gilbert, which inspired the Chicago
skyscraper [4.35].
Up until the early years of the twentieth cen-
tury, one of the major purposes of figural ornament
was to be didactic, to tell a story through images of
men, women, and animals related to the building’s
function. This storytelling is most self-evident, per-
haps, in Gothic cathedrals, in the portals where the
sculpture (as in the west front of the Reims cathe-
dral) related the life and work of Christ and the
Last Judgment. The general disposition of figures
and narrative had been established in the portals
of Notre-Dame at Chartres, carved between 1145
and 1170 (the rest of that church was destroyed by
fire, but it was immediately rebuilt, 1194–1220)
[4.36].16 On the right (south) side, in the tympa-
num panel over the door itself, are three depictions
of Christ’s birth. The tympanum panel on the left
(north) portal shows Christ’s ascension into
heaven. The center and largest tympanum depicts
Christ in judgment, framed by symbolic represen-
tations of the four Evangelists. By means of such
coherently organized storytelling images, arranged
across the breadth of the church, the message of
the Bible is presented for the illiterate, the building
itself becoming a Bible in stone.
Such a fusion of pictorial imagery and building
function also occurred in Greek temples, but the
mythological stories are not so generally known
today. The correspondence of ornament and func-
tion is clearest perhaps in the sculpture carved to
fit into the low, triangular pediments at the ends of
the roof of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia.17 The
site had been sacred since about 3000 BCE, and,
as with most sites in Greece, various myths gradu-
ally evolved that locally related to the gods and
demigods associated with this region. By the eighth
century BCE, the importance of the site had spread
and it was held sacred by Greeks of all the various
interminably quarreling city-states. Yet at four-year
intervals, a general truce was declared, so that ath-
letes from city-states all across the Peloponnese 4.35. Cass Gilbert, Woolworth Building, New York, NY,
(the peninsula of Greece) could travel safely to 1911–1913. In order to express the height of this building as
Olympia to participate in the celebrated contests. dramatically as possible, Gilbert used vertically soaring
Gradually, the site was divided into two sections Gothic details. Photo: C. Condit Collection, Department of
[4.37, 11.17]. To the west was a sacred precinct, Art History, Northwestern University.
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98 4. “DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTURE

4.36. Notre-Dame de Chartres, Chartres, France, 1194–1220. Portal in west front. The sculptural embellishment of the
entrance portals is carefully organized to illustrate the life and teaching of Christ, the Last Judgment, and the foretelling of
Christ’s life in the Old Testament. Photo: H. Roger-Viollet.

with temples, altars, and treasury buildings along endurance and strength, he was associated with
the north edge; to the east was a stadium for the the games.
games and the chariot races. During 470–456 BCE, Zeus’s temple was oriented roughly on an east-
a large, new marble Doric temple to Zeus was built west axis, and in the pediment on the west side
after designs by the local architect Libon. Placed (facing away from the playing fields) was a depic-
inside was a colossal seated figure of Zeus, impres- tion of the story of the Lapiths and the centaurs
sive not only for its commanding visage but also be- who had once lived in this region [4.38]. In the tra-
cause it was fashioned of gold and ivory by the ditional story, the centaurs, half man and half beast,
Athenian sculptor Pheidias. were invited by the Lapiths to a royal wedding. It
The temple to Zeus had six columns across was well known that when the centaurs consumed
the ends and thirteen along the sides, in accor- too much wine, for which they had virtually no re-
dance with the standard Greek design formula. As sistance, their uncontrolled animal nature took
was customary in Greek temples, within the encir- over. Nonetheless, hospitality dictated that wine be
cling outer Doric colonnade was the naos, the en- served at the wedding, and soon the drunken, lust-
closed chamber for the image of the god; the naos driven centaurs began to carry off the Lapith
chamber had porches at each end with two Doric women. A brawl ensued from which the Lapiths
columns framed between projections of the naos emerged victorious, their wives and daughters
walls. In the inner Doric entablature at either end saved. Thus, the fighting portrayed in the west ped-
of the naos were two sculptural metope panels iment was a representation of right being victorious
above each columnar support, meaning that there over wrong, of the triumph of human reason over
were six sculptural panels at each end of the naos. unthinking, brutish barbarism. Everywhere in the
These twelve panels were sculpted to portray the figures, there was the strongest contrast between
twelve Labors of Herakles since, through his fabled the snarling, grimacing faces of the violent centaurs
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Ornament 99

and the composed faces of the Lapith women, who, forehand was that the planned accident would kill
even when confronted by physical danger, con- her father. The east pediment shows us the moment
trolled their emotions. just before that fabled race, as the contestants
Depicted in the east pediment (facing the sta- pledge an oath before a statue of Zeus. One lone fig-
dium), however, was a story that had special con- ure in the pediment, a seer crouched far to the right,
nection to this site and the games [4.39]. It suddenly reels back in horror—he has seen into the
concerned the chariot race between local mythical future, is aware of the impending death, and yet is
King Oinomaos and Pelops, a young suitor who powerless to avert the disaster [4.40]. When the
hoped to gain the right to marry the king’s daughter, temple was first built, this pediment could be seen
Hippodameia. Oinomaos deeply loved his beautiful from the starting blocks in the stadium, so that as
daughter and had publicly pledged to give her up the athletes gathered for the games, they could look
only to the suitor who could beat him in a chariot back over their shoulders to see this image of the
race. Now, since Oinomaos had been given special mythic chariot race. They would be reminded of the
horses by the god Ares, all previous suitors had lost, oath they themselves had just taken before a similar
forfeiting their lives. When Pelops arrived, however, statue of Zeus; there, together with their brothers,
Hippodameia fell in love with him and conspired fathers, and trainers, they had vowed to do no
with her father’s charioteer, Myrtilos, to replace the wrong to the games. As they put themselves on the
metal linchpin in her father’s chariot with one made mark, the athletes would be reminded by Zeus to
of wax. Thus, during the subsequent race Oino- reflect on the treachery of Hippodameia and Myr-
maos’s chariot would disintegrate and he would lose tilos. The athletes vowed not to do likewise in their
the race. What Hippodameia could not know be- games; they were commanded not to cheat.18

4.37. Aerial view of the sacred precinct, Olympia, Greece, showing the Temple of Zeus, fifth century BCE. To the east of the
sacred precinct (the temenos, shown here) was the stadium where the Olympic Games were played. From A. E. Lawrence,
Greek Architecture (Harmondsworth, England, 1967).
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100

4.38. Libon (architect), west end of the Temple of Zeus, Olympia, Greece, 470–456 BCE. In the pediment triangle were
sculptural figures depicting the story of the battle between the human Lapiths and the part-beast Centaurs. From J. Hurwit.
“Narrative Resonance . . . at Olympia,” Art Bulletin 69 (March 1987).

4.39. East end of the Temple of Zeus, Olympia. In the triangular pediment of the east end of the temple, looking out toward
the Olympic stadium, were figures depicting the race between King Oinomaos and Pelops, who won through deception and
murder. From Berve and Gruben, Greek Temples, Theaters and Shrines (New York 1963).
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101

4.40. Figure of Seer. On the right of the pediment, a seer or prophet sees into the future, perceives the
imminent patricide, and recoils in horror. Photo: Alison Frantz.
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5.1. Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese, Rome, Italy, begun 1535. The massive piers of the
palazzo are large enough to echo the sounds of footsteps, enabling a person to hear the architecture as one walks past. Photo:
Leonard von Matt.
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Chapter 5

Architecture and Sound

R
Architecture is frozen music.
the atoms in the air is quite small; for a tone at 256
cycles per second (cps), middle C on the piano, the
—Friedrich von Schilling, Philosophy of Art, 1805 atoms in the air are vibrating back and forth over a
distance of only about one-tenth of a millimeter.
. . . but music is not melted architecture. But given the huge number of atoms, each with its
—Susanne K. Langer, Problems of Art, 1957

R
own minute mass, there is kinetic energy in sound.
If sound is to be stopped, that energy must be ab-
sorbed either by a large mass capable of absorbing
the kinetic energy without itself moving much or by

I n a multitude of ways, architecture shapes

human behavior, for as Winston Churchill ob-
served, “We shape our buildings, and afterwards
a resilient, acoustically spongy material, such as a
mat of loose fiberglass, which can absorb the energy.
In acoustical terms, we speak of live spaces as
our buildings shape us.” In a similar way, first we those that have hard, nonporous, highly sound-
shape our buildings and afterward our buildings reflective surfaces, such as dense, polished marble;
shape our music, for architecture shapes acoustical ceramic tile; mosaic on massive walls; or other
space, which has its own unique properties and hard, rigid surfaces. Glazed tile securely attached
influence. to massive walls reflects nearly all the sound com-
ing toward it, roughly 98 percent. Eventually, as the
sound bounces around such a room, it loses its en-
Hearing Buildings ergy to the surfaces it bounces from, and gradually
We could speak about “hearing” architecture, al- the sound will die away. The time required for that
though for sighted people the aural perception of to happen is called reverberation time. In large
architecture is nearly completely overpowered by spaces with hard surfaces, the reverberation time
the visual perception of architecture. Yet, if a may be six to eight seconds or even much more.
sighted person loses that visual ability, then hearing Conversely, dead spaces are those that have an
gradually becomes more sensitized, so that it be- abundance of sound-absorbing surfaces, such as
comes possible to navigate by listening to the echoes heavy draperies, thick rugs, upholstered furniture,
bounced off buildings, and one can sense whether and other soft, resilient surfaces. A typical home
a space is large or small. This is how flying bats lo- living room, with wall-to-wall carpeting, uphol-
cate their prey, by emitting high-pitched sounds that stered furniture, draperies, filled bookcases, and
are reflected by objects and insects, and this is partly other resilient materials may have almost no re-
how blind people navigate, by listening to the re- verberation time at all, generally far less than half
flected sounds of the tapped cane or the reflections a second.
of their own footsteps. It is a good exercise for one Studying low-level sounds involves taking sci-
who is sighted to walk through an arcade or a colon- entific acoustical measurements in special rooms
nade that has large massive piers, to close one’s eyes, isolated from the outside environment with multi-
and to listen as one passes the piers; in this way, one ple massive layered walls, floors, and ceilings. The
can hear the architecture [5.1]. surfaces of the innermost walls of these anechoic
Sound is air in motion; it is a succession of rapid chambers are lined with deep pyramidal wedges
pressure waves in the air. The actual movement of of foam rubber or fiberglass. The operational floor

103
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104 5. ARCHITECTURE AND SOUND

of such a room is a sound-transparent web of taut feet (7.9 m) across, and for C at the bottom of the
steel cables suspended above additional absorbing piano keyboard, 32 cps, the surface would need to
pyramids. In anechoic chambers, all sound gener- be 105 feet (32.0 m) across. The tone C two oc-
ated is immediately absorbed; reverberation time is taves above middle C, at 1,024 cps, has a wave-
considered absolutely zero. If one stands in such a length of nearly 12.75 inches (0.34 m), and surfaces
chamber for a short time, the total absence of to reflect this frequency need only be 3.5 feet across
sound is almost alarming; soon one can hear the (almost exactly 1.0 m).
heart beating and the pulse pounding in the head. As a consequence, optical models that use light
In such a chamber, the blind could not navigate by to study how sound is reflected work only for
sound reverberation alone. Experiencing such an sounds higher than two octaves above middle C, a
anechoic space suggests that even the sighted may very high range occupied mainly by flutes, violins,
use their hearing in a subliminal way to perceive ar- the piccolo, and metallic percussion instruments.
chitectural space. Such models can be constructed with miniature
wall segments made of mirrors, with a narrow beam
of light simulating the source of sound. One tech-
Sound: Focusing and Dispersing nique for studying the reflections of sounds lower
Except for such special anechoic chambers, all than 1,000 cps is to bounce radio signals off models;
spaces reflect sound to some extent. Out of doors, another is to play the sounds electronically in a
tree trunks and cliff faces reflect sound. The prob- model at a speed raised in proportion to the size of
lem the architect and the acoustical engineer face the model. It is a costly exercise, but making such
is designing a space in such a way that sounds are a model may prove far less expensive in the long
absorbed or reflected in the optimally desired ways. run than rebuilding a concert hall, as demonstrated
To an extent, reflected sound behaves somewhat by the case of Avery Fisher Hall in New York.
like reflected light, so that the angle at which a Echoes are a form of reflection. The human ear
sound approaches a hard surface is equal to the and brain may not be as receptive to sounds as
angle at which it bounces off; in other words, the those of a dog or a bat, but humans can still make
angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection extremely minute discriminations in the arrival
[5.2]. But this rule of thumb applies only to the times of different sounds. When a sound is pro-
higher tones with frequencies over 1,000 cps. Fur- duced, an echo or a distinct reflected image of that
thermore, the surface reflecting a sound must be sound will be heard if it arrives at the ear only 30
roughly three times larger than the wavelength to to 45 milliseconds after the original sound, or, in
be reflected. The length of the wave of a given tone other words, if the reflecting surface is more than
is directly proportional to the speed of sound in the 35 to 40 feet (10 to 12 m) away. However, a partic-
transmitting medium and inversely proportional to ular form of echo, a flutter echo, can occur in a
the frequency. small room having parallel walls with hard surfaces,
For middle C, at 256 cps, the wavelength is ap- for conversation bounces back and forth from side
proximately 4 feet 5 inches (1.3 m), so the reflect- to side, causing a buzzing sound. Aside from pan-
ing surface would need to be roughly 13 feet eling one wall with absorptive acoustical tile, an-
(4.0 m) across at the minimum. For C an octave other solution is to simply avoid parallel walls. In
below, the reflecting surface would need to be 26 the small lecture room/auditorium at the Mount

5.2. Diagram showing reflection of sound waves and how curved surfaces can disperse or focus reflected sound. Drawing:
L. M. Roth.
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Sound: Lingering and Echoing 105

5.3. Captain Francis Fowke with George Gilbert Scott, Royal Albert Hall, London, England, 1867–1871. Plan. Because
of its size and its curved walls and ceiling, this building was initially an acoustical disaster. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
G. C. Izenour.

Angel Abbey Library, St. Benedict, just outside acoustical hot spots. Hence, dome vaults are partic-
Mt. Angel, Oregon [19.36], Alvar Aalto used ularly troublesome, since they have a distinct sound
both these solutions, with the addition of sound- focus and do not disperse sound evenly. A similar
absorbing material at the back of the room to pre- problem occurs if the rear wall of an auditorium is
vent reflections from returning to the stage, and curved, for sound from the stage is focused back to-
with the walls placed at a splayed angle. ward the front of the audience to a particular spot.
A classic example of a building in which almost
everything was done wrong in acoustical terms
Sound: Lingering and Echoing is the vast Royal Albert Hall, London, 1867–1871,
Since the Italian Renaissance, with the complete designed by Captain Francis Fowke with the archi-
enclosure of theaters and auditoriums, architects tect George Gilbert Scott [5.3, 5.4]. The building,
have been fond of designing auditoriums with a huge oval in plan, is covered by an ellipsoidal
domed ceilings. Curved shapes are not particularly dome, 185 by 219 feet (56.4 by 66.8 m), so there
unsatisfactory acoustically so long as they are high are curved surfaces both in the plan and in the
enough from the source of sound, but all too often the dome. Because of the combination of curves and
focus of the curve of the dome is near the floor, so size, the result was that in portions of the hall, the
that sound is concentrated there in what are called audience received clear reflected images one-fifth
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106 5. ARCHITECTURE AND SOUND

5.4. Royal Albert Hall. Section. From G. C. Izenour, Theater Design (New York, 1977).

of a second late, well over the limit for echoes. One particular space would be, except to say that small
sarcastic critic said the audience ought not to com- rooms had shorter reverberation times and large
plain since they heard two concerts for the price of rooms had longer reverberation times. Of course, re-
one. The solution adopted was to hang heavy fabric verberation time had not been a problem until
drapery overhead to absorb the bulk of the sound the Renaissance, for theaters in antiquity were open
formerly reflected from the dome.1 to the sky. The semicircular concentric rings of seats
In designing an auditorium, an architect must in ancient theaters, such as that at Epidauros,
optimally meet several requirements. There should Greece, built about 350–300 BCE by Polykleitos the
be good sight lines to the performance area or stage; Younger [11.15, 11.16], which could seat 17,000
good “presence,” or strong, even dispersion of initial people, did reflect sound directly back to the center
reflections; good reflection of all frequencies in the of the orchestra circle. But because the seats were
sound spectrum; and an even decay of sound during so steeply sloped on the hillside, the reflections went
the reverberation time. It is this reverberation time upward into the air. In any case, the many clothed
that bears special consideration, for the optimum theatergoers would have provided good sound ab-
time depends on the activity in the room. For a lec- sorption. The Romans modified the Greek theater
ture hall or a theater, in which it is vitally important form by using a strict semicircle of seats (the Greek
to hear speech clearly, the reflections of words need theater was about 200° around) and constructed
to die away very rapidly, and one second is consid- large, multistory permanent backdrops, or scenes
ered the optimal reverberation time. Slightly more (from the Greek skēnē) [12.20]. Since hillsides were
reverberation time is desired for the music of small not always conveniently available, the Romans often
ensembles, such as modern jazz groups or chamber ramped the seats on tiers of inclined barrel vaults
orchestras in which each note produced by each carried by heavy arcades. The well-preserved theater
instrument must be clearly heard—perhaps 1½ sec- at Aspendos, Turkey, built about 155 CE by Zeno of
onds. For choral church music, symphonic music of Theodorus, is placed on a hillside; it seats 7,000
the nineteenth century, or Romantic music for large [12.21]. A Roman theater—and the larger am-
orchestra, 2 to 2½ seconds is most desirable. Thus phitheater formed by placing two theaters face to
opera, where both music and speech are inter- face (minus the scene)—was often covered by a ve-
twined, requires a reverberation time somewhere in larium, a huge awning supported by a web of ropes.
the area of 1¾ seconds. With the suppression of secular theatrical pro-
The problem before 1900 was that there was ductions by the medieval church, the construction
no way to predict what the reverberation time of a of theaters stopped, but with the rise of interest in
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Shaping Early Church Music 107

Classical literature in the Renaissance, the need for Western church music, including the ways it was
this building type emerged once more. Humanists composed and performed. When early Christians
in the area around Venice were especially keen on adopted the form of the Roman basilica meeting
mounting productions of Greek drama, and they hall for their churches, they adjusted themselves to
wanted a building that they believed was appropri- buildings with large volumes, hard stone surfaces,
ately shaped for such an undertaking. In Vicenza, and long reverberation times. It was not possible
near Venice, in 1580, a group of enthusiasts en- simply to verbally preach the good news in such
gaged Andrea Palladio to design the Teatro Olim- halls, for the words resounded for about six to eight
pico as a reproduction of a Classical theater [5.5, seconds after being uttered, and the multiple over-
5.6, 5.7]. It was far smaller than a Greek theater, lays made normal speech unintelligible.
seating only 750, and in fact it was more Roman The solution was to chant the liturgy, and by a
than Greek, but it provided a suitable atmosphere. process of trial and error, no doubt, a basic acousti-
Because of the smaller size, Palladio was able to put cal principle was discovered. Virtually every en-
a trussed roof on his theater and in that way make closed volume has a resonant frequency. In the case
a closed volume. Suddenly, reverberation time be- of a long, closed, tubular organ pipe, the resonant
came a consideration. frequency is twice the length of the pipe; hence, for
middle C—with a wavelength of nearly 53 inches
(1.3 m)—the length of the pipe is half that, or 26.4
Shaping Early Church Music inches (0.7 m). Long, narrow basilicas can be ar-
Since the end of the Roman Empire, reverberation gued to function much like organ pipes [5.8].2 So,
time literally had been shaping the development of San Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna, Italy, built in

5.5. Andrea Palladio, Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, Italy, 1580–1584. Interior. Palladio’s theater was built to house revivals
of Classical Greek drama and, hence, was loosely patterned after Classical models; it is like a very small Roman theater, but
covered with a permanent roof. Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, NY.
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108

5.6. Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, Italy. Plan. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after G. C. Izenour.

5.7. Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, Italy. Section. From G. C. Izenour, Theater Design (New York, 1977).
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Shaping Early Church Music 109

5.8. San Apollinare in Classe, outside Ravenna, Italy, 530–549. Diagram comparing the shape of a closed organ pipe and
the long basilica church plan of San Apollinare in Classe. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

530–549, with a length of 185 feet (56.4 m), has a surface [13.26, 13.27, 13.28]. In each of the arms
resonant frequency of about 3.0405 cps. Now, all of the plan, there are upper-gallery choir lofts.
musical tones consist not only of the basic note but During the sixteenth century, the choirmasters at
also of a series of ascending harmonics, and one of San Marco’s, especially Giovanni Gabrieli, devel-
the high upper harmonics of this extremely low fre- oped a technique of using multiple dispersed choirs
quency is near F below middle C. The triad up from and multiple instrumental ensembles in the sepa-
F is A. Hence, theoretically, if the priest chanted rated lofts. The choirs would perform antiphonally,
the liturgy using harmonic intervals around A, the singing against one another and tossing the melodic
air in the vast volume of such basilicas would soon line back and forth across the space of the church.
vibrate on its inherent upper resonant frequencies, As many as four groups would perform simultane-
and the air vibrating throughout the building would ously. This technique was then adopted by German
carry the message to the worshipers. Thus the composers as well, including Heinrich Schutz in
plainsong, or Gregorian chant, was born. Munich and Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig.
A particular musical development of the later The volume of San Marco’s is considerable, and the
Renaissance merits special attention, for it rep- reverberation time today is about six to seven sec-
resents a clear case of a singular building shaping onds, although tapestries then hanging in the
music. The palace church of the doges, or dukes, of church probably shortened this reverberation some-
Venice, San Marco’s, was built not in the traditional what in Gabrieli’s time. Gabrieli’s melodic lines
form of the Latin cross (with a T-shaped plan) but move comparatively slowly, avoiding passages of ex-
in the form of a Greek cross with four equal arms, tremely rapid notes that would pile up acoustically
each arm and the center bay capped by a dome. in the long-reverberant space of St. Mark’s.3
Moreover, the interior surfaces were covered with During the same period, the princely Renais-
gold-backed glass mosaic, a very hard, reflective sance families of the Italian city-states assembled
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110 5. ARCHITECTURE AND SOUND

5.9. Thomaskirche, Leipzig,

Germany. Interior. This engraving
by O. Kutchera shows the church as
it was when Johann Sebastian Bach
was organist and choir-director
there. Photo: Berlin, Archiv für
Kunst and Geschichte.

private chamber groups to perform secular music The result was a body of church and organ music,
in their households. Because such secular and most notably the music of J. S. Bach from the early
dance music was performed in much smaller rooms, eighteenth century. Bach, too, adapted his music
or even outdoors, where there is negligible rever- to the acoustical conditions in the places where he
beration, it involved much faster rhythms and more worked. His well-known Toccata and Fugue in D
rapid passages of notes. Such was also the back- Minor was written in about 1708 for the small palace
ground of the court music of Versailles, written by chapel of his master and employer, the Duke of
Louis XIV’s master of music, Jean Baptiste Lully. Saxe-Weimar at Weimar. But later, when Bach was
Church music underwent a change in the north employed by Prince Leopold of Cöthen, he wrote
of Europe after 1500, partly as the result of adapta- the rapid arpeggios of the Brandenburg Concertos
tion to smaller churches and partly as the result of to be played in the small music room in the palace
changes introduced by Martin Luther when he there. When Bach subsequently moved to Leipzig
embarked on reforming the church and thereby and the larger Lutheran church of Saint Thomas
touched off the Protestant Reformation. Another [5.9], he began his program of cantatas written for
change in the music for the new Lutheran church the calendar of the church year, including such large
was the development of more responsive organs. works as the St. Matthew Passion oratorio.4
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The Synchronous Development of Orchestras and Orchestral Halls 111

The Synchronous Development of architects Otto Brückwald and Carl Brandt [5.12,
Orchestras and Orchestral Halls 5.13]. The Bayreuth theater, in turn, served as the
inspiration for the even larger Auditorium Theater
By the time Bach died, in 1750, there had already in Chicago, 1887–1889, by Adler & Sullivan, in
been established in Leipzig an orchestral ensemble which excellent acoustics were developed by the en-
that began playing public concerts in a large room gineer and architect Dankmar Adler.
in the Gewandhaus (Garment Merchants Hall). By Wagner’s success, and that of Adler in the au-
the early nineteenth century, under the direction ditorium, were largely the result of careful observa-
of Felix Mendelssohn, this ensemble had become a tion and informed intuition. The first building in
major symphony orchestra. But in Vienna, where which the acoustical performance was scientifically
Ludwig van Beethoven was writing his dynamic and mathematically calculated beforehand was
piano concertos and symphonies, there was neither Boston Symphony Hall. The first steps to build a
an orchestra to perform them properly nor a hall to new performance hall for the Boston Symphony
perform them in. When such large orchestral pieces Orchestra were taken in 1892–1894, supported by
were performed in Vienna, theaters were pressed businessman Henry Lee Higginson (the principal
into service, as was the large, rectangular ballroom patron of the orchestra) and his architects, McKim,
called the Redoutensaal, in the Austrian imperial Mead & White. But then a business depression de-
residence. Not until the mid-nineteenth century layed the project.
was the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra formally This hiatus proved most fortuitous, for in 1898,
organized and, finally, a special building erected for quite independently, Wallace Sabine, a young
its use in 1867–1870 [5.10, 5.11, Plate 14]. This physicist at Harvard, was asked to investigate se-
hall, the Musikvereinsgebaude, was designed by vere acoustical problems in some of Harvard’s lec-
Theophil von Hansen and patterned on the older ture halls. Sabine developed several mathematical
rectangular Redoutensaal. The Musikvereinsge- formulas to define acoustical performance and de-
baude worked so well that its proportions served, vised experiments to test the troublesome rooms.
in turn, as the model for the new building for the The most problematic formula to devise was one to
Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra, built in 1882–1884 account for reverberation time. It seemed clear to
from designs by Martin Gropius and Heinrich Sabine that reverberation time was directly propor-
Schmeiden. What happened during the nineteenth tional to the volume enclosed by a room, but then
century is that musical performances were no it occurred to him that it was also inversely propor-
longer reserved for the nobility and their friends in tional to the capacity of the room to absorb the
royal palaces but, rather, began to be public per- sound. That absorptive capacity was determined by
formances attended by the growing numbers of the the combined effects of all the materials used in the
expanding middle class—and large new buildings surfaces of the room, so he set up more experiments
were needed for this new use. to determine empirically the absorptive capacities
During the nineteenth century, opera houses of various materials and finishes. He had just con-
also expanded greatly in size, based on models pro- cluded his investigations when the firm of McKim,
vided by eighteenth-century theaters. In this in- Mead & White was asked to prepare final designs
stance, too, the expanding buildings were created for Boston Symphony Hall in 1899.
to serve the new middle-class audiences. Often, Following instructions that the orchestra mem-
however, the sight lines were not good, the acoustics bers had relayed to McKim, Mead & White via Hig-
were less than ideal, and the facilities on the stage ginson, the architects used as their model the new
were extremely cramped. During the 1840s, in the Leipzig Gewandhaus, enlarging it by nearly 50 per-
course of conducting his early operas across Europe, cent [5.14, 5.15]. McKim, Mead & White then had
Richard Wagner discovered that none of the exist- the drawings for the building examined by Sabine,
ing opera houses could provide the facilities he re- who suggested modifications in the surface materi-
quired for the opera cycle he was then composing, als. If these changes were made in the materials, he
the expansive four-part Ring of the Nibelungen. His predicted, then the reverberation time would be
only alternative was to design a new kind of opera precisely 2.51 seconds, only one-hundredth of a sec-
house to accommodate the music he was writing. ond longer than in the orchestra’s old hall in Boston.
He obtained the patronage of Ludwig II, the king of Given the acoustical failures of some prestigious, re-
Bavaria, who provided him with a site and the funds cently built venues in Europe, Sabine’s guaranty was
to construct his new opera house, the Festspielhaus unheralded. But when the first concert was given in
(Festival Hall) at Bayreuth, built in 1872–1876 from 1900, Sabine was proven correct and a new scien-
sketch designs by Wagner himself and developed by tific basis had been given to acoustical design.5
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112

5.10. Theophil von Hansen,

Musikvereinsgebaude, Vienna,
Austria, 1867–1870. Plan.
Designed especially for use
by the Vienna Philharmonic
Orchestra, this rectangular
orchestral hall set the pattern
for many subsequent halls.
Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after Izenour.

5.11. Musikvereinsgebaude, Vienna. Section. From G. C. Izenour, Theater Design (New York, 1977).
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113

5.12. Otto Brückwald and Carl Brandt, Festspielhaus, Bayreuth, Germany, 1872–1876. Plan. Designed on the basis of
instructions from the composer Richard Wagner, this opera house was built specifically to enhance the experience of the opera.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Izenour.

5.13. Festspielhaus, Bayreuth, Germany. Section. From G. C. Izenour, Theater Design (New York, 1977).
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114 5. ARCHITECTURE AND SOUND

5.14. McKim, Mead & White, Boston Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, 1892–1900. Exterior. Although patterned
after the Musikvereinsgebaude in Vienna and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, this design was modified in accordance with
acoustical calculations made by the engineer Wallace Sabine, making this the first building acoustically and scientifically
planned to be a symphonic hall. Photo: L. M. Roth.

5.15. Boston Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts. Section. From G. C. Izenour, Theater Design (New York, 1977).

Nevertheless, acoustical engineering, particu- discussed in Chapter 4 in connection with orna-

larly in the design of opera houses and symphony ment). Fortunately, given sufficient funds provided
halls, has not always been so exact a science, as is by Avery Fisher, Philip Johnson and Cyril M. Harris
evident in the costly errors made in the design of were able to correct those mistakes and create a
Philharmonic Hall in New York, 1960–1962, by superior acoustical space [see 4.33]. It is no coin-
Harrison & Abramovitz, with the acoustical con- cidence that Avery Fisher Hall (as Philharmonic
sulting firm Bolt, Beranek & Newman (this hall is Hall was renamed) is extremely close in volume
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The Synchronous Development of Orchestras and Orchestral Halls 115

and form to Boston Symphony Hall and to the new that is the simple idea which determined the new
Gewandhaus in Leipzig. concert hall.”7 The angled balconies reflect and dis-
The most successful orchestra halls of recent perse the sound, as do the convex curves of the
years have been those viewed by their architects as ceiling, creating the intimate feeling of participa-
forming the largest of the instruments of the or- tion with the orchestra.
chestral ensemble. In describing his proposed audi- Architecture affects all our senses, not just the
torium for the Fort Wayne Arts Center in Indiana, eyes. The perception of architecture, then, is an ac-
planned in 1965, Louis I. Kahn said, “Being in the tivity in which the whole realm of the body’s senses
chamber is like living in the violin. The chamber is involved—basking in the warmth of a sun-filled
itself is an instrument.”6 This is also how Hans court or feeling the cool shadows of its encircling
Scharoun conceived of the new hall for the Berlin arcade, scanning the rhythm and scale of a facade,
Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonie, 1957– tuning our ears to the volume of a room, feeling the
1965 [19.49, 19.50, 19.51]. In the Philharmonie, roughness of stone or the cool smoothness of glazed
the audience surrounds the players; the listeners tile under our fingers, smelling the bite of a sun-
are part of a community united in a musical expe- baked boxwood hedge along a garden’s edge, tasting
rience, for as Scharoun wrote, “Music in the center, the cool water of a fountain.
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6.1. Le Corbusier, High Court Building, Chandigarh, Punjab, India, 1951–1956. Detail. Drawing from the idea of a
parasol carried to protect dignitaries from the sun, Le Corbusier used an elevated roof over a roof to protect the rooms within
from direct exposure to the sun, with broad openings for moving air to carry away built-up heat. Photo: Fernando Stankuns.
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Chapter 6

Architecture
Part of the Natural Environment

R
An effective relationship of building to earth is
gardless of whether the setting is an urban context
or a natural landscape. Does the proposed building
fundamental to architecture. enhance the existing context, or does it stand in
—Stanley Abercrombie, Architecture As Art, 1984

R
distinct and deliberate contrast to the context? Does
it seem out of place? Second, once completed, the
building is subject to the same incessant impact of
sun and rain as well as the inevitable interaction

A s was evident in the discussion of how archi-

tecture and sounds interact, there are im-
mutable laws of physics that must be dealt with. We
of various building materials, time, and the never-
ending pull of gravity. Sometimes, the patron and the
architect wish to make a deliberate statement, as in
cannot wish them away. Nor can we forget that a the case of temporary exhibition buildings, and thus
building, like any other object in the world, be- place their lowest priority on how a building responds
comes a part of the world. In the West, one of the to environmental concerns. But for other seemingly
legacies of the Renaissance is the tendency to think permanent buildings, it would make better sense to
of buildings primarily or initially as objects of artis- consider the impact that environmental forces have
tic or social significance, but not as objects operat- on a building, as well as the effect the building has
ing within the environment. Landscape architects on its immediate environment.
escape this myopia from the outset, since they deal
with living objects, and their success as designers
depends on whether they know that the soil and Buildings, Sun, and Heat
the climate in a particular area will support the Buildings by so-called primitive peoples almost in-
plant materials they propose to use. Especially in variably reveal subtle and sophisticated responses
the twentieth century, after the development of to the environment. Consider, for example, the
effective heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning thick adobe construction of the typical house in the
equipment, architects in the industrialized West American Southwest. The material and construc-
largely stopped thinking about such concerns as tion techniques are similar to those used north of
sun exposure, wind patterns, and prevailing local the Sahara, from Morocco to Egypt and in other
temperatures, because they felt confident that, places with comparable climate. The problem is the
given enough equipment, they could overcome any constant exposure to the sun, which in late June
difficulty. More technology seemed to be the solu- radiates 2,750 British thermal units (Btu) of energy
tion to all problems and impediments. There was a per day on just one square foot.1 Translated into
price to be paid, of course, but that was a challenge more manageable figures, this means that a roof in
to be borne by the client and the user in the long Albuquerque, New Mexico, at 35° latitude N, mea-
years after the completion of the building. Archi- suring 10 feet to a side (100 square feet, or 9.3
tects did not then worry much about that. square meters), receives enough energy each day to
Once a building is built, it becomes as much a part raise the temperature of 4 tons of water (8,000
of the environment as a tree or a rock. This fact has pounds, or 3,629 kg) from 90° F to 124° F. This is
double importance. First, it means that the architect clearly a significant amount of heat.
needs to consider, at all steps of the design process, One way of dramatically cutting down that heat
how the proposed building will affect its setting, re- gain is to prevent the sun from ever touching the

117
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118 6. ARCHITECTURE: PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

6.2. Cliff Palace (Anasazi village), Mesa Verde, Colorado, c. 1200–c. 1300. These closely clustered houses were pushed just
far enough back so that the overhang of the cliff provided shade at midday during the hot summer months. Photo: Lindsay
Hall, courtesy of the Visual Resources Collection, Architecture and Allied Arts Library, University of Oregon.

roof directly, as the Anasazi people did nine hun- transfer of heat, as do thick mud-brick walls and
dred years ago in building their villages up in the re- roofs of adobe construction [6.3]. Even when the
cesses of caves, as at Mesa Verde in southwestern afternoon temperature reaches 140° F on the sur-
Colorado [6.2]. The houses are positioned just far face of the roof, the internal temperature of the
enough back into the alcove that, in late June, the room is 80° F, rising gradually to 85° F at 9:00 p.m.,
overhang of the cliff prevents the sun from reaching and when the outside temperature plummets to
the roof surfaces until quite late in the afternoon. 60° F at 2:00 a.m., the internal temperature of the
In the winter, however, the low-slanting sun reaches room will begin easing down from 80° F to a low of
to the back of the cave. But if no cliff overhangs are 75° F by 8:00 a.m. the next morning [6.4].2 In tra-
conveniently nearby, one simple solution in the arid ditional adobe construction, the windows and doors
American Southwest has been to use a large mass were intentionally kept small to prevent hot drafts
of material between the interior space and the sun from entering and disturbing the relatively cool
so that the mass slows down the absorption and temperatures inside. And, of course, if a number of
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119

6.3. Drawing of a typical adobe dwelling in the American Southwest, showing the thick walls and roof structure that
serve to retard solar heat buildup. From J. M. Fitch, American Building: The Environmental Forces That Shape It
(Boston, 1972).

6.4. Time-temperature chart for an adobe dwelling, showing properties of thermal insulation and heat flow retardation
provided by thick adobe masses. From J. M. Fitch, American Building: The Environmental Forces That Shape It
(Boston, 1972).
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120 6. ARCHITECTURE: PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

such rooms are piled atop one another, those at the stone block closes the topmost opening. Air holes
core of the pile will remain quite cool, as is the case are created through the dome. The entry tunnel is
in such pueblos as Taos, New Mexico [3.9]. covered by a snow-block barrel vault protected by
As the Inuit (Eskimos) of the Arctic and the an outside deflector wall. The occupants enter
Mandan Indians of the upper Missouri River dis- through the sublevel tunnel and then rise to sit and
covered, building mass will work just as well for work on the raised floor encapsulated by the dome.
cold temperatures. The Mandan, who lived along Any heat generated (that of the people themselves
the upper Missouri River before the arrival of Eu- and from their traditional seal blubber lamps) is
ropeans, built large, round houses with a heavy in- captured and held inside. The trapped air in the
ternal wooden frame, on which earth was heaped thick, packed snow blocks is an excellent insulator,
to a thickness of 1 foot at the top and several feet so while the outside temperature may fluctuate
around the base. This thick insulation prevented from –10 F to –30° F or lower, the internal temper-
the searing heat of late summer from penetrating ature in the upper half of the snow igloo will be a
to the interior and just as effectively kept frigid chilly but survivable 35° F to 39° F [6.6].
winds from lowering the internal temperature in The igloo is effective because it captures not
winter (the low, round form also presented the least only the small amount of heat generated by lamps
resistance to the wind). In Arctic regions with se- but also the heat that living beings generate simply
vere snowy winters, there is neither wood nor by being alive, which is itself significant. All living
exposed earth, so the winter dwelling of the tradi- beings are in a constant state of slow oxidation, or
tional Inuit was built of packed snow cut into combustion, but since humans use only about 20
blocks and laid in a closing spiral to form a dome— percent of the heat they generate, the rest is
the igloo [6.5]. The construction process begins by thrown off. Even motionless, the human body cre-
hard-packing a level circle in the snow surface, ates heat; but if it is moving or working, that
then cutting half the circle down into the snow in amount can easily double or triple.3 If applied with
front of what will become a seating platform. An 100 percent efficiency, the heat created by a person
even lower cut at the edge of the lower half-circle doing heavy physical labor could raise 4 pounds
is made to form the inside end of the entry tunnel. (1.8 kg) of room-temperature water almost to the
Construction of the dome starts with a series of low boiling point. In the igloo, this radiated heat is ur-
snow blocks at the edge of the circle, rising in an gently needed, but in buildings in moderate or hot
inward-curving circular spiral until the last key- climates, it simply adds to the internal heat load

6.5. Diagram of an Inuit (Eskimo) igloo. From J. M. Fitch,

American Building: The Environmental Forces That Shape It
(Boston, 1972).
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Buildings, Sun, and Heat 121

6.6. Time-temperature chart for an igloo, showing properties of thermal insulation of packed snow. From J. M. Fitch,
American Building: The Environmental Forces That Shape It (Boston, 1972).

that must be dissipated. By comparison, in southern The best solution for keeping a building cool, as
Florida, Seminole Indians built their Chickee the ancient Anasazi realized, is to keep the sun off
dwellings without any side walls so that air could a building in the first place. But the development
freely move through and remove any heat gener- of air-conditioning during 1902–1906 by Wallis
ated within. Haviland Carrier (1876–1950) kept architects
Since about 1970, architects and engineers have (American architects in particular) from exploiting
adapted many of the principles demonstrated in passive means of preventing solar heat gain until
these ancient Native building methods, devising economic pressures and awakening ecological sen-
“new” ways of heating buildings. For residences, it sibilities caused widespread changes after 1973. It
is often possible to use a passive solar heating sys- is also possible to keep internal temperatures in a
tem, in which sunlight falls on thermal masses, such building comfortable by increasing the flow of air
as brick floors or masonry walls; these soak up the through the building, thus removing heat, and en-
heat and then radiate it back into the building at couraging the sensation of being cooled by evapo-
night. For more precise control, an active solar ration of perspiration on the skin—in other words,
heating system may be installed. In such a system, by keeping the light out while letting the air in.
exterior collector panels absorb solar radiation, and This was done with delicate grace in the Islamic
a fluid circulating in pipes through the panels picks architecture of Iran (ancient Persia) and northern
up this heat. Pumps move the heated fluid to an- India [6.7]. In these hot locations, windows were
other area where a thermal mass (a water reservoir covered not with glass but with perforated screens
or a mass of rock) stores the transferred heat. Fi- of carved marble, cutting down significantly on the
nally, an additional secondary system of air ducts intrusion of light while creating a dappled pattern
or water pipes carries the heat from the storage within the building and facilitating the flow of air.
mass to the rooms where it is needed. In addition, The screens simultaneously provided opportunities
two electrical sensing systems are needed to turn for complex decorative patterns [Plate 9]. Such de-
both the collecting and the secondary systems on vices were used throughout the mosques in Isfahan
and off as required. As this brief description sug- and can be seen clearly in the royal tombs at Agra,
gests, an active solar heating system is a complex India. In designing the US embassy in New Delhi,
network of interconnected subsystems that may fail India, 1958, the architect Edward Durell Stone
if any one of its components breaks down. similarly used precast concrete block to prevent
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122 6. ARCHITECTURE: PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

6.7. Shaykh Baha’ al-Din (attrib.) and Ustad Abdul Qasim, Masjid-i-Shah Mosque, Isfahan, Persia (Iran), 1611–1638.
The pierced stone screen is used to cut down on sunlight penetrating the interior while also permitting easy ventilation. Photo:
Wallace Baldinger, courtesy of Visual Resources Collection, Architecture & Allied Arts Library, University of Oregon.

direct sunlight from reaching the inner glass enve- greenhouses or not. Again, the solution is to keep
lope; he also used a cantilevered roof to keep much the sun off the glass while retaining the view, by
of the sunlight off the wall altogether. using projections outside the wall, either above the
For all the transparency and visual lightness that window or to the side, depending on the orienta-
glass has made possible in architecture, it has also tion of the window. In addition, these projections
caused problems associated with extensive heat need to be proportioned to the latitude of the
gain in modern buildings. Sunlight easily passes building and the angle of the sun.
through glass, but once it strikes a surface in a Frank Lloyd Wright exploited such devices in
room, the heat of the warmed surface results in many of his Prairie Houses from 1900 to 1910,
long-wavelength infrared energy, which cannot though he seldom mentioned them in his writing.
pass through glass and is thus trapped inside. The In his Robie House, Chicago, Illinois,1908–1909,
result is a gradual heat gain, commonly called the he had no alternative but to orient his building run-
greenhouse effect—as was discovered long ago and ning east and west on a narrow Chicago lot. The
used to good effect in orangeries and similar glass- main facade would face south and was to have a
enclosed buildings designed to house tropical plants continuous bank of glazed French doors from floor
in the winter. But the greenhouse effect occurs in to ceiling [18.34, 18.35]. He proportioned the roof
all glass-enclosed buildings, whether intended as overhang on the south facade so that, in the sum-
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Buildings, Sun, and Heat 123

mer, the sun is prevented from penetrating the glass rified; Le Corbusier even spoke of it as an usine du
[6.8], and by greatly extending the roof to the west, bien, or “a factory of goodwill.” Its dormitory block
he could keep the lower afternoon sun off the west- was planned to be a hermetically sealed glass box.5
facing windows as well.4 In winter, the noon sun ex- Unfortunately, the double glazing and the cooling
tends through the windows halfway into the living equipment specified by Le Corbusier were deleted
and dining rooms. George Fred Keck and William due to cost. The building was opened for use in the
Keck, two brother architects of Chicago, pursued winter of 1933, but the following summer it became
this strategy in a series of houses from the mid- a hothouse. The lesson was not lost on Le Cor-
1930s through the 1970s, using southerly orienta- busier, for in 1936, when he designed the Ministry
tions and carefully calculated roof overhangs to of Education in the tropics of Rio de Janeiro, he
keep sunlight off the window-wall until the cooler added vertical louvers in front of the glass wall of
months of the year. The Keck brothers were in- that building, calling the panels brise-soleils, or “sun
spired to develop their passively heated buildings breakers.”
as a result of an all-glass house that George Fred If the sun could be kept off the glass to reduce
Keck designed for the Century of Progress exhibi- heat gain, so too could prevailing winds be used to
tion held in Chicago in 1933. During construction, cool a building. When Le Corbusier designed the
in the dead of winter of 1932, Keck observed that Unité d’Habitation for the city of Marseilles in
the workmen inside had stripped down to shirt- 1946, he incorporated exterior balconies to create
sleeves because the glass box acted as a greenhouse. horizontal and vertical brise-soleils, and by extend-
For the next forty years the brothers carefully cal- ing the apartment units through the entire width
culated building orientation to the south, together of the building, he enabled the residents to open
with equally carefully proportioned roof overhangs, windows at each end and let air flow through [see
to provide a significant measure of passive winter 4.15]. And in 1950, when he began work on the
solar heating [6.9]. new capitol buildings for the Punjab state in north-
At almost the same time, the French architect ern India, on a sun-drenched plain in a hot, arid
Le Corbusier had a similar experience. In 1929– climate, he responded to the nature of the environ-
1933, he was building a long, multistory block with ment. For the High Court at Chandigarh, he used
a southern exposure for the Salvation Army in Paris deep brise-soleils both vertically and horizontally,
[6.10]. The structure was conceived by the archi- and a double-roof system, with the upper parasol-
tect as an example of fully rational and scientific like roof carried aloft on spaced piers and cooled by
architecture, its functions analyzed and its form pu- winds that pass underneath it [6.11].

6.8. Frank Lloyd Wright, Frederick C. Robie House, Chicago, Illinois, 1908–1909. Section of the living room showing
roof overhang and angle of the sun at noon at midsummer, at the equinox, and at midwinter. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
Mary Banham.
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124 6. ARCHITECTURE: PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

6.9. George Fred Keck and William Keck, Hugh D. Duncan house, Flossmoor, Illinois, 1941. In the mid-afternoon, since
the house faces south, the roof overhang prevents the sun from penetrating very far into the room to keep the heat load down.
Photo: C. Condit Collection, Department of Art History, Northwestern University.

Some of the most sophisticated and elegant pas- Le Corbusier, perhaps realizing the ongoing
sive solar heat design is being done by architect Ken energy cost, and knowing that elaborate air-
Yeang and his associates, based in Kuala Lumpur, conditioning systems are not always reliable, had
Malaysia. Born and raised in a tropical climate and turned to more integral, passive architectural ways
then educated in England, Yeang is particularly sen- to control the environment in his last buildings. His
sitive to heat loads near the equator, expanding on contemporary, Mies van der Rohe, however—with
the work of Le Corbusier—giving special attention the wealth of the American business community
to the orientation of his buildings and their geo- available to him in the 1950s and ’60s—never felt
graphical latitude and devising a variety of louvers, so constrained, and extolled pure glazed forms de-
both vertical and horizontal, as well as openings spite their dependence on extensive mechanical sys-
passing through his buildings so that wind can carry tems. In 1948, when Mies van der Rohe designed
off excess heat. An early skyscraper design by Yeang the Lake Shore Apartments in Chicago, he was able
is the Menara Mesiniaga (IBM) tower near Kuala to have the all-glass wall he had been dreaming of
Lumpur, Malaysia, 1992 [6.12]. Here, the spaces be- since 1919, but the air-conditioning equipment
tween the upper floors are not left for infill later but originally specified was omitted to reduce building
are an integral part of the complete design, leaving costs. Small, operable panels in each window bay of-
space for air to move through the building. (Yeang’s fered limited comfort from the summer heat—but
work is further discussed in Chapter 21.) they were placed at the bottom instead of the top of
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125

6.10. Le Corbusier, Cité de Refuge (Salvation Army Hostel), Paris, France, 1929–1933. Like the Robie House, Le Corbusier’s
Salvation Army Hostel was orientated east-west, its broad southern glass front exposed to the sun. The heat buildup was to be
countered by double glazing and an air-conditioning system, but these were not installed, necessitating the later retro-installation
projecting sun screens. Photo: C. Condit Collection, Department of Art History, Northwestern University.

6.11. Le Corbusier, High Court Building, Chandigarh, Punjab, India, 1951–1956. In this semitropical climate, Le Corbusier
used the traditional Indian parasol concept to keep the sun off the roof of the building. The double roof is raised so that breezes
can carry away any heat buildup. Photo: John E. Tompkins, 1965, Visual Resources Collection, Architecture & Allied Arts
Library, University of Oregon.
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126 6. ARCHITECTURE: PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

6.12. Ken Yeang, Menara

Mesiniaga (IBM) Tower,
Subang Jaya, near Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, 1992. By
introducing open levels between
floors and separating the
central circulation spine from
the surrounding offices, Yeang
facilitated natural ventilation.
Photo: Courtesy of Ken Yeang.

the window-wall, thus restricting the effects of con- shared his mentor’s purist views. In 1949, he fin-
vection cooling. In 1954, with the aid of an elabo- ished building for himself a sealed glass-box week-
rate cooling apparatus atop his Seagram Building end house in New Canaan, Connecticut. Like
[6.13], Mies van der Rohe achieved the sealed box Mies, Johnson did not want to compromise the
that Le Corbusier had attempted in the Salvation form with the addition of sun screens, but he dis-
Army Building. By the time the Seagram Building covered a “natural” way of moderating the sun’s im-
was designed, mechanical systems for vertical trans- pact, having his transparent glass bubble without
portation, lighting, heating, and cooling were con- roasting in it. He placed the house immediately east
suming more than half the budgets of new buildings. and north of a group of mature deciduous oak trees;
It was as if the building now was the mechanical sys- in the summer, their dense foliage shaded the
tem, simply wrapped in a membrane. A night view house, and in the winter when the leaves dropped,
of the Seagram Building shows just how transparent the sun filtered through the bare branches, helping
to radiant energy the new architecture was [6.14]. to warm the house [6.15].
Such buildings proved to be equally superb sponges
of radiant energy on hot summer afternoons, just as
they were excellent radiators of precious heat energy Buildings and the Wind
during long cold winter nights. Buildings are affected not only by exposure to the
At the time he assisted Mies van der Rohe in sun but also by exposure to the wind. Moreover,
designing the Seagram Building, Philip Johnson they have a reciprocal effect on wind patterns. As
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127

6.13. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with Philip Johnson, 6.14. Seagram Building. This twilight view reveals how
Seagram Building, New York, NY, 1954–1958. This transparent the building is to radiant energy. Despite the darkly
building is totally sealed, relying on an extensive heating tinted glazing, during the day sunlight passes into the building,
and cooling system to regulate the temperature. Photo: heating it up; but in the winter just as easily heat escapes at
Ezra Stoller © Esto. night. Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto.
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128 6. ARCHITECTURE: PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

6.15. Philip Johnson, Johnson House, New Canaan, Connecticut, 1945–1949. Although the house that Philip Johnson built
for himself has walls entirely of glass, it is shaded and cooled in the summer by trees to the west, but then warmed in the
winter when sunlight filters through the bare branches. Photo: Alexandre Georges, courtesy of Philip Johnson.

moving air encounters an object, it moves over and Pakistan, for example, traditional houses are built
around it along the path of least resistance. On the with air scoops on the roofs to catch prevailing
windward side (upwind), a high-pressure zone de- winds and provide ventilation.
velops, and on the leeward (downwind) side, a low- So long as buildings were relatively low and built
pressure zone develops. As the wind rises to go over with thick walls, their mass was enough to resist lat-
the dome of the Pantheon in Rome, the air speeds eral forces exerted by the wind. In low masonry
up and creates a negative pressure that pulls the air buildings, the lateral forces generated by wind pres-
out of the oculus at the top. The decrease in pres- sure are less significant than the vertical forces gen-
sure from the sped-up air is called the Bernoulli erated by gravity. The effect of lateral forces
Principle, identified by the early Dutch-Swiss sci- remained generally minor until the design of build-
entist Daniel Bernoulli and published in 1738. ings began to change in the mid-nineteenth cen-
Bernoulli observed that when a fluid such as air tury. As building volumes increased and the mass
moves past stationary objects, the pressure drops, of material diminished, buildings such as the Crys-
and the faster the movement the lower the pres- tal Palace and the great train sheds began to behave
sure—the action that causes heavier-than-air air- like bubbles in the wind.6 Suddenly, the lateral
planes to fly. By anticipating prevailing winds and forces caused by the wind began to surpass the
considering building form and orientation, the ar- downward forces generated by gravity. The lacy
chitect can use the outside movement of the air to ironwork of Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace in Lon-
ventilate and cool effectively. In Egypt, Iraq, and don, 1851, had to be stiffened by diagonal braces,
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Buildings and the Wind 129

making the building essentially a vast truss [18.20, The tapered Hancock Center in Chicago, 1965–
18.21]. When the skyscraper was first developed in 1970, is an example [6.16].
Chicago in the 1880s, architects turned to Paxton’s Large buildings, especially groups of modern sky-
techniques and tied together the vertical and hor- scrapers, also have an effect on wind patterns. As
izontal steel framing members with diagonals, cre- the wind nears a tall building, some of the air rises
ating a trussed spine through the center of the over the building, creating an updraft on the wind-
building. Then, in the mid-1960s, as a new gener- ward side and a downdraft on the leeward side.
ation of skyscrapers rose to heights of one hundred Some of the wind goes down and, as it nears the
stories, or nearly 1,000 feet (304 m), architects and ground, flows around the building. As a result, under
engineers began to view them as vertical can- the right conditions at sidewalk level, there may be
tilevers whose principal structural task was to resist hurricane-force winds that make walking nearly im-
lateral wind pressure. The resulting buildings were possible. At times, the negative pressure may be
not the older braced frames but, rather, rigid tubes.7 great enough to suck windows out of their frames.

6.16. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, John Hancock Center, Chicago, Illinois, 1965–1970. In
buildings of great height, the lateral pressure of the wind becomes a more significant structural
design factor than vertical gravity-generated forces; hence, as in the Hancock Center, large-scale
externalized diagonal bracing stiffens each of the vertical columns. The shorter twin buildings just to
the right, below the Hancock Center, and closer to the lake, are the Lake Shore Drive apartment
buildings by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1948–1951. Photo: L. M. Roth.
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130

6.17. I. M. Pei, John Hancock Tower, Boston, Massachusetts, 1966–1975. The failure of modern architecture was
graphically illustrated by the plywood sheets used to replace the windows of the Hancock Tower that had been sucked out by
turbulent winds. Photo: Spencer Grant/Archive Photos/Getty Images.
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The Chemistry of Buildings 131

A well-known example of material failure, com- out of court (with the terms of the settlement
pounded by the Bernoulli effect of wind, is the John sealed).8 Such recent and dramatic examples of the
Hancock Tower in Boston, designed in 1966–1967 shortcomings of newly formulated materials and
by Henry N. Cobb of the office of I. M. Pei. Built dur- technologies are not unique to the last century, how-
ing 1967–1975 on Boston’s Copley Square near the ever. Even in ancient times, Vitruvius cautioned
clustered towers of the Prudential Center, it was Roman architects not to use inappropriate materials
designed to have double-glazed windows with a in their buildings.
metallic reflective film on the inner pane of glass.
Unfortunately, the windows failed to stay in place
and were sucked out of their frames; during 1972 The Chemistry of Buildings
and 1973, the streets below the soaring tower were In a way, skyscrapers are human-made mountains,
periodically and unpredictably showered with shards and like mountains, they are incessantly worn down
of glass [6.17]. Wooden covers had to be built over by heat, frost, galvanic action, and all the other
the sidewalks so pedestrians could walk safely. Some agents of nature that are forever building up and
experts claimed that a heat buildup between the two tearing down. Oxidation of building materials is re-
panes of glass, due to the reflective film, caused the lentless and some metals are especially susceptible,
windows to crack, while others said that inadequate iron being one in particular. Iron ore occurs in a nat-
frames allowed the glass to be sucked out by the tur- ural state in a number of different oxide compounds,
bulent aerodynamics around the building. As suc- with the chemical element iron (Fe) attached to
cessive legal suits were followed by countersuits, the oxygen atoms and perhaps a carbon atom. The iron
double glass was replaced with single sheets of half- can be isolated from oxygen through smelting (ap-
inch-thick, mirrored, tempered glass. The city of plying intense heat), but iron wants to reattach to
Boston approved the reglazed building for occupancy oxygen as quickly as possible, once again forming
in 1975, but only in 1981 was the litigation settled iron oxide or rust. Coating the exposed iron with a

6.18. Hugh Stubbins, House of World Cultures (originally built as the West Berlin Congress Hall), Berlin, Germany, 1957;
roof collapsed 1980; rebuilt. Constructed as a gift to Berlin from the US government. The roof collapsed in 1980 due to
water infiltration, which caused corrosion of the steel cables supporting the concrete panels suspended between the arched edge
beams. Photo: Vanni/Art Resource, NY.
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132 6. ARCHITECTURE: PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

film—perhaps oil or paint—prevents oxygen from concrete base. Knowing the galvanic risk associated
reaching the iron, but the coating must be main- with attaching the huge curved sheets of copper to
tained in perfect condition, for the smallest crack the iron frame inside, sculptor Auguste Bartholdi
will allow oxygen to recombine with the exposed and engineer Gustave Eiffel used special washers to
iron and cause rust to form. Since the iron-oxide isolate the copper from the iron. The torch that Lib-
formation expands as it forms, it opens the crack erty holds aloft was likewise originally shaped of
wider, allowing more iron to be exposed, more rust joined copper segments; however, in 1916 the gilded
to occur, and so on. The telltale orange streaks on torch flame was rebuilt in the same form but with
painted iron buildings and bridges reveal where ox- 250 panels of glass and a strong lamp placed inside.
idation is occurring. This oxidation in the thousands Eventually the joints in the glazed flame separated,
of older bridges that exist throughout the world will permitting water to drip down inside; small holes in
eventually cause structural failure if the oxidation the copper allowed for even more infiltration of
is not halted or the weakened pieces are not re- water. Over time the insulating washers failed and,
placed. with water already present inside the statue, the in-
Iron also reacts with other metals via galvanic evitable electrolysis began, dissolving the iron and
action or electrolysis, in which the two metals act corroding the copper next to the internal iron
like a storage battery, generating a small electrical frame. Even worse, as the thin iron bars rusted, the
current between them and in the process destroy- expanding rust pushed against the attachments,
ing the metals. (This is also the process that occurs causing them to bend to the point of popping the
when one metal is electroplated onto another.) copper rivets that held on the exterior copper skin.
Metals can be arranged on a galvanic scale, with Through the tens of thousands of popped-rivet
cathodic metals on one end and anodic metals at holes, yet more water seeped inside, exacerbating
the other. The rate at which the corrosive action the damage. In 1982–1986, the French and Amer-
takes place depends on the degree of difference of ican governments undertook a joint operation to re-
the location of two metals on the scale. Silver is store the Statue of Liberty in preparation for the
very near the cathodic end, while zinc and magne- centennial of its dedication, replacing the worn and
sium are at the opposite end; copper and iron are eroded copper sections, installing new special non-
not quite as far apart in their positions, respectively, corrosive stainless-steel attachment bars, and using
but are still far enough apart that in the presence a special Teflon tape for the insulators. It will take
of an electrolyte (such as salt water) the iron cor- another century before we know whether these
rodes and is deposited on the copper. The only way measures have sufficiently protected the statue, but
to stop this action is to remove the electrolytic fluid incessant stealthy and insidious galvanic action
connecting the metals or to block the electrical ac- never rests.
tion by means of some insulating substance. Unfor-
tunately, iron and its close galvanic neighbor
aluminum are often found in buildings with copper
R
elements as well—a most destructive combination. In addition to natural corrosive actions such as
One structural collapse in 1980 directly asso- rusting, for more than a century buildings have
ciated with corrosion was the failure of the steel been assaulted by industrial chemicals wantonly
suspension cables spanning between the arched dumped into the atmosphere. Smoke produced by
concrete edge beams of Hugh Stubbins’s Congress sulfur-containing fuels results in acid rain that
Hall, Berlin, Germany, built in 1955–1957 [6.18]. causes marble to be transformed into calcium car-
Water had infiltrated the roof, causing corrosion of bonate and gypsum, and their chemically softened
the vital cables in tension. A dramatic demonstra- surfaces flake off. And in a matter of a few decades,
tion of a building as sculpture, Congress Hall (now hard marble turns into something analogous to wax
the House of World Cultures) was rebuilt and re- under a heat lamp. The building, the sculpture, any
opened in 1987. carved detail—all simply melt away, as is happening
Another well-known case where combined met- to the ancient marble buildings in Athens, Greece.
als in salt air caused great damage involved the Political action could deal with these atmospheric
Statue of Liberty, which was designed and prefabri- problems, but it is the architect’s task to select ma-
cated in France in 1870–1884 and then shipped to terials and to detail the ways they are joined so that
and erected in New York Harbor in 1883–1886.9 buildings may endure such attacks for whatever
The huge statue is hollow, shaped of hammered period of time is desired. The Egyptians of the
sheets of copper riveted to an underlying wrought- Fourth Dynasty thought it appropriate to build the
iron frame that is anchored in the tall stone and Valley Temple for their Pharaoh Khafre using hard
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The Chemistry of Buildings 133

red granite so as to last him through eternity, and can unload it. Second, we are increasingly using
it has stood—yielding to nature only minimally— new manufactured materials and methods of as-
for over forty-five hundred years. Modern industrial sembly with adhesives and sealants whose long-
civilization tends to adopt a far shorter view. First, term durability can only be guessed. How long will
we generally do not want buildings to last very long. various caulking compounds, silicon sealants, and
Typically, clients are not willing to pay for materials other plastics last under the incessant onslaught of
that will last much longer than it takes to amortize ultraviolet light and cycles of freezing and thawing?
their building’s mortgage; they hope the building Unfortunately, it is our children, and theirs, who
will continue looking passably good only until they will discover those answers.
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7.1. Portrait sculpture of Anton Pilgrams (c. 1460–1516), sculptor of the pulpit of St. Stephen’s Cathedral and architect of
several churches in Swabia and Rottweil, in St. Stephen’s, Vienna. Pilgrams shows himself holding the instruments symbolic of
an architect: the dividers (in his right hand) and the mason’s square (in his left hand). Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art
Archive at Art Resource, NY.
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Chapter 7

The Architect
From High Priest to Profession

R
The Architect . . . must be looked upon as
construction in Egypt, inventing the pyramid, and,
in many ways, laying the basis for all later architec-
something much more than a designer of ture in the West. His importance was such that he
buildings—lovely, elegant, charming, and was described as a demigod and, by the Twenty-
efficient though they may be. His greater role Sixth Dynasty, was in fact considered a god.
is that of being the delineator, the definer, the Other Egyptian architects are known as well,
engraver of the history of his time. particularly Senmut, who was described in contem-
—Eugene Raskin, Architecture and People, 1974

R
porary carvings as the “confidant” of Queen Hat-
shepsut, who ruled as pharaoh in 1503–1482 BCE.
Inscriptions describe Senmut as “the greatest of the
great in the entire land.”2 Portrait figures of Senmut,

T he roles and responsibilities of architects have

changed greatly over the centuries, shifting
from court official to independent designer. With-
showing him holding the royal princess in his lap or
with coiled, knotted measuring ropes and other
tools of his profession, were found in large numbers
out a client, however, a building does not happen. in the Queen Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple at Deir
Unlike painting or poetry, which can be pursued by el Bahri, a temple he designed [7.2]. As inscriptions
individual artists on their own, architecture results on their portrait statues reveal, these architects held
only when a client or patron has the desire and fi- exalted positions in the priesthood, for indeed all
nancial wherewithal to call it into being. Thus, the education was provided by the temple priests.
creation of architecture is also a history of the re- Working under these priest-architects were hosts of
lationship between client and architect—who, in overseers and craftsmen. We have abundant evi-
turn, work with the building contractor and the dence of such tomb craftsmen of the Middle King-
scores or even hundreds of workers with myriad dom from the tombs they made for themselves near
skills who work at the contractor’s direction. Of all their workmen’s village, now called Deir el-Medina,
the design and visual arts, except perhaps for which is a short distance from the tombs of the
movie-making with its many participants, the cre- pharaohs, in the Valley of the Kings.3
ation of buildings is the most complex process. Loose sketch designs by Egyptian architects or
One early recorded architect is Imhotep, who work foremen, found on ostraka, or flat flakes of
was active in Egypt under the Pharaoh Zoser from limestone chipped off larger building blocks, were
about 2635 BCE to 2595 BCE. (Imhotep’s accom- likely done in the field during the work process. Be-
plishments in creating the tomb complex for cause they were made on stone, they survived. But
Pharaoh Zoser are presented in Chapter 10.) On more formal drawings were prepared on papyrus
the base of Imhotep’s portrait statue, his many titles sheets. A grid of squares was first drawn out, and
are listed as “Seal-bearer of the king of Lower then a flat elevation in black ink could be drawn
Egypt, chamberlain, ruler of the great mansion, over the grid, thus showing the correct proportions
hereditary prince, greatest of seers, Imhotep, car- of all parts of the design. One of the few such sur-
penter, sculptor.”1 Other portions of the inscription viving drawings, now in Turin, Italy, shows front
indicate that he was also a physician. Imhotep’s im- and side elevations for a shrine chest [7.3].
portant status is the result of his many achieve- In Mesopotamia, the land watered by the Tigris
ments. He is credited with introducing stone and Euphrates Rivers, plans of buildings were

135
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136 7. THE ARCHITECT: FROM HIGH PRIEST TO PROFESSION

Nonetheless, they were artisans of lowly position,

and not priests. Some of the first Greek architects,
however, enjoy the mythical status of Imhotep.
Daedalus, who is credited with designing the laby-
rinth where the Minotaur lived on Crete, was also
a sculptor and inventor; he devised the apparatus
that enabled Queen Pasiphae to mate with a bull,
resulting in the Minotaur. The Greek word daedalus
means “cunning worker” or “skillful one.” When he
fell into political disfavor, Daedalus fashioned wings
so that he and his son, Icarus, might fly to Sicily. As
the legend relates, elated with the hubris of his fly-
ing ability, Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax
holding his feathers melted, and he fell into the sea.
Daedalus himself, however, made it to Sicily, where
he is said to have built an underground steam bath
for King Kokkalos.4
Real-life Greek architects lived far more pro-
saically, and although we know the names of more
than a hundred of them, we can piece together
almost nothing of their lives.5 Official legal descrip-
tions of buildings survive in some detailed inscrip-
tions, but we have none of the Greek theoretical
treatises that Vitruvius later said he consulted, nor
do we have any Greek drawings. Some scholars
have suggested that Greek architects made no
drawings as we think of them, on vellum or parch-
ment, suggesting instead that architects worked in
the stone yard in close connection with the masons
and had little need for abstract drawings.6
7.2. Portrait of Senmut holding Nefurure, princess and The position of the architect rose during the
daughter of Pharaoh Hatshepsut, c. 1470 BCE. © The Roman Empire, as architecture symbolically became
Trustees of the British Museum/Art Resource, NY. a particularly important political statement. Cicero
classed the architect with the physician and the
teacher (De officiis, 1.151) and Vitruvius spoke of
“so great a profession as this” (De architectura,
inscribed on clay tablets. One small tablet, about 1.1.11). Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (c. 90–c. 20 BCE),
2.3 by 3.5 inches (6 by 9 cm), made in about 2300 a practicing architect during the reign of Augustus
BCE, shows what appears to be a house plan, indi- Caesar, recognized that architecture requires both
cating the thickness of the walls and the placement practical and theoretical knowledge, and he listed
of doors [7.4]. Official portrait statues of the the disciplines he felt the aspiring architect should
Sumerian ruler Gudea of Lagash, about 2200 BCE, master: literature and writing, draftsmanship, math-
show him holding on his lap such a plaque en- ematics, history, philosophy, music, medicine, law,
graved with the plan of a building [7.5]. As in and astronomy—a curriculum that still has much
Egypt, in Sumerian cities and later in the Babylon- to recommend it. All of this study was necessary, he
ian Empire, buildings were designed and built by argued, because architects who have aimed at ac-
the rulers and the priests. quiring manual skill without scholarship have never
The word architect is Greek, and its compo- been able to reach a position of authority to corre-
nents—arkhi, “chief,” and tekton, “builder” or spond to their plans, while those who have relied
“craftsman”—indicate that to the Greeks, the ar- only upon theories and scholarship were obviously
chitect or chief builder was far from being an ele- “hunting the shadow, not the substance.”7
vated priest or “greatest of the great.” As Plato The practice of drawing, as described by Vitru-
wrote in Politicus, architects were not workmen but vius, also sounds remarkably modern, for he writes of
directors of workmen, and hence they possessed ground plans (ichnographia) being laid out with com-
theoretical knowledge as well as practical skills. pass and ruler, of elevation drawings (orthographia)
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137

7.3. Redrawing of an Egyptian

papyrus drawing showing the side
elevation of a shrine, c. Eighteenth
Dynasty (Turin, Italy). The lighter
lines (in black ink on the original) are
a proportional grid; the thicker lines
(originally in red ink) show the profile
of the shrine. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after a XVIII Dynasty papyrus, Museo
Egiziano, Turin.

7.4. Plan of a house inscribed on a

clay tablet, c. 2300 BCE; found in Tell
Asmar, Iraq. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after a tablet from Tell Asmar,
Oriental Museum, Chicago.
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138 7. THE ARCHITECT: FROM HIGH PRIEST TO PROFESSION

7.5. Portrait figure of Gudea of Lagash.

c. 2200 BCE. Resting on the lap of this
ruler of Lagash is an inscribed plan of a
building. Photo: The Louvre, Paris.

being “a vertical image of the front,” and of perspec- over a century bricks were stamped with the abbre-
tives (scaenographia) with shading and retreating lines viated names of the reigning consuls and the brick
converging at a vanishing point. Although none of maker, making it possible to date Roman buildings
these ancient architectural drawings themselves sur- with some precision. The process of construction
vive, splendid examples of wall paintings from Pom- and the deployment of the building trades were
peii suggest the skill of Roman draftsmen [Plate 15]. highly organized and were particularly important
In addition, there are a number of building plans en- for the building of scaffolding, for centering, and for
graved in stone, including one particularly interesting timing the laying and curing of concrete.
engraved plan of what may have been a funerary One of the last architects in the tradition de-
monument, dating from the middle of the first cen- scribed by Vitruvius was Anthemios of Tralles, who
tury CE. was born in western Asia Minor sometime before
During the later imperial period, the building 500 CE and died about 540 CE; he was the de-
trades in Roman cities became more highly orga- signer of the church of Hagia Sophia in Constan-
nized and were increasingly subject to government tinople, working closely with the architect-engineer
control. Each building operation had its collegium, Isidoros of Miletos.8 Anthemios came from a dis-
or trade organization—blacksmiths and iron work- tinguished family; his father was a well-known
ers, brick makers, carpenters, stone workers, gen- physician, as were two of his brothers, and another
eral construction workers, and even demolition brother practiced law in Rome. Anthemios was an
experts. Brick making was standardized, and for architect, an engineer, a geometrician, and a physi-
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The Architect: From High Priest to Profession 139

cist. He wrote on mathematics and may have been century. Only around 800, with the amalgamation
the first to describe how to draw an ellipse by using of a new empire under Charlemagne, did building
a loop of string around two pins. begin again on an ambitious scale. A particularly
The conventional emphasis on the piety of the pressing need was the construction of new monastic
Middle Ages has fostered many misconceptions communities. One of the most important docu-
regarding the medieval architect. For example, it ments of early medieval architecture is a parchment
appears that the architect was assumed to be a self- drawing done in about 814 that shows how an ideal
less, uneducated master-mason who worked from monastery might be laid out [7.6, 7.7]. The parch-
no plans, using strictly traditional knowledge, and ment was specially prepared by Abbott Haito of the
who gloried in his anonymity. There is some limited monastery Reichenau and was sent to his colleague
basis for these notions, but they are far from the Abbot Gozbertus at the monastery of San Gallen,
truth. or Saint Gall, Switzerland, since Gozbertus was
Understandably, perhaps, the abbots of monas- planning on building a new monastic complex.9 The
teries or their historians tended to downplay the ink drawing is on one large sheet of parchment
contributions of their designing masons while em- (stretched calf or sheepskin), sewn together using
phasizing their own accomplishments. Moreover, five smaller sections to form one page roughly 44 by
state sponsorship of building had dropped rapidly in 30 inches (112 by 77 cm) in size. It is one of the old-
the western part of the Roman Empire after the fifth est surviving medieval drawings. Such drawings on

7.6. Plan of ideal monastery, Saint Gall,

Switzerland, c. 814. Facsimile drawing of the
original parchment drawing. The light dotted
line indicates where the parchment sheets were
sewn together to form the larger sheet.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after the Saint Gall
parchment in Horn, Born, and Adalard, The
Plan of St. Gall . . . (Berkeley, 1979).
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140 7. THE ARCHITECT: FROM HIGH PRIEST TO PROFESSION

7.7. Schematic diagram of Saint Gall

Monastery plan showing layout of the various
buildings. Diagram by Kenneth J. Conant.
From Kenneth J. Conant, Carolingian and
Romanesque Architecture, 800 to 1200
(Harmondsworth, England, 1966).

sheepskin were used throughout the Middle Ages, under construction and jotting down personal ob-
but because parchment was valuable, it was often servations. Designer and mason Villard de Honne-
scraped clean and reused, or turned over and an- court assembled just such a “scrapbook,” originally
other document written on the back. Several draw- with eighty-two pages, intending to make it avail-
ings survive for this reason, having been filed away able to other guild members.10 He was born in
in monastic libraries under the heading of the sec- northern France and trained as a stonemason. In
ond document written on the back. This is exactly about 1190, he became a journeyman while working
how the Saint Gall plan survived, for in the late on the cathedral at Vaucelles, which he sketched in
twelfth century, another monk inscribed The Life of his book. He traveled to Reims and Chartres and,
Saint Martin on the other side of the parchment and around 1220, set out for Hungary to aid in the con-
then folded the parchment several times down to struction of a monastery there. On his return trip,
book size and stored it away. he stopped in Reims, where he assisted in building
The collegia of workmen survived the end of the the cathedral, making a number of drawings of the
Roman Empire, gradually becoming the guilds of interior and the exterior of the choir [7.8]. Other
the Middle Ages. These were vitally important or- drawings showed roof framing, pulpits, ornamental
ganizations, providing not only training for youths carving, and even a perpetual-motion machine; the
but also a network for the transmission of ideas sketches are accompanied by straightforward notes
across Europe. Medieval masons traveled exten- such as “this is good masonry” and “I drew it be-
sively from one guild lodge to another, viewing work cause I like it best.”
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The Architect: From High Priest to Profession 141

One reason the position of the medieval archi- Gothic arch; in his left hand is a measuring rod, with
tect may have become poorly understood is that a mason’s square and dividers at his feet, and in his
many different titles were used for this occupation. right hand is a model of a building.
In addition to architectus and magister (master, maes- What distinguished the medieval architect
tro, Meister) for master-mason, we find ingeniator master-mason from those of the Renaissance, Ba-
(engineer), artifex, operarius, mechanicus, and words roque, and modern periods that followed was this:
more directly connected with stonework, such as as apprentices, journeymen, and eventually masters
lapicida, cementarius, and lathomus. The inscription trained in stonecutting or carpentry, they under-
on the gravestone of Pierre de Montreuil, the de- stood intimately, from the inside out, how a building
signer of parts of the abbey church of Saint-Denis was put together. When they undertook contracts
and of Notre-Dame in Paris who died in 1254, de- to erect buildings, they functioned as both designer
scribes him as doctor lathomorum, or professor of and contractor-builder. The nature of the medieval
freemasons. By the mid-thirteenth century, master- master craftsman-architect, as well as the estab-
masons were accorded a position of privilege and lished position of the construction guilds, must be
were buried with honors, as is evident in the grave- understood if one is to appreciate the revolutionary
stone of Hugues Libergier, who was the architect change brought about by the Renaissance. In a list
of the cathedral in Reims and who died in 1263 of the most important Renaissance architectural
[7.9].11 He is shown framed in a trefoil (three-lobed) designers—such as Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon

7.8. Villard de Honnecourt, c. 1220. Exterior

and interior elevation drawings of Notre-Dame
de Reims, Reims, France. This page, from the
travel sketchbook of this medieval mason, tells
much about the travels of medieval builders, how
knowledge was disseminated among brothers in
the crafts guilds, and how medieval artists made
abstracted symbolic images instead of literal
images. From J.B.A. Lassus, Album de Villard
de Honnecourt, architecte du XIIIe siècle;
manuscript publié en facsimile (Paris, 1858).
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142 7. THE ARCHITECT: FROM HIGH PRIEST TO PROFESSION

7.9. Tombstone of Hugh Libergier, Notre-Dame de

Reims, thirteenth century. The inscription running
around the border reads: “Here lies Master Hugh
Libergier, who began this church in the year 1229
and died in the year 1267.” The architect is
surrounded by instruments of his trade; he holds a
measuring rod and a model of a church. Photo:
Drawing Association, Cathedral of Our Lady of
Reims, courtesy of Père Jean-Marie Guerlin, Curé
de la Cathedrale de Reims.

Battista Alberti, Donato Bramante, Michelangelo all major architects in Italy after 1400 were trained
Buonarroti, Giulio Romano, and Sebastiano as painters, sculptors, or goldsmiths; like Leonardo
Serlio—there is not one trained architect in the me- da Vinci or Michelangelo, they worked in all the
dieval sense of the word. In the fifteenth century, visual and design arts. During the Middle Ages
with the rise of Classical humanism and the study intellectually trained scholars and teachers were
of ancient literature, the ideal individual was one considered to profess a learned discipline, whereas
who mastered all the liberal arts, and the master- hands-on builders, painters, and goldsmiths were
craftsman-architect, with his technical and practical viewed as merely practicing a craft (comparable to
experience, was replaced by the humanist-artist- the position that architects held in the Greek
designer, with his theoretical knowledge. Nearly world). Renaissance architects sought to change
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The Architect: From High Priest to Profession 143

7.10. Raphael, School of Athens fresco, Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican Palace, Rome, Italy, 1509–1511. In this painting
praising human intellect, Raphael depicted all the great Greek philosophers grouped around the central figures of Plato and
Aristotle. Many of the faces are portraits of living Italian artists and architects, and the setting depicts the unfinished shell of
Bramante’s new Basilica of Saint Peter. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.

this attitude and to elevate their position from depicted the gathering together of all the great an-
artisan-technician to scholar-theoretician. cient Greek philosophers, who are arranged in two
In 1505, Donato Bramante (1444–1514) began groups on either side of two central figures, Plato
construction of the immense new Basilica of Saint and Aristotle [7.10]. Those who pursued Platonic
Peter in Rome, proposing to replace the ancient theoretical abstraction are arranged on the left
church built by Constantine in 333.12 The plan of (stage right), while those who favored the obser-
the church was derived from the new theoretical vation of natural phenomena are associated with
and geometric ideals of the Renaissance, meant to Aristotle on the right (stage left). In addition, Plato
symbolize God’s omniscience and omnipresence points upward with his right hand, toward the
as well as to celebrate the intelligence that God higher plane of the mind and toward heaven, while
had given humankind—all represented in the pure Aristotle gestures toward the horizontal—that is,
geometry of neo-Platonism. The new basilica was toward the natural world and observable phenom-
to be a vast Greek cross within a square, centered ena. The figures descend stairs and terraces in an
on four huge piers carrying pendentives and a gi- architectural setting of immense proportions, with
gantic dome rivaling that of the Roman Pantheon. Classical piers and vaults supporting pendentives
Bramante, then sixty-one years of age, started carrying an open circular colonnade silhouetted
work on the piers, but he died leaving only the against the sky. This hypothetical setting, exempli-
arches silhouetted against the sky [15.25]. At the fying Greek ideals and Greek philosophy, is not ac-
same time, Bramante’s patron, Pope Julius II, was tual Greek architecture of the ancient Classical
having Bramante’s nephew, Raphael Sanzio, paint period; rather, it is a contemporary analogue, a rep-
four mural frescoes in the adjoining Vatican Palace. resentation of the incomplete shell of Bramante’s
In one of the semicircular fresco panels, Raphael new Saint Peter’s. The long-bearded figure of Plato
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144 7. THE ARCHITECT: FROM HIGH PRIEST TO PROFESSION

in the center is a portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. In Alberti wrote a manuscript in Latin, De re aeadifi-
the foreground, on the Aristotelian right, bending catoria (“concerning building”), in ten books. Pat-
over to work out a theorem on a slate, is the bald terned after Vitruvius, the work aimed at informing
figure of Euclid, the great geometrician—it is a por- and improving the taste of classically educated pa-
trait of Donato Bramante (Raphael even included trons. Although it circulated in manuscript form
himself, peeking toward the viewer on the far right among his friends, it was later published in Latin in
side). And on the Platonic left side, brooding over 1485. It then appeared in translations in vernacular
a block of stone in the foreground, is the figure of Italian in 1546 and 1550, which made the books
Michelangelo (who at that moment was painting available to a much wider audience. Meanwhile,
the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel). What Raphael several new Latin editions of Vitruvius had begun to
was suggesting was that the contemporary artist- appear, some of them illustrated (Leonardo’s draw-
architect of the new epoch should be seen as the ing of the man in the circle and square, [15.4], was
equivalent of the ancient philosophers—but, in intended as one such illustration). The ability to
this instance, a philosopher who expressed his ideas illustrate such publications with original copper en-
in stone. gravings made these new books enormously effec-
The ideal to which many aspired was achieved tive, especially in an age when literacy was not
by Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), a well-trained customary for ordinary builders. An Italian transla-
humanist scholar and theorist.13 His designs for tion of Vitruvius followed in 1521. In rapid succes-
churches and palaces set the standard for architec- sion, other original treatises by various authors
ture for the next two hundred years, but he could appeared in Spanish, French, and German, along
not construct his own buildings, relying instead on with translations of Vitruvius into the various ver-
masons such as Matteo de’ Pasti to translate his de- nacular European languages. These books were now
signs into stone. On the one hand, this meant that intended not simply for the potential patron, but for
ever afterward, architects were removed from direct the practicing architect and builder. In addition,
involvement in the construction process; but on the detailed descriptions on how to proportion each of
other, it meant that they were freed from working the Classical orders were quickly provided in the il-
only with established inherited conventions and lustrated books published by Sebastiano Serlio and
could pursue instead intellectual exploration and Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola [7.11].
creative artistry—what the Italians called disegno. The career of Andrea Palladio (1508–1580) and
The Renaissance was a period of intellectual the book he published summarize well the goal of
probing, of the reexamination of Classical literature, the Renaissance architect—the creation of ordered
art, and architecture. The Renaissance artist- and balanced architecture that might serve as an
architect shared in this curiosity. Beginning with example for subsequent architects. Compared to
Brunelleschi, architects made the pilgrimage to artist-architects such as Bramante or Michelangelo,
ancient Rome, then a small, sleepy medieval town Palladio is an exception. The son of a miller, he was
greatly shrunken from its imperial grandeur, to study not classically educated but apprenticed to a stone-
and measure Roman ruins. They attempted to equal mason, and hence differed from his slightly older col-
or surpass the artistic achievements of antiquity, leagues.16 He was working in Vicenza, not far from
though not to make literal copies of ancient archi- Venice, where his abilities attracted the attention of
tecture. The great irony is that, although they a wealthy and cultivated humanist nobleman, Gian-
measured and recorded much, they also destroyed giorgio Trissino, who made Palladio his protégé.
much; the modern notion of historic preservation Trissino tutored him in Vitruvius and took him to
had no attraction for them. In building a new Rome Rome several times to measure Roman buildings.
after 1500, they often reused the stones of old Rome. Palladio also later worked closely with humanist
The Renaissance was able to sweep across Eu- Daniele Barbaro in illustrating a translation of Vi-
rope by means of the printed page. Printing with truvius. The result of this combination of practical
movable type spelled the end of medieval orthodoxy wisdom and theoretical study was that Palladio’s ar-
and the rule of tradition in the West; architects chitecture was clear in its harmonic mathematical
would soon take advantage of this new technology.14 proportions and comparatively simple in its form.
As Victor Hugo, writing about the fifteenth century, Palladio collected his thoughts in a four-volume
has one of his characters say to another in his novel work, published in Italian as I quattro libri dell’ ar-
Notre Dame de Paris (Paris: 1831), “This will kill chitettura (The Four Books on Architecture) (Ven-
that,” referring to how the new printing press will kill ice, 1570), which presented plans and elevations of
the transmission of knowledge through the tradi- his best work around Vicenza, as well as his restora-
tional embellishment of buildings.15 In the 1440s, tions of some of the major Roman ruins [7.12]. It
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The Architect: From High Priest to Profession 145

ing sketches, plan studies, elevations, details, and

perspectives. Leonardo da Vinci seems to have de-
veloped the technique of drawing small aerial per-
spectives that suggest both plan and building
masses in one compact view. Understandably, while
Renaissance architects were inventing a new hu-
manist Classical architectural language, it was one
that the traditionally trained guild workmen did
not at first understand; remarkably, however, few
surviving drawings for use in the field show orna-
mental details. Elaborate wood models were the
preferred method of showing how work was to be
done, and a number of these detailed wooden mod-
els survive, such as Michelangelo’s model for com-
pleting the dome of Saint Peter’s in Rome.
During the fifteenth century, in Spain and
France, this renewed Classical architectural idiom
was exploited to create a royal architecture. In
France, the introduction of Renaissance Classicism
necessitated the formation of a corps of architects
and builders—the Royal Building Administration—
to carry out the many royal building projects. By the
time of Louis XIV’s reign, in the seventeenth cen-
tury, this had become a large organization, admin-
istered by Jean Baptiste Colbert, the chief minister.
Under Colbert was Louis Le Vau, the king’s chief
architect, and under him were scores of lesser
designers and administrators who worked on Ver-
sailles, Marly, and the many other royal building
projects.
Aside from the continuing expansion of the royal
7.11. Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, “The Tuscan Doric château next to the village of Versailles, the other
Order,” Plate 4 from Regola delli cinque ordini major French royal building project was the exten-
d’architettura, Book IV (Rome, 1562). This book along sion of the royal residence in Paris, the Louvre.
with others by Sebastiano Serlio, Vincenzo Scamozzi, and Begun in 1547 and continued in 1624 for Louis
Claude Perrault, made the proportions of the Classical XIII, it had proceeded in several stages under dif-
orders available to builders and gentlemen amateur
ferent successive royal architects, until the interior
architects. Vignola’s plates were the first to show the relative
proportions of each order clearly based on the diameter of court had been completely enclosed by Le Vau.
the column. Courtesy, Avery Library, Columbia University. However, the east front, the principal face toward
the city of Paris, had not been finished, and in 1665
a competition was held to obtain the best design.
Various French and Italian architects submitted en-
was richly illustrated with engravings. Except for the tries; the winning design was the work of the most
book by Vitruvius, Palladio’s has had the greatest famous Roman architect of the day, Gian Lorenzo
continuing impact of any from this period; transla- Bernini [7.13]. His artistic reputation was such that,
tions and new editions appeared throughout the in journeying to Paris, Bernini was honored in cities
eighteenth century, the English translation of 1738 along the way with festivities that rivaled the treat-
is still published in paperback, and an entirely new ment given royalty. He made a triumphal entry into
English translation was published in 1997, illustrated Paris, modified his design at the request of Colbert,
with reproductions of Palladio’s original engraved and then returned home. Work began on the foun-
plates.17 dations, but soon Bernini’s scheme was scrapped
The Renaissance saw the evolution of architec- and a final, eighth design was prepared by a com-
tural working methods similar to those used in de- mittee composed of the king’s architect, Le Vau; the
sign and construction today. Numerous drawings king’s painter, Charles Le Brun; and Claude Per-
have survived, on parchment and on paper, show- rault, a physician who was also a skilled amateur
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146

7.12. Andrea Palladio, Villa Capra (Villa Rotonda), outside Vicenza, Italy, c. 1550, plate 13 from Book II of Palladio’s
Four Books of Architecture. The English version, edited by Isaac Ware (London, 1738), carried Palladio’s influence
throughout Great Britain and on to the American colonies. Courtesy, Avery Library, Columbia University.
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The Architect: From High Priest to Profession 147

7.13. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, first design for the east facade of the Louvre, Paris, France, 1664–1665. Bernini’s curved and
sculpturally molded facade incorporated the latest in Italian plasticity but was rejected by the French king and his advisors.
Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY.

architect well known for his architectural studies, century, was reorganized as the École des Beaux-Arts
including eventually his major publication present- during the French Revolution, and went on to pro-
ing the five Classical orders as he interpreted them vide architectural instruction for students around
[7.14]. the world during the nineteenth and early twentieth
The confusion and false starts on the east front centuries. In France, the path to success in the pro-
of the Louvre suggested that native French archi- fession required studying at the École, and, ideally,
tects did not have the necessary professional training winning the culminating and coveted Grand Prix de
to undertake large-scale state-funded commissions Rome, which ensured that the recipient would
the king and his ministers wanted. The result was thereafter receive successive public-building com-
the establishment of the Royal Academy of Archi- missions and an appointment to teach at the École
tecture in 1671, which grew during the eighteenth des Beaux-Arts.

7.14. Claude Perrault, Louis Le Vau, and Charles Le Brun, East Wing, the Louvre, Paris, 1667–1671. This restrained
design, developed by a committee of architects, was considered by the king to be more appropriate for expressing the French
national character in architecture. Photo: L. M. Roth, 2003.
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148 7. THE ARCHITECT: FROM HIGH PRIEST TO PROFESSION

The method of architectural education in En- comfortably from their business activities, planta-
gland (and, by extension, in the United States) was tion agricultural exports, or inherited wealth, took
much different. During the eighteenth century, En- no payment for their efforts; they designed for the
glish buildings were often designed by gentlemen sheer love of the endeavor and the pleasurable sat-
amateurs, mostly wealthy aristocrats who were isfaction it provided. Perhaps the best-known
widely traveled and well-read in Classical literature American gentleman-amateur architect is Thomas
and architecture.18 There were also professional ar- Jefferson. He taught himself Italian, so he may have
chitects who trained in architects’ offices but who read Palladio in the original, though it was the
had little or no theoretical education. An excellent English version he bought while still in college—
example of the former is Richard Boyle, Third Earl perhaps one of the earliest architecture books he
of Burlington (1694–1753), an aristocratic patron owned.
who made many trips to Italy, particularly to the After 1790, several professionally trained archi-
region around Venice, where he closely studied the tects, among them Joseph-Jacques Ramée and
work of Palladio. In England, he built for himself Joseph-François Maguin, emigrated from Europe,
Chiswick House, 1725, closely patterned on Palla- but the architect who had the most significant im-
dio’s Villa Rotonda, and he championed the cause pact in the United States was Benjamin Henry La-
of Palladian architecture [see 7.12]. A good exam- trobe, who in 1797 arrived from England where he
ple of an eighteenth-century professional architect had been born and trained.20 With the arrival of
in England would be Henry Holland (1745–1806), Latrobe, the United States had its first professional
an architect and builder educated by his architect architect in the modern sense—an individual who
father. derives a living solely by designing buildings for oth-
Sir John Soane (1753–1837) represents a fusion ers to construct; who has received practical and
of these two types, and his career marks the emer- theoretical training (academically, in an office, as
gence of the modern architect in England.19 The well as on the job site); who supervises construction
son of a builder, Soane was trained in the architec- to make certain it follows the plans agreed on; and
tural offices of George Dance the Younger and who is paid a monetary percentage fee based on the
Henry Holland. While working in Holland’s office, cost of the building being constructed (rather than
Soane attended lectures on art at the new Royal being paid in goods or services). Working with car-
Academy of Arts and participated in the design penters’ companies and builders rooted in the
competitions sponsored by the Academy. He won ancient guild tradition, Latrobe encountered resist-
a gold medal in such a competition in 1776 and was ance to the rights and prerogatives he claimed as
sent on a tour of Italy. In 1788, he was appointed an architect. Once, when he was away from Balti-
architect to the Bank of England, a position he held more on business and unable to supervise work
for the remainder of his life, although he had a on the Baltimore Cathedral he designed in 1804
great deal of additional work as well. This combi- [7.16], the building contractor changed aspects of
nation of practical experience and theoretical ed- the building, following traditional practice. Upon
ucation set Soane’s work apart, and his ingenious his return, Latrobe threatened to resign unless his
original solutions to structural and lighting prob- contract drawings were followed explicitly. Latrobe
lems marked a new direction in architecture. For won this challenge to his authority.21
the Bank of England, especially, Soane relied on There were no architectural schools in the
overhead skylights for illumination and devised United States in the early nineteenth century, so as-
lightweight domes constructed of hollow clay pots, piring architects trained themselves as best they
later covered with layers of plaster [7.15]. At the could, working for other architects. Latrobe trained
same time, however, he conscientiously supervised William Strickland, who in turn trained Thomas U.
the training of young architects in his office, ap- Walter. American architects faced a problem un-
proximately forty in all. This practice illustrates known to their European counterparts—the dis-
how at this time in England (and in the United persal of their jobs over a much vaster landscape.
States), the normal way to become an architect was Because architect Ithiel Town traveled extensively,
to spend a period as an apprentice and assistant in supervising the construction of bridges that em-
an architect’s office. ployed his patented truss pattern, in 1829 he took
In England’s American colonies during the eigh- into full partnership Alexander Jackson Davis,
teenth century, buildings also were designed by thereby creating the first American architectural
gentleman amateurs such as Peter Harrison, firm. Thereafter, architectural firms with two and
wealthy merchant and self-taught architect. Such three partners became increasingly common in the
gentlemen-amateur architectural designers, living United States. Although national and municipal
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The Architect: From High Priest to Profession 149

7.15. Sir John Soane, Bank of England, Consols Transfer Office, London, England, 1799. This detailed watercolor
perspective by Joseph M. Gandy shows the masonry skeleton of the room, before application of the final plaster coat or
installation of the windows and overhead light monitors. From M. Richardson and M. Steens, eds., John Soane, Architect:
Master of Space and Light (London, 1999).

architectural agencies were already known in Eu- Urbana, with others soon following. French-trained
rope, such private architecture partnerships were instructors were hired, and when possible, French
rare there until well into the twentieth century. graduates of the École were brought over to teach
Around the mid-nineteenth century, American École principles in these American schools.
architects began to attend the École des Beaux- By the end of the nineteenth century the char-
Arts in Paris, beginning with Richard Morris Hunt acter of the modern architectural profession had
in 1845 and Henry Hobson Richardson in 1860. At been established, and by the dawn of the twentieth
the turn of the century, in fact, Americans made century architects had achieved a professional sta-
up the largest single group of non-French students tus equivalent to medical doctors and lawyers, even
at the École. These American graduates combined to the point of having official licensing examina-
Yankee pragmatism and practicality with the sen- tions. Normally, however (and especially in the
sitivity to plan organization and expression of build- United States), architects are not a direct part of
ing character that they learned at the French the construction industry. Once the client (either
school. Architecture firms that exemplified these an individual or a building committee) and the
attributes were Adler & Sullivan of Chicago (Sul- architect have settled on the final design, the typical
livan attended the École) and McKim, Mead & process in realizing a building is to locate a general
White of New York (McKim had also been at the building contractor who signs a contract in which
École). Meanwhile, during the 1870s, schools of ar- he or she agrees to erect the proposed building ex-
chitecture were established in the United States, actly as specified in the agreed-to drawings and writ-
first at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ten specifications at an agreed-upon price, though
Cambridge, and then at the University of Illinois, these construction documents can be changed with
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150 7. THE ARCHITECT: FROM HIGH PRIEST TO PROFESSION

7.16. Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Baltimore Cathedral, Baltimore, Maryland, 1804–1821. Longitudinal section/elevation,
1805. The meticulously executed colored drawing testifies to Latrobe’s extensive professional training in England and to the
care with which he specified all the details of the design. Photo: Courtesy, Diocese of Baltimore and the Maryland Historical
Society, Baltimore.

the alterations agreed to by all parties involved in building due to the two enveloping world wars. Pro-
the construction contract (with associated cost ad- gressive-minded architects were active participants
justments). The general contractor then makes fur- in this effort, and they interpreted their mission as
ther agreements with the scores of subcontractors providing the best housing for the largest number
who scrutinize the engineering and structural as- of people. This was especially true of those who
pects of the work, who provide the various building formed the vanguard of the International Modern
materials, who fabricate and install the heating and movement such as Walter Gropius, Max Taut, J.J.P.
cooling systems, and who manufacture the finishes Oud, and others. Their apartment and housing es-
and furnishings of the completed building. And, as tates have generally served well, though often the
Howard Davis has demonstrated in his study, The innovative building techniques they created have
Culture of Building (1999), nearly equally important not weathered well. But it must be noted that the
in the entire process of a building being realized are European residents who moved into these houses
craftsworkers, bankers, financiers, public officials, were already acclimated to apartment life, certainly
and planners. Building is a detailed process that in- in contrast to American urban populations. With
volves hundreds of people, and in large complexes, the onset of urban renewal in the United States in
perhaps even thousands. the 1950s and 1960s, new apartment complexes
Early in the twentieth century, architects took were quickly needed to accommodate families then
on a social dimension in their work, facing the ques- being displaced by the “urban renewal” of what were
tion of their social responsibility, a question that has deemed by city planners as decayed neighborhoods.
remained unresolved. Should the architect assume But the apartment complexes, carefully designed by
the position of an activist and attempt to reform so- upper-middle-class architects espousing high-
ciety, shaping environments according to how life minded philosophical ideals, too frequently turned
ought to be lived (in the view of the architect), or out, in the long run, to be very poor living environ-
should the architect reflect prevailing social values ments for the working-class poor. The best-known
and shape environments according to how life ac- example is the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex in Saint
tually is lived? With the rise of socialist-oriented Eu- Louis, Missouri, designed by architects Leinweber,
ropean governments in the twentieth century, Yamasaki & Hellmuth and built in 1952–1955,
municipal building activity focused on housing com- which provided residents no sense of identity and
plexes, prompted by the increase in urban popula- prevented them from supervising their immediate
tions coupled with the destruction of much of urban environment in the way they had been able to do
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The Architect: From High Priest to Profession 151

from three-story street-front apartments. In fact, the at mid-century, women are an increasing presence
apartment complex became so dangerous to live in in the profession around the globe. In 2006 the fe-
that prospective residents refused to move there, male US graduate enrollment in architecture stood
and eventually, in 1972, the buildings had to be de- at nearly 45 percent, while figures for the United
molished22 [19.56]. Kingdom and Australia were at around 39 percent.
Since roughly 1965, architects have begun to The rise of women architects to the pinnacle of in-
take a more enlightened and more inclusive ap- ternational recognition was dramatically demon-
proach; some architects, particularly in the so-called strated by the award of the prestigious 2004 Pritzker
Third World countries, have begun to discover that Prize to Zaha Hadid, who was born in Baghdad,
ancient traditional building methods and forms may trained at the highly regarded Architectural Asso-
have distinct practical advantages in the present day. ciation in London, later became a partner in the
For example, the traditional adobe mud brick archi- avant-garde Office of Metropolitan Architecture
tecture of Egypt was rediscovered and put to new use with Rem Koolhaas, and now maintains an inde-
from the 1930s through the 1970s by the Egyptian pendent office in London. Awarded since 1979 and
architect Hassan Fathy for housing clusters and pub- popularly called the Nobel Prize of the architectural
lic buildings. And Geoffrey Bawa referred to the tra- world, the Pritzker Prize recognizes distinguished
ditional vernacular Sri Lankan village council house achievement on a global scale, and 2004 was the
in his new Parliament building for that country, first year the prize was awarded to a woman. In 2010
1979–1982.23 Both architects rediscovered and rein- the second woman to be named Pritzker Prize Lau-
vigorated traditional building materials and building reate was Kazuyo Sejima, who shared the prize with
forms that proved rich in meaning for the ordinary her husband and partner, Ryue Nishizawa, at Sejima
building users of their respective countries. + Nishizawa and Associates (SANAA). As the
Another significant change that is reshaping the twenty-first century opens, the role of the architect
architectural profession is the increasing number of has expanded to embrace far more than the “master
women who are achieving recognition in what, for builder” of ancient Greece; it now includes such ac-
centuries, was considered a male profession. Begin- tivities as being engineer, landscape designer, urban
ning with such American pioneers as Julia Morgan designer dealing with buildings in groups, and urban
and Marion Mahony Griffin in the opening years of planner dealing with public policy and design on a
the twentieth century, and continuing with archi- regional scale. It has become a profession of open
tects such as Eleanor Raymond and Natalie de Blois possibilities and enormous challenges.
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8.0. Pennsylvania Station, New York, June, 1965, showing the construction of the new subterranean station spaces while
demolition was already in progress. Despite the soiled dinginess of the vast original building, the low squat frame of the new
replacement station empathically reveals how restricted was the vision of railroad officials in the early 1960s, compared to
how upliftingly soaring had been the ambition of the railroad and its architects, McKim, Mead & White, in 1902–1910.
Photo: Louis Reens, published on the cover of Progressive Architecture, June 1965.
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Chapter 8

Architecture, Memory, and Economics

R
Therefore, when we build, let us think that we
munal or civic life, but all should be viewed as im-
portant. The act of building should not descend to
build for ever. . . . Let it be such work as our being perfunctory but should seek to celebrate. The
descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as word celebrate, derived from the Latin celeber, origi-
we lay stone upon stone, that a time will come nally referred to honoring someone or something by
when . . . men will say as they look upon the going in great numbers to praise and proclaim, to
labor and wrought substance of them, “See, this draw attention to something as being special, to as-
our fathers did for us.” sign high value, and to enjoy. In 1926, in one of his
—John Ruskin, The Seven Lamps of Architecture, 1849

R
earliest writings about architecture, the social and
architectural critic Lewis Mumford observed:

The great problem of the architect is to mold

I n his most influential book on architecture, The

Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849), John Ruskin
drew a distinction in the opening sentences be-
the essential structural form in such a way as to
perform all the purposes for which the building
exists. It must fit its site, harmonize with or
tween architecture and building, making it clear stand out from its neighbors, fulfill its own
that what he proposed to talk about was Architec- function as a shelter, a work-place, or a play-
ture. The tendency since that time has been to as- place, and give a special pleasure to every one
sume that some buildings are more important than who passes it or enters it.1
others, that the more important ones are worth de-
tailed deliberation in their design, lavish expendi-
ture on materials and craftsmanship, and unfailing Economics and Historic Preservation
preservation, while others are viewed as “Kleenex” Mumford’s suggestion that architecture should be
buildings, deserving no second thought in design a pleasurable experience raises the question of econ-
or any particular care in their use, and easily dis- omy. Again, Roman architect Vitruvius offers valu-
posable. The result has been that we have a few able ancient advice, for he observed that economy
splendid isolated buildings, but on the whole, we (he used the Greek term oikonomia) is essential to
live and work and play in perfunctory environ- good architecture, suggesting that economy would
ments made only as good as it is believed they ab- result from the selection of a good building site, the
solutely must be. Perfunctory is the perfect word to use of good materials, and the wise control of ex-
describe much of what has been built since the be- penses. It also involves, he wrote, creating in the
ginning of the Industrial Revolution. Derived from building a character appropriate to the building’s
a Latin root, perfungi, it means “to get through with, use.2 Economy, and all the modern derivatives
to be done with.” drawn from this word, comes from the Greek oikas,
Just as we cannot properly understand the past “house,” plus nemein, “to manage,” referring to
without considering the “buildings” around the good stewardship of the household through wise
“architecture”—the houses around the cathedrals— management of resources. Yet in modern usage, to
we need to view all our built environment as a whole say something is economical is nearly synonymous
of interrelated parts. Some buildings may have more with saying it is cheap (a very different word that
public presence than others, being the focus of com- comes from Old English and means “to haggle in

153
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154 8. ARCHITECTURE, MEMORY, AND ECONOMICS

the marketplace”). True economy, in the sense of buildings—many undertaken by architect and
good management, suggests that tearing down an writer Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. Organi-
old building may, in the long run, be very bad man- zations and preservation efforts in other European
agement on several counts. On a practical level, a countries soon followed these beginnings in Great
considerable investment in human and mechanical Britain and France.
energy was required to erect the building, and it In the United States the historic preservation
may not be desirable to expend additional fiscal re- movement was initiated in 1876 by rising interest
sources and energy merely to reduce it to rubble, in the period of the nation’s founding. Gradually
haul the debris to a landfill, and then spend yet the residences of the Founding Fathers were pre-
more money to replace it. On a deep psychological served by concerned citizens, beginning with saving
level, our architecture is our built memory; it is a George Washington’s Mount Vernon and Jefferson’s
legacy, both the acclaimed architecture and the Monticello. During the 1920s this interest was
anonymous building. When we remove any ele- spurred by the saving and detailed restoration of an
ment, we erase part of that memory, performing an entire colonial town, Williamsburg, Virginia, with
incremental cultural lobotomy. the financial support of the Rockefeller family. This
In every period of human history, new buildings was soon followed by municipal legislation in
to accommodate prevailing needs replaced what Charleston, South Carolina, to preserve and pro-
had been built before. In the early Middle Ages, per- tect its extensive eighteenth-century architectural
haps more buildings were adapted to new uses than legacy. However, federal authorization was needed
had been customary before, but that was more a re- to advance and encourage preservation activity
flection of the generally depressed economic condi- across the nation. As in Britain earlier, the threat
tions than of a conscious conservationist ethic. One of rapid expansion of industries and the sprawl of
of the great ironies of the Renaissance was that, de- suburbs following World War II was paralleled by
spite the interest in Roman architecture, much the creation of the National Trust for Historic
ancient architecture was destroyed or dismantled to Preservation, chartered by Congress in 1949 as a
reuse the stone for sixteenth-century buildings. private venture supported by membership fees, en-
With the rise of a more scientific interest in antiq- dowments, and incomes from historic properties.
uity in the eighteenth century, however, the impulse To provide muscle on a national level, the National
arose to preserve old buildings as a way of retaining Historic Preservation Act was passed in 1966, cre-
the knowledge of the past. The movement for his- ating the National Register of Historic Places
toric preservation began in tandem with the cult of where significant sites—whether of architectural,
ruins and the interest in past architecture that arose historical, or cultural importance—can be listed
in England in the eighteenth century and then and protected to a certain degree from wanton or
spread to the rest of Europe. At first, preservation impulsive destruction. The act also provided for
was an antiquarian pursuit of aristocrats and creation of the State Historic Preservation Offices,
wealthy industrialists who saw so much threatened which maintain inventories of buildings likely eli-
by the rise of industry in the nineteenth century. In gible for inclusion on the National Register. Al-
1882, Parliament passed the Ancient Monuments though none of these developments, by themselves,
Protection Act. This interest was further formalized ensure that buildings considered worthy of preser-
in 1894 by the creation of the National Trust in vation will automatically be preserved, they do
Great Britain, which grew in size, public impact, and serve to delay demolition while the public and the
scope of interest in subsequent decades. Over the experts have time to make their case for preserva-
years, various historic properties in Britain were ac- tion. Sometimes it even happens that the building
quired and opened to the public. Still active in call- owner has a change of heart.
ing attention to threatened national treasures, the To promote preservation on a global scale, an
National Trust is funded today by membership dues, analogous organizational meeting had been held in
admission fees, bequests, and legacies. In France the Athens, Greece, in 1931, to create an international
publication of Victor Hugo’s novel Notre Dame de body comparable to Britain’s National Trust, but the
Paris (Paris, 1831), which included as much descrip- political disruption of World War II, of course, in-
tion of the church and its environs as it did the in- terrupted implementation. Not until the mid-1960s
vented romantic story, incited strong interest in was the world situation settled enough for a second
preserving such buildings, partly because they were meeting to be held in Venice for framing funda-
viewed as part of the national patrimony. This mental resolutions, and this action then prompted
interest was soon expressed in many nineteenth- the United Nations in 1965 to create the agency
century restoration projects of medieval French charged with promoting preservation around the
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Economics and Historic Preservation 155

globe: ICOMOS, or the International Council on that drew the protests of people around the United
Monuments and Sites. It is in vigorous operation States: New York’s Pennsylvania Station, a huge
today. transportation facility that had been designed by en-
The difficulty is that not every building can be gineers of the Pennsylvania railroad working closely
frozen in time. The ancient buildings that have been with architects McKim, Mead & White5 [8.1]. Oc-
passed on to us are those that were suitable for being cupying two city blocks covering eight acres in the
put to new uses, and historical imagination is re- heart of midtown Manhattan, it was built in 1902–
quired to conceive of new uses for old buildings. 1910. A marvel of efficient transportation planning
New construction need not be halted, nor the past and incorporating the most advanced heavy-duty
swept away entirely for the new, as some Inter- electric traction engines of the day (since the entire
national Modernists proposed in the 1920s. What track system was in tunnels that ran 45 feet below
is needed is a flexible and tolerant affection for the the street), the station was lauded when it was fea-
past. In our cities, where space is limited, several tured in numerous articles after it opened. Even as
questions arise: Should old buildings be refitted for late as 1958 it was praised by critic Lewis Mumford,
a new use, should they be moved, or can they be in- who wrote that “McKim’s plan had a crystal clarity
corporated into a new design? Good management that gave the circulation the effortless inevitability of
requires an answer to yet another question: Is the a gravity flow system”6 [see 18.46, 18.47].
new proposed building better than the old one it will For several decades up to 1945, as passenger rail
replace? If not, we risk shortchanging not only our- travel expanded, the Pennsylvania Railroad pros-
selves but posterity. pered and the station was well maintained. But
In the aftermath of World War II and its exten- after the privations caused by the Great Depression
sive destruction, British architectural historian Sir and World War II, Americans were eager to pur-
John Summerson quickly saw the coming dilemma, chase automobiles and to transport themselves.
as former New York Times architecture critic Paul Additionally, long-distance air travel became gen-
Goldberger notes: “If a historic buildings stands in erally affordable. Train travel began to drop, as did
the way of a new one, who is to judge which has revenues, and maintenance of Pennsylvania Sta-
the right to occupy the land?”3 The property owner tion was “deferred,” a solution adopted by many
alone, or some public agency that believes the older other businesses. Layer upon layer of soot and
building serves a more important public good? As grime accumulated over the once-honey-colored
Goldberger further notes, Summerson, in 1947, ob- travertine, the marble, and the vast murals, be-
served that while art works and works of significant smirching the broad lunette windows as well. Penn
literature are comparatively easy to preserve, old Station began to slip into darkness.
buildings are different: “Like divorced wives they Meanwhile, during the 1930s and ’40s, the ar-
cost money to maintain. They are often dreadfully chitectural profession, architectural magazines, and
in the way. And the protection of one may exact as critical opinion in general quietly embraced the
much sacrifice from the community as the preser- view that architecture should yearn for modernism,
vation of a thousand pictures, books or musical following the look of lean efficiency. Any architec-
scores.”4 The essential criteria supporting preserva- ture that referred to the past became viewed as
tion as sketched out by Summerson in 1947 are re- functionally suspect and was considered ripe for re-
markably similar to the Secretary of the Interior’s placement. In designing the great public spaces of
criteria in the 1966 Historic Preservation Act. First, Penn Station, McKim turned to ancient Roman ex-
says Summerson, the building must be generally amples, the last great public buildings that had been
recognized “as a work of art [that is] the product specifically designed to facilitate the movement of
of a distinct . . . creative mind.” Or it should exem- groups of people. In particular, McKim’s huge wait-
plify the characteristics of a particular school of de- ing room at the very center was inspired by the frigi-
sign. Or, if not by itself truly distinguished, it brings darium of the Baths of Caracalla. Soaring to 138 feet
together elements of distant times. Or the building at the height of its groin vaults, it offered a tremen-
is connected with seminal events or individuals of dous vertical spatial release to passengers exiting the
outstanding importance. Or the particular building confinement of their rail cars below; moreover, the
is set in “a bleak tract of modernity, [such that] it many operable panes in the eight broad semicircular
alone gives depth of time.” lunette windows afforded abundant light as well as
In fact, the very existence of the National Register an escape for the hot air and exhausted steam rising
of Historic Places, even the creation of the New York from the train tunnels so far below. Two large open
City Landmarks Commission, can be connected to voids above the tracks in the center light courts of
the loss of a nationally significant building in 1963 the building provided additional ventilation.
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156

8.1. McKim, Mead & White, Pennsylvania Station, New York, NY, 1902–1910, demolished 1963–1965. Interior of the
Waiting Room, once one of the grandest public spaces in the United States. Photo: Avery Library, Columbia University,
New York.
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Economics and Historic Preservation 157

Penn Station was a functionally efficient station, a few days after the railroad’s demolition announce-
but, even better, it allowed its users, in taking in its ment, New York mayor Robert Walker formed a
grandeur, to feel better. The building offered visual committee to advise on landmark preservation, the
pleasure to all, asserting that each individual— result of which was the passage of a city ordinance
bootblack, janitor, railroad employee, shop keeper, creating the New York Landmarks Preservation
commuter, urban investment banker, long-distance Commission in early 1965. But by then it was two
traveler—was worth being provided such architec- years too late. Penn Station was already being torn
tural excess; the building gave its users a sense of apart [8.0, p. 152]. Meanwhile, the ongoing de-
feeling important. struction generated repeated scathing editorial
But during the 1950s the railroad company al- essays by New York Times critic Ada Louise Hux-
lowed the building to get progressively more dingy, table, who condemned the decision. After the re-
and large advertising installations were inserted placement buildings went up and the “efficient”
that impeded the efficient flow of traffic. The only single-level subterranean station went into opera-
fiscally profitable solution, from the railroad’s point tion, historian and critic Vincent Scully spoke for
of view, seemed to be removing the great excessive many when he observed: “Through it one entered
(read: not income-producing) public spaces and re- the city like a god. . . . One scuttles in now like a
placing them with a huge bland drum housing a rat”7 [8.2].
new Madison Square Garden entertainment facil- The furor raised by the destruction of Penn Sta-
ity, plus a new tall office tower—everything de- tion and the resultant creation of the New York
pressingly common, built cheap and mean. The Landmarks Preservation Commission provided the
income generated by these new additions would mechanism for saving the splendid Henry Villard
offset the losses involved in running such a money- houses in New York while alternative uses were ex-
pit operation as a railroad station, or so it was be- plored, resulting in the retention of the townhouse
lieved. The remaining commuter and travelers’ group as the entryway to the otherwise undistin-
facilities could be squeezed into a cost-effective guished Hemsley Hotel. Meanwhile, since 1954 the
compressed horizontal 20-feet crypt underneath New York Central Railroad had been working on
the added buildings. its own proposal to construct a towering office
The railroad company’s announcement in mid- building over Grand Central Station, a palace of
1961 that it planned to demolish Penn Station was grand public transport equal to the threatened
met with stunned astonishment, disbelief, and the Penn Station. In 1967, the new Landmark Com-
desperate hope that surely a better solution could mission designated Grand Central as a landmark,
be found. But at that time there was no legal way against the railroad’s vigorous objections. A second
to temporarily prevent demolition and allow time office proposal was developed by architect Marcel
for other alternatives to be explored. Ironically, only Breuer; this and a subsequent revised tower design

8.2. Charles Luckman

Associates, Pennsylvania
Station, New York, NY,
1966–1968. The soaring
150-foot spaces of the old
station were replaced by
efficient but cramped and
graceless public spaces. Photo:
William E. Sauro/The New
York Times/Redux.
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158 8. ARCHITECTURE, MEMORY, AND ECONOMICS

8.3. Taj Mahal, Agra, India, 1630–1653. Built of white marble by Shah Jahan, this was a tomb for his consort Mumtaz
I-Mahal. As was said by philosopher Rabindranath Tagore, “let this one teardrop, this Taj Mahal, glisten spotlessly bright
on the cheek of time, forever and ever.” Photo: Scala/Art Resource NY.

were turned down by the Landmarks Commission. Goldberger put it, if Penn Station had become the
While the railroad and its developer brought suit martyr for historic preservation, Grand Central was
to negate the Commission’s decision, a high-profile now its triumphant savior.8
group of concerned citizens, including architect Regarding preservation of a nation’s historic ar-
Philip Johnson and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, chitecture, John Ruskin held very strong views, as
raised awareness and brought enormous pressure in shown in his writing about the ancient medieval ar-
support of the Landmarks Commission. Though chitecture of England: “It is again no question of
the initial suit was decided in the railroad’s favor, expediency or feeling whether we shall preserve the
the decision was then overturned by the New York buildings of past times or not. We have no right what-
Appellate Court in the Landmark Commission’s ever to touch them. They are not ours. They belong
favor. So, the case was taken all the way to the partly to those who built them, and partly to all the
United States Supreme Court, the first time such a generations of mankind who are to follow us.”9
preservation question was examined by that Court. Blind veneration of the past is counterproductive,
In 1978, by a significant majority the Court ruled but Ruskin’s injunction should prompt us to exer-
in favor of the Landmarks Commission and the city, cise informed appraisal before we destroy.
reaffirming the legality of landmark designation as True economy must be measured in the quality
a facet of a municipality’s zoning authority. More- of performance over the long run, not merely in
over, the Court found that the designation was not initial cost, or the savings obtainable through dem-
a taking of property without compensation, since olition and replacement. In the preface to their
the railroad still retained valuable air-rights that historical survey The Architecture of America (Bos-
were transferable to adjoining properties. As Paul ton, 1961), John Burchard and Albert Bush-Brown
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Economics and Historic Preservation 159

emphasize that “a design that fails to provide full The return on a public structure is not merely
emotional and physical performance is not eco- the task that it facilitates. It is the whole pleas-
nomical, however cheap. Indeed, cheapness has ure that it provides the community. Accord-
never been a criterion of great building.”10 So, what ingly, a building can be very expensive but a
is true economy in architecture? John Kenneth rare bargain for the pleasure it provides. A
Galbraith, one of the most enlightened economists modest structure at modest cost would have
of the mid-twentieth century, had served as ambas- provided durable and hygienic protection for
sador of the United States to India and thus was the mortal remains of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah
keenly familiar with the social impact of both Jahan. But by spending more—by some esti-
marked affluence and extreme poverty. Yet, he pro- mates, about $8 million—Shah Jahan got the
posed an intriguing yardstick by which to measure Taj Mahal. It has rejoiced the whole world ever
economy, saying that beauty and elegance in public since. Surely this was sound economy. Our test
construction are worth having, even if they are not should be similar. The most economical build-
cheap. He illustrated his point by focusing on the ing is the one that promises to give the greatest
Taj Mahal in India [8.3, Plate 16]: total pleasure for the price.11
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5 Palace at Knossos, Crete,

c. 1700–1380 BCE

1 Stonehenge, 2600–2400 BCE

Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England
1 Parthenon, Athens, Greece,
447–438 BCE

7Lanyon Quoit,
Cornwall, England, c. 3200 BP

3 Hypostyle Hall, Temple of 5 Temple of Poseidon,

Amon, Karnak, Thebes, Paestum, Italy,
Egypt, c. 1315–1235 BCE c. 550 BCE

1Pyramid complex at Giza, Egypt,

c. 2680–2560 BCE

7 Ziggurat of the moon god Nannar,

Ur (in present-day southern Iraq),
c. 2113–2006 BCE
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7Fogong Buddhist Monastery,

1Pagoda, Hōryū-ji Monastery, Yingxian, Shanxi Province,
Hōryū-ji, Japan, c. 607 China, 1056

3Nanchan Buddhist Temple,

Nanchan Temple at Mt. Wutai,
Shanxi Province, China, 782

1 30 St. Mary Axe (“The Gherkin”),

London, England, 1996–2004

7 Flavian Amphitheater
(the Colosseum),
Rome, Italy, begun,
c. 80 CE 1 Notre-Dame de Amiens,
Amiens, France, 1220–1269

1 Church of Saints Vincent and

Anastasius, Rome, Italy,
1646–1650

7 Tempietto of San Pietro in

1Hagia Sophia (Church of Divine Montorio, Rome, Italy,
Wisdom), Istanbul, Turkey, 532–537 1500–1502
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Göbekli Tepe, southeastern Turkey. Built around 11,600 years ago, this earliest known permanent stone structure was
neither a ruler’s house nor a utilitarian granary, but apparently a temple, with unique T-shaped columns. Photo: Berthold
Steinhilber/laif/Redux.
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Part II

The History and

Meaning of Architecture
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9.15. Stonehenge, on the Salisbury plain of Wiltshire, England, built in several phases of construction lasting roughly from
5,000 to 3,500 years ago, manifests the early human desire to give permanent physical form to cosmological concepts. Photo:
© Adam Woolfitt/Corbis.
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Chapter 9

The Beginnings of Architecture

From Caves to Cities

R
Early man’s respect for the dead, itself an
that quickly became a bog, sealing the building re-
mains and preventing oxygen from getting to the
expression of fascination with his powerful images wood, leather, and fiber materials, thereby stopping
of daylight fantasy and nightly dream, perhaps had their decomposition.1 They are, however, far from
an even greater role than more practical needs in being the oldest human habitations.
causing him to seek a fixed meeting place and Architecture is shelter, but it is also a symbol and
eventually a continuous settlement. Mid the uneasy a form of communication; as Sir Herbert Read ob-
wanderings of Paleolithic man, the dead were the served, all art is “a mode of symbolic discourse.”2
first to have a permanent dwelling: a cave, a mound Architecture is the crystallization of ideas, a physical
marked by a cairn, a collective barrow. . . . Urban representation of human thought and aspiration, a
life spans the historic space between the earliest record of the beliefs and values of the culture that
burial ground for the dawn man and the final produces it. In an introductory study such as this,
cemetery, the Necropolis, in which one civilization we must start at the beginning, but this raises the
after another has met its end. intriguing question of exactly when it was that hu-
—Lewis Mumford, The City in History, 1961

R
mans began to develop ways of thinking and of
making things to convey symbolic thought. We
need to move well back from the period of recorded
history, to the dim ages when the ancestors of Homo

H uman beings, among other animals, seem

unique in the world. Eons ago, our hominid an-
cestors learned to control fire, to recognize a social
sapiens appeared. In doing so, we uncover traces of
the origins of human society and human institu-
tions. We discover, too, that what we build is shaped
link with each other, to maintain a bond with the only in part by the private need to provide for a par-
remains of their dead, to engage in symbolic thought, ticular functional use; architecture may have been
and to fashion symbolic images and objects. We built from the earliest times as a symbol of commu-
became persistent in our endeavors, developed the nal social values. Architecture accommodates psy-
power of speech, devised codes of morals, and nur- chological as well as physiological needs of the
tured an ability to care for the helpless and aged. We human family, whose basic social institutions are at
also learned how to build, to create artificial envi- the very least a million years old. Thus, the strictly
ronments that made our lives safer, more enjoyable, utilitarian or functional considerations of modern
and more psychologically rewarding. architecture defined during the last century are only
The exact time that we humans learned to build the most inconsequential part of the broad social
may never be known with certainty, for our earliest and cultural functions that architecture fulfills.
constructions were probably fashioned from organic
materials—branches, brush, hides, and such—that
quickly returned to the earth without a trace. Tan- Early Hominids
talizing examples of what so readily disappeared are The study of early protohumans is a rapidly expand-
the remains of dwellings at a site called Monte ing field, with new discoveries occurring continu-
Verde, in present-day Chile. After being aban- ously.3 The first hominids appeared at least 5 million
doned about 13,600 years ago, these dwellings were years ago in central Africa. The early human an-
preserved because they were soon covered by water cestors Ardipithecus ramidus and Australopithecus

165
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166 9. THE BEGINNINGS OF ARCHITECTURE: FROM CAVES TO CITIES

anamensis were most likely forest dwellers, consuming were unlike any creature that had lived before, for
a vegetable diet of fruit and leaves. Ardipithecus rami- they were not genetically or physically limited to
dus lived in what is now Ethiopia, and Australopithe- living in one fixed climatological area. They could
cus anamensis in modern-day Kenya. About a million control their immediate climate, capturing fire from
years later, Australopithecus afarensis appeared, named natural sources such as lightning strikes. They could
for the Afar region in Ethiopia, where the skeleton migrate, and did, gradually moving northward out of
of the female affectionately named “Lucy” was un- central Africa into southern Asia and China, and
covered. Judging from the scattered skeletal remains into Europe, where a variant now called Homo
of this species found so far, the males stood 4.5 feet heidelbergensis emerged [9.1]. Evidence of hearth sites
(137 cm) high, with the females shorter. These pro- has been uncovered in South Africa, Israel, China,
tohumans lived on the warm equatorial savannas and Europe, variously dated from 700,000 to 300,000
and probably had no pressing need for shelter; nor, years ago; each revealed evidence of cooking. In the
apparently, did they control or use fire. Escale Cave at Saint-Estève-Janson, France, evi-
About half a million years later, roughly 3.5 mil- dence was found of five hearths and reddened heat-
lion years ago, a parallel species, called Australop- altered earth dating to about 200,000 BP.5 Use of fire
ithecus africanus, developed in what is now South allowed for roasting meat and plant material, opening
Africa. This hominid deserves particular mention up new nutritional sources for the early humans; the
because of a jasperite pebble about 2.4 inches cooked proteins and complex carbohydrates in turn
(6 cm) in diameter. Through natural, geological encouraged rapid new brain development. Around
processes, the piece of jasperite seems shaped like such fires, protected and warmed at night in these
the face of this species. What makes this small stone colder northern climates, early humans gathered and
so special is that it almost certainly came from a stronger social bonds formed. The light of night fires
source nearly 20 miles (32 km) from where it was meant the workday was no longer limited to sunlight
found in 1925 in a cave at Makapansgat, South hours. Certainly by day, and perhaps at night by the
Africa. The evidence suggests that the pebble was light of these fires, Homo erectus made bifaced stone-
picked up by a member of Australopithecus africanus cutting tools and began to form aesthetic judgments
and kept perhaps because of the perceived resem- in the process of striking off the last additional flakes
blance to the hominid’s facial features, and then of the stone core to arrive at more pleasing mentally
perhaps was abandoned some distance away. This preconceived shapes. In fact, the movement of pro-
suggests the very beginnings of symbolic thought tohumans into Europe would not have been possible
and self-awareness. without the use and control of fire, for soon after
About 2 million years ago, there appeared a new Homo erectus arrived in Europe, the second great age
species of early hominid, called Homo habilis, or of glaciation—the Günz glaciation—began, lasting
“handy man,” and this scientific name choice in- from roughly 1 million to 900,000 years ago. With
dicates that these individuals were much more like skills in tool-making, hunting, and the resultant
modern humans than the preceding “southern knowledge of leather-making, Homo heidelbergensis
apes.” Members of Homo habilis clearly made stone (the European variant of erectus) survived this ice age
tools (and no doubt many others of wood), carrying and the next, the Mindel glaciation, which lasted
their tool-making materials over long distances. from about 700,000 to 600,000 years ago, as well as
They moved out of the forest into more open the fourth ice age, the Riss glaciation, which lasted
savannas—or, perhaps more accurately, the forests from 300,000 to 150,000 years ago.
diminished in size in the drier, cooler climate that
was part of the first ice age in the Northern Hemi-
sphere. These hominids began to eat meat, a di- Terra Amata, Nice, France
etary change that greatly accelerated the physical As Homo erectus groups moved into the more chal-
and complex social changes required in hunting. lenging climates of Europe, they had to find or
The brains of this species increased in size, allowing make their own shelter. Because earlier excavations
individuals to hold a larger mental map of the ter- had turned up Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) tools in
ritories they traversed and to track game. Nice on France’s Mediterranean coast, anthropol-
Around 1.25 million years ago, a new descendant ogist Henry de Lumley watched closely in October
subspecies appeared in the Olduvai area of Tanzania. 1965 as bulldozers cut through ancient sand banks
This group was given the name Homo erectus in to prepare a site for new high-rise apartments.6
reference to its clearly erect posture and bipedal lo- When the excavation work uncovered tools, he
comotion.4 Because of their mental planning abilities had the work halted to allow for intensive and
and tool-making skills, members of Homo erectus painstaking excavations. As a result, de Lumley and
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Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens 167

9.1. Map of Europe, 30,000–5,000 BP. The broken line offshore shows the ice age shoreline when sea levels were 300 feet
(100 m) lower than in the twentieth century.

his associates discovered what turned out to be a the northwest side, the direction from which pre-
springtime camping ground for a group of Homo vailing winds still blow in Nice. In one hut were
erectus (or perhaps Homo heidelbergensis) hunters indications of a toolmaker, for around a stone stool
who visited this spot annually over a period of sev- were chips and flakes of rock, some of which could
eral decades, sometime around 400,000 to 300,000 be reassembled like a jigsaw puzzle to form the orig-
years ago. At this spot, since called Terra Amata inal cobble.
(Latin for “beloved land”), de Lumley found the re- That a group of Homo erectus people returned
mains of the oldest known fabricated shelter— to Terra Amata year after year suggests a regular
what, perhaps by extension, might be called the hunting cycle, but even more important is the
first architecture. There were remains of twenty- hearth. The fire suggests the gathering of the group,
one dwellings, eleven of which were rebuilt on the the establishment of a community. Pieces of ocher
same spot year after year on the top of an ancient found within the huts suggest that the inhabitants
sand dune above the primeval Mediterranean used these to draw on their skin. In using fire and
coast. Roughly oval in plan and measuring about building artificial shelters, these human ancestors
26 to 49 feet (7.9 to 14.9 m) in length by 13 to 20 took control of their environment, shaping it to
feet (4.0 to 6.1 m) in width, the dwellings had side their own convenience and requirements. The first
walls made of a palisade of branches 3 inches steps toward architecture—the deliberate shaping
(7.6 cm) in diameter and pushed into the sand of the living environment—had been taken.
[9.2]. Against the edges were piled rocks, some of
which were 1 foot (0.3 m) in diameter. Down the
center were posts up to 12 inches (30 cm) in diam- Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens
eter, although the roof they supported left no trace Out of the late erect humans such as Homo heidel-
(perhaps the side branches leaned against a center bergensis came two sibling species (according to some
ridge beam supported by the posts). In each shelter paleontologists)—Homo sapiens neanderthalensis and
was a central hearth, with a windbreak of stones on Homo sapiens sapiens. The Neanderthals appeared
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168 9. THE BEGINNINGS OF ARCHITECTURE: FROM CAVES TO CITIES

9.2. Terra Amata, Homo erectus dwelling, Nice, France, c. 400,000–300,000 before present (BP). Reconstructed from holes
left by decayed wooden structural members and by the rocks placed around the perimeter, this represents the earliest known
human-constructed dwelling. From Scientific American, May 1969.

about 200,000 years ago in Europe, and Homo sapiens La Chapelle-aux-Saints, France, the remains of a
sapiens appeared in Africa a little later, around very elderly man, buried carefully with stone tools
130,000 years ago. Homo sapiens neanderthalensis laid around him and with a bison leg placed on top
(“Neanderthal man”) was so called because of the of his body, was discovered in 1908. A great majority
first remains found in 1856 in the Neander valley of the other burials have revealed bodies laid out on
(Thal) in Germany. Though shorter and much more an east-west axis, suggesting perhaps an alignment
muscular than Homo sapiens sapiens, Neanderthals with the movement of the sun. Perhaps the most
were not the brutish, hunched figures once imag- suggestive is the burial in a cave at Shanidar, in the
ined; it just happened that one of the first full skele- mountains of Iraq. Tests of the soil found around the
tons found was that of a stooped, arthritic older man. male skeleton revealed that he had been interred
The Neanderthals spread throughout upper Africa, resting on a bed of pine boughs and flowers and was
Europe, and the Near East. There have been numer- then covered with blossoms of grape hyacinth, bach-
ous finds of their work, including many stone tools elor’s buttons, hollyhock, and groundsel.7 Another
of the Mousterian tool-making tradition they devel- man buried in the same cave had a congenitally de-
oped, but only scant finds of remains of built struc- formed arm that would have made hunting impos-
tures. For the most part, early Neanderthals seem to sible, and yet he had lived a long life, supported by
have been cave dwellers, as at Le Moustier, a rock his familial group. This evidence, along with the old
shelter in the Dordogne, France. man buried at La Chapelle-aux-Saints, suggests a
Through Neanderthal burials, however, much complex Neanderthal social structure in which the
has been learned of their communal existence and old and the infirm were valued, nurtured, and sus-
something of their perception of life itself. The oldest tained. The flowers of Shanidar suggest that the Ne-
deliberate Neanderthal burials found so far have anderthals imagined that life continued somehow
been at Kaprina, Croatia, dating about 130,000 years after death, in a renewed cycle or on a different
ago. The question arises as to whether burial implies plane; the flowers indicate that the Neanderthals
some form of early religious thought or practice. At had come to think in symbolic terms.
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Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens 169

Ostrava-Petřkovice and Dolní Věstonice—and also

Dwellings of Homo Sapiens in the Ukraine in Russia, near the Dniester River.
The Neanderthals as a distinct genetic species began The Ukraine site revealed superimposed habitation
to die out about 40,000 years ago, during the last ice levels going back as far as 46,000 years ago, with the
age, the Würm glaciation. For a time, as burial evi- most recent dating from about 12,000 years ago.
dence in caves in Israel and elsewhere indicates, These dwellings may have accommodated extended
they lived side by side with Homo sapiens sapiens, family groups, for some houses measured roughly 30
who had moved northward from Africa around feet (9.1 m) in diameter. Both Moravian sites were
40,000 years ago. But the Neanderthals were dying occupied by successive generations from roughly
out, surviving in northwestern Spain up to 27,000 29,000 to 24,000 years ago. These dwellings were
years ago. Some scholars suggest that the two species nearly the same as those found in the Ukraine. They
interbred. Whatever the case, Neanderthals were were ringed with massive bones and measured about
replaced by modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens. 20 feet (6.1 m) in diameter; one house, however,
Various new tool-making traditions were perfected measured about 50 by 20 feet (15.2 by 6.1 m) and
by Homo sapiens sapiens, or Cro-Magnon people, the had five hearths. These early Homo sapiens clearly
name derived from a site in France where their re- knew how to create fire quickly and at will, for they
mains were first identified. These new point-flaking left flints and iron pyrites used to strike sparks; one
technologies succeeded each other comparatively piece of pyrite found in a Belgian cave had a groove
rapidly—the Perigordian, the Aurignacian, the more in it from repeated striking.
delicate Gravettian and Solutrean, and finally the The site at Dolní-Věstonice proved to be espe-
Magdalenian—all falling into what is called the cially important archaeologically, for set apart from
upper Paleolithic period, the Old Stone Age. the five residential huts was a sixth house built into
A number of dwelling sites of early humans (both the side of a hill, with a larger hearth covered with
Neanderthals and later Cro-Magnons) have been an earthen dome. Lying about on the floor was
uncovered across Europe. Those of eastern Europe ample evidence of what was fabricated there—
show a type of house that was apparently typical for hundreds of bits of fired clay, some bearing the
that region. Round, perhaps domed or conical in fingerprints of the primeval potter. Nor was pure
shape, these houses had internal frames of wood cov- clay alone used for the implements; rather, it was
ered presumably with hides; the dwellings were clay mixed with crushed bone, perhaps the oldest
braced at the bottom with massive mammoth bones, example of what might be called industrial produc-
often with rings of mammoth skulls locked together tion in which two dissimilar substances were delib-
[9.3]. Remains of such houses have been found in erately intermixed to create a new and stronger
several locations in Moravia (Czech Republic)—at artificial material.

9.3. Cro-Magnon dwelling, Ukraine, c. 46,000–14,000 BP. Such dwellings, some of them 30 feet (9.1 m) across, had
masses of mammoth bones piled around the perimeter and apparently were covered with hides. From Scientific American,
June 1974.
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170 9. THE BEGINNINGS OF ARCHITECTURE: FROM CAVES TO CITIES

Cro-Magnon humans, our Homo sapiens sapiens noceroses, prehistoric horses, deer, elk, and other
ancestors, also buried their dead with elaborate cer- animals. The colors were achieved using pigments
emony, to judge by the intricate ivory and bead of powdered minerals—iron oxide or ocher ranging
jewelry and tools with which they were interred. from bright red, orange, yellow to warm browns, and
Perhaps they took leave of the dead with song, play- manganese oxide (or charcoal) for black—often
ing the bone flutes they left in the graves. But the packed in tubes made of hollowed-out bone. Some
most compelling evidence of the intellectual capac- pigments were left as powder and blown onto the
ity of these forefathers is found not in their huts, walls; others were mixed with animal fat, egg white,
stone tools, or burials but in the visual evidence they or other liquids and brushed or daubed on with the
left, the painting and sculpture they created. They fingers. There is some evidence to suggest that
seem to have become aware of a cycle of life, per- the higher portions of the cave “vault” were painted
haps perceiving a oneness with the cosmos, in from a wooden scaffold—architecture in the service
which male and female entities participated in the of art. The artists and their assistants fashioned im-
renewal of life. Across Europe have been found ages unsurpassed for clarity of outline, grace of form,
carved figures, described now as fertility figures, of and sensitivity to perspective until the time of the
women with enlarged breasts and buttocks, most Greeks and Romans. A good representative ex-
with no clearly discernible faces. The oldest portable ample is the so-called Chinese Horse at Lascaux, in
art object uncovered so far is a mammoth-ivory stat- which the outlines of the rear legs fade away as they
uette found in a cave at Hohlenstrin-Stadel, Ger- near the mass of the body to suggest the distance
many. Standing about 12 inches (30 cm) high, it is from the legs in the foreground.
a human figure with a feline head. Dating to about In the 1990s, two more caves were discovered
32,000 years ago, it depicts perhaps a shamanistic in France, untouched and unparalleled in the tech-
figure wearing a mask. Some of the portable figures nical skill demonstrated in their animal imagery.
are female images, small figures carved in stone or One was found in 1991 just below the sea cliffs
ivory, such as the rounded so-called Venus found in midway between Marseilles and Cassis on the Riv-
Willendorf, Austria, while others were mural art, iera coast. We need to remember that during the
carved into the rock on the walls of caves. The most last ice age, when so much water was locked up in
imposing and intriguing of these is the Venus of the polar ice caps, sea level was nearly 300 feet
Laussel, France, carved 22,000 to 18,000 years ago (91 m) lower than it is today, and myriad coastal
in the rock of the cave wall. She raises aloft in her Stone Age sites were later obliterated by the rising
right hand a horn marked with thirteen grooves. sea. This Cosquer Cave, so called because of its dis-
Even more impressive than these carved figures coverer, was protected because its mouth was lower
are paintings discovered in caves in southern France than the main body of the cave, so the rising sea
and northern Spain, which continue to be found as trapped air into the higher portion of the cave; the
recently as the closing decade of the twentieth cen- abundant hand prints made with charcoal permit-
tury. The first were seen in 1879, when the daughter ted radiocarbon dating to 27,000 years ago. Even
of a Spanish nobleman, exploring a cave with her older, and so far the oldest mural painting discov-
father on his estate at Altamira, Spain, looked up ered, is that in the Chauvet Cave, discovered in
and saw the images of twenty-five bison, deer, boars, 1994 in the gorge of the Ardèche in southeast
and other animals painted on the cave ceiling. It France. Here the images have been securely dated
seemed at first impossible that images of such grace as having been made in a period extending from
in execution could be of the same date as the in- 32,500 to 32,100 years ago, with a second major
credibly ancient remains found on the floor of the period of painting activity lasting from roughly
caves. As other caves were discovered subsequently, 26,500 to 24,000 years ago.
it became clear that the images were painted some- The question that has puzzled anthropologists
time between 14,000 and 12,000 years ago. since the discovery of these caves is why such strik-
Over the decades numerous other decorated ing and realistic images were painted. They were not
caves were discovered in southern France. Then, in scribbled in idle moments on the ceilings of inhab-
1940, perhaps the most famous cave of all was dis- ited caves. Nor were the paintings opportunistic,
covered, at Lascaux, France, in Dordogne at the created during chance moments in easily accessible
edge of the Massif Central above the Vézère River, places. Most images are found deep in the inner-
not far from Montignac.8 By the light of small lamps, most recesses of special caves, in secluded chambers
which in places left smudges on the walls of the reached only by arduous crawling. The lamps, pig-
cave, Cro-Magnon humans had painted hundreds ments, and scaffold materials had to be carried into
of images of aurochs (prehistoric oxen), woolly rhi- the caves with care and deliberation. In some caves,
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Neolithic Dwellings and Structures 171

there is evidence to suggest the practice of fertility coming into contact with the organic materials, and
or initiation rites. Are these images of hunting the anaerobic environment prevented bacterial ac-
magic, in which the spirit of the animal is captured tion and decay. When excavated in the late 1970s
and killed before the actual hunt, or are these im- and opened further in the 1980s, dwelling remains
ages meant to impregnate the earth with the spirit and hearths indicated that a long extended struc-
of the animal after the hunt to ensure its continued ture, with interior hide partitions, had been con-
survival? Perhaps they are spiritual images used in structed to house a group of about thirty people.
shamanistic rituals communing with the animal When the organic samples were radiocarbon-dated,
spirits.9 If this was hunting magic, why are there no the astounding results yielded dates ranging from
bones of the painted animals in the middens, the re- 14,800 to 13,800 years ago, making these the oldest
fuse piles adjacent to the settlements? Conversely, dwellings built of wood and skins to survive and be
images of reindeer, whose bones are found in human uncovered so far. The chance preservation of these
settlements, are comparatively rare. Perhaps these wood and skin dwellings suggests that there must
life-like images are the first human expression of have been untold numbers of such dwellings, built
a redemptive endeavor, for something may have over thousands of years in North and South Amer-
seemed terribly wrong in the ecological balance per- ica, almost all of which disappeared without a trace.
ceived by the artists; perhaps the images were a Beginning about 10,000 years ago (8000 BCE),
desperate attempt to propagate the huge animals as the Würm glaciation ended and the ice gradually
that were disappearing from the face of the earth. retreated again, the harsh northern climate mod-
The womb of mother earth was being carefully erated. Lush forests gradually replaced tundra and
impregnated with the images of the great disappear- steppes. A new age had begun, the Neolithic or
ing beasts. Perhaps this is why the caves themselves New Stone Age, and humans increasingly settled
were never altered, the narrow openings never for extended periods and began to build more per-
widened, the difficult passages never made easy. manent settlements.
Cro-Magnon people seem not to have built sacred In some areas the old hunting and gathering
buildings as such, at least not using permanent ma- traditions lingered, as indicated by the remains of a
terials that might have come down to us; they seem settlement at Lepenski Vir, dating from about 7,000
to have practiced their religion in the dark inner sa- to 6,600 years ago (5000–4600 BCE), at a prime
cred sanctuaries of their earth mother. fishing location on the Danube, in the Iron Gates
region in present-day Serbia. Facing the river, a
group of about twenty dwellings of trapezoidal plan
Neolithic Dwellings and Structures were built in a technique resembling that used by
As mentioned, remains of dwellings incorporating Homo erectus at Terra Amata, with a palisade of
durable bone and stone have been discovered at branches on either side of the house leaning against
various sites in what is now Eastern Europe and the an inclined central ridge pole. Here the floors of the
Ukraine, ranging in date from 46,000 to 12,000 huts were of packed earth plastered hard around a
years ago. Clearer evidence of how organic materials central stone-lined hearth [9.5]. At Střelice, in the
were likely used in dwelling construction was dis- Czech Republic, in the remains of a Neolithic set-
covered in late 1975, not in Europe but at a site tlement of about 6,500 years ago (4500 BCE) was
called Monte Verde in southern Chile, in a village found a clay model of a rectangular house [9.6]. It
complex built by humans moving into the Western had straight, vertical walls and a double-pitched, or
Hemisphere. Through extraordinary chance condi- gable, roof. The walls of the model suggest that ac-
tions at this particular village site, the organic ma- tual houses may have had walls made of woven
terials used in construction—dwelling base timbers, wood mats covered with mud plaster, perhaps with
portions of the mammoth hide covers, and even a roof of thatch. Fragments of a similar clay model
wood stakes and fiber cordage—survived for 13,000 found at Ariuçd, Romania, are inscribed with curved
years10 [9.4]. The village, apparently occupied over geometric patterns, suggesting that the houses may
several years, was abandoned when the nearby have been painted.11 Remains of houses of this type
creek changed course and subsequent rapid flooding have been found at the Cucuteni Tripolye settle-
covered this ancient camp. The shelters, their wood ment at Hǎbǎşeşti, Romania. At Sittard, in what is
supports, the hide covering, and even the braided now the Netherlands, and at many other sites in
cords that attached the skins to the wood frames places such as Poland, Hungary, and the Ukraine,
were remarkably well preserved due to the peat for- wood longhouses were built with substantial timber
mation that quickly developed and encased the col- frames, up to 260 feet (80 m) long, with walls and
lapsed dwellings. This peat prevented oxygen from inner partitions of wattle and daub (a basketwork of
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172 9. THE BEGINNINGS OF ARCHITECTURE: FROM CAVES TO CITIES

9.4. Monte Verde dwellings plan, together with reconstructed view, Monte Verde site, Chile, c. 14,800 to 13,800 years ago.
Here the oldest yet-discovered organic dwelling fragments were found under a layer of peat that had sealed off oxygen, thus
preserving the fugitive wood and leather remains. Drawing: L. M. Roth after T. Dillehay, Monte Verde (Washington, DC,
1997); with conjectural perspective view from Scientific American, October, 1984, with permission.

sticks covered with clay plaster). Dating from Polish team (1934–1936), followed by a German
around 7,300 years ago (5300 BCE), these long- team (1940–1942) and then again by Polish ar-
houses accommodated several families or perhaps chaeologists (until 1974), the village has been re-
one extended family in each building. built as an open-air museum12 [9.7].
Another village survived in remarkable detail, The early development of a complex social
covered by a lake at Biskupin, Poland, about 90 km structure in these settled communities is suggested
northeast of Poznań. Discovered during an ex- by evidence of a division and specialization of labor.
tended drought in 1933 that lowered the water Whether these groups were egalitarian or whether
level, the village had been built about 3,000 to ruling families emerged is difficult to tell, but the
2,500 years ago (1000–500 BCE). More than one structures that the communities built clearly reveal
hundred large oak and pine longhouses, with indi- a communal purpose and the ability to devote sub-
vidual family chambers, about 26 × 33 ft (8 × 10 stantial energy to the building process. The com-
m) each, were arranged in rows on wood-paved munity as a whole was no longer involved solely in
streets about 10 feet wide, all facing south. The en- physical sustenance, so that a growing portion of
tire village was enclosed within an oval-shaped pro- villagers’ energies could be directed at expressing,
tective log wall, with one entry protected by a in increasingly durable and symbolic ways, the val-
watchtower. Following extensive excavations by a ues of the community.
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173

9.5. Middle Stone Age village, Lepenski Vir, Serbia, c. 5200–4800 BP. Groups of such dwellings were built in terraces on
the banks of the Danube. The houses had trapezoidal plans, measuring from 8 to 11 feet lengthwise, and hard limestone
plaster floors, with central stone-lined hearths. From D. Srejović, New Discoveries at Lepenski Vir (New York, 1972).

9.6. Clay model of a house, Střelice (near Brno), Czech Republic, c. 4700 BP. From N. K. Sandars, Prehistoric Art in
Europe (Harmondsworth, England, 1968).
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174 9. THE BEGINNINGS OF ARCHITECTURE: FROM CAVES TO CITIES

9.7. View of the reconstructed village at Lake Biskupion, Poland, archaeological remains dated 1000–500 BCE. Because the
site was flooded with water for two millennia, the wood structural members did not disappear through decay. Photo: Ludek.

religious structures within them did not arise until

Connecting with the after agriculture was developed and cattle, sheep,
Dead and the Cosmos and goats were domesticated; in other words, it
As Lewis Mumford noted: “Mid the uneasy wander- seemed impossible that hunter-gatherers in their no-
ings of Paleolithic man, the dead were the first madic movements could have engaged in significant
to have a permanent dwelling: a cave, a mound permanent building, much less the establishment of
marked by a cairn, a collective barrow.”13 Since that fixed religious centers. Impossible, that is, until the
was written in the 1950s, new archaeological dis- late 1990s, when intensive excavations were begun
coveries have proven Mumford perceptive beyond at the Göbekli Tepe site in southeastern Turkey. Very
even his most extreme projections. What Mumford quickly it became clear from the material being un-
proposed was that the earliest permanent human- earthed that the highly unusual structures had been
built structures were not intended for individuals: built around 11,600 years ago (9600 BCE) and that,
they were not houses for the chiefs in the villages in fact, the first work on the site had been started
but, rather, communal undertakings—structures another 2,000 years before that. It quickly became
that focused on shamanistic rituals or served as known as the oldest temple site in the world [9.8 and
places for the dead or even as devices for tracking p. 162].
the course of time. While stone was not used in the Excavation work is still ongoing, and the archae-
oldest solar observatory yet discovered, its antiquity ologists caution that since less than 5 percent of the
and that of the most ancient ritual temples recently total 22-acre site has been opened, the interpreta-
discovered have pushed our understanding of tions now emerging are incomplete; nevertheless,
human sacred construction back several millennia the extremely early dates seem well established. The
from the Pyramids in Egypt or the stone megaliths geography in southeastern Turkey twelve millennia
of Stonehenge. ago was far more lush and rich with game animals
than the arid landscape of today; nomadic people
The Göbekli Tepe Sanctuary (Southwestern Turkey). came together here at intervals and created a shrine
It was once assumed that cities and the significant or sanctuary dedicated to the dead. They built using
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Neolithic Dwellings and Structures 175

9.8. Temple structure, Göbekli Tepe, southeastern Turkey, c. 9,600 BCE. Built as a group of several round ceremonial
structures (possibly temples), these buildings were abandoned and deliberately buried. Photo: © National Geographic Image
Collection/Alamy.

large T-shaped stone piers set in rings on bedrock or title of his report on the subject: “First came the tem-
a prepared hard floor, positioned radially like spokes, ple, then the city.”14
each carved with various animal images including
foxes, lions, cattle, hyenas, wild boar, wild asses, Nabta Playa (Southwestern Egypt). The desire to
cranes, ducks, scorpions, spiders, phalluses, geomet- understand the cycles of the sun led to the creation
ric patterns, and many snakes. These T-shaped pier of a solar and stellar “observatory” at a time much
stones reach lengths of 23 feet (7 m) and weights of earlier than was once supposed. It was found at a
11 to 22 tons (10 to 20 metric tons). Taken from surprising location, about 100 miles (160 km) east
scattered quarry sites around the sanctuary complex, of Abu Simbel on the Nile in southern Egypt, deep
the stones were moved as far as 1,640 feet (500 me- in the interior of today’s nearly completely dry Nu-
ters) away to construct six or more “temples” (per- bian Desert. Toward the end of the last ice age,
haps as many as sixteen), ranging from 30 to 100 feet however, around 12,000 years ago, weather patterns
in diameter. Estimates suggest that as many as five shifted northward, lasting up to about 5,600 years
hundred people worked here at times. What makes ago (4600 BCE). During this interval, summer mon-
this achievement astonishing is that it was accom- soon rains brought as much as six inches of water
plished over a span of three millennia, without metal each year, creating an intermittent lake there. With
tools and before the wheel—the pier stones and the water a seasonal verdant savannah existed, a
carvings shaped through a process of pounding stone playa that supported extinct buffalo, large giraffes,
against stone. Even more curious, it seems that after and varieties of antelope and gazelle. Evidence in-
about 3,000 years of use the temples were deliber- dicates that humans used that area 10,000 years
ately backfilled with stone debris and bones. Appar- ago, first in nomadic groups and then, by 7,000 years
ently as towns appeared in the region about 9,500 ago (5000 BCE), keeping numbers of wild cattle and
years ago (see the discussion of Çatalhöyük below), wild Barbary sheep in more permanent settlements.
the purpose of the round temples faded away and ac- Communities formed around deep wells, and houses
cordingly they were deliberately closed. In defiance were built in straight lines using stone, though there
of all conventional wisdom, it seems that at Göbekli may still have been nomadic movement with the
Tepe, as excavator Klaus Schmidt expressed it in the cycle of the monsoon rains.
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176 9. THE BEGINNINGS OF ARCHITECTURE: FROM CAVES TO CITIES

9.9. Star observatory, Nabta Playa,

Egypt, 4,800–4,000 BCE. Stone slabs
removed from nearby exposed outcrops
were set upright at critical spots to mark
out alignments of sun positions and star
rising points. Drawing: L. M. Roth after
T. G. Brophy, The Origin Map . . .
(2002).

Over the centuries about thirty megalithic struc- the Nabta, perhaps moving east to the dependable
tures were built in the region, and particularly about water of the Nile.
6,800 to 6,000 years ago (4800–4000 BCE) a sun
and star observatory was constructed among the vil- The Goseck Circle (Germany). Far to the north, at
lages [9.9]. Naturally occurring broken stone slabs nearly the same time—roughly 6,900 years
of sandstone from an exposed outcrop located over ago (4900 BCE)—in the Burgenlandkreis district
a mile away were dragged to the site, some laid flat in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, people built a very
and others set vertical in the earth. The observatory similar construction for observing the mid-winter
consisted of a roughly 12-foot-diameter ring of solstice to mark the moment when the sun stopped
about thirty stones, with two pairs of vertical stone its southern movement and began its return north
slabs, one pair aligned with true north and the sec- with ever-lengthening days.16 Called today the
ond pair arranged toward the summer solstice hori- Goseck Circle, it was built of earth and wood; but
zon, marking the time when the annual monsoons even after millennia of farming the overlying
started. Other alignments were made with separate ground, sufficient alteration remained in the soil to
vertical stone slabs erected a mile or so distant; show up in aerial photographs in 1991, leading to
these alignments were at that time oriented toward painstaking excavation. This northern observatory
Sirius (the brightest night star), Dubhe (the bright- consisted of ditches dug in the earth in four con-
est star in Ursa Major), and stars in the belt of centric circles with an outer diameter of 246 feet
Orion.15 By 4,800 years ago (2800 BCE), however, (75 m). Included in the centric rings were two par-
the monsoons had shifted well to the south and the allel wood palisades opened up with three gates, one
Nubian Desert reemerged, with people abandoning pointing southwest, another pointing southeast, and
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Western European Megaliths 177

the third pointing due north. Sometime after con- dred) at Carrowmore, County Sligo, northern Ire-
struction a moat was dug around the whole. land. Some archaeological evidence suggests that
building started as early as 7,400 years ago, but more
secure dating suggests 6,000 to 5,500 years ago
Western European Megaliths (4000–3500 BCE).
While hides and wood timbers may have been suit- One type of megalithic construction was the
able for dwellings and other utilitarian structures, freestanding stone columns called menhirs (a Celtic
monumental architecture in stone was invented for word meaning “long stone”), cut in large numbers
more symbolic ritual structures. Where typically one and erected vertically in circular patterns or parallel
or two individuals could put up a wood-framed and rows, marking a spot for some ritual purpose whose
hide -covered house in a day or two, now the efforts precise meaning is now lost to us. Such megalithic
of specialized workers began to be devoted to quar- arrangements, the most numerous of all ancient
rying massive stone megaliths (from the Greek mega, stone constructions, appear across northern Eu-
“great,” plus lithos, “stone”) and transporting them rope, but the oldest are those of Brittany in north-
to the building site; construction could take weeks, eastern France. There, at Carnac, are rows of stones
months, years, even decades. Among the oldest of stretching 4 miles (6.4 km), some erected as early
these megalithic sites is the cluster of as many as two as 6500, but most likely around 5,300 years ago
hundred tombs (now reduced to around one hun- (4500–3300 BCE) [9.10]. Nearby, at Kerloas, is the

9.10. Aerial view of aligned stone uprights, Carnac, Brittany, France, c. 4700 BP and after. Over three thousand stones are
fixed upright in eleven rows, but the purpose of this building activity remains unknown. Photo: French Government Tourist
Office, New York.
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178 9. THE BEGINNINGS OF ARCHITECTURE: FROM CAVES TO CITIES

largest megalith still standing, 39 feet high (11.9 m), temple ruins we see at Malta today. These Maltese
but the biggest of them all was Le Grand Menhir, temples are spatially more complex than any of the
today broken into five pieces but originally 70 feet other buildings of the Neolithic period. One of the
(21 m) long. Erected at Locmariaquer in Brittany, temples, in fact, is carved into the limestone hill at
it would have been visible for miles around the Bay Hal Saflieni. Given the Greek name hypogeum, “cel-
of Morbihan. The megalith was partly worked and lar,” it was a catacomb for housing seven thousand
smoothed, of a granite not native to this area but dead. On the Maltese island of Gozo is found the
from central Brittany. Moving it and erecting it in temple complex called Ggantija, Maltese for “gigan-
its present location was a considerable feat, consid- tic.” [9.11]. Somewhat similar to many of the thirty
ering that it would have weighed 345 tons. This was other Maltese temples, this complex was built in
clearly the work of sophisticated minds exercising stages, with connected clusters of rounded rooms
careful preparation and organization. defined by parallel walls of large, limestone facing-
About 5,500 years ago (3500 BCE), a group of blocks, the space between them filled with stone
temples was begun on the islands of Malta, in the rubble and earth. The inner walls were partially fin-
middle of the Mediterranean Sea. By 3,500 years ished in more carefully cut blocks of a deep-yellow
ago (1500 BCE), these sites were built over with the limestone, some carved with spirals and other curvi-

9.11. Temple complex called Ggantija, Malta, c. 4200–2900 BP. This is only one of many buildings in stone on the Maltese
islands, built over several centuries, apparently as religious centers. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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Western European Megaliths 179

9.12. Lanyon Quoit, Cornwall, England, c. 3200 BP. Originally covered by great mounds of soil, such stone structures seem
to have been burial chambers (judging from the few artifacts found in some examples). Photo: Visual Resources Collection,
Architecture & Allied Arts, University of Oregon.

linear patterns. Massive superimposed stone lintels, stone cantilevered over the one below, forming a
carried on huge vertical jamb stones on either side, corbeled vault.
form the door to the Hagar Qim temple on the is- One of the most impressive of these passage
land of Malta, the world’s oldest monumental en- graves, the New Grange tomb near Dublin, Ireland,
trance. What the upper structure of these temples has survived nearly intact in the core of a huge
may have been is not clear, but beams and rafters of earthen mound. Begun about 5,200 to 5,000 years
wood may have formed the roofs. ago (3200–3000 BCE), the tomb is one of three
In northern Europe, the roofed tomb structures huge mounds found about 16 miles (25.7 km) up
are known as dolmens (Celtic for “table stones”) the River Boyne from its mouth at Drogheda.
and consisted of at least three vertical stone slabs Within the mound, which measures variously 260
supporting a massive horizontal roof slab or boulder to 280 feet (79 to 85 m) in diameter, is a long rising
[9.12]. This type is found at the Carrowmore site entrance passage, roughly 60 feet (19 m) in length,
noted earlier; Lanyon Quoit is located in Cornwall, leading to a corbel-domed, cruciform (three-lobed)
England. Originally each dolmen was covered with inner chamber [9.13]. The tomb is carefully ori-
a mound of earth, which has long since eroded ented to the southeast, with its entrance partially
away. In some cases, four large, roughly rectangular but precisely blocked by an external curbstone. The
slabs make up the base, forming something like a components of the passage are aligned in such a
gigantic stone box, with an immense stone lid. way that once a year, on the morning of the winter
Sometimes these dolmens were extended, with a solstice, at 9:58 a.m. local time, a beam of sunlight
series of stone slabs forming two parallel walls that penetrates all the way to the back of the passage,
were capped with numerous roof slabs, all covered striking the rear wall of the central “apse.” For
with earth. These long barrows were gallery graves, twenty-one minutes, the beam slowly sweeps across
with a series of bodies placed in the extended the rear wall and then darkness falls for another
chamber. In several locations, the barrows ended year. Only on that one day, of all the days of the
in a roughly circular chamber roofed with small year, does the sun reach into the depths of the
stones laid in rings that closed in as they rose, each tomb. When the tomb was completed, it was sealed
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180 9. THE BEGINNINGS OF ARCHITECTURE: FROM CAVES TO CITIES

9.13. New Grange tomb,

Boyne Valley, near Dublin,
Ireland, c. 3200–3000 BCE.
The entry passage of this grave
was so positioned and curved
upward that at the rise of
the winter solstice in late
December—and on that day
only—the first rays of the sun
would penetrate the depths of
the tomb for about twenty-one
minutes. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

at the entrance, leaving only a narrow slit open at Then, between 4,100 and 4,075 years ago
the top, so that thereafter, the opening for the shaft (2100–2075 BCE), in the second phase of con-
of solstice light served as a “channel of communi- struction, a crescent of blue stone uprights was
cation” between the living outside and dead within. erected inside the circle, including a large upright
stone aligned with two others outside the entrance
near the heelstone. The blue stones are of special
Stonehenge significance, since they could only have come from
Of all the prehistoric megalithic constructions, cer- the Prescelli Mountains in Pembroke, southwestern
tainly the best known is Stonehenge, on the chalk Wales, nearly 245 miles (380 km) away. It seems
downs of Salisbury Plain, not far from Salisbury, En- most likely that they were dragged from the quarry
gland. Strictly speaking, there are three consecutive to what is now Milford Haven in Wales, and then
Stonehenges at this location, for the complex was moved by sea to the vicinity of Bristol, on the Avon
built in three major stages over a period of more River; from there the stones were hauled overland
than 1,200 years, not by one group of people but by to the plain of Salisbury and then along a long,
successive generations living in the area. The first curved causeway or avenue to the site.
stage consisted of marking out the location, some- The third and last phase of Stonehenge created
time around 5,100–5,050 years ago (3100–3050 the complex we are familiar with today. The building
BCE). By means of a leather thong or a woven rope phase started as early as 2000 BCE and was finished
160 feet (48.8 m) long affixed to a central stake, a by 1500 BCE [9.14 and 19.15, p. 164]. The blue
circle was drawn 320 feet (97.5 m) in diameter. A stones were temporarily removed, and immense
circular trench was dug into the white chalk, with sandstone sarsens or stone uprights (quarried in
the chips piled up on the inside, creating an inner Marlborough Downs about 20 miles [16.1 km] away)
wall originally about 6 feet (1.8 m) high. An open- were raised to form a circular colonnade 20 feet (6 m)
ing was left at the northeast side and a large men- high, with curved lintels. Within the enclosure were
hir, the heelstone, was erected just outside the erected five even larger trilithons (two uprights car-
entrance. In addition, fifty-six holes were excavated rying a lintel) enclosing a horseshoe that opens to-
just inside the embankment for the placement of ward the heelstone to the northeast [p. 6]. It was a
wood posts, creating a “woodhenge.” prodigious effort, requiring the labor of roughly 1,100
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Western European Megaliths 181

9.14. Stonehenge III, Salisbury plain, Wiltshire, England, c. 2000–1500 BCE. The present Stonehenge is simply the last of
three distinct building phases carried out over almost one and a half thousand years. Photo: Aerofilms, London.

laborers over a period of seven weeks to move each Yet the essential question remains: What was it
individual stone from quarry to building site, not to for? The effort of many generations, extended over
mention the stonecutters at work in the quarry and so many centuries, was undertaken for some com-
the finishers carrying out the final dressing of the pelling purpose. As recent investigations suggest,
monoliths at the site. Each upright had to be tilted, this complex served as an astronomical observatory,
in small increments, perhaps supported by wooden for the alignment of the heelstone with the stones
towers or cribs of crossed logs until it slid into its wait- in the center of the circle is such that at the summer
ing hole and then was made properly plumb. The lin- solstice, about 4,000 years ago, the sun would have
tels were likely levered up on similar log cribs and risen directly over the heelstone, as viewed from
moved sideways into place. The stone surfaces may the center of the trilithons. Other alignments within
appear to us rough compared to contemporaneous the complex suggest that Stonehenge might have
work in Egypt or Greece, but this was not the hand- been used to mark phases and eclipses of the moon
iwork of primitive people. Building Stonehenge re- and other astronomical phenomena. But, as archae-
quired detailed social organization and cooperation ological evidence of a similar enormous, round
of a high order over an extended period. structure—this one made of wood—just 2 miles
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182 9. THE BEGINNINGS OF ARCHITECTURE: FROM CAVES TO CITIES

(3.2 km) away makes clear, the same results could cause it was built almost entirely of stone owing to
have been achieved with much less effort. Stone- the absence of locally available wood. Skara Brae,
henge may indeed have served such an astronomi- located in the forbiddingly harsh and stony Orkney
cal function, but it was built with such care and Islands north of Scotland, was revealed by accident
expenditure of labor that it also became a tribal ex- after a lashing storm in 1850 blew off the sand that
pression of identity, the physical manifestation of a had covered the village for more than 3,000 years
social covenant, a symbol of communal purpose. It (it had most likely been buried by just such a storm).
was a gathering place where each year the recurring Because there is virtually no wood on the islands,
cycle of the sun and of life was celebrated by the as- the houses were built almost entirely of stone, with
sembled people. stone shelving, tables, and beds. Hence, they were
preserved from decay, affording us an intimate
glimpse of how life was lived in northern Neolithic
A Neolithic Village: Skara Brae Britain [9.16, 9.17]. There were ten houses in all,
The prodigious effort involved in building in stone with narrow alleys winding between them. When
seems to have been expended only on structures for the site was excavated, the walls were partially col-
the dead and on sacred monuments. The houses of lapsed, but judging by the whale bones found in the
the workers who built the dolmens, the barrows, dwellings, the roofs may have been of hides or
and Stonehenge were most likely made of timbers, thatch supported by rafters made of whale bones.
hides, and thatch and have long since disappeared.
We do have the remarkable survival of at least one
village, however, dating from about 5,200 years ago From Villages to Cities
(3200 BCE) and abandoned about 4,200 years ago The deliberate cultivation of collected grains began
(2200 BCE). Portions of the village remain only be- in southern Egypt as early as 19,000 to 12,000 years

9.16. Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, off Scotland, c. 3200–2200 BCE. In this forbiddingly harsh climate there is little wood,
so almost all parts of the houses were made of stone and thus have been preserved. Drawing: David Rabbitt.
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From Villages to Cities 183

9.17. Skara Brae. View into one of the dwellings. Photo: Courtesy, Marian Card Donnelly.

ago, as evidenced by the well-used grinding stones tively fixed settlements, close to the planted fields.
found there. By 10,000 years ago, agriculture had This encouraged more substantial buildings, and as
been firmly established in what is called the Fertile villages, towns, and cities grew in size, social organi-
Crescent—the area along the valley of the Nile, up zation became more complex, requiring varied build-
the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, across what ing types. Modern civilization has added very few
is now southeastern Turkey, and down the valleys of new basic building types to those that arose from the
the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Once this Neolithic needs created in Neolithic times—houses, storage
period, or what the historian V. Gordon Childe facilities, governmental and civic buildings, and re-
called the “Neolithic revolution,”17 had begun, the ligious shrines. Only in the areas of mechanized
patterns of human activity were profoundly changed. transport have wholly new building types been de-
Examination of sites uncovered since the 1930s and veloped just in the last two centuries.
1940s suggests that formation of permanent settled
communities in fact predated the development of
agriculture, meaning that profound changes were oc- Çatalhöyük (Southwest Turkey)
curring in how human beings thought about and Large, permanently inhabited cities appeared at
cared for each other, and how they wished to live almost the same geological moment the glaciers re-
together. Bulky stone tools were replaced by imple- treated. Remains of the earliest stone-built commu-
ments with small cutting pieces of volcanic glass— nities have emerged in modern-day Turkey, Israel,
obsidian—fitted into wood or bone armatures, and Jordan, dating back as much as 14,000 years
allowing for easy replacement of broken or dull cut- ago. Archaeological excavations down through the
ting segments. The most sweeping social changes mound of the ancient city of Jericho in Israel have
grew directly out of the development of agriculture. shown that this was an established city as early as
No longer spending their lives moving cyclically with 11,000 years ago. Our most detailed understanding
the rhythms of nature, people now resided in rela- of how a Neolithic city functioned, however, comes
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184 9. THE BEGINNINGS OF ARCHITECTURE: FROM CAVES TO CITIES

from the successive layers of the well-preserved houses instead, with an occasional courtyard be-
town of Çatalhöyük, a city built next to the Çar- tween them that served as a rubbish dump [9.18].
samba River on the Konya Plain of south-central Entry to each house was by means of a hole in the
Turkey. Settled by at least 9,500 years ago (7500 roof that also served as the vent for the smoke of
BCE), this city had perhaps eight thousand resi- the central hearth. The residences were built with
dents a thousand years later. Despite being miles timber frames, the panels between the posts and
from the fields, the town was built on a mound in beams filled with mud brick, plastered, and often
the midst of marshes that provided a good grade of painted. In one house, a wall was painted with a
clay used everywhere to plaster walls and floors. landscape of the view toward the volcanic moun-
Çatalhöyük was not only a farming community but tains in the distance, with a plan of the city de-
also a vital link in the trade network that trans- picted in the foreground; in another house were
ported highly prized obsidian from the northern vol- painted figures of dancers. It is interesting that
canic areas to cities throughout the Fertile Crescent nearly a quarter of the chambers excavated by 1966
of Palestine and Mesopotamia. But besides obsidian had shrines devoted to a mother goddess and a bull
and the Neolithic technology that this material im- cult, though subsequent excavation indicates no
plies, implements of copper and lead were found at particular emphasis on a mother goddess.
Çatalhöyük, hinting at the beginnings of the Bronze Çatalhöyük was only one of scores of similar small
Age. cities that flourished in the area of Palestine, south-
Çatalhöyük covered an area of 32 acres (12.9 ern central Turkey, and modern Iraq. Particularly old,
hectares), of which about a quarter was excavated however, was the town now known as Abu Hureyra,
during 1961–1966, an area that turned out to be a on the Euphrates in present-day Syria (the site is now
residential quarter. Excavation was resumed in flooded). From a small settlement whose establish-
earnest in 1993.18 There were no streets as such ment dates to around 13,000 years ago, there devel-
through the town, but tightly clustered rectangular oped a larger community by 11,000 to 9,000 years

9.18. View of Level I, Çatalhöyük, Turkey, c. 7500 BCE. The houses were packed tightly together, with no streets; access to
the dwellings was through openings in the roof. From J. Mellaart, Çatal Hüyük (New York, 1967).
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:12 PM Page 185

The Invention of Architecture 185

ago. Evidence suggests a clear transition from hunt- living together in settled communities had been
ing to the consumption of cultivated grains during taken. As Michael Balter notes, “nearly everything
this period. Another town was Çayönü, near Di- that came afterward, including organized religion,
yarbakir, southeastern Turkey, which was occupied writing, cities, social inequality, population explo-
as early as 9,250 years ago (7250 BCE). Over several sions, traffic jams, mobile phones, and the Internet,
centuries, its inhabitants, similar to those in many has roots in the moment that people decided to live
other locations, gradually made a transition from together in communities. And once they did so, as
consuming wild animals to raising domesticated an- Çatalhöyük indicates, there was no turning back.”19
imals and from using stone to forging copper to make The next steps in the formation of a truly urban
small tools. Another village was ‘Ain Ghazal, in mod- culture would take place in the region watered by
ern Jordan, also settled as early as 9,250 years ago the Tigris and the Euphrates, the land between the
with a population of perhaps two thousand people. rivers: Mesopotamia.
Yet another small city is today called Jarmo, east of
present-day Kirkut in northeastern Iraq. Jarmo flour-
ished about 9,000 years ago but probably never had The Invention of Architecture
more than twenty-five houses, with a population of Once human precursors had developed techniques
perhaps 150 people. for hunting and had mastered the control of fire,
Areas with population figures ranging from 150 they began to leave their African savanna homeland
to 10,000 inhabitants may seem like small villages in an exodus that would take them to central and
today, not cities in modern terms. Use of the words far-eastern Asia, as well as into Europe. As they left
city and urban, however, connotes not simply a large the benign climate of the lower latitudes for the
congregation of people but the rise of a complex so- more challenging northerly exposures, and as the ice
cial system. In this communal structure, numerous ages made Europe a cold, forbidding place, the need
essential tasks are taken up by specific individuals for finding or making shelter became urgent. The
so that no one exists in isolation whereas, together, first human-crafted (or, we could say, hominid-
people provide services for each other. These ser- crafted) shelters were made, and architecture had
vices include tasks that make a comfortable city life begun. As modern human beings moved into Eu-
possible—growing food, managing irrigation, pro- rope, the Middle East, and Asia, structures that
ducing bread, making clay pots for storage, smelting were more developed were crafted, and, with the
copper or making bronze and fashioning tools, tend- growing division and specialization of labor—not to
ing to ritual observances, maintaining shrines, and mention the emergence of increasingly complex,
building houses—in short, all the myriad activities centralized social organizations—energy could be
that make city living possible. By 6,000 years ago devoted to fashioning more permanent structures
(4000 BCE), however, as economic and agricultural of stone for ceremonial purposes and ritual celebra-
conditions changed, and with the surrounding fields tions. The next step was an increased concentration
presumably exhausted, cities like Çatalhöyük were of peoples in towns that grew into cities. Monumen-
gradually abandoned. But the crucial first steps in tal architecture had begun.
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10.21. Hypostyle Hall, Temple of Amon, Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, c. 1315–1235 BCE. Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
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Chapter 10

The Architecture of
Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt

R
At the temples’ centers stood airless complexes
by neighboring people. Moreover, its soil was re-
plenished annually by the rising flood of the Nile.
of sunless rooms, chambers that only the ritually Mesopotamia had a different geography and suf-
pure could enter, surrounding the small central fered a less benevolent history.
shrines. In these dark sanctuaries elaborate
rituals were celebrated through days and nights:
rites that spanned years, decades and centuries, Mesopotamia:
communions with eternity, the designs of The Land Between the Rivers
numberless lives absorbed in deep pieties, built Mesopotamia (essentially modern Iraq) is a broad,
upon the impulses that sustained life in the Nile generally level land enclosed by the Syrian Desert
Valley: the tremendous power of the gods, the daily to the west, the mountains of eastern Turkey to
passage of the sun over the river valley, the river’s the north, and the Zagros Mountains in western
annual flood and liquefaction of its fields, the Iran. During its long history, hostile groups repeat-
germination of the seed, the ripening of the crop. edly invaded from the north and east, producing
The endless rhythms of the ancient state. periodic dramatic political changes [10.1]. From
—John Romer, Ancient Lives, 1984

R
the mountains in eastern Turkey flows the Eu-
phrates, while roughly parallel to it flows the Tigris,
fed by numerous tributaries coming down from the
Zagros Mountains. This unique circumstance of

T he two great Western civilizations that fol-

lowed the dramatic agricultural changes of the
Neolithic period both arose in the Middle East, in
the two great parallel rivers led the Greeks later to
call this region mesopotamia, “land between the
rivers.” Whereas the rising of the Nile could be
arid regions watered by great rivers: Egypt along the predicted with regularity, the flow of the Euphrates
banks of the Nile; and the successive cultures of and Tigris was never so predictable, with droughts
Mesopotamia in the broad valley watered by two punctuated by sudden random damaging floods.
parallel rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. It was The comforting predictability of the Nile and the
the control of these river waters that made inten- lack of external threats in Egypt contrasted sharply
sive agriculture possible in both regions and, with with the unpredictability of Mesopotamia’s two
the resulting abundance of food, the rise of urban rivers and its vulnerable political exposure; as a re-
cultures and the art and architecture supported by sult, the two regions developed quite different cul-
them. tures. Despite their marked differences, however,
Although nearly contemporary in their histori- both civilizations developed their own system of
cal development, Egypt and Mesopotamia devel- writing early on. This advancement may have been
oped in quite different ways, and much of this the result of both cultures’ early reliance on irriga-
difference can be attributed to geography. Egypt is tion and agriculture, the secure definitions of
a long, narrow oasis surrounded by extensive and parcels of land, and the need for tallying and tax-
forbidding deserts east and west, mountains to the ing yields of grain. The oldest writing seems to
south, and the Mediterranean to the north. It was have been developed in Mesopotamia, perhaps
thus largely protected from opportunistic incursion around 3500 BCE.

187
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188 10. THE ARCHITECTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA AND ANCIENT EGYPT

10.1. Map of Ancient Mesopotamia.

Sumerian civilization, for life was focused on the po-

The Sumerian Period, litical, mercantile, and religious activities and
Circa 4000 BCE to Circa 2370 BCE achievements in these city settlements. Our term
At the end of the Neolithic period, from about civilization derives from the Latin civitas, “pertaining
6000 BCE to 5500 BCE, a number of small villages to the citizens of a community,” for life was increas-
in the upper half of the Tigris-Euphrates valley re- ingly now governed by actions taken and rules set
ceived sufficient rainfall to permit cultivation, but down in the city settlements.
these groups of people also continued to hunt for The growing reliance on grain agriculture meant
food. Somewhat later, there appeared a village cul- that, after harvest, the surplus of seeds had to be
ture in the more southerly (and more arid) portion stored, encouraging the development of clay pot-
of the Euphrates valley, where carefully controlled tery vessels that resisted moisture and attack by in-
irrigation was essential for agriculture. Eridu, one sects and rodents. Even more important was the
of the early major towns in the Sumer region, with need for some permanent way of recording grain
perhaps four to five thousand inhabitants, was es- tallies and communal decisions. Cuneiform writing
tablished around 5000 BCE. Other early significant was developed, using a wedge-shaped stylus pressed
cities were Uruk, Larsa, Umma, Tel Jidr, Nippur, into soft clay tablets. Literary writing followed later,
and Kish, among many others. Over time, other augmenting (and eventually replacing) ritual,
towns grew, and governance was achieved through dance, and song as the primary ways of transmitting
confederations of these small city-states. Some human memory. The epic story of Gilgamesh, per-
cities grew rapidly, as did Uruk, which expanded haps already centuries old, was first recorded in an
fourfold between 3000 and 2700 BCE. We speak of early version of cuneiform by the Sumerians around
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Mesopotamia: The Land Between the Rivers 189

3000 BCE, making it the oldest known Western lit- are found, suggests that each of these settlements
erary work. The far greater bulk of cuneiform writ- formed around an important central ritual or reli-
ings found so far, however, consists mainly of legal gious shrine. Hence, each of the oldest cities is ded-
decrees, lists, tallies, inventories, and measure- icated to a particular deity. Eridu (established in
ments of land parcels down to the smallest incre- about 5400 BCE) was sacred to Enki, the archaic
ment. In some respects, the prosaic nature of most god of water, for when it was founded the marshes
Sumerian writing is what makes the poetic story of and shore of the Arabian Gulf were not too far to
Gilgamesh so special.1 the south; Ur (established in about 3800 BCE) was
For the sake of clarity, certain generalizations are sacred to Nannar, the moon god; and Nippur (es-
made in the paragraphs that follow, for the political tablished in about 3500 BCE) was focused on a
situation in Mesopotamia is complex in the ex- temple to Enlil, god of wind. Ordinary dwellings
treme, partly the result of the numerous gradual were clustered around courts where the temple was
incursions of outside peoples as well as periodic sud- situated. The adobe brick walls of the early temples
den and overwhelming military invasions. Each of were protected from weathering by layers of white-
these shifts affected differing parts of the region, wash or, in some instances, mud-brick cones with
while cities in other areas continued much as be- the ends dipped in colored glazes and laid with the
fore, perhaps paying tribute to neighboring invaders. points in the walls, forming linear or zigzag pat-
Over the last century and a half, a great abundance terns, as found in the Pillared Hall at Uruk. The
of cuneiform records have been found, since the en- early temples were built on artificial platforms, per-
graved clay tablets can survive thousands of years haps so that they would be raised above floods, but
when not broken into fragments. Translation and in time, these artificial mounds were enlarged, ris-
study continue today, so the story is an unfolding ing through several set-back stages forming what
one. Nonetheless, some broad chronological desig- are called ziggurats. These artificial hills served as
nations need to be adopted if we are to make some a way of elevating the temples to make a link be-
sense of the long history of this region. tween the human realm and the heavenly realm of
The oldest cities in Sumer were, at the time of the gods. All this is well illustrated in the so-called
their establishment, near the mouths of the two White Temple at Uruk (the biblical Erech, in mod-
great rivers, but the burden of silt deposited by the ern times called Warka). With its whitewashed
Euphrates and the Tigris in the subsequent millen- brick walls, built between 3500 BCE and 3100
nia has gradually moved the shore of the Gulf of BCE, the structure is among the first examples of a
Arabia 140 miles (225 km) to the southeast. This ziggurat surmounted by a temple [10.3].
rich silt provided the only readily available building
material—clay. The only native source of wood was
the date palm, and because of the relative absence The Akkadian Period,
of structural wood in the marshes and flat expanses Circa 2370 BCE to Circa 2150 BCE
of Sumer, the earliest architecture was constructed About 2350 BCE, a fierce warrior people overran
of mud or clay (adobe) brick dried in the sun for the Sumerian settlements and created several new
several weeks and laid with mud mortar. Extremely cities, particularly at Sippar and Akkad, the latter
fragile and easily reduced to dust if not constantly of which gives its name to this period. As would
maintained, this mud-brick architecture has eroded happen many times later, the underlying Sumerian
over the millennia, and often only the building culture, including cuneiform writing and major as-
foundations remain. Although wood beams, or pects of religion, was absorbed, but the most signifi-
beams made of bundled reeds, were sometimes used cant change was toward a strong priestly class and
to support roofs, more typical were mud-brick bar- rule by a single warrior-king. This dramatic change
rel vaults of short span, resulting in long, narrow of governance laid the basis for later imperial states
rooms with the doors on the long sides. This design in the region. While there is significant art from
approach may have derived from the ancient tech- this period, particularly emphasizing the imperial
nique, used in the marshlands formed where the rule of the kings and scenes of combat, the archi-
two rivers deposited their silt, of building houses of tecture of adobe brick did not fare well in succeed-
bundled reeds, with spaced arches of bundled reeds ing centuries.
supporting barrel-vaulted roofs. In fact, after five
thousand years, this technique remains the way
many ordinary people in this region of southern The Neo-Sumerian Period,
Iraq still build their houses and villages2 [10.2]. Circa 2150 BCE to Circa 2000 BCE
Evidence found at the deepest levels of excava- The Akkadians were in turn overthrown by the Guti,
tion, where the remains of the oldest settlements who moved in from the mountains of present-day
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:12 PM Page 190

190

10.2. A view of the inside of a “vaulted” house in the southern delta of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Such a mudhif,
a traditional Marsh Arab guesthouse, is made entirely out of reeds. Source: US Army Corps of Engineers.

10.3. White Temple, Uruk

(in present-day southern Iraq),
c. 3500–3100 BCE. The temple
itself was built atop a ziggurat
mound, a surrogate mountain.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
H. Frankfurt, Art and
Architecture of the Ancient
Orient (New Haven, 1966).
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Mesopotamia: The Land Between the Rivers 191

Iran, but their military control weakened after about ing their capital at Hattusas (now Bogazköy, near
a century and the old political alliances between the present-day Ankara, Turkey). Armed through their
various city-states reestablished themselves in what technology of smelting iron as early as the four-
is called the neo-Sumerian period. It was at this time teenth century BCE, the Hittites overran their sur-
that ziggurat construction expanded greatly. An ex- rounding neighbors, even successfully holding off
cellent example that survived in fairly good condition Egyptian armies. In short, their iron weapons made
is the ziggurat of the moon god Nannar in the city of their opponents’ bronze swords useless. At Hattusas
Ur, built by King Urnammu in about 2113–2006 the Hittites built a large central palace including a
BCE [10.4]. Although built with a core of earth and library, archives, and a granary, all of stone but with
soft brick, it was given an outer facing of hard-fired long, narrow rooms covered by corbeled stone
brick laid in bitumen, the thick form of crude oil that vaults in which the successive courses of stone are
oozed from scattered springs, as at Hit, north of mod- cantilevered slightly over the next lower course
ern Baghdad. The great ziggurat at Ur rises in a series until they meet. Over time, the Hittites extended
of terraces ascended by three long, straight stairs and their empire, struggling with Egypt for control over
originally was surmounted by a temple. Although the Syria. Because of the distance from Hattusas, and
temple weathered away, other examples survive in as Hittite control gradually weakened, individual
part because they had thick outer walls like those cities in the region around Babylon regained local
carved on the plaque held by Gudea, the ruler of La- autonomy. But even the Hittites, much less the old
gash, one of the many city-states that flourished in Sumerian and Babylonian cities to the south, were
this period [see 7.5]. no match for the fiercely militaristic Assyrians, who
rose to power in about 900 BCE.
The Babylonian Period,
Circa 2000 BCE to Circa 1503 BCE Assyrian Empire,
Yet again, around 2000 BCE, the Sumerian cities 900 BCE to 612 BCE
fell to invading Amorites. But as before, the old The Assyrians, originally from northern Mesopo-
patterns eventually reestablished themselves. An tamia with their center in the city of Ashur, estab-
empire was created around the capital city of Baby- lished a true empire with strongly fortified capitals
lon, whose best-known ruler, Hammurabi, is re- built successively at various locations including Cala
membered for the detailed code of laws he had (today Nimrud), Dur-Sharrukin (today Khorsabad),
engraved in cuneiform on a stone stele. and then Nineveh (today Kuyunjik). Their principal
interests seem to have been trade and military con-
quest, and Khorsabad, the royal city built by Sar-
The Hittite Period, gon II around 720 BCE, had a royal palace complex
Circa 1503 BCE to 1200 BCE covering twenty-five acres, its rooms arranged
About 1503 BCE, the militarily superior Hittites around large, open courts, all laid out in ordered or-
invaded from Anatolia (western Turkey), establish- thogonal geometry. Part of this palace complex was

10.4. Ziggurat of the moon god Nannar, Ur (in present-day southern Iraq), c. 2113–2006 BCE. Here, too, the temple
proper was built atop a ziggurat mound. Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich.
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192 10. THE ARCHITECTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA AND ANCIENT EGYPT

a large temple and a freestanding ziggurat. Regret-

tably, few Assyrian buildings remain, though some The Persian Empire,
city gates have been reconstructed. Conquest by Alexander, and
Afterward, 560 BCE to 224 CE
In 560 BCE, Babylon was swallowed up in the Per-
The Neo-Babylonian Period, sian Empire created by Cyrus the Great (founder of
612 BCE to Circa 560 BCE Achaemenid dynastic rule), whose cavalry swept out
In 612 BCE, the stern rule of the detested Assyrians of the region of Elam to the east of Sumer. The Per-
ended with the fall of Nineveh to the combined sian Empire was expanded by Cyrus’s successors
forces of Medes and Babylonians. Babylon was then Darius I and Xerxes, who extended it from the Indus
magnificently rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar II. At its River in the east to the Danube in the west but
center was an expansive temple complex sacred to whose push into Greece was temporarily stopped by
Marduk, then the chief Babylonian god, and a soar- the Greeks at Marathon in 490 BCE. After the con-
ing ziggurat of five levels, 300 feet square at its base quest of the Persians by Alexander the Great in 330
and rising 300 feet, remembered in the Bible as, per- BCE, Greek culture and language spread across the
haps, the Tower of Babel. Another marvel was the new Alexandrian Empire and dominated in Meso-
elevated Terrace Gardens, the fabled “Hanging Gar- potamia. This philhellenism continued under the
dens” described in antiquity as one of the Seven Seleucid rulers (the successors to Alexander) and
Wonders of the World. Now lost, this marvel was even the Parthians, up to 224 CE, when they fell to
apparently a ziggurat-like arched substructure sup- the Sassanian dynasty. By this time, other languages
porting terraces heavily planted in trees. The gar- had supplanted the ancient tongues born in Meso-
dens were described by Greek geographer Strabo as potamia, and although cuneiform continued to be
being “quadrangular in shape, and each side is four written for several centuries after the Persian and
plethra in length [almost 405 feet, or 123.3 m]. It Alexandrian conquests, the absorption of the “Land
consists of arched vaults, which are situated, one Between the Rivers” into the Hellenistic world
after another, on checkered, cube-like foundations. meant that architectural forms in the region of
The checkered foundations, which are hollowed Mesopotamia became heavily affected by outside in-
out, are covered so deep with earth that they admit fluences, particularly Greece. By the time Strabo was
of the largest trees, having been constructed of writing his description of Babylon around the years
baked brick and asphalt—the foundations them- 10 to 20 CE, he observed that “the greater part of
selves and the vaults and the arches.” Such plant- Babylon is . . . deserted.”4
ings would have required near constant irrigation,
which Strabo explains thus: “The ascent to the up-
permost terrace-roofs is made by a stairway; along- Influence of Ancient
side these stairs there were screws [screw pumps], Mesopotamian Cultures
through which the water was continually conducted What had been accomplished in the successive
up to the garden from the Euphrates by those Mesopotamian city-states, kingdoms, and empires,
[workers] appointed for this purpose. For the river, however, profoundly shaped Western civilization:
a stadium in width, flows through the middle of the the gathering together of populations in cities; the
city; and the garden is on the back of the river.”3 pooling of human resources releasing an inventive
Particularly notable were the massive walls energy formerly consumed in eking out individual
enclosing the new Babylon, 11 miles (17.7 km) in subsistence livings; and, most important, the devel-
circumference and wide enough at the top that a opment of writing, which made it possible to carry
chariot drawn by four horses could pass a similar human thought and memory from generation to
chariot coming from the opposite direction; the generation in fixed symbols. One could argue that
walls of Babylon themselves were listed by some the most important legacy of the ancient Meso-
ancient writers as one of the Seven Wonders. The potamians to later civilizations was not their archi-
encircling wall was pierced by eight gates, each tectural building models and structural innovations
dedicated to one of the principal deities. Best but, instead, these underlying concepts of civil life
known today because of its partial reconstruction and the rule of law. They invented the wheel and
in Berlin is the Ishtar Gate, clad in glazed brick with devised a system of spatial and time measurement
a deep-blue background and colored bands at the in units divisible by 60 that is still used worldwide
base and top, the wall surface embellished by low- in measuring time and angular geometry. The an-
relief animal figures spaced across its imposing sur- cient Mesopotamians also first expressed the tragic
face [10.5]. poignancy of human existence, which is summed
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193

10.5. The Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar with the Ishtar Gate, c. 575 BCE. Reconstructed perspective. Now reconstructed in
its original form in the State Museum, Berlin, the imposing Ishtar Gate, clad in brilliantly colored tiles with heraldic bulls and
dragons on a deep blue background, illustrates well the rise of Mesopotamian civilization; this hard tile envelope exterior
protected an inner core of soft brick. Photo: Courtesy, the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago.
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194 10. THE ARCHITECTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA AND ANCIENT EGYPT

up at the conclusion of The Epic of Gilgamesh, an ings dedicated to funerary practices, its pyramids
adventure story that was already ancient when it serving as man-made mountains of burial, its tem-
was written down around 2000 BCE. Entreating ples lining the Nile with endless repetitions of col-
the divine maker of wine for the knowledge of eter- umn after column, of court and chamber leading to
nal life, Gilgamesh receives this answer: yet more courts and chambers. It is an architecture
of great mass and monotonous regularity, deliber-
You will never find the eternal life ately and determinedly adhering to established
that you seek. When the gods created forms and details over a time span equal in length
mankind, to everything that has followed it up to the present
they also created death, and they held back day. The contribution of Egyptian architecture to
eternal life for themselves alone. the development of the architectural traditions of
Humans are born, they live, then they die, the West is perhaps less evident than that of an-
this is the order that the gods have decreed. cient Greece, Rome, or medieval Europe; yet, Egypt
But until the end comes, enjoy your life, is where Western architecture begins, rooted in an-
spend it in happiness, not despair. cient Egyptian religion and science.
Savor your food, make each of your days Egypt is for most people a great mystery, for it is
a delight . . . let music and dancing fill your remote in both time and culture. When the ancient
house, Greeks, such as Herodotus, visited Egypt in 500
love the child who holds you by the hand, BCE or, later, when the Romans annexed it to their
and give your wife pleasure in your embrace. empire just before the Christian era, Egypt was al-
That is the best way for a man to live.5 ready an ancient land with a culture three thousand
years old. Herodotus himself understood Egyptian
In addition, the Sumerian creation stories de- life imperfectly, and since his time, another twenty-
scribe how, when the Sumerian god of wisdom of- five hundred years have passed, so that Egypt is for
fered to humankind the noblest gifts of civilization, us that much more exotic and remote.
he also pronounced these words of warning, cau-
tioning that the gifts included violence, greed, and
destruction as well: “All these things I will give The Landscape of Egypt
you, . . . but once you have taken them, there can As Herodotus wrote in his Histories, Egypt “is the
be no dispute, and you cannot give them back.”6 A gift of the river.”7 Egypt is the Nile, and to under-
similar sentiment is reiterated in the opening words stand the land, its ancient inhabitants, and the ar-
of Genesis, for once Adam and Eve ate the fruit of chitecture they created, we must first understand
knowledge, they could never recapture that quality the river and the geography it traverses [10.6]. The
of innocence and direct communication with Nile is arguably the longest river in the world, 4,130
God; they and their progeny would be permanently miles (6,648 km), formed by three tributaries: the
changed. Blue Nile and the Atbara, which originate in the
As with megalithic building in Europe, the first mountains of Ethiopia (what the ancient Egyptians
permanent buildings in Mesopotamia served the called Abyssinia), together with the White Nile,
most compelling and encompassing public needs, which flows from Lakes Albert and Victoria in
attempting to bridge the gulf between humans and equatorial Africa.
the gods. Even when the individual buildings were In what is now the Sudan, the Nile makes a large
sponsored by individual kings, these places were S-curve, cutting its way through a valley with steep
still the embodiment of public communal purpose. cliff sides and passing over four cataracts. It passes
Human civilization and its most fundamental ar- over another cataract just north of the Aswan High
chitectural expressions had been invented. Dam, whose impounded waters now cover a former
cataract south of the dam. The last and most
northerly cataract marked the edge of the ancient
Egypt: The Gift of the Nile land of Egypt. From that point, the river flows 750
For most people, to think of ancient Egypt is to miles (1,207 km) to the north and into the Mediter-
evoke the enormous, crouching figure of the ranean Sea. This passage is through two distinctly dif-
Sphinx or the great pyramids rising from the edge ferent landscapes. For the greater distance, about 650
of the desert on the west bank of the Nile. Egypt is miles (1,046 km), the landscape is a valley cut in the
not only an ancient nation but a state of mind, a surrounding limestone, varying in width from 1 to 14
mystery wrapped like a mummy in a mystique of miles (1.6 to 22.5 km), with cliffs rising sometimes to
death. Its greatest architectural remnants are build- 1,500 feet (457 m) on either side. Beyond the cliffs,
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The Landscape of Egypt 195

10.6. Map of Ancient Egypt.

to the east and west, is desert. Just north of modern ancient Egyptians their three seasons, beginning
Cairo, the cliffs end and the river splits into branches, with Inundation from June through October; fol-
spreading out in a delta 100 miles (161 km) long and lowed by Emergence of the Fields from the Water from
155 miles (249 km) wide at the Mediterranean Sea. November through February, during which time the
In Egypt, rainfall is negligible, decreasing from 8 fields were planted and tended; and Drought, when
inches (20.3 cm) a year at Cairo to 1 inch (2.54 cm) there was harvest and threshing. The relatively be-
or less in the valley to the south, so the Nile is the nign if hot climate also meant that two or three crops
major source of water. In the Abyssinian uplands far could be harvested a year. Some years, the crest was
to the south, however, 60 inches (152 cm) of rain higher than normal, and sometimes it was less, but
fall in a typical summer. The result was (until mas- the cycle of inundation and drying repeated itself
sive dams were put in the path of the Nile in the endlessly year after year, decade after decade, cen-
middle of the twentieth century) that year after year, tury after century. When the waters receded, they
the water of the Nile was laden with the eroded soil left a precious gift: the black soil carried down from
of the Abyssinian highlands, and this sediment was Ethiopia. The Egyptians themselves called their river
carried down to the valley below. The waters rose in Ar, or Aur, one of their words for “black,” because
a flood that began late in June, crested in mid- of the river’s burden of soil (the word Nile is from the
August, and ended by November. The river gave the Greek Neilos, from an ancient root word meaning
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196 10. THE ARCHITECTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA AND ANCIENT EGYPT

“river valley”). The Egyptians called their country south, and by the Mediterranean to the north; until
Kemet, meaning “the black land”; what lay beyond relatively late in their history, the Egyptians kept
to the east and west was the desert, “the red land.” no standing army. Although trade was actively car-
Egypt can be thought of as a great, linear oasis ried on with the rest of their known world, Egypt
in the desert, running north and south, 750 miles was geographically isolated. Thus protected, the
long and (except for the broad delta) only 1 to 14 Egyptians very early began to develop a civilization
miles wide. Every year, the new soil deposited by that survived nearly three thousand years.8
Inundation swept away the landmarks that estab-
lished field boundaries, so very early, the Egyptians
perfected a system of geometry and mathematics to The Culture of Egypt
redefine the boundaries the river had obliterated. Secure in their desert-protected paradise, the an-
The bureaucracy and the science this surveying re- cient Egyptians were content in the endless cycles
quired would later be put to the service of building of life determined by sun and river; the people per-
the pyramids. ceived the cosmos not as subject to the whims of the
The Nile, then, was one cultural determinant, gods but as an unchanging continuum. As a result,
flowing south to north, from the higher lands that they developed early a deeply conservative view of
the Egyptians called Upper Egypt to the flat delta, life. Unlike the citizens of twenty-first-century West-
or Lower Egypt, flowing in a rhythm of rise and fall ern civilization, who believe in progress, in things
and replenishment that never significantly varied. getting progressively better through the application
The other major determinant was the sun, which of human ingenuity, the ancient Egyptians had no
moved with similarly unvarying precision, east to such concept. To them, things were never as good
west, perpendicular to the river, in a usually cloud- as they had been at the time of creation. That had
less sky, day after day, pursuing its own timeless been a golden age, when the gods inhabited the
cycle. The river and the sun thus established the earth. The Egyptians continually tried to re-create
two perpendicular axes that dominated Egyptian that perfect time. Indeed, the ancient Egyptian
life and architecture. As a study of the Egyptian came to desire a world in which things did not
temple reveals, it is a linear, axial architecture, change, could not be allowed to change. At the mo-
turned at right angles to the axis of the river. And ment of creation, a pattern of a stable society had
those two axes of river and sun form the basis of been handed down to humankind, a pattern that
the orthogonal grid of Egyptian fields and cities, ex- was to be maintained eternally by kingship, law, re-
emplified by the city built by the Twelfth Dynasty ligion, and ritual. The ideal world made at creation
pharaoh, Sesostris II (also called Senusert II), would remain fixed for eternity as long as all the
1897–1878 BCE, at what is now El Kahun, across necessary ceremonies were correctly performed.
the river from his pyramid, on which the workers The universe and human society were conceived as
labored [10.7]. static. As Michael Wood put it: “Progress, change,
The Egyptian climate normally varied little, and new questions, and new answers were simply not
with the annual gift of water and fresh soil, life needed.”9 As a consequence, once the forms of
could be pursued with comparative ease. As histo- Egyptian religion, literature, art, and architecture
rian Michael Wood has characterized the two par- had been defined—from the predynastic period
allel civilizations, in Mesopotamia a general spirit through the Fourth Dynasty—they changed very lit-
of pessimism prevailed, but in Egypt a general spirit tle for almost three thousand years.
of optimism was the norm. There were occasional Almost imperceptibly over the centuries, how-
periods of turmoil, but for century after century, life ever, the details of painted or carved images did
went on in peaceful monotony. To the Egyptian, shift to a degree, and the proportions of building
time flowed in endless, repeating cycles; a phrase parts varied subtly, allowing scholars of Egyptian art
from the early Christian liturgy sums up a view the to identify a statue or building as belonging to the
ancient Egyptian would have easily understood: “As Fourth Dynasty or the Eighteenth Dynasty. But the
it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, essential form was fixed. Even as late as the Hel-
world without end.” lenistic Ptolemaic period, in 237 BCE, when the
The broad valley of Mesopotamia had given Temple of Horus at Edfu was begun, inscriptions on
easy access to successive invaders, and the history the temple walls declared that great care had been
of that region is one of successive invasive peoples, taken to ensure observance of traditional architec-
each being modified by the culture they absorbed. tural forms and iconography.
In contrast, Egypt was protected by desert to the This conservatism was reinforced by Egyptian
east and west, by mountains and cataracts to the religion. Most of the many gods represented forces
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The Culture of Egypt 197

10.7. Village at El Kahun, Egypt, c. 1897–1878 BCE. This village, built by Sesostris II just east of his pyramid, was to
house officials, craftsmen, and laborers working on his burial place. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after W.M.F. Petrie, Illahun,
Kahun, and Gurob (London, 1891).

of nature, and their images incorporated aspects Isis, who carefully gathered the parts of his body.
and images of humans and animals. Supremely im- Hence, Osiris came to symbolize the land and
portant during the Old Kingdom (Third to Sixth its cyclical death and rebirth after the flood; he
Dynasties) was Ra, the sun god, usually shown as a presided over the judgment of the dead. The
hawk-headed human, with a sun disk resting on his pharaoh was believed to embody all these gods.
head. Later, during the Middle Kingdom and the He was Ra and Amon, so that the priests in the
Empire, Amon became chief among the gods. More temples throughout the land, in elevating, feeding,
of a pervasive spirit, he was shown as a human fig- and dressing the images of Amon in their temples,
ure with a tall headdress shaped like two feathers. were enacting what the pharaoh, Amon-Ra incar-
Amon was often associated and fused with other nate, was doing himself at that very moment in his
gods as well, particularly with the older Ra, result- own palace—rising, dressing, and eating. These
ing in Amon-Ra, who combined aspects of both. priestly ceremonies of the state religion were not
The god Osiris, slain and dismembered by his jeal- public ceremonies. In contrast, the peasants and ar-
ous brother, Seth, was restored to life by his wife, tisans worshipped any of the scores of local gods
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198 10. THE ARCHITECTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA AND ANCIENT EGYPT

associated with their particular province. Yet, sev- For the most elaborate burials of the pharaohs, sev-
eral times during the year, the great temple com- eral months were required for the many rituals ob-
plexes were the sites of public festivals that went on served by the priests. (Concerning the ancient dried
for days. and wrapped bodies, Arabs used the word mumiyah,
What served to reinforce the inherent conser- “bitumen,” for by the time of the Roman conquest,
vatism of Egyptian religion and life was the concept the practice had degenerated to dipping bodies in
of ma’at. It is a term impossible to translate into any pitch as a preservative; the English word mummy
European language, for it combines aspects of truth, comes from this.) Even after death, priests provided
justice, order, stability, security, a cosmic order of for the daily symbolic feeding of the dead. The pres-
harmony, a created and an inherited rightness. It ent life, in all its security and comforts, was lived to
was the goal of the Egyptian farmer, artisan, noble, the full, but the next life, stretching out to eternity,
and priest alike to live in accordance with ma’at, the was ultimately more important. Hence, while adobe
right order of things created at the beginning of the brick was sufficient for the houses of peasants, no-
world. Thus, to advocate radical change, whether bles, priests, and even the pharaoh and his family,
material, social, or religious, was to violate ma’at. only carefully dressed stone was proper for the
This is no doubt partly why the imposition of a rad- houses of the gods and of the dead, beginning with
ical new monotheism in religion, and a dramatic the Third Dynasty.
realism in art, undertaken by the Pharaoh Akhen- It is all too easy for modern observers to see in
aton in the Eighteenth Dynasty, was quickly swept mummification, elaborately decorated tombs, and
away after his death by the priests of Amon, who costly funereal stone architecture a morbid fixation
reestablished their temples. with death on the part of the ancient Egyptians.
Another concept that resists adequate compre- Their sensibility was in fact quite the reverse; the
hension in contemporary society is the fusion of re- Egyptians held on to a fixation with life. The easy
ligion and daily life in ancient Egypt; perhaps today and relatively carefree life made possible by the
only Orthodox Jews, conservative Mormons, and Nile was simply too good to end. Properly provided
those who adhere to fundamentalist Islam similarly for, the dead could enjoy the warm kiss of the sun;
intertwine civil and religious life. The daily life of the pleasant taste of onions, figs, and beer; the
the ancient Egyptian was filled with religion—with sound of music; and the embrace of loved ones for
the worship of Amon-Ra, of the god-king Pharaoh, all eternity.
and of the many local deities.
The Egyptian not only reveled in the pleasures
of this life but also worked to ensure that those Egyptian History
pleasures would continue into the next. Perhaps the The Nile Valley as well as the then-fertile Saharan
sense of the continuity of life and the pervasive na- savannas were inhabited as early as twenty thousand
ture of religion arose in response to what the predy- years ago, but as the last glaciers withdrew and the
nastic peoples observed happened to the bodies of climate turned warmer and dryer, oasis savannas like
the dead placed in pit graves dug in the desert sands. Nabta Playa disappeared and people were drawn to
The bodies were rapidly and naturally desiccated. the more reliable waters of the Nile Valley. Farming
Thus dried out, the bodies were no longer suscepti- villages began to appear along the Nile as early as
ble to attack by bacteria—they did not rot. Perhaps 5500 BCE, with the cultivation of domesticated bar-
this survival of the body after death promoted the ley and wheat and the raising of domesticated sheep
idea that the human spirit likewise endured, passing and goats. Around 4000 BCE, there was a substan-
to a different realm of existence. The Egyptians con- tial increase in population. Two cultures (and, even-
ceived of a soul with four distinct attributes. The Ka tually, two kingdoms) gradually developed, one in
resided with the body in the tomb or nearby, perhaps the harsher geography of the southern valley of
occupying one of the statues placed in the later, Upper Egypt (upper because it is higher in elevation)
more elaborate tombs. The Ba was a more active and another in the more moderate climate of the
physical vitality, which left the body at death and flat, northern delta marshes of Lower Egypt. Forty
could move about. The two other aspects of the soul provinces were defined (called nomes by the later
were Akh (“effective spirit”) and Sekham, an appar- Greeks and administered by regional nomarchs).
ent twin of the Ka. Predynastic burials were made Towns flourished, agriculture became organized, and
with the bodies surrounded by tools and jars filled writing was developed around 3250 BCE with pic-
with provisions for the next life. Soon, the people torial imagery. As in Mesopotamia, the first writing
developed the practice of artificially drying and was created principally to tally the taxes received.
wrapping the body, preparing it for the long afterlife. An architecture of adobe bricks reinforced with
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Egyptian History 199

straw emerged. Coated with a hard plaster, this ma- Second Intermediate Period, which lasted until
terial was sufficiently durable in a climate with little 1757 BCE.11
rain, and some of these structures have been in use With the return of strong central government
for four thousand years. Portions of the valley came during the Eighteenth Dynasty in 1575 BCE, Egypt
under the control of strong local chieftains or kings began to extend its influence south into Nubia (the
in the predynastic period, roughly 3500–3100 BCE, Sudan) and north through Palestine to the edge of
with several kings taking animal names to associate Mesopotamia. This period is called the New King-
themselves with the creatures’ strengths. Among dom or the Empire, and it lasted from 1757 BCE to
these were regional kings known such as Falcon, 1087 BCE. Among its vigorous rulers were Thut-
Double Falcon, and Scorpion, who ruled in the area mose III and Hatshepsut, the only woman to rule
of Abydos and Hierakonpolis, about 50 miles (80.5 as pharaoh in her own right. But most remarkable
km) south of Luxor. during this period was the attempt at a most radical
About 3100 BCE, the forty nomes of the two total social reform, with religious, administrative,
separate kingdoms were united by the legendary and artistic transformation by Amenhotep IV, who
King Menes (known also as Narmer), the first of changed his name to Akhenaton and attempted to
the pharaohs of the thirty subsequent dynasties.10 introduce a monotheistic religion, focused solely on
Abandoning the previous administrative capital Aton or Aten, god of the sun. This pharaoh’s orig-
at Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt, Menes/Narmer inal given name had meant “Amon is satisfied with
established a new capital at Memphis, just south this person,” whereas the new name he created for
of the delta in Lower Egypt. There followed a near- himself meant “He who is serviceable to Aton.”
thousand-year period of peace and prosperity However, the dramatic changes in religion and art
known as the Old Kingdom, from around 3100 to he initiated did not survive his reign and were ac-
2000 BCE. tively suppressed after his death. Akhenaton was
Because control of the Nile’s floodwater was es- succeeded by the young Tutankhamen, whose short
sential, Egypt very early developed a centralized reign ended with his unexpected death at age eigh-
government to administer the water. The measure- teen (it has been theorized that perhaps he was
ment of the river flow, the annual surveying of the murdered by court officials who were intent on
land after the crest, and the stockpiling of surplus obliterating Akhenaton’s influence). Deprived of
grain against lean years all encouraged the rapid the opportunity of spending a long reign preparing
development of a large bureaucracy and fostered an elaborate tomb, Tutankhamen was hastily
the creation of an absolute monarchy in which the buried in a small tomb cut in the cliffs of the Valley
ruler was more than mortal, serving as the repre- of the Kings. Later, the entrance to Tutankhamen’s
sentative of the gods. The pharaoh was viewed as tomb was buried in the debris of a larger tomb cut
a god, the son of Ra the sun god, and upon the above it and so was hidden from grave robbers until
pharaoh’s death, his place as the living god was it was found by the archaeologist Howard Carter in
taken by his son, while the spirit of the dead 1922. It was a minor tomb of a very minor pharaoh,
pharaoh became an even more powerful deity, join- and yet his was the only tomb to survive virtually
ing Ra in his boat or barge in the heavens. Govern- untouched by ancient grave robbers. A measure of
ing such a far-flung nation required the pharaoh to its wealth is that it took Carter eight years to re-
give gradually more power to the regional mon- move and catalog the two thousand priceless ob-
archs. By the end of the Sixth Dynasty, 2200 BCE, jects he found there. One can only imagine the
this had led to a breakdown in the administration surpassing wealth originally placed in the tombs of
of the Old Kingdom and to the decentralization of such great and long-lived pharaohs as Ramses II.
power. This decentralization was known as the First Among the most active builders of the Empire
Intermediate Period, from around 2200 BCE to was Ramses II (Ramses the Great), 1304–1237 BCE;
2052 BCE. During the Twelfth Dynasty, strong the Egyptian landscape is dotted with temples he
centralized government was restored and the Mid- erected. So potent did his name become that nine
dle Kingdom began, lasting from 2052 BCE to 1786 successive pharaohs after him adopted it. By 1000
BCE. The center of power now shifted to a new BCE, the Empire had ended, however, and Egypt
capital at Thebes in Upper Egypt. The once un- began a slow decline in power until it was conquered
questioned and absolute authority of the pharaoh by the Persians in 525 BCE, made part of Alexan-
of the Old Kingdom was replaced by the increasing der’s empire in 332 BCE, and then annexed by the
power of the priests of Amon, who trained and op- Romans in 30 BCE. Nonetheless, so great had been
erated the vast bureaucracy. Another bureaucratic the power of the culture of Egypt that it took a thou-
breakdown began in 1786 BCE, resulting in the sand years for its influence to subside.
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200 10. THE ARCHITECTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA AND ANCIENT EGYPT

the primeval mound of emergence at the time of

Egyptian Funerary Architecture creation. The tomb of Pharaoh Den of the First Dy-
nasty had its mound covering encased in sloping
Monumental Stone Architecture and the walls of adobe brick. The subsequent tomb of
Step Pyramid of Zoser at Saqqara Pharaoh Khasekhemwy of the Second Dynasty,
The earliest predynastic burials had been made in circa 2686 BCE, had its subterranean burial cham-
graves scooped out of the sand. Sometimes, the ber lined with stone walls, with its superimposed
graves were covered with rough stone slabs, but mastaba mound also encased in stone blocks. Grad-
jackals made short work of digging up the bodies. ually, stone replaced adobe brick in these tomb
Early Egyptians then began to build earth mound structures, which were intended to last through
structures over the graves, which were then en- eternity. In subsequent decades, as burials extended
cased by sloping mud-brick walls. As these grew to members of the royal family, clusters of mastabas
larger, small rooms were incorporated to contain would be built together, so that in death the family
offerings of food and perhaps a chamber to contain group maintained the physical proximity it had en-
a sculpture of the deceased. These early tombs were joyed in life.
rectangular and resembled the benches much later At the ancient Abydos royal necropolis, there
found outside Arab houses, and so came to be were even larger funerary buildings built about a
called mastabas (“bench” in Arabic) [10.8]. At first, mile from the tombs. Khasekhemwy, for example,
the more elaborate tombs were built for kings and also had built a huge, palace-like structure, a sort
the first pharaohs. In the 1990s, ongoing excava- of Palace of Eternity, that measured 400 by 213 feet
tions near Abydos in Upper Egypt uncovered the (122 by 65 m), with mud-brick walls 36 feet high
tombs of some of the oldest kings, including that of and 18 feet thick (11 by 5.5 m) [10.9]. After nearly
King Scorpion, an important predynastic ruler. His five thousand years, it still stands, somewhat crum-
tomb established a pattern that all the later rulers bled away in part.
built on. It consisted of a miniature, palace-like If there was one successful and abrupt artistic-
series of room chambers, built in an excavated de- cultural revolution in Egyptian architecture, it was
pression lined with mud-brick walls. Within this the architectural revolution created during the
room complex a burial shrine of wood was built, Third Dynasty by Pharaoh Zoser (also spelled
and the adjoining rooms were filled with grave Djoser or Djéser) and his architect and chief minis-
goods and regalia for use in the next world, and ter, Imhotep, in the construction of a tomb complex
then a roof of imported cedar beams was laid over at Saqqara just south of the capital city of Memphis.
the tomb. The tomb was then covered with earth Construction began in about 2750 BCE, twenty
and sand, and a mound placed on top that recalled years after Zoser came to the throne. Imhotep’s in-

10.8. Cutaway view of a mastaba. A mastaba, containing rooms for leaving offerings, was built over a subterranean burial
chamber. From Smith, Egyptian Architecture As Cultural Expression (New York, 1938).
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Egyptian Funerary Architecture 201

10.9. Palace of Khasekhemwy, Abydos, Egypt, c. 2780 BCE. This is one of the oldest ancient Egyptian buildings, now
exposed with the sand removed; the ancient adobe brick walls are being given a new veneer of fresh adobe bricks as protection.
Photo: © Mike P. Shepherd/Alamy.

novations were twofold. First, he substituted lime- the north were two identical buildings, called House
stone throughout for the mud brick, bundled reeds, of the South and House of the North, another ref-
and wood that had been used in royal buildings up erence to the pharaoh’s dual reign. The engaged
to that time (although the stone was cut in small columns in these buildings have lotus bud capitals
blocks and used like bricks). Second, and more dra- (symbolic of Upper Egypt) and papyrus-plant capi-
matic, Imhotep, working with Zoser, literally in- tals (typical of Lower Egypt’s delta). Just west of the
vented the pyramid. House of the North was another court; at its south-
Zoser’s tomb and pyramid complex were en- west corner, up against the base of the pyramid was
closed in a wall 34 feet high (10.4 m), measuring the Serdab chamber.12 Just west of the Serdab room,
1,788 feet (545 m) north to south and 909 feet (277 and on the axis of the pyramid, is a building seeming
m) east to west [10.10]. There were several false to be a stone replica of the king’s palace in Memphis,
gates but only one true entrance, at the southeast but with all rooms doubled for the king in his dual
corner. This entrance led to a long, covered corridor role as ruler of both Upper and Lower Egypt.
with twenty projecting spur-walls on each side, end- The stepped pyramid itself was started as a
ing in tapered engaged columns resembling bundles broad mastaba with a subterranean tomb chamber
of reeds; at the end was a broader chamber. It is be- cut into the rock plateau; the walls of this chamber
lieved that this passage was a symbolic representa- were lined with green glazed tile, recalling the reed
tion of the Nile, with the forty nomes along its banks mats on the walls of the king’s palace. To contain
and the broad delta at the end. Beyond the entry burials of other members of Zoser’s family, the orig-
hall was a large, open court, perhaps used in the inal mastaba was then extended at its sides, but
Heb-Sed running and dancing ceremonies to sym- then the decision was made to transform the tradi-
bolically rejuvenate the pharaoh (he had to perform tional horizontal mastaba into a vertical monument
all rituals twice, as king of both Upper and Lower by placing four more mastabas on top of the original
Egypt). Immediately to the right of the entrance gate mastaba [10.11]. Another change was made, fur-
was another long, narrow passage, running north to ther enlarging the base and changing the number
another court; beyond this passage and farther to of superimposed mastabas to five. The final result,
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202 10. THE ARCHITECTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA AND ANCIENT EGYPT

was immediately seized upon by successive rulers,

who further modified it by filling in the steps to ar-
rive at the familiar smooth angled surface.

The Pyramids at Giza

The historians of the ancient world recognized the
unique character of the pyramids at Giza; the struc-
tures were foremost among the Seven Wonders of
the World [10.12, 10.13]. Perhaps no other monu-
ment has been subjected to such probing analysis
and serious scientific study, as well as silly romantic
conjecture. The Giza trio represent the culmination
of pyramid building by the Egyptians. Each of the
great masses is perfectly aligned toward the North
Star and the perpendicular axis of the sun. The first
pyramid constructed was the northernmost and the
largest of the three; it was built for Khufu (called
Cheops by Herodotus), the second pharaoh of the
Fourth Dynasty, which lasted from circa 2680 BCE
to circa 2560 BCE. Next, to the south was built the
pyramid for Khufu’s son, Khafre (called Chephren
by Herodotus), the third pharaoh of the Fourth Dy-
nasty. Then, south and west of the center pyramid,
the last and smallest of the three pyramids was built
by Khafre’s son, Menkare (called Mycerinus by
Herodotus).The unending fascination with the Giza
pyramids is due no doubt to two factors: their sheer
size and the precision with which they were built.
The pyramid of Khufu, the largest before its outer
casing stones were removed, originally measured
440 Egyptian cubits on each side (775 feet, or
230 m) and rose to a height of 479 feet (146 m);
today, it is shorter since the outer casing of finely
fitted limestone was later removed to build portions
of Cairo. The pyramid’s sides have an angle of
51°50'. At first, Khufu’s pyramid was to cover a sub-
terranean burial chamber cut deep into the rock of
the plateau, but as the layers of blocks were put in
place, this arrangement was changed to a slightly el-
10.10. Imhotep, Pyramid of Zoser, Saqqara, Egypt, c. 2750 evated burial chamber, and then there was a further
BCE. Plan of the pyramid sanctuary complex. Aside from change to an even more elevated chamber at almost
the pyramid itself, nearly everything inside the walls was
the exact center of the pyramid’s mass [10.14].
doubled, representing the two united kingdoms of Upper and
Lower Egypt. Drawing: A. Stockler and L. M. Roth.
The pyramid of Khafre was 707 feet square
(215.5 m) and rose 470 feet (143.5 m). It is the only
one of the three to retain a portion of its original
sheathed in fine, white limestone, was a stepped limestone casing at the top; in places, this still has
pyramid measuring 459 feet (140 m) east to west, something of its original polish, now weathered.
387 feet (118 m) north to south, with an original The pyramid’s sides have a slope of 53°10'. The
height of 197 feet (60 m). smaller pyramid for Menkare measured 356 feet
Why Zoser should have ordered this unprece- square (108.5 m) and rose 281 feet (66.5 m), with
dented change, and why Imhotep should have de- slides sloping 50°; it too is missing its casing, the
vised it, are impossible to tell. It is just possible that lower sixteen courses of which were of granite.
through trade, Egyptians had learned of early zig- The pyramids are virtual mountains, at the time
gurat construction in Sumer. But the pyramid form the largest buildings in the world, hauled block by
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203

10.11. Pyramid of Zoser. View of the pyramid. Now missing much of the outer casing, the steps of the pyramid once rose to a
height of 197 feet (60 m). Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich.

10.12. Pyramid complex at Giza, Egypt, c. 2680–2560 BCE. Aerial view to the northeast. Carefully aligned on north-south
and east-west axes, these three stone pyramids were the largest ever built. They were the tombs of the pharaohs Khufu,
Khafre, and Menkare. Photo: Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY.
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204 10. THE ARCHITECTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA AND ANCIENT EGYPT

10.13. Plan of the Giza pyramid

group. Surrounding the large pyramids
were smaller tombs for members of the
royal family, mortuary temples where
the last stages of mummification were
completed, and causeways that
reached to the floodwaters of the Nile.
Drawing: A. Stockler.

block up to the plateau from the Nile. The base of connecting to a causeway sloping up to the foot of
Khufu’s pyramid covers just over 13 acres (5.3 hec- the pyramid over which the stones for the pyramid
tares); it is big enough to contain the plans of the were dragged. At the end of the causeway and at
cathedrals of Florence and Milan, the basilica of the base of the pyramid was a mortuary temple and
Saint Peter in Rome, as well as Saint Paul’s and a surrounding necropolis (Greek for “city of the
Westminster Abbey in London, and still have room dead”) of small pyramids, tombs, and mastabas for
left over. Including the casing stones, it contained members of the royal family. The Valley Temple of
about 2.3 million blocks, each weighing about 2.5 Khafre, mentioned in Chapter 3 as an example of
tons (2,268 kg), although some weigh as much as pure post and lintel construction, has columns and
15 tons (13,608 kg); the total weight is estimated beams cut of red granite placed on a floor of al-
at 6.5 million tons. When Napoleon sat at the foot abaster [3.10]. Inside were twenty-three statues of
of the pyramids in 1798, he reportedly calculated the king, temporary abodes of the Ka, and in this
that there was enough material in all three to build temple, it is likely that Khafre’s body was ritually
a wall 3 meters high and 1 meter thick around the washed and the complex process of mummification
whole of France. carried out. Just to the north of Khafre’s Valley
The individual pyramids were the most visible Temple, the king’s sculptors took advantage of a
part of extensive surrounding funereal complexes. rock outcropping and carved an enormous figure,
Each was approached through a canal cut from the the Sphinx, with the body of a crouching lion and
high-water bank of the Nile. At the end of this the head of the pharaoh, with the forepaws built of
canal was a valley temple with auxiliary structures stone blocks.
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Egyptian Funerary Architecture 205

Two questions arise: How was the stupendous earth, but as the pyramid rose, this would have ne-
construction of the pyramids accomplished? More cessitated the continual raising and lengthening of
important: Why was nearly the whole of the working the ramp at each level; half the workers would have
force of Egypt occupied with such a gargantuan task been doing nothing but building the ramp. A more
for years on end? To appreciate the scope of the logical procedure would have been to construct four
workers’ accomplishment, one must remember that helical ramps going up each side of the pyramid and
the Egyptians used only tools of wood, stone, and wrapping around it—three ramps for teams hauling
copper and employed no wheeled vehicles (they sledges or rollers up to the working level and one
adopted the war chariot only after 1750 BCE). for the empty sledges to come down. Once the cap-
Either the stone blocks were lashed to sledges and stone at the top of the finished pyramid was put in
rolled over logs or perhaps four crescent-shaped place and the final casing was polished, the earth
wooden pallets were tied to square stone blocks, a ramps could be removed from the top down.
setup that might have enabled a few workmen to There are no contemporary accounts of how the
roll the stones. Most of the journey, from quarry pyramids were built or how many workmen were
to building site, however, was made possible by ship- employed. Two thousand years after the fact, He-
ment along the Nile. One of the most critical steps rodotus was told that 100,000 men were engaged
was leveling the platform of the plateau to receive for “periods of three months,” and that it took
the base of the pyramid, for the slightest misalign- twenty years to erect Khufu’s pyramid, but no de-
ment would cause increasingly severe compounded tails as to how the stones were moved or fitted into
problems toward the top of the pyramid. The level- position were (nor probably could be) passed on to
ing was achieved by means of trenches filled with him. Herodotus believed that four crews of 100,000
water, and so exact was this work that modern sur- worked year-round, but it now seems more likely
veying instruments have detected a rise of only ½ that most of the workers were employed during the
inch (less than 2 cm) at the northwest corner of height of Inundation, when farming came to a halt
Khufu’s pyramid. Once the huge stone platform was and when the waters rose closest to the quarry sites
dressed and made ready, the blocks were put in and to the pyramid plateau. Based on estimates of
place, layer upon layer, year after year. the weight of the blocks, the distances they had to
How were the stones lifted, layer upon layer? A be moved, and the capacity of teams of eight or ten
conventional notion is of a single, long ramp of workmen, it seems likely that 100,000 men moved

10.14. Pyramid of Khufu, Giza,

Egypt, c. 2680–2560 BCE.
Cross section. The cross section
reveals the changes in the design,
with the first proposed burial
chamber deep below the pyramid,
the second shifted to a position
above the initial layers of stone
blocks, and the final burial
chamber shifted to a point nearly
at the center of the mass.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
A. Fahkry, The Pyramids (1961).
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206 10. THE ARCHITECTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA AND ANCIENT EGYPT

a single year’s production of rough-cut stones from water at creation, catching the first light of the sun.
quarry to building site during Inundation. Excava- The pyramids were possibly considered gigantic
tions have revealed what appear to have been ben-bens. Their capstones were covered in glisten-
lodges housing up to 4,000 workmen at the base of ing gold leaf, and from them, the spirit of the
the pyramid of Khafre. This would be approxi- pharaoh greeted Ra on the dawn after his burial.
mately the correct number of skilled masons re- This interpretation is suggested by the Egyptian
quired year-round to do the finishing work. word for pyramid, m(e)r (our word pyramid is a
The most essential question remains: Why was Greek term). In Egyptian hieroglyphs, the prefix m
such stupendous effort expended? Conventional means “place” or “instrument.” The character ‘r,
wisdom, reinforced in numerous fictional depic- meaning “place to ascend,” was written with the
tions and motion pictures, tells us that the work- symbol resembling back-to-back stairs or per-
men were under the whip, that they were slaves haps a side view of a step pyramid. This suggests
forced to build for the aggrandizement of the pha- that when the Egyptians spoke of the m(e)r of
raoh. The Old Testament informs us that the Is- Khufu, they meant literally “the instrument by
raelites performed labor of this kind, but the which Khufu ascends.” And the texts inscribed in
Israelites were slaves in Egypt at least 850 years the chambers and passageways of later Fourth Dy-
after the pyramids were built, during a very unset- nasty pyramids (the so-called Pyramid Texts) con-
tled time in Egypt. The Fourth Dynasty was a kind tain passages that reinforce this interpretation. For
of golden age in Egypt, a time of peace, security, example, Spell 267 reads: “A staircase to heaven is
and plenty. During the Old Kingdom, the god-king laid [for Pharaoh] so that he may mount up to
pharaoh ruled supreme, aided by the priests of Ra. heaven thereby.” Under certain afternoon condi-
At this point, the idea of an afterlife was confined tions, with dust in the air catching the light of the
largely to the pharaoh and his immediate family lowering sun as it pierces an opening in clouds, a
(only after the upsets of the First Intermediate pyramid of light seems to reach to earth; perhaps
Period and the emergence of the Middle Kingdom this is what Spell 508 means: “I have trodden thy
did there arise the egalitarian notion of an afterlife rays as a ramp under my feet whereupon I mount
for everyone). In the Old Kingdom, at death the up.” And as Spell 523 relates, “Heaven hath
pharaoh became a god, joining Ra in his daily pas- strengthened for thee the rays of the sun in order
sage through the heavens; the spirit of the dead that thou mayest lift thyself to heaven as the eye of
pharaoh became an intercessor to the gods on be- Ra.”14 In other words, the pyramid was the king’s
half of his people, their sole link to the gods. launching place, the man-made mountain whose
For three months of the year, farming work in gilded summit would catch the first rays of the sun,
the fields came to a halt. In all but the worst times, from which the soul of the pharaoh would rise to
the fields yielded more food than was required in a greet Ra in his eternal endeavor to ensure ma’at,
year, so that by attentive study of the river flooding the never-ending rightness of all things for his liv-
and diversion of water to fields, and through careful ing subjects below.
management of the surplus of grain, it was possible
to have levies of men from each of the forty nomes
sent to Giza during Inundation as a kind of public Egyptian Tombs
works project during the flood. There were likely Pyramid building essentially ceased following the
no whips, but willing laborers instead. For the end of the Old Kingdom. By the Middle Kingdom,
workmen, this was an investment in their families’ the pyramids had already been penetrated by de-
future, since if the pharaoh were properly conveyed termined thieves and their treasures stolen and
to Ra, it would benefit them all. One foreman the tombs stripped bare. The looming presence of
wrote that the men worked “without a single man the pyramids was a permanent advertisement as to
getting exhausted, without a man thirsting” and where untold riches were available for the taking,
that they “came home in good spirits, sated with and so by the Middle Kingdom the tombs of the
bread, drunk with beer, as if it were a beautiful fes- pharaohs were carved deep below the cliffs of the
tival of a god.”13 Valley of the Kings on the west side of the Nile,
The pyramids may also have been viewed as across from the huge temple complexes of Karnak
serving a purely practical purpose. In the ancient and Luxor. The nearby village at Deir el-Medina
Temple of Ra, in the sacred delta city that the housed the small army of artisans and scribes who
Greeks called Heliopolis (City of the Sun), was a were basically permanently employed cutting and
pointed stone called the ben-ben, said to symbolize decorating those tombs. Even those royal tombs,
the primordial mound that first emerged from the with their hidden entrances, were eventually lo-
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The Temple of Amon at Karnak and Other Egyptian Temples 207

cated and looted, although the thieves did set aside many centuries, and would continue to be for cen-
the royal mummies, many of which survive even turies after her reign. Among her many other ac-
though their unimaginable treasures do not. It was complishments was a commercial expedition to the
only the tomb of a minor forgotten pharaoh who Land of Punt (modern Somalia), which brought
died mysteriously at the age of eighteen that re- back myrrh trees. Hatshepsut gave her architect
mained virtually untouched, and it survived only and chief administrator, Senmut, the task of build-
because its entrance was completely covered by the ing a terraced mortuary chapel complex next to
debris cut out of the rock above to create the tomb that of Mentuhotep, to serve also as an earthly par-
of a much greater, later pharaoh.15 Of course, as is adise for Amon, with a myrrh tree garden recalling
well known today, this tomb that survived essen- those of Punt. Along the axis that runs to the Tem-
tially unscathed was the one made hastily for Tu- ple of Amon at Karnak across the river, Senmut
tankhamen after his untimely death. It must be laid out a Valley Temple opening to a long cause-
remembered that the other pharaohs who ruled way lined with figures of sphinxes, leading to a
long and powerfully—Ramses II, for example— broad forecourt lined with trees. Along the west
devoted decades to having their tombs prepared wall runs a colonnade of blunt square piers, behind
and decorated and had countless precious objects which are more delicate faceted sixteen-sided
made to accompany them into the afterlife—all of columns (they begin to approach the severity of
which, save the tombs themselves, disappeared. early Greek Doric columns); the colonnade is in-
This is what makes the hastily assembled splendors terrupted at its center by a ramp that rises to an
of Tutankhamen’s tomb all the more remarkable. upper terrace. Along the west side of this terrace,
too, is a double colonnade, serving as a porch to
temples at the far ends. These temples were dedi-
The Tomb of Hatshepsut cated to Hathor, the goddess of love and associated
at Deir el Bahri with the arts and music, and to Anubis, the god of
The absolute theocratic power of the pharaohs dur- mummification. Deeper inside this porch was an
ing the Fourth Dynasty was never equaled, and as a open peristyle court flanked by temples of Amon
consequence, the Giza pyramids were never sur- and Ra cut into the face of the cliff. The entire
passed. Smaller pyramids were built by subsequent mortuary temple complex is rooted in the axial and
kings, but after the disruption of the First Interme- orthogonal traditions of Egyptian geometry and
diate Period, tombs and temples replaced pyramids spatial organization. But its unique features consist
as the major royal building enterprises. Even the of how Senmut integrated the terraces into the hor-
gods felt this upheaval, for Ra was displaced as the izontal layers of the cliff, with the vertical lines of
principal god by Amon, whose priests were centered the colonnades echoing the vertical weathered
at Thebes, the new city in middle Upper Egypt. In grooves of the cliff faces, making temple and cliff
the Middle Kingdom, the political center shifted to seem to be extensions of each other.
Thebes, and south of it two large temples to Amon Building a temple-tomb at the base of a cliff—
arose, at Karnak and at Luxor. Across from the tem- and, even more, the raising of a huge artificial stone
ples, on the west bank of the Nile, beyond which mountain over one’s tomb—simply advertised
the sun set, tombs were built at the edge of the cul- where the treasure was stored. Despite having
tivated valley floor, cut into the face of the cliffs. guards posted, the tombs were invariably robbed,
The model for this type of tomb was provided by the and so the previous practice of building imposing
terraced complex built against the base of the west- visible tombs shifted to the cutting of tombs, hidden
ern cliff at Deir el Bahri by the Eleventh Dynasty deep into the cliffs that surrounded the Valley of the
pharaoh, Mentuhotep, in about 2120 BCE. Its large Kings, located behind where Queen Hatshepsut’s
middle colonnaded terrace, aligned on the axis of tomb was built. Most of the royal tombs of the
the Temple of Amon at Karnak across the river, was Middle Kingdom were dug into these cliffs. For
once perhaps pierced by a pyramid measuring 70 centuries, an elite cadre of scribes, stone carvers,
feet square (21.5 m) at its base.16 painters, and artisans of various skills was kept busy
Mentuhotep’s tomb now survives in fragments, preparing these tombs.
but next to it, in much better condition, is the tomb
of Queen Hatshepsut, pharaoh of the Eighteenth
Dynasty, who ruled from 1503 to 1482 BCE [10.15, The Temple of Amon at Karnak and
10.16]. Perhaps her most singular accomplishment Other Egyptian Temples
was becoming a pharaoh, a woman ruling in a pa- Temples were more than places of worship; they
triarchal society that had been ruled by men for combined centers of learning and administration
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208

10.15. Senmut, Tomb of Queen Hatshepsut, Deir el Bahri, Egypt, c. 1500 BCE. This remarkable tomb-temple complex is
integrated into the base of the cliff west of the Nile, and originally included a grove of myrrh trees brought back by the queen
from Punt (Somalia). Photo: Hirmer Verlag, Munich.

10.16. Plan of the Tomb of Queen

Hatshepsut. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after J. L. de Cenival, Living
Architecture: Egyptian (New
York, 1964).
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The Temple of Amon at Karnak and Other Egyptian Temples 209

for the nation. The Egyptian temple, the most im- windows [10.18, 10.19]. Beyond this lay the sekos,
portant public building by the time of the Middle the sanctuary reserved for the priests, focusing on
Kingdom, was far more than a church—as we a chamber containing the ceremonial boat, or
might imagine. It was the residence and training barge, in which the statue of the god was moved
ground of the immense bureaucracy that ran the during festivals.17 At the very rear of the temple was
country. Priests taught writing and painting (to en- a chamber in which resided the image of the god,
sure that the images and inscriptions in the tombs typically a wooden statue covered with gold. At
were correct). The large temples included schools, daybreak, the statue would be removed from its
universities, libraries, and archives; they were cen- chamber for ritual washing, dressing, and feeding,
ters for government administration, scientific and before being returned.
medical study, and agricultural administration; and As this description suggests, the main sections
they served as public granaries and workshops. The of the temple were much like those of a typical
temples were also the site of elaborate, prolonged Egyptian house (for this was the house of the god,
theatrical religious festivals celebrated at Inunda- after all), with an entrance garden court, a formal
tion, when work came to a halt in the fields. reception hall whose roof was supported by a series
At Karnak, south of Thebes, the great Temple of painted columns, and private chambers. Once
of Amon gradually became the religious and ad- perfected in the Middle and New Kingdoms, the
ministrative center of the Egyptian Empire [10.17]. temple form was used for fifteen hundred years,
As a temple of Amon, it had been a sacred site into the period of Roman annexation. Most tem-
since the Old Kingdom, but after the Tenth Dy- ples were built on an axis that ran perpendicular to
nasty, it steadily rose in prominence as the major the river, so that in the ritual washing of the image
sacred site in Egypt. As Thebes prospered with the of Amon-Ra in the morning, the priest faced in the
influx of the spoils of war and the trade of the ex- direction of the rising sun.
panding Egyptian Empire, the temples to Amon at The huge Temple of Amon at Karnak follows
Karnak and Luxor were enlarged by succeeding this same pattern [10.20]. The core of the sanctu-
pharaohs. ary, already of considerable size, about 265 by 170
There were two principal sacred areas immedi- feet (81 by 52 m), apparently survived from the
ately south of Thebes on the east bank of the Nile: Middle Kingdom. In front of this sanctuary, Thut-
In addition to the Temple of Amon at Karnak, an- mose I added two massive entrance pylons in about
other temple was situated about half a mile further 1520 BCE, enclosing a narrow forecourt. All of this
to the south, at Luxor. The temple at Luxor was was then encased in a new outer wall, with addi-
aligned roughly parallel to the bank of the Nile, but tional sanctuary chambers added to the rear by
the one at Karnak had its axis pointing toward the Thutmose III in about 1460 BCE, which brought
winter solstice sunrise. Both temples were rebuilt the overall dimensions to about 548 by 275 feet
during the Eighteenth Dynasty and then succes- (167 by 84 m). An even larger entrance pylon was
sively enlarged. Several additional temples, includ- built 48 feet (14.5 m) to the front by Amenhotep III
ing smaller temples dedicated to Montu, Mut, in about 1400 BCE. Then, about eighty years later,
Ptah, and Khonsu, were placed around the com- Ramses I added yet another, even larger entrance
pound at Karnak. pylon, nearly 41 feet (12.5 me) thick at its base,
Because the larger Temple of Amon at Karnak roughly 161 feet (49 m) farther to the northwest.
became exceedingly complex as it was enlarged, the From 1315 BCE to 1235 BCE, Seti I and his son,
smaller Temple of Khonsu—which was integrated the prodigious builder Ramses II, connected this
into the larger temple system and was built by Ram- pylon to that of Amenhotep III with an enclosing
ses III in about 1170 BCE—illustrates more clearly wall and built between them the great hypostyle hall
the basic components of the New Kingdom temple. enclosing an area measuring 320 by 160 feet (97.5
The temple was approached along an avenue by 48.75 m). In this hall were placed 134 enormous
marked by sphinxes and leading to an entrance columns [10.21, p. 186; 10.22]. The 122 shorter,
pylon, or a massive, sloped (battered) wall pierced lotus-bud columns rise 42 feet and are 9 feet in di-
by a narrow door. Slots in the battered wall accom- ameter (12.8 by 2.75 m), whereas the 12 lotus-
modated flagpoles from which brightly colored ban- blossom, or bell, columns defining the central axis
ners hung. One passed through the pylon into an are 69 feet high and 11.75 feet in diameter (21 by
open forecourt that was enclosed by massive colon- 3.6 m). All the columns were carved and painted
nades. Proceeding along the axis through this with inscriptions, and in this Hall of the Two
colonnade, one reached the hypostyle hall, a roofed Crowns the pharaohs’ coronations were celebrated.
chamber filled with columns and lit by clerestory The taller central columns permitted clerestory
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210

10.17. General plan of the temple complex at Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, c. 2000–323 BCE. The core of the ancient Middle
Kingdom temple was wrapped with new chambers, courts, and pylons by successive pharaohs for more than 1,700 years.
This was the greatest and richest administrative/religious center in ancient Egypt. Drawing: A. Stockler and L. M. Roth,
after Badawy, Architecture in Ancient Egypt (Cambridge, MA, 1966).
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The Temple of Amon at Karnak and Other Egyptian Temples 211

10.18. Temple of Khonsu at Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, c. 1170 BCE. Plan. This relatively small temple illustrates the basic
elements of all Egyptian temple design, with an entry forecourt, a public hypostyle hall, and the inner sekos, a chamber
reserved for the priests. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after B. Fletcher, A History of Architecture (New York, 1931).

lighting through stone louvers. Ramses II added yet after the conquest by Alexander, in 332 BCE. Al-
another enclosing wall around the temple at Kar- together, construction continued for more than sev-
nak. About 1170 BCE, Ramses III built a small tem- enteen hundred years, with the final dimensions
ple house for himself south of the entrance axis and reaching 1,200 by 320 feet (366 by 98 m).
adjacent to the entrance pylon of Ramses I. Two Around the temple itself were smaller auxiliary
and a half centuries later, during the Twenty-First temples, a sacred lake or pool, gardens, granaries,
Dynasty, the walls enclosing the great entrance fore- administrative buildings, schools, and other build-
court were built, and the enclosure of this vast ings in an enclosed compound more than a quarter
space, 330 by 275 feet (100.5 by 84 m), was made of a mile square, or 160 acres. The sacred lake
complete by the erection of the entrance pylon just and the ceremonial boats housed in the temple for

10.19. Cutaway perspective of Temple of Khonsu. From B. Fletcher, A History of Architecture (New York, 1931).
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212 10. THE ARCHITECTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA AND ANCIENT EGYPT

10.20. Temple of Amon at Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, c. 2000–323 BCE. Plan. The parts of the temple still standing
include the middle sanctuary built by Thutmose III (c. 1460 BCE) and the soaring Hypostyle Hall built by Ramses II
(c. 1315–1235 BCE). Drawing: L. M. Roth, after B. Fletcher, A History of Architecture (New York, 1931).

carrying the images of the gods from temple to tem- adobe mud brick. Under Pharaoh Akhenaton, a
ple during festivals reaffirmed the connection with new capital city, called Akhetaten (The Horizon of
the river, which lapped at the eastern boundary of Aton), was built around 1379–1362 BCE at a site
the temple. The entire temple complex, with its located in the virtual geographic center of ancient
lotus- and papyrus-shaped columns connoting Egypt, now called Tel el Amarna. It was to be the
marsh vegetation and its sacred lake and pools, was headquarters for the religious revolution being at-
in fact a formal representation of “the island of cre- tempted by Akhenaton. After Akhenaton’s death,
ation” when the world first appeared. The orienta- the city and its new temples were deliberately pulled
tion of the Karnak temple axis toward the winter down by the priests of Amon, and the stones of the
solstice sunrise makes clear the connection with temple were reused in later buildings.18 Yet frag-
the sun. This relationship is confirmed by the de- ments of Tel el Amarna survive, permitting a recon-
scriptions given to the parts of the temple, for as struction of one commodious villa in a northern
the temple complex was extended to the west, its “suburb” [10.23, 10.24]. From the street, one en-
constituent parts were said to represent the hours tered through a gate in the surrounding wall; imme-
of the day. For nearly three thousand years, Egyp- diately to the left was a small gatekeeper’s lodge.
tian builders continually reasserted the primeval Within a walled garden was a small temple to Aton,
rhythm of sun and river, guarding against change the new god. Past an inner garden court was the
and perpetuating ma’at. house complex, focused on the North Room and
the Central Room at the core of the house. Around
this core were arranged a West Room for guests, the
Egyptian Villages and Houses wives’ quarters on the south side, and the master’s
The ancient Egyptian metropolises of Memphis and suite in the southeast corner. Windows in the thick
Thebes have disappeared, for they were built of adobe-brick walls were evidently quite small to re-
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Egyptian Villages and Houses 213

10.22. Hypostyle Hall, Temple of Amon, Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, c. 1315–1235 BCE. The huge columns along the central
axis are 11.75 feet (3.6 m) in diameter and rise 69 feet (21 m); the axis they define is aligned to the rising sun at midwinter,
pointing directly to the Valley of the Kings on the west side of the Nile. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art
Resource, NY.

duce heat gain, and the center portions rose to per- and the kitchen in the southeast corner, with a cat-
mit light and ventilation through clerestory win- tle barn and a well along the east side. This was
dows. Around the principal house were a granary clearly the abode of a favored and successful admin-
on the west side, stables and a chariot room in the istrator, perhaps a priest who served in the temple.
southwest corner of the compound, servants’ quar- Scribes and artisans also lived reasonably well, for
ters in the south-central portion, and storerooms their skills were crucial to the operation of temple
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214

10.23. Suburban villa,

Akhetaten (today’s Tel el
Amarna), “Horizon of the
Aten,” Egypt, c. 1379–1362
BCE. This model (Oriental
Institute, University of Chicago)
of a villa outside Akhenaton’s
new capital city shows the basic
elements of a large household,
including a small private temple
for worship of the newly declared
god Aton. Photo: Courtesy,
University of Chicago.

10.24. Plan of villa at Akhetaten

(Tel el Amarna). Plan Drawing:
L. M. Roth, after Lloyd, Muller,
and Martin, Ancient Architecture
(New York, 1973).

b = bathing room
c = caretaker’s room
ch = chapel
g = guest room
gr = granaries
k = kitchen
ls = livestock
mb = master’s bedroom
s = store rooms
sv = servants room
w = well
wo = wives’ quarters
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Late Egyptian Architecture 215

services and the creation of inscriptions and paint- clerestory lighting, with a bedroom behind it. To the
ings in the temples and tombs. The temple artisans’ rear was a court with stairs to the roof and the
quarter in Thebes has long since disappeared, but kitchen open to the sky for ventilation. Often, a small
the special town built for the artisans working on the storage cellar was excavated beneath the house.
tombs in the Valley of the Kings has survived in part
[10.25]. The town was founded by Tuthmose I in
about 1530 BCE to house this special corps of artists, Late Egyptian Architecture
craftsmen, and scribes. Now called Deir el-Medina, What so distinguishes Egyptian architecture is the
it was placed in a depression atop the cliffs overlook- deliberate resistance to change, or rather the accept-
ing the green fields of the Nile valley and Thebes ance of only the most gradual modifications in ar-
and Karnak to the east, with a path leading down to chitectural form over a span of almost twenty-seven
the desert Valley of the Kings just to the north. The hundred years. This persistence of form, especially
town’s elevated position allowed breezes to reach it. in temple design, is well illustrated by structures built
The artisans’ houses, one room wide and several during the Ptolemaic period, after Egypt had been
rooms deep [10.26], have the same major parts as conquered by Alexander and was then administered
the larger Amarna villa. The dimensions range from by Greeks. The new Temple of Horus, at Edfu, 237–
13 to 20 feet wide (4 to 6 m) and 65 to 83 feet long 212 BCE, might pass, at first glance, for a temple of
(20 to 25 m). The front room, with a door to the a thousand years earlier [10.27]. As noted above,
narrow street, was a reception room with a small its walls carry inscriptions noting the care taken in
shrine to the household god Bes. Beyond the front following the ancient traditions. Like the Temple of
room was a taller, larger room, presumed to have had Khonsu at Karnak, it is entered through a massive

10.25. Plan of the tomb-artisans’ village

of Deir el-Medina, Egypt, begun c. 1530
BCE. This village was inhabited by the
scribes, painters, and sculptors who
constructed the tombs of the kings and
queens of Egypt; it was located on the
cliffs overlooking the green Nile valley to
the east and the Valley of the Kings to the
west. Plan Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
Lloyd, Muller, and Martin, Ancient
Architecture (New York, 1973).
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216

10.26. One of the artisans’ houses at Deir el-Medina. Plan and section. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after James, Introduction to
Ancient Egypt (New York, 1989).

10.27. Temple of Horus, Edfu, Egypt, 237–212 BCE. The conservatism of Egyptian attitudes concerning shunning changes
in architecture are evident in this temple built a millennium after those at Karnak. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
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An Architecture for Eternity 217

pylon forming the end of the entrance court; beyond nuity and order; this unending effort to thwart time,
this is a shallow hypostyle hall connecting with the death, and decay bound the architect to the service
inner sanctuary. All parts are aligned on an orthog- of tradition. In part, this adherence to tradition arose
onal grid, and everything is organized along a dom- out of the need for proper management of the Nile
inant axis. Yet one detail suggests its late period and waters, which required continual social cooperation
a sense of experimentation among its designers: the and strict discipline. As historian E. B. Smith wrote,
columns of the court do not carry the lintels directly the “beneficent tyranny of the Nile” created in Egypt
on their open palm capitals but instead tall blocks a benign “environmental despotism” rather than a
are inserted, lifting the lintels higher and seeming to “social tyranny.”19 Ancient Egyptian society was one
deny the weight of the massive stone beams. in which man and nature were bound into a fixed
The sense of mass and timelessness that had pattern, and the pharaoh became the divine symbol
characterized Egyptian architecture since the Third of that absolute and permanent man-nature rela-
Dynasty began to dissipate after the end of the tionship. In response, Egyptian architecture was one
Thirty-First Dynasty. The world was no longer of immovable, massive geometric forms, sharp-edged
viewed as changeless, following an endlessly recur- and crystalline. The Egyptians valued bigness, mass,
ring cycle, for indeed these temples were built not and solidity as the expression of durability, a guaran-
at the direction of Egyptian pharaohs but by Greek tee of unending security and indestructibility. The
rulers placed on the throne by conquering Alexan- constant repetition of their sacred chants found a
der. The world was changing, and the fixed rules of parallel in the repetition of pylon after pylon and col-
Egyptian architecture were being stretched to ac- umn after column in their temples. And yet, out of
commodate these changes. obelisk, pylon, hypostyle hall, and all the other ar-
chitectural elements, the Egyptians never fashioned
an organic architecture; for all their pragmatic sci-
An Architecture for Eternity ence they speculated or theorized very little. The
Egyptian architecture changed only in subtle ways Egyptians never stepped back from the architectural
during thirty-one dynasties, over twenty-seven hun- object, never studied it reflectively as an abstract
dred years. The goal of Egyptian culture, and the thing, because, as E. B. Smith further observed, “they
architecture that housed its institutions, was conti- saw not the stone but the symbol.”20
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11.21. Temple of Athena Nike, Akropolis, Athens, Greece, c. 435–420 BCE. Having gone past the projecting bastion on
which this temple sits, the visitor enters the sacred precinct of the Akropolis through the Propylaia gateway. Circling around
the entry Propylaia, the visitor is greeted by this jewel of ancient Greek architecture. Photo: A. Frantz.
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Chapter 11

Greek Architecture

R
The Greek architect . . . dealt with forms both
the intellectual clarity of ancient Greek architec-
ture, we must know something of the intellectually
natural and constructed. With them he celebrated rigorous civilization that gave rise to it.
his three deathless themes: the sanctity of the earth, The ancient Greeks of the period 750 BCE to
the tragic stature of mortal life upon the earth, and 350 BCE learned much from Egypt, apparently
the whole natures of those recognitions of the facts adapting their earliest sculpture and post and lintel
of existence which are the gods. stone architecture from Egyptian models. They
—Vincent Scully, The Earth, readily admitted this, for as Plato wrote in Epinomis,
the Temple, and the Gods, 1962

R
“Whatever the Greeks acquire from foreigners is
finally turned by them into something nobler.”2
Quickly, however, the Greeks shaped an art and ar-
chitecture distinctly their own, creating a system of

T he Greeks were proud of their public and

sacred architecture, and even in antiquity, the
white marble Parthenon atop the Akropolis hill in
values celebrating dynamic human capacities that
has formed the basis of Western civilization ever
since.
Athens was recognized as a special achievement.
One writer of the second century BCE, in describing
his visit to Athens, wrote admiringly of the “costly, The Geography of Greece
remarkable, and far-seen temple of Athena called Unlike Egypt, where the river and desert encour-
the Parthe-non” rising on the Akropolis to greet aged a particularly static culture, Greece’s very dif-
those coming into the city.1 In the following millen- ferent geography and climate influenced a more
nia, the Parthenon continued to be praised in liter- dynamic culture and fostered a much different view
ary works even though Europeans seldom visited of a human’s place in the world [11.1]. In ancient
Greece once that country was absorbed into the times, Greece included more than the broad penin-
Ottoman Turkish Empire in the fifteenth century. sula, extending from the Balkans at the southeast
Only in the mid-eighteenth century did an English corner of Europe; from the second millennium BCE
expedition, led by James Stuart and Nicholas onward, Greek territory also included the scores of
Revett, venture to Athens to record in a scientific islands scattered to the south and east, as well as
way the actual appearance of the fabled Parthenon. the area along the coast of Anatolia, or Asia Minor,
The reputation that the ancients had attributed to in what is now Turkey. The ancient Greeks, in fact,
the building was confirmed, and the Parthenon be- spoke of the Aegean Sea between the Greek penin-
came a singular symbol of the clarity and precision sula and Asia Minor as “the pond,” since their
of ancient Greek architecture. In the nineteenth countrymen were scattered about its edges.
century, this led to a revival of Greek architecture Everywhere, the Greek landscape is rough, a
in which the form was understood even if the spirit corrugated mass of limestone and marble mountain
that created the Parthenon was missing. Since the ridges extending into the sea like fingers, sheltering
mid-nineteenth century, as study of Greek history innumerable bays and coves. The land is divided
and literature has ceased to be the measure of a into three main parts, centered on the principal
well-educated person, ignorance of ancient Greek peninsula. To the southeast of the main peninsula is
culture has increased. Hence, to better understand Attica and the city of Athens. East of the peninsula

219
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220 11. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

11.1. Map of Ancient Greece.

lies the large island of Euboea, close to shore. To the quakes, dangers seldom encountered by the Egyp-
south, like a gigantic hand with its fingers out- tians. The agricultural economy of the Greeks
stretched and pointing the way to Crete and Egypt, was based on small farms individually owned and
is the peninsula of the Peloponnese, attached to operated, and both this economy and the rugged
the mainland mass by a narrow isthmus at Corinth. landscape prevented consolidation of the many
There is little flat soil except in coastal plains separated Greek city-states into a single centralized
and occasional inland valleys. Farming was always nation. Nonetheless, the Greeks shared a common
difficult and became more so as the forests were cut religion and a rich subtle language that set them
and the thin upland soil washed into the sea. This apart from those who spoke what sounded to them
erosion was already well advanced even in ancient like nonsense, “bah-bah”—the barbaroi, or barbar-
times, for Plato observed in Critias that “the fertile ians. The Greeks identified themselves as a whole,
soil has fallen away, leaving only the skeleton of the whatever their individual city-state allegiance, as
land.”3 Travel from one valley or plain to the next Hellenes and their land, as Hellas.
was always treacherous; hence, the Greeks turned
to the sea very early as their major highway, and
this risk-taking on the seas, in turn, bred in the Minoan and Mycenaean Greece
Greeks an adventurousness of spirit, a love of ac- The Greeks of what is customarily called the Clas-
tion, and a readiness to put their strength to the sic period, roughly 479 BCE to 338 BCE (the
test. The tough, resilient fiber of the Greeks was period focused on here), had descended in stages
formed in response to an environment that could from Bronze Age cultures that flourished first on
change dramatically in an instant, for besides vio- the island of Crete and the islands of the Cyclades
lent thunderstorms, the region is prone to earth- in the Aegean Sea, and then on the Peloponneses
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Minoan and Mycenaean Greece 221

and in central Greece. The oldest culture was the fensive walls, suggesting that the Minoans had such
Minoan, which began as early as 3400 BCE and complete control of the sea they feared no invasion.
reached its peak between 1600 BCE and 1400 This focus on the secular life of the palace sets Mi-
BCE. It was named after the mythical King Minos noan culture apart from that of Egypt, with its focus
by the archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans, who be- on the tomb, or that of Mesopotamia, with its focus
lieved the culture had been centered in the im- on the towering ziggurat temple.
mense and sprawling palace and administrative Just prior to 2000 BCE, the outlying mainland
complex at Knossos, which he began to excavate Minoan settlements were taken over by a new group
in about 1900 [11.2]. that, presumably, moved down from the north. By
The Knossos palace measured more than 460 1600 BCE, the newcomers had established their
feet (140 m) square, centered about an open court own distinct culture, called Mycenaean after the
running on a roughly north-south axis from the sa- city of Mycenae on the Peloponnese; this city was
cred mountains to the sea. Running through the apparently the peninsula’s new cultural and political
building was a sophisticated plumbing and drainage center. A particularly vigorous and aggressive
system. In places, the palace walls were four and people, the Mycenaeans seem originally to have
five stories high in a series of setbacks around light been a client state of the older Minoan culture and
courts and stairwells [see 4.27]. The principal were likely dominated by the more prosperous Mi-
chambers had walls brilliantly painted with murals noan culture centered on Crete—that is, until 1628
depicting religious activities and festive sports, es- BCE when the volcanic island of Thera (modern-
pecially contests involving men vaulting over day Santorini) in the middle of Minoan territory
charging bulls. It may well be that the complexity exploded violently, sending a tsunami that affected
of the Knossos palace plan and the bull cult that the entire Aegean region and spewing out an ash
flourished there formed the basis of the subsequent cloud that enveloped the earth, causing recorded
legend of Theseus and the Minotaur who lived in crop failures in China.4 Minoan cities along the
a fabled labyrinth. The palatial complexes on Crete north coast of Crete were almost entirely swept
were remarkable for the complete absence of de- away, and Minoan cultural influence diminished

11.2. Royal Palace, Knossos, Crete,

1600 BCE. Plan of the principal living
level. This palace was combination
residence, administrative center, and
storehouse, open at its edges and without
protective walls. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after S. Hood and W. Taylor, The
Bronze Age Palace at Knossos
(London, 1981).
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222 11. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

11.3. City walls and Lion Gate, Mycenae, Greece, c. 1300 BCE. The huge size, roughness, and irregularity of the stones in
the wall greatly impressed the later Greeks of the Classical age. The Lion Gate still makes a strong impression on approaching
visitors. Photo: Manuel Cohen/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.

rapidly. Subsequently, until around 1150 BCE, the The city of Tiryns (Homer’s “Tiryns of the Great
Mycenaean culture flourished. Walls”), just south of Mycenae at the base of the
With the resulting political vacuum after the thumb of the Peloponnese, illustrates the basic or-
explosion, Mycenaean influence expanded. Lo- ganization [11.4]. Set high on a limestone plateau
cated in Greece on elevated hilltops, the Myce- rising from the plain and surrounded by massive cy-
naean cities survived the Thera tsunami. These clopean walls 20 feet (6 m) thick, the city is ap-
Mycenaean settlements were not only elevated but proached by a ramp on the east side. Attackers
heavily fortified and built on isolated, defensible would have been forced to approach along the east
rock plateaus. On the highest ground the principal wall with their right side—the side not protected
palace was built, behind thick walls of large, irreg- by a shield—exposed to bowmen on the parapets.
ular, but carefully fitted stones. The Greeks of the Entry is through a propylon gate into a court. In
later Classic period, on looking upon these ancient contrast to the strong outer walls, the inner struc-
ruined walls of massive rough blocks, imagined that tures were built with wooden frames and rubble-
the walls could have been built only by the mythi- stone-infilled walls. Another propylon gate, on the
cal one-eyed giant Cyclops, and hence this type of north side of the court, led to a smaller palace court
masonry came to be called cyclopean. All the major ringed with a sheltering colonnade. This in turn led
settlements, including Mycenae, were of this kind to the heart of the palace, which the Greeks called
[11.3]. (Mycenae was the seat of King Agamem- the megaron [11.5]. The megaron consisted of an
non, who led these early Greeks to Troy in Homer’s entry porch formed by projecting walls framing two
Iliad, which may be an embellished and imperfectly columns, a vestibule, and the throne room, nearly
remembered account of an actual campaign in square, with its roof carried by four columns (vir-
northern Asia Minor.) At Pylos, in 1939, archaeol- tually the same arrangement found at Mycenae and
ogists found what has been called the home of King Pylos). At the center of the principal room was a
Nestor, who accompanied Agamemnon in the Tro- raised circular hearth, suggesting that the room was
jan War. open at the center of the ceiling.
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Minoan and Mycenaean Greece 223

The traditional view is that about 1150 BCE, the who ruled from the heights of Mount Olympus in
Mycenaean settlements were swept over by yet an- north Greece. These gradually replaced the mater-
other group from the north, the direct ancestors of nal earth deities of the Minoans and Mycenaeans
the Classical Greeks. The Greeks later called them or took over some of the old deities’ attributes.
the Dorians. The Mycenaean culture collapsed, Only around 750 BCE did stone architecture
although some cultural strongholds, especially reemerge on the mainland, and with it the begin-
Athens, resisted. Some groups fled the Peloponnese nings of Classical Greek civilization. At Sparta there
and sailed east, setting up colonies in the islands developed a closed, rigorously militaristic society
close to Asia Minor and on the Anatolian coast it- ruled by a landed aristocracy, with its ordinary in-
self. Thus, remnants of the old Minoan-Mycenaean habitants, the helots, put into slavery. Meanwhile,
culture continued in the easterly region that be- at Athens, the Dorian culture merged with the sur-
came known as Ionia, while the mainland of Greece viving Mycenaean elements, creating a far more
slipped into a dark age. Architecture in stone and cosmopolitan city life that was receptive to new
the brilliant mural painting of Minoan and Myce- ideas, particularly to later democratic rule by free
naean palaces disappeared. The Dorians’ major cul- males. To the clarity and grace of the old Minoan
tural contributions were a richly figurative language and Mycenaean cultures were added in Athens the
and a new group of predominately male sky-gods, passion and imagination of the new.

11.5. Megaron unit, Akropolis Palace, Tiryns, Greece,

c. 1400–1200 BCE. The form of the central ceremonial
chamber, the megaron, is believed to have provided the
model for the later Greek temple. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

11.4. Akropolis Palace, Tiryns, Greece, c. 1400–1200

BCE. Mycenaean cities were built atop defensive
strongholds, as at Tiryns. M = Megaron. Drawing:
L. M. Roth.
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224 11. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

At the same time, Greek colonization of the The Greek quest for truth is best exemplified by
Mediterranean began, in response to the poor agri- the natural philosophy developed by Ionian Greeks
cultural conditions at home and the need for raw during the sixth century BCE. The first of these Io-
materials. Almost every major Greek city sent out nian scientist-philosophers was Thales of Miletos, a
parties. Euboea established such cities as Neopolis merchant who traveled to Egypt and Mesopotamia,
(Naples) in central Italy. Megara founded Cherson- learning geometry and astronomy, which enabled
esus (Sevastopol) at the southern tip of the Crimea him to predict solar eclipses. He also proposed the
in the Black Sea and Selinus in Sicily. Achaea had idea of a few basic components out of which
numerous large settlements in southern Italy, which the world was made, an idea that ultimately led to
later the Romans came to call Magna Graecia. the concept of atoms, the smallest indivisible com-
These settlements included Poseidonia (which the ponents of all matter, an idea developed by Leukip-
Romans translated as Paestum) and Messana (Mes- pos of Miletos and his pupil Demokritos of Abdera.
sina in Italian). Corinth had a number of settlements The Greeks had an innate love of logic (logos, a
up the coast of what is now Albania and a major word that can be variously translated as ”reason,”
colony at Syracuse, Sicily. Phocaea founded cities “idea,” “conception,” or simply “word”), a natural
along the Spanish and French coasts, including Tar- order whose opposite was irrational chaos. In every-
raco (Tarragona); Massilia (Marseilles), near the thing, the Greek sought balance and symmetry
mouth of the Rhone; Antipolis (Antibes); Herakles (summetria, “having like measure”) as the ideal.
Monoecus (Monoco); and Nicaea (Nice). Miletos, Nothing in nature was seen as wholly capricious,
the major Ionian city commercially and culturally, for even the gods had reasons for their actions.
founded nine colonies around the Black Sea. Other Hence, Heraclitus wrote, “Measure and logos are
colonies were planted in Cyrene, North Africa, and firm in a changing world.” Heraclitus described the
Naucratis in the delta of Lower Egypt. Only where cosmos as a balance of such opposites as hot and
the rival Phoenicians had set up competing trading cold, night and day, health and disease.
bases—in Palestine, Syria, and North Africa—were Much of this early philosophy was based on a
the Greeks absent. priori assumptions rather than on observation of
Although we use the word colony, these were not how things actually worked, and Plato complained
mercantilist sources of raw materials in the sense of that there was too much variety in natural appear-
eighteenth-century European colonies. Greek col- ances. Aristotle, on the contrary, devoted himself
onies were wholly independent adjunct communi- to observation of the natural world. The Platonists
ties; the Greeks called them poikia, which means, might venture off into pure metaphysical specula-
literally, “away homes.” Because of colonization and tion. The Ionian philosopher Pythagoras of Samos,
the resulting far-flung trade, Greek ideas and espe- who established a colony of followers at Croton in
cially the Greek language were spread the length of Italy, took this mystical direction, proposing a nat-
the Mediterranean and around the Black Sea. For ural philosophy based solely on numbers: “all things
nearly a thousand years, the Greek language be- are number.” He and his followers discovered the
came an international mode of communication. basis of musical harmony by observing that a taut
string one half as long as another produced the
same tone an octave higher. From this and other
The Greek Character experiments, they determined the mathematical
The mixing together of aspects of the artistic basis of musical harmony. They also conceived of
sophisticated Minoan/Mycenaean cultures with triangular and square numbers, and provided a
the pragmatism of the Dorians produced a unique proof of the concept first used by the Mesopotami-
Greek character, emphasizing inquisitiveness, a ans and Egyptians, that the area of a square drawn
love of action, and the desire to achieve perfection out on the hypotenuse of a right triangle was the
in human intellectual and physical endeavors. The sum of the areas of comparable squares made on
Greeks wanted to know why the gods did what they the other two sides. Carpenters today still use this
did, what the nature of humankind was, and how principle, quickly measuring out a triangle with
the world was formed and how it operated. And, sides 3 and 4 feet long and a hypotenuse of 5 feet
fortunately for us, they perfected a written language to create a truly square corner.
that enabled them to record their speculations. Small wonder that the Athenian philosopher
Most of all, the Greeks were supremely confident Protagoras of Abdera, a friend of Perikles, should
in their own cultural superiority compared to that write in his essay Truth: “Man is the measure of all
of the surrounding barbarians (as they perceived things, of those which are that they are, and of
them). those which are not that they are not.” In the
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The Greek Polis 225

Greek, this can also be taken to mean that “man is In cities, building him shelter against the rain
the measurer of all things,” that truth is relative to And wintry weather.
human perception and interpretation. Sokrates was There is nothing beyond his power. . . . 6
convinced that truth could be found only by con-
stant questioning, refinement, testing. And, as This wondrous celebration of the human inquisi-
Xenophanes wrote, “The gods did not reveal every- tive spirit was recaptured during the Renaissance
thing to men at the start; but as time goes on, by and still underlies Western thought to this day.
searching, they discover more and more.”5 The Olympian gods were described in Greek
What the Greeks endeavored to achieve in all myths in human terms and depicted in perfect
things was arete, that quality of excellence that re- human form. But unlike Judeo-Christian scripture,
sults from refinement and testing in all human which lays down proscriptive laws as to how humans
endeavors—poetry, music, pottery, city government, are to conduct themselves, the Greek myths (the
sculpture, and architecture. Arete could be obtained closest things to Greek scripture) describe, through
through a contest, agon (from which the English the misadventures of the gods, how not to organize
word agony is derived). Accordingly, the Greeks reg- and conduct one’s life. The Olympian deities com-
ularly sponsored contests, at Argolis, Corinth, Del- bined male sky-gods introduced by the Dorians
phi, and, of course, Olympia, in search of arete. The (such as Zeus, hurler of lightning) with female earth
crown of laurel was awarded not only to athletes but deities of the Bronze Age (such as Hera, Zeus’s
also to musicians and poets. Through contest, agon, wife). The result is that many temples built to the
a human being learned of his capacities and limits, Olympian gods combine aspects of both masculine
what was meant by the inscription carved at the and feminine attributes. The temples are usually
Temple of Apollo at Delphi: “Know thyself.” Arete Doric in style (that is, built with Doric columns,
was an all-encompassing physical, moral, and in- possessing a male massiveness) but at the same time,
tellectual excellence, requiring a balance in life they are often aligned on an axis that runs to a dis-
achieved through rigorous self-discipline. tant, double-peaked mountain sacred to the earth
“Nothing to excess” sums up the Greek view of deities of the Bronze Age.7 The twelve Olympian
life, and it was for this reason that Greeks had no gods were worshipped by all Greeks, although some
time for narrow specialists. A person of arete did all gods had regions and temples where they received
things well and kept in balance; he worked his farm special reverence, such as the Temple of Zeus at
outside the city and participated in the town assem- Olympia; the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, at the
bly. If he was wealthy, he was expected to pay for point of land southeast of Athens; and the Temple
the production of public festivals or provide a ship of Apollo at Delphi. Particular gods also were asso-
for the city’s navy; if not, he accepted his duty to be ciated with individual cities, so that the Athenians
ready at a moment’s notice to march as far as nec- worshipped Athena (the founder of their city and
essary in full armor to defend the honor of his city. patroness) in two temples embodying her manifes-
To realize a well-ordered life, a person endeavored tations as Athena Polias, the protectress of the city,
to exercise strength and power in restraint, to value and as Athena Parthenos, the warrior maiden.8
quality before quantity, noble struggle over mere Some Greeks found comfort in mystical cults, but
achievement, and personal honor over opulence. for the most part Greek religion was a straight-
These ideals were upheld by the Stoic philosophers forward affair of making the proper offerings to the
and passed on to their disciples and admirers, of gods. There was no generally accepted notion of an
whom the last and best was arguably the Roman afterlife, as had become common among the Egyp-
emperor Marcus Aurelius; his “Meditations” or tians; perhaps everyday Greek life was too arduous
“Thoughts to Myself” represent a good summation for them to wish it to continue forever. Instead, the
of Stoic philosophy. Greeks sought immortality through the achieve-
The Greeks ascribed an almost semi-divine ment of arete, excellence in deeds, so that one’s ac-
nature to humans. Sophokles has the chorus in complishment would be recorded, spoken of, and
Antigone sing: remembered forever. The achievements of Plato,
Aristotle, and all the other Greek philosophers
Wonders are many on earth, and the greatest prove they were right.
of these
Is man. . . .
The use of language, the wind-swift motion The Greek Polis
of brain The most important political contribution of Greek
He learnt; found out the laws of living together civilization was the invention of democracy in the
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226 11. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

polis of Athens, spread with particular fervor by called the Pnyx. There, everything having to do
Athenians to the cities over which Athens had in- with the welfare of Athens was argued and voted
fluence. As with other Greek words, we have no on; even the generals and admirals who battled on
proper equivalent to polis except to render it as behalf of the polis were elected to their positions. In
“city-state,” which says both too much and too this arrangement, the benign climate of Greece
little. The polis was a community of families related aided significantly, for the Greeks had limited means
by common ancestors; a person did not move into of covering a structure to hold several thousands.
or join a city—one was born a member. Those who Although smaller committees were chosen by lot to
traveled and lived in cities other than those where deal with daily matters, overall political leadership
they were born were considered resident aliens; was conveyed to whoever was most persuasive and
only in rare instances were they made full citizens commanded respect. From 461 BCE to 429 BCE,
with the right and the responsibility of participating that leader in Athens was Perikles; he was elected
in governing the polis. The fierce pride regarding general for fifteen years in a row, and thirty times in
one’s own polis, and the disdain and mistrust of all. It was he who led the polis in erecting the major
other poleis (the Greek plural of polis) prevented buildings on the Athenian Akropolis.
the Greeks from forming voluntary and long-lasting
alliances; eventually, when they were confronted
by the militaristic Romans, it would prove their po- Greek City Planning
litical undoing. A polis encompassed the city and Most poleis grew gradually, focused on and growing
the farms around it, for Greeks preferred to live in around the remains of a Bronze Age citadel built
the city in close quarters and walk out to their on an Akropolis, a term composed of the Greek
farms, rather than live in isolated farm villas. As akron (“high”) plus polis (“city”) meaning “high
H.D.F. Kitto summed it up, the polis encompassed city.” This growth can easily be seen in Athens,
“the whole communal life of the people, political, whose renowned Akropolis rises dramatically over
cultural, moral, and economic.”9 the plain of Attica [11.6, 11.7]. Over preceding
To say a polis was a city suggests to us a size that centuries, the household shrines in the ancient
is too large, for Greeks felt a man ought to be able Athenian Bronze Age Akropolis palace had become
to walk across the entire breadth of the territory of sacred sites dedicated to various Olympian gods,
his polis on foot in two days. In The Republic, Plato and later, on these same spots, a succession of tem-
described the ideal polis as having 5,000 male ples was built. At the base of the Akropolis, paths
citizens, and Aristotle wrote in Politics that a man leading out to the surrounding farms eventually
should be able to recognize all the male citizens of became streets, and along one of these, northwest
his polis by sight.10 Most poleis were roughly this size, of the mass of the Akropolis, a roughly triangular,
although Athens, Syracuse, and Akragas eventually open space was set aside as the agora, whose bound-
had populations of more than 20,000. In 430 BCE, aries were defined by surrounding houses and public
the total population of the region of Attica, includ- buildings. The agora was the social, economic, and
ing Athens, was roughly 330,000, of which about political communal heart of the Greek city, the
15,000 were resident aliens and about 115,000 open living room where trade was carried on, stu-
were slaves in domestic service. Of the remaining dents were taught, and the business of the polis
200,000, about 35,000 were male citizens over eigh- (politics) was discussed [11.8]. In Athens, the agora
teen, and the remainder were women and children. was defined first by private houses and shops, but
In a few places and during times of extreme by the third century BCE, stoas, long buildings
social disruption, a single individual might be opened by colonnades along one side and providing
granted temporary authority to impose autocratic shelter for artisans selling wares, began to be built.
rule over the polis, resulting in what the Greeks In the stoas that later enclosed the Athenian agora,
called tyranny; in other places, a few aristocratic Zeno and his followers met to observe and discuss
families might exercise rule in an oligarchy, as was human nature; they came to be called Stoics, and
the case in Sparta. Athens originally had such an their philosophy, Stoicism. On the elevated ground
oligarchy of aristocratic archons, but through a series immediately west of the agora stands the Doric
of reforms during the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, temple dedicated to Hephaistos, god of the anvil,
the governance of the city shifted to the rule of its fire, and the forge, special to the artisans who
demos—that is, its “free male citizens,” very like the traded in the agora. Interspersed about the agora
modern concept of democracy. The entire commu- were other, smaller public buildings and the bouleu-
nity of citizens, not just their representatives, met terion, a covered meetinghouse for the boule, the
monthly in an open-air assembly on a hill in Athens council of the polis that met daily. The roofed
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Greek City Planning 227

1 = Acharnian Gate 5 = Dipylon Gate 9 = Pynx

2 = Agora 6 = Hephaisteion 10 = Theater of Dionysos
3 = Akropolis 7 = Icaria Gate
4 = Areopagus 8 = Piraeus Gate

11.6. Topographic Map of Athens, c. 400 BCE. In Greek cities that developed from Bronze Age settlements, the focal point
was the elevated and defensible akropolis (“high city”) and the agora (“marketplace”) below; streets generally radiated out
from these two places, following the topography. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Travlos, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient
Athens (London, 1971).

bouleuterion could accommodate up to seven hun- Anatolia. Croesus considered launching a military
dred people. campaign against Persian forces, but, curious to get
In the Greek colonial cities, typically laid out a forecast of the outcome, he went to Delphi to con-
from scratch on open ground, a more orderly or- sult the famous oracle there. In answer to his ques-
thogonal grid was often employed, as at Poseidonia tion whether or not to attack, he was given this
(Paestum in Latin). It was not until the Persians cryptic answer: “If Croesus goes to war he will de-
later destroyed cities in Ionian Greece from 494 to stroy a great empire.”11 Imagining that the empire
479 BCE that this more objective and scientific to be destroyed was that of the Persians, Croesus
method was applied in the homeland, and it was self-assuredly attacked. The more powerful Persians,
fitting that it should have happened first at Miletos, however, retaliated in force, gradually conquering
where Greek science had been born a century not only Lydia but all its allies as well, amalgamating
earlier. the Ionian Greek cities within the Persian Empire
The replanning of Miletos came about as a result by 540 BCE. The oracle had been correct, but the
of its destruction by the Persians. In 560 BCE, Ionia kingdom Croesus destroyed was his own. The cap-
was controlled by Croesus, king of Lydia in western tive Ionian cities resisted their overlords, imploring
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228

11.7. Akropolis, Athens, Greece, viewed from the west. Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich.

11.8. Agora, Athens, Greece, c. 100 BCE. Running diagonally through the agora was the Dromos, the processional way
extending from the Dipylon Gate (off the plan to the upper left) to the foot of the acropolis toward the lower right. The Stoa
of Attalos is the long building to the east. A = Armory; B = Bouleuterion; H = Hephaisteion (Temple of Hephaistos);
M = Metroon; MS = Middle Stoa; PS = Poikile Stoa; SA = Stoa of Attalos; SS South Stoa; SZ = Stoa of Zeus;
T = Tholos. Drawing: B. Huxley and L. M. Roth, after Travlos, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens (London, 1971).
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Greek City Planning 229

the Spartans, the Athenians, and other mainland With the Persian threat gone, the destroyed Io-
Greeks to aid them; in the struggle, many Ionian nian cities, including Miletos, were rebuilt. The plan
cities were destroyed by Persian forces, including of the new Miletos, circa 479 BCE, is usually cred-
Miletos in 494 BCE. To discipline the impudent ited to Hippodamos, a Milesian whom Aristotle de-
mainland Greeks who had become a serious irritant, scribes in Politics as the man who “invented the art
the Persian emperor Darius led his army through of planning cities” and who also laid out the Athen-
northern Greece, moving southward, advancing to- ian port of Peiraeus as well as the city of Rhodes
ward Attica. In 490 BCE, the massed Persian armies [11.9].13 The site at Miletos was a relatively level
were confronted at Marathon, twenty-six miles peninsula jutting into the sea at the mouth of the
from Athens, by a small army of Greeks. Despite Meander River, with two deep inlets that formed
being far outnumbered by the Persians, the Greeks excellent harbors. Hippodamos adjusted the orthog-
miraculously defeated them.12 Not to be deterred, onal grid to the general direction of the peninsula,
in 480 BCE, after Darius’s death, his son Xerxes rather than orienting it to the points of the compass,
launched a second campaign against Greece. Again and divided the city into three distinct zones. To the
greatly outnumbered, the allied Greeks fought north was the residential quarter; at the center, run-
bravely but lost; Xerxes’ forces then entered Athens ning roughly from one harbor to the other, was the
and set fire to the Akropolis temples. Meanwhile, a agora, divided into two sections by the bouleuterion
fleet of two hundred Athenian and allied ships sur- in the middle; to the south was another residential
rounded the Persian navy in the Bay of Salamis, area of larger blocks. Missing was a sacred precinct
within sight of Athens, and crushed the Persian for the major temples, but in this case it was because
fleet, the first of a series of subsequent military re- the extraordinarily important Milesian religious site,
verses for the Persians. Within a year, defeated, the the great Apollo sanctuary at Didyma, was just 14
Persians withdrew and were pushed back into cen- miles (22 km) to the south.
tral Turkey. The Greek Ionian cities were finally lib- Priene, an Ionian city not far to the north of
erated from Persian “barbarian” domination. Miletos, was rebuilt in the latter part of the fourth

11.9. Hippodamos (architect),

plan of the city of Miletos, Asia
Minor, c. 450 BCE. The regular
geometric plan of Miletos was
divided into three zones, residential
to the north and south, with a
commercial heart at the center
around the agora and near the two
harbors. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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230 11. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

11.10. Plan of Priene, Asia Minor, c. 450 BCE.

Priene, built atop Mount Micale, shows how a grid
plan could be adapted to a sloping hilltop site.
Drawing: L. M. Roth.

century BCE [11.10]. Here an orthogonal grid was onto it. Of one story, these houses usually had roofs
adapted to a steeply sloping hillside site, with pitched inward toward the central open court. Be-
houses in regular blocks that measured approxi- cause of the regular blocks, the houses in Priene also
mately 120 by 160 feet (36.5 by 48.8 m). Six prin- were rectangles [11.12]. Typically, these Priene
cipal streets, generally level, ran east and west; the houses had an exedra (shown as “e” in 11.12) to the
fifteen minor streets were stepped and ran north south of a central court, sheltered from the sun and
and south. Roughly at the center was the rectan- winds, and a megaron type of unit, or oikos (shown
gular agora and, looking over it, to the north, was as “o”), the major public room.
the precinct of the temple of Athena and the the-
ater. At the south edge of the city were the stadium
and the palaestra (wrestling gymnasium). Public Buildings
Compared to the number, types, and size of later
Roman public buildings, Greek public buildings
Domestic Architecture were more limited. Perhaps most important in im-
Since most civic and commercial business was pact and function were the stoas that lined and
transacted in the open air in the agora, the private came to define the agoras. Long, rectangular build-
houses of the Greeks generally were small and un- ings open on one side to face the agora, these often
elaborated until the fourth century BCE, when had an internal row of columns down the middle
Greek culture entered a new phase, called Hellenis- to support the roof or the upper floor, with small
tic. Indeed, in Classical Greece, it would have been chambers in a row along the back for storekeepers
considered extremely inappropriate for an individ- and offices. Following the Classical period, stoas be-
ual to build an expensive, highly decorated house came quite long, as illustrated by the 117-foot
simply to display personal power and position—the (35.7-m) stoa given to Athens by King Attalos of
ideal was “nothing to excess.” Artisans’ houses dis- Pergamum and built around 150 BCE on the east
covered west of the Athenian Akropolis show how, side of the agora [11.13]. Various covered halls
in older cities, the plans were adapted to the irreg- were built to accommodate small groups of people.
ular street pattern [11.11]. In such artisans’ homes, The bouleuterion was one type, designed to house
there might be a room set aside for the production the boule, or council, of the polis. The bouleuterion
of pottery or metalwork. Aside from this specialized of Athens, on the west side of the agora, was larger
room, the house consisted of a small cobblestone than most, but the small bouleuterion at Priene,
court open to the sky, with a series of rooms opening built about 200 BCE, survives in better condition.
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231

11.11. Artisans’ houses near the Agora, Athens, Greece, 11.12. House, Priene, Asia Minor, c. 450 BCE. In
c. 350 BCE. In Athens private houses were fitted into the planned cities such as Priene, private houses had more
irregular street pattern. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Travlos, regular plans. At the south edge of the open central court
Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens (London, 1971). was the exedra (e), and off the court was the principal
public room, the oikos (o). Drawing: L. M. Roth.

11.13. Stoa of Attalos, Athens, Greece, c. 150 BCE. Built by King Attalos of Pergamum as a gift to the city of Athens, this
stoa was meticulously reconstructed in the 1950s. It illustrates well the Hellenistic civic buildings that began to line and define
Greek agoras. Photo: © Bettmann/Corbis.
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232 11. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

11.14. Bouleuterion, Priene, Asia Minor. 200 BCE. Interior view. Such comparatively small covered buildings were built by
the Greeks to house their civic councils. This one measured 60 by 66 feet (18.5 by 20 m) and could seat about seven hundred
people. From Lawrence, Greek Architecture (Harmondsworth, England, 1967).

Measuring nearly 60 by 66 feet (18.5 by 20 m), the civic purpose. Going to the theater was a celebra-
Priene bouleuterion had tiers of benches on three tion of community spirit; the plays contributed im-
sides, providing seating for about seven hundred portantly to political education and were not
people, and could probably have housed nearly merely facile entertainment, as they became later
all the voting male citizens of Priene, whose total in the Roman Empire. The fact that the permanent
population must have been about four thousand stage structure, or skēnē (origin of modern scene),
[11.14]. Around the topmost seats were fourteen was relatively low is important, for in becoming part
supports, reducing the span required of the wooden of the drama itself, the audience members could
truss roof to roughly 47.5 feet (14.5 m), a consid- raise their eyes to look out from the theater over
erable span at that time. the landscape of their polis, so that, as Vincent
The largest Greek public buildings were open to Scully wrote, “the whole visible universe of men
the air and included theaters and stadia for athletic and nature came together in a single, quiet order.”14
contests. A stadion—the Greek word means both a Again, it was fortunate that the generally be-
unit of distance of about 656 feet (200 m) and a nign Greek climate made it possible to build the-
stadium structure with tiers of seats—might be aters in the open, for there was no practicable way
used only at certain times of the year, but the the- to cover a building seating 14,000 people, the num-
ater was nearly as important a part of civic life as ber accommodated in the theater at Epidauros. In
was the agora. Drama productions began as reli- some instances, the theater also was used for the
gious rituals for the god Dionysos and, by the time assembly of all the citizens of the polis. The theater
of Perikles, had become an important means of at Epidauros, built around c. 350–300 BCE on the
defining and elaborating the ideal of civic and thumb of the Peloponneses, perhaps from designs
moral rectitude, arete, as the plays of Aeschylus and by Polykleitos the Younger, retains nearly all its
Sophokles demonstrate. Even the ribald comedies original features [11.15, 11.16]. There were three
of Aristophanes played an important part in this basic parts: the theatron (“seeing place”), or the
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233

11.15. Polykleitos the Younger, Theater, Epidauros, Greece, c. 350 BCE. Elevated view. Typically, Greek theaters adjoined
religious sites and were built into hillsides. The seats here extend around 200° and looked down onto low, temporary skēnē
structures. Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich.

11.16. Theater, Epidauros, Greece. Plan. Greek theaters wrapped around an area greater than a semicircle. Drawing: L. M.
Roth, after G. C. Izenour, Theater Design (New York, 1977).
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234 11. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

spectators’ seating area built into the side of a hill Vitruvius cataloged this information from his Greek
carved out to form a bowl; an orchestra (“dancing sources in the first century BCE, the original mean-
place”), the circular floor, 70.5 feet (21.5 m) in di- ing of the Greek architectural terms had already
ameter, where the actors declaimed and the chorus been lost.15
sang and danced (centered in the orchestra was an The temenos at Olympia [4.37, 11.17] is a good
altar to Dionysos); and the skēnē, a low structure example of temples in their context. This sacred
forming a backdrop behind the orchestra. In Greek precinct is framed by the bouleuterion on the south,
theaters (as distinct from Roman examples), the a stoa to the east, and a range of small city treasuries
seating formed more than a half circle, here about nestled against the hill of Kronos to the north. At
200°, and the skēnē structure was little more than the north edge of the temenos was a temple to Hera,
one story high. At Epidauros, there are fifty-five wife of Zeus. The temple was originally built of
semicircular rows of seats, divided by an ambulatory wood; as time passed, it was replaced, part by part,
about two-thirds of the way up. The initial seating with elements of stone. The principal building was
area below the ambulatory, or diazoma, holds 6,210 the large temple to Zeus built by the citizens of Elis
people; with the later addition of the upper section, in 468–460 BCE and designed by Libon of Elis
the capacity was increased to about 14,000 people. [11.18]. Measuring 91 by 210 feet (27.7 by 64.1 m),
it was a Doric temple, with six massive columns
across each end and thirteen columns on the sides
The Greek Temple (for a discussion of the Greek orders or columns, see
By far the most important building in the polis was Part I, pages 42–44). The Greeks built their temples
the temple. Although it served a most vital public of local stone, and at Olympia, it was a coarse lime-
function and was a symbol of the polis, it was not a stone covered with a plaster made with marble dust.
public building in the sense that we use the word The temple was peripteral—that is, it had a single
today, for only priests and selected individuals ac- row of columns all around, rising from a three-
tually entered it. In contrast to its comparatively stepped base (the only unusual feature was the
plain interior, the exterior of the temple was lav- ramped approach from the east). Inside was the
ished with artistic attention, for public rituals were naos, a rectangular chamber with projecting spur
celebrated at the altar in front of the temple. Be- walls, marked by projecting antae at each end, with
cause of this and the fact that the temple’s enclosed two columns between them. Inside, between rows
volume was not a public space, the Greek temple of smaller Doric columns supporting the roof, was a
has been described as a monumental sculpture set huge, seated image of Zeus, fashioned by the Athen-
in the landscape. ian sculptor Pheidias and made of gold and ivory
The Greek temple was placed in a sacred pre- fastened to a wooden armature. The sculpture was
cinct, or temenos, delineated by a low wall or curb, listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.16
although as these sites were built on over the cen- The temple complex considered to most fully
turies, stoas and other structures might define the embody the spirit of ancient Greece is found on the
temenos more clearly. There was no effort to align Akropolis at Athens. What is seen there today is
any of these enclosing buildings according to pre- the result of a remarkable building program initiated
defined axes; they were adjusted to the topography by the Athenian polis under the direction of Perikles
of the site. In addition, the temples themselves several decades after the Akropolis was burned and
might be aligned on axes leading out to mountain destroyed by the Persians in 480 BCE; the buildings
peaks in the landscape, sacred since dim prehistory. were to be the symbol of the victory of Athens and
Perhaps as early as 1050 BCE, the crude form of of Greeks generally over barbarism. To prevent the
the Greek temple emerged, a wooden structure Persians from ever again posing a threat, Perikles
with upright columns completely around the cen- created the Delian League, a confederacy of all the
tral chamber. Earlier ritual offerings to the gods had poleis around the Aegean, and a portion of the
been made in sacred groves, with the trees deco- funds they contributed was used to build the new
rated with the sacrificial offerings. It is believed that Akropolis as an emblem of that victory.17
the temple, with its surrounding colonnade, was an The Akropolis was the ideal spot for these new
attempt to re-create the sacred grove. The columns temples. Rising 300 feet (91.5 m) above the city, it
became those decorated trees, and the many parts put the gleaming white marble buildings in view of
of the Doric, Ionic, and later Corinthian orders the residents of the entire polis and also made them
were named for the actions performed in these rit- visible from the harbor at Piraeus and the Bay of
uals. The architecture became the concrete mani- Salamis, where the Persian ships had been sunk
festation of the ritual actions, although by the time [11.7, 11.19, Plate 17]. In fact, when the Akropolis
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235

11.17. Temenos, or sacred precinct, Olympia, Greece, fifth century BCE. The temenos encompassed one or more temples,
altars, treasury buildings, and other related subsidiary buildings. Here the major temples were dedicated to Hera and Zeus. To
the east of the temenos at Olympia was the stadion (stadium), where the Olympic Games were held. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after Lawrence, Greek Architecture (1967).

11.18. Libon (architect), Temple of Zeus, Olympia, Greece, c. 468–460 BCE. Plan. The Temple of Zeus incorporates the
basic features of the Greek temple during the Classical period, having six Doric columns across the front and thirteen along
the sides. Sheltered by the columns is the inner naos chamber containing the image of Zeus. Drawing: A. Stockler.
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236 11. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

11.19. Akropolis, Athens, Greece. General plan, showing buildings completed in the Periklean building campaign, as of about
400 BCE. Drawing: L. M. Roth after Travlos, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens (London, 1971).

temples were being rebuilt, some of the marble col- BCE [11.20, 11.21, p. 218]. The Nike Temple is the
umn drums spoiled in the fire were used in rebuild- first element of the Akropolis seen as one ap-
ing the parapet walls; easily visible from the city proaches the Akropolis. Its delicate Ionic columns,
below, they stood out as badges of honor—symbols only four at each end, contrast with the massive-
of the victory of the Greeks (especially the Athe- ness of the Doric columns of the next element to
nians) and perpetual visual evidence of their mili- come into view, the entrance gate to the Akropolis,
tary spiritual superiority.18 the Propylaia.
The Akropolis was the focal point of the Pana- The present Propylaia replaced an earlier,
thenaia festival, observed every year on Athena’s smaller gate that had faced more toward the south-
birthday in late summer but celebrated with special west; after that gate was destroyed by the Persian
festivities every fourth year. For those quadrennial fire in 480 BCE, it was replaced in 437–432 BCE
occasions, pilgrims and celebrants gathered outside with the present larger, more ceremonial marble en-
the Dipylon gate on the city’s northwest side and trance, designed by the architect Mnesikles [11.22].
formed a procession that moved along the street Besides the gate itself, the building included two
called Dromos, through the agora, and up onto the projecting and flanking chambers for pilgrims. To
Akropolis. Gifts for Athena, including a specially the left, as one entered, was a gallery designed for
woven wool robe for the ancient wooden statue of resting and lined with paintings; hence the name
Athena, and sacrificial cattle were taken up the pinakotheke (“painting gallery”). The smaller, un-
winding approach to the summit of the Akropolis.19 finished gallery to the right may have been planned
On an ancient bastion projecting from the west- as a glyptotheke (“sculpture gallery”), but despite its
ern extremity of the plateau, a small marble temple unfinished shape, the front was built in such a way
dedicated to Athena Nike, goddess of victory, was that the sense of balance is preserved as one ascends
built by Kallikrates about 460–450 BCE.20 The bas- toward the Propylaia. In rebuilding the Propylaia in
tion was subsequently rebuilt and a new temple, the 437 BCE, Mnesikles rotated the building, giving it
one currently there, was erected during 435–420 a new alignment with its axis running parallel to
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237

11.20. Temple of Athena Nike, Akropolis, Athens, Greece, c. 435–420 BCE. This tiny jewel was built to commemorate the
Greek victory over the Persians in 449 BCE; it stands over an ancient Bronze Age defensive bastion protecting the gate to the
Akropolis. It has Ionic columns only at the front and rear. Photo: NGS Image Collection/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.

11.22. Mnesikles (architect), Propylaia, Akropolis, Athens, Greece, c. 437–432 BCE. Past the projecting bastion, the visitor
enters the sacred precinct of the Akropolis through the Propylaia gateway. Photo: A. Frantz.
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238 11. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

11.23. Propylaia. For this restoration view, artist Gorham Phillips Stevens has eliminated some internal Doric columns to
show better the view into the temenos. To the left can be seen the Erechtheion, just left of center is the statue of Athena
Promachus, and looming on the right is the Parthenon. Drawing: G. P. Stevens.

that of the largest temple on the plateau, the Par- The last major temple constructed on the
thenon, both pointing toward the Bay of Salamis. Akropolis, the Erechtheion, was also the most un-
So, turning back and looking through the gate, the usual [11.24, 11.25]. Built probably from 421 BCE
pilgrim saw framed between its columns the site to 405 BCE (the architect is unknown), it housed
where the Persians had been repulsed. shrines to a number of gods, local deities, and heroes,
Beyond the gate and inside the sacred precinct and it stood over several sacred spots, including the
were scores of statues and votive slabs erected as mark said to have been made when Poseidon’s tri-
thanksgiving offerings, among which rose a gigantic dent spear struck the rock and caused a salt spring
bronze statue of Athena Promachos (“the Cham- to appear. Also beneath the Erechtheion were the
pion”), the glint of whose upraised gilded spear tip graves of the legendary Erechtheus and Kekrops.
could be seen from the sea [11.23]. Behind the Most important, however, the temple housed an an-
Athena Promachos statue, running parallel to cient statue of Athena Polias, protectress of the city
the rear wall of the Propylaia, were the remains and goddess of the hearth.
of the cyclopean wall of a terrace of the ancient Originally, there had been a more traditional
Bronze Age palace, perhaps the palace of the leg- Doric temple of Athena Polias, which was just to
endary Erechtheus, king of prehistoric Athens. the south of the present Erechtheion, but this had
To the left could be seen the upper part of the been burned by the Persians in 480. In building the
complex form of the temple called the Erechtheion, replacement to the north, the architect faced nu-
and to the right, over the roofs of lower treasury merous problems accommodating the many sacred
buildings, rose the great bulk of the Parthenon. Fol- spots as well as a steep change in grade; as a result,
lowing a ramp along the south side of the ancient the Erechtheion has several levels. To the east,
cyclopean terrace, the pilgrim reached the west end from higher ground, is the six-column Ionic porch
of the Parthenon and could turn toward the north leading to the naos that housed the ancient wooden
to see the asymmetrical Erechtheion. image of Athena. To the north, at a lower level, is
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239

11.24. Erechtheion temple, Akropolis, Athens, Greece, 421–405 BCE. This complex building houses shrines to a variety of
gods, including Athena Polias, protectress of the city. It sits astride a drop in the level of the rock, and hence has a split-level
plan. It includes the Porch of the Maidens (Caryatids). Photo: A. Frantz.

11.25. Erechtheion. Plan Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Travlos, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens (London, 1971).
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240 11. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

a larger Ionic porch, four columns wide, leading to Other reasons are its eight columns across the ends
the chamber of Erechtheus. In an open court im- (when six was more traditional) and its double-
mediately west of the temple, there was an olive chambered naos [11.26]. To the east was the larger
tree sacred to Athena. That part of the site could chamber, housing a huge standing figure of Athena,
not be covered, and so the Erechtheion ends in a helmeted and carrying a spear and a shield; like the
blank west wall with engaged Ionic columns. To the Zeus at Olympia, this was made of gold and ivory
south, in the direction of the Parthenon and over and was created by Pheidias, who it is believed also
the grave of the legendary King Kekrops, is the supervised all the sculpture carved for the temple.
Porch of the Maidens, or Caryatids, with six sup- To the west was the nearly square chamber called
ports in the form of maidens with crowns on their the Parthenon (the term was later extended and
heads forming the capitals of the “columns”; it was applied to the entire building), housing a treasury
the most original portion of the many novel aspects of offerings to Athena including the silver throne
of this highly unusual building. from which Xerxes watched his ships go down to
If the Parthenon to the south personifies logo— defeat in the Bay of Salamis. Although the temple
clarity, and precision—the Erechtheion, with its was built with the Doric order, massive and austere,
delicate and highly enriched Ionic details, seems befitting the goddess of war, the roof of the Par-
to bring order out of a kind of casual disorder. The thenon chamber was supported by more delicate
Erechtheion is the embodiment of an Ionian flexi- Ionic columns inside.
bility and elegant grace in contrast to the Doric As at Olympia (see Chapter 4), all the sculpture
Olympian austerity of the Parthenon. Yet the Erech- on the Parthenon related to themes associated with
theion is not the product of an idyllic and peaceful the goddess and the Athens site. Since this is the
golden age, for the design and construction of the most Panhellenic of temples, commemorating the
temple occurred during the Peloponnesian War and victory over the Persians, the sculpture illustrates in
a concurrent plague that decimated Athens and various ways the struggle between logos and chaos,
threatened to destroy the polis. In absolute contrast between civilization and barbarism. The ninety-two
to the desperation of the times, perhaps in defiance metopes in the Doric entablature illustrated this in
to those troubles, the Erechtheion is a jewel box of four ways. To the east were images of battles be-
delicate refinement, not the embodiment of despair. tween the Olympian gods and earth giants, to the
west were scenes of Greeks fighting Amazons (as a
substitute for the Persians), to the north were rep-
The Parthenon resentations of Greeks against Trojans (another ad-
The first building to be rebuilt on the burnt Akropo- versary from Asia Minor like the Persians), and to
lis was the largest of them all, dominating the hill the south were pairs of battling Lapiths and Cen-
and the plain of Attica below; this was the temple taurs, the same story depicted in the west pediment
to Athena Parthenos (“Athena the Maiden”), god- at Olympia. The larger pediment figures depicted
dess of war and wisdom. An earlier temple on this stories relating more directly to Athens. In the west
spot determined the final alignment toward Mount pediment, facing the Propylaia, was the story of the
Hymettos to the west. A replacement, begun in contest between Athena and Poseidon to determine
490 BCE and still in the early stages of construction, who should have dominion over the region of At-
was destroyed by the Persians. A number of column tica. Poseidon attempted to persuade the Athenians
drums of white marble, quarried from Mount Pen- by a display of his power in striking the Akropolis
tele, survived the fire and were reused for the with his trident, while Athena caused an olive tree
columns of the new temple. The Parthenon was built to grow miraculously—the Athenians preferred
in 447–438 BCE from designs by Iktinos (possibly Athena’s offering [11.27]. In the east pediment,
assisted by Kallikrates). In view of this reuse of ma- over the door to the principal naos and Pheidias’s
terial, the complete harmonization of proportioned cult image, was a depiction of the birth of Athena,
parts in the finished building is all the more remark- springing fully armed, from the brow of her father,
able, for the architects were using elements originally Zeus. Most original of all, inside the encircling outer
proportioned for a building of different design. peristyle and around the top of the wall of the naos
The Parthenon is unusual for several reasons. was a continuous frieze of sculpture, 3.5 feet high
One is its large size—it measures roughly 101.5 by by 525 feet long (1.07 by 160 m), showing what ap-
228 feet (30.9 by 69.5 m), and the order rises 45 pears to be the Panathenaic procession. Prior to this,
feet (13.7 m) to the top of the cornice (that is, a only gods and semi-divine heroes were depicted in
ratio of 4 to 9, compared with the temple’s width— temple sculpture; now, for the first time, ordinary
a proportion we will discuss later in this chapter). mortals, Athenians, appear. Perhaps these figures
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241

11.26. Iktinos and Kallikrates (architects), Parthenon (Temple of Athena Parthenos), Athens, Greece, 447–438 BCE. Plan.
This temple has two naos chambers, one for a treasury and a larger one to house the gold and ivory figure of Athena
Parthenos, goddess of war. The plan and ratio of columns contain the proportion x : 2x + 1. Drawing: A. Stockler.

11.27. Parthenon. West front viewed from lower court. Restoration drawing by Gorham Phillips Stevens.
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242 11. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

11.28. Parthenon. View of the west end. Photo: A. Franz.

represent the original Panathenaia procession, but ameter of the columns to the spacing between
it is also likely that the Athenians of the Classical columns, center to center.
period were looking at idealized images of them- More remarkable still were the subtle visual
selves, confidently portrayed celebrating Athena’s refinements, what Vitruvius said the Greeks called
protection of their city and the way of life it alexemata, or “betterments.” Greek temples were to
embodied. be designed, he wrote in Latin, quod oculus fallit, or
The aspects that have made the Parthenon so “with regard to that in which the eye deceives us.”
special from the time of its creation include the He explained that if a stylobate platform is built
extraordinary precision of its construction and truly flat, “it will appear to the eye to be hollowed
the subtleties and refinements used in its design out,” and that corner columns must be thicker since
[11.28]. Shunning the use of mortar between the “they are set off against the open air and appear to
marble blocks, the builders employed a system of be more slender than they are.” So, he instructed
dry masonry called anathyrosis. The blocks were his reader, the stylobate should be raised in the cen-
cut, squared perfectly, and the surfaces were ground ter, with temperatione adaugeatur, or “addition . . .
absolutely flat. For vertical joints, the inner surfaces made by calculated modulation.”21 In the Parthe-
were cut away so that only the edges of adjacent non, the stylobate platform is in fact a segment of a
blocks touched in a perfectly tight seam. In this re- huge sphere and rises toward the center; on the
gion, prone to earthquakes, the blocks were locked long sides, it rises nearly 4 inches (10.2 cm) in the
together with iron clamps sealed in molten lead to center and about 2 inches (5.1 cm) across the ends,
protect the clamps from oxidation. As an embodi- and every horizontal line parallel to the stylobate is
ment of logos, the entire design is governed by a similarly curved. Because of this slight base curva-
proportional system of x to (2x + 1), or 4 to 9. Ac- ture, the columns—if they had been built with no
cordingly, if there had to be eight columns across correction—would all be leaning slightly outward,
the ends (using the drums already cut), the length but just the opposite is true. Not one of the columns
would be seventeen columns (2x + 1). The podium is perfectly vertical; they all have an inward incli-
and the naos both have dimensions that have the nation of about 1:150, which equates to roughly 2.4
proportion of 4 to 9, or 1 to 2.25. The same pro- inches (6 cm). Moreover, the corner columns in-
portional relationship was used for the ratio of the cline on the diagonal. If the center lines of the cor-
height of the order (including the entablature) to ner columns were extended, they would meet
the width of the ends, and for the ratio of the di- roughly 1.5 miles (2.4 km) above the temple stylo-
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The Greek Temple 243

bate. In addition, just as Vitruvius wrote, the corner vived) were designed and carved so that they look
columns are nearly 2 inches (5.1 cm) thicker than correct only when viewed from a position 45 feet
all the others, and they are set nearly 2 feet below (13.7 m), not straight on, as in a museum
(0.61 m) closer to the other columns. today: and the figures are carved completely in the
The Parthenon gives the impression of being a round, when only their fronts would be visible.
scheme based on absolutely straight lines, a series Why was such extraordinary care exercised and
of perfectly flat horizontals and straight verticals, such energy expended? One compelling reason was
in perfect equilibrium. Not only are the base and arete, for the home of the goddess required the most
entablature curved, but there are no truly straight excellent materials and the most exacting work-
lines anywhere in the building; it is all a combina- manship. It was done because the Greeks could do
tion of nearly imperceptible diagonals and curves. it. And also, in purely practical terms, the inclined
Moreover, the columns have what Vitruvius called columns would help, however slightly, to resist lat-
entasis, a subtle curved taper that starts about two- eral earthquake movement. (The ruined condition
fifths of the way up the shaft [11.29]; the total re- of the Parthenon today, incidentally, is due entirely
duction in the width of the standard column is to human calamity. In later centuries, the building
eleven-sixteenths of an inch, or 1.75 centimeters was changed from a temple into a Christian church,
(this represents a radius of curvature of roughly 1 and then into a mosque, and finally was used as a
mile, or 1.6 km). In the Propylaia, the entasis is Turkish gunpowder magazine. In 1687, the Vene-
three-fourths of an inch (1.9 cm). Furthermore, the tians lobbed an artillery shell through the roof, set-
sculpture of the pediments (those portions that sur- ting off the gunpowder in an explosion that blew

11.29. Parthenon. Detail of corner columns.

Photo: © Werner Forman/Corbis.
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244 11. GREEK ARCHITECTURE

the stones all over the Akropolis, severely damag- Greek ideal, became more elaborate, ornamental,
ing adjacent buildings.) As classicist Jerome J. and passionate, and this more embellished art and
Pollitt and art historian Jeffrey M. Hurwit have sug- architecture we now called Hellenistic. A hint of
gested, perhaps the care taken in the alexemata was what was to come is found in the Parthenon, but it
a way of creating a tension between what the mind would be carried much farther. To admirers of the
expects to see and the information the eye actually older standards, the liberties being taken were dis-
sends to the brain—quod oculus fallit—so that the turbing; the Roman scholar and writer Pliny the
two divergent images, real and ideal, can never be Elder even went so far as to say in his Natural His-
brought into complete concordance. The result is tory that after the time of Lysippos, “art stopped.”
a building that seems to shimmer with intellectual Compared to the models of Classical Greece,
excitement and, as Pollitt writes, is “vibrant, alive, Hellenistic architecture underwent changes. The
and continually interesting.”22 elegant Ionic and Corinthian orders were made in-
It is significant, too, that no new building was creasingly more elaborate, while the more simply
ever built in the center of the reconstructed Akrop- austere Doric of mainland Greece gradually fell
olis. There, on the remains of the Bronze Age from favor, not to be rediscovered until the mid-
palace, a broad terrace was made between the eighteenth century.
Erechtheion and the Parthenon. In that most sa- The spatial and dimensional elaboration of the
cred of spots, man is in the middle, the measure and Greek temple is well illustrated by the new Temple
measurer of all things. In one direction was visible of Apollo at Didyma, outside Miletos, in Asia
the ancient sacred mountain of Hymettos, and in Minor, begun about 330 BCE and attributed to the
the other, through the doors of the Propylaia, the architects Paionios of Ephesos and Daphnis of
Bay of Salamis; myth and human history fused in Miletos [11.30, 11.31]. One of the largest Greek
the experience of the Athenian standing there temples ever begun, it rose from a stereobate of
in the clear light of Attica. As at Olympia, where seven huge steps measuring nearly 194 by 387 feet
the pediment figures of Pelops and Hippodameia (59 by 118 m) at the bottom (this is a double
challenge the athletes in their quest of arete, so too square, 1:2). The naos structure was surrounded by
atop the Athenian Akropolis the human observer a double row of the tallest and slenderest Ionic
is challenged to contemplate the never-ending columns of any Greek temple, 64 feet 8 inches
struggle between reason and irrationality, civiliza- (19.7 m) high. This double peripteral colonnade
tion and barbarism, logos and chaos. The Parthenon, (two rows of columns all around) was ten columns
in hard white marble, serves as proof that an ideal across the front by twenty-one columns along the
can be realized through exquisite human action. sides. The naos, 75 feet (22.8 m) across, was too big
to be roofed but was left open to the sky, what is
called hypaethral; the Ionic pilasters along the inside
Hellenistic Architecture walls, by themselves, were 6 feet wide and 3 feet
The cherished independence of the Greek city- deep (1.8 by 0.9 m). The visitor, no doubt over-
states, compromised by Perikles’ confederation, whelmed by the sheer size of this vast enclosure,
slipped away when the many Greek poleis were descended into the open naos “court” by a flight of
amalgamated into a true empire by Philip II of stairs 50 feet (15.2 m) wide. Inside the open naos,
Macedonia and his more famous son, Alexander the amid a grove of laurel trees, was an Ionic shrine the
Great, during 360–323 BCE. The relative peace this size of small Ionic temples of the Classical period
political subjugation brought actually fostered the (about 28 by 48 feet, or 8.5 by 14.6 m). In truth,
flowering of Greek philosophy and science, for it the temple was never completed, allowing a most
was during this period that Aristotle, Zeno, and Epi- telling detail to come down to modern times. In
curus wrote and taught, that Archimedes and Eu- 1979, fine, barely visible lines were discovered
clid developed their theorems, and that sculptors incised on the high interior walls of the inner ady-
such as Praxiteles and Lysippos worked. ton chamber. They are, in fact, the “blueprints” of
Alexander, personally taught by Aristotle him- the temple, rendered in full scale and precisely
self, passionately loved all things Greek and ex- scratched into the surface of the marble to serve as
ported Greek art and culture to all the lands he a guide over the several lifetimes it would have
subsequently conquered, including Persia, Egypt, taken to complete construction.23 These remark-
Syria and Palestine, Babylonia, Iran, and even the able inscriptions survived at the Didymaion be-
northern regions of India; he also expanded inter- cause, since the temple never was finished, the
national trade and the exchange of ideas. The visual walls of the naos court never received their final
arts, no longer restrained by the austere Classical polishing.
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245

11.30. Paionios of Ephesos and Daphnis of Miletos (architects), Temple of Apollo at Didyma, outside Miletos, Asia Minor,
begun c. 330 BCE. Plan. One of the largest Greek temples ever attempted, this had no roof over the naos but was open to the
sky, with a small temple at the end of the open court. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Lawrence, Greek Architecture (1967).

11.31. Temple of Apollo at Didyma. Interior of the naos. Photo: Hirmer Verlag, Munich.
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246

11.32. “The Treasury,” Petra, Jordan, c. 100 BCE–200 CE. Cut out of the solid cliff face, this facade shows how Classical
design elements were used in a decorative sculptural way during the Hellenistic age. Photo: © 2006 John Hedgecoe/TopFoto/
The Image Works.
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An Architecture of Excellence 247

Every part of the typical Classical temple of the

Periklean period was enlarged in scale at Didyma, An Architecture of Excellence
stretched in length, and more elaborately embel- Greek architecture, perhaps best represented by the
lished. The deliberate restraint of the Classical temple, is the embodiment in stone of the striving
period was giving way to the celebration of worldly for the mean, that ideal balance between extremes.
wealth, and the balance between civic virtue and In architectural terms, this becomes a balance be-
public display characterized by Periklean Athens tween the vertical elements of lift (the columns)
was replaced by a fondness for sumptuous detail. and the horizontal elements of load (the beams of
Today, another well-known example of Hellenis- the entablature), between action and rest. Each
tic architecture is the rock-cut building called “The component block or column drum, each piece of
Treasury” (Arabic Al Khazneh), in the ancient city narrative sculpture, was crafted to perfection, in
perhaps originally called Rekem but today known the best available materials, not as a display of
as Petra [11.32]. Located in the southern Jordanian wealth in itself but because it was fitting to honor
desert, it was inhabited by the Nabataeans, who de- the gods and one’s polis in this way. The goal always
veloped successful measures to control and store the was excellence in form, in detail, in workmanship
water released in occasional rains. Situated on because—as the Greeks believed—this is the only
once-active caravan trade routes extending to Gaza, way a human being can achieve his fullest poten-
Damascus, and Aqaba, the town prospered, result- tial. Greek temple architecture represents a unique
ing in a number of impressive buildings cut into the synthesis of essence and substance, of idealistic
sandstone cliffs. “The Treasury,” sculpted between form and clearly articulated structure. The Greeks
100 BCE to 200 CE, demonstrates how Grecian ar- cared little for immortality on a spiritual plane;
chitectural elements were now being used for dec- rather, they sought to ensure their immortality in
orative effect, most notably in the upper half with human memory, through their intellectual and
its pediment cut away in the middle for the intro- artistic excellence. The Parthenon is proof that
duction of a round mini-temple. they succeeded in living forever.
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12.26. Baths of Caracalla. Interior perspective. Restoration drawing. Although now shorn of the marble veneers and
embellishments, such baths and other public buildings were richly and colorfully ornamented, as this restoration drawing
suggests. Compare to 12.25 as the baths appear today. From R. Phené Spiers, The Architecture of Greece and Rome
(London, 1907).
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Chapter 12

Roman Architecture

R
Roman architecture shapes spaces.
13, 509 BCE, one year after the republic was insti-
tuted. For the next five centuries, Romans took
—H. Kähler, The Art of Rome and Her Empire

R
great pride in the fact that they were free and self-
governing, and even during the subsequent empire,
the emperors who governed most successfully were
those who maintained the appearance of the cher-

G reek public architecture was made up of sculp-

tural masses set in balanced contrast to the
landscape. In comparison, Roman architecture, as
ished old republic and made themselves appear to
be merely agents of the Roman people through their
Senate. Romans were particularly “political ani-
Heinz Kähler has observed, is an architecture of mals,” to use Aristotle’s phrase, but in the case of
space, enclosed internal space and outdoor space, the Romans, their “polis” came to include the whole
opened on a grand scale. The Egyptians and the of the Mediterranean basin and beyond [12.1].
Greeks shaped powerfully evocative buildings, but
seldom were these structures meant to contain
groups of people other than in council chambers Roman History
and theaters that were open to the sky. Public life Like the Egyptians and the Greeks, the Romans were
was conducted in the out-of-doors, among these significantly shaped by the geography in which they
sculpted architectural objects. The buildings’ con- happened to arise and by the impact of the almost in-
stricted interiors were the domain of a priestly and cessant warfare that this geography seemed to make
social elite. Only in Hellenistic architecture did almost usual. Roman history is divided into three dis-
public spaces begin to be shaped in a conscious and tinct phases: the rule of the early kings, the republic,
deliberate way, and this shaping of space became and the empire. About 1000 BCE, groups of Balkan
the essence of Roman architecture. No better ex- settlers moved into the Italian peninsula; among
amples exist of the supremacy of space than in the them were the Latins, who settled in the area around
enormous Roman baths or the vast interior of the the Tiber River in the center of the peninsula. The
Pantheon in Rome, its concrete dome arching over site the Latins picked was auspicious, on seven hills
a clear span of 142.5 feet (43.4 m) [3.26, 3.27]. at a point on the river far enough from the sea to pre-
One reason why the Romans attached great im- vent easy attack but on water still navigable from the
portance to public architecture, both enclosed sea. Roughly three hundred years later, it is believed,
spaces and public spaces, was that from the begin- the Etruscans moved into the area north of Rome in
ning, Roman civilization focused on the city as its what is now Tuscany.1 Possessing a more advanced
basic constituent element. Indeed, the Romans culture, the Etruscans gradually came to dominate
marked the beginning of their history not from a de- the neighboring tribes, including the Latins, over
cisive battle or the action of a particular king but whom they imposed a king. In 509 BCE, the inhabi-
from the founding of the city of Rome by Romulus tants of the city of Rome rebelled, deposing the king
and Remus in 753 BCE. Official records were dated and instituting the republic, governed by a senate of
from the founding, on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, patricians with executive power vested in two con-
of the principal temple to Jupiter—Jupiter Optimus suls, who served only for a year. Over the next several
Maximus (Most Supreme Jupiter), the principal centuries, this system of government was expanded
deity of the state religion—dedicated on September to include an assembly of plebes, or lower classes.

249
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250 12. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

12.1. Map of Roman Empire. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

Except for the spine of the Appenine Mountains while, the Roman armies and navy encountered
running the length of the peninsula, there are no challenges from Macedonia and Syria and defeated
truly major barriers to movement in Italy as there them as well. These victories added to Rome’s ex-
are in Greece, nor are there insulating deserts as in panding domain much of Alexander’s former em-
Egypt. The citizens of the city of Rome first had to pire. As peripheral territories were conquered, they
secure their liberty by removing the threat of the were admitted to the empire as participants so that
Etruscans, and then to the south, they secured their the conquered people soon (in most cases) saw
borders in stages until they encountered the estab- themselves as Romans. This embrace of new citizens
lished Greek colonies. The Greeks then appealed meant that most dissention and rebellion was
to the mainland mother cities for help. After a series avoided. So long as the new citizens observed official
of rigorous battles, the Romans acquired control state religious rites, they were largely free to con-
over the Greek colonies, so that by 265 BCE, Rome tinue practicing whatever local religion they fa-
was in control of the entire Italian peninsula. The vored. The consequence of these political policies
Romans then found themselves in trade rivalry with was that by the end of the first century BCE, Rome
the Carthaginians of North Africa. Carthage, on the was no longer a single city, or the peninsula of Italy,
Mediterranean coast of modern-day Tunisia, was a but a series of annexed colonies and federated cities
former Phoenician colony that had made itself the stretching from Gibraltar and Gaul (modern France)
center of bustling Mediterranean-wide commerce in the east to Armenia, Palestine, and Egypt in the
and began to view Rome as a possible competitor. west. The Romans began to refer to the Mediter-
This struggle for power resulted in what the Romans ranean Sea as mare nostrum, “our sea.”
called the three Punic Wars (the Latin Punicus Rome had become an empire, struggling to gov-
means “Phoenician”), 265–146 BCE, which even- ern itself as though it was still a republic, with re-
tually led to a conclusive Roman victory, the oblit- sultant political upheavals. In 46 BCE, the Senate
eration of the city of Carthage, and the absorption named Julius Caesar dictator (the Latin and modern
of Carthage’s colonies into the Roman state. Mean- meanings are nearly identical) for ten years in the
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The Roman Character 251

hope of ending the recurrent civil wars. The posi- city that he founded at the entrance to the Black Sea
tion of dictator was intended to be temporary, but on the old Greek city of Byzantium; it was called the
two years later, as Caesar appeared to be making New Rome but soon acquired the name Constan-
himself de facto king, he was assassinated by those tine’s City, or Constantinople.
who were offended by his concentration of power.
The Senators hoped to reestablish the old republic,
but civil war again broke out. Then in 31 BCE, The Roman Character
Julius Caesar’s nephew, Octavian, set out to estab- During the early republican years of struggle, when
lish order. After Octavian defeated Mark Antony the constant threat from neighboring tribes re-
and Cleopatra, extending Roman rule into Egypt, quired that Roman farmers be ready to take up
he was appointed princeps (“first citizen”) by the arms at any moment, the Roman character was
Senate and given the imperium command (that is, formed. Current popular literature and media may
appointed emperor), which made him dictator and lead us to think of ancient Romans, throughout
head of the army. Octavian then assumed the title their long history, as irredeemably debauched and
Augustus (“venerable,” “majestic”). Even though consumed with pursuing every physical pleasure,
Augustus was in fact emperor, he carefully retained when in fact that description applied only to some
all the apparatus of republican rule, thereby avoid- Romans, particularly those of the imperial period
ing a clash with the ardent republicans in the Sen- during the reigns of Caligula and Nero. The rigors
ate. His reign of forty-one years was marked by of the start of Rome, during the centuries of repub-
peace and the establishment of an imperial bureau- lican self-governance, bred a character defined by
cracy that functioned smoothly even after his death, ingrained discipline, patriotic responsibility, and se-
despite the depredations of the Julio-Claudian em- rious purpose that is best described by the Latin
perors who followed him, including the depraved term gravitas, a sense of the importance of matters
Caligula and the wanton Nero.2 at hand, a propensity for austerity, conservatism,
Several years after Nero’s death, Vespasian was and a deep respect for duty and tradition. A good
declared emperor by the army, and he began the Roman practiced a strict morality, served the state,
Flavian dynasty (his family name was Flavius), maintained unimpeachable honor, and strove for
which ruled successfully from 69 to 81 CE, followed physical and spiritual asceticism—traits that Au-
by fifteen years of terror under Domitian. Upon gustus himself later exemplified.
Domitian’s death, the Senate appointed Nerva as From the early days of the republic, Romans felt
emperor. With his appointment, there began the era an extreme pride in their system of laws and gov-
of the so-called Five Good Emperors, who included ernance. As the city of Rome extended its control
the well-known Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Au- over the Italian peninsula, there developed a driv-
relius; their reigns, from 96 to 180 CE, marked the ing impulse to spread the benefits of Roman law
longest period of peace and prosperity of the empire and republican governance to the rest of the world.
and were coincident with its maximum expansion This imperative had been issued by Jupiter himself,
and the reach of Roman law under Trajan. These as expressed by Virgil in the Aeneid: “To Romans I
years of efficient administration were the golden set no boundary in space or time. I have granted
years of civil order and peace—Lex Romana and Pax them dominion, and it has no end.”3 It is a great
Romana (Roman Law and Roman Peace). Much of irony that the Romans who later thirsted for blood
the best Roman architecture was built during these sports involving human and animal slaughter were
periods of peace and expansive economic develop- also the very people who created a universal system
ment, that is, during the reigns of Augustus, the Fla- of law that sustained the rights of all citizens along
vians, and the Five Good Emperors. the length of the Mediterranean for five centuries.
After Marcus Aurelius, the empire began to suffer The Romans endeavored to achieve universality
growing internal rigidity as well as pressure from and a clearly perceivable order in all of life, and
invaders who were pushing against the imperial their unique achievement was to give form to this
boundaries. In response to this, in 285 CE, the em- civic order in the urban spaces they shaped—a
peror Diocletian divided the empire into two sections form framed by clearly ordered ranks of axially dis-
to be administered by two coequal emperors. Having posed and colonnaded buildings.
taken these steps, Diocletian retired to his fortified The Romans were inherently pragmatic and re-
palace on the Adriatic Coast at Spalatro, Yugoslavia. alistic, unlike the speculative and idealistic Greeks.
This system soon fell apart, but the empire was pulled Although technological advances continued as
together once more in 324 CE by Constantine, who Rome gained control of the Mediterranean basin,
moved the imperial capital away from Rome to a new there were no great Roman theoretical scientists.
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252 12. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

What the Romans produced in abundance were the empire expanded, local gods worshipped in
engineers and builders who developed architectural added territories were simply absorbed into the
forms on a scale that the earlier Greeks could never overall pantheon: Cybele, Isis, Mithras, and Sol In-
have conceived, as Strabo boasted in his Geography. victus among many others. With the end of the re-
Roman engineers built a network of roads linking public and the rise of imperial rule, the public vows
all parts of the empire, from the Portuguese coast shifted to requesting the health of the emperor.
to the ends of Turkey and Syria; if a stony mountain Once the emperor died, he was elevated to the po-
outcrop loomed in the way of a road, they simply sition of a god, an outgrowth of ancient veneration
cut through it. They captured streams and con- of the dead. Only in the eastern part of the Mediter-
ducted the water more than 30 miles (48.3 km) to ranean, among the monotheistic Jews, and then the
the cities, tunneling through hills and lifting the Christian followers who split off from them, did the
aqueducts over valleys on bounding arcades. Rome insistence among these groups on the acceptance of
itself had fourteen aqueducts, over 265 miles dogma and total allegiance to one god raise the
(426.5 km) in total length, carrying 200 million gal- threat of treason on the part of those who refused
lons of water into the city daily. In many parts of to make prayers to the deified dead emperors. If the
Europe, the water supply and the sewer systems Christians refused to recognize the deified emperors
were far better under the Romans than they were as gods, then they were, by that repudiation, ene-
from the Middle Ages until the start of the twenti- mies of the state. Official suppression of Christianity
eth century, and in Segovia, Spain, the city’s water and then persecution of them as criminals followed
is still carried in the Roman aqueduct. in the early centuries of the common era.
The Roman temple, templum, based on Etruscan
prototypes, was similar to the Greek temple and
Roman Religion and the eventually was embellished with Greek orders and
Roman Temple architectural details.4 The underlying difference in
Religion in Rome was centered in the home, the the Roman temple had to do with how the sacred
domus. The Roman belief system was originally an precinct around the temple was consecrated through
animistic religion in which gifts were rendered to human actions. The first step was to set up an axis
impersonal spirits that governed every aspect of that dominated the orientation of the temple, as well
nature—trees, rocks, water, and the fire of the do- as the space in front of it (a forum); the axis and the
mestic hearth. Each house had small shrines where forum shaped how a person approached the temple.
offerings were made. The Etruscans had introduced At the dedication of a temple site, the priest, or
a pantheon of Greek-like gods and began the con- augur, would survey the intended plot and name the
struction of columnar temples raised on high plat- boundary lines. He would draw a circle in the earth,
forms with columnar front porticoes. After contact dividing it with two perpendicular lines to mark the
with the Greeks, the Romans invested their civic, quadrants of the temple enclosure, laying out an axis
or state, gods with much of the character of the in front of him, and a cross axis determining front
Olympian gods, so that Jupiter became nearly the and back, left and right. Whereas the Greek temple
same as Zeus. Jupiter, in particular, became viewed was set down in an open area and approached from
by the Romans as protector of the state. all sides, the Roman temple was placed at the end
Always fond of clearly specified procedure, the of this clearly defined open space, aligned on the axis
Romans developed detailed prescribed ceremonies of that forum. It was set back against the rear of this
in worshipping the gods, rituals carried out by priests forum space, high on a podium—unlike the Greek
(usually prominent members of the upper senatorial temple, with its three equal steps all around—and
class) who had little contact with the ordinary arti- could be approached only from the front, up a long
san, merchant, or slave. Ordinary private Romans, flight of stairs. Like the Greek temple, however, the
for their part, still made offerings to the numina, the Roman temple had columns, but these were prima-
spirits worshipped in their home shrines, but state rily at the front, supporting the gable roof over the
priests took care of the intricate rituals of state reli- entrance to the cella, the enclosed sacred chamber
gion. Hence, religious observation in the Roman (essentially the same as the Greek naos).To the sides
world became split between the state religion sup- and rear, the cella wall was dominant, with the
ported by state funds, on the one hand, and private columns merged into the wall to form engaged
activities conducted in the home, on the other— columns integral with the wall of the cella.
everyone seeking the blessings of a multitude of Among the best preserved of such Roman tem-
gods but also offering public vows requesting that ples is the one built about 19 BCE in the provincial
the state gods ensure the security of the state. As town of Nemausus in Gaul (Nîmes, France). Today,
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Roman Religion and the Roman Temple 253

12.2. Maison Carrée, Nîmes, France (the Roman city of Nemausus, Gaul), begun c. 19 BCE. One of the best preserved of
all Roman temples, this shows the high base, emphatic front, and engaged columns in the side walls typical of Roman temples.
Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.

the temple is called the Maison Carrée, the “square scholars to reconstruct its elaborate plan and to
house,” because of its clear, rectangular geometry study the details of the terraces and colonnades
[12.2]. Although built during the reign of Augus- that survived. At the bottom were barrel-vaulted
tus, and therefore technically an imperial building, shops leading to three shallow terraces. From there,
it duplicates the form of traditional temples of the long, covered ramps converged on a central axial
earlier republic—for example, the smaller Temple stair at the fourth level. Here, graceful colonnades
of Fortuna Virilis in the forum in Rome. The rec- provided sheltered walks. Above was another ter-
tangular enclosed forum in front of the Maison race and an axial stair leading to the sixth and
Carrée, however, has long since been built over. largest terrace, which was framed on three sides by
A particularly dramatic example of the rule of colonnaded loggias. Another stair then led up to a
the axis in controlling external space was for cen- small, theater-like series of concentric steps, culmi-
turies covered up; this is the Sanctuary of Fortuna nating in a semicircular colonnade. Behind and ris-
Primigenia at Praeneste (Palestrina), Italy [12.3]. ing over this was a circular temple, the focus of the
Probably built under the direction of Sulla, who entire composition; from the temple and the semi-
conquered Praeneste for Rome in 82 BCE, the site circular loggia just below it, visitors could look out
accommodated several ancient sacred spots and over the valley to the sea. Recalling the terraces
was part of Sulla’s reestablishment of the ancient of Queen Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple west of
local cults. Although the site, on a steep hillside, Thebes, the Romans here transformed an entire
was known through later written descriptions such hillside, reshaping nature according to their unique
as Cicero’s De divinatione, it had been built over vision of the earth’s yielding to the geometric and
during the Middle Ages. axially disposed design of human invention. Built
As it happened, Palestrina was heavily bombed of concrete and tufa masonry, the Sanctuary of For-
in World War II, and when the rubble was cleared tuna Primigenia was a hint of the even larger and
away, beneath the debris lay the remains of the an- more complex concrete structures to follow during
cient Sanctuary of Fortuna. This discovery enabled the empire.
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254 12. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

12.3. Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia at Praeneste

(Palestrina), Italy, c. 80 BCE. This complex of ramps and
terraces, leading up to the temple of Fortuna, shows clearly
the organization of Roman space around a dominant axis.
From Brown, Roman Architecture (New York, 1961).

the Greek agora. In his treatise, Vitruvius suggested

Roman Urban Planning that the ideal proportions of a rectangular forum
Like Greek life, Roman life was focused on the city, are 2 to 3, width to length.5 What distinguished the
but as the Roman Empire grew, the far-flung cities Roman forum, however, was its clear architectural
became part of a federation of communities with definition and its generally rectangular shape dom-
participants exercising self-rule rather than acting as inated by the Temple of Jupiter at one end on the
subject peoples. The annexed cities were the prime axis of the forum (the north end at Pompeii).
agents in spreading Romanitas, the encompassing Around the forum, enclosing it and giving it shape,
sum of Roman privileges, values, and culture. By the would be found several buildings housing the curia,
second century CE, early urban Christian converts or city offices, and a basilica, a large, roofed building
described rustic country folk not living in cities (and where legal cases were heard, as well as various
therefore not converted to Christianity) as pagans, lesser temples and public buildings. The forum of
from paganus, meaning a country person. Pompeii illustrates these elements well [12.5].
Early Roman cities, as well as cities that had From the Hellenistic Greeks, the Romans ab-
started as Greek colonial settlements, such as the sorbed the technique of orthogonal planning, and
commercial and resort town of Pompeii, south of they soon made this the basis of laying out army
Neopolis (Naples), had networks of streets forming camps during the second century BCE.6 Just as in
irregular rectangles [12.4]. As these cities ex- dedicating a temple site, the ground for the camp,
panded, the new blocks might become more regu- the castrum, was surveyed and the basic governing
lar, but at these ancient sites, there was no urgency lines, or limites, were established at the center of
to align the streets with the points of the compass. the camp with an instrument called the groma. The
At the heart of these old cities, culturally if not al- principal street running north and south from this
ways topographically, was the forum, the civic open point was the cardo, and the principal east-west
space, the setting of the principal temple dedicated street perpendicular to it, the decumanus. Beyond
to Jupiter, lined with loggias and civil buildings. the walls of the camp, this system would be ex-
The forum thus served much the same function as tended on a larger scale (sometimes reoriented
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255

12.4. Pompeii, Italy. Plan of the city. The ancient heart of the city, founded in the sixth century BCE, is to the southeast.
Later extensions have a more regular grid-like system of streets. The stippling indicates areas not yet excavated. Drawing:
L. M. Roth, after Boethius and Ward-Perkins, Etruscan and Roman Architecture (Harmondsworth, England, 1970).

A = Temple of Apollo J = Temple of Jupiter

B = basilica L = Lararium
C = curia (city offices) M = Macellum
Co = Comitium m = market
E = Eumachia Building V = Temple of Vespasian

12.5. Plan of the Forum, Pompeii, Italy. The principal

public space in Roman cities was enclosed by the
curia (city offices) and one or more basilicas (legal
chambers), was ringed with colonnades, and focused
on the Temple of Jupiter. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
Boethius and Ward-Perkins, Etruscan and Roman
Architecture (Harmondsworth, England, 1970).
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256 12. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

12.6. Plan. Thamugadi (Timgad), Algeria,

founded in 100 CE. Established as a colony for
military veterans, this city had a military castrum
plan. The main north-south street is the cardo,
and the main east-west street is the decumanus.
Drawing: A. Stockler and L. M. Roth.

in deference to the slope of the land), in blocks original city square, the Forum Romanum, con-
called centuriae, measuring 2,400 Roman feet to a sidered the caput mundi, or “head of the world”
side.7 These large squares were equivalent to a hun- [12.7, 12.8, Plate 18]. Because this original forum
dred small farms—hence their name, centuries, in had grown bit by bit over several hundred years, it
English. was not rigorously orthogonal, as were those in
Military encampments in turn became the basis cities laid out from scratch, but beginning with
of countless town plans throughout the empire. In Julius Caesar, additional forums were built north
numerous European cities today, these grid plans and east of the original forum in a more regular
survive in varying degrees in the medieval street way. Julius Caesar’s forum, the Forum Iulium,
patterns. In England, especially, the legacy of the begun around 56 BCE, provided the model—
Roman camp survives in the names of scores of strictly rectangular, lined with loggias, and focused
towns, for “chester” is derived from the Latin cas- on a Temple of Venus Genetrix. Augustus then
trum: Leicester, Chichester, Silchester, Worchester, added his Forum Augustum (dedicated in 2 BCE),
and Chester are but a few examples. One military on an axis perpendicular to the Venus Genetrix
outpost that has survived in remarkable detail is temple. Focused on a large Temple of Mars Ultor
Thamugadi (Timgad), in the Roman province of (“Mars the Avenger”), the forum was backed up
Numidia, now eastern Algeria [12.6]. Founded in against an old city wall. Additional forums (or fora)
100 CE as a colony of military veterans guarding were added by succeeding emperors, each forum
a strategic outpost, the camp was laid out with a commemorating a significant military achievement
rigid orthogonal grid, but as it expanded outside the and dedicated to a god whose attributes were ad-
original walls, the rigid rectilinear order was gradu- mired by the patron emperor. By means of inter-
ally eased. Immediately south of the decumanus is locking and interwoven perpendicular axes, these
the forum, with the curia to the west and a large spaces are linked together to form a complex but
basilica on the east side. Just south of the forum was relatively coherent system.
the city’s principal theater. Outside the walls, on the The imperial forums culminated in the vast
north and south, were the largest of the public baths. Forum of Trajan, north of the Forum Augustum.
Of all the forums, the most celebrated were This large forum was designed by Apollodorus of
those in the city of Rome itself, beginning with the Damascus and built at the direction of the emperor
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The Enclosure and Manipulation of Space 257

in 98–117 BCE to commemorate his victories in the temple and the broad court was a huge basilica
Dacia, north of the Danube. More complex spa- (the Basilica Ulpia), the largest in all Rome.
tially than the earlier forums, this had a broad log-
gia-lined forecourt measuring 660 by 390 feet (200
by 120 m), further enlarged by the semicircular The Enclosure and
exedrae on each side screened by the loggias. On Manipulation of Space
the hillside overlooking the northern exedra were The focus on urban life and civic activities required
public markets constructed by Trajan as part of the the development of new building types in Roman
forum-building project. At the far north end of the architecture, buildings that enclosed space for the
forum complex was a temple to the deified Trajan, use of the public. Although the cellas of Roman
built by his successor, Hadrian. In front of the tem- temples had several chambers to house the image
ple were two libraries, one for Greek and one for of the god and a treasury, only priests entered these
Latin manuscripts. Between the libraries stood the rooms. Other civic activities, however, such as legal
great stone column of Trajan, 125 feet (38 m) high, proceedings, required a large, covered space where
covered with a spiraling relief depicting the Dacian judges could hear cases, where litigants could wait
campaign. The temple to Trajan could not be seen their turn, and where the public could listen. The
from the great open space, however, for between basilica was designed to accommodate this need.8

A = Amphitheater BT = Baths of Trajan IF = Imperial Forums PC = Praetorian Camp

B = Basilica of Maxentius C = Capitoline Hill M = Theater of Marcellus SD = Stadium of Domitian
(Constantine) CM = Circus Maximus MH = Mausoleum of Hadrian
BC = Baths of Caracalla CN = Circus of Nero P = Pantheon
BD = Baths of Diocletian F = Forum Romanum Pa = Palatine Hill

12.7. Schematic map of the City of Rome, third century CE, showing major buildings and forums. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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258

12.8. The Forum Romanum and the Imperial Forums, Rome, c. 54 BCE–117 CE. The interconnected Imperial Forums
were built by successive emperors on interlaced axes next to the ancient Forum Romanum, the center of Roman civic and
political life. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Sear, Roman Architecture (London, 1982).
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The Enclosure and Manipulation of Space 259

Normally a long, rectangular building placed adja- Romans imagined the earth as a disk covered by a
cent to a forum, a basilica typically had an internal heavenly dome, the new building undertaken by
encircling colonnade, with an apse or a cylindrical Hadrian was to symbolize that universe of earth and
projection at one end (or sometimes both ends), the gods. Who designed it is not known, although
where the judges would sit. At the geometric center Hadrian himself may have played a part in devising
of the semicircular apse would be an altar acknowl- the conceptual scheme.10 Built of concrete of vary-
edging the spiritual presence of the emperor, for ing density from bottom to top, it is a model of the
only in his symbolic presence could cases be heard. heavenly dome, the realm of all the gods, measuring
The Basilica Ulpia (Trajan’s family name was Ul- 142.5 feet (43.4 m) in diameter. This hemisphere
pius) illustrates this building type on a grand scale rests on a drum of equal height, so that the distance
[12.9, 12.10]. Not including the apses, the building from the top of the dome to the floor is the same as
measured 385 by 182 feet (117.4 by 55.5 m) wall the width of the dome; in other words, one could
to wall, with two concentric internal colonnades inscribe a perfect sphere within the enclosed vol-
opening onto a central vertical space, which by it- ume. The only source of light (aside from what
self was 260 feet (80 m) long. The vast center space comes through the sheltered door) is the oculus, or
was covered by a timber truss roof spanning 80 feet eye, at the top, 30 feet across (9.1 m). Its beam of
(25 m).9 light slowly creeps across the marble floor and
Increasingly during the second century CE, inches up the wall, marking out the cycles of the sun
Roman builders used a form of concrete, opus cae- like a gigantic timepiece. As noted in Chapter 3 in
menticum, for the walls and vaults of these public the discussion of domes, the concrete of the Pan-
buildings. Their concrete was a thick mortar (not a theon dome exerts tremendous downward thrust,
pourable liquid like modern concrete) laid with which is diverted by eight radial barrel vaults in the
bands of brick. Having learned that their exposed thickness of the drum wall (20 feet; 6.1 m) to eight
concrete did not weather well, Roman builders in- major piers. Between these piers are eight deep
corporated brick or stone as an outer facing. From niches (where the statues of the gods were once
about 200 to 100 BCE this facing had consisted of placed), whose interiors are obscured from view by
random masonry blocks, opus incertum, but during screens of slender Corinthian columns. Thus, the
the next two centuries, regular square bricks were enormous weight seems to come down to a wall bro-
used, set on the diagonal, opus reticulatum. After ken up into shadowy recesses. One reason the build-
about 100 CE, flat bricks or tiles were used as ing survives in such good condition is that in 609
the facing, opus testaceum. Concrete construction CE, it was consecrated by Pope Boniface IV as the
reached its height in the public baths of the late church of Santa Maria Rotunda.
empire, as illustrated in the surviving three-bay From the outside, a person approaching would
Basilica of Maxentius, which was inspired by Roman have had little suggestion of the ballooning space
baths. Begun by Emperor Maxentius in 307 CE, the within the building, for originally a long, colon-
basilica was finished by Constantine in c. 325 [3.26, naded, rectangular forum in front of the Pantheon
12.11]. The central circulation space measured 265 prevented clear views of the cylindrical side walls
by 83 feet (80.8 by 25.3 m) and was covered by of the building [12.14]. Facing onto this forum is a
three huge groin vaults, with a semicircular exedra broad octastyle (eight-column) Corinthian portico
at the northwest end; three large chambers on each of monolithic gray Egyptian granite columns with
side provided buttressing for the concrete groin white marble bases and capitals. The portico is
vault of the center “nave.” Each of these side cham- backed against a tall, square attic block that also
bers, measuring 76 by 56 feet (23.2 by 17.1 m) and prevents full view of the cylinder and dome. The
covered by a barrel vault, could accommodate ad- exterior seems always to have been rather plain, but
ditional court proceedings. Unfortunately, of the en- the interior is resplendent with colored marble
tire building, only three of these side chambers revetment. The walls and floor are covered with a
survive today. veneer of marble, granite, and porphyry brought
The building that best symbolizes the Roman en- from the corners of the Roman world, evidence of
closure of space and the powerful effect of such de- the far-flung trade network made possible by the
fined space is the Pantheon—no doubt because it Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome.11
survives nearly intact [3.27, 12.12, 12.13]. Built by Perhaps no other single building so sums up
Hadrian between c. 118 and c. 128 CE, the Pan- Roman building achievement as does the Pantheon.
theon was a temple to all the gods—its name comes It exploits concrete building technology to its
from the Greek pans, “all,” plus theos, “god”— fullest; it defines simply yet powerfully a clear geom-
including the deified emperor Augustus. Since the etry that assumes universal and cosmic significance,
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260

12.9. Apollodorus of Damascus, Basilica Ulpia, Forum of Trajan, Rome, Italy, 98–117 CE. Plan. Largest of all the basilicas
in Rome, this provided for two legal hearing chambers at each end, with an immense covered volume for public assembly.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after MacDonald, Architecture of the Roman Empire (New Haven, 1965).

12.10. Basilica Ulpia. Interior view. From B. Fletcher, A History of Architecture (New York, 1931).
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The Enclosure and Manipulation of Space 261

12.11. Basilica of Maxentius, Rome, Italy, 307–325 CE. View of the surviving three side chambers. Photo: Scala/Art
Resource, NY.

at a scale that never fails to evoke awe. It illustrates been obliterated in the fire and ten more were
highly organized building operations in constructing severely damaged. Nero promptly claimed the de-
formwork, in coordinating the arrival of building stroyed districts, appropriating for himself the area
materials, and in timing the placement of the thick around the Esquiline Hill. Here he and his archi-
concrete mixture. It is evidence of the potential of tects, Severus and Celer, set about building a luxu-
human ingenuity and aspiration. But most impor- rious “country” estate on 350 acres (41.7 hectares)
tant, it is evidence that building can transcend util- in the center of the city, filling it with fountains and
itarian construction, for the Pantheon is the a palace that looked out over an artificial lake. The
embodiment, as David Watkin has put it, of “the entrance was built against the Forum Romanum,
symbol and the consequence of an immutable union opening onto a court dominated by a gilded bronze
between the gods, nature, man, and the state.”12 statue that Nero had made of himself. At 120 feet
The Pantheon was the culmination of important (36.6 m) high, the statue was called the Colossus.
experiments that had been pursued for more than The Domus Aurea was a complex of inter-
two centuries. Its particular distinction was its vast connected geometric volumes, its rooms covered
scale, but equally important architecturally were the by nearly every known type of vault and dome
earlier experiments in manipulating more intimate [12.15, 12.16]. In the north wing was a low, octag-
spaces carried out in building the Domus Aurea onal room covered by an octagonal vault that be-
(“Golden House”) for Nero in 64–68 CE. In 64, a came hemispherical toward the top and opened in
disastrous fire had erupted near the Circus Max- a large oculus. Around this were taller, barrel-
imus, spreading rapidly and consuming the heart of vaulted chambers whose open ends looked inward
old Rome. Nero conveniently blamed the fire on a toward the curve of the dome, so that these sur-
new religious sect, the Christians, and commenced rounding vaulted chambers were lit from unseen
the first of successive waves of persecution. Of sources with light bounced from the outer surface
Rome’s fourteen administrative districts, three had of the central dome.
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262

12.12. Pantheon, Rome, Italy, 118–28 CE. Plan Drawing: M. Burgess.

12.13. Pantheon. Section. Drawing: M. Burgess.

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Domestic Architecture 263

12.14. Forum of the Pantheon, Rome, Italy. Originally the Pantheon, like other Roman temples, faced an open forum whose
enclosing colonnades may have partially obscured the drum of the dome, heightening the sense of surprise one experienced
upon entering. From Axel Böethius and John B. Ward-Perkins, Etruscan and Roman Architecture (Baltimore, 1970).

fectionately describe their country villas. Despite

Domestic Architecture this new appreciation of the landscape, Roman civ-
Nero’s Domus Aurea was an elaborate evocation of ilization was nonetheless essentially urban. Cities
an ex-urban villa, a retreat in the countryside. were the building blocks of the empire, the centers
Roman writers, such as Virgil in his Georgics, devel- of trade and commerce. Rome itself was huge,
oped an aesthetic appreciation of the natural land- having about a million inhabitants during the reign
scape for its own sake. This sensitivity, essentially of Augustus. Complaints—about the shortage of
unknown before, was an interest also reflected in housing, exorbitant rents, pollution, crime in the
the letters of Cicero and Pliny the Younger, who af- streets, and the general high cost of living—were

12.15. Severus and Celer

(architects), House of Nero, the
Domus Aurea (House of Gold),
Rome, 64–68 CE. Partial plan.
Overlooking a lush landscape
created in the heart of the city, this
villa consisted of concrete-vaulted
rooms in a wide variety of shapes.
Many rooms were illuminated by
ingenious oculus windows and
reflecting walls. Drawing:
M. Burgess, after MacDonald,
Architecture of the Roman
Empire (New Haven, 1965).
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264 12. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

12.16. Domus Aurea. Interior view of the octagon. Photo: Fototeca Unione, American Academy in Rome.

common. Because of increasing congestion, chari- about the city without descending to the congested
ots and other vehicles were excluded from the city streets.
during daylight, with the result that much of the The destruction of Pompeii on August 24, 79 CE,
commercial traffic was conducted at night. when Mount Vesuvius erupted, in fact preserved a
Most urban citizens lived in apartment houses, range of different house types, from small artisans’
large blocks of three or four floors that opened onto residences to large patrician residences and ex-
landscaped internal courts. These insulae (“is- pansive country villas just outside the city.14 At the
lands”) filled entire blocks. Often hastily and shod- northwestern end of Pompeii are a number of blocks
dily built as speculative real-estate ventures, they in the later, more orthogonal extension of the city;
were known to collapse; in a letter to his friend At- these blocks contain several houses, ranging from
ticus, Cicero wrote that two of his shops had fallen small to very large. One block is nearly filled by the
down, but that he had a rebuilding scheme that expansive house of Pansa [12.18]. Except for its
would recover his losses.13 Augustus had decreed large garden to the north, it typifies the arrangement
that no insulae could be built more than 70 feet of a single-story Roman town house, with its closed
high (21.3 m), and after the fire in 64 CE, Nero face to the street and inward focus. For the most
declared numerous additional building regulations, part, private houses had symmetrical floor plans
specifically requiring the use of nonflammable ma- where possible. The entrance connected with a large
terials. The insulae in Rome itself have long since public room, the atrium, open to the sky through an
been replaced, but in Rome’s port city, Ostia, many opening in the roof and ringed with cubicles. The
have survived, some up to the third floor [12.17]. roof of the atrium pitched inward, so that rainwater
Built of brick and concrete, they had balconies dripped into a pool, the impluvium, at the center of
running around the entire block; many of these the room. On the axis beyond the atrium was the
were connected by bridges over the narrow streets tablinium, the principal public room, which was
to neighboring insulae, enabling residents to move screened by draperies. Beyond the tablinium was an
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265

12.17. Apartment blocks (insulae), Ostia, Italy, late first and second centuries. Model. This model shows the galleries and
balconies that ran around some of the apartment blocks. In places, these galleries bridged across the street to allow movement
from building to building without having to descend to the congested streets. Photo: From Brown, Roman Architecture (1961).

12.18. House of Pansa, Pompeii, Italy,

second century BCE. Plan. Somewhat larger
than other houses in Pompeii, this structure
nonetheless has the same component elements
(the major addition here is the large garden to
the north). Like other Roman urban houses, it
was surrounded by contiguous smaller houses
and shops open to the street (h = rental
houses, s = rental shops). Drawing: L. M.
Roth, after W. F. Jashemski.
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266 12. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

open court, or peristyle, ringed with a colonnade. the production of newer Roman works, but they
Around the peristyle were more cubicles and the tri- never served the quasi-politico-religious function of
clinium, the dining room just large enough to accom- the Greek theater. Accordingly, Roman theaters
modate three broad reclining dining couches. In were not located near temples, but close to the busi-
some houses, the peristyle was large enough to be a ness center of the city; and since they were not built
garden, with another impluvium at the center. Be- on natural hillsides like Greek theaters, Roman the-
yond the peristyle, on the axis, was the oecus, or aters had their seats ramped up on tilted concrete
reception room. Surrounding the house of Pansa vaults raised on stone piers. The basic form of the
and filling out the block were several small, individ- Roman theater was crystallized in the Theater of
ual residences on the east side, six small shops open- Marcellus, Rome, projected by Augustus himself
ing to the street on the south side, and a bakery and and built under the direction of Marcus Agrippa.
two more shops on the west side. Such enclosing The theater was dedicated about 12 BCE [12.19].16
apartments and shops provided income to the The seats were inclined on a system of radiating and
owner, whose house was in the center of the block. tilted concrete barrel vaults supported by radiating
The various houses, villas, and public buildings stone piers, between which threaded the stairs and
of Pompeii have acquired special importance, for the ramps leading to the sections of seating. The outer
entire city and the neighboring towns of Hercula- curved wall was opened up by superimposed arcades
neum and Stabiae were buried under as much as of travertine faced with engaged orders—unfluted
30 feet (9.1 m) of volcanic ash in the eruption of Doric at the lower level and Ionic on the second
Mount Vesuvius. Because the ash deposits fell rela- level (the treatment of the third level is not known
tively slowly at first, the courts and houses became with certainty since the structure was heavily mod-
filled with the ash material. Later, when the explo- ified during the Middle Ages). Unlike Greek the-
sive pyroclastic blast came, many of the houses and aters, Roman theaters were exactly semicircular,
buildings were already mostly buried and were thus with a half-circle orchestra where senators were
spared serious destruction, although some roofs had often seated; the Theater of Marcellus measured
already collapsed from the weight of the ash. Ini- 365 feet (111 m) in diameter [12.20]. As was typical
tially, many people had sufficient time to escape, of Roman theaters, the seats faced a permanent
but others went to the upper levels above the accu- scaenae frons, a wall as high as the rear wall of the
mulating ash, expecting it to cease at some point.15 semicircular seating. On its three tiers of seats, each
Household articles were left where they were one pitched somewhat more steeply than the one
dropped and the bread on the bakers’ counters was below, the Theater of Marcellus could accommo-
abandoned, but the residents who refused to flee date eleven thousand spectators.
suffocated and were buried by the ash wherever they Every Roman city had one or more theaters, but
collapsed. Gradually, the streets and houses were the one that has survived best is the theater in As-
filled with the falling ash, which covered wood fur- pendos, in the Roman province of Pamphylia, near
niture and wall paintings. When the site was un- the coast of south-central Turkey [12.21].17 De-
covered in the eighteenth century and excavation signed about 155 CE by Zeno of Theodorus, this
began in 1748, the first detailed evidence of every- example was built against a convenient hillside, al-
day Roman life came to light. Early excavators though the sides of the semicircular seating that ex-
discovered voids filled with skeletal bones and even- tended out laterally from the hillside are carried by
tually devised a method of injecting these voids with vaults and arcades. The theater is 315 feet (96 m)
liquid plaster to reveal the ghost-like forms of in diameter and can accommodate up to seven
the people who were overcome where they fell and thousand spectators. The stage and scaenae frons
were buried. still stand, but missing is the sloped, reflecting
wooden ceiling that was originally cantilevered 27
feet (8.1 m) out over the stage. The scaenae frons
Public Buildings was once richly embellished, with two superimposed
Because of their intensive urban life, the Romans colonnades of paired columns carrying alternated
developed a range of varied public building types. segmental and triangular pediments. To shield the-
The largest of these, meant to accommodate public atergoers from the sun, a velarium awning, supported
amusements, were not roofed, but others had large by fifty-eight masts planted in sockets at the rear of
interior volumes covered with concrete vaults of the seating, could be pulled over the audience.
various shapes. The principal Roman innovation in “theater”
Roman theaters, derived from Greek models, design was to combine two theaters to form the oval
were the scene for revivals of Greek plays as well as amphitheater devoted to gladiatorial contests and
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267

12.19. Theater of Marcellus, Rome, Italy, finished 12 BCE. Perspective. This cutaway drawing shows the system of
circulation used to admit viewers to the ramped seats. The uppermost floor was removed in the Middle Ages, but the
superimposed engaged columns (Ionic over Doric) survive in the lower stories. From Axel Boëthius and John B. Ward-Perkins,
Etruscan and Roman Architecture (Harmondsworth, England, 1970).

12.20. Theater of Marcellus. Plan. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Kähler, The Art of Rome and Her Empire (New York,
1963).
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268 12. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

12.21. Zeno of Theodorus, Theater, Aspendos, Pamphylia (Turkey), c. 155 CE. Section perspective. The Roman theater
focused on a tall, permanent stone scaenae frons, or backdrop scene, that rose as high as the back, uppermost seats. From
G. C. Izenour, Theater Design (New York, 1977).

other large-scale amusements. The oldest surviving floor, then Ionic, Corinthian, and finally Corinthian
example is that at Pompeii, built about 80 BCE. It pilasters on the uppermost, fourth story. At the
measures 500 by 350 feet (150 by 105 m) and could fourth level, too, were sockets holding masts for the
hold twenty thousand spectators. The word am- velarium cover that could be stretched over the au-
phitheater, however, has become nearly synonymous dience. The individual wedge sections of seats were
with the huge Flavian amphitheater in Rome, pop- divided into seventy-six separate blocks, each with
ularly called the Colosseum [12.22, 12.23]. This was its own entrance, exit stairs, and ramps incorporated
begun by Emperor Vespasian in 80 CE, after the end into the vaulted passages under the seats, a system
of Nero’s unpopular reign, when the grounds of nearly identical to that used in many modern sports
Nero’s Domus Aurea were appropriated for new arenas. Between forty-five thousand and fifty-five
public building. Vespasian’s amphitheater was in fact thousand people could be seated in the Flavian am-
built in the basin where Nero’s artificial lake had phitheater at one time, a number comparable to
been and stood next to Nero’s colossal statue— many football stadiums today.
hence the name Colosseum. (Nero’s Domus Aurea Even larger were the stadiums, or circuses, used
was later covered in part by the Baths of Trajan.) for chariot races. The biggest of them all in Rome
The unknown architect/engineer of the Flavian am- was the Circus Maximus, in the valley between the
phitheater was a master of logistics and construction Palatine and Aventine hills and begun in 329 BCE
deployment, for the building was under construc- [12.7]. Shaped rather like a modern football sta-
tion in several areas at once by different work crews. dium, but much longer, the Circus Maximus was
On a foundation ring of concrete, piers of tufa and about 1,820 feet (555 m) from the stables at one
travertine were placed to carry the concrete vaults end to the curve at the other. It was approximately
forming the shell for the tiers of seating. Overall, the 380 feet (115.8 m) wide. The Circus Maximus has
amphitheater measured 615 by 510 feet (188 by 156 disappeared, but the smaller Circus of Domitian
m), with a clear arena floor of 280 by 175 feet (86 survives as a ghost negative image in the open
by 54 m). The floor was laid with wood planks over space of the Piazza Navona, for the enclosing walls
a series of subterranean chambers and passageways of the circus’s seating were reused in medieval
through which lions and other animals could be ad- buildings that were themselves replaced with new
mitted to the arena floor; the floor could be re- buildings in the Renaissance [visible in 16.20].
moved and the entire lower level flooded for mock The unique Roman structural achievement was
naval battles using miniature ships. The seats rose covering large spaces for public use, as in the cre-
in tiers to 159 feet (48.5 m), with a curved outer ation of the basilica as a legal court. Another special
wall of four superimposed arcades. As in the The- Roman creation was the public bath, examples of
ater of Marcellus, the stone arcades incorporated which were built in profusion throughout the em-
engaged columns—unfluted Doric on the ground pire during the second century CE. In Rome itself,
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269

12.22. Flavian Amphitheater

(the Colosseum), Rome, Italy, begun,
c. 80 CE. Perspective. Roman
amphitheaters were designed for
popular amusements and sports
events. This, the largest of them all,
could seat up to 55,000 people,
admitted through seventy-six
separate gates. From Axel Böethius
and John B. Ward-Perkins, Etruscan
and Roman Architecture
(Harmondsworth, England, 1970).

12.23. Flavian Amphitheater

(the Colosseum). Interior of arena.
Originally the floor was overlaid with
heavy wooden planks covered with
sand for gladiatorial contests. Below
were the animal cages. For special
occasions the floor was removed and
the arena flooded for mock naval
battles. Photo: Fotocielo.
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270 12. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

according to a catalog of buildings drawn up in 354 bath building, 750 by 380 feet (228 by 116 m). On
CE, there were then 952 baths of varying size.18 the central axis, on the south side, was the large
Roman baths, thermae, were used for much more domed hot room, the calidarium, 115 feet (35 m) in
than simply washing. They combined aspects of a diameter, with hot pools in niches in the wall of the
modern health club with that of a public library drum. Immediately north of this was the warm
and school, for the biggest baths (such as the Baths room, the tepidarium, with two pools at the sides of
of Caracalla in Rome [12.24]) contained shops, this hall. The tepidarium led to the large three-bay
restaurants, exercise yards or palaestrae, libraries, cold room, the frigidarium, 183 feet by 79 feet (55.7
and lecture halls and reading rooms (gymnasia), by 24 m). At the heart of the building, the frigidar-
arranged around spacious gardens filled with sculp- ium had three groin vaults rising 108 feet (32.9 m)
ture (in fact, many of the surviving Roman copies above the roof, with light pouring through the eight
of Greek sculpture were found during archaeologi- semicircular lunette windows [12.25; 12.26, p. 248].
cal excavations of the gardens of these baths). In To the north of the frigidarium was the swimming
the Baths of Caracalla, the largest in Rome, more pool, the natatio, open to the sky but apparently ad-
than 1,600 bathers of one gender could be accom- ditionally illuminated by bronze mirrors attached to
modated at one time in its sprawling 33 acres. The metal fixtures overhead. The entire complex, in-
entire complex was 1,152 feet wide (351 m), exclud- cluding gardens and enclosing facilities, was built
ing the curved exedrae, and 1,240 feet (378 m) in on a 20-foot-high (6 m) platform, which provided
depth, including the water reservoirs at the south for vaulted storage rooms and the furnaces that
end fed by the Marcian aqueduct. Along the north heated the tepidarium and calidarium by means of
side were shops, and in the exedrae on the sides flues in the floors and walls through which hot air
were libraries and lecture halls; flanking the reser- circulated.
voirs were additional libraries. The remaining space Every Roman city of any significance had at least
within the walls was shaded by groves of trees. In one theater and one bath. Provincial Timgad had
the northerly half of the enclosure was the principal fourteen baths in all, with two large establishments

A = Marcian Aqueduct
C = Calidarium (hot bath)
F = Frigidarium (cold baths)
L = Libraries
T = Tepidarium (warm baths)
N = Natatio (swimming pool)
R = Water reservoir
S = Stadium

12.24. Baths of Caracalla. Rome, Italy, 212–216 CE. Plan of the bath complex, showing surrounding gardens and reading
rooms. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after B. Fletcher, A History of Architecture (New York, 1931).
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Public Buildings 271

12.25. Baths of Caracalla. View along axis of the frigidarium. Photo: Album/Art Resource, NY.

on the north and south edges of the city [12.6], built Roman theaters, circuses, and baths were built
in the third and mid-second centuries CE, respec- and operated with imperial funds and were avail-
tively. In the northern outpost of Augusta Trevero- able at no charge to the public. The purpose of
rum (Trier, Germany) on the Moselle River, the these expensive enterprises was to keep the unruly
spacious heated baths built in the fourth century CE populace occupied, for tens of thousands in the city
must have been especially welcome. Trier had a of Rome were unemployed. The construction of
number of other large public buildings; the basilica such buildings itself provided work for those in the
still stands nearly intact. A bath was built in the building trades, and the continual games and the
provincial city of Lutetia (Paris); the ruins today are pleasures of the baths served to divert the populace.
part of the Musée National du Moyen Age. In Grain was dispersed as well; free “bread and cir-
Britain, the Romans took advantage of natural min- cuses” in the cities soon became imperial policy.
eral hot springs that bubbled up next to the Avon There was, of course, a price to be paid for such
River, building there thermae and a city they called state largess, in the form of increasingly burden-
Aquae Sulis (today Bath, England). some taxes throughout the empire. By the time of
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272 12. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

Diocletian’s reign, 284 to 305 CE, restrictions Corinthian colonnade is pushed back in deep con-
bound sons to the trade of their fathers and farmers cave curves, as is the podium of the temple, so that
to the land, and thus the basis of medieval serfdom the building reads more like a molded sculptural
was created. mass than as a structural arrangement of stone
posts and beams.
Later Roman “Baroque”
Architecture An Architecture of Universality
During the later Roman Empire, architectural forms Just as Hellenistic architecture moved away from
became larger, more extensively embellished, and the earlier formal clarity of Periklean architecture,
formally complex. This move toward elaboration so too did late Roman architecture move away from
and complexity was especially pronounced in the the austerity of the republican age toward what
provinces, removed as they were from the influence later historians would call a Baroque complexity
of the austere models in Rome. In the eastern in the Imperial period. Moreover, as the empire
Mediterranean areas such as Syria, Roman admin- expanded into what was viewed even then as the
istrators accepted local religions and gods, so long “exotic East,” the transported Roman architecture
as official ceremonies embraced prayers and oaths became yet more complex. In the later years of
supporting the state religion and the deified former the empire, the emphasis increasingly was on ex-
emperors. The difficulty arose in the province of perimentation and on pushing stone and concrete
Judea, where the Jews (and soon the Christians to their structural and plastic limits. While the Pax
branching from them) tolerated no other gods in Romana, the Peace of Rome, endured during the
the ardent monotheism they practiced. Accommo- peaceful and prosperous reigns of Augustus, the
dations were made with the local Jewish authorities. Flavians, and the so-called Five Good Emperors in
The official toleration of the worship of local the second century CE, the Romans perfected an
deities in the provinces (so long as official temples architecture unlike that ever seen before and
were built and dedicated to Jupiter) resulted in the spread it the length of the Mediterranean world. A
construction of other temple buildings and com- Greco-Roman architecture, it combined the ele-
plexes that differed significantly from those in gance of detail and refinement of form of Greece
Rome. Several striking examples are found in the with the pragmatic functionalism, civic scale, and
city of Balabakk (Baalbek), southern Syria (now sense of power of Rome. It was also a universal ar-
Lebanon), a Roman colony established about 16 chitecture, embodying the essence of Romanitas,
BCE.19 The principal temple there was dedicated to that sense of the wholeness of Roman culture,
Baal, the great god of storms who had become wherever it was built—whether in Rome itself,
equated with Jupiter; next to it was a temple to Palmyra in Syria, Alexandria in Egypt, Timgad in
Tammuz (synonymous with the Roman god Bac- Africa, Trier in Germany, Olisipo (Lisbon) in Por-
chus). Begun soon after the establishment of the tugal, or Londinium (London) in distant Britain.
colony, the vast temple complex was under con- Whereas the outland Greeks held their allegiance
struction for nearly 250 years. The large Temple of to their respective mother cities, Roman citizenship
Jupiter was raised on an immense podium 40 feet conveyed rights that were uniform anywhere in the
(12.2 m) high; it faced a square forum court 380 feet empire, and the presence of dispersed Roman ar-
square (115.8 m), which in turn opened onto a chitecture symbolized this unity.
hexagonal forecourt 192 feet (58.5 m) across. The Unlike Egyptian architecture, which focused on
adjoining Temple of Bacchus had richly ornamented the next world, Roman architecture focused on the
interior cella walls, the spaces between its engaged here and now. Roman buildings, like the more ele-
Corinthian columns filled with heavily ornamented mental Greek buildings that influenced them, ad-
architectural detail. dressed not the mysteries of the hereafter but the
Centuries later, such spatially complex architec- problems and civic needs of the present. Roman
ture came to be described as “baroque,” the term structures were visually and intellectually compre-
developed to describe the richly modeled architec- hensible, composed of parts that had recognizable
ture of the seventeenth century in Italy. One such proportional relationships and clear connections.
late imperial Roman building is the small temple or Having found a new and pliable material in con-
shrine of Venus in Baalbek, built in the third cen- crete, Roman architects discovered ways of shaping
tury CE. The shrine is a combination of a round and playing with space, of molding light and
temple fronted by a rectangular portico carrying a shadow—discoveries that have repeatedly inspired
pediment [12.27]. The entablature of the enclosing architects ever since.
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An Architecture of Universality 273

12.27. Temple of Venus, Baalbek, Lebanon, third century CE. Seen from the rear, the components of the Corinthian order
are bent and curved in total contradiction to their origins as a linear post and beam system; here they have been transformed
into sculptural forms, an example of Roman “Baroque” architecture. Photo: From T. Wiegand, Baalbek, vol. 2 (Berlin,
1923–1925).

After the second century CE the Pax Romana with multiple rival emperors until Constantine
gradually disintegrated before the pressure of bar- gradually defeated them and restored order in 312.
barian tribes at the borders of the empire, eager to But when Constantine then relocated his imperial
be accepted and granted citizenship either willingly capital to the New Rome (Constantinople) far to
or by force. Diocletian attempted to facilitate ad- the east, the light of Classical learning slowly
ministration by dividing the empire into two halves dimmed and was nearly snuffed out in Western Eu-
in 285, but his short-lived success relied on political rope. The glory that had been pagan imperial Rome
ruthlessness. After his death, the disintegration was transported to Constantine’s new Christian
continued and central authority virtually collapsed, Rome being built at Byzantium.
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IN-1. Angkor Wat, Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, begun c. 1120 CE. At the very center of this vast temple complex
rises this tall stone tower, an allegory of the mythical Mount Mehru, the home of the gods. Photo: SEF/Art Resource, NY.
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E S S AY 1

Indian Architecture

E xactly when interactions first began between early cultures, in what we now call the West
and those described as being in the East, is difficult to say. Evidence shows that, four thousand
years ago (2000 BCE), nephrite jade was being carried east from deep in central Asia to what
would become China, and by 500 BCE Chinese silks were being taken west by Persian caravans
along what would later be called the Silk Road. That overland caravan trade route was certainly
busily in operation by the first century BCE; one bit of intriguing evidence in the biblical Book
of Esther is mention of dispatches being sent and received by the Persians from India and the
Kingdom of Kush.
India was perhaps the first of the great Asian cultures to have interactions with the West, be-
ginning in 530 BCE when the forces of Darius, emperor of the Achaemenoid (Persian) Empire,
expanded his realm over the Hindu-Kush mountains into what is now Pakistan and then pushed
further east to the Indus River. Two centuries later, Alexander the Great conquered the Persians
and added that empire to his own, maintaining the boundary at the Indus and Beas Rivers. Sub-
sequent interactions brought Hellenic sculpture to India, where it influenced Gandaran art. But
how much influence may have moved in the opposite direction to Alexandrian Greece is not
clear, though Chinese silks were being transported west. The Roman historian Strabo records
that the Greco-Bactrian kings in what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan had made contact by
200 BCE with the Chinese in the region of what is now called Chinese Turkestan, thus estab-
lishing the first recorded direct contact between West and East.
By the time Augustus had added Egypt to the Roman Empire in 30 BCE, Chinese silks were
regularly being shipped from India to Egypt and then on to Rome. In fact, by the first century CE,
the fad for silk had grown so intense, and the outflow of Roman gold and silver in payment so
large, that the Roman Senate passed laws forbidding the wearing of silk. Throughout the lifetime
of the Roman Empire, regular trade in silks, spices, and other goods continued, transported in
Arab and Roman ships around Arabia to Indian ports and by land over the Silk Road. Although
knowledge of Indian culture and architecture itself may not have extended to the Roman world,
the existence of its luxury goods did.
By the time of the maximum extent of the Roman Empire (the first and second centuries in
the common era), Indian culture was already as ancient as those of Mesopotamia or Egypt. Early
hominid tools extending back 2 million years have been found in the northwestern part of the
Indian subcontinent, and evidence of what appear to be the earliest semi-permanent human
shelters, dating back to nine thousand years ago, have been found in Madhya Pradesh. During
the Bronze Age, an agricultural society began to emerge in about 5000 BCE on the Indus River,
producing large urban settlements that flourished from around 3300 to 1500 BCE at such loca-
tions as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Eventually more than a thousand settlements were created
in the Indus Valley, producing remarkable artwork and forms of writing whose translation is still
debated.
About thirty-five hundred years ago, groups of Indo-Aryan invaders moved in from the north,
bringing with them ascetic religious practices. From before 1700 to 500 BCE, an Indo-Aryan cul-
ture was established across northern India. A native Dravidian religion developed in this area,
with emphasis on male and female fertility imagery. These ancient belief systems underlie Indian
temple architecture today, combining abstract diagrammatic and symbolic plan arrangements

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276 ESSAY 1: INDIAN ARCHITECTURE

overlaid with a profusion of luxuriant carvings portraying the numerous gods shown in episodes
from their many stories, including depictions of rapturous transcendental male and female union.
Around twenty-six hundred years ago, three major religions developed in greater India—
Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism—each with a variant belief in the transmigration of souls, re-
born in new bodily form after death. The Hindu pantheon of numerous deities is associated with
natural elements and events, symbolizing an ancient dual emphasis on the individual and the
universal, so that both male and female attributes, the phallic lingam form and the corresponding
female yoni imagery, were strongly developed. Hinduism, with its many elaborate rituals carried
out by Brahmin priests, was rejected by both Jainism and Buddhism.
Starting with Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563–483 BCE), Buddhism seeks through meditation
to quell and even eliminate human desire, thus offering release from pain and rebirth. Through
intense and prolonged meditation, Siddhartha Gautama reached the state of being the “enlight-
ened one,” or Buddha. Spread throughout India and beyond by disciples and monks who emu-
lated the Buddha’s example, Buddhism rejected the elaborate Hindu rituals in favor of seeking
release from the self with the extinction of desire, leading ultimately to a state of nirvana.
In Hindu belief the primordial world floated in a vast ocean, with the sacred Mount Mehru
at its center consisting of five or six ascending levels or terraces. From this idea developed the
concept of the gods residing in the mountains or in sacred caves; this led to the creation of tem-
ples as caves carved into the solid rock of cliff sides, the carved elements of the resulting shaped
space inside recalling more ancient forms once built in wood. A good example is the Vishnu
cave-temple carved out in the sixth century at Badami in Karnataka, southern India, a hall with
many square columnar piers, oriented on a north-facing axis. Another is the cave-temple at Karli
dating from roughly 100 BCE (discussed in Chapter 1, Figure 1.13).
Two axes typically govern Hindu temple architecture: a horizontal ground-plane axial system
oriented to the cardinal directions, most often facing east; and a towering mass marking a vertical
axis. This dominant vertical mass, the shikhara, represents the sacred mountain; it rises in pro-
gressively higher masses that are gently rounded at the top. The enormously thick masonry walls
of the base enclose a small internal chamber, the sacred cave-womb space, garbhagriha. Leading
up to the garbhagriha are several chambers, aligned on the principal east-facing axis, surrounded
by columnar porches, the entire complex set on a tall plinth or base, the mandapa. This type of
northern Indian temple is well represented by the Kandariya Mahadeva temple at Khajuraho,
built in about 1025–1050 in the Madhya Pradesh region of north-central India, whose rising,
slightly parabolically curved shikhara, in the quintessential mountain profile, appears as bundled
layers [IN-2].
Hinduism was carried north, east, and south from India, so that temples are found in Nepal,
Bhutan, Suriname, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. The largest religious complex ever built in Asia is
the famous Hindu temple, Angkor Wat, Cambodia (the modern name means “City Temple”).
Begun around 1120 CE as a temple to Vishnu by Suryavarman II, the Khmer ruler, the complex—
built entirely of sandstone—is also a shrine to its creator. Angkor Wat was about .93 mile (1.5 km)
south of the ancient Khmer capitol city of Angkor Thom, which was set inside a square protective
moat and wall nearly 1.86 miles (3 km) on each side. Virtually all the enclosures and walls in the
entire district including Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat are perfectly aligned to solar east-west
and true north. The enormous Angkor Wat temple complex is, in essence, a series of nested rec-
tangular areas all set inside a broad encircling moat measuring 1.2 miles (1.9 km) in length, east
to west, and just over a mile (1.7 km) in width, north to south; the moat itself is nearly 656 feet
(200 m) wide. Inside the moat is a broad platform measuring roughly 4,920 feet (1,500 m) long
east to west and 4,265 feet (1300 m) wide north to south. The principal entrance to the temple
is from the west side through a gopura or gate lodge that echoes the form of the distant main
temple at the center. From this gopura gate stretches a broad elevated causeway extending nearly
1,150 feet (350 m) to the entrance to the lowest platform of the central temple. This first temple
platform measures 660 by 540 feet (200 by 167 m) and is encircled by a roofed gallery. The middle
terrace measures about 376 by 314 feet (115 by 96 m). In the center is the upper-most third terrace
measuring roughly 174 feet (53 m) square. Four tall towers mark the four corners of the temple,
with central axial colonnaded links connecting to the soaring center-most tower, the focus of the
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Indian Architecture 277

IN-2. Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, India, c. 1025–1050 CE. The highest tower,
at the rear of the temple, the shikhara, represents the mythical Mount Mehru. Photo: © DeA Picture Library/Art
Resource, NY.

entire complex, rising 215 feet (65.5 m). This commanding central tower represents the home of
the Hindu gods, Mount Meru [IN-1]. The dimension numbers given here in approximate modern
units suggest that a local Khmer cubit module was used (measuring roughly 43.55 cm), yielding
groups of multiple dimension measurements rich in Khmer symbolism. The precise solar alignment
thus enriches the significance of the measurement dimensions, incorporating important numbers
in the ancient Khmer solar and lunar time cycles [IN-3].
Jainism, like Buddhism, turned away from the elaborate rituals of Hinduism, substituting ex-
treme personal asceticism and a profound respect for all animal life. Because of this religious em-
phasis, no notable unique architectural forms were created for this faith. Jain temples appear
remarkably like Hindu models.
As for Buddhism, there are no significant remaining Buddhist temples in India, since the Bud-
dha himself established no formal organized worship nor any official organization to spread his
teaching. Any physical structures of Buddhist worship in India disappeared when Buddhism was
later rigorously suppressed. The elements of Indian Buddhist architecture survive better in ex-
amples based on Indian prototypes but are built in places to which Buddhism was carried, such
as Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Once carried over the Himalayas, perhaps as early as 265 BCE, Bud-
dhism flourished in China, alongside the older Daoism and Confucianism. From China, Buddhism
was later carried to Japan—perhaps as early as 250 BCE but officially in 552 CE—where it thrived
and coexisted with the native Shinto religious practices. It is in these last two countries that
Buddhist temples particularly developed, though built in ways that drew on local traditions (they
are discussed in other essays).
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278

IN-3. Angkor Wat, Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, begun c. 1120 CE. With the spread of Hinduism beyond India,
temples and temple compounds were built elsewhere; this large symmetrical complex (overall, the largest religious complex in
the world, measuring nearly 4,921 by 4,265 feet [1500 by 1300 m]) was both a temple and a shrine to its builder. SEF/Art
Resource, NY.
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Indian Architecture 279

IN-4. The Great Stupa, Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India, 273–236 BCE. Built as a shrine where a portion of the
Buddha’s remains were believed to have been deposited, such a stupa would be a pilgrimage site. Photo: © Robert
Harding Picture Library Ltd/Alamy.

One building type that developed under Buddhism, the stupa, remains well represented by a
surviving example in India, however. Following the Buddha’s death, his ashes were divided into
ten parts, which were carried to places associated with his life and teaching. There portions of
his ashes were buried in mounds inspired by the small mounded village memorials or chaityas tra-
ditionally built over the remains of deceased revered leaders. The Buddhist stupa, however, is
typically a large domed mound covered with stone that represents the dome of heaven; it is en-
closed by circular walkways for circumambulation and defined by encircling stone fences (re-
vealing their original inspiration from wooden fences), punctuated by large gates positioned in
the cardinal directions representing the winds. The finest Buddhist example remaining in India
is the Great Stupa at Sanchi in the Madhya Pradesh, begun by the Indian ruler Ashoka (some-
times spelled Asoka) between 273 and 236 BCE [IN-4]. This stupa was part of a larger precinct
that over time came to include fifty-one temples, numerous smaller stupas, and freestanding
columns. The size of the great stupa dome is 120 feet (36.6 m) in diameter, rising 54 feet (1.5 m).
Atop the dome is a square platform with railing (harmika) symbolizing an altar, and a spire-like
form (chattra), an axis mundi that resembles superimposed parasols. These layered elements rep-
resent the stages of enlightenment achieved by Buddha as well as symbolizing the bodhi tree
under which the Buddha achieved his final enlightenment. As Buddhism spread eastward, this
crowning chattra form is believed to have been the inspiration for the development of the Chinese
pagoda tower (the name for which derives from the Indian Sanskrit dagoba for stupa), as well as
the Japanese pagoda counterpart.
While Buddhism expanded across southeast Asia in the following centuries, its long decline
in India began with invasions from the north, the loss of support from rival Hindu political lead-
ers, and finally the series of Muslim invasions from the northwest, beginning in the seventh cen-
tury CE and culminating in the establishment in Delhi of the political center of the Mughal
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280 ESSAY 1: INDIAN ARCHITECTURE

Empire (also spelled Mogul and Moghul) in northern India under Babur and his grandson, Shah
Jahan. The arrival of Islam significantly changed the architecture of northern India and is superbly
represented by the tomb that Shah Jahan built for his third wife—the Taj Mahal, 1632–1648
(discussed in the essay on Islamic architecture). Ironically, by the nineteenth century, Buddhism
was essentially extinct in India, the land of its birth.
Like Africa, India was colonized by the British. Most ironically, with the local disappearance
of Buddhism, the Indians themselves had allowed the Sanchi Stupa to become seriously deteri-
orated; it was the British who undertook its restoration. Operated from 1757 by the British East
India Company as a kind of private colony, greater India (including today’s Pakistan, Bangladesh,
and Burma/Myanmar) became an official crown colony in 1858, governed by a viceroy from the
capital of New Delhi through a bureaucratic system staffed by educated Indians that came to be
called the British Raj. India occupied a special position in the British Empire; it was metaphori-
cally called the jewel in Queen Victoria’s crown. With the British came the full impact of Victo-
rian industrialization. A railroad network was built throughout the country, dotted with new
British-built railway stations. One city significantly affected by this industrialization is Mumbai
(called Bombay during the colonial period); it is filled with British-designed public and govern-
mental buildings, nearly all of which are still in service.
Britain was greatly influenced by contact with India. Many businessmen sent to India by the
British East India Company did well there, returning to England after their active business careers
and bringing with them Indian servants and a taste for things Indian, including its spiced cuisine.
One notable example was Sir Charles Cockerell, who had made a fortune in India and hired his
brother, architect Samuel Pepys Cockerell, to build a large country house called Sezencote,
Gloustershire (1805–1820). It was a romantic blend of late Georgian English forms embellished
with an onion dome and chattras atop the corners, set in a gently rolling English Garden Park.
This building in turned inspired the young Prince of Wales (George IV) to build the even more
fantastical Royal Pavilion at Brighton, on the sea (1811–1822), a Mughal-inspired confection of
multi-lobed arches and onion domes small and large, built under architect John Nash. Seldom
has a colony so influenced the architecture of its governing people, much less buildings done for
a future king.
Of the various building undertakings of the British in their many far-flung imperial possessions,
none reached the level of imposing architectural solemnity, combined with references to local
indigenous architecture, as in their creation of the new center of the British Raj in New Delhi,
built adjacent to ancient Delhi. Designed by the preeminent British architect of the day, Edwin
Lutyens, New Delhi was to replace Calcutta as the political center of British Indian government.
The New Delhi project (initiated in 1912, completed in 1931) was a model of axial organization;
during this extended building process, Lutyens was knighted. How Sir Edwin brought together
modified Western classical design methods and forms with native Indian elements is discussed
in Chapter 19 [pp. 562–563].
The doctrinal and political friction between Muslims and Hindus, strenuously controlled
under British colonial rule, so threatened to turn into brutal civil war once the British turned
over control in 1947 that India was partitioned, creating the new Muslim nations of Pakistan,
Bangladesh, and Burma (later Myanmar), separate from Hindu India. Now independent, many
of the new countries turned to European and American architects for their new capitol buildings,
including the Indian state of Punjab, which engaged architect Le Corbusier; his Secretariat and
High Court buildings are discussed in Chapters 4 and 61 [420, 6.1, 6.11]. Bengal (first called East
Pakistan and then Bangladesh) selected American architect Louis I. Kahn to design its new Na-
tional Parliament in Dacca (Dhaka) (1964–1982).2 Officially titled the Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban
at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, the massive monumental building of cast concrete with inset marble
strips is a study of arranged and linked geometric forms—circles and squares—positioned on
crossed perpendicular and diagonal axes, all reflexively symmetrical, except on the west side of
the building where a planned mosque was aligned to point to Mecca.
Many younger architects in India were strongly influenced by Kahn’s powerfully evocative
work, including Balkrishna Doshi, who worked closely with Kahn on his Indian Institute of Man-
agement, Ahmedabad (1962). Like many perceptive architects from colonized areas, Doshi
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Indian Architecture 281

melded the best ideas of Western architects with whom they studied or worked with what they
learned from the building traditions and forms of their native lands. One example of this fusion
is Doshi’s Gandhi Labour Institute, Ahmedabad (1980–1984), discussed in Chapter 20.
Arguably, of the many regions around the world brought together in the British Empire, India
benefited most and best from this intercultural experience, retaining and using aspects of language,
governmental structure, and the architectural legacy left by their former colonial governors.
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13.20. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, 532–537. Interior view. Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
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Chapter 13

Early Christian and

Byzantine Architecture

R
The dome of Hagia Sophia was not there to mark an The Transformation
object of veneration, as domes did in martyria; . . . of the Roman Empire
the thought of crowning Hagia Sophia with a dome We sometimes speak of “the fall of the Roman
related to the sanctity of the whole building as an Empire,” as though, on a particular day, there was
earthly analogue to heaven. The visible universe a sudden collapse. In fact, it was more a gradual
was concretized in the Byzantine mind as a cube transformation, occurring over more than a cen-
surmounted by a dome. tury, marking the change from a pagan empire to a
—Spiro Kostof, A History of Architecture, 1985

R
Christian empire. Constantine’s relocation of the
entire imperial bureaucracy of the old Rome on
the Tiber to the New Rome at the mouth of the
Black Sea in 330 was symbolic of a number of

R oman life focused on temporal comforts and

pleasures, as the Roman bath well illustrates.
The bath was designed to serve the needs of the
sweeping changes in the Roman world. It was no
longer the old Rome, as that term had been used
before. The empire fashioned by Augustus and en-
body in its pools and exercise gardens, to feed the larged by Trajan had come apart, as the social co-
mind in its libraries, and to reward the eyes in its operation and mutual trust that had enabled the
vast molded spaces lined in multicolored marble empire to function were disappearing by the third
brought from the far corners of the Roman Empire. century. Although numerically there were now
After Constantine, however, this emphasis of more Roman citizens, they were no longer free but
Roman life on the here and now was gradually re- tied by law to the land or to their occupations.
placed with a very different concern for the here- Along the length of the northern borders, Ger-
after through the influence of a new religion that manic tribes were pressing for admission into the
reshaped the way Romans began to think about the empire, and they in turn were being pressed from
world and themselves. Even as the Roman Empire behind by other tribes being driven west from deep
began to come apart politically, it was being re- in central Asia by the Huns. One by one, Germanic
shaped from within, so that the primary emphasis tribes were allowed across the borders, and al-
was no longer on secular concerns but on religious though they provided excellent soldiers for the
concerns. As a result, new building needs arose, ne- Roman army, the character of Rome and of its le-
cessitating new building types. Courts, administra- gions was meanwhile gradually changing [13.1].
tion buildings, and houses continued to be built as The other change, and the one that had the
required, but real architectural innovation shifted most far-reaching effect, was the impact of the new
to solving the problem of how to house communal religion that had sprung up in a backwater of the
groups of worshippers. This new church building, empire, in the rebellious and troublesome province
however, was at first not elaborate in form or detail, of Palestine. At first a sect among the Jews, the new
as the baths had been. Those external qualities of faith was quickly embraced by adherents in Asia
architecture that had appealed to a cultivated vi- Minor, Egypt, Greece, and the city of Rome itself.
sual sensibility gradually were replaced by an archi- In roughly a century the religion spread from twelve
tecture of simpler elements, fostering a sense of disciples in Galilee to a tenth of the population in
mysticism. the Roman Empire, dramatically transforming the

283
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284 13. EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

13.1. Map of Europe, 300–850.

empire from within. This change in the hearts of perial seat was alternately at Trier, Germany, or
the believers was so all-embracing that, when they in Milan; in the east, it was at Nicomedia, in north-
went to carve the date of building on the walls of west Turkey.
their new houses of worship, they used not the year In 305, Diocletian abdicated and retired to the
of reign of the current emperor, as was typical for fortress-palace he had built for himself at Spalato
most Roman buildings, but the year of the lord to (Split), on the Yugoslavian coast, forcing Maximian
whom they owed a far deeper, more personal spiri- to step down as well. The two remaining Caesars
tual allegiance. They scratched “A.D.” for anno do- soon faced other aspirants to the imperial throne,
mini, the year of the lord, reckoned from the date and civil war again erupted. In the West, the con-
of birth of the son of a Judean Jewish carpenter. test was now between Constantine in Trier and
The force that was transforming the new Roman Maxentius in Rome. When Constantine marched
Empire was Christianity. on Rome in 312, Maxentius inexplicably left the
In 284, Diocletian found himself head of a splin- safety of the city walls and confronted Constan-
tering empire. Rent by a half-century of civil war, tine’s army where the Via Flaminia crosses the
the empire was too big and too complex for one Tiber on the Mulvian Bridge. Constantine’s biog-
person to rule. He had divided the empire into east rapher, Eusebius, recorded that in a dream on the
and west portions, setting up two co-equal emper- eve of battle, Constantine had a vision in which he
ors, each titled Augustus and each assisted by a saw a cross in the sky with the inscription in hoc
subordinate Caesar designated as successor. Dio- signo vince, “in this sign conquer.” He thereupon
cletian himself ruled the Eastern, Greek-speaking had the letters chi and rho, the first letters of the
half of the empire, which consisted of Greece, Asia name christos, emblazoned on his soldiers’ stan-
Minor, and Egypt; his co-emperor, Maximian, ruled dards, and marched out to defeat Maxentius, be-
the Latin-speaking half, which comprised Italy, coming emperor in the West. From that date,
Gaul, Africa, and Spain. The city of Rome ceased Constantine embraced the Christian faith, becom-
to be the western center of imperial rule, as the im- ing its champion and defender, and in 313, he is-
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Early Christian Architecture 285

sued the Edict of Milan, in which Christianity was churches quickly became sacred scripture for the
given full equality with other religions in the empire early Christians. When Paul was arrested and about
(significantly, he himself was not a confirmed com- to be scourged, he reminded the centurion that it
municant and was not baptized until just before his was unlawful to whip an uncharged Roman citizen;
death). He continued his struggle with the Eastern subsequently, when Paul was brought before the
Caesars and, by 324, was sole ruler of a once-more- Roman governor, Felix, Paul claimed his right as a
united Roman Empire. citizen to have his case heard by the emperor Nero.
The religion that Constantine now proclaimed Accordingly, Paul was sent to Rome, where he
had at first been given little notice in Rome, for joined Peter, one of the original apostles who had
there were so many mystery religions then being journeyed there. Both were later executed as crim-
practiced in the empire. To understand the appeal inals against the state when Nero began persecution
of Christianity for first-century Romans, one needs of the Christians after the fire in 64.
to understand the life and teaching of Jesus of At first, the teachings of Jesus appealed to slaves
Nazareth.1 The son of a carpenter, he was born in and artisans, those for whom the hardships of
Bethlehem in Judea, in southern Palestine. Jesus earthly life held little appeal and for whom a heav-
studied Jewish scripture and, at about the age of enly paradise was far more appealing, but gradually
thirty, began a career as an itinerant rabbi, or Roman patricians embraced the faith as well. By
teacher. He preached brotherly love, charity, hu- 200, numerous Christian communities had sprung
mility, and adherence to the spirit of Jewish law, but up throughout Palestine, in Syria, over half of Asia
he enraged Jewish religious authorities by forgiving Minor, in Greece, and in central Italy and Rome.
sins in the name of God, whom he called his Father. Scattered groups also were located in Gaul and
He strongly criticized hypocritical religious prac- North Africa. By 400, parts of Spain were Christian,
tices that outwardly adhered to the letter of Jewish as was nearly all of Gaul, Italy, and Egypt. In another
law but promoted insensitivity to true human two centuries, Ireland was staunchly Christian, as
needs. Religious authorities were also infuriated was all of Spain, a large part of England, portions of
that Jesus’ followers believed him to be the christos, North Africa, most of Yugoslavia and the Balkans,
Greek for “the anointed,” the promised Messiah, and all of Turkey and Armenia, stretching to the
the son of God, who would deliver Israel from Caspian Sea.
Roman rule. Instead of armed political revolt, Jesus As the early Christian churches proliferated, de-
preached personal spiritual renewal. Eventually, spite periodic suppression by Roman authorities, an
Jewish religious authorities forced the Roman gov- early form of church organization developed, with
ernor, Pontius Pilate, to have Jesus crucified, a de- volunteer episkopoi, overseers or bishops, supervising
grading form of execution usually reserved for state the congregations in a single city. There might also
criminals. But on the third day after his death, be presbyters, councils of elders. Eventually, the
Jesus’ disciples believed, he rose from the dead and bishop of Rome was accorded primacy among the
later ascended to heaven. bishops in the Latin West, since it was believed that
Initially, the followers of Jesus were Jews in Pales- Peter had been the first bishop of Rome and had re-
tine. As Hellenized Jews from around the eastern ceived his authority directly from Jesus. As Christ
Mediterranean came to Jerusalem for religious fes- had said, “You are Peter [petros in Greek], and upon
tivals, converts were made, since the teachings of this rock [petra in Greek], I shall found my church.”2
Jesus fit well with late Classical Greek philosophy, The metropolitan bishop of Constantinople, who de-
particularly in his emphasis on a renewal of spirit scribed himself as the Universal Patriarch, was ac-
and the nurturing of the soul rather than an endless corded first rank among the Eastern, Greek-speaking
search for purely physical gratification; Jesus’ em- Christians. This division between the two heads of
phasis on personal moral rectitude fit nicely with the church, coupled with the difference in language,
the ideals of the Stoics. Soon, groups of these con- would in time also split the church itself.
verted Hellenized Jews were found in Alexandria,
in Egypt, and in most of the major cities of Asia
Minor. The most important factor in spreading Early Christian Architecture
Christian teaching was the work and travels of Paul During the early periods of persecution, Christians
of Tarsus, a native of the city in Cilicia, in south- tried not to direct attention to themselves. They
western Turkey. A well-educated Jew, he was also a gathered quietly in the homes of fellow Christians,
Roman citizen and thus able to travel freely to the collecting donations to help those in their group
early Christian communities in Asia Minor and who needed aid and sharing a communal meal of
Greece. The letters he wrote in Greek to these early bread and wine to commemorate the supper that
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286 13. EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

13.2. Christian church,

Dura-Europus, Syrian-Iraqi
border, c. 230–232. In this Roman
outpost city, a small Roman house
was converted for the use of an
early Christian congregation.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
M. Rostovtzeff.

Christ had shared with his disciples on the eve of wall, was soon converted for the use of the congre-
his death. During this communion, the faithful be- gation in about 231–232. As it happened, both this
lieved that the spirit of the resurrected Christ was building and a nearby Jewish synagogue were pre-
in their midst. served when the buildings were subsequently filled
At first, there was no need for specialized archi- with earth to strengthen the wall during an attack
tecture, for the small Christian groups adapted by the Persians in 257. In modifying the house for
their worship to the available spaces in private church use, two rooms were merged by the removal
homes. The church, or ecclesia (which in Greek of a wall, and another chamber was made into a
means “the assembly”), was not a physical structure baptistery with the construction of a small pool
but the people themselves. Those who desired to covered by a canopy on four columns.
become Christians could watch the first part of As Christianity spread beyond the Jews along
worship, but then had to withdraw to another room the length of the Mediterranean, variations in reli-
or to the peristyle of larger houses, while the con- gious interpretation inevitably sprang up and the
firmed celebrated the agape, “love feast,” and the problem of heresy emerged. By 385, Christian lead-
eucharist, “thanksgiving”; only those who had been ers, only recently themselves the subject of imperial
ritually baptized could participate in the Mass of persecutions, began to order the death of Christian
the Faithful. When the occasion demanded, as heretics. Such was the growing power of church au-
when Paul visited Ephesus, a hall might be rented.3 thorities that in 390, Ambrose, Bishop of Milan,
In the city of Dura-Europus, established by was able to excommunicate Emperor Theodosius
Alexander’s army on the Euphrates River (now on and force him to rescind an imperial decree. Four
the Syrian-Iraqi border), there was discovered one years later, Theodosius banned pagan religions al-
of oldest known Christian church buildings [13.2]. together, making Christianity the sole religion of
This house, built in about 230 adjacent to the town the empire.
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Early Christian Architecture 287

Constantine and church officials looked to sec-

Constantine’s Churches ular public buildings, and the type they selected was
Faced with the deteriorating political situation in the basilica [see 12.9, 12.10]. The basilica had orig-
the west and desiring to be closer to the threatened inally been devised for public gatherings, and its
Danube frontier, Constantine had shifted the capi- symbolic connotation, having to do with the equi-
tal of the empire eastward. He selected the old table administration of earthly justice, was positive.
Greek city of Byzantium, on a peninsula jutting into It was a simple matter to replace the small altar
the Bosporus, the narrow neck of water that con- devoted to the emperor with one at which the
nects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and Eucharist, or ritual communal meal, could be cele-
the Aegean Sea—at the juncture of Asia and Eu- brated. Since the basilica was axial in spatial orga-
rope. There, he built a new Christian capital city, nization, that axis served to focus attention on the
free of the entrenched pagan traditions of old Rome, altar. The only real substantive change was shifting
and filled it with new administrative buildings and the entrance from the middle of the long sides to
churches. In 330, the entire mechanism of govern- the end opposite the apse and altar.
ment was moved to this New Rome, which was now The other building type favored by the early
called Constantinople (“Constantine’s City”). Con- Christians had a centralized plan, whether round,
stantine took an active role in church administra- octagonal, or square, and was derived from royal
tion, personally determining church doctrine and tombs; the octagonal tomb Diocletian built for
policy. He saw himself as the earthly vicar of Christ himself in his palace compound at Spalato is an ex-
the Eternal King, as is evident in the letter ad- ample. The centralized plan was also derived from
dressed to his bishops. In it, he admonished them the pagan heroa, a building commemorating the
to inform him promptly of divisions within the deeds of a divinity or the deceased member of a
church, for “by them God may be moved not only prominent family. Early Christians began to employ
against the human race, but also against me myself this form for martyria, structures marking the place
to whose care by His heavenly will He has entrusted of suffering or execution of a martyr, and also for
the guidance of the affairs of earth.”4 He soon burial mausoleums of prominent Christians. A pas-
learned just how extensive those differences of in- sage from Revelation provided the basis for this
terpretation were. In 325, only a year after he re- practice: “And when he had opened the fifth seal,
united the empire and made Christianity the I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
favored imperial religion, he was obliged to call an slain for the word of God, and for the testimony
ecumenical, or universal, Council at Nicaea to settle which they held.”5 Centralized buildings also came
the question of the Arian heresy. The result of this to be used for baptisteries, where believers symbol-
council was the Nicene Creed, which all Christians ically died to their old life and rose renewed, reborn
thereafter were obliged to embrace. from the water; an octagon was the form used for
With Christianity’s shift from being a clandes- the baptistery of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, the
tinely practiced faith of comparatively few to the first baptistery in the city, built circa 315.
official state religion, from private, secreted worship Constantine put the imperial treasury at the dis-
to large congregational gatherings, there arose the posal of church officials in building numerous
problem of devising a building type appropriate churches, particularly at the sites held most sacred
both functionally and symbolically for public wor- by the Christians. In building major churches in
ship. Unlike older religions, in which individuals Rome as well as in Palestine, he and his bishops
made private offerings, Christianity was a congre- gave direction to the later development of church
gational religion, with a liturgy (from the Greek architecture at both ends of the empire during the
leitourgia, “public service”) in which the faithful next thousand years. In Italy, basilican axial
gathered together as a communal body to offer gifts churches were favored, while in the East, central-
and share a common meal. The Christians required ized plans were favored. Almost immediately after
not only buildings that would accommodate large officially recognizing Christianity, in 313, Constan-
numbers of converts but also enclosed spaces that tine donated the imperial palace he had inherited,
would facilitate hearing the spoken word and the former palatial residence of the Laterani family
chanted psalms. Clearly, the ancient Roman temple in Rome, for the residence of the bishop of Rome.
form could not be used, for it was doubly unsuit- Soon thereafter, construction on the cathedral
able: first, it did not have broad internal spaces suit- began next to the palace. The new building would
able for housing scores or hundreds of people, and be dedicated to Saint John, or San Giovanni in Lat-
second, it so thoroughly symbolized pagan gods and erano. The term basilica refers first to a public gath-
Roman emperor worship. ering place and only second to a particular form of
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288 13. EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

public building. Cathedral, however, means speci- [13.3, 13.4]. The principal portion, the nave of the
fically a church containing the official chair of basilica, was 301 feet (92 m) long; along the sides
the bishop, the cathedra, from which official pro- ran two aisles, making the total width 216 feet
nouncements are made “from the chair,” ex cathe- (65.9 m).6 The nave rose in a clerestory pierced
dra; hence, a basilica may be a cathedral but that with many tall windows to a ceiling height of 104.5
is not always the case. feet (31.8 m); thus, the ceiling was almost exactly
The Lateran cathedral, as the principal parish half as high as the building was wide. Attached to
church of Rome, was large, measuring about 245 the nave at the west end was a cross arm, or
feet (75 m) in length and 180 feet (55 m) in width. transept, 297 feet (90.7 m) long and 69 feet (21 m)
It could hold several thousand worshippers. Unfor- wide, giving the plan of the basilica the form of a
tunately, it was extensively rebuilt in the seven- T. (The resemblance of such a basilican form to
teenth and nineteenth centuries, and little of the that of a cross became deeply symbolic for these
Constantinian building remains. early Christians.) From the center of the transept
The other major Constantinian church in Rome extended a semicircular apse capped by a half-
was the Basilica of Saint Peter, built outside the dome; the apse was centered directly over the tomb
walls of the city on the Vatican Hill, in an area that of Peter and thus served as a martyrium. Unlike the
had formerly been a cemetery, next to the remains Lateran basilica, Saint Peter’s was a pilgrimage
of the Circus of Nero. It was in this circus, accord- church, and although not used for services every
ing to tradition, that Peter had been crucified and day, it needed to be extremely large to accommo-
then hastily buried nearby. The place of his inter- date crowds on special festival days.
ment was soon venerated, and it was over this mar- Saint Peter’s and other early churches were
tyrium that the Constantinian church was built, clearly derived from the great imperial basilicas, but
begun about 319–322 and finished about 329 (the additional modifications were necessitated by the
forecourt atrium probably not until 390). It was an special needs of Christian worship. The secular
immense basilica, rivaling the Basilica Ulpia in size basilicas for hearing litigation had been entered

13.3. Basilica of Saint Peter (Old Saint Peter’s), Rome, Italy, 319–329. Aerial perspective. One of the largest basilicas in
Rome, this was built by Constantine over the spot where Saint Peter was believed to have been buried after his martyrdom.
Drawing: Kenneth J. Conant; courtesy, Loeb Library, Harvard University.
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Early Christian Architecture 289

13.4. Old Saint Peter’s. Plan. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

from the middle of the long sides. In the new church the Constantinian basilicas. An example is Santa
basilicas, entry was from one end, where a vestibule, Sabina on the Aventine Hill, Rome, built 422–432
or narthex, was created, with the altar placed at the [13.5]. Another well-preserved example is San
far end in the semicircular apse. Outside, preceding Apollinare, in Classe, the harbor town of Ravenna;
the narthex, a large atrium forecourt ringed with this church was built around 532–549 and was paid
colonnades was added where the unbaptized with- for largely by the financier Julianus Argentarius
drew during the Mass of the Faithful. At Saint (the freestanding campanile, or bell tower, is of a
Peter’s, entrance to the atrium was through an im- later date) [13.6, 13.7, 13.8, Plate 7]. The church
posing propylon or gate. Including the narthex and has seen some changes over time; the floor of the
atrium, the total length of Saint Peter’s was 669 feet apse was raised to allow for a crypt below, and some
(203.9 m) from transept to propylon. of the marble veneer of the interior has been
Subsequent churches in Italy and other parts of removed. Nevertheless, the Corinthian arcade of
the West tended to follow the pattern provided by veined Hymettos marble from Greece and the

13.5. Santa Sabina, Rome, Italy,

422–432. Plan. This is a good
example of the small, basilica-plan
Christian churches built throughout
the city once Christianity became
established as the state religion.
Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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290

13.6. San Apollinare in Classe, outside Ravenna, Italy, c. 531–549. Aerial view. The freestanding bell tower (campanile) is
of a later date. Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, New York.

13.7. San Apollinare in Classe. Plan.

Drawing: W. Chin.
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Early Christian Architecture 291

13.8. San Apollinare in Classe. Interior, looking toward the altar. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.

sparkling mosaics in the apse illustrate the reach of stead of having a transept and a small apse, how-
Byzantine influence when the church was built and ever, the church terminated in a large, domed oc-
when Ravenna was the capital of the emperor’s tagon, with an opening in the floor through which
Western governor, or exarch. pilgrims could look down into the cave believed to
In the Eastern part of Constantine’s empire, new be Christ’s birthplace.
churches took a slightly different form, representing Even more imperial attention was given to the
centralized martyria, the buildings erected on the church complex covering the sites of Christ’s death,
spots associated with the life and death of Christ. burial, and resurrection in Jerusalem. In an official
Constantine’s mother, Helena, a devout Christian imperial decree of 325, Constantine ordered that
long before her son’s conversion, had made a pil- there be built in Jerusalem “a basilica more beautiful
grimage to Palestine to retrace Christ’s steps. She than any on earth.”7 The architect appears to have
discovered what were believed to be the stable cave been Zenobius, working from general plans possibly
in Bethlehem, where he had been born, and the sent from Constantinople; construction began
hill of Golgotha in Jerusalem, where he had been about 326 and led to dedication in 384 [13.10]. The
crucified. church had a compact atrium court, nave, and two
In 326, Constantine resolved to build a church side aisles, but ended in a unique “apse” consisting
over the Bethlehem grotto, the Church of the Na- of an almost completely circular structure lined by
tivity, and although that building was replaced by twelve columns, symbolic of the twelve apostles,
another in the sixth century, enough remains to sug- supporting a dome. The focal point of this central-
gest the general outline of Constantine’s church, ized feature was directly over where the remains of
finished in 333 [13.9]. Like the early churches in the cross had been unearthed by Constantine’s
the West, it had an atrium (roughly 148 by 92 feet, mother, Helena. A short distance west of the apse
or 45 by 28 m) for the reception of the unbaptized of the basilica was a rock cube—the cut-down
and a basilica with side aisles (in all, 95 by 93 feet, remains of the hill of Golgotha—surrounded by a
or 29 by 28.3 m) for the assembly of the faithful. In- large, atrium-like court ending in a hemicycle. At
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292 13. EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

13.9. Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Israel, c. 326–333. Plan. Although it was completely rebuilt in the sixth century,
sufficient traces of the original church survive to enable reconstruction of the approximate Constantinian plan, with an
octagon over the cave where Christ was believed to have been born. Drawing: M. Waterman.

the center of the hemicycle, wrapped around the re- Rome, the mausoleum of Constantine’s daughter
mains of the tomb, were twelve encircling columns. Constantina, survives in excellent condition [13.11,
During 350–380, this martyrium over the tomb was 13.12, 13.13]. It had become the practice for the
replaced by the much larger Anastasis Dome, a faithful to build their tombs as close as possible to
rotunda 55 feet (16.8 m) in diameter and three sto- spots associated with the early martyrs; the mau-
ries high. soleum of Constantine himself was attached to the
Centralized structures were used for Christian side of the basilica of Saints Marcellinus and Peter
mausoleums in the West as well. One example in in Rome. Constantina’s tomb was built about 350

13.10. Zenobius (architect), Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem, Israel, 325–336. Plan. This complex building
covered the sites where Christ was believed to have died and been buried. The circular apse of the basilica was centered
over where remains of the cross were believed to have been found, and the round structure surrounded the tomb. Drawing:
M. Waterman.
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The Movement of Peoples 293

13.11. Mausoleum of Constantina (Santa Costanza), Rome, Italy, 350. Plan. The inset shows the location of the mausoleum
adjoining the Church of Sant’ Agnese. The large square niche opposite the entrance originally held the sarcophagus of
Constantina. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

against the side aisle of the Church of Sant’ Agnese peated political and economic upheavals. The first
(Saint Agnes), outside the walls of Rome, a typical to arrive, in 376, were the Visigoths, who came
basilican church after the pattern of the Lateran from what is now Hungary, and after them, wave
and Saint Peter’s. The Church of Sant’ Agnese itself after wave of invaders pushed into Italy and across
is now gone, so that the tomb, later dedicated as the the Western empire. Having long lived next to the
Church of Santa Costanza, now stands isolated. At imperial borders, however, most of these groups
its center, the building is a tall cylinder, 40 feet were already converted to Christianity. So, al-
(12.2 m) in diameter, pierced at the top by twelve though the invaders brought no change in religion,
large windows and capped by a dome. This cylinder the political, social, and economic effects of these
is raised on twelve pairs of columns reused from a successive invasions were devastating. The city of
pagan building. Around this is an ambulatory cov- Rome was besieged but never actually entered until
ered by a circular, or annular, barrel vault decorated the Visigoths, under Alaric, sacked Rome in 410;
with mosaics. The thick outer wall is hollowed out Virgil’s inviolate “Eternal Rome” was no more.
by niches, larger ones on the cross axes and a deep, The Visigoths eventually moved out of Italy and
square niche opposite the entrance to contain the into what is now southern France and Spain. They
sarcophagus of Constantina. Around the exterior is were followed by the Vandals, who moved down
a circular colonnaded porch and a vestibule that from Poland through Italy, destroying nearly every-
once connected the mausoleum to the side wall of thing in their path (and lending to posterity their
Sant’ Agnese. The exterior, then as now, was ex- name for those who likewise engage in senseless
ceedingly plain, whereas the interior was ablaze with destruction). They pillaged Rome in 455 and then
mosaics and colored marble, characteristic of Con- pushed into Spain and across the Strait of Gibraltar
stantinian buildings. External appearances of these into North Africa. After that the Ostrogoths, from
early Christian buildings were of little consequence; southern Russia, moved into Italy, where they re-
the interior, like the soul, was the focus of concern. mained. In 476, the last Western Roman emperor
was deposed by Odoacer, who set himself up as
king of the Romans, a specious claim recognized
The Movement of Peoples nonetheless by the Eastern emperor. Finally, in 493,
By the time San Apollinare in Classe was built at Theodoric established the kingdom of the Ostro-
Ravenna, the West had been overrun several times goths in Italy. Roman Gaul (what is now France),
by Germanic peoples from the north, causing re- in the meantime, had become the new home of the
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294

13.12. Mausoleum of Constantina (Santa Costanza). Section. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

13.13. Mausoleum of Constantina (Santa Costanza). Photo from Henry A. Millon, ed., Key Monuments of the History of
Architecture (New York, 1964).
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Byzantine Architecture 295

Franks, who moved in from the east and occupied

northern Gaul, with the Burgundians in the south. Justinian’s Churches
Britain was overrun by the Angles and Saxons from The Roman Empire, in its new form in the East,
Denmark. Only in the East, closer to the protection achieved a new pinnacle of cultural and political im-
of the emperors in Constantinople, did the borders portance during the reign of Justinian (483–565),
remain relatively firm. In the West, where there was who ascended to the throne in 527. Justinian came
no longer a central imperial administration, the glo- from peasant stock in Illyrium (Yugoslavia) and
ries of the Roman Empire became only a memory. even late in life was said to speak poor Greek. His
Yet, except for the Vandals, the invaders were uncle, Justin, however, had become emperor in
far more affected by the people they ruled than the 518 following a military career, and it was he who
other way around. The invaders adopted Roman brought Justinian to Constantinople and educated
law, Roman civil administrative institutions, and him. Justinian was given the title Caesar by his
the Christian religion. They attempted to speak a uncle, then was made co-emperor, and upon Justin’s
crude form of Latin, thereby gradually transforming death, he became sole emperor. Justinian waged
their own languages into early medieval Italian, successful military campaigns against the Persians
French, Spanish, and Romanian. and also regained control of Italy and the coasts
of North Africa and Spain, establishing an exarch
(viceroy) at Ravenna in Italy, although the penin-
Monasticism sula was taken over by the Lombards after Justinian’s
Classical literature did survive the invasions, in a death. It was during the period of Byzantine expan-
fashion, first being used as texts in Christian schools sion that some major churches in Italy were built,
and universities and then nurtured and protected by such as San Vitale and San Apollinare at Ravenna.
monastic copyists in a new institution that arose in Built in 532–548, San Vitale also has a double shell
the east, in Egypt. Toward the end of the third cen- of two octagons, with an adjacent atrium, now de-
tury, a Christian named Anthony retreated into the stroyed [13.14, 13.15]. In San Vitale, the openings
desert as a way of subduing evil spirits, thereby be- of the inner octagon push out in arcaded exedrae;
ginning the monastic movement. Groups of monks over the octagonal clerestory in the center is a
began to organize themselves into ordered commu- dome, 54.7 feet (16.7 m) in diameter.
nities in southern Egypt. During the mid-fourth cen- Justinian’s two most lasting achievements were
tury, Basil the Great established monasteries in the the codification of Roman law and church
East, and an early form of monasticism was intro- building—the latter, in Constantinople at least,
duced in France by Martin of Tours. Finally, in the partly the result of the former. In 528, Justinian had
early sixth century, the basis of Western monastic set up a commission of legal scholars to draw up a
communal life was provided by Benedict of Nursia new code of imperial enactments (published in 529),
in his Rule for Monasteries. In 529, Benedict estab- and then he turned to a codification of the entire
lished the mother of Western monasteries atop the body of Roman law. In 533, this codification pro-
hill at Monte Cassino in central Italy. In the monas- duced the Codex Justinianus, which eventually be-
teries that soon began to dot the European land- came the basis of nearly all legal systems in Europe
scape, ancient manuscripts were stored, copied, and except in Britain. This legal codification was accom-
thus saved from the turmoil around them, to be re- panied by attempts to root out corruption and
discovered, recopied, and studied five hundred years abuses in the government, measures that were un-
later, when a new light of human reason began to popular with some factions of the populace. Even
challenge the orthodoxy of the Middle Ages.8 before the completion of the Codex, as reforms were
under way in 532, groups of citizens, disgruntled
with the reforms and high taxes, rioted. Shouting
Byzantine Architecture “Nika!” (meaning “conqueror” or “win”), the mobs
Once Constantine moved the political capital of attacked and burned city offices, public buildings,
the Roman Empire to Constantinople, state and part of the imperial palace, and the old church of
church administration there tended to merge, re- Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) adjacent to it. There
sulting in what has been termed Caesaropapism, in was a momentary collapse of civil authority, and a
which the imperial civil authority and control over rival emperor was elevated by the people. Bolstered
the church became thoroughly intertwined. Mean- by his wife, Theodora, Justinian stood firm, muster-
while, in the West, political and church affairs were ing what imperial troops were available and crushing
increasingly left to take care of themselves in the the insurrection. When the struggle was over, thirty
face of barbarian intrusion. thousand people were dead in the streets.
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296

13.14. San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, 532–548. Plan. For this western provincial capital of the Byzantine Empire, Justinian built
a variant on the octagon-dome scheme. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Mango, Byzantine Architecture (New York, 1977).

13.15. San Vitale. Interior.

Photo: Cameraphoto Arte,
Venice/Art Resource, NY.
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Byzantine Architecture 297

Justinian then faced the task of restoring order 77 m). This, too, was to be a double-shell building,
and concord, as well as the challenge of rebuilding for at the center was a square marked by four mas-
large parts of the city. He resolved immediately to sive piers, 110 Byzantine feet (102 feet, or 31.1 m)
rebuild Hagia Sophia as a monument to his rule to a side, capped by a dome carried on pendentives
and as a celebration of his victory. It was to be a [13.16]. The plan was centralized but axial as well,
centralized building on a vast scale. He had already for along the principal axis, the inner square was ex-
built the Church of Saints Sergios and Bakchos, tended in deep semicircular apses rising to half-
527–532, on a constricted site near his former res- dome vaults below the main dome, and these apses
idence in Constantinople, the architects employing were further extended by barrel-vaulted extensions
a double-shell plan arrangement, with piers form- on the axis and arcaded exedrae on the diagonals
ing an octagon inside an irregular square. A similar [13.17]. On the cross axis, the walls were flat and
scheme had been used for the Church of San Vitale pierced with many windows [13.18, 13.19]. In fact,
in Ravenna. all the wall surfaces of the vast church were exten-
For the new Hagia Sophia, however, Justinian sively pierced, with windows in the exterior walls
had in mind something much larger and more im- and screens of arcades on all sides of the interior
posing than San Vitale. Instead of employing the volume. Even the base of the dome was pierced,
usual master builder for the new Hagia Sophia, Jus- with forty windows between radiating ribs, so that
tinian engaged two philosophers known for their Justinian’s historian, Procopius, wrote that the dome
studies in theoretical geometry. It is a testimonial “seems not to rest upon solid masonry, but to cover
to the lingering tradition of Classical Greek science the space with its golden dome suspended from
that Anthemios should come from Tralles and Heaven.”9 The remaining solid surfaces, such as the
Isidoros from Miletos, as both cities were centers of huge pendentives of the dome, measuring 60 feet
ancient Greek scientific investigation. Experts in across (18.3 m), were covered with mosaics with a
theoretical physics and statics, only they could de- gold-leaf background, and the lower interior was
sign the kind of ethereal, dematerialized building sheathed with white, green, blue, black, and other
that Justinian wanted. marbles from throughout the Byzantine Empire;
The new church filled a rectangle measuring 225 dark-green marble columns in the aisles came from
by 240 Byzantine feet (230 by 250 feet, or 71 by the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, and the dark-red

13.16. Anthemios of Tralles and Isidoros of Miletos, Hagia Sophia (Church of Divine Wisdom), Istanbul, Turkey, 532–537.
The minaret towers were added later when the church was converted into a mosque by the Turks who captured Constantinople.
Photo: G. E. Kidder Smith, New York.
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298 13. EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

13.17. Hagia Sophia. Plan. This combines the central focus of domed Roman buildings with the directional focus of the
Roman basilica. Drawing: L. Bier and L. M. Roth.

porphyry columns in each of the four exedrae had able forms and spaces of Classical architecture,
been removed from the Temple of Zeus at Baalbek. here all seems in motion, surfaces curving and in-
The reuse of materials from ancient temple build- tersecting, bathed in a mystical, suffused light issu-
ings illustrates several points, one being the great ing from the hundreds of windows and reflecting
ambition of Justinian but his comparative lack of re- from marbled walls and mosaics. The importance
sources once available to the ancients. Another is of Anthemios’s and Isidoros’s achievement was
the powerful appeal of reconsecrating materials clearly understood by Procopius:
removed from pagan temples for new Christian
churches. The conquest of the old pagan world was The interior abounds exceedingly in sunlight
now complete. and in the reflection of the sun’s rays from the
Hagia Sophia was a stupendous achievement— marble. Indeed, one might say that its interior
perilously balanced masses and shells of brickwork is not illuminated from without by the sun, but
laced with stone reinforcement, lifted into the air. that the radiance comes into being within
The central dome, although not as broad as that of it, such an abundance of light bathes this
the Pantheon in Rome, rises from a ring already shrine. . . . All these details, fitted together with
elevated 120 feet (36.6 m) in the air, resulting in a incredible skill in midair and floating off from
total height of 180 feet (54.9 m), some 40 feet each other and resting only on the parts next to
(12.2m) higher than the Pantheon [13.20, p. 282]. them, produce a single and most extraordinary
Hagia Sophia was a physical representation of the harmony in the work, and yet do not permit the
fusion of empire and church, for to the Byzantine spectator to linger much over the study of any
mind, the cube surmounted by a dome was a model one of them, but each detail attracts the eye and
of the universe, the earth covered with the dome draws it on irresistibly to itself. So the vision
of heaven. Unlike the static and rationally perceiv- constantly shifts suddenly, for the beholder is
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Byzantine Architecture 299

utterly unable to select which particular detail added over the buttress piers in the northeast and
he should admire more than all the others.10 southwest aisles to increase the downward compo-
nent of the dome’s lateral thrust [see 13.17]. Fol-
After Hagia Sophia was finished, on December lowing earthquakes in 553 and 557, the original low
27, 537, Justinian reputedly entered the new church saucer dome collapsed and was rebuilt by Isidoros’s
with the Patriarch of Constantinople, rushed alone son with a steeper hemispherical profile. The orig-
to the center, and exclaimed: “Glory be to God, inal weakness had been the result, in part, of the
Who has deemed me worthy of this task. O, speed of construction, for the slow-setting lime
Solomon, I have surpassed thee.”11 In Hagia Sophia, mortar allowed the arches, pendentives, and but-
Justinian gave definitive form to Byzantine archi- tressing half-domes to deform and spread out as
tecture, fusing Roman constructive practice with they rose. In 989, a portion of the 557 dome fell,
Greek science in the service of theological specula- and in 1346, the remaining portion fell. In the suc-
tion, with an oriental luxuriousness celebrating the cessive repairs and rebuilding, additional massive
mystery of Divine Wisdom. buttresses were added to the exterior of the church,
Even as the dome was rising, it appeared that principally on the northeast and southwest sides,
the structure below was insufficient to resist the where the original design had left the dome inade-
outward thrust [13.19]. Consequently, towers were quately counterbuttressed.

13.18. Hagia Sophia. Longitudinal section.

Along the main axis the outward thrust of the
central dome is transmitted downward by a
series of half-domes and barrel vaults, forming
a stable triangular profile. Drawing: T. Cheun.

13.19. Hagia Sophia. Cross section.

In comparison with the longitudinal
section, the cross section shows
relatively little lateral support for the
dome, requiring the later addition of
bulky buttresses at the corners.
Drawing: T Cheun.
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300 13. EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

13.21. Diagram of Byzantine

church types, showing
arrangement of domes.
Drawing: L. M. Roth.

Once the Byzantine pendentive had been de- years [13.22, 13.23]. Although Byzantine churches
veloped, allowing round domes to be placed over customarily had centralized plans, Hagia Eirene is
square volumes, Byzantine architects evolved nu- axial, but the basic component elements of dome-
merous plan variations in which large squares were topped square bays connected by short barrel vaults
divided into nine component squares, with domes are present.
at the center and the corners (the quincunx plan),
or at the center and on the cross axes [13.21].
Hagia Eirene (Saint Irene, or Holy Peace), another Later Byzantine Churches
church that Justinian rebuilt in Constantinople The later development of Orthodox churches in
after the 532 Nika riot, illustrates one architectural northern Greece can be seen in the Church of the
type from which later Byzantine and Russian Or- Holy Apostles, Salonica, 1312–1315 [13.24, 13.25].
thodox churches derived over the next thousand A basically square plan contains another square

13.22. Hagia Eirene (Church of the Holy Peace), Istanbul, Turkey, begun 532. Plan. This shows perhaps more clearly than
the larger Hagia Sophia how a dome could be placed over a square or slightly rectangular plan. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
Mango, Byzantine Architecture (New York, 1977).
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Byzantine Architecture 301

13.23. Hagia Eirene, Istanbul. Interior. Photo: Josephine Powell, from Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine
Architecture (New York, 1986).

divided into a Greek cross, with a tall dome rising The Byzantine tradition even had an impact in
over the center. In each corner of the outer square the West, especially in Venice, which carried on ex-
are smaller domes. Eastern Orthodox Christianity tensive trade with Constantinople and the eastern
was carried northward into Russia, and with it, the Mediterranean. It is possible that Byzantine archi-
modular, domed church. Just as Russian Christianity tects and workmen were employed in building the
gradually assumed its own unique identity, liturgy, new Church of San Marco (Saint Mark), Venice,
and self-governance, so too did the Russian people begun in 830 and rebuilt in 1063–1095 [13.26,
modify the Byzantine church architectural form and 13.27, 13.28]. San Marco, the chapel of the doges,
make it something uniquely Russian. Kiev, in the or dukes, of Venice (rather than the bishop’s seat),
Ukraine in southern Russia, was then the cultural was built to house Saint Mark’s remains, which had
center and capital of Kiev-Rus; in 988, its ruler, been removed from Alexandria when the city be-
Prince Vladimir, embraced Byzantine Orthodoxy. came Islamic territory. San Marco is a good example
Through Kiev, Russia adopted the spiritual, artistic, of the Greek cross, five-dome church, in which four
and cultural heritage of Byzantine civilization. The square arms project from a central, slightly larger
character of Russian churches was determined by square, each square covered by a dome (the vesti-
examples such as Saint Sophia in Kiev, begun about bule to the west was added later). Here, the walls
1037, which stressed the vertical character in nar- were covered entirely in gold-backed mosaic, pre-
row, soaring, domed chambers; the exterior of this senting figures of the apostles, saints, and angels. San
church, however, has been greatly modified over the Marco, however, had limited influence in the West,
centuries. for it was a transplanted form. In eleventh-century
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302

13.24. Church of the Holy Apostles, Salonika, Greece, 1312–1315. View from the east. Photo: Alison Frantz.

13.25. Church of the Holy Apostles, Salonika. Plan. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Mango, Byzantine Architecture (New
York, 1977).
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Byzantine Architecture 303

13.26. Church of San Marco (Saint Mark’s), Venice, Italy, 1063–1095. Interior. Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.

Europe, a very different tradition in church archi- spreading out from Arabia. About 610, in the city
tecture, evolved from the Western Constantinian of Mecca, the prophet Muhammad began preaching
basilica, was just then beginning to reach its peak. the new faith of Islam; by 632, Islam had swept
The Byzantine Empire survived for nine hundred the Arabian peninsula, and in another thirty years,
years after Justinian’s reign, gradually shrinking in soldiers of Islam had conquered Persia, Syria, Pales-
influence; its outlying territories were lost piecemeal tine, Egypt, and North Africa as far as Algeria. In
to the advance of an especially fervent new religion 673, Constantinople itself had come under siege by
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304

13.27. Church of San Marco, Venice. Aerial view. This shows clearly the five domes, somewhat
obscured by the Late Gothic embellishment added to the facade of the church. Photo: From Henry A.
Millon, ed., Key Monuments in the History of Architecture (New York, 1964).

13.28. Church of San Marco, Venice. Plan. Built perhaps by Byzantine architects, the church was based
on Justinian’s Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople (now destroyed). Drawing: L. Mack and
L. M. Roth, after Mango, Byzantine Architecture (New York, 1977).
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An Architecture of Heaven 305

Islamic armies, but successfully withstood it; this detail, and color. The artistic focus shifted to the
was but the first of many such sieges, however, and building’s interior, on creating a mystic image of
the city finally fell to the Seljuk Turks in 1453, to heaven that was the very opposite of the architec-
be renamed Istanbul. Yet Justinian’s extended archi- ture of the workday world outside. Byzantine art
tectural influence continued to shape Islamic build- and architecture were devoted to reinforcing reli-
ings, particularly in the domed mosques of gious experience, in which the familiar physical
Suleyman and the Sultan Ahmed in Istanbul, all the world of human sensation is transformed into a sug-
way to the white marble dome of the tomb of the gestion of the transcendental world. Images of styl-
Taj Mahal, all built from 1550 to 1650. (See the sep- ized reality, captured in the glittering mosaics,
arate essay on Islamic architecture.) evoke a spiritual presence in an otherworldly at-
mosphere of resplendent grandeur. In the ambience
of shimmering light from countless windows, re-
An Architecture of Heaven flected from high, mosaic-lined domes, and the
As the Roman Empire was transformed into a flickering of innumerable lamps and candles filtered
Christian empire, churches and other religious through the rising haze of pungent incense, the
buildings emerged as the preeminent architecture. early Christian and, later, the Byzantine Church
Other public buildings and residences faded into celebrated the fusion of secular and religious rule
relative obscurity. Churches were internalized, their and the endeavor to create an earthly simulacrum
exteriors deliberately restrained in spatial modeling, pointing to heavenly perfection.
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Plate 42. Jeanne Gang, Aqua (apartment tower), Chicago, Illinois, 2007–2010. Here the sheer vertical plane of glass, recalling
Mies van der Rohe, is transected by the undulating floor slabs that suggest the rippling waves of Lake Michigan. Photo: UIG/
Getty Images.
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Plate 44. Renzo Piano, Tjibaou Cultural Center, New Caledonia, 1992–1998. Piano’s complex of low exhibition rooms and ten
soaring “great houses” merges with a landscape carefully designed to highlight indigenous plants. Photo: © John Golling, courtesy
of Renzo Piano Building Workshop.

Plate 45. Daniel Libeskind, Hamilton Building addition, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, 2002–2006. Capitalizing on the
sharply angular aggressiveness of Postmodernism, Libeskind has created a building that presents itself as a forceful work of art.
Photo: © Prisma Bildagentur AG/Alamy.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:46 AM Page 29

Plate 46. Zaha Hadid, Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2007–2012. The smoothly undulating exterior can
be aptly described as “biomorphic.” Photo: Ferid Xayruli, courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects.

Plate 47. Paul Andreu, Beijing National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing, China, 2000–2007. With many people
arriving by subway and entering from below the Center, the traditional sense of approach and the transition from exterior to
interior is erased. Photo: Imaginechina via AP Images.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:46 AM Page 30

Plate 48. The Kubala Washatko Architects (TKWA), Aldo Leopold Legacy Center, Baraboo, Wisconsin, 2006–2007. The
connection to the earth is maintained through exposed wood structure and rough stone, while the roof is almost entirely covered
with photo-voltaic panels providing all needed energy. Photo: © The Kubala Washatko Architects, Inc./Mark F. Heffronc.

Plate 49. Glenn Murcutt,

Simpson-Lee House, Mount
Wilson, New South Wales,
Australia, 1989–1994.
Using straightforward
industrial materials and
structural methods, Murcutt
nonetheless creates poetic
connections to the landscape.
Photo: Anthony Browell,
courtesy Architecture
Foundation Australia.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:46 AM Page 31

Plate 50. Samuel Mockbee with the

Rural Studio, Yancey Chapel,
Sawyerville, Hale County, Alabama,
1995. Using found materials such as
discarded tires and salvaged wood,
Mockbee and his architecture students
provided needed buildings for rural
people with extremely limited means.
Photo: Timothy Hursley.

Plate 51. Conservation Design Forum, Inc., City Hall Building Roof Garden, Chicago, Illinois, 2001. Positioned in a very
prominent political location is this dramatic demonstration of making a useful place while significantly reducing ongoing building
energy demands. Photo: Chicago Department of Environment/Mark Farina/AP.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:46 AM Page 32

Plate 52. Adrian Smith of SOM, Thomas Beeby,

Frank Gehry, and other designers, Millennium Park,
Chicago, Illinois. At Mayor Richard M. Daley’s
urging and with generous corporate support, this
long-standing urban eyesore—an abandoned,
sprawling rail yard—was converted into a festive
public playground built over a garage. Photo: Adam
Jones/Getty Images.

Plate 53. Ken Yeang, Solaris Building, Fusionopolis

research and development complex, Singapore,
2008–2010. Using a continuous wrap-around
landscaped balcony ramp, Yeang provides oxygen-
generating plantings as well as shielding from the
sun, creating more area for landscaping than existed
on the original building site. Photo: Copyright T.R.
Hamzah & Yeang Sdn. Bhd. (2013), courtesy of
Ken Yeang.
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Plate 1. Geppa-rō teahouse, Katsura Detached Villa, Kyōto, Japan, c. 1616–1660. Space in a traditional Japanese house,
including a large teahouse such as this, is made infinitely variable by the sliding internal and external wall screens, allowing direct
visual connection to the external gardens. Photo: Vanni/Art Resource, NY.

Plate 2. Charles Garnier, Paris Opéra, stair hall, Paris, France, 1861–1875. Because circulation—people being able to see and
greet each other—was such an important function, Garnier made the stair hall one of the biggest rooms in the opera house.
Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:43 AM Page 2

Plate 3. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey. Shown here after being converted to a mosque, the interior, as portrayed by the artist,
indicates how the pendentives function in making the transition from a circular to a square plan. Lithography after Gaspare
Fossati, 1850. Photo: bpk, Berlin/Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany/Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/7/14 10:57 AM Page 3

Plate 4. Color wheel. In this

circular arrangement, colors can
blend with each other seamlessly.

Plate 5. Palace at Knossos, Crete, c. 1600 BCE. When the palace was excavated in 1900–1905, its colors were still
relatively bright, as seen on the inverted red columns and numerous wall murals. Photo: Vanni/Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/7/14 10:57 AM Page 4

Plate 6. Jacques-Ignace Hittorff, Temple of Empedocles. From Hittorff’s Restitution du Temple d’Empédocle à Sélinonte,
ou l’architecture polychrome chez les Grecs (Paris 1851). Hittorff’s restoration drawings of brightly colored Greek temples caused
outrage in the mid-nineteenth century among those accustomed to the sun-bleached whiteness of ancient ruins. Photo: Courtesy,
the Avery Library Collection, Columbia University, New York.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:44 AM Page 5

Plate 7. San Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna, Italy, 532–549. In the apse, particularly colorful mosaics portray Christ as the
Good Shepherd. Photo: Alfredo Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.

Plate 8. Masjid-i-Shah
Mosque, Isfahan, Iran,
1611–1638. The glistening
glazed tiles that cover the
softer, structural material
bring a note of vivid color to
Islamic architecture. Photo:
SEF/Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:44 AM Page 6

Plate 9. Thomas de Cormont, Royal Chapel of Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, France, 1242–1248. Interior of upper royal chapel
as restored by Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, 1845–1860, showing the high levels of color originally painted on the stone,
complementing the intense colors in the stained-glass windows. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:44 AM Page 7

Plate 10. Balthasar Neumann, Vierzehnheiligen (Pilgrimage Church of the Fourteen Saints), Franconia, Germany, 1742–1772.
Against a background of cream and white, color is used in painted mural panels and opulent faux finishes. Photo: Erich Lessing/
Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:44 AM Page 8

Plate 11. Sir George Gilbert Scott, Midland Grand Hotel (part of St. Pancras Railroad Station), London, 1868–1874. High
Victorian Gothic architects reveled in the dramatic contrast of strongly colored natural building materials of stone, brick, and
slate. Photo: © VIEW Pictures Ltd/Alamy.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/7/14 10:58 AM Page 9

Plate 12. Theo van Doesburg and

Cornelis van Eesteren, Color
Construction: Project for a Private
House. Drawing, gouache on paper,
22½ × 22½ inches, 1922. In De Stjl
design, colors possess associated
numerical values, creating a
“balanced” abstract composition.
Photo: The Museum of Modern Art,
New York, Edgar Kaufman, Jr., Fund.

Plate 13. Charles Moore, Piazza d’Italia,

New Orleans, Louisiana, 1975–1980.
In Ironic Postmodernism, dramatic color
combinations and contrasts reappeared
after having been suppressed for half a
century. Photo: Norman McGrath.
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Plate 14. Musikverein (Symphony Hall), Vienna, Austria, 1867–1870. The large performance space, called the Golden Hall
because of its abundant gilding, has a basic rectangular shape and many planes of ornament that result in the good acoustic
properties in this acclaimed chamber. Photo: © epa european pressphoto agency b.v./Alamy.

Plate 15. House of the Vettii, Pompeii, Italy,

prior to 79 CE. Wall paintings in the corner of
the house show the skill in linear perspective
drawing practiced by Roman artists and
architects. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art
Archive at Art Resource, NY.
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Plate 16. Taj Mahal, Agra, India, 1630–1653. Color abounds in the garden plantings, as well as in the many semi-
precious stones inlaid to form decorative patterns in the white marble tomb building. Photo: The Art Archive at Art
Resource, NY.

Plate 17. Idealized View of the Acropolis and Areopagos in Athens, 1846. Oil on canvas, 102.8 x 147.7 cm. Inv. 9463.
Bayerische Staatsgemaeldesammlungen, Munich, Germany. This mid-nineteenth-century painting presents an artist’s
rendering of how the Athenian Akropolis might have appeared about 450 BCE. Photo: Vanni/Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:44 AM Page 12

Plate 18. Roman Forum, Rome, Italy. The Roman Forum, the caput mundi (“head of the world”), was the focal point of Roman
religious, political, and commercial life. The scattered surviving fragments suggest the great size and complexity of the Forum of
the ancient city of Rome. Photo: Vanni/Art Resource, NY.

Plate 20. Palenque, southern Mexico, flourished in seventh century CE. As excavation and analysis continues, it has become
clear that virtually the entire city was painted red, enhanced with highly colored sculptural panels. Photo: Christopher Evans/
National Geographic Stock.
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Plate 19. Mosque at Cordobá, Cordobá, Spain, 961–987 and later. The form of the Islamic hypostyle hall for the haram prayer
hall was greatly extended in this instance, creating through the hidden sources of light a near-mystical atmosphere. Photo: Werner
Forman/Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:45 AM Page 14

Plate 21. Aerial view of Tenochtitlan, on Lake Texcoco, Mexico, fifteenth century. This reconstructed view depicts the Aztec
capitol as it might have first appeared to Spanish conquistadors. Mid-twentieth-century painting by Miguel Covarrubias.
Photo: Schalkwijk/Art Resource, NY/María Elena Rico Covarrubias.

Plate 22. François Cuvilliés, Amalienburg Pavilion, on the grounds of the Nymphenburg Palace, outside Munich, Bavaria,
Germany, 1734–1739. The fullest expressions of Rococo were made by French artists working in Germany, as in this hunting
pavilion. The central round salon is completely lined with glass, in the form of either mirrors or French doors opening to the
exterior. Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:45 AM Page 15

Plate 23. Garden of the Humble Administrator, Suzhou, southern China, begun 1510. Artfully crafted to combine water, a
variety of plants, and covered walkways in zigzag paths, and dotted with strategically placed pavilions, such gardens provided
places for court officials to contemplate beauty in its manifold forms. Photo: © IMAGEMORE Co., Ltd./Alamy.

Plate 24. The Amida Hall (Hōōdō) or Phoenix Hall, Byōdōin, Uji, near Kyōtō, Japan, 1053. The outstretched arms extending
from the central hall are thought to symbolize the wings of the phoenix. Here the extended cantilevered beams, creating the lifting
roofs, are evident. Photo: Vanni/Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:45 AM Page 16

Plate 25. Katsura Detached Palace, Katsura, near Kyōto, c. 1616–1660. Though perhaps a bit mannered in the extreme
exquisiteness of its details, the Katsura villa, set in the midst of a carefully tended garden, is nonetheless considered to express
the essence of traditional Japanese house and garden design. Photo: Vanni/Art Resource, NY.

Plate 27. Church of St. George, Lalibela, Ethiopia, thirteenth century. One of the relatively rare examples of a building that
was created by cutting away the surrounding rock, much as a sculptor cuts away a block of marble to reveal the figure
residing “inside” the stone. Photo: © Robert Harding Picture Library Ltd/Alamy.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:45 AM Page 17

Plate 26. A. W. N. Pugin, designer, House of Lords chamber, Houses of Parliament, London, England, 1936–1947. With
rich detailing designed by Pugin, this room elegantly accommodates the robed members of the aristocracy. Photo: © Robert
Harding Picture Library Ltd/Alamy.
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Plate 28. Warren & Wetmore with Wilbur Wilgus, Grand Central Terminal, New York, NY, 1902–1913. One of the great
public rooms in the United States. Photo: © D. Hurst/Alamy.

Plate 29. Ragnar Östberg

Stockholm City Hall, Stockholm,
Sweden, 1911–1923. With
stylized references to Sweden’s
version of Renaissance
architecture, Östberg created a
modern regional landmark.
Photo: © F1 online digitale
Bildagentur GmbH/Alamy.
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Plate 30. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain, 1929 (as rebuilt, 1983–1986). In re-creating
the demolished original Barcelona Pavilion in the late twentieth century, the Spanish reconstruction architects returned to the
original onyx and marble materials in which the color and vein pattern provided important decorative elements. Photo: © YAY
Media AS/Alamy.

Plate 31. Allan Greenberg,

The News Building, Athens,
Georgia, 1992. The intense color
of ancient Greek architecture, as
seen in the Ionic order on the upper
level of the formal entry stair, is
brought to life again in Greenberg’s
work. Photo: Tim Buchman,
courtesy of Allan Greenberg.
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Plate 32. Duncan G. Stroik, Saint Thomas Aquinas Chapel, Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, California, 2003–2009.
Using an architectural language long associated with California coastal churches, Stroik builds on this regional tradition. Photo by
Stephen Schaffer, courtesy of Duncan Stroik.
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Plate 33. Rafael Moneo, Museum of Roman Art, Merida, Spain, 1980–1986. Glazed brick, especially when hit by raking shafts
of sunlight, brings a warm glow to the Merida museum interiors. Photo: Lluís Casals, March 1987.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:45 AM Page 22

Plate 34. James Stirling, Neue Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany, 1977–1983. In a fusion of traditional forms and new
technologies, brightly painted metal surfaces contrast with the warm hues of the travertine and sandstone walls. Photo:
© Richard Bryant/arcaid.co.uk.

Plate 35. Richard Meier, Jubilee Church (La Chiesa del Dio Misericordioso), Rome, Italy, 1996–2003. Perhaps because this was
such an important politically visible church, being constructed for the Great Jubilee Year of 2000, Meier turned from his previous
crisp cubic planes to softer, rounded, evocative forms. Photo: © Art on File/Corbis.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:45 AM Page 23

Plate 36. Peter Eisenman, Galicia Cultural Center, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 1999–2012. Once an advocate of cubic
forms derived from Canonical Modernism, Eisenman shifted to using more organically inspired forms. Photo: © Duccio
Malagamba, Barcelona.

Plate 37. Santiago Calatrava, Infinity

Tower, Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
2005–2012. By gently turning the
square plan by increments, floor by
floor, Calatrava creates a dynamic
architectural form. Photo courtesy of
Laticrete, www.laticrete.com.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:45 AM Page 24

Plate 38. Norman Foster, 30 St. Mary Axe (“The Gherkin”), London, England, 1996–2004. Employing whimsy in both form
and color, Foster created a distinctive building incorporating positive energy-saving attributes. Photo: UIG/Getty Images.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:45 AM Page 25

Plate 39. C. Y. Lee, Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan, 1997–2003. Taiwanese architect Lee achieved a form suggestive of a gigantic
pagoda, with its upper portion divided in eight sections of eight floors each, a most auspicious number in Chinese culture. Photo:
AP Images/Wally Santana.

Plate 40. Frank Gehry, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany, 1987–1989. Beginning to create elaborately sculpted
building forms in the 1980s revealed to Gehry the complicated issues involved in producing working drawings for such complex
nonlinear forms. Photo: © Caro/Alamy.
9780813349039-photoinsert_Layout 1 10/30/13 11:45 AM Page 26

Plate 41. Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, 1987–1997. The shimmer of the thin titanium sheets almost
instantly established a new worldwide standard of prestige in turn-of-the-twentieth-century public architecture. Photo: © Art
Kowalsky/Alamy.

Plate 43. Rem Koolhaas and associated architects, CCTV (Chinese Central Television), Beijing, China, 2002–2008. A good
example of a building form revealing little about its human scale, this structure certainly makes a dramatic impact, as it was
intended to do, in an opening timed to coincide with the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Photo: REUTERS/Jason Lee.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:13 PM Page 306

IS-1. Jameh (Friday) Mosque of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran, eighth to twelfth centuries. This iwan pavilion, enriched inside the
arch with curved and scalloped muqarnas vaults, is the qibla orienting the worshipper toward Mecca. Photo: Gianni Dagli
Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.
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E S S AY 2

Islamic Architecture

Islamic Architecture and the West

The influence of Islamic architecture on Europe is part of a long history of interactions that sig-
nificantly enriched the West in architecture, science, and mathematics. As Islam quickly spread
across the Middle East and Africa in the sixth century, Muslim architects and builders embraced
and absorbed late Classical and Christian architectural forms and structural techniques, adapting
them for their own unique building needs. But to appreciate those distinctive building needs, it
may be helpful to understand how Islam arose and expanded.

Islam Develops
Prior to about 600 CE, the Arabian peninsula was divided into many feuding tribes. Then, within
about forty years, politics and religion across the entire Arabian peninsula changed dramatically
because of the influence of one man, the Prophet Muhammad (c. 560 to 632). When Muhammad
began preaching in the courtyard of his home in Mecca, he met with hostility from neighbors, so
in 622, he and his followers withdrew to the city of Medina, the year from which the Islamic cal-
endar is measured. He united the local surrounding tribes, and in 628, his followers, now num-
bering perhaps ten thousand, overtook the city of Mecca. By the time of his death in 632, nearly
the entire Arabian peninsula had been converted to the new religion and united in a single Mus-
lim political body, with Muhammad the religious, political, and military leader.
Because the religion established by Muhammad was so different from the practices of others
nearby, new architectural spaces were needed, especially a place for obligatory ritual worship.1
Additionally, Islam has a prohibition against images, not just of Allah and Mohammad but also
of humans and animals, so no images of birds, animals, or fish are permitted as embellishment of
Islamic architecture. What typically replaced such figurative imagery were elaborate geometric
decorative patterns as well as inscriptions of passages from their holy book, the Qur’an, presented
in elaborate Arabic calligraphy.
The new faith and political protection was quickly embraced by the Arab people, so that by
the time of Muhammad’s death in 632, the religion and rule of Islam had spread across the
entire Arabian peninsula, northward into Jordan and then eastward through modern-day Iraq,
and as far as the western part of Iran. Within the next thirty years, the extent of Islamic control
expanded west into Egypt and Libya, in the north from eastern Turkey to Turkmenistan, and
east from Syria to the western edge of Afghanistan. Subsequently, Islam spread further across
the remainder of North Africa all the way to the Atlantic, and to the east from Uzbekistan
through what is now Pakistan.2 In the East, the spread of Islam continued for several additional
centuries into northern India, Bangladesh, western China, and southeast Asia, sweeping over
Indonesia. Far to the west, Muslim armies crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into Spain and con-
tinued into Europe until they were stopped at the Battle of Tours (also called Battle of Poitiers),
in 732.3
During the rapid spread of Islam stretching from Spain to central Asia, many regional archi-
tectural traditions had been absorbed and integrated into the development of Islamic architec-
ture, but one characteristic remained relatively constant—the dry climate.4 Thus the arid

307
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308 ESSAY 2: ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

conditions of everyday life encouraged a dream-image of lush gardens, embellished by dancing

fountains, shaded by trees, and scented by flowers—a vision of paradise.
The wonder of Islamic architecture is how rapidly it established the essential character for its
religious, public, educational, and governmental buildings. Unlike the long periods of gestation in
the development of Egyptian, Greek, or Roman architecture, within two generations, the shepherds
and traders of northern Arabia mastered the architecture they encountered outside their homeland,
learning both brick and stone construction and the use of arches and vaulting, none of which for-
merly existed in northern Arabia. Once established, this architectural character was carried to the
far ends of the Islamic world, even as it incorporated regional architectural elements.

The Mosque
Essential to Muslim worship is the mosque. The first mosque, providing the conceptual pattern
for later mosques, was created by Muhammad in his house in Medina; it was regrettably removed
to make way for a new mosque in 1986. The oldest surviving mosque, an architectural model for
nearly all later mosques, is the Great (or Umayyad) Mosque of Damascus, Syria, which began as
a Roman temple to Jupiter and was then partially rebuilt as an early Christian church. Built di-
rectly on the earlier temple site after the city was conquered in 634, the Great Mosque (706–
715) is a large rectangle with an enclosed structure on its long southern half, made up of three
parallel rooms divided by two rows of repeated classical round arches springing from column to
column. (This arrangement conveniently provided a large space without the necessity of building
a long-span roof.) The faithful gather in rows in this large covered hall (haram) to prostrate them-
selves in prayer (salah). The great scale of the Umayyad Mosque was said to accommodate the
entire Muslim population of Damascus at that time. Here, as in a number of early mosques, the
need to cover a large space for prayer resulted in rows of parallel arches on columns supporting
comparatively narrow parallel roofs. Because of the many columns, they are often called hypostyle
halls. Along the south wall are three mihrab niches (normally just one is set in the prayer wall or
qibla) to orient the worshiper toward Mecca, the most holy city in Islam. This sacred orientation
toward Mecca is required of all mosques; hence, there is no relationship in any mosque to the
points of the compass. North of the enclosed prayer hall in Damascus is a broad open court, the
sahn, ringed with classical round arched arcades on columns. Set at the western side of this court
is the fountain used for ritual ablutions before prayer.
Another building type that established a strong model for later Islamic architecture is the
Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem (689–691), begun just one year after the city surrendered to the
Muslim army of the Rashidun Caliphate [IS-2]. The Arab sweep into Judea in the late eighth
century first exposed the Arab conquerors to late Roman architecture as well as the early Chris-
tian architecture of the Constantinian churches built there in the fourth and fifth centuries, par-
ticularly to the use of domes in religious buildings. The immediate evidence of this impact can
be seen in the Dome of the Rock, built to shelter an exposed portion of the bedrock on which
the second Jewish temple had stood. The rock is sacred to Muslims as the site from which
Muhammad ascended to Heaven to speak with Allah before returning to earth.5
The design of the Dome of the Rock drew from both the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (for information on these churches, see
Chapter 13). Designing engineers Yazid Ibn Salam and Raja Ibn Haywah incorporated an octagon
enclosing an internal ambulatory (as used in Bethlehem), as well as a dome seen in both the
Church of the Nativity and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but modified so the dome is
carried internally by a ring of columns to allow full view of the rock.6 The wood dome (today
covered with gilded metal sheets) is supported below by a ring of internal arcades interspersed
with four broad piers, the arches introducing the use of alternating contrasting voussoir blocks—
a design feature seen frequently in Islamic architecture, even in distant Spain. While both exterior
and interior are brilliant with colored stone inlay, tiles, and other highly colored materials, in-
cluding bands of Quranic passages, frequent refurbishments over the centuries obliterated the
original surfaces. The dome motif introduced here would reappear in various forms across the
Muslim world over the next millennium and more.
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The Mosque 309

IS-2. Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, Israel, 689–691. Begun just one year after the city was taken by Muslim
forces, this building shows the extraordinarily rapid assimilation of Roman and Early Christian architectural
forms. Photo: SEF/Art Resource, NY.

Secular Islamic Buildings

With the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate, the administrative center shifted to Baghdad
(now in Iraq) in 762. During the period of the Abbasid Caliphate, sometimes called the Golden
Age of Islamic culture, Baghdad became the focal point of literary, mathematical, and scientific
inquiry, marked by the accumulation of large libraries. Schools and universities became essential
to Islam, and Mustansiriya Madrasah University, still operating today, was established in Baghdad
in 1227.7
Another emerging Islamic building type was the palace; one surviving (restored) example is
the Qasr-al-Khalifa, or Abbasid Palace, built just outside Baghdad in 836. Among the notable
features of its construction was the use of elongated vertical arches whose tops are made up of
two circular arcs—that is, pointed arches. Also used were geometric infill patterns in the spandrel
panels of the arches, and diagonal linear meander patterns laid up of darker brick in a lighter
brick wall.
Because of the size and complexity of the extended Muslim world, the Abbasids had difficulty
maintaining control, and various outlying areas, such as the former Persia, became semi-autonomous.8
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310 ESSAY 2: ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

IS-3. Masjid-i shah Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 1611–c. 1630. This overall view shows, in the distance, the larger
tile-covered dome over the sahn prayer hall, while the foreground shows the entry court. Photo: Mondadori
Portfolio/Electa/Art Resource, NY.

Nevertheless the Persians (present-day Iranians) eagerly embraced the Islamic faith and created
splendid mosques. Already a well-established city, Isfahan had been captured by the Arabs in 642
and then, in 1050, was occupied by the Seljuk Turks, who also made the city the center of their vast
empire.
Subsequently, the region was conquered by Timur (Tamerlane) and made a part of his empire.
Important developments in mosque architecture occurred in central Asia in those areas that
Timur conquered and controlled, including mosque types such as the Bibi Kanun Mosque (begun
in 1399) in Samarkand (in modern Uzbekistan), which he made his principal administrative and
cultural capitol.9 Similar to other mosques across Muslim territory, these Samarkand mosques
had large prayer halls and an open external court, but where the cross axes of the court met with
the court walls, large squared blocks or pavilions opened up with soaring recesses further opened
by multistory pointed arches called iwans. Increasing the splendor of the Bibi Kanun Mosque is
its uniform sheathing of brightly colored glazed tiles.
By the start of the sixteenth century in Iran, the ruler Shah Abbas chose Isfahan to be the
seat of the Safavid dynasty and initiated a number of building enterprises, including the comple-
tion of the resplendent Masjid-i shah Mosque (1611–c. 1630), which suggests influence coming
southward from Samarkand [IS-3, Plate 9]. The original building was begun in the eighth century,
perhaps a rectangular enclosure having the multicolumned prayer hall to the south and an open
sahn court on the north, angled to point toward Mecca. Over the centuries various additions
and modifications were made to the Masjid-i shah Mosque, and by about 1611 the enlarged sahn
court was marked by four large iwan pavilions on the cross axes, with the two-story arcade en-
closing the sahn court opened with tall pointed arches that mirror the larger arches that open to
the recesses of the iwans. The southerly iwan leads directly into the large domed prayer hall. This
dome, covered with bright turquoise-blue tiles and the tallest feature in the mosque complex,
not only has a profile that matches the pointed iwan arches but bulges out slightly at the base,
creating the prototype of the onion-like dome associated with later Islamic architecture of central
Asia and India.
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Islamic Architecture in Spain 311

Islamic Architecture in Spain

Far to the west on the isolated peninsula of Iberia (Spain), the Córdoba Caliphate became a cen-
ter of scientific and literary achievement. An important mosque was built there, replacing an
earlier Visigothic church. Begun under Caliph Abd ar-Rahman in 794, the mosque was expanded
in 961 and 987, with the addition of several minarets and sections added to the prayer hall.10
The mosque has a magnificent hypostyle hall, with 856 columns of granite, jasper, onyx, and
marble supporting arches of alternated voussoir blocks of red and cream-colored stone [Plate
19]. The horseshoe-shaped arches seem to extend on all sides to infinity, with light wells raised
above the parallel ridged roofs to admit light in a seemingly miraculous way. When the Al-
Andalus region of Spain was recaptured by Christian forces in 1236, a new cathedral was built
on the site, inserted into the very middle of the prayer hall.
Following the recapture of Córdoba, the cultural and artistic focus of Islamic Spain shifted well
to the south, to Granada and the court of the Nasrids, the last ruling emirs in Spain. The Alhambra
palace complex on an elevated plateau in Granada began as a citadel in the ninth century and
later became a fortified residence, but had no systematic geometric planning. After conflicts be-
tween branches of the Spanish caliphate brought its political control over Moorish Spain to an
end in the early thirteenth century, the Nasrid family emerged as emirs of Granada and made the
Alhambra their base, building and enlarging the complex, particularly after Yusuf I became emir
in 1333. The architects and skilled artisans employed by Yusuf I and subsequent emirs drew on
the full breadth of Islamic design as it had been perfected in Córdoba and elsewhere.
As the Alhambra palace grew, it became the last refuge of Islamic artists and intellectuals
fleeing the advancing Christian armies to the north. The new courts and rooms incorporated
elements such as the horseshoe arch raised up on tall extensions above the string line (called
stilted arches), included a wealth of linear geometric ornamental details in the interiors, and
used muqarnas, a form of ceiling ornament that resembles nested diminishing stalactites (like
sculpted and carved squinches) as they rise to the top of the ceiling. The palace became more
organized in rectilinear lines, with passageways leading axially from court to court, each court
filled with fountains that added the cooling sound of splashing water to the wealth of visual stim-
ulation. The artistic culmination of the open spaces is the Court of the Lions, measuring 116 by
66 feet (35 by 20 m), with open arcaded side walls of 124 paired marble columns lifting up tall
narrow stilted arches [IS-4].11 Here, as in many other Muslim palaces, the garden is an interpre-
tation of Persian gardens, which themselves are interpretations of the garden of paradise.

IS-4. Court of the

Lions, Alhambra
Palace, Granada,
Spain, c. 1362–1391.
A miniaturization of
a garden in paradise,
this court illustrates
the refinement of the
Nasrid Emirate in
Granada. Photo:
Gianni Dagli Orti/
The Art Archive at
Art Resource, NY.
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312 ESSAY 2: ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

Islamic Architecture in India

The religious landscape of India and large portions of southeast Asia were dramatically changed
with the spread of Islam from Persia to the south and east. Islamic armies of the Turks and
Afghans conquered northern India in the late twelfth century, and an independent Islamic state
was declared there in 1206. Mosque building now took the place of Hindu temple building, re-
vealing a fundamental difference in the concept of religious building in northern India. Where
the Hindu temple was a vertical mass, a point marker in space, its interior densely enclosed, dark
and mysteriously introverted, the newly introduced Islamic mosque had a light-filled court open
to the sky and a large covered public place for prayer. The introduction of Islam in Hindu India
set up a fundamental conflict that continued into the mid-twentieth century and which, when
the British colonial government of the Raj left in 1947, resulted in the confrontational partition-
ing of greater British India into modern India (Hindu), and Pakistan and Bangladesh (Muslim).
Because the northern region had been invaded by Timur’s armies in 1398, there was strong
Persian influence in the introduced architecture, including what later became distinctly onion-
shaped domes and the pointed “ogee” arch openings. The Delhi Sultanate ruled this Islamic state
from 1206 until 1526, when Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire, conquered northern India;
his domain extended from Afghanistan to Bengal. By this time a distinctive north Indian Muslim
culture had emerged, with Islam established as the official religion, though later Mughal emperors
such as Akbar and Shah Jahan encouraged a broad cultural tolerance. Where the traditional
teachings of Islam held absolutely firm, however, was in the elimination of figural sculpture from
sacred buildings (recall that Hindu and Jain temples had been abundantly coated in layers of
sculpted human and divine figures) [p. 276]. Figural painting, however, was permitted in historical
and literary manuscripts. In addition, gardens, mirroring the Koranic descriptions of paradise,
became a design specialty of the Mughals.
Akbar (full name: Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar), grandson of Babur, expanded the Mughal
Empire and enjoyed a period of relative calm and prosperity, manifested in a series of building
projects. Favoring the region of Agra, he relocated his capitol there and undertook construction
of a suitable walled community, renaming the city Fatehpur Sikri. Using the red sandstone of the
region, Akbar had numerous courts and pavilions constructed between 1571 and 1586. Signifi-
cant is the Jama Mosque with its large central entrance pavilion and deep iwan recess, recalling
the mosques of Isfahan, Persia. The wide King’s Gate [IS-5] has similar features with notable
decorative elements: perched at intervals above the roofs are small, largely ornamental pavilions
made up of four corner columns carrying a flat roof slab surmounted by a small dome. Reappearing
frequently in Mughal architecture, these small pavilions are called chattras.12
Shah Jahan, subsequent ruler and grandson of Akbar, was also a prodigious builder, taking
advantage of the empire’s period of extended prosperity. He particularly favored the ancient
settlement of Delhi, which he made his capitol, and where he built the imposing Jama Mosque
(“World-reflecting Mosque,” 1650–1656).13 The huge square sahn entrance court, lined with an
encircling arcade, measures about 377 feet (115 m) to a side, with an ablution tank positioned
in the center. The mosque prayer hall proper, along the west side of this court, is about 229 feet
(c. 70 m) wide and around 82 feet (c. 25 m) deep. Minarets 130 feet (c. 40 m) tall emphasize its
forward corners. Behind the high central iwan block rise three marble onion domes.
The last of Shah Jahan’s architectural projects, and for many observers the most beautiful
building group in northern India, is the striking white marble tomb, the Taj Mahal [8.3]. Built
by the bereft Shah Jahan on the banks of the Jumna River near Agra, the building honored his
beloved third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who had died in childbirth. Begun in 1632, the principal
building itself was finished in six years, while the garden and adjoining buildings were completed
in 164814 [8.3]. Bounded by a wall and entered by a large entry gate on the southern edge, the
complex contains a broad square garden laid out in a 984 feet (300 m) square, with channels of
water on the axes (symbolic of the rivers of paradise) extending out from a slightly elevated pool
in the center. Lawns and planted beds fill the four quadrangles. Trees frame flowerbeds, which
were originally intended to have various plants producing flowers continuously during the cycle
of the seasons. No literate Mughal person entering the garden could have failed to appreciate
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Islamic Architecture in India 313

IS-5. King’s Gate, Palace of Fatehpur Sikri, India, 1571–1586. The palace gate is dotted along its skyline
with repeated chattra pavilions, a building form that became a signature feature of Mughal architecture.
Photo: © imagebroker/Alamy.

the images of paradise that informed every aspect of the design, for over the entry gate, written
out in black marble inlay in a white marble panel, is this passage from the Qur’an:

But, Oh, thou soul at peace,

Return thou unto thy Lord, well-pleased, and well-pleasing unto Him,
Enter thou among thy servants,
And enter thou My paradise.

At the northern edge of the complex is a raised marble platform, flanked on the west by a
mosque and on the east by a meetinghouse, both constructed of red brick with white marble de-
tails. Rising between them is the white domed tomb, a masterwork conceived by the shah’s archi-
tects, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri working with Ahb al-Karim Ma mur Kahn, aided by court calligrapher
Amanat Khan. The square mass of the central mausoleum is a symbol of calm and harmony, for
it is as high as it is wide, and the height of the dome is the same as that of the arched iwan entry
block below. The balanced proportions throughout arise from the use of a standard measurement
unit called the gaz (32 inches, or 81.28 cm); the entire complex measures 374 gaz wide and 1,122
gaz in length, and everything else is determined by subdivisions of those measurements.
The white marble exterior of the building was embellished everywhere with representations
of the flowers of paradise, crafted of inlays of jade, lapis, amber, carnelian, jasper, amethyst, agate,
heliotrope, and green beryl. In addition to the ornamental floral and geometrical designs, black
marble inlay presents passages from the Qur’an that relate to paradise on the Day of Judgment.
In its purity of material and balance of proportions, the Taj Mahal serves as a fitting representation
of paradise.
It is said that Shah Jahan perhaps intended to build a similar black marble complex for his
own tomb across the river from that of his queen, but he was deposed by his son, Aurangzeb, be-
fore this could be carried out. Eventually two white marble sarcophagi were placed side by side
within the marble Taj Mahal, and there Emperor Shah Jahan has rested by the side of his beloved
Mumtaz Mahal ever since.
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14.0. Elias of Dereham, Wells Cathedral, Wells, England, 1174–1490. Wells is unique for its incorporation of inverted
arches in the crossing area, countering any tendency for the massive crossing piers to bulge inward. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/
The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.
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Chapter 14

Medieval Architecture

R
The most conspicuous property of Carolingian
The Western church survived the disintegration
of the Roman Empire by embracing the hierarchi-
and Romanesque buildings is their combination cal structure of the Roman political bureaucracy.
of massive enclosure and manifest verticality. . . . The bishop of Rome assumed the imperial title pon-
So the Romanesque church is simultaneously tifex maximus, or chief priest, shortened to pontiff
stronghold and gate to heaven, and the two main or pope, gradually asserting his primacy not only
building types of the period, the church and castle, over the other bishops in the West but over kings
are profoundly related. as well. Charlemagne later was to take crucial ad-
—Christian Norberg-Schulz, vantage of the pope’s blessing in creating a new em-
Meaning in Western Architecture, 1975 pire in Western Europe. But central international
political authority disappeared, and the complex
The Gothic church . . . stood for the Heavenly Roman network of public institutions and utilities
City of Jerusalem . . . [and] was a monument that broke down. Roads fell into disrepair and aqueducts
seems to dwarf the man who enters it, for space, were broken, spilling water over the low country
light, structure, and the plastic effects of masonry around Rome and causing it to revert to swamp.
are organized to produce a visionary scale. There is The period known as the Middle Ages—as Ren-
no fixed set of proportions in the parts, . . . and no aissance scholars would later characterize the long
standard relationship between solid and void. centuries between what they perceived as the en-
—Robert Branner, Gothic Architecture, 1961

R
lightened ancient civilization and their own period
of renewed humanism during the Renaissance—is
now generally divided into three periods: the Early
Middle Ages (450 to 1000), the High Middle Ages

O nce the Roman Empire ceased to function

administratively in the West, there was no
central government to commission buildings. Public
(1000 to 1150), and the Late Middle Ages (1150 to
1500). The first includes the end of the Roman Em-
pire and the subsequent Dark Age that occurred
building nearly stopped during the fifth century and between 500 and 800 but which ended with the rise
did not resume in any significant way until about of Charlemagne and the Frankish Empire in the
800, with the appearance of Charlemagne. This ninth century. The next period, the High Middle
Carolingian architecture, although consciously built Ages, was characterized by the development of a
to resemble Roman models, was rather crude com- more stable feudal system, the gradual resumption
pared to the Roman ruins scattered about the old of travel and trade across Europe (a resumption that
empire. How to carve a true Corinthian capital had coincided with the eight Crusades against the Mus-
been largely forgotten. In the unsettled centuries lims in the East), the gradual reemergence of cities
that followed the end of the Roman Empire, inter- as major cultural and economic forces, and the re-
nal divisions and external invasions repeatedly dis- vival of building on a large scale, especially of
rupted civil life; civil and religious building forms churches, with an emerging Gothic style in the
therefore became both massive defensive refuges twelfth century. Despite these positive develop-
from the uncertainties of everyday life and impres- ments, the High Middle Ages witnessed continued
sive gateways to a promised better afterlife. onslaughts by invaders from the north and east.

315
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316 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.1. Map of Europe, c. 814.

From Hungary came the Magyar horsemen, while

from Scandinavia came the Norsemen in their long- The Carolingian “Renaissance”
boats, pillaging coastal and riverbank settlements. The first of these attempts to recapture the
The concluding Late Middle Ages were character- achievements of Classical antiquity was the re-
ized by the maturation of a light and graceful Gothic markable Carolingian renaissance in the ninth cen-
architecture for church, educational, and private tury. Initiated by Charlemagne, this movement
buildings, but this period also experienced the dev- reestablished centers of learning in his Frankish
astation of the Black Death (bubonic plague) and kingdom, which included what is now France and
the political turmoil of the Hundred Years’ War. part of Germany and extended down into northern
Italy [14.1].
As the Roman Empire crumbled, Europe was di-
The Early Middle Ages vided into individual kingdoms by whichever group
When the history of the West began to be written was strong enough to take and hold territory. The
in the fifteenth century, Renaissance humanists Visigoths and then the Ostrogoths descended into
wrote of the “dark age” that intervened between Italy and ruled for a time until replaced by the
the glory of Greece and Rome and what they per- Lombards. Central Italy was also controlled for a
ceived as their own enlightened age. But in actual- time by the Byzantine emperor through his deputy
ity, the ten centuries following Constantine’s death or exarch at Ravenna. But meanwhile, the Ger-
were not quite the cultural wasteland that Renais- manic Franks were pushing westward into northern
sance writers imagined. During those long years, Gaul, and the Burgundians moved into central
there had been recurrent attempts to recapture Gaul. The Franks gradually emerged as the most
something of the accomplishment of the Romans, powerful of the groups in Gaul under their Chris-
so that there was a series of rebirths of Classical tian king, Clovis. In 732, the Franks, under the
learning accompanied by efforts to reunite parts of leader Charles Martel, successfully repelled Islamic
what had once been the Roman Empire.1 invaders at Poitiers, limiting Arabic expansion in
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The Early Middle Ages 317

Europe to Spain. Charlemagne (768–814) then

consolidated the Frankish areas and extended the
borders, absorbing northeastern Spain, central Ger-
many, and the northern Italian kingdom of Lom-
bardy, which extended down to the monastery of
Benedict at Monte Cassino. In the annexed terri-
tories, entire populations were forcibly converted
to Christianity, new churches established, and
monasteries founded. Finally, in recognition of his
military protection of the pope, Charlemagne was
crowned a new emperor by Leo III in 800 at a
Christmas Eve ceremony in the Basilica of Saint
Peter, Rome.
Charlemagne truly hoped to recapture some-
thing of the intellectual achievement of Rome be-
fore it could vanish altogether. Although he himself
read and wrote Latin imperfectly, he initiated in-
tensive programs to revive Classical arts and letters,
setting up schools and putting teams of scholars
and scribes to work copying old manuscripts. In
copying these works, the Carolingian scholars and
scribes developed a clear, rounded form of calligra-
phy that was later revived by fifteenth-century
Renaissance printers and formed the basis of our
modern lowercase letters added to the Latin upper-
case (capital) characters.
Charlemagne and his court traveled from one
royal residence to another in the area of northern
France, Belgium, and northwest Germany, and
hence there was no single fixed capital; but the
principal city of residence was Aachen (Aix-la-
Chapelle), west of Cologne and the Rhine. Aachen 14.2. Palace of Charlemagne, Aachen, Germany,
quickly became the cultural center of Europe. In c. 790–810. Plan. Although new buildings replaced this
this city, the revival of Roman architecture resulted during the Gothic period, fragments of the Audience Hall
in the construction of an octagonal palace chapel and connecting hall survive, and the interior of the palace
modeled closely on the imperial Byzantine Church chapel remains nearly intact. The dotted lines indicate
of San Vitale in Ravenna. Designed by Odo of probable locations of original walls of Charlemagne’s palace.
Metz, it was built of cut stone in 792–805, and its Drawing: L. M. Roth.
central vertical space was covered with a stone
vault, a building tradition that by then had almost
been lost [14.2, 14.3]. the lowest peasant. Cities shrank in upon them-
selves as productivity shifted to the manors and for-
tified villas in the countryside; these manor houses,
Early Medieval Domestic in turn, became the focus of small, rural villages.
Architecture and Castles The minting of coins for an urban money economy
During the period of Charlemagne’s Frankish Em- ceased, replaced by an agrarian barter economy.
pire, the basis was laid for the feudal system and Along with the wood-framed manor house, the
rural manorial life that came to characterize the rest other major form of domestic construction was the
of the Middle Ages. The allegiance to a distant cen- castle. At first, the castle took the form of a motte
tral government and a single emperor—a system (“mound” in Old French) and then a motte and bailey
that had prevailed during the Roman Empire—was (“walled enclosure”), beginning about 750 during
replaced by a more regional pyramidal system of di- the time of Charlemagne [14.4]. Atop the motte—
rect personal contracts, in which a vassal pledged either a natural hillock or purposely heaped-up
service to a lord, and farmers pledged their farm earth—a wooden tower structure was built, serving
production to their vassal ruler, and so on down to as both a place of refuge and a residence of the local
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318

14.3. Odo of Metz, Palace Chapel of Charlemagne, Aachen, Germany, 792–805. Interior. The interior, little touched since
Charlemagne’s time, shows the clear debt to the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna. Photo: Dr. Harald Busch, Frankfurt
am Main.
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The Early Middle Ages 319

lord. Attached to the base of the motte, in time, century. Then the outer walls became punctuated
would be a bailey containing storage buildings, work- by projecting towers spaced at regular intervals de-
shops, and assorted houses, all of wood, and pro- termined by the range of bowshot, so that through
tected by a wooden palisade. The bailey and palisade raking fire from the towers, attackers could be kept
might be further protected by a surrounding ditch, from scaling the walls. The keep at Dover Castle
either dry or water-filled. Although the remains of came to be surrounded by two such fortified con-
many of these mounds survive, the wooden struc- centric walls, resulting in an inner bailey and an
tures long ago disappeared. With a view to increas- outer bailey [14.6]. Around the outer bailey wall
ing security, the wooden towers of such castles were would be a dry or wet moat if the castle sat on a
later rebuilt as stone keeps beginning about 1000. natural prominence or next to a body of water. Im-
Sometimes the stone keeps were built directly on the mediately next to the principal gate into the inner
ground and not on an elevated mound. These keeps bailey would be a smaller enclosure, the barbican,
were usually square, or nearly so, although there which forced attackers to expose their unshielded
were also numerous cylindrical keeps, with four or right sides to archers on the battlements atop the
more floors of storage cellars and living quarters bailey wall.
stacked atop each other. The walls were up to 15 feet
(4.6 m) thick at the base. The keeps were entered
by means of a wooden ramp or stair up to the second Castle Architecture in Later Periods
level (perhaps this accounts for the European prac- and the Impact of the Crusades
tice of calling this the first floor, distinguishing it Many later innovations in European castle design
from the lower, ground floor). The keep of Dover were inspired in part by what the Crusaders saw of
Castle, built by Henry II in the 1180s, is a later, sim- the fortifications around Constantinople (their
ilar example [14.5]. stopover on the way to the Holy Land) and also from
As improving economic conditions permitted what they learned of fortifications built by the Mus-
more elaborate construction, the baileys adjacent lims, today in Turkey, Syria, and Israel.2 The efforts
to the keeps also were ringed with stone walls, and by various impromptu European armies to recap-
eventually the keep was pulled entirely inside the ture and hold the Holy Land—the Crusades—and
fortified perimeter, becoming the donjon, resulting forcing the Muslim conquerors to withdraw, were
in the walled, or mural, castle typical of the twelfth militarily unsuccessful in the long run: no surprise

14.4. View of a motte and bailey

castle. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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320

14.5. Keep of Dover Castle, Dover,

England, 1180s. Plan. Freestanding
keep towers were the basis of later castle
construction. Some were square, as in
this example, while others were
cylindrical. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

C = Church
IB = Inner Bank
K = Keep
NB= North Bank

14.6. Dover Castle. Plan of castle

complex, showing inner and outer
baileys. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after Brown, The Architecture of
Castles (New York, 1984).
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The Early Middle Ages 321

14.7. Krak des Chevaliers, near Tartus, Syria, 1142–1170. This fortress, built by the Knights Templar, was held by them
with a garrison of perhaps two thousand men until being taken by Sultan Baibars’s army in 1271, though reportedly through
deception and not by siege or breaching. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.

considering the distance of Palestine from the Euro- the construction of new fortifications by the Cru-
pean German states, or France, much less England. saders themselves, such as those at Belvoir (Ar.
The First Crusade, 1095–1099, was the most mili- Kaukab) in Israel and Chastel Pèlerin (Ar. ‘Athlīt),
tarily successful, resulting in the conquest of some Saphet (Ar. Ṣafad), Margat (Ar. Qal’at Marqab), as
limited territory in Palestine and Syria. This advance well as the best preserved of all, the famous Krac des
was followed in 1147–1149 by the Second Crusade, Chevaliers (Ar. Qal’at al-Ḥiṣn) in Syria [14.7].
when the previously won eastern territories were fur- These examples rapidly accelerated the perfection
ther fortified. The repeated appearance of these Eu- of castle construction back in Europe.
ropean armies of knights and peasants (there were The European masons building castles in the
nine separate waves of crusaders over the two cen- Holy Land adopted Muslim improvements that,
turies from 1095 to 1272), together with the recur- soon after, they incorporated in the castles they built
rent atrocities carried out on both sides as Catholic upon returning to their homelands. One castle of
and Muslim armies clashed, created a mutual dis- this type, so clear and functional in form that it can
trust and hatred between the feuding cultures that serve as the symbol of them all, is Harlech Castle,
has had ramifications even into the twenty-first cen- built in 1283–1290, on the west coast of Wales, on
tury. The Crusaders were impressed and influenced, a promontory overlooking the Irish Sea [14.8, 14.9].
however, by both the Byzantine and the Muslim for- Its pentagonal plan bears a striking similarity to the
tifications they encountered, such as at Kaisariyya layout of the Crusader castle called Belvoir in north-
(now Kayseri), Tarsus, ‘Ayn Zarbā (now Anavarza), ern Israel begun in 1168 by the Knights Hospitaller.
Tall Bāshir (now Tilbaşar Kalesi), Edessa (now Şanlı One of the many castles built by Edward I in his
Urfa), Antioch, Ma’arrat al-Nu’mān, Ṭarṭūs, ‘Arqā, conquest of Wales, Harlech Castle was designed by
Tyre, and Acre. This had an immediate impact on James of Saint George, who also had charge of the
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322

14.8. James of Saint George, Harlech Castle, Merionethshire, Wales, 1283–1290. Aerial view. This shows the typical
configuration of medieval mural, or walled, castles, with towers (spaced at bow-shot intervals along the walls), double-tower
gate, and a central keep, or donjon. Photo: Aerofilms, London.

14.9. Harlech Castle. Plan.

Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Brown,
The Architecture of Castles
(New York, 1984).
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The Early Middle Ages 323

king’s other Welsh castles. James had at least four the lower slopes of the French Pyrenees above
major works in progress at all times between 1277 Prades, it is reached only after an arduous forty-five-
and 1300, and up to twenty-five hundred workmen minute climb on foot. A small monastery, its irreg-
toiling at each site. With a trapezoidal plan adjusted ular plan was adjusted to the site. It was built from
to the rock outcrop on which it sits, Harlech Castle 1001 to 1026, under the direction of a monk, Sclua,
has enormous drum towers at the corners and a who became its first abbot. It was paid for by Guil-
twin-towered gatehouse. Inside, there was a granary fred, Count of Cerdagne, who eventually left his
against the south wall, a kitchen in the southwest family and lived in seclusion in the monastery dur-
corner, with the main hall north of it, and a chapel ing the last years of his life. It has two church sanc-
built against the north wall. Within another cen- tuaries, one atop the other, with the upper church
tury, however, such castle building came to an end, covered by three narrow parallel barrel vaults over
as the introduction of gunpowder made these ex- both aisles and the nave; the center, or nave, vault
posed artillery targets obsolete. Yet the basic castle is not quite 10 by 40 feet (3 by 12 m). Lighting is
shape—a rectangular solid or a hollow, marked by dim, for the only windows are at the ends of the bar-
corner towers and a prominent central gate tower— rel vault, illustrating clearly the low levels of illumi-
was to remain a model of ideal residential form, par- nation that customarily resulted from using barrel
ticularly in France, well into the Renaissance and vaults.
Baroque periods.
The Saint Gall Monastery Plan. Lacking an estab-
lished, far-flung administrative bureaucracy such as
Medieval Monasteries the Romans had employed, Charlemagne relied on
from 800 to 1100 a network of Benedictine monasteries to run his
Aside from military construction and the residential Frankish Empire and to provide a stabilizing influ-
facilities associated with it, nearly all other major ence across his extended domains. This accounts
building activity during the Early Middle Ages in- for the importance of a meeting of monastic offi-
volved religious structures. Monastic communities cials in about 814, just prior to his death. Summing
flourished, requiring the development of new build- up the discussions at the conference, Abbot Haito
ing complexes. Although some monastic communi- of the monastery at Reichenau (on the German-
ties appeared spontaneously, most adopted the Rule Swiss border) prepared a diagrammatic plan of a
for Monasteries, written by Benedict of Nursia, and model monastery. He sent the plan to his friend,
patterned themselves on the monastery he had Abbot Gozbertus of the monastery at Saint Gallen,
founded atop Monte Cassino in central Italy in 529. or Saint Gall, Switzerland (then part of the Car-
These monasteries provided throughout the West olingian province of Alemanni), for Gozbertus had
the stabilizing international influence that had been unable to attend.3 The drawing is a most re-
formerly been exercised by the Roman government markable document, for it is the oldest such archi-
bureaucracy. To the monasteries came men and tectural plan to survive from the Middle Ages. On
women who sought to serve God; pledging celibacy, several sheets of parchment, stitched together to
poverty, and obedience, the monks and nuns spent form a rectangle roughly 44 by 30 inches (112 by
their days reciting the prescribed sequence of 77 cm), was drawn a comprehensive plan of the
prayers, studying and copying manuscripts, guided ideal monastery scheme [7.6, 14.13].
by their abbot or abbess in a life of piety and manual The principal building was a large church, filled
labor. Gradually, the monasteries became the repos- with altars for the use of seventy-seven monks and
itories of sacred, ancient pagan, and even Arabic oriented west to east, facing toward the Holy Land
texts. They became places of refuge from uncer- and the rising sun. On the sunny southerly side
tainty in the outer world and the recipients of gifts were to be (clockwise) a dormitory for the monks
of land and buildings from local lords seeking abso- so arranged that they could easily pass into the
lution from sin or the assurance of heaven. As a re- church for the first prayers of the day at 4:00 a.m.;
sult, monasteries came to function as the political, next to that the refectory for meals; and to the west
cultural, and agricultural centers of their surround- a cellar for food and beverages, with offices above.
ing regions. These three buildings, together with the church,
enclosed a cloister court, ringed with a portico for
Saint-Martin-du-Canigou. The monastery of Saint- easy circulation whatever the weather. Clockwise
Martin-du-Canigou illustrates well the quality of around this central cluster were service buildings
isolation that monks sought [14.10, 14.11, 14.12]. for the religious and for visitors, since monasteries
Built at the top of a steeply sloped, rocky knob in served as “hotels” during the Middle Ages for the
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324

14.10. Monastery of Saint-Martin-du-Canigou in the French Pyrenees, 1001–1026. Aerial view. Secluded in the rugged
mountains of southwestern France, this monastery illustrates well the isolation from worldly distractions that early medieval
monks sought. Photo: From Gustav Künstler, ed., Romanesque Art in Europe (Greenwich, CT, 1968).
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The Early Middle Ages 325

farming operations were housed, including stables

for sheep, pigs, goats, horses, and cattle, along with
housing for farm workers. This plan would remain
the conceptual blueprint for monasteries thereafter.

The Monastery at Cluny. How this ideal scheme

came to be realized in an actual monastery is well
illustrated by the example of Cluny. The monastery
at Cluny, in southern Burgundy near the Saône
River, was founded in 910 by William the Pious,
Duke of Aquitaine. A Benedictine community,
Cluny early focused its energies on restoring litur-
gical purity and effecting church reform, advocat-
ing papal authority over all priests and bishops,
denouncing the practice of clergy keeping concu-
bines, and attacking simony, or the sale of church
offices. Soon, Cluny became the center of a strong
reform movement, and eventually, more than fif-
teen hundred daughter Cluniac monasteries de-
voted to extending monastic and church reform
were founded throughout Europe. Within a cen-
tury, the measures advocated by the Cluniac re-
formers were embraced and promulgated by the
papacy. For these reasons, the mother abbey at
Cluny came to be seen as the most important in the
West, and its influence was international. It also
grew rapidly and prospered handsomely through
gifts of land.
In 915–927, the first church at Cluny was built,
but by 955 this was replaced by a larger building.
At that time, there were seventy permanent
monks, but by 1080, only forty years after the com-
pletion of the second church, there were two hun-
dred professed monks and another new building
14.11. Saint-Martin-du-Canigou. Cutaway perspective, was required. Thus, in 1088–1130, the last and
showing the organization of the monastery church. largest complex, Cluny III, was built under the di-
Photo: From Kenneth J. Conant, Carolingian and
rection of Abbot Hugh and designed by Gunzo, a
Romanesque Architecture, 800 to 1200
(Harmondsworth, England, 1966).
cleric who was also a mathematician and a musi-
cian [14.14, 14.15]. Much of the initial cost of this
last building campaign was paid by the king and
queen of Castile and León in Spain as a thanks of-
few travelers there were. Opposite the west end of fering for the Christian recapture of Toledo in 1086
the church was the principal public entrance. from the Muslims.4 Regrettably, in the anticlerical
Along the north perimeter were dining and sleep- frenzy following the French Revolution, the great
ing buildings for guests, a school, and the abbot’s monastic community at Cluny and its vast church
private residence. Along the east side were the were almost utterly demolished, but the prolonged
physician’s residence and a large infirmary for both research of Kenneth Conant has yielded a picture
monks and novices, bisected at its center by two of Cluny as clear as if the monastery still operated.
chapels back to back. Next to this was the ceme- Here, too, the church was oriented west to east;
tery, which also served as an orchard, and gardens in front of it were the principal gate and an ap-
that supplied the kitchen with vegetables and the proach court. The church itself had large western
infirmary with herbs and medicinal plants. Along towers and a narthex of five bays (nearly as long as
the south edge were the kitchen facilities, including many entire churches). Beyond this, through the
a threshing barn, a granary, a bake house, a brew great portal, was the long nave with two side aisles,
house, shops, and a cooperage. To the west of this, ending with a curved chevet with five radiating
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326 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.12. Saint-Martin-du-Canigou. Interior

of upper church. Although perhaps conducive
to meditation, the darkness of the interior
shows the problem in creating openings in
barrel vaults. Photo: Foto Mas.

chapels. Altogether the huge church complex was

almost 614 feet long (187.1 m) from its west towers
to the radiating chapels, comparable in scale to the
enormous Constantinian basilicas in Rome. South
of the west towers was a stable, with a hospice
above for visitors, and south of the narthex was a
forecourt ringed with other facilities for visitors and
lay brothers. South of the main body of the nave
was the cloister enclosed by storage cellars and the
abbot’s residence to the west, the monks’ refectory
and kitchen to the south, and chapels and chapter
house to the east. Running at an angle to the east
of the cloister and church was a large infirmary
complex. Hence, with the exception of specialized
chapels and other buildings specific to this monas-
tery, the general layout corresponds in the disposi-
tion of its main parts to the Carolingian diagram
preserved at Saint Gall.

Romanesque Churches
As political conditions became marginally more set-
tled across Europe after 1000, building activity flour-
ished, particularly the construction of churches. Yet
the memory of invasions in more uncertain times
was fresh enough to encourage buildings in which
structural masses dominated over void and in which
windows were kept small. The memory of Rome lin- 14.13. Plan at Saint Gall Monastery Library, Saint Gall,
gered as well, especially in southern France, where Switzerland, c. 814. Diagrammatic plan of layout of the
many Roman ruins served as models, so that the various buildings. From Kenneth J. Conant, Carolingian
sturdy piers and round arches of the newly emerging and Romanesque Architecture, 800 to 1200 (1966).
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The Early Middle Ages 327

14.14. Gunzo (architect), Monastery

of Cluny III, Cluny, France, 1088–
1130. Plan. The plan shows how the
concept of the Saint Gall plan could be
adapted to a specific setting. Drawing:
Kenneth J. Conant; courtesy of Loeb
Library, Harvard University.

architecture attempted to recall the substantial pres- Magyars and Nordic Vikings were only just ending
ence and clear circular geometries of Roman con- during this time. That massiveness and sense of se-
struction. This is one reason why the massive, curity reflect the uncertainty of temporal life, paral-
round-arched architecture of the period 1000 to leled in the passage from the Gallican, or French,
1150 came to be called Romanesque. liturgy. In France, the moonlight raids of the Vikings,
who slipped silently upriver in their shallow-draft
Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim. The massiveness of longboats, were an ever-recurring danger, so the
Romanesque architecture is well illustrated in the faithful clung to this prayer: “Let not our own malice
monastic Church of Saint Michael, built as an of- within us, but the sense of thy long suffering be ever
fering by Bernward, bishop of Hildesheim, in north- before us, that it may unceasingly keep us from evil
central Germany [14.16, 14.17]. Built in 993–1022 delights and graciously guard us from the disasters
just north of Hildesheim, it was unprotected by of this night.”5
the town walls, accounting perhaps for its relatively Saint Michael’s, severely damaged during World
small windows at ground level and its walls being War II but now carefully restored, is a modified
more than five feet thick. It was what Martin Luther basilican plan, whose basic pattern is very similar
might have described later as eine feste Burg, “a to that suggested in the Saint Gall plan. Not only
mighty fortress,” for the attacks of the Hungarian does Saint Michael’s have an eastern transept with
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328 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.15. Cluny III. Aerial perspective. Although much larger than the Saint Gall scheme, the placement and relationship of the
numerous buildings at Cluny are nearly the same as shown in the Saint Gall diagram. Drawing: Kenneth J. Conant;
courtesy, Loeb Library, Harvard University.

small apses flanking the larger traditional one in the Americans generally have since that time. An eter-
center, but there is a western transept as well, con- nal life of damnation or bliss in heaven was very real
necting to a large chapel-like apse, where the main for medieval people, and the sculpture that began
altar may have been placed (in German medieval to embellish the portals of monastic churches served
churches, this came to be called a westwork). The to crystallize their aspirations. An integral part of
eastern apses and the double transepts provided for the architecture, such sculpture served a practical,
as many as twenty-five altars where various relics instructive function for a population that was largely
could be displayed and where the monks could illiterate, including many parish priests who could
say Mass during the course of each day. For the read only enough Latin to get through daily Masses.
same reason, the monastic church at Cluny had The gradual decrease in attacks from outside
two transepts and a wealth of apses, also originally forces such as the Vikings and the growing sense of
housing multiple altars. personal security were matched by a rise in religious
fervor in the tenth through twelfth centuries. This
Romanesque Pilgrimage Churches. Although many religious fervor was especially focused on the cult of
religious buildings were paid for by the tithes ex- relics, in which the bones of saints and martyrs, en-
acted from peasants and freemen, the two centuries cased in bejeweled and gilded reliquaries, were be-
after 1000 were also marked by genuine piety and lieved to effect miraculous cures. As travel became
religious fervor and an upsurge in contributions for more feasible with more settled political conditions,
religious buildings, especially after the reforms ad- the faithful began to undertake traveling to churches
vocated by the Cluniac clergy began to have effect. and sites where there were relics reported to work
People of the High Middle Ages, whether farmwife, cures. Those churches and monasteries that found
cleric, knight, princess, or bishop, lived far more in themselves lacking suitably powerful relics went to
anticipation of the next life than Europeans or great lengths to get them—even to the point of
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329

14.16. Monastery Church of Saint Michael, Hildesheim, Germany, 993–1022. View. Because this was built outside and
north of the walls of the city, the church has massive stone walls to withstand attack. Yet the towers point heavenward, so that
the church is both a stronghold and a gate to heaven. Photo: A. F. Kersting, London.

14.17. Church of Saint Michael, Hildesheim, Germany. Plan. The double ends of the church show the impact of ideas
crystallized in the Saint Gall plan. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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330 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.18. Map of the medieval pilgrimage routes, 1000–1250. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Kenneth J. Conant.

stealing them from other churches or monasteries. To generate therein and sire the flower, . . .
Typically, the French churches of the tenth through Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,
twelfth centuries were dedicated to local saints— And palmers to go seeking out strange
namely, Gauls who had been executed in the peri- strands,
odic Roman persecutions, becoming early martyrs To distant shrines well known in sundry
for the faith. lands.
The pilgrimage journey itself was nearly as im- And especially from every shire’s end
portant as visiting the churches, for the pilgrims de- Of England they to Canterbury wend,
veloped a spirit of comradeship that made the long The holy blessed martyr there to seek
and arduous trek more pleasant. Although the Who helped them when they lay so ill and
fourteenth-century pilgrimage described by Geof- weak.6
frey Chaucer is of a later time and in a different
land, his Canterbury Tales reveal much of the life of During the eleventh and twelfth centuries
the people who undertook them: in France, churches and monasteries set up a net-
work of way stations like a giant fan that directed
When April with his showers sweet with fruit the faithful toward the Pyrenees. There, the pilgrim-
The drought of March has pierced unto the age roads merged into one road that led west
root through northern Spain to the ultimate goal, the
And bathed each vein with liquor that has great Church of Saint James, Santiago de Com-
power postela, believed to be the repository of the remains
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The Early Middle Ages 331

of the Apostle James [14.18]. The routes started in a monastery that is now gone. Miraculously, the
the north at Chartres, at the abbey of Saint-Denis church was untouched during the French Revolu-
near Paris, at Vézelay with its valuable relics of Mary tion, including its many rare reliquary treasures, the
Magdalene, at Le Puy, and to the south at Arles and most important of which is the gold statuette that
Saint-Gilles. Two monastic churches along the pil- houses the remains of Sainte Foy, a twelve-year-old
grimage route can illustrate the type that came to Christian girl who was martyred in 303. Although
characterize the Romanesque pilgrimage church: she died elsewhere, in the ninth century a monk
the smaller Church of Sainte-Foy at Conques and carefully plotted to steal the remains and bring
the larger Church of Saint-Sernin at Toulouse, very them to Conques, where they have remained.
much like the Church at Santiago de Compostela. To house the gold reliquary and other treasures,
the Church of Sainte-Foy was built in 1040–1130
Sainte-Foy, Conques. Rising over the pilgrimage [14.19, 14.20, 14.21]. Its plan incorporates a new
road from Le Puy to Moissac, France, on the slopes arrangement developed at Tours, where the growing
of the low mountains of the Massif Central at Con- attraction of relics had presented problems in
ques, is the Church of Sainte-Foy, originally part of conducting normal monastic church services. The

14.19. Church of Sainte-Foy,

Conques, France, 1040–1130.
Photo: Richard Tobias.
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332 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.20. Sainte-Foy, Conques.

Plan. The plan shows the
solution to circulation through
the church, with a continuous
ambulatory passage around the
choir. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

crowds of pilgrims kept crossing paths with the pro- the arches and vault in the gallery over the side
cessing monks. The solution devised at Tours, and aisles, which then transmit the forces to the thick
used at Conques, was to give the church two spatial buttresses in the outer wall. There are, therefore, no
shells—one a series of connected outer passages for clerestory windows directly into the nave, but in-
visitors, leading to chapels holding the relics, and stead windows along the side aisles and in the gallery
the other the inner basilica space for the monks over the aisles, with the result that the overall illu-
and clergy. Because monastic churches had to ac- mination level in the church is comparatively low.
commodate a number of monks near the altar, what
formerly had been a simple semicircular apse be- Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. The Church of Saint-
came a deeper space called a choir. Around this, Sernin in Toulouse, begun about 1077 and essen-
and behind a screen of columns that supported the tially completed by 1096, with the nave vaulted
curved wall above, was a walkway, or an ambulatory, about 1125, was dedicated to Sernin (Saturnin), the
from which radiated apsidial chapels containing the first bishop of Toulouse, martyred in the fourth cen-
relics. This entire easterly combination of parts— tury [14.22, 14.23, 14.24, 14.25]. Although much
choir, ambulatory, and radiating chapel—came to longer than Sainte-Foy (359 feet in length as op-
be called the chevet in France. The transept was now posed to 173 feet [109.4 m versus 52.7 m]) and
shifted nearer the center of the church, and it too broader in the transept, Saint-Sernin has a nave
had side aisles connecting to the ambulatory around only slightly higher than that of Sainte-Foy and with
the choir and to the traditional side aisles of the nearly the same proportions of width to height, 1 to
nave. Thus, pilgrims could move from the narthex 2.5. Furthermore, Saint-Sernin is more complicated
inside the west doors to the side aisles and pass com- spatially, since it has two side aisles along the nave.
pletely around the church, while the clergy occu- But as at Conques, the inner side aisle has a gallery
pied the choir and celebrated Mass. over it sheltering the arches that resist the outer
Sainte-Foy at Conques also incorporated stone pressure of the immense barrel vault over the nave,
vaulting over all internal spaces, whereas previous and the light here is similarly low. The major source
churches such as Saint Michael’s at Hildesheim had of light in the nave is from the large rose window,
flat ceilings fastened to large wooden roof trusses. At constructed later over the western entrance.
Sainte-Foy the nave barrel vault is 68 feet (20.7 m)
from the floor. The vault is about 2 feet (0.61 m) Saint-Philibert, Tournous. The problem of getting
thick and stiffened by transverse arches. The nave more light into the church was one that pushed
vault’s considerable outward thrust is absorbed by Romanesque architects to find new solutions. It
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The Early Middle Ages 333

was perhaps not purely a physical concern, for they at Tournous was then rebuilt, with special emphasis
felt drawn to light as a spiritual metaphor. How- on covering the nave and chevet spaces with stone
ever, the technical means available to masons dur- vaults to reduce the danger of fire. The solution
ing the period 1000 to 1150 were limited, resulting worked out in the nave was unique [14.26]. Tall,
in some interesting solutions. One of the more in- undecorated, cylindrical piers carry semicircular
novative is found in the nave vaulting of the arches opening into the side aisles; these side aisles
Church of Saint-Philibert at Tournous, just north are covered by groin vaults. Resting on the massive
of Cluny in Burgundy, France. Originally built to cylindrical nave piers are short, stout, engaged
house relics of Saint Valérien, the church received columns supporting diaphragm arches that cross
the additional relics of Saint Philibert when monks, the nave, and these diaphragm arches in turn sup-
driven from their northern island monastery by port transverse barrel vaults (there is a wooden roof
Norsemen, brought their precious relics to above). The repeated barrel vaults running perpen-
Tournous. The monastery at Tournous itself suf- dicularly across the nave cancel out each other’s
fered attacks by the Magyars in 937, followed by lateral thrusts, leaving only the lateral forces at the
destruction by fire in 1007. The monastery church ends of the nave to be dealt with. Even though the

14.21. Sainte-Foy,
Conques. Interior.
Photo: Architecture
Photos, Paris, SPADEM.
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334 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.22. Church of Saint-Sernin,

Toulouse, France, 1077–1125.
Aerial view of the east end
(chevet). Photo: Yan, Toulouse.

clerestory windows were not opened up to take full numerous inlaid colored marbles. This facade is not
advantage of the available wall space, the level of so very far distant from the clear geometries of
light in the nave of Saint-Philibert is higher than Roman architecture, so that looking at San Mini-
was previously the case. ato one can understand why the Italian Renais-
sance would begin here.
Romanesque Churches in Italy. An adherence in
central Italy to the Classical tradition in design is Durham Cathedral. One of the last Romanesque
well demonstrated in the small Benedictine abbey churches to rely solely on the sheer mass of its walls
Church of San Miniato al Monte, just outside Flo- to support its vaulting is the cathedral at Durham,
rence, Italy [14.27]. This hillside church overlook- England, built by Bishop William de Carlief in
ing Florence was built in 1062 to circa 1200. It is 1093–1133 [14.28, 14.29]. Rising on the bluff over
an aisled basilica without transept. The wooden the curve of the Weir River at this northern outpost
truss roof over the nave and “choir” rests on of Norman England, the cathedral shared this nat-
marble-veneered masonry walls carried by arcades ural defensive site with a castle. The nave arcade
of near-correct Classical Corinthian columns. More alternates between huge square piers with engaged
significant here for later developments in Florence, colonnettes and massive cylindrical piers incised
the facade is encrusted with a system of rectangular with various chevron and geometric patterns. Over
veneer panels and a Corinthian arcade made up of the side aisles is a gallery, and over the gallery are
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335

14.23. Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. Plan. When the tower was built over the crossing, the crossing piers were greatly enlarged;
they are shown here as they were prior to this addition. Drawing: C. Zettle, after Dehio.

14.24. Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. Section through the nave. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Dehio.
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336 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.25. Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. In

this interior, as at Saint-Martin-
du-Canigou, the difficulty of
admitting light in a barrel-vaulted
nave is clear; much of the light
comes through the later Gothic
rose window at the west end.
Photo: Jean Roubier, Paris.

clerestory windows, made possible by the daring and outer edges. Nonetheless, even though one finds
innovative use of rib vaults over the nave. Yet, the here all the basic elements necessary for Gothic rib
lateral forces exerted by the massive vaults are gath- vaulting—ribs, pointed arches, and lateral “exter-
ered in the thick walls of the nave and conducted nal” bracing (anticipating flying buttresses)—the
down through the stout piers and column of the emphasis is still on mass resisting vertical and lateral
nave. Although there are arches in the gallery that thrust, and all of the working parts of the structure
appear in section drawings to be roofed-over flying are visible to the eye in the nave.
buttresses, they were not connected structurally to The round-arched architecture of the Early Mid-
the piers receiving the weight of the vaults; they dle Ages that gradually became Romanesque never
seem to have been built only to carry the sloping quite rid itself of that massiveness bred of defense.
roof over the gallery. Accordingly, the round- The great, vaulted naves of Saint-Sernin and the
headed clerestory windows are smaller than the similar Santiago de Compostela further demon-
space available, for the wall still needed to convey strated the limitations of Romanesque construction.
the weight of the vault to the piers below. But much Reliant on the sheer power of mass to abut and re-
more innovative was the use of segmented, or strain the tremendous outward thrust of thick nave
pointed, arches in the vaults, so that the tops of the barrel vaults, Romanesque architecture could not
vault centers are roughly the same height as the open up to the light, not even with the innovations
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The High Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture 337

employed at Tournous or Durham. In the new phase these elements of design might work together syn-
into which medieval architecture now passed, the ergistically, each expanding the potential of the
presence of light, the symbol of God’s divine Grace, other, to create a lighter and more visually trans-
became the preeminent symbol; the church building parent architecture. What Suger wanted was to re-
had to become transparent, and when it did so it place walls of stone with membranes of stained
was no longer Romanesque but Gothic. glass, which filtered and transformed sunlight so
that it symbolized divine illumination.
Gothic architecture was also the physical expres-
The High Middle Ages: sion of a new, assertive, and comparatively positive
Gothic Architecture outlook on life in the here and now, as contrasted to
It is customary to say that Gothic architecture was the emphatic focus of the Romanesque period on a
invented in 1141 for Suger, abbot of the monastery life in the hereafter. The audacity of thirteenth-
of Saint-Denis, a town just north of Paris. What century bishops, burghers, and masons in starting
Suger and his architects and builders did was to churches so large and complex that the structures
integrate a number of improvements in late Ro- required several generations to be completed is an
manesque church architecture, including pointed indication of the confidence of the period. By 1200,
arches and rib vaulting. Somehow they sensed that the apprehensive outlook of previous centuries had

14.26. Saint-Philibert,
Tournous, France,
c. 1008–c. 1120.
Interior. To bring in
light, the masons
devised a unique scheme
of transverse barrel
vaults, carried by arches
crossing the nave.
Photo: Jean Roubier.
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338 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.27. San Miniato al Monte,

Florence, Italy, 1062–c. 1200.
At San Miniato the continuing
influence of Roman architecture
is seen in the clear geometric
patterns in the marble veneer.
Photo: Vanni Art Archive/Art
Resource, NY.

begun to be replaced with a more positive outlook.

This is not to say that life expectancy suddenly was Political and Social Changes:
appreciably longer or that warfare had decreased but, The Reemergence of the City
rather, that people looked to temporal life with The most important political and social change in
greater anticipation. The curious contradiction was Europe was the growing awareness of nation-states
that this embrace of earthly life should have resulted united by common cultures and languages. In En-
in an architecture that so emphatically aspired to gland and France, there emerged strong central
heaven. It is significant, too, that the new joy in monarchies that gained power as the nobles lost
human existence paralleled a growing adoration of some of their sovereignty. In France, this consoli-
the Virgin Mary as an exemplar of earthly woman- dation of royal authority began around Paris and
hood and a new measure of respect for women in the province of the Île-de-France, extending to the
general. north into Flanders (what is now Belgium), with its
The unifying agent across Europe continued to rich trade in wool and textiles, and south into central
be the church. The focus of human action remained France and Burgundy. Louis VI, with the political
religious life, so that the buildings that most ad- advice of his friend Abbot Suger, greatly advanced
vanced architectural design and technology were this process of consolidation during 1140 to 1180.
those built by the church, whether they were cathe- The west of France, however, still consisted of areas
drals, monasteries, schools, hospitals, or the new governed by the Duke of Normandy, who also
universities that began to emerge in this period. claimed the throne of England. After the Norman
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The High Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture 339

conquest of England in 1066, therefore, these could ern mind. As a result of the travel initiated by the
be considered English territories. The ensuing bitter Crusades and the necessity of establishing supply
and bloody struggle of English and French monarchs lines, Europeans moved into the Mediterranean,
for dominion in western France—the Hundred creating the basis of a trade network. Spices and
Years’ War, lasting from 1337 to 1453—was one de- cotton cloth were brought back from the Arab ter-
velopment that marked the end of the Middle Ages. ritories of the eastern Mediterranean, funneled
Europe was transformed socially during the Late through Venice and Genoa, and transported into
Middle Ages by two forces that reinforced each northern Europe. Amber, furs, and other goods
other—the reemergence of cities and the growth of traveled southward from Germany and Russia into
commerce and trade [14.30]. In some places, old Italy for shipment to the East. Farmlands, exhausted
Roman towns on major trade routes were reinhab- by a thousand years of agriculture, were converted
ited; elsewhere, new towns appeared. The principal to pasture for sheep, and the weaving of woolen
agent in accelerating urban growth was the Cru- cloth became an important industry in England,
sades. As ineffective as the Crusades were in estab- Flanders, and Italy. Florence became a center for
lishing a permanent Western colony in the eastern the cloth trade in the south, while Bruges became
Mediterranean, they were enormously successful in the comparable northern center in Flanders, and
generating a spirit of adventurousness in the West- both became wealthy in the process. Pisa became a

14.28. Durham Cathedral,

Durham, England, 1093–1133.
Nave interior. The nave vaults of
Durham were among the first in
England to have diagonal ribs
and the first in which the ribs
have slightly pointed profiles.
Photo: A. F. Kersting, London.
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340 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.29. Durham Cathedral.

Cross section. Although there
seem to be arches buttressing the
nave piers, these arches carry only
the roofs over the side galleries.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
Kenneth J. Conant, Carolingian
and Romanesque Architecture,
800 to 1200 (1966).

center for finance, especially for the papacy. Paris this liberty had only to remain safe within the walls
and Marseilles in France; London, Bristol, and York of a city for a year and a day to be considered freed
in England; Bruges and Ghent in Flanders; and from their bonds to their lord.
Frankfurt and Nuremberg, among other German The rising bourgeoisie had fluid wealth, for
cities—all became important centers of transship- money was again being coined, and they used this
ment of trade goods. money to make profitable loans to kings and princes
These cities would be small by twenty-first-cen- to finance their military campaigns (despite the
tury standards, with populations of ten thousand to church’s prohibition against charging interest for
seventy thousand people; only such cities as Lon- the use of money). With the development of a mon-
don, Paris, Florence, and Venice had populations etary economy instead of a barter economy came
that reached one hundred thousand. Ninety-five changes in business, such as accounting, double-
percent of the total population of Europe was still entry bookkeeping (first used in such Italian com-
rural, but the 5 percent who congregated in cities mercial centers as Florence), letters of credit, and
soon dominated the life and culture of Europe. The insurance companies.
old agrarian feudal culture was gradually replaced The consequence of these various social and
by an urban mercantile culture. A new word en- commercial developments, and the resulting re-
tered the European vocabulary: burgher, or bour- emergence of cities as a major economic force dur-
geois, meaning a person who lived in a city, and ing the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, is that
usually someone who operated a business. The ris- Gothic architecture is largely an urban architec-
ing bourgeoisie, this new class of merchants and ture. The great monuments documenting the rise
bankers, soon rivaled the nobles and clergy in in- of Gothic architecture are not primarily isolated
fluence. Joining the merchants in controlling the monasteries or pilgrimage churches but urban
emerging cities were craft guilds, organizations that cathedrals, building projects initiated by influential
trained apprentices, set standards of conduct and urban bishops and paid for by wealthy urban busi-
workmanship, and provided support for members’ nessmen and craft guilds.
widows and children. The cities were places of in- These Gothic cathedrals differed from their Ro-
creased personal freedom, and serfs who longed for manesque predecessors not only in structural form
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The High Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture 341

but also in their dedication, and this bears on im- humankind like a mother for her children, just as
portant related social and religious changes. Almost the lady of the manor might intercede with her lord
uniformly, the urban cathedrals (most especially in on behalf of their subjects. Accordingly, one after
France) were dedicated to the Virgin Mother of another, the soaring new churches built in Europe
Christ, to Our Lady, Notre-Dame, rather than to were dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
local saints (although they did contain subsidiary
chapels dedicated to local saints). This change in
dedication was due to the veneration being given Religious Changes: Scholasticism
to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, by the early Christianity, benefiting from the invigorating effects
twelfth century. The veneration of the Virgin par- of the Cluniac reforms, enjoyed a time of renewed
alleled an important shift in attitude toward women fervor. Yet, the growing interest in the secular world
in general in the later Middle Ages. From the time also had an impact on religion. There arose a thirst
of Saint Augustine in the fifth century, women had for knowledge and a rational understanding of reli-
been viewed as temptresses and as the source of evil gious faith that resulted in the establishment of uni-
(had not Eve tempted Adam and caused the expul- versities in many major cities. The University of
sion from the Garden of Eden?). As medieval lords Bologna, founded around 1158, was the first, and
lessened their day-to-day focus on military power, gradually became known as a center for the study
they fostered the development of a refined court eti- of religious and civil law. The University of Paris,
quette and an interest in the arts and literature—a founded around 1200, specialized in the study of
development that elevated the position of women. theology. At this time, all universities were branches
The result was the emergence of the code of of the church, and their faculty members were
chivalry and the concept of unconsummated, ro- clerics.
mantic love. The Virgin Mary was seen as incorpo- The method used to ascertain truth by the
rating the perfect virtues of the noble lady; she was scholars of the thirteenth century was scholasti-
the Queen of Heaven who interceded on behalf of cism, the application of Classical Aristotelian logic

14.30. Map of Europe, 1250–1450.

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342 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

to explain and reconcile inconsistencies between The Abbey Church at Saint-Denis. The opening up
early church writings, the civil law compiled by Jus- of the wall for stained-glass windows was first
tinian, and canon law. It was inevitable that such achieved in the new abbey Church at Saint-Denis,
investigations would lead to doubt, but as Abelard, begun by Abbot Suger about 1135. Suger (1081–
one of the principal philosophers in Paris, observed, 1151), the son of peasants, demonstrated such un-
doubt would lead to inquiry and inquiry to truth. usual intelligence as a boy that he was admitted to
The universities collected the works of Aristotle the abbey school at Saint-Denis. There he became
and other classical authors, many of the volumes a close friend of his fellow student Louis Capet, who
having been obtained as Arabic translations from was to become King Louis VI. Suger rose through
Islamic scholars. Indeed, it was only through the the ranks of the monks, became the assistant of
Arabic transcription of Greek and Latin manu- Abbot Adam, and, after Adam’s death, was elected
scripts that many of the Classics survived through abbot of Saint-Denis in 1122. The Benedictine
reverse-translation in the Renaissance. These and abbey of Saint-Denis, about 6 miles (9.6 km) north
other works were studied and debated in the uni- of Paris, had existed before the time of Charlemagne
versities.7 This endeavor to fully reconcile faith and and was dedicated to Denis. The saint had been
reason reached its zenith in the work of Thomas martyred in the third century and was one of the
Aquinas (c. 1225–1274), who set himself the task first missionaries to the Gauls; he is believed to have
of reconciling Aristotelian logic with the writings been the first bishop of Paris. Since the seventh cen-
of the early church fathers. His Summa theologica tury, Frankish and French kings had been buried in
systematically covered the entire literature of the the abbey church rebuilt by Charlemagne, and after
church, beginning with the earliest writings, and 1120, the insignia of the French monarchs were
attempted to create a coherent, logical doctrine as kept at the abbey. As a result, Denis came to be seen
a hierarchical construction of greater principles as the patron saint of France. While Louis VII was
dominating subsidiary ideas. leading the Second Crusade, 1147–1149, Suger was
appointed his regent, so that to Suger, the fate of
the abbey, of its church, and of France became in-
The Gothic Cathedral tricately intertwined.
The Gothic cathedral was yet another by-product Upon becoming abbot, Suger embarked on a pro-
of the Crusades, for when the first Crusaders saw gram of returning the monks to a life of piety and of
Constantinople on their way to the Holy Land, repairing the greatly dilapidated monastic buildings,
they marveled at the size and wealth of the city and especially the abbey church, which had become far
the vast scale and splendor of Hagia Sophia. There too small for the urban population that crowded into
was nothing to compare with either that city or Jus- it on feast days. In 1135–1140, Suger constructed a
tinian’s vast church in England, France, or any- broad and soaring new west facade of the church,
where else in Europe. It is no mere coincidence that with two towers over a three-bay narthex [14.31].
the great wave of cathedral building started shortly Three innovations distinguished the new facade.
after the First Crusade ended and the Crusaders re- First, there was a clear geometrical compositional
turned home. scheme, which, Suger wrote, was devised “by means
The urban cathedral also was the physical of geometrical and arithmetical instruments” and
expression of Saint Thomas Aquinas’s Summa the- which governed the placement of the masses of the
ologica; the building, too, was a hierarchical orga- tower and the position of the grouped window open-
nization of related parts representing a balance of ings.8 Second, between the towers and admitting
structural forces that corresponded to the reconcil- light to the extension of the old church nave was a
iation of Classical logic and Christian faith. The great, round window, the first of the rose windows
Gothic cathedrals were covered virtually from top that so distinguished later Gothic churches. And
to bottom with sculptural representations of bibli- third, the three entrance doors of the new west front
cal stories. Perhaps the most dramatic innovation were recessed behind ranks of successive jamb
was the virtual elimination of the structural walls columns and concentric archivolts, all covered with
of the church; in their place appeared membranes carefully organized sculpture relating to biblical kings
of colored glass depicting stories from scripture. and queens and hence, by extension, the monarchs
Thus, in stone and colored glass, the entire building of France. Regrettably, much of this sculpture was
became a Bible for the illiterate, and what was es- deliberately defaced in subsequent centuries, most
pecially important, the visual imagery was known especially during the French Revolution.
and accessible to all—lord, merchant, servant, and The most important change, however, was the
serf alike. new choir built by Suger soon after, in 1141–1144.
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The High Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture 343

14.31. Abbey Church of

Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis,
France, 1135–1144. West
facade. In his first addition to
the Carolingian church, Abbot
Suger provided the basis for
subsequent Gothic church
facades, particularly
introducing the large round
rose window. Photo: © Vanni
Archive/Art Resource, NY.

In the library at Saint-Denis, then one of the largest rejecting physical sensory reality, they could hope
in France, were ancient documents said to have to transcend it by absorbing it. As Suger put it:
been written by Dionysius the Areopagite, erro-
neously believed by some to be Saint Denis himself. Thus, when—out of my delight in the beauty
These mystical writings merged Christian doctrine of the house of God—the loveliness of the
with what Erwin Panofsky has described as the many-colored gems [on the new altar reliquar-
“fundamental oneness and luminous aliveness of ies] has called me away from external cares,
the world.”9 Throughout the writings of Dionysius, and worthy meditation has induced me to re-
God is described as “the superessential Light” or flect, transferring that which is material to that
“the Father of Lights,” and Christ is described as which is immaterial, on the diversity of the sa-
the ”first Radiance.” Such passages suggested that cred virtues: then it seems to me that I see my-
this pure, heavenly radiance could be simulated self dwelling, as it were, in some strange region
through an analogy to earthly light. To Suger, hu- of the universe which neither exists entirely in
mans need not be ashamed of their sensory percep- the slime of the earth nor entirely in the purity
tion and sense-controlled imagination; instead of of Heaven; and that, by the Grace of God, I can
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344 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

be transported from this inferior to that higher sonry technology to its limits, the cathedrals became
world in an anagogical manner.10 larger and lighter, literally and visually. After Saint-
Denis came the cathedrals at Noyon, begun in
The new choir of Saint-Denis was to be suffused 1151; Laon in 1160; and Paris in 1163 [14.34]. Up
by a divine radiance, earthly light filtered through to this time, the ribbed vaults over the central naves
sacred images in stained glass. As Suger wrote, were no higher than 80 feet (24.3 m). Below them,
“Bright is the noble edifice which is pervaded by the however, opened up expansive clerestory windows,
new light.”11 Around the foundations of the old Car- a radical departure from the heaviness and darkness
olingian choir, and more than doubling its capacity, of Romanesque barrel vaults. At Notre-Dame in
was a double ambulatory [14.32, 14.33]. From the Paris, when the 108-foot-long (32.9 m) nave was ex-
outer ambulatory extended seven chapels, each with tended westward from the chevet, the size of the
two large windows that reduced the walls to narrow gallery windows was further increased, which meant
bands adjoining the buttresses. Suger described them that the nave vaults had to be braced in an uncon-
as “a circular string of chapels by virtue of which the ventional way. Previously, oblique tilted arches, re-
whole [church] would shine with the wonderful and sisting the outward thrust of the nave vaults, had
uninterrupted light of the most luminous windows, been hidden under the side aisle roofs, but now they
pervading the interior beauty.”12 The inner ambula- would need to be placed above the aisle roof, out-
tory and the outer ambulatory chapels were covered side and exposed, sloping from the upper nave wall
by vaults articulated by ribs of pointed or broken to vertical extensions of the outer buttresses of the
arches. To put the central keystone of the pointed side aisles [14.35]. Thus, flying buttresses were cre-
arch ribs at roughly the geometric center of the ated. This innovation then led to the Early Gothic
vault, the ribs were also broken or bent in plan. The churches of Chartres in 1194 [see 4.5, and p. 68],
resolution of the structural forces was such that the Rouen in 1202, and Reims in 1211. By the time the
vaults were supported on the slenderest of twelve last of these were begun, cathedral architecture had
columns (which, Suger wrote, were symbolic of the reached the stage called High Gothic, fully devel-
apostles). As a result, the interior had a lightness oped in all its constituent and integrated parts—
that made the vaults appear to be rising and tied pointed arches and broken rib vaulting, skeletonized
down by the columns, as it were, rather than being structure, and exterior flying buttresses.
massive and bearing down heavily upon the col- The cathedral of Notre-Dame at Amiens, the
umns, as had been characteristic of Romanesque next of these great churches to follow, exploits all
vaults. What had been, by comparison, the somber these features and was built in a relatively brief
lament of Romanesque architecture suddenly be- period, beginning in 1220 and finished in 1269, so
came the lilting hymn of Gothic lightness. (The me- it incorporates fewer modifications to the original
dieval French term for this new architecture was style scheme than do many other cathedrals. For that
ogivale, “pointed-arch style,” to identify the new reason, the cathedral is often said to be the repre-
technique being used; the modern term Gothic is a sentative example of the fully developed French
later, derogatory expression invented by fifteenth- Gothic cathedral [14.36, 14.37]. Notre-Dame at
century Italian writers to suggest the “barbarism” of Amiens, like so many other Gothic cathedrals, re-
such medieval architecture.)13 placed an older church destroyed by fire. The de-
cision to rebuild was made immediately after the
Notre-Dame of Amiens. Within a half-century, in fire at Amiens in 1218, but construction was not
a score of cities radiating out from Saint-Denis and ready to get under way until 1220. The bishops di-
Paris, and inspired by the lightness and structural recting the work were Evrard de Fouilly and his
articulation of Suger’s church, Gothic cathedrals successor, Geoffrey d’Eu. Three architects super-
sprang up. Before 1450, in France alone, more than vised construction, although the basic design seems
eighty cathedrals were built, plus five hundred to have been decided by the first, Robert de
monastic churches and hundreds of smaller parish Luzarches, who began construction at the western
churches. As Jean Gimpel has suggested, once it towers, narthex, and nave. The transept and choir
became apparent that the military reconquest of were carried forward by Thomas de Cormont, and
the Holy Land was impossible, it was as if the con- the church was brought to completion in 1269 (ex-
quest of architectural space became a substitute, cept for the tops of the west towers) by his son,
leading to a new “cathedral crusade.”14 Regnault de Cormont. The towers were then fin-
Medieval masons did not instantly open up walls ished at the end of the fourteenth century.
to expansive glass, despite Suger’s eloquent writing, More than any previous medieval building type,
but gradually, as they experimented in pushing ma- the Gothic cathedral was quickly standardized in
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345

14.32. Saint-Denis. Plan, showing the new west towers and choir by Suger. The old Carolingian church is shown in dotted
outline, and the later Gothic nave is shown in solid outline. (Note: The ninth-century east end is not shown in its entirety, so
as to clarify the reflected rib plan of Suger’s new choir.) Drawing: L. M. Roth, after S. Crosby.

14.33. Saint-Denis. Interior of the

choir ambulatory. By combining
rib vaults and pointed arches with
careful resolution of structural
forces, Suger’s architects were able
to achieve unprecedented lightness
of structure and to open the walls
to large panes of stained glass.
Photo: University of Munich,
Kunstgeschichtliches Seminar.
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346

14.34. Church of Notre-Dame de

Paris, Paris, France, 1163–1250.
Interior. In the choir and nave of
Notre-Dame in Paris the innovations of
Suger’s architects at Saint-Denis were
used to transform the upper clerestory
windows into huge panels of stained
glass. Photo: Jean Roubier, Paris.

14.35. Notre-Dame de Paris. Cross

section of the nave, showing the flying
buttresses used to transmit the lateral
forces of the roof and vaults down to
the outer buttresses. Drawing: L. M.
Roth, after B. Fletcher, A History of
Architecture (New York, 1931).
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The High Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture 347

its plan and basic components. There were, of The principal change in plan at Amiens was the
course, distinctive regional variations in Gothic greater size of the choir, for the choir often had
cathedrals, such as the comparatively low and hor- nearly as many bay units as the nave, so that the
izontal character of English churches or the more transept was roughly at the middle of the body of
highly colored ornamentation of Italian examples. the church. This arrangement reflected directly on
Yet, the basic organization was relatively uniform. how the cathedrals were paid for and how they
The cross-shaped plan was derived from Roman- were used, for typically only the choir (sometimes
esque pilgrimage churches, with nave, side aisles, excluding the surrounding ambulatory and chapels)
transept arms and crossing, and the chevet with legally belonged to the diocese. The nave, transept,
ambulatory and radiating chapels enclosing a and aisles, in contrast, often legally belonged to
round-ended choir. The radiating chevet chapels the city, were paid for by the various craft guilds,
were dedicated to various saints, often local mar- and often were used for secular gatherings. The
tyrs, with the central chapel most often dedicated other major change from the Romanesque plan
to the Virgin, Notre-Dame. was the creation of elaborated entrances not only

14.36. Robert de Luzarches, Thomas de Cormont, and Regnault de Cormont, Notre-Dame de Amiens, Amiens, France,
1220–1269. View of the west front. Built in a relatively short period, this cathedral exemplifies the High Gothic in France.
Photo: © LL/Roger-Viollet/The Image Works.
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348

14.37. Notre-Dame de Amiens. Plan. The plan shows the increasing size of the choir in High Gothic cathedrals, forcing the
transept arms toward the middle of the building. Drawing: L. Maak, after Dehio.

14.38. Notre-Dame de Amiens.

Cross section through the nave.
Pairs of flying buttresses were used
to transmit the forces of roof and
nave vaults to the external buttress
piers. (The roof trusses shown here
have been adapted from Viollet-le-
Duc’s drawing of those at Reims;
the original wooden trusses at
Amiens were replaced long ago.)
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Dehio
and Viollet-le-Duc.
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The High Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture 349

at the west end of the nave but at the end of each side aisle vaults. Above the triforium passage, the
transept arm. stone wall disappeared and became slender piers,
Externally, aside from the exposed and increas- opened up by broad, stained-glass clerestory win-
ingly thin flying buttresses, the major changes in dows subdivided by delicate stone tracery. These
the Gothic cathedral included dramatic vertical slender piers, appearing as clusters of elongated
towers. In France, this took the form of a pair of colonnettes, continued up from the capital of the
towers at the west entrance, whereas in England, a arcade piers, each colonnette in the bundle rising
great tower typically perched over the crossing. up to one of the ribs overhead, the longitudinal,
Internally, Notre-Dame at Amiens consisted of transverse, or diagonal arches in the rib vault over
side aisles (sometimes two on each side of the nave) the nave.
covered with rib vaults [3.31, 14.38, 14.39]. The The network of thin colonnettes in the clere-
aisles opened through an arcade of tall, pointed story piers, as well as the stone tracery, emphasized
arches to the nave. Above the arcade was a dark, the vertical reach of the Gothic cathedral. This
narrow passage in the thickness of the nave wall, strong sense of verticality also was emphasized by
the triforium gallery, whose height corresponded to an optical illusion. A cross section of Amiens would
that of the sloping wooden shed roof protecting the nearly fit inside a cross section of the Pantheon,

14.39. Notre-Dame de Amiens.

Interior looking up to crossing and
transept vaults. Photo: Vanni
Archive/Art Resource, NY.
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350 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

which measures 142.5 feet (43.4 m) in height two diagonal ribs; in this and other respects, the
and diameter. The vaults of Amiens rise 138 feet plan was nearly the same as that of the chevet of
(42.1 m) from the nave floor, and the width is nearly Amiens (as yet incomplete, since Amiens was built
150 feet (45.7 m) to the aisle walls. Yet, Amiens and from the west eastward). But at Beauvais, the scale
the other Gothic cathedrals appear much higher was grander, for the choir vaults were 51 feet wide
than they actually are, since all the elements of the (15.5 m) and soared to 157.5 feet (48 m); the ratio
design reach upward. Contributing to the optical il- of width to height was therefore exactly the same
lusion of great height are the proportions of the as that at Amiens, but the actual size was 14 per-
nave. At Amiens, the nave width is roughly 45 feet cent larger. Just the arches of the ambulatory ar-
(13.7 m), so the ratio of width to height is 1 to 3.1, cade by themselves were 69.67 feet high (21.2 m),
whereas the ratio at both Sainte-Foy at Conques or 1 foot higher than the center of the nave barrel
and Saint-Sernin in Toulouse is markedly lower, vault at Conques. Even more light flooded Beau-
around 1 to 2.5. (In the Pantheon in Rome, the vais, for the triforium passage was glazed as well,
ratio of width to height is almost precisely 1 to 1.) eliminating the last suggestion of solid wall.
Further strengthening the sensation of height is the Apparently because of design errors in making
infusion of light in the Gothic cathedral, for the the external buttresses too small to resist the forces
upper walls dissolve in light. There are, in fact, no created by wind loads, the buttresses gradually bent
true upper walls but rather the series of slender piers and cracked; on November 29, 1284, the choir
carrying an umbrella of stone vaults; between the vaults at Beauvais collapsed.15 Repairs were under-
piers are the large panels of stained glass, through taken in 1322–1337 by another unknown master-
which passes an ethereal light, casting soft-edged mason. Believing that an inadequate system of
colored patterns on the limestone piers, arcades, support in the ambulatory piers had caused the col-
and floor below. lapse, he inserted additional piers between the orig-
Above the stone nave vaults of a Gothic cathe- inal piers of the choir and rebuilt the vaults in
dral, and unseen from the floor, was yet another sexpartite form, with diagonal ribs and an addi-
substantial structure—a steep wooden trussed roof tional cross rib. The extra piers stabilized the struc-
[14.38]. At Amiens, the peak of the roof outside is ture, and the vaults have stood firm since. The
200 feet (60.9 m) above ground. These steep roofs, inserted piers, however, doubled the number of ver-
effective in shedding rain and snow, also caught the ticals, further emphasizing the unsurpassed height
wind, so that two sets of flying buttresses were typ- of the vaults. A decade after the choir was finished,
ically required along the sides: the lower flyers construction of the crossing and nave was halted
transmit the outward thrusts of the stone nave first by the Black Death and then by the Hundred
vaults to the externalized buttresses, and the upper Years’ War. Not until 1500 were the transept arms
ones carry the wind loads of the tall wood-framed and crossing built; this construction was begun by
roofs to the buttresses. Martin Cambiges and finished by Jean Vast in
1548. It was then proposed to build a great tower
Saint-Pierre, Beauvais. Like modernist architects over the crossing, and in 1564–1569, after pro-
in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, me- longed study and discussion, Jean Vast erected a
dieval master-masons sought to dematerialize struc- stone spire reaching up 490 feet (150 m). Unbraced
ture to make the church an analogue of the by any adjoining nave structure on the west side,
ethereal, heavenly city. Yet there appeared to be a the delicate transept piers under the tower bulged
point that their empirical knowledge, gained by outward, and finally, on April 30, 1573, the tower
trial and error, could not safely exceed. This limit collapsed. After the rubble was cleared away, a de-
was reached in the huge Church of Saint-Pierre at cision was made not to complete the church. The
Beauvais, another prosperous trading center in transept vaults were rebuilt and the west side en-
wool and textiles, about 44 miles (71 km) north of closed, but Saint-Pierre at Beauvais has remained
Paris. The earlier, tenth-century cathedral was par- truncated ever since.16 By the latter part of the six-
tially burned in 1180 and then completely de- teenth century, as the French historian Desjardin
stroyed by fire in 1225. Immediately, a new church later observed, it was “not the time to build cathe-
was proposed by Bishop Milon (Miles) de Nanteuil. drals anymore. The schools for masters, sculptors,
Three successive (and as yet unidentified) masters glaziers, and painters, which had been inspired by
constructed the choir, ambulatory, and chapels and their creation, were dying all over the place.”17
covered the chevet in stone vaults between 1225
and 1272 [14.40, 14.41, 14.42]. The original vaults Salisbury Cathedral. In French cathedrals, the ver-
were quadrapartite, divided into four segments by tical line dominated. Although the interior elevation
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351

14.40. Church of Saint-Pierre, Beauvais, France, 1225–1548. Aerial view of the incomplete cathedral. Designed with a plan
similar to that of Notre-Dame in Amiens, the church at Beauvais was significantly larger and more delicate; after repeated
collapse of the vaults, the church was left unfinished. Photo: Prèsidence du Conseil Phototèque, Paris.

14.41. Saint-Pierre, Beauvais.

Plan. The solid portion shows
what was finished; the outlined
section shows where the bays of
the nave would have continued.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Dehio.
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352

14.42. Saint-Pierre, Beauvais. View of the choir. Photo: Anthony Scibilia/Art Resource, NY.
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The High Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture 353

was divided into three distinct zones (arcade, trifo- the churches had flat east ends, as advocated by
rium, and clerestory), the lines between those zones the Cistercian monks, so that instead of a curved
were increasingly crossed by bundles of slender chevet, there is a flat stained-glass window-wall.
colonnettes that ran continuously from floor to vault Salisbury Cathedral, built in 1220–1266, illus-
top and back down to the floor, symbolic represen- trates all these typically English attributes [14.43,
tations of the way the forces of gravity were con- 14.44]. The strikingly vertical tower was an addi-
veyed to the ground. tion of the early fourteenth century. Salisbury
In England, a very different model of cathedral Cathedral is an interesting contrast to Amiens, es-
design evolved. The horizontal line was stressed by pecially since both were started the same year,
lateral extension of the cathedral, by keeping the 1220, and both are nearly the same length—450
vertical dimensions much lower than they were on feet (137.2 m). Salisbury Cathedral was built on
the Continent, and by stressing the continuous hor- new ground, outside the old city of Sarum, and
izontal moldings and string-courses of masonry that hence had far more open space around it than was
marked the edges of the three horizontal divisions typical of Continental Gothic urban churches;
of the interior elevation. English churches also in- eventually a new city, a trading center for wool and
corporated two basic plan differences, compared cloth, grew up around the new Salisbury cathedral.
with Continental counterparts. First, since the En- Although nearly as long as Amiens, Salisbury
glish structures were often inspired by Cistercian Cathedral is only 78 feet (23.8 m) wide overall. Its
monastic models, they had two transepts. Second, nave is 37 feet wide (11.3 m), with vaults 81 feet

14.43. Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, England, 1220–1266. Aerial view. Salisbury has more open space around it than do
urban French cathedrals. Photo: Aerofilms Ltd.
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354 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.44. Salisbury Cathedral. Plan. Because of the strong Cistercian influence, English cathedrals typically have flat east ends
with a large window instead of a rounded chapel. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Dehio.

high (24.7 m), so the ratio of width to height is just [4.28], but a tall upper chapel on the main floor
1 to 2.2, much less than in Amiens or Beauvais. (the second floor) connected directly to the royal
The result is a stronger horizontal aspect compared apartments. The structure of this upper chapel was
to the decidedly vertical emphasis felt in the naves reduced to nothing more than a series of buttresses
of Beauvais or even Amiens [1.12, p. 8]. spaced 15 feet (4.6 m) apart [14.45, Plate 8]. The
walls were entirely of stained glass, and the stone
The Sainte-Chapelle, Paris. In France, the drive to vaults were painted deep blue with gold fleur-de-
make the building frame a true skeleton, to elimi- lis stars, the royal emblem appearing in the vault of
nate all sense of the wall as a structural mass, was heaven. Damaged during the French Revolution
achieved in the lofty choir of Beauvais, but it is es- but restored to lustrous brilliance in the nineteenth
pecially dramatic in the small private chapel of the century by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, the chapel is
king, the Sainte-Chapelle, attached to the royal luxurious in the extreme. Perhaps we should think
palace on the Île-de-la-Cité in Paris. This project of this building less as a church in the usual sense
was undertaken by Louis IX and his architect, of the word and more as an architecturally scaled
Thomas de Cormont, in 1240–1247, to house the reliquary, filled with precious religious objects.
relics Louis had collected, including purported
pieces of Christ’s Crown of Thorns and pieces of Wooden-Roofed Churches. The cut stone vaulting
the True Cross, as well as the iron lance, the used so effectively in cathedrals and royal chapels
sponge, and a nail used in Christ’s crucifixion. The was beyond the means of rural parishes, so these
chapel, measuring just 32 feet in width and 99.5 smaller village churches were covered with wooden
feet in length (9.75 by 30.33 m), was attached to roofs. In medieval England, especially, timber roof
the royal palace with a relatively low ground-floor construction achieved an excellence of structure
chapel for palace retainers and lesser nobility and a delicacy of sculptural enrichment that re-
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The High Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture 355

14.45. Thomas de Cormont,

Sainte-Chapelle, Paris,
France, 1240–1247. Plan.
In the upper chapel, the
building is reduced to isolated
piers, allowing for walls made
up entirely of stained glass.
Drawing: P. Boundy, after
H. Stierlin.

mained unsurpassed. In addition to covering parish curvilinear forms were said by the French to be flam-
churches, various forms of roof trusses were used bant, “flaming,” or “flamboyant,” a word still used
over meeting halls and to enclose large tithe barns to convey a sense of extravagant excess.
in which offerings of grain were stored. The same Perhaps the best example of an entire church in
technology was employed to construct the heavy this Late Gothic style is Saint-Maclou in Rouen,
timber roofs over the masonry vaults of the cathe- near the mouth of the Seine River in Normandy
drals. For spans wider than 20 feet (6 m), hammer- [14.47]. When the Hundred Years’ War ended and
beam trusses were developed, with the principal the English were finally driven out of Normandy, a
uprights supported by projecting brackets or ham- period of active building commenced there. One of
merbeams [see 3.32]. Numerous Late Gothic ex- the buildings undertaken was Saint-Maclou, 1434–
amples of hammerbeam truss roofs survive in 1514. A parish church, it is 180 feet (55.9 m) long,
England, such as in Saint Botolph’s at Trunch in with nave vaults that rise 75 feet (22.8 m). Its most
Norfolk, or the double-hammerbeam roof of Saint flamboyant portion is the five-sided porch, built
Wendreda’s, March, in Cambridgeshire. The cul- last, in 1500–1514. The hoods over the doors are
mination of this technology was reached in the stretched vertically and transformed into an open
massive hammerbeam roof over the hall of West- interlace of curving, flame-like tendrils.
minster Palace, a royal residence then outside the In England, the final form of the Gothic was
city of London [14.46]. The masonry walls of the called Perpendicular, because of the emphasis on the
hall, built by Henry Yevele in 1394–1400, were vertical in closely spaced, repeated lines. An early
covered by a hammerbeam roof spanning 68 feet use of Perpendicular Gothic was in the rebuilding of
(20.7 m) and designed by the king’s master carpen- the cathedral at Gloucester, a Norman building that
ter, Hugh Herland. had formerly been the abbey Church of Saint Peter.
The repository of the remains of the murdered King
Edward II, the church at Gloucester prospered
Late Gothic Architecture greatly as a point of pilgrimage, permitting extensive
As happened with Greek and then Roman archi- reconstruction. The Perpendicular style is illustrated
tecture, basic forms were first worked out, and then, most clearly in the rebuilt choir there, 1337–1351,
in succeeding centuries, were made increasingly designed perhaps by William Ramsey or Thomas of
complicated and more heavily ornamented, as was Canterbury [14.48]. The round-headed arches of
the case with the so-called Roman Baroque archi- the Romanesque lower arcade were overlaid with
tecture of the late Roman Empire. The same kind delicate tracery, and broad clerestory windows were
of movement away from structural directness in opened up above. The entire east wall was filled
favor of ornamental embellishment occurred in the with an enormous window. The new vaulting of the
Late Gothic period as well. In France, this attention choir also illustrates what happened to rib vaulting
to ornament appeared in decorative forms, particu- in England; in these lierne vaults, the ribs were
larly in the stone tracery of stained-glass windows. multiplied to the point at which, as here, they be-
The tracery had the wavy fluidity of flames; such come a decorative filigree over the vault surface.
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356 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.46. Henry Yevele and Hugh Herland, Westminster Hall, Palace of Westminster, London, England, 1394. Interior.
Spanning 68 feet (20.7 m), this is one of the largest surviving medieval wooden roof trusses. Photo: Country Life, London.

Also introduced, in the cloister walk at Glouces- fan vaulting was used here at its grandest scale;
ter in 1351–1412, was the unique form of English the walls are completely dissolved in glass, and the
fan vaulting, in which a dense cluster of thin ribs ra- vaults, windows, and detailing are in complete har-
diates out from each column, like an inverted, mony. King’s College Chapel is considered the most
curved cone. This type of vault reached its fullest majestic of all Perpendicular interiors.18
expression in such Late Gothic examples as King’s
College Chapel, Cambridge University, built by
Reginald Ely, with vaults by John Wastell, in 1446– Domestic and Public Architecture
1515 [14.49]. Commissioned by King Henry VI, this With the rise of cities and the accumulation of
was larger than other college chapels and patterned private bourgeois wealth, a new urban residential
more after the choirs of cathedrals, that at Glouces- architecture emerged. Adjacent to the cathedrals
ter being the particular model. When construction appeared the houses of the bishop and archbishop
was completed under Henry VII, the technique of and the residences of the clergy associated with the
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The High Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture 357

operation of the cathedral. These buildings often Just as cities became a new driving force in late
enclosed in an irregular way (as in front of the medieval culture, so too did merchants increase the
cathedral at Noyon) a plaza that was the site of fairs scope of their business, becoming bankers and
and religious plays. Early cities sprang up around money brokers. Merchant bankers became the new
monasteries, and the rich and active monastery at patrons of architecture, and the late buildings of the
Cluny had many houses built around it in the Middle Ages were buildings they commissioned—
twelfth century. Although the facades of some of their residences, guild halls, and town halls. The
these survive, the interiors often have been rebuilt large house of Jacques Coeur in Bourges illustrates
many times. Viollet-le-Duc was able to reconstruct this new urban type well [14.51, 14.52]. Jacques
a typical house plan [14.50]. It had a large shop Coeur (1395–1456), the son of a furrier, was born
room on the ground floor opening to the street by in Bourges, a cloth-producing city in the virtual cen-
means of a broad, arched window-wall. Behind this ter of France. He became a merchant and, eventu-
commercial space was a court, and behind that, the ally, one of the most important businessmen in
kitchen. On the upper level were the living quar- France as a result of his international trading con-
ters, with a combined living-dining room and a bed- tacts. His operations included trading exchanges for
room in front overlooking the street, an open court cloth, silk, jewels, armor, spices, salt, wheat, and
to the rear, and a rear bedroom over the kitchen. wool, with warehouses across France, Belgium,
The third floor had sleeping quarters for apprentices Scotland, and Italy supplied by his own fleet of mer-
and storage for merchandise and supplies. chant ships. He also became steward of the royal

14.47. Saint-Maclou, Rouen, France, 1434–1514. The elaborate open tracery of the facade marks this as Flamboyant
(flame-like) Gothic. Photo: Bildarchiv Foto Marburg; Art Resource. New York.
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358 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.48. New choir, Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester, England, 1337–1351. Interior. In England, Late Gothic architecture
became emphatically vertical, as demonstrated in the numerous vertical mullions of the window in the new choir of
Gloucester Cathedral. Photo: W. Swaan.

funds and banker for the court during the reign of campaign, the parts of the house present an irregu-
Charles VIII, lending money to the king for the con- larity of plan and profile, a flexibility and freedom of
quest of Normandy, which made Coeur in essence delicate ornament that suggest numerous additions
the French minister of finance.19 over time. The house had public rooms and galleries
Altogether Coeur acquired forty manors through- on the ground floor, with large kitchens and an
out France, but in 1443–1451 he built a magnificent equally large general dining room. The family’s pri-
house for his family in Bourges, purchasing a portion vate chambers were on the second floor and included
of the old defensive walls of the city and adding wings a richly embellished private chapel.
that wrapped around a commodious court open to Important expressions of municipal prestige and
the street. Although constructed in one building power were the large town halls and cloth-trading
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The High Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture 359

halls built in the urban centers of northern France the historical development of that cloth-trading
and Belgium at the end of the Middle Ages. Al- center [14.53]. Situated 10 miles (16.1 km) from the
though designed to accommodate their new com- sea and just 30 miles (48.3 km) north of the present
mercial and municipal functions, stylistically these French border, Bruges (Brugge in Flemish) emerged
buildings borrowed extensively from the vocabulary during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as the
developed for church buildings, using pointed arches single most important port city in the Flemish textile
and elaborate tracery. The town hall in Bruges, Bel- trade and fur trade with England and Scandinavia.
gium, survives nearly intact, a fortunate accident of The money funneled through the city made its

14.49. Reginald Ely and John Wastell, King’s College Chapel, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, 1446–1515.
Interior. Unique to England was the fan vault, as found in King’s College Chapel, suggesting a grove of trees. Photo: A. F.
Kersting, London.
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360 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

burghers wealthy, and this affluence and municipal

pride were expressed in the construction of a town
hall in 1376–1420 and of the cloth hall, with its
rather top-heavy tower finished in 1482, which
dominates the plaza in the old part of the city. The
reason medieval Bruges survives almost intact is that
the Zwijn River, the city’s access to the sea, silted up
in the fifteenth century, and commercial activity
then shifted to Antwerp. Later, when a canal was
opened to the sea, Bruges grew only slowly. It never
regained its position as a vital commercial hub in
modern times, as Antwerp did. Bruges never expe-
rienced modern industrial development or the pro-
liferation of a network of railroads and therefore
never became a target for bombardment during the
twentieth-century wars that leveled Antwerp and
destroyed so much European architecture.

Gothic Architecture:
An Architecture of Aspiration
Despite the rise of cities as economic and political
centers in the Gothic period and the resultant
flourishing of secular life in the growing cities,
14.50. Merchant’s house, Cluny, France, twelfth century.
Plan (as reconstructed by Viollet-le-Duc). Drawing:
L. M. Roth.

14.51. House of Jacques Coeur, Bourges, France, 1443–1451. In the construction of this grand house, new sections were
added to the old city walls, incorporating the old round towers. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Viollet-le-Duc.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:14 PM Page 361

361

14.52. House of Jacques Coeur. View of the courtyard. Although the building has the complex geometries of something
that has been added to over centuries, this was built in one campaign. Photo: Bridgeman-Giraudon/Art Resource, NY.
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362 14. MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

14.53. Cloth Hall, Bruges, Belgium, c. 1240 to

late fifteenth century. By the end of the Middle
Ages, secular architecture was beginning to
assume great importance, borrowing forms and
decorative details from earlier religious
architecture. Guild halls, such as this one, became
symbols of civic pride. Photo: L. M. Roth.

people’s essential concern in earthly life remained causing widespread crop failures across Europe that
gaining the assurance of heaven. Accordingly, the resulted in famine. For more than two centuries dur-
building of great urban cathedrals, driven by swag- ing this time period, people had been moving into
gering civic pride combined with sincere religious the cities, and the rate of population growth in-
piety, provided the arena of the most probing ar- creased so much that the population of Europe
chitectural experimentation. The Gothic architec- nearly doubled between 1000 and 1300. Fields
ture of town halls and private residences was based depleted from decades of over-farming produced di-
on forms developed for the cathedral, and the re- minished yields and, in 1315–1317, at the beginning
sult was an urban form of organic integration, rising of the Little Ice Age, strange weather caused out-
in vertical lines. right crop failures resulting in famine followed by
The Middle Ages ended in a series of unfortu- plague. Furthermore, as the general state of health
nate concurrent disasters. Climate investigations in suffered, in 1348, in the port cities of central Italy,
the latter part of the twentieth century reveal that, a disease appeared that swept through the popula-
beginning about 1300, a cooling in the Northern tion, disfiguring its victims with hundreds of black
Hemisphere brought about what has been labeled pustules that preceded a lingering death. A form of
“The Little Ice Age” that lasted as late as 1850. By bubonic plague, it was called the Black Death. Be-
1315, in particular, weather in the summers became cause medieval physicians were unable to conceive
unpredictable and was extremely cold and wet, that the disease was spread by fleas on rats, their im-
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The High Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture 363

plausible preventive measures had no effect. As the fell to the Turks, persuading many Greek scholars
plague spread the length and breadth of the Conti- in Constantinople to begin an exodus to Italy.
nent in the next two years, upward of 40 percent of Yet, in the face of these compounded tribulations,
Europe’s population died—at least twenty-five mil- first in central Italy by 1400 and then spreading
lion people perished. quickly across Europe, there blossomed a growing
Meanwhile, the church hierarchy began to optimism in human potential and a renewed respect
splinter. From 1309 to 1377, the popes left Rome for the intellectual and artistic achievements of Clas-
and took up residence in Avignon, in southern sical Greece and Rome. Encouraged in part by the
France, in what became known as the Babylonian arrival of the emigrating Greeks from the belea-
Captivity. Various political factions within the guered East, Italian scholars, painters, sculptors, and
church supported different claimants to the papal architects set out to equal the efforts of thirteenth-
crown, and during 1378 to 1417, there were no century theologians in their reconciliation of Chris-
fewer than three concurrent, competing popes. tian belief with the intellectual rigor of Classical
From the East appeared yet another threat, the thought. What the Italian artists and architects en-
Islamic Seljuk Turks, who conquered all of what is deavored was to reconcile the beauty of Classical art
now Turkey, pressed hard against the last tiny frag- with Christian thought, to create a new architecture
ment of the once-great Byzantine Empire, now and art that was both Christian and Classical. As the
shrunken within the walls of Constantinople. Even- Middle Ages faded, a new spirit was born, a rebirth
tually, in 1453, after long resistance, Constantinople of a classical humanism, a renaissance.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 11/8/13 9:46 AM Page 364

15.15. Cola da Caprarola (possibly with Baldassarre Peruzzi), Santa Maria della Conzolazione, Todi, Italy, 1508–1607.
This church represents the ideal rational Renaissance church based on integrated circular and square forms, resulting in
integrated cubical and domical components. Photo: © Tips Images/Tips Italia Srl a socio unico/Alamy.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:14 PM Page 365

Chapter 15

Renaissance Architecture

R
Renaissance artists firmly adhered to the
the achievement of the ancients. They had a new
confidence in their intellectual capacity and desired
Pythagorean concept “All is Number.” . . . a new architecture, one expressing the mathematical
Architecture was regarded by them as a clarity and rationality they perceived in the divine
mathematical science which worked with spatial order of the universe. Such a new architecture
units: parts of that universal space for the scientific no longer needed to point heavenward, but, like
interpretation of which they had discovered the Roman architecture, would stress a balance of verti-
key in the laws of perspective. Thus they were cal and horizontal elements in forms reflecting
made to believe that they could re-create the human proportions. This new architecture, visually
universally valid ratios and expose them pure and clear and rationally organized, first appeared in Fil-
absolute, as close to abstract geometry as possible. ippo Brunelleschi’s Ospedale degli Innocenti (Found-
And they were convinced that universal harmony ling Hospital) in Florence [see 15.7 later in this
could not reveal itself entirely unless it were chapter]. Light and graceful, this building was based
realized in space through architecture conceived on Roman sources and governed in the arrangement
in the service of religion. of its parts by a recognizable proportional system.
—Rudolf Wittkower, Architectural Principles Here was an architecture rooted in the human in-
in the Age of Humanism, 1949

R
tellect, serving not primarily to convey religious
dogma but to provide for the very human needs of
orphaned children.
Coupled with this new sense of human potential

G othic architecture was made up of an assembly

of parts worked out for each building individ-
ually. It was an architecture adaptable to any situ-
and history was the perception of the artist as a hu-
manist scholar—not simply an artisan or a craftsman
but a philosopher in paint and stone. Thus, it be-
ation, but it was not an architecture determined by came extremely important to record the aspirations
universal, formal norms. To the Italians of the fif- and achievements of contemporary artists, a task the
teenth century, Gothic architecture, with its roots painter Giorgio Vasari took upon himself. Writing in
in northern European sources, evoked an uncivi- 1550 about the fourteenth-century painter Giotto,
lized, brutish period that they began to call the dark Vasari said that Giotto’s work marked a rinascita, a
age that separated the glories of ancient Greece “rebirth,” of Classical solidity of form and human ex-
and Rome from what they saw as their own enlight- pression.1 This Italian term, translated into French,
ened time. Emboldened by their flourishing urban became renaissance.
(and urbane) culture, they set out to match the in-
tellectual and artistic achievements of the ancients.
The Italians, especially the Florentines, began to Italy in the Fifteenth Century
view history in a new way. They perceived human When the Renaissance began about 1400, there
history not as a divinely ordained continuum but as was no single Italian nation but, rather, a series of
a series of successive periods, some characterized duchies, republics, and kingdoms along the Italian
by great human accomplishment. More important, peninsula [15.1]. These city-states were in constant
they sensed that they were at the start of a new competition with each other, which periodically led
age of vast possibilities, an age that could equal to armed conflict. Such internal division encouraged

365
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366 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

15.1. Map of Europe, c. 1500. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

the strong monarchies of neighboring France and Florence had been a relatively quiet and minor
Spain to intervene frequently, and in fact the south- town during the Early Middle Ages. Founded on
ern half of Italy and Sicily became a client kingdom the Arno River as Florentia as a colony for Roman
of Spain. Running across central Italy toward Venice soldiers in the first century BCE, by the third cen-
were the papal states, provinces ruled directly by the tury CE it had developed into a provincial capital.
pope as a purely secular kingdom. Included in the During the successive rule of the Goths, the Byzan-
northern extension of the papal states were the cities tines, and the Lombards, monasteries in Florence
of Rimini and Urbino. North of the papal states were kept alive the older culture. Beginning as part of
various sovereign states dominated by the duchy of the southern edge of Charlemagne’s empire, Flo-
Milan and ruled by the Sforza family; there was also rence gradually won greater autonomy in the Holy
the duchy of Ferrara, which was ruled by the d’Este Roman Empire. Early in the twelfth century, the
family. Along the northwestern coast was the Re- Commune of Florence became a free city and, by
public of Genoa, and on its northern boundary, ex- the end of the twelfth century, had gained control
tending into the Piedmont and the Alps, was the of the surrounding region of Tuscany. Later, Flo-
duchy of Savoy. At the head of the Adriatic Sea on rence suffered politically, with warring factions first
the northeast coast was the Republic of Venice, supporting papal power in the thirteen century and
which had extensive holdings at Isatria and Dalma- then resisting papal political authority in the four-
tia on the eastern Adriatic shore (today, the coastal teenth. These internal conflicts sometimes esca-
regions of Croatia and Bosnia). Immediately north lated into conflict with nearby cities. Meanwhile,
of Rome and the region of Latium was the Republic the Republic of Florence expanded during 1300 to
of Siena, in many ways the archrival of Florence. 1500 to extend to the city of Rocca to the east, to
Both Venice and Florence, in particular, prospered Cortona to the south, and encompassing the coast
through commerce—Venice through maritime trade of the Mediterranean from Piombino to the south
to the eastern Mediterranean, and Florence through up to and including Pisa to the north. Gradually,
the wool trade to northern Europe. Florentine businessmen came to dominate others
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Humanism 367

in Italy, and the florin they began minting in the ancient manuscripts and works of art, and were
thirteenth century soon became the de facto cur- highly discriminating patrons of painting, sculpture,
rency of Europe. and architecture. They were the very embodiment
of the Renaissance Man. Humanist Federico di
Montefeltro built a well-proportioned and elegantly
The Renaissance Patron simple ducal palace at Urbino, where he installed
Another change that characterized the Renaissance one of the most important private libraries in Italy;
concerned the patronage of art and architecture. there, he and the members of his court discussed
Increasingly, cardinals, popes, and other individuals, at length what made for the well-conducted life,
especially merchants and bankers, commissioned conversations later used as the basis for Baldassare
buildings, sculpture, and paintings for themselves, Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier (written in 1508–
for the churches they patronized, and for their 1518). That book in turn became the textbook for
cities. In Italy, the first major patrons of the new ar- the education of a humanist gentleman for the next
chitecture were the merchants who governed Flo- three centuries.
rence, especially the powerful Medicis. After the
Black Death and continuing up to 1434, Florence
had experienced chaotic rule until the ascent of Humanism
Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici (1360–1429) and his The renewed interest in antiquity that marked the
son Cosimo (1389–1464), merchants who pros- Renaissance began with the rereading of the works
pered in the Florentine textile industry. Cosimo and of the ancient authors, especially Latin authors
his grandson Lorenzo, although without benefit of such as Cicero and Virgil, and such Greek works by
official title, ruled Florence through skillful diplo- Plato and Aristotle as were then available in Latin.
macy, frequent magnanimity, and personal flourish. But what set this younger generation of scholars
Following the example of Giovanni, the Medicis apart from the earlier Scholastics was that the Ren-
made it the duty of a wealthy citizen to provide aissance scholars were less interested in how the
public and religious buildings for the citizens. Gio- ancients could be interpreted to corroborate scrip-
vanni de’ Medici began the rebuilding of the church ture and church dogma than in what the ancients
and monastery of San Lorenzo and was especially had to say in their own right. The mid-fourteenth-
involved in the building of the Foundling Hospital century Florentine poet Petrarch stressed the study
(discussed in a later section). Cosimo de’ Medici of the ancient authors and reliance on one’s own
built major additions at three churches in Florence, observations, as evident in his famous climb of
constructed a monastery at Fiesole outside the city, Mount Ventoux in southern France in 1336, a jour-
paid for the renovation of Santo Spirito in Jeru- ney taken solely for the pleasure of surveying the
salem, and sponsored additions to two monasteries beauty of the countryside. Saint Augustine had
in Assisi and San Marino. In addition, he refur- warned against drawing too much pleasure from
bished several family villas outside Florence, one of the senses, but Petrarch contradicted this admoni-
which he put at the disposal of Marsilio Ficino, tion, carrying up the mountain a copy of Virgil, on
where, free of disruption, Ficino could pursue his which he reflected along the way. Adjoining Duke
translation of Plato into Latin. Federico’s study at Urbino was an open loggia, or
Cosimo’s grandsons Lorenzo, Giovanni (later porch, from which he could scan the surrounding
Pope Leo X), and Giulio (later Pope Clement VII) countryside. This new awareness and appreciation
continued this creative work. Of them all, perhaps of the natural landscape was one of the important
Lorenzo, called the Magnificent (1449–1492), was contributions of the Renaissance. The interest in
the most dazzling political and artistic figure—busi- the landscape, as nature and design, can be seen in
nessman, banker, connoisseur of art and literature. the pastoral background in the portraits painted of
He was a friend and a colleague of such writers and the duke and duchess of Urbino.
philosophers as Pico della Mirandola and Marsilio Moreover, the new generation of scholars
Ficino, the theorist and architect Leon Battista Al- wanted to read the original words of the ancients,
berti, the sculptor Donatello, the painters Ghir- not medieval glosses or commentaries, and thus was
landaio and Botticelli, and the young sculptor set in motion the hunt for ancient documents in
Michelangelo. Lorenzo and his contemporary, Duke Latin and Greek in monastic libraries. Indeed, for
Federico di Montefeltro of Urbino, were ideal Ren- the humanists, Greek and Roman history became
aissance princes. The Medici were adept at political more real than that of their own recent past, which
diplomacy (and the art of war when necessary), Leonardo Bruni would dismiss as a “dark middle
were skilled linguists and writers, were collectors of age.” Such study also meant that humanists had to
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368 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

develop linguistic skills to correct the errors in me- nature. We have set thee at the world’s center
dieval copies of ancient manuscripts. This objective that thou mayest from thence more easily ob-
inquiry was further reinforced by the fortuitous ar- serve whatever is in the world.2
rival of numerous Eastern Greek scholars, especially
in Florence in the mid-fifteenth century, as they fled After a millennium, man was once more the
beleaguered Constantinople. With the support of measure and measurer of all things. Everything was
Cosimo de’ Medici, the Florentine Marsilio Ficino possible for humankind, believed Pico, for to man
focused his energies on translating into Latin all the “it is granted to have whatever he chooses, to be
known works of Plato. In 1462, Cosimo de’ Medici whatever he wills.” There was also rekindled that
established what came to be called the Florentine desire for excellence in human achievement that
Academy, supervised by Ficino and Pico della Mi- the Greeks had called arete, for as Pico further ob-
randola; here, Platonic Greek philosophy was dis- served, mankind is “not content with the mediocre,
cussed by scholars, students, and such educated [but] we shall pant after the highest and (since we
amateurs as Cosimo. may if we wish) toil with all our strength to obtain
There emerged from such intensive reading of it.”3 Alberti wrote that to humans “is given a body
Classical literature a new program of instruction, more graceful than other animals, to you power of
rooted in humanitas, “humanism,” a term first used apt and various movements, to you most sharp and
by the Florentine scholar Leonardo Bruni, who delicate senses, to you wit, reason, memory like an
called for a new sort of education based on a close immortal god.” And very much the same idea was
reading of ancient Greek and Latin authors. Hu- voiced just over a century later in Shakespeare’s
manism was a philosophical view that emphasized Hamlet:
the importance of the power of human values,
achievement, and endeavors as distinct from re- What a piece of work is man!
ceived religious instruction. Humanism stressed ob- How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty!
jective inquiry guided by human reason, leading In form, in moving, how express and
eventually to a mathematical approach to compre- admirable!
hending and configuring reality. The humanists In action, how like an angel!
viewed history as the record of human aspiration In apprehension, how like a god!
and fallible judgments rather than as an inevitable The beauty of the world!
unfolding of a preordained divine scenario. They The paragon of animals!
did not reject Christianity but, rather, sought to
reconcile the Classical view of human potential
with Christian belief. Humans were still viewed as Roman Building Scale Re-achieved:
God’s creation, possessing free will to pursue their Brunelleschi’s Dome
own destiny, but humanists also celebrated the dig- This desire to stretch human limits and to match
nity of the individual human being and the wonder the building achievements of the ancients was
of human achievement. boldly exemplified in the dome Filippo Brunelleschi
Perhaps the best summary of the humanist view completed over the crossing of the cathedral in Flo-
of human potential was given by Giovanni Pico rence, Santa Maria della Fiore, 1420–1436. The
della Mirandola in his “Oration on the Dignity of large cruciform Gothic church had been begun
Man,” written in 1486, almost an echo of Virgil’s about 1296 after designs by Arnolfo di Cambio. Its
repudiation of limits for the Romans. God had as- east end, consisting of octagonal chapels around
signed Adam no static place in creation, writes an octagonal crossing, was greatly enlarged by
Pico, for Francesco Talenti half a century later, creating a
crossing that was now 138.5 feet (42.2 m) across
neither a fixed abode nor a form that is thine and had to be vaulted. Moreover, church officials
alone nor any function peculiar to thyself have decreed that no support scaffolding resting on the
We given thee [Pico has God say to Adam], to floor could be used so as not to disturb ongoing
the end that according to thy longing and ac- church activities. On the basis of traditional me-
cording to thy judgment thou mayest have and dieval building practices, the proposed dome vault
possess what abode, what form, and what func- seemed impossible to build. And yet, as Brunel-
tions thou thyself shalt desire. . . . Thus, con- leschi knew from his detailed examination of the
strained by no limits, in accordance with thine ancient buildings in Rome, the Pantheon was proof
own free will, in whose hand We have placed that such a span had been vaulted once. He re-
thee, shalt ordain for thyself the limits of thy solved to do it again.4
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Roman Building Scale Reachieved: Brunelleschi’s Dome 369

15.2. Filippo Brunelleschi,

Dome of Florence Cathedral,
Florence, Italy, 1418–1436.
The dome of the cathedral of
Florence rises over the city as a
bold gesture of civic ambition.
It was the largest such dome
attempted since antiquity. Photo:
Scala/Art Resource, New York.

Brunelleschi had begun thinking about how it egg and, gently crushing the very end of the shell
could be done as early as 1403 or 1404, when he against the slab, made the egg stand up. When the
began his numerous visits to Rome to study its an- others protested that, of course, they could have
cient architecture, particularly the dome of the done as much, he retorted, yes, and any one of
Pantheon and other large domes. Some of these, them could build the dome if he showed them his
like the ruin called the Temple of Minerva Medica, ideas. This convinced the tribunal that Brunel-
clearly revealed their inner structure of brick arches leschi should be entrusted with the task.5
embedded in the concrete. By 1417, he had devised Construction of the great dome began in 1420
a method, but exactly how it was to be built [15.2]. In terms of form and profile, the dome of
Brunelleschi did not reveal at the outset, so afraid the Florence cathedral is technically not a Classical
was he of his ideas being stolen and the credit taken design; in structural terms, it is more properly
by others. Thwarted by officials who considered his termed an enormous medieval eight-sided cloister
verbal explanations nonsense, and faced with nu- vault. It has a steep, pointed profile, and its con-
merous counterproposals from a large number of struction method owes much to Gothic technique.
distinguished builders called together by the cathe- The dome is actually two domes, one nested inside
dral tribunal, Brunelleschi then challenged them the other, a thicker one inside and a thinner one
all by saying that whoever could make an egg stand outside [15.3].6 The main armature of the dome is
on its end on a slab of marble should be the builder created of stone arches, thick ones at the eight cor-
of the dome. Repeated attempts to do this by all ners and two smaller ones between each of these
the other builders failed. Brunelleschi then took the main ribs; these ribs tie the inner and outer dome
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370 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

15.3. Dome of Florence Cathedral.

Axonometric cut-away view, showing the
method of construction, employing ribs and
double shells. From P. Sanpaolesi, La cupola di
S. M. del Fiore (Florence, 1965).

shells together. The key to avoiding massive the work under way (attached to the dome itself ),
wooden centering underneath was to build the he installed food vendors and toilet facilities so the
dome on all sides simultaneously, thereby creating workmen would not need to make repeated ardu-
in essence one ring on top of another, each ring act- ous and time-consuming trips to the ground level.
ing as its own keystone. The eight curved sides The dome proper was topped off in 1434. The
were built of purpose-made large brick, several laid overall outline of the dome was predetermined by
horizontally and then one positioned vertically, cre- di Cambio’s and Talenti’s substructure, but Brunel-
ating a spiraling herringbone pattern that keyed leschi’s study of Roman architectural detail and his
each course of brick to those several courses above inventiveness are more clearly seen in the white
and below, and preventing the new courses from stone lantern he designed to cover the top of the
slipping while the mortar cured and became firm. dome. Designed before Brunelleschi’s death in
Moreover, the main and secondary curved vertical 1444, its parts were not hoisted and the lantern not
ribs are connected by nine horizontal stone rings, finished until 1461. It is not so much the formal or
which are actually circular within the thickness of ornamental properties but the sheer size of Brunel-
the two shells. Any tendency to burst outward was leschi’s dome, and its ingenious and original con-
countered by two rings of sandstone reinforced struction techniques that mark it as a Renaissance
with iron bars and an additional one of wood mem- creation. The Roman scale of building was again
bers. Besides solving these structural and construc- alive in Italy. Florence took enormous pride in the
tion problems, Brunelleschi also designed the dome, and the humanist scholar and theorist Leon
variety of massive machines for lifting the stone and Battista Alberti (1404–1472) praised Brunelleschi’s
brick. On the temporary platforms erected below achievement, all the more extraordinary since Bru-
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Vitruvius and Ideal Form 371

nelleschi had no direct precedent in antiquity; the were derived from the ideal geometric forms dis-
dome, Alberti said, was “unknown and unthought- cussed by Plato in Philebus—forms generated by
of among the ancients.” Brunelleschi’s achievement straight lines and circles, as well as the solids cre-
seemed to Alberti to be the mark of this remarkable ated by these forms in three dimensions. Plato had
time and place: “We discover unheard-of and been convinced that such forms not only had in-
never-before-seen art and sciences without teach- herent beauty but were “eternally and absolutely
ers or without any model whatsoever.”7 beautiful.”8 Vitruvius drew from such ideas in his
third book, devoted to the design of temples, for
basic to temple design were symmetry and propor-
Vitruvius and Ideal Form tion. Ideal systems of proportion, he observed, can
The architectural bible for the new generation of be found in the perfect proportions of the human
humanist patrons and architects was the Ten Books body. For example, the foot is one-sixth the height
on Architecture, by the Roman architect Vitruvius. to the top of the head, and the face—from chin to
The books were much discussed during the fif- nostrils, nostrils to eyebrows, and eyebrows to hair-
teenth century and published in one edition after line—is divided into thirds. He also described how
another, beginning in 1486, with the first illustrated the ideal Platonic Phileban shapes, the square and
edition by Fra Giocondo appearing in 1511. The the circle, are incorporated in the proportions of
ideally proportioned forms described by Vitruvius the human body [15.4]:

15.4. Leonardo da Vinci, drawing of

the ideal Vitruvian man, c. 1485–
1490. For Leonardo, as for Vitruvius,
the form of the human body contained
within it the essence of ideal form (the
perfect geometry of the circle and the
square) as well as ideal proportional
relationships. Leonardo reveals these in
the dividing lines marked on the body.
Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, NY.
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372 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

For if a man be placed flat on his back, with his of God. Not only did the circle and the square thus
hands and feet extended, and a pair of com- provide the ideal forms for church plans, but plan-
passes centered at his navel, the fingers and ners even adapted circular schemes in plans for
toes of his two hands and feet will touch the new towns. Antonio Averlino, called Filarete,
circumference of a circle described therefrom. worked in Milan during the 1460s on a manuscript
And just as the human body yields a circular discussing the new rational and classically inspired
outline, so too a square figure may be found architecture; in it he laid out a model new town,
from it. For if we measure the distance from the called Sforzinda after his patron. The plan con-
soles of the feet to the top of the head, and sisted of an octagonal star-shaped city with streets
then apply the measure to the outstretched radiating from a central market square [15.5]. Be-
arms, the breadth will be found to be the same cause of the political difficulties then besetting
as the height, as in the case of plane surfaces Italy, no such new towns were built at that time,
which are perfectly square.9 but in 1593, such an ideal city was built when the
Republic of Venice began construction of Palma-
Renaissance architects sought clearly expressed nuova, a fortress city northeast of Venice to protect
numerical relationships in their designs, recalling the exposed plain of Fruili from attack by the Turks
the mysticism of Pythagoras and his followers. [15.6]. Believed by some to have been designed by
Galileo Galilei wrote later that it was not possible Vincenzo Scamozzi, it is a nine-pointed star, with
to understand the “book” of creation “if we do not bastions for artillery around its perimeter. Its nine
first learn the language and grasp the symbols in principal radial streets and circumferential connec-
which it is written. This book is written in a math- tors conform to the ideal pattern and served the
ematical language, and the symbols are triangles, practical purpose of enabling supplies and muni-
circles, and other geometrical figures, without tions to be moved equally well from centralized
whose help it is impossible to comprehend a single storehouses to wherever they were needed.
word of it.”10 Renaissance architects sought to shape space
The circle was an especially attractive form for using modular units based on whole-number pro-
Renaissance designers, symbolizing the perfection portional relationships. The circle and the square

15.5. Antonio Averlino (called Filarete), plan

of the ideal city of Sforzinda, from his treatise
on architecture, written c. 1461–1462.
Filarete (a name adapted from Greek,
meaning “Lover of Virtue”) was the first
Renaissance designer to use the ideal form of
the circle as the basis for a city plan. Photo:
From Filarete, Il trattato d’architettura.
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Brunelleschi and Rationally Ordered Space 373

15.6. Vincenzo Scamozzi (attrib.), Palmanuova, Italy, begun 1593. Palmanuova was a new town, built according to the ideal
circular model. Photo: Aerofilms, London.

became the basic design modules of their architec- guild [15.7, 1.15].13 Across the front of the building
ture, with the boundaries of these modules being and facing the piazza, an arcade with monolithic
delineated by Classical columns, arches, and entab- Corinthian columns carried the lightest of semicir-
latures derived from Roman sources. Beauty was cular architraves and a stretched entablature. The
seen to rest in the careful arrangement of propor- columns are so proportioned that they are spaced
tionally related parts. Alberti offered this summary exactly as far apart as they are tall, defining squares
in his book De re aedificatoria (On Building), written in elevation; the columns are also as far from the
about 1450: “Beauty is that reasoned harmony of all rear wall as they are high, thus delineating cubes in
the parts within a body, so that nothing can be space. The delicate semicircular arches carried by
added, taken away, or altered, but for the worse.”11 the columns are half again as high, so that in terms
Echoing Pythagoras, Alberti was convinced that of the length of the radius of the arch, the bays
“the very same numbers that cause sounds to have have a three-dimensional whole-number ratio of 2
that concinnitas pleasing to the ears, can also fill the to 2 to 3.
eyes and mind with wondrous delight.”12 Like nearly all other Renaissance architects, Fil-
ippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) was trained as an
artist, a master goldsmith in the silk guild; but more
Brunelleschi and unusual, he was also a scholar who read some
Rationally Ordered Space Latin. Vasari reports in his Lives of the Artists that,
Among the first buildings to demonstrate this after losing the competition for new bronze doors
mathematical proportioning was Brunelleschi’s for the Florentine baptistery, Brunelleschi turned
Foundling Hospital in Florence, designed in 1419 to the study of architecture because he felt archi-
for his patron Giovanni de’ Medici and the silk tecture was “more useful to mankind than either
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374 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

15.7. Filippo Brunelleschi, Foundling Hospital, Florence, Italy, 1419–1424. Brunelleschi used the ideal of pure circles,
squares, and cubes to determine the proportions of the arcade across the front of this orphans’ asylum. Photo: Scala/Art
Resource, NY.

sculpture or painting.”14 While he was perfecting Because he had to adapt the plan of San
his constructional scheme for the cathedral dome, Lorenzo to fit among existing structures, Brunel-
Brunelleschi was at the same time designing the leschi was unable to make this mathematical
Foundling Hospital and tackling the problem of scheme fully coherent in all its details and subdivi-
developing a rational mathematical scheme for sions throughout, but in his Church of Santo Spir-
accurately depicting on a painted flat surface the ito, begun in 1436, Brunelleschi created what he
arrangement of objects on real three-dimensional considered his most successful design, due in large
space—that is, he set out to rediscover the mathe- part to the space where it would be built: an open
matical perspective that Roman painters had used. area unhampered by existing walls [15.10, 15.11].
Alberti was also working on this problem at the The plan of the church is generated by the central
same time in Rome. cubical bay of the crossing, surmounted by a dome
Once Brunelleschi had formulated the basis of on pendentives. From this, duplicate cubes extend
mathematical perspective, he then turned his at- to form the choir and transept arms. Each of these,
tention to duplicating this objective spatial order in turn, is flanked by two smaller cube units forming
in his architecture. In 1418, he was engaged by the side aisles; each is one-fourth the volume of the
Giovanni de’ Medici to rebuild the Church of San larger units. From the central crossing extend four
Lorenzo in Florence, beginning with a new square large cubical bays for the nave. Along the side aisles
sacristy capped by a dome on pendentives and then around the church, Brunelleschi planned to have
turning to the reconstruction of the main vessel of numerous small, semicircular apses. Since the ra-
the monastic church [15.8, 15.9]. His objective was dius of each would have been one-half the width
to create a volume organized into cubes of space: and height of the side aisle bays, what the viewer
large cubes forming the choir and transept arms, would have seen from the end of the nave would
with four cubes forming the naves, each defined by have been a series of units increasing in a propor-
dark stone Corinthian columns and pilasters. tional progression. From the diameter of the side
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375

15.8. Filippo Brunelleschi,

Church of San Lorenzo,
Florence, Italy, 1418–1446.
View of the nave.
Photo: Marvin Trachtenberg.

S = Library (Michelangelo)
NS = New Sacristy
(Michelangelo)
S = Sacristy (Brunelleschi)
SL = Church of San Lorenzo
(Brunelleschi)

15.9. San Lorenzo. Plan.

Drawing: M. Burgess.
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376

15.10. Filippo Brunelleschi, Church of Santo Spirito,

Florence, Italy, 1436–1482. View of the nave. Given an
open site, Brunelleschi was able to realize his goal of a
building completely determined by mathematical
proportions. Photo: Nicolas Sapieha/Art Resource, NY.

15.11. Santo Spirito. Plan. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

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Idealized Forms and the Centrally Planned Church 377

aisle apses to the height of the central nave, the but not built until 1442–1465, the chapel was paid
progression would go from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 to 5. In for by the Pazzi family. Here again, Brunelleschi had
other words, the visitor would see a fully three- to adjust an otherwise ideal plan to fit the chapel
dimensional representation of a building as a con- among existing buildings.16 In 1460, Alberti devised
structed perspective, each architectural element a square plan with short arms for the Church of San
assigned a precise place in a rationally ordered Sebastiano in Mantua, but construction was
scheme. Instead of the medieval transcendent mys- changed after his death and little remains today of
tical experience, here was a celebration of human Alberti’s original design.
reason in the service of the church.15 Perhaps the clearest expression of the use of the
circle and the square as generative modules is the
small Church of Santa Maria della Carceri by Giu-
Idealized Forms and the liano da Sangallo (1445–1516).17 Built in 1485–
Centrally Planned Church 1491 in the town of Prato, 11 miles (17.7 km)
To theorists such as Alberti, the circle and the cen- northwest of Florence, it is based on a square plan
tralized plan generated from it were highly evoca- projected vertically into a cube [15.12, 15.13,
tive religious symbols of the perfection of divinity, 15.14]. Above the cube, pendentives form a circu-
forms found also in the proportions of the human lar plan from which rise a short drum and a ribbed
body patterned, so scripture declared, in God’s dome, lit by twelve bull’s-eye windows at the base
image. A dome, placed over the center, became the and a lantern at its top. From the cube base, half-
outward manifestation of this centrally focused cubes project laterally, forming the arms of a com-
plan. An early example of the square plan sur- pact Greek cross plan. Internally, the edges of the
mounted by a dome was Brunelleschi’s Pazzi volume are marked by dark stone Corinthian pi-
Chapel, in the cloister court of the Church of Santa lasters, entablature, and architraves, sharply con-
Croce, Florence. Designed perhaps in 1423–1424 trasting with the unadorned white stucco walls.

15.12. Giuliano da Sangallo,

Santa Maria delle Carceri,
Prato, Italy, 1485–1491.
Sangallo used the proportional
ideal to construct a centralized
church generated by a square
and cube at its center. Photo:
Alinari/Art Resource, NY.
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378

15.13. Santa Maria delle Carceri. Plan and section. Viewed together with the exterior, the plan and section demonstrate the
exact correspondence of part to part, inside and out, an idea central to the Renaissance concept of ideal form. Drawing: L. M.
Roth, after Murray, Architecture of the Italian Renaissance (London, 1963).

15.14. Santa Maria delle Carceri. Interior. Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, NY.
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Alberti’s Latin Cross Churches 379

Externally, each component of the interior is re-

vealed by the stone trim attached to the brick Alberti’s Latin Cross Churches
structural wall. The outer entablature corresponds In many instances, Renaissance architects did not
to that inside, the upper attic level corresponds to have open sites on which to build their churches
the barrel vaults over the arms, and the pediments but, rather, had to adapt their preference of central-
(and the central block they run into) correspond ized Classical forms to existing Late Gothic basilican
to the short drum inside carrying the dome. The plans. Leon Battista Alberti had confronted this
church is a rational exercise in the extrapolation of problem in 1450–1461 in putting a new exterior
parts from the central cube module, extended by shell around the Church of San Francesco in Rim-
half-cubes and semicircles in every direction; every ini, a coastal city on the Adriatic ruled by Sigis-
part of the exterior announces what is to be found mondo Malatesta [15.16].18 Alberti created a deeply
inside. There are no intellectual discordances but, arcaded new wall that enveloped the old church
rather, perfect uniform conformity to proportional walls in a way that recalled the massiveness of the
harmony. Colosseum in Rome; in the arched voids was room
Even more thoroughly and perfectly developed for ceremonial sarcophagi for members of the
in its schematic unfolding in space of circles and Malatesta family. At the end of the church, Alberti
squares, half-domes and cubes is the freestanding devised an entry derived from Roman triumphal
church of Santa Maria della Consolazione in Todi, arches, with arches to the left and right repeating
Tuscany, built in 1508–1607 from designs of Cola the rhythm of the arches on the side walls. (The side
da Caprarola perhaps assisted by Baldassarre Pe- walls were to have been deep niches as well, con-
ruzzi, apparently greatly influenced by Donato Bra- taining the sarcophagi of the duke and his mistress;
mante [15.15, p. 364]. but out of structural necessity, the openings had to

15.16. Leon Battista Alberti, Church of San Francesco (the Tempio Malatestiano), Rimini, Italy, 1450–1461. This new
shell, wrapped around an existing medieval church, is based on Roman triumphal arch forms. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
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380 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

15.17. Leon Battista Alberti, detail from letter to Matteo

de’ Pasti, November 18, 1454. Inserted in the text of
Alberti’s letter is a sketch of this detail, showing Matteo de’
Pasti how to make the transition from the lower side aisles
to the taller center nave. Drawing: L. M. Roth, based on
Alberti’s sketch.

be filled in.) Between them, a larger central arch en- thoroughly studied, however, was Alberti’s last
closes a door framed by a Classical architrave and building, the Church of Sant’ Andrea in Mantua,
capped by a pediment. The details throughout re- designed in 1470 but built closely following his in-
veal Alberti’s detailed study of Roman ruins. tentions by Luca Fancelli and finished in 1493, the
Above the entry, Alberti was confronted with year after Alberti’s death [15.19, 15.20, 15.21].
the problem of making a graceful transition from Once again, Alberti had to deal with existing con-
the tall center nave to the lower side aisles with ditions, fitting his new facade against the existing
their shed roofs. Unfortunately, this upper section bell tower that could not be removed; hence, the
was never finished according to Alberti’s design. facade is a slightly reduced version of the main part
Nevertheless, in a letter of November 18, 1454, to of the church itself. But the major problem that Al-
his supervising architect, Matteo de’ Pasti, Alberti berti confronted, and one that contradicted his
gives us an idea of not only what he had in mind strong predisposition for symbolic centralized plans,
but also the importance of proportional relation- was that such plans simply do not accommodate
ships throughout the entire scheme. “Remember the processional liturgical service of the Catholic
and bear well in mind,” Alberti firmly instructs Church; for such a liturgy, the longitudinal basili-
Matteo, “that in the model, on the right and left can plan had long before proved itself superior. Re-
sides along the edge of the roof, there is a thing like peatedly, from the Italian Renaissance up to Sir
this” (and here he inserted a little sketch [15.17]), Christopher Wren’s Greek cross proposal for Saint
“and I told you I am putting it there to conceal that Paul’s, London, about 1672, architects would re-
part of the roof that will be put on the inside of the peatedly propose idealized centralized plans, either
church. . . . You can see where the sizes and pro- circular or square, only to have church officials in-
portions of the pilasters come from; if you alter any- sist on a Latin cross plan.
thing you will spoil all that harmony.”19 This struggle between the ideal and the practical
We should remember that although Alberti was would be documented in the dramatic pendulum
extremely well educated and an accomplished, swings in the designs for the new Saint Peter’s basil-
multitalented individual, he did not have the prac- ica in Rome during the sixteenth century. Thus, in
tical training of an artist or architect. Hence, we Sant’ Andrea, Alberti had to do what Brunelleschi
should carefully note the way he relied on builders had done previously in Florence: devise a scheme
to carry out his conceptual designs. His letter to that was both centralized around the crossing and
Matteo de’ Pasti illustrates this collaboration well. yet provided the focus toward the altar of a basilican
Later, in 1458–1471, Alberti improved on this plan. His solution, inspired by Brunelleschi, perhaps,
connection between side aisles and nave in the had the massive solidity of Roman baths instead of
facade he designed for the existing Church of Santa the delicacy and lightness of San Spirito. Sant’ An-
Maria Novella in Florence [15.18]. This time, he drea’s crossing cube extends in three short barrel-
used long, curved volutes to make a graceful tran- vaulted wings, forming transepts and choir. On the
sition from the square of the upper part of the nave fourth side, the barrel vault is extended in three bays
block to the two squares of the lower part of the to form the nave. Like the heavy center vaults of
facade. the Basilica of Maxentius, Alberti’s coffered nave
Because the Rimini design was developed vault, 60 feet (18.3 m) across, is supported by mas-
through correspondence with Alberti’s supervising sive lateral piers connected by smaller cross barrel
architect, Matteo, the Church of San Francesco vaults. These buttressing side vaults cover deep
was not fully resolved in all its parts. Much more chapels between the piers.
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Bramante and the New Saint Peter’s, Rome 381

In his reduced entrance facade portico, Alberti cade, from edge to edge, and from pavement to the
clearly demonstrated this internal organization by pediment crown, neatly fits inside a square.
showing a center barrel vault supported by vaulted
side chapels. The facade, with its recessed entry, is
also another variation on the Roman triumphal Bramante and the
arch, with a lower Corinthian order supporting the New Saint Peter’s, Rome
central arch and a colossal Corinthian pilaster order Like Alberti, Donato Bramante (1444–1514) pre-
carrying the broad Classical pediment. As a further ferred centralized plans for religious buildings.
demonstration of proportional design, the entire fa- Bramante was trained as a painter in Urbino but

15.18. Leon Battista Alberti, facade of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy, 1458–1471. In this facade design for an
existing medieval church, Alberti pursued further his ideas of uniting the parts of the design by means of proportional systems
as well as volutes to make the transition from tall nave to lower side aisles. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
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382

15.19. Leon Battista Alberti,

Sant’ Andrea, Mantua, Italy,
1470–1493. Front. Slightly
reduced in size to fit next to
the existing tower, the facade
parallels every part of the
interior of the church and is so
proportioned that it fits into a
perfect square. Photo:
Alinari/Art Resource, NY.

15.20. Sant’ Andrea. Plan.

Although Alberti philosophically
preferred centralized plans based
on squares and circles, here he
bowed to the wishes of the clergy
and developed a traditional Latin
cross plan, carefully proportioned
and using repeated modules. The
hatched area is the existing tower.
Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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Bramante and the New Saint Peter’s, Rome 383

switched to designing buildings when he moved to of the Mass and papal symbols. Hence, in form,
Milan.20 In 1499, when the French occupied Milan, proportion, and ornamental detail, the diminutive
Bramante moved to Rome, where he received the building recalls Roman architecture at its purest,
commission for a small martyrium to mark the spot re-created and reshaped in the service of the
where, according to one traditional account, Saint church.
Peter had been crucified. His patrons were Ferdi- With the election of Giuliano della Rovere as
nand and Isabella, king and queen of Spain, more Pope Julius II in 1503, an aggressive and vigorous
widely known to posterity for their patronage of humanism was introduced to the papal court. Be-
Columbus’s voyages to the New World. In writing sides consolidating his temporal power in the papal
about the ideal centralized church, Alberti had states, Julius II had great ambitions for Rome as the
used the Latin word templum, “temple”; Bramante queen city of the church, ending the city’s medieval
took Alberti literally, deriving his martyrium for slumber and returning to it something of the glory
Saint Peter from such round peripteral Roman tem- it had displayed in antiquity. During the Middle
ples as the one at Tivoli. The result was the Tem- Ages the city of Rome had dwindled in population,
pietto (“Little Temple”) in the cloister of San Pietro and now occupied less than a quarter of the space
in Montorio, Rome, 1500–1502 [15.22]. Bramante it had once filled. Throughout the city stood the
carefully proportioned the Tempietto so that its mammoth ruins of pagan Rome, rising proud if
overall height to the base of the dome is equal to rather dilapidated over the medieval city that had
its width, and the ratio of width to height in the shriveled in upon itself. The venerable Constantin-
encircling Doric colonnade is repeated in the width ian basilican churches, built nearly twelve centuries
to height of the drum of the dome. The Doric before, had been in constant use and had even
columns were reused Roman artifacts, but the frieze withstood the onslaughts of successive invaders.
was designed by Bramante after that of the Temple All were dilapidated and in need of repair. Chief
of Vespasian, with the instruments of pagan ritual among these, and next to the papal palace on the
in the Roman model transmuted into instruments Vatican Hill, west of the Tiber and thus outside the

15.21. Sant’ Andrea. Interior. The nave is covered by a massive brick barrel vault with deep coffers, recalling Roman baths.
Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
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384

15.22. Donato Bramante, Tempietto of San Pietro in Montorio, Rome, Italy, 1500–1502. Originally planned to be
surrounded by a circular arcade, this little temple appropriates pagan Roman forms and motifs to proclaim the importance of
Saint Peter as founder of the Christian church in Rome. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
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Bramante and the New Saint Peter’s, Rome 385

actual city of Rome, was the great Constantinian The dome alone was to be 136 feet (41.5 m) in di-
pilgrimage basilica of Saint Peter’s. ameter, nearly equal in size to that of the ancient
Gathered in Rome at this time were humanist Pantheon but raised far higher. Instead of resting on
artists and architects of the highest caliber—the a massive ring wall as in the Pantheon, this dome
sculptor Michelangelo, the young painter Raphael was to be lifted aloft on four molded corner piers
Santi, and Bramante, his uncle. Julius II resolved supporting pendentives, its outward thrust transmit-
to put them to work rebuilding the papal posses- ted to the barrel vaults radiating from the penden-
sions according to the new vision of human power, tives between the piers. Around the four central
a testament to the glory of God as well as to the piers would run an ambulatory connecting with four
power of the papacy. He sent Michelangelo up the vast chapels on the axes of the arches. In the cor-
scaffold in the Vatican chapel built by Julius’s uncle, ners of the vast square plan were to be auxiliary
Pope Sixtus IV (the Sistine Chapel), to paint the chapels. Bramante’s scheme—perhaps inspired by a
ceiling frescoes. Raphael was assigned to paint fres- drawing in one of Leonardo da Vinci’s sketchbooks
coes in the papal apartments, depicting the victory that Bramante may well have seen in Milan—
of humanist theology [see 7.10]. And in 1504 Bra- combined the clear logical form of the Greek cross
mante was appointed to design and build a new with Roman barrel vaults and hemispherical domes.
Saint Peter’s, bigger than Constantine’s church, Circles and squares, cubes and hemispheres were
embodying the ideals of the new architecture and nested and interlocked around each other in a huge
proclaiming the power of an invigorated Christian- pyramidal pile. Altogether, the church would have
ity while surpassing the achievement of pagan an- been roughly 528 feet (161 m) square, and Bra-
tiquity. Not incidentally, the new Saint Peter’s was mante may have intended to create an even larger,
also to reclaim the position of the greatest church paved, square piazza around the church.21 Clearly,
in Christendom, now that Justinian’s huge, domed this was a project to rival in scale those of the Ro-
Hagia Sophia had been captured just fifty years be- mans. Construction began on the piers for the great
fore and converted into a mosque. dome in 1506, when Bramante was sixty-one; when
For the new Saint Peter’s Basilica, Bramante de- he died in 1514, only the four massive piers, the bar-
vised a vast martyrium, providing for a gigantic rel vaults connecting the piers, and the lower por-
dome over the crypt of Saint Peter’s burial and the tions of the radiating walls had been completed
former apse of Constantine’s basilica [15.23, 15.24]. [15.25].

15.23. Donato Bramante, medal

showing Bramante’s design for the new
San Pietro in Vaticano (the new Saint
Peter’s), Rome, Italy, 1504–1514. The
medal, struck by Cristoforo Caradosso
when the foundations of Bramante’s
church were laid, records the original
design. Bramante proposed a huge
martyrium with an elevated dome nearly
as big as that of the Roman Pantheon.
Photo: British Museum, London.
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386

15.24. Saint Peter’s, Rome. Plan

(reconstructed from a half plan). The
simple scheme of Saint Peter’s has a
central square surmounted by a dome,
surrounded by an ambulatory passage,
apses at the ends of the crossed axes,
and towers at the four corners.
Drawing: C. Zettle and L. M. Roth.

15.25. Maerten van Heemskerck, drawing of Saint Peter’s under construction, c. 1532–1535. The Dutch artist van
Heemskerck visited Rome when building on Saint Peter’s was temporarily halted; he made several drawings of the arches
silhouetted against the sky. To the left is visible a portion of the old Constantinian St. Peter’s still standing. Photo: Scala/Art
Resource, NY.
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Bramante and the New Saint Peter’s, Rome 387

Such a project proved enormously expensive, difficulty the church had faced since separation
and to finance it, Julius had authorized the sale of from the Eastern Orthodox Greek Church in 1054.
papal indulgences. Such indulgences had been first There were external political threats as well, par-
granted in 1343 by Pope Clement VI, who declared ticularly the invasion of Italy by German troops of
that because of the great piety of the religious dur- the Holy Roman Emperor, who sacked Rome in
ing the early years of the church, a heavenly “trea- 1527. Consequently, after 1517, there was little
sury of merit” had accumulated. Those who feared construction on the new basilica; the new portions
eternal damnation could obtain some of this merit stood only partly constructed, while the old Con-
through a papal indulgence obtained by doing good stantinian fragments remained inside, only partly
works; later, the requirement of good works was demolished.
modified to the giving of alms. In time, this practice Under succeeding popes and their selected ar-
degenerated to the outright sale of indulgences. In chitects, Bramante’s centralized plan was changed
Germany, where the indulgences were vigorously repeatedly on paper and in models, first into a more
hawked by Johannes Tetzel—a flamboyant agent traditional, longitudinal basilica and then back to
specially hired for the purpose—such flagrant some variant of a centralized plan, and this ambiva-
abuses prompted a German Augustinian monk to lence continued for decades. Not until after the
question the sale and post ninety-five theses for de- election of Alessandro Farnese as Pope Paul III was
bate concerning church reform on the door of the work seriously resumed in 1546, when new plans
castle church of Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. were prepared by the aged Michelangelo. Perhaps
The monk was Martin Luther, and that act imme- Michelangelo’s training as a sculptor, as someone in-
diately polarized German princes, many of whom timately familiar with the great weight of stone, en-
wished to be freed of papal control. Originally wish- abled him to see the flaws in Bramante’s original
ing only to argue for reform within the church, design; it had far too much enclosed volume with
Luther succeeded instead not only in setting off the too little mass to support the huge, elevated dome.
religious Reformation but also in encouraging the Michelangelo pulled in the walls, thickening them
throwing off of political control, forever splintering even more and creating a tighter and more solid
Christianity into argumentative factions. perimeter to the plan [15.26]. He also made another
The popes who followed Julius II (who had died important change, for although he retained the
in 1513 and thus was spared seeing how his archi- sense of a centralized plan with four arms of equal
tectural project split the church) eventually had to length, he proposed making one of them the entry
deal with the problem of division, the most serious by ending it in a huge colonnaded temple front,

15.26. Michelangelo Buonarroti,

Saint Peter’s, Rome, 1547–1590.
Plan. In comparison to Bramante’s
plan, Michelangelo’s is denser and
provides more support for the dome;
it also deviates from Bramante’s
strict centrality by providing for an
entrance portico on the east side.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
Letarouilly.
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388 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

thereby creating a sense of ambiguity—was the de- Corinthian columns. Appearing quiet and empty
sign centralized or not? Under his direction, the in modern photographs, the court then was alive
western walls were built with immense Corinthian with the comings and goings of clients, family mem-
pilasters whose scale defies easy comprehension bers, and the artists and writers Cosimo supported,
[4.16]. Michelangelo’s dome was finished in 1585– and it was ornamented with ancient statuary and
1590, after his death, by Giacomo della Porta and such contemporary sculptures as Donatello’s heroic
the engineer Domenico Fontana, but the church David.
was still not finished, for the east end stood incom-
plete and the approach toward the building had not
yet been made clear; these tasks would be under- The Palazzo Rucellai
taken by later architects in the Baroque period. A more radical departure in facade design was made
by Alberti in his remodeling of the Palazzo Rucellai,
begun about 1452 [15.29]. Giovanni Rucellai,
Residential Architecture: whose fortune derived from making oricello, the red
Merchant Prince Palaces dye for which Florence was famous and from which
In prosperous mercantile Florence, a new standard the family name derived, purchased the houses ad-
of urban residential design, sponsored by the rising joining his birthplace at the corner of the Via della
merchant princes, replaced the cramped houses of Vigna and the Via del Palchetto. Alberti was asked
the fourteenth century with large residences of to design a new facade, unifying the combined prop-
Classical grace. In most of these palazzi and villas, erties. Wishing to give a sense of modular order to
the architects confidently devised an original blend the traditional rusticated Florentine wall, Alberti
of ancient Roman architectural themes with local superimposed three orders of pilasters, as the Ro-
tradition. mans had done in the orders applied to the Theater
of Marcellus in Rome and the Colosseum, with Tus-
can Doric on the bottom, a variant of Ionic in the
The Palazzo de’ Medici middle, and a loosely interpreted Corinthian at
In 1444, Cosimo de’ Medici proposed to build a the top. The entablatures of the orders serve as
large residence for his family, with space on the bases for the surmounting pilasters and windows,
ground floor to accommodate his business offices.22 and the uppermost pilasters carry a large cornice
It was to be located on the Via Larga, then at the proportioned roughly to the height of the building.
edge of town. At first, Cosimo had Brunelleschi The pedestal base at the street is rusticated on the
prepare a model of the new house, but his design diagonal to suggest Roman opus reticulatum con-
was so novel and imposing that Cosimo rejected it, crete. Thus, Alberti combined selected traditional
fearing it would excite his townsmen to envy. As elements with the new interest in Roman architec-
Vasari reports, Brunelleschi was so angry at losing ture and a logical reuse of Classical orders to create
this esteemed commission that he smashed his a proportioned module across the facade.
model “to smithereens.”23 Cosimo then engaged a
more conservative architect, Michelozzo di Bar-
tolomeo (1396–1472).24 The palazzo that Miche- The Palazzo Farnese
lozzo then designed combined the sobriety of This sense of balance, repose, and order was main-
traditional medieval Florentine residences with a tained and developed in subsequent urban palazzi,
sense of gravity and proportion and attention to as illustrated in the immense Palazzo Farnese in
Classical Roman detail [15.27, 15.28]. The rusti- Rome, begun in 1515 by the architect Antonio da
cated joints of the masonry were a gesture to local Sangallo the Younger (1485–1546) for Cardinal
tradition, but the graduation from rough, quarry- Alessandro Farnese before he became Pope Paul III
faced masonry on the ground level, to channeled [15.30]. By the early sixteenth century, following
joints in the middle floor, to a perfectly smooth sur- the activity started by Julius II, Rome had again be-
face in the upper floor was new. Also modern was come a center of power, and princes of the church
the massive cornice, adapted from ancient Roman vied to display their importance through imposing
models; it was decidedly Classical and proportioned architectural projects. The Palazzo Farnese was one
to the overall height of the building, as though as- such example, surpassing anything yet done in
sociated with an invisible order of pilasters or en- Rome. Cardinal Farnese held enormous power in
gaged columns. Inside, the rooms were arranged the Vatican, having a retinue of three hundred per-
around a central court, which opened up at the sons. Following his election to the papacy as Paul III
bottom through an encircling arcade of delicate in 1534, he had Sangallo enlarge the palazzo, then
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389

15.27. Michelozzo di Bartolommeo,

Palazzo de’ Medici, Florence, Italy,
1444–1460. Although the heaviness of the
palazzo and the window details were derived
from earlier Florentine city houses, the careful
proportioning of parts and the massive
Classical cornice show Michelozzo’s study of
antiquity. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.

15.28. Palazzo de’ Medici, Florence. Plan. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Murray, Architecture of the Italian Renaissance
(New York, 1963).
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390 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

15.29. Leon Battista Alberti,

Palazzo Rucellai, Florence, Italy,
begun c. 1452. Alberti based his
facade (actually a remodeling of
existing houses) on Roman sources,
using superimposed pilasters to
create a varied rhythm and to
visually support the crowning
cornice. Photo: Scala/Art
Resource, NY.

still under construction. Eventually, the third floor ued to exploit the simple cubic volumes and ele-
of the facade and much of the rear of the palazzo mental forms of the early Renaissance, particularly
was completed during 1547–1559 by Michelangelo, in the exteriors of his buildings. He was Andrea Pal-
who modified the third-floor design. ladio (1508–1580), one of the few architects of this
period to be trained as a builder; it was later in his
life that he was given a humanist education in the
The Villas of Palladio classics, through the support of his patron, Gian-
By the time Michelangelo had finished the third giorgio Trissino.25 During his career, he built public
floor of the Palazzo Farnese in 1559, Renaissance ar- buildings and urban palazzi in his adopted city, Vi-
chitecture as the clear and intellectual expression cenza; two important churches in Venice; and,
of form through simple mathematical proportions finally, the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. But in num-
was being modified into a more subtle and intellec- bers alone, the buildings Palladio designed the most
tually complicated idiom later called Mannerism were farm villas; he produced more than forty
(discussed below). Nonetheless, one architect work- around Venice and Vicenza.
ing in the mid-sixteenth century in the region of the Early in the sixteenth century, desiring to make
Veneto (the area north and west of Venice) contin- their finances more secure, Venetian nobles used
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Residential Architecture: Merchant Prince Palaces 391

the funds accumulated through maritime commerce published of his own work, I Quattro libri dell’ ar-
to buy up and reclaim low-lying, marshy lands that chitettura (Four Books of Architecture) (Venice,
had been agriculturally unproductive for centuries. 1570). This was the Villa Capra, called the Villa
Palladio was commissioned to design numerous Rotonda because it focused not on a single entrance
working farms for these lands, and he devised a va- facade but on a cylindrical rotunda at the center
riety of plans, simple in layout, proportionally com- capped by a dome visibly poking through the roof.
posed, and yet functionally practical. The Villa This central rotunda connected to four identical
Badoer at Fratta Polesine, 37 miles (60 km) south- columnar porticos on each of the four sides [15.32,
west of Venice, begun in 1556, exemplifies in plan 7.12]. The use of a dome in a private residence was
the practical use of curved Classical colonnades to a novel departure on the part of Palladio, for up to
connect the stables and storage sheds with the main this time, such a form, symbolizing the heavens and
house and the exploitation of whole-number pro- divinity, had been reserved for churches. The house
portional systems in the sizes of the rooms [15.31]. was, as Palladio wrote, not strictly a villa but a
In nearly all of these villas, Palladio incorporated a belvedere, an elevated pavilion designed to offer
temple front; he believed that Romans had adapted pleasing views over the surrounding countryside.
that form from their early houses and, desiring to From the central rotunda, passages extend to
emulate the ancients, he “restored” the colonnaded the temple porticoes on each of the four sides of the
portico to the private house. square house, so that even from the center of
His best-known and most imitated villa was not the house one can view the pastoral landscape. In
strictly a working farm but more a suburban retreat its symmetry and the proud way it is lifted up on the
for Paolo Almerico, a retired papal court official.26 hill surveying the landscape below, the Villa Capra
The villa was located just outside the city of Vi- summarizes the confident spirit of the Renaissance
cenza. Palladio in fact used the word suburbana, and its ideal of a rational, intelligible order super-
“suburban,” to describe its location in the book he imposed on nature. At the center of it all—quite

15.30. Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (the upper floor was completed by Michelangelo), Palazzo Farnese, Rome, Italy,
1515–1559. This palazzo, a regal and imposing residence befitting the status of newly elected Pope Paul III, brings to subtle
perfection the ideas and forms used by Alberti in the Palazzo Rucellai. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
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392

15.31. Andrea Palladio, Villa Badoer, Fratta Polesine, Italy, begun 1556. Basing his theories on studies of music, Palladio
designed his farm villas using proportional number systems, shown clearly in the dimensions he noted on the plans published in
his Four Books of Architecture. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.

15.32. Palladio, Villa Capra (Villa Rotonda), outside Vicenza, Italy, begun c. 1550. Taking advantage of the elevated setting,
Palladio gave this villa four identical facades opening out to the countryside, all governed by a system of proportional
relationships. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.
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Mannerism: Renaissance Perfection in Play 393

literally in this case, at the focus of the domed a few architects in favor of subtle variations on the
rotunda—stands man, the “measure and measurer rules, deviations from the established norm. In their
of all things.” Palladio translated into architectural restless quest of innovation, these High Renais-
forms Pico’s “Oration,” for the human being is in- sance architects were not content to stop their ma-
deed set “at the world’s center that thou mayest nipulation of form once the rules had been defined.
from thence more easily observe whatever is in The result was that High Renaissance architecture
the world.” lasted less than half a century before it was re-
placed, about 1530, by a subtle tension and a whim-
sical playfulness later called Mannerism. It is also
Mannerism: possible that the artists’ deliberate rejection of
Renaissance Perfection in Play vaunted High Renaissance pure form was a cynical
As mentioned earlier, Classical order in Florentine reaction to the sacking of Rome in 1527. The sense
architecture appeared in 1418 in the work of of universal order and rationality so carefully nur-
Brunelleschi. By the time Bramante had completed tured during the fifteenth century was dramatically
the Tempietto in 1502, Renaissance architecture and symbolically swept away in this political deba-
had achieved a clarity of form and precision in the cle, and artists found an escape in exercising their
adaptive reuse of Classical architectural forms that fancy and rejecting formal discipline.
is called the High Renaissance. The goal of this One artist whose work dramatically illustrates
architecture was purity, a state of absolute balance this change was Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–
and rational order. Yet, once this state of perfection 1564).27 From the beginning, Michelangelo’s build-
was achieved in such designs as Bramante’s Tem- ing design took liberties with what were considered
pietto and his new Saint Peter’s—once the rules the rules established in antiquity, and his later ar-
had been set down—they were quickly flouted by chitecture is built up of increasingly ambiguous and

15.33. Michelangelo, Medici Chapel, in San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy, 1520–1526. Designed to complement the sacristy
added to San Lorenzo by Brunelleschi, this was to hold the tombs of the Medici family members. In addition to the sculpture
of the tombs, the walls were filled with invented architectural ornament. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
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394 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

complex forms. His revised design for Saint Peter’s, major and a minor axis. Giacomo Barozzi da Vig-
for example, was both centralized and yet not quite, nola used the oval in two small Roman churches,
for it had an emphasized portico entrance. His first in Sant’ Andrea in the Via Flaminia, 1550–
Medici Chapel, added to San Lorenzo in Florence, 1554, only 28 feet (8.5 m) across the short dimen-
1520–1526, has blind aedicule frames (carried by sion, and then in the slightly larger Sant’ Anna dei
brackets, not short columns or pilasters), whose Palafrenieri, begun about 1565 [15.38].
squeezed crowning pediments barely fit into their
allotted space between dark stone paired pilasters
[15.33]. His later staircase, providing entrance into The Palazzo del Te
his library at San Lorenzo, 1558–1571, has pairs of The playfulness of Mannerist architecture is per-
muscular Tuscan Doric columns recessed into haps most evident in the Palazzo del Te, 1527–
niches in the wall [15.34, 15.35, 15.36]. But in- 1534, built just outside Mantua for Duke Federigo
stead of bearing down on substantial pedestal bases, Gonzaga by Giulio Romano (c. 1492–1546).30 It
the heavy pairs of columns appear to be carried by was to house the duke’s renowned stud farm and to
light, curved scrolls attached to the wall. In the provide a pleasant suburban retreat. Having a rel-
center of the room, the staircase has three parallel atively open site, Giulio Romano spread the build-
flights (which one to choose?) that fan out toward ing out, placing the living quarters in one principal
the bottom, creating a perspective illusion of depth level in a large square around a spacious central
greater than there truly is. The staircase, in fact, is court. Romano was obliged, however, to incorpo-
made the major element of this room, in direct con- rate portions of a building that already stood on the
tradiction to Alberti’s explicit instructions in his site. The exterior masonry of the one-story building
De re aedificatoria: “The fewer staircases in a build- is deeply rusticated and has heavy pilasters, which
ing and the less room they take up, the less of an correspond to no upper load at all; since the pilas-
inconvenience they will be.”28 ters are disposed in different rhythms on each wall,
Michelangelo’s replanning of the Capitoline Hill they create odd combinations when they meet at
in Rome, the Campidoglio, conceived as early as the corners. Toward the garden, the existing older
1536 and built during the mid-sixteenth century, building was faced with new arcaded bays that give
introduced order to the irregular geometry of the the initial impression of being identical in their
existing buildings. In the new facades and buildings constituent elements but which, on closer inspec-
he added, Michelangelo shaped not a square but a tion, turn out to differ in each successive adjoining
trapezoidal space, in the center of which is not an bay [4.18; see the discussion of this building in
ideal and unequivocal circle but an oval drawn in Chapter 4].
the paving pattern [15.37]. In every one of Michel- Romano’s most dramatic flouting of the Classi-
angelo’s architectural designs, what appear at first cal orders is in the court [15.39]. There, the rusti-
to be standard Classical architectural elements are cation is even more pronounced, and the pilasters
in fact subtly manipulated in defiance of the stan- have been transformed into more emphatic, en-
dards of conventional Classical design, for Michel- gaged Tuscan Doric columns. In the wide bays are
angelo was molding them as elements in gigantic windows (some of them blind, that is, with no open-
sculpture. Vasari, who personally knew Michelan- ing), capped by what appear to be triangular pedi-
gelo well, described how in the Medici Chapel at ments, yet the bottom cornice of the pediment is
San Lorenzo “he did the ornamentation in a com- missing, and instead of being supported by pilasters,
posite order, in a style more varied and more origi- the parts of the pediment are carried by emphatic
nal than any other master, ancient or modern, has brackets. Inside the would-be pediment, the key-
ever been able to achieve. . . . He departed a great stone of the flat arch of the window swells to fill
deal from the kind of architecture regulated by pro- completely the available space. Above the en-
portion, order, and rule which other artists did ac- trances to the court are larger pediments, also car-
cording to common usage and following Vitruvius ried by brackets, their bottom cornices replaced by
and the works of antiquity, but from which huge keystones pushing up from the arch below.
Michelangelo wanted to break away.”29 Resting on the engaged columns, where there
In Mannerist planning, the circle was replaced should be straight entablatures, are what appear to
by the oval as a governing modular device, begin- be flat arches, and as a kind of architectural joke,
ning with Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio. the keystones seem to be slipping out of place. In
The ambiguity of the oval typifies the Mannerist fact, inside the palazzo, Giulio Romano painted
method of design. It is at the same time centered highly illusionistic frescoes that show the building
and yet suggests two foci; it is round and yet has a falling down around the observer.31
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395

15.34. Michelangelo, Staircase, Library of San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy, 1558–1571. The tiny room accommodating the
staircase up to Michelangelo’s library is crammed with dark, massive architectural elements contrasted to the white walls.
Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.

15.35. Staircase, Library of San Lorenzo. Plan. 15.36. Staircase, Library of San Lorenzo. Section.
Drawing: W. Chin. Drawing: W. Chin.
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396 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

15.37. Michelangelo,
Capitoline Hill (Campidoglio),
Rome, Italy, designed 1536.
Intended to give new civic
importance to the heart of
ancient and medieval Rome,
Michelangelo’s Campidoglio
incorporated new facades in
front of existing buildings to
enclose a trapezoidal space
reinforcing a processional axis.
Photo: Charles E. Rotkin/
Corbis.

Giulio Romano enjoyed the full support of the

duke, who paid him handsomely, making possible
the construction of Romano’s own house in Man-
tua in 1544. The facade is similarly filled with un-
orthodox architectural gamesmanship [15.40]. The
masonry is again rusticated, the surfaces of the
stones having the appearance of being worm-eaten,
or vermiculated. The windows of the basement were
designed to disappear below the street without a
base line. What should be a sill course, or molding,
just above the ground-floor windows is displaced by
the large voussoirs of the flat arches, so the molding
reads instead as a dotted line across the facade. An-
other molding, or belt course, with a most unusual
profile marks the line between floors and serves as
the base line for the upper windows, but in the cen-
ter, it is heaved up over the central door by the
entrance arch to suggest an incomplete pediment.
Within the arcade of the upper floor are inset win-
dows framed with architraves of novel design; they,
15.38. Giacomo Barozzi do Vignola, Church of Sant’
too, are missing the bottom cornice of their crown-
Anna dei Palafrenieri, Rome, Italy, begun c. 1565.
Vignola was among the first architects to turn away from ing pediments. And the entablature that brings the
the circle as a generating form for buildings, using instead entire composition to an end is resting on nothing
the more ambiguous oval. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after more than the oversized keystones of the arches
P. Murray, Architecture of the Italian Renaissance below. There is hardly one element in the Classical
(New York, 1963). vocabulary that Giulio Romano did not deliberately
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Late Italian Renaissance Gardens 397

15.39. Giulio Romano, Palazzo del Te, Mantua, Italy, 1527–1534. View of the inner court. In the inner court, architectural
elements are exaggerated, some are missing altogether, and what should be a straight architrave beam has keystones slipping
out of place. Photo: Gabinetto Fotografico Nazionale, Rome.

vary in detail or violate in some way, and yet the tarian buildings. To these farmhouses were soon
effect is subtle; only a person who knew thoroughly added gardens, as in the villas of the Medici. The
the rules of Classical design would grasp the irony gardens were usually orthogonal grids of planted
and whimsy of Giulio Romano’s facade. beds (parterres), delineated by gravel walks and dis-
posed in one or more flat terraces.
The increasing subtlety and variety of Mannerist
Late Italian Renaissance Gardens architecture finds its landscape parallel in the Villa
As noted earlier, with the renewed appreciation of Lante at Bagnaia, a small village about 3 miles
such Latin works as Virgil’s Georgics came a new (3.2 km) east of Viterbo, which is a town 37 miles (60
appreciation of nature and idyllic life in the coun- km) north of Rome. Toward the end of the fifteenth
tryside. Another area in which Mannerist designers century, Cardinal Raphael Riario, bishop of Viterbo,
quickly excelled, preparing the way for designers in enclosed the woods on the hill above the village as a
the Baroque period, was garden design. “Landscape summer retreat. The present villa was developed by
architecture,” or perhaps more correctly “garden Cardinal Gambara, subsequent bishop of Viterbo,
design,” had been revived early in the fifteenth cen- beginning in 1566; it was finished by Cardinal Mon-
tury as another manifestation of Classical civiliza- talto in 1590. After 1875, it was in the charge of the
tion. The new Renaissance gardens were inspired Lante family. Who precisely was the designer is not
by the villas described by Scipio, Cicero, and Ho- known, but Vignola is one proposed candidate.32
race, and especially by the two villas that Pliny the The plan of the Villa Lante exploits its sloping
Younger described at length in his Letters. Many topography [15.41, 15.42]. At the lowest point, next
wealthy families such as the Medici had farm en- to the village, is a large square terrace with twelve
terprises in the countryside, with associated utili- planted beds around its perimeter and a fountain
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398 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

15.40. Giulio Romano, house of the architect, Mantua, Italy, 1544. In this design, too, what appears at first to be in
accordance with the rules of fifteenth-century design is full of omissions, changes, and invention. Photo: Gabinetto Fotografico
Nazionale, Rome.

at the center. Just east of this, the land rises and the ancient resort of Tivoli in the hills 16 miles (25 km)
visitor ascends ramped and angled stairs between east of Rome. Here, many wealthy ancient Romans
twin casinos (summer pavilions used for entertain- had built retreats, none grander than a sprawling
ment) that frame the central controlling axis. Be- villa built by Hadrian, in 118–124. In these villas,
hind these casinos are further terraces, reached by they could enjoy summer breezes and escape the
stairs built into the retaining walls. Each higher ter- heat, noise, and congestion of the city. The general
race is progressively more enclosed, planted with design of the Villa d’Este, nearly 700 feet (213 m)
larger trees creating a denser canopy. The upper- square, was devised about 1550 by architect Pirrio
most terraces also are more restricted in size, with a Ligorio. The hydraulic engineer who diverted water
water chain (a long, narrow cascade) spilling down from the Aniene River for the waterworks was
the center axis. At the top of the hill, in a thicket Orazio Olivieri, and the famous waterworks them-
of trees, is a small pavilion covering a grotto from selves were designed by Tommaso da Siena [15.43].
which the water issues in a spring; all the lower cas- The villa terrain was rugged, rising sharply on the
cades and fountains are symbolically fed by the southeast and northeast sides, and the garden design
water that pours forth here. Around this uppermost exploited the changes in elevation for dramatic foun-
pavilion, the trees and shrubs are wilder in form, so tains. Running on an axis extending northwest from
that the garden terraces proceed from the most cul- the rather plain villa building, the gardens are laid
tivated at the lower level to the most primal at the out in terraces descending to a large parterre on the
top. All of this graduation and shift in detail is con- northwest side. This is divided into the more tradi-
tained in an area no more than 756 feet (230.3 m) tional square planted beds, but on approaching from
long and 250 feet (76 m) wide at the widest, easily the southeast, the visitor passes one cross axis after
comprehensible and toured in a single afternoon another. At the southerly edge of the large terrace is
(although well worth much longer stays). a major cross axis called the Terrace of the Hundred
More complex and larger in scale is the Villa Fountains, for its retaining walls are lined with hun-
d’Este, designed for Cardinal Ippolito d’Este at the dreds of water jets in cascading rows [15.44].
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399

15.41. Vignola (attrib.), Villa Lante, Bagnaia, near Viterbo, Italy, begun 1566. Aerial perspective. From G. Lauro, Roma
Vetus et Nuova, 1614; courtesy of Avery Library, Columbia University.

15.42. Villa Lante. Plan. The inset shows the relationship of the villa to the adjoining village of Bagnaia. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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400 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

15.43. Pirrio Ligorio, Orazio Olivieri, and Tommaso da Siena, Villa d’Este, Tivoli, Italy, begun c. 1550. This garden takes
advantage of the rugged landscape for the creation of terraces and innumerable fountains; such Mannerist designs provided a
total sensory experience. Photo: Engraving by G. Lauro, 1641; courtesy of Avery Library, Columbia University.

Perhaps even Petrarch, who ventured up Mount and practicing architect began to appear in growing
Ventoux years earlier solely for the pleasure of numbers.33 The crucial ancient publication, De ar-
the view, would have been surprised at the sensual chitectura (later called the Ten Books on Architec-
pleasures such gardens provided for their visitors, ture), by the Roman architect Vitruvius, appeared
for every sense was touched: in the color of clipped in Latin versions in 1486 and in an illustrated Latin
plant materials, the sound of sighing wind and edition in 1511. It was further translated into the
splashing water, the soft caress of moss contrasting vernacular Italian in 1521 and then appeared in
with the roughness of stone, the honeyed scent of other European languages (French, 1547; German,
boxwood and blossom, and the taste of the water. 1548; English, 1669). Alberti’s Latin De re aedifica-
Such captivating examples of the Italians’ mastery toria was published in 1485, followed by translations
of natural elements were much admired by visiting into Italian, French, and Spanish during the follow-
ambassadors of the French king to the papal court ing century. Sebastiano Serlio began to produce
and would soon inspire garden architecture in practical and popular books on Renaissance design
France. in 1537 (in Italian); eventually, this series grew to
seven volumes, of which the last was published in
1575. Although Serlio had been first to analyze (and
The Renaissance Exported illustrate) the differences in the five orders, a more
The use of Classical details and Renaissance archi- authoritative reference was provided in Giacomo
tectural ideals had begun to move beyond Italy by Barozzi da Vignola’s La Regula delli cinque ordini d’ar-
the end of the fifteenth century. One of the most chitettura (Rules of the Five Orders), published in
important agents in this diffusion was the printing Italian in 1562 [7.11]. Palladio’s I Quattro Libri dell’
press, as architectural treatises aimed at both patron Architettura (Four Books on Architecture) was pub-
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The Renaissance Exported 401

lished in 1570. Beginning in 1715, English transla- character. In the Low Countries and the Germanic
tions set off a sweeping Palladian revival in England states, small-scale Classical details, typically in
and then in its American colonies, lasting through stone in contrast to the overall brick structures,
the eighteenth century. were applied to the vertically oriented urban houses
Direct contact also spread the new architecture. with their distinctive stepped gables fronting on the
Due to numerous military expeditions into Italy, street. Good examples appeared in the square in
the French monarch Francis I was acquainted with front of the town hall in Antwerp, and still surviv-
contemporary architectural developments there. In ing is the Vleeshal (Meat Hall) in Haarlem, the
fact, a number of Italian artists and architects de- Netherlands, 1601–1605, by Lieven de Key [19.8].
cided that political conditions were so unsettled at In Spain, particularly in the southerly provinces
home that they accepted invitations to work in so recently won back from the Islamic Moors, the
France. The best known of the painters is Leonardo newly emerging Classical buildings were strongly in-
da Vinci, who was supported by Francis I in his last fluenced by local traditions of Moorish Islamic art.
years. Among the architects who moved to France Small-scale Classical details were clustered in dense
was Serlio, who was commissioned to work on the profusion around central doors and windows. Good
royal château at Fontainebleau and who published examples of this include the portal of the Royal Hos-
several of his later volumes in France. pital of Santiago de Compostela, 1501–1511, by
When Renaissance architecture first appeared Egas, and the entry portal of the University Library
outside Italy, it typically incorporated elements that at Salamanca, 1525–1530 [15.45]. One imposing ex-
grew out of local building traditions continuing ception to this intensity of decoration was the aus-
from the Middle Ages. Most often, this meant the terity of the large addition to the Alhambra Palace,
continued use of basic building mass configurations Granada, started for Charles V in 1527 by Pedro
with a decorative overlay of Classical details imper- Machuca, who was clearly influenced by Italian Pla-
fectly understood. In each country, this develop- tonic formal ideals. It is believed that Machuca stud-
ment resulted in a particular and recognizable ied in Italy and trained under Michelangelo. In the

15.44. Villa d’Este, Terrace of the Hundred Fountains. The long cross axis contains hundreds of vertical and horizontal jets.
Photo: Vanni Archive/Art Resource, NY.
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402

15.45. University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain, 1533. In early Spanish Renaissance architecture, embellishment is
composed of small Classical details amassed in dense clusters around principal doors. Photo: Kavaler/Art Resource, NY.
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The Renaissance Exported 403

15.46. Pedro Machuca, Court of the Palace of Charles V added to the Alhambra, Granada, Spain, begun 1527. In contrast
to the emphasis on masses of dense small-scale ornament customary in Spanish Renaissance buildings, here Machuca employs
strongly austere Roman Classical elements. Photo: © imagebroker/Alamy.

exterior of the palace Machuca used massive rusti- terior is covered with Classical details that stress
cated masonry, but on the interior he devised a del- the horizontal layering of the individual floors
icate circular colonnaded courtyard set in the square [15.47]. In England, especially, the roofs became
mass of the palace addition [15.46]. There could nearly flat, hidden behind parapets and Classical
have been no clearer demonstration of the triumph balustrades at the roof line.
of the exacting Renaissance Classicism of the new During the reigns of Elizabeth’s Stuart succes-
Christian monarch over the embroidered ornamen- sors, a different interpretation of Italian Classicism
talist delicacy created by the displaced Muslims appeared, at least in the architecture commissioned
whose elegant Alhambra palace stands immediately by the court; its influence was limited at the start
adjacent. but would garner enormous respect and influence
In England, the application of Classical details several generations later. This was the architecture
can be found in country houses built during the of Inigo Jones (1573–1652), who emerged from rel-
reign of Elizabeth I. What had once been fortified ative humble origins to become the principal de-
dwellings were now opened up with large, glass signer at court. He traveled several times to Italy,
windows, the remaining walls overlaid with loosely paying particular attention to the architecture of
interpreted engaged columns and entablatures. A Palladio around Venice and Vicenza. His first mas-
good example is Wollaton Hall, Nottinghamshire, terwork, showing this Palladian influence, was the
1580–1588. It was designed by the master mason country house he designed in 1616 for the Queen
Robert Smythson for Sir Francis Willoughby, sheriff Mother, Anne of Denmark, at Greenwich on the
of Nottinghamshire, in anticipation of official visits Thames. Composed of two rectangular blocks con-
by Queen Elizabeth. Its medieval castle antece- nected by a central linking hyphen block, the south
dents are evident in such elements as the corner front, with its emphasis on clearly discernible
towers and the sense of a center keep, but the ex- proportional systems, shows well the restraint of
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404 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

15.47. Robert Smythson, Wollaton Hall, Nottinghamshire, England, 1588. The thin layers of low-relief Classical details
mark this as early English Renaissance, but the corner towers with the tall central “keep” profile reveal the debt to medieval
castles. Photo: Jarrold Publishing/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.

Palladio’s exteriors. The mature Renaissance in En- of Paris. It was begun for Francis I in 1519 and was
gland is well represented by the Banqueting House, built circa 1520–1550. As with Wollaton Hall in
1619–1622, designed by Jones as an addition to the England, the plan of Chambord clearly reflects me-
royal palace at Whitehall, then just outside London dieval sources, with a lower enclosure and a tall
[15.48]. Retaining the nearly flat roof hidden be- “keep” tower. At the corners of the outer enclosure
hind a balustrade, it too shows Jones’s close study and the central block are huge, squat, round towers
of the work of Palladio. In addition to the carefully big enough to contain suites of rooms in what were
proportioned engaged orders (Tuscan Doric below called appartements. This Italian idea was the con-
and Ionic above), the building is so proportioned tribution of the architect Domenico da Cortona;
that the single internal room, used for state ban- the building’s construction, however, was supervised
quets, formal receptions, and court masques, had by the French master mason Pierre Nepveu. Every
the form of a perfect double cube. section of the château is capped by its own steep
In France, too, the generic medieval castle form roof form, especially the round towers with their tall,
was encrusted with Classical details, as can be seen pointed cones [15.49]. A view at close range reveals
in the royal château at Chambord, on a branch of that the walls are articulated everywhere by at-
the Loire River about 97 miles (160 km) southeast tached pilasters, carrying entablatures that wrap
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405

15.48. Inigo Jones, Banqueting House, Palace at Whitehall, London, England, 1619–1622. The balanced proportions and
reduced embellishment give evidence of Jones’s admiration of Palladio’s work. Photo: © Angelo Hornak/Corbis.

15.49. Domenico da Cortona with Pierre Nepveu, Château de Chambord, Chambord, France, 1519–1550. Built originally
for Francis I, the château’s basic design was by an Italian architect, but the overall massing is still Medieval, based on traditional
castle forms. The walls however are covered with low-relief Classical details. Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:14 PM Page 406

406 15. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

15.50. François Mansart, Château de Maisons, originally the village of Maisons, near Paris, France, 1642–1646. Although
the forms have been clarified and the Classical details thoroughly mastered, the separation of pavilions and wall segments is
continued, and the pavilions are capped by tall roofs that soon came to be called by the architect’s name (spelled “mansard”
in English). Photo: Bridgeman-Giraudon, Art Resource, New York.

around the entire building. Significant for the future still called by his name, now spelled mansard. As in
of château design in France was the extension of the Jones’s Banqueting House, the Classical details are
axis of the château out into the vast hunting park used sparingly to accentuate the precise propor-
of more than 13,000 acres (5,261 hectares). The ex- tions of the parts of the building, inside and out.
tended controlling axis was suggested by the axial
design of Italian gardens.
As in England, the French corner towers even- An Architecture of
tually became flattened into projecting bays or Humanist Ideals
pavilions, typically one at each corner of the châ- The humanist scholar architects of the Renais-
teau mass and in the center of each facade. The sance, nearly all of whom were trained as painters
roofs remained tall and visible, emphasized by even or sculptors, sought to create a new architecture
taller roofs over the projecting bays or pavilions. cleansed of the mysticism of what they liked to call
This unique French development is well illustrated the crude work of the Goths. The new humanist
by the Château de Maisons, built outside Paris in architecture was to be rationally comprehensible,
1642–1646 for the minister in charge of finances formed of planes and spaces organized according to
under Louis XIII, René de Longueil, by François clear, numerical proportional systems, its edges and
Mansart [15.50]. In fact, these rising emphatic roof intervals delineated by the crisp elements of the an-
forms became so associated with this particular cient architectural orders. It was to be a celebration
architect that the distinctive pavilion roof shape is of human intellectual powers, but it was also an
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An Architecture of Humanist Ideals 407

architecture that invited and rewarded pleasurable emotions and invoking a renewed and sanctioned
human response. But once that door to sensory de- religious mysticism. The essence of static linear
light had been opened, there was no holding it Classical elements of column, entablature, pedi-
shut. Indeed, religious and political Counter- ment, and arch remained, but the intellectual for-
Reformation developments during the sixteenth mal austerity was replaced with a new, deliberate
century soon demanded that Italian painters, sculp- sensualism. This change, only hinted at in Manner-
tors, and architects create a new fusion of the arts, ist whimsy, shortly would be transformed into full-
with the specific purpose of deliberately stimulating flown Baroque theatricality.
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AM-1. Temple I, Tikal, Guatemala, c. 730–745 CE. Jutting upward in a level landscape, these man-made artificial
mountains proudly rise over the surrounding forest. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.
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E S S AY 3

Ancient Architecture in the Americas

B y his reckoning, and if there were favorable winds, he had thought it would be a journey of
no more than eight weeks sailing to the west. And, as he expected, his crew did sight land
at just about the right latitude. But what Cristobal Colón did not know was that his calculation
of the diameter of the earth was off by at least a third. He planned to reach the islands off China
and then Mainland China itself, but instead Christopher Columbus (as Colón’s name was later
spelled) stumbled upon two entire continents that lay unexpectedly in the path he had imagined;
even more surprising, the indigenous people possessed gold and silver. The natives’ initial gen-
erous greetings coupled with their possession of gold would be their undoing. Their “guests” al-
most immediately became their conquerors.1
While the European invaders recognized that the native peoples built permanent durable
structures and practiced agriculture in ways understandable to them, they could not recognize
that the pictures and symbols drawn on white-painted tree bark was a written language.2 Re-
grettably, virtually the entire Mayan library—the records of their thoughts and history—was
wantonly destroyed. The intruders also failed to grasp the deep antiquity of the cultures and
building traditions of the New World.

Central America
In Central America cultures of significant accomplishment in sculpture and architecture devel-
oped beginning with the Olmec in 1500 BCE and ending with the Aztec in 1521 CE.3 The names
of virtually all of these groups (particularly those ending in “-tec”) are adapted from Nahatl, the
Aztec language, since these people knew of past civilizations or had conquered their descendants
by the time the Spanish arrived in 1517. Moreover, many of these groups still exist today, includ-
ing the Mayan, the Zapotec, and the Mixtec, living in portions of southern Mexico or on the
Yucatan peninsula.
The center of the oldest of these Central American civilizations, the Olmec (which flourished
from 1,500 to 300 BCE), was located near modern-day La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico. The Olmec
developed an early form of glyphic writing, truly monumental stone-carved sculpture, the practice
of ritual ball-playing, and the development of the Central American pyramid form [AM-2]. After
twenty-five hundred years of erosion, the packed-earth, hill-like La Venta pyramid is presently
110 feet (33 m) high; careful examination suggests it was perhaps originally square with terraced
sides and indented corners. This pyramid sat at the north end of an elongated plaza oriented
almost due north, with raised platforms along both sides.
The Olmecs originated the basic long-count calendar further developed by their cultural de-
scendants, the Maya; most significant is that this kind of calendar requires the use of a symbol for
zero—a concept that eluded the ancient Greeks and Romans, who had trouble grasping the idea
that something could be nothing. Olmec social organization was well developed, as is suggested
by the many enormous carved basalt portrait heads found in their settlements, including a number
at La Venta. Carved out of great boulders transported more than fifty miles, these huge, individ-
ualistic heads measure in height from just under 5 feet (1.5 m) to as much as 11 feet (3.4 m) and
weigh between 25 and 55 tons each. It is estimated that their quarrying, transportation, and final

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410 ESSAY 3: ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE IN THE AMERICAS

AM-2. La Venta central plaza, La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico, built c. 1000–600 BCE. Among the many cultural
activities that the Olmec introduced in Central America was the pyramid form to mark important ceremonial
spaces. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after M. Coe, Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs, 2nd ed. (New York,
1994), p. 71.

carving would have required the labor of several thousand people for months and hence required
significant social organization.
Teotihuacán—the civilization that developed high in the Mexican Basin and began around
the start of the common era and lasted until about 750 CE—is as mysterious today as it was to
the Aztecs when they first encountered its ruins. Teotihuacán was one great city of perhaps
150,000 people with several satellite communities. Through the center of the city ran a broad
avenue 145 feet (45 m) wide, today called the Street of the Dead, extending almost due south
from the Pyramid of the Moon, an earth mound encased in stone terraces and measuring 152
feet (46 m) high and 492 feet (150 m) wide at the base. South of the Pyramid of the Moon is the
similar but far larger Pyramid of the Sun, rising to 208 feet (63 m) and 738 feet (225 m) wide at
the base [AM-3]. Stepped terraces and elevated platforms define the Street of the Dead, leading
to further terraces and temples, including the Ciudadela (“citadel”) in whose court rises the small
pyramid of Quetzalcoatl. To the sides of this axial focus were palaces, residential groups, and a
large market area.4
While the Teotihuacaños pushed the size of pyramid building to extraordinary heights, neither
they nor the many pyramid-building cultures that followed them built in the ancient Egyptian
manner (using massive blocks of squared stone stacked one upon the other). Rather, Central
American pyramids are usually layers of packed earth, sometimes with internal reinforcing re-
taining walls of rough dressed stone, but with the exterior then veneered with carefully dressed
stone often incorporating significant amounts of sculpture.
For the Maya, and the Aztecs after them, pyramids were begun by being built over under-
ground or surface-built vaulted burial chambers for ruling lords; subsequent rulers would add a
new burial chamber and enclosing layers to create a new pyramid with a new stone casing, finally
building a new temple on top. This could occur repeatedly, one layer upon another, increasing
the size of the resulting final pyramid. A second distinctive feature was the pyramid’s flat top
with a surmounting temple reached by one pronounced steep staircase (as at Palenque) or, more
rarely, one stair on each of the four sides. A third feature in many lower platform pyramids, as at
Teotihuacán, was the talud-tablero method of terrace construction, with two distinctive parts.5
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Central America 411

AM-3. View of the Avenue of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacán, Mexico, c. 600–700 CE.
The residents of the powerful city of Teotihuacán created a model of formal stone ceremonial architecture and
imposing pyramid building that influenced all later Central American cultures. Photo: © SuperStock/Alamy.

Sometimes the tablero panel might have one or several nested encircling frames [see the platform
pyramids visible in the foreground, AM-3].
The Zapotec civilization, centered in what is now Oaxaca, Mexico, flourished from around
600 BCE to 700 CE; conquered by the Aztecs around 1500, they became part of Spanish Mexico
about twenty-five years later. The cultural center of the Zapotec was at Monte Albán on a leveled
ridge (a type of man-made mesa) that rises roughly 1,300 feet (400 m) above the Valley of Oax-
aca. Begun around 500 BCE, the city on the ridge-top acquired a number of terraced pyramids
and elevated platforms aligned on an axis that runs nearly due north and south. A large pyra-
mid-topped southern platform and a cluster of small platforms define a court to the north, and
a single extended linear platform rises in the center of the defined plaza [AM-4].
In contrast to the centralized social and political structure of the Zapotec and Toltec states
(which made them comparatively easy to conquer by the Spanish), the Maya never formed a
unified regional political structure. Instead, there were fifty or more independent Mayan city-
states, often at war with each other. Nonetheless, this advanced culture included an elaborate
glyphic language (deciphered at the end of the twentieth century), extensive astronomical knowl-
edge, and the celebrated three-cycle inter-meshed calendar that began in 3114 BCE and reached
the end of a long-count bactun (b’ak’tun) on December 21, 2012. Not having a single political
center, the Maya were never truly conquered by the Spanish, and today they still live in small
villages on lands they have occupied for more than two millennia.6
The Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, which thrived from 200 to 800 CE, is identified by its
steep stepped pyramids grouped around what is called the Great Plaza, their tops serving as plat-
forms for temples crowned with tall crests or combs [AM-1]. Palenque, in Chiapas, Mexico, flour-
ished a bit later, from 600 to 800 CE, but the modern artist’s re-creation of just a portion of the
city, a view looking west over the Temple of the Cross, corrects the modern-day impression that
the buildings were white [Plate 20]. Fragments of the stucco coating from the buildings reveal
that virtually the entire city was painted orange-red, with the complex sculptural panels painted
in a rainbow of brilliant colors. Several rooms inside the Temple of the Cross contain steep corbeled
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412 ESSAY 3: ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE IN THE AMERICAS

AM-4. Mesa top plaza, Monte Alban, Mexico, begun c. 500 BCE. On a Mesoamerican acropolis, this plaza was
the center of the Zapotec state. Photo: © Jack Kurtz/The Image Works.

vaults forming their tops. Unlike a curved Western-style vault, a corbeled vault is built of flat
stones placed progressively over one another, relying on the weight of the material above to keep
them from tipping inward.
In sixth-century central Mexico, long after the Teotihuacaños had disappeared from their re-
markable city, the forceful Mexica people gradually conquered their neighbors, eventually creat-
ing what they called the Triple Alliance, but which we now collectively refer to as the Aztec
Empire, using their term for themselves. After migrating around central Mexico, the Mexica set-
tled on a protected cluster of islands roughly in the middle of large Lake Texcoco, and began
building the city of Tenochtitlan. As the Mexica conquered surrounding city-states, they created
an ever-growing empire. By the start of the fifteenth century, the Aztec Empire included all of
lower-central Mexico stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific, including the modern
states of Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Morelos, and Mexico.
The city of Tenochtitlan grew steadily [Plate 21]. The major causeways led to four principal
thoroughfares wide enough (as the Spanish described them) for ten horses to pass; these main
streets divided the city into four quarters (campan), each of which in turn was divided into twenty
districts (calpulli) that were crisscrossed with smaller streets. Canals also connected the calpulli,
each of which had a market square. Two double aqueducts brought in water from springs at Cha-
pultepec, and the estimated two hundred thousand or more residents were said to bathe twice
each day. At the very center of the orthogonal plan was the large Plaza Major (as the Spanish
called it), which was the principal temple district, with several extremely tall steep pyramids and
temples as well as numerous building platforms.
In May 1519, when Hernando Cortés and his five hundred soldiers landed on the Mexican
coast, he asked to meet Moctezuma in his capital, Tenochtitlan. The astonished Spaniards were
wholly unprepared for the sight that stretched before them when they reached the hills over-
looking Lake Texcoco and sighted Tenochtitlan. Before them lay orderly villages built both on
the shore and on the islands, the causeways crossing the lake, and, where they converged, a vast
city, bigger than any in Spain, laid out in an orderly grid. Rising at its center were pyramids. One
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Central America 413

AM-5. Ceremonial complex, the plaza major, and the Templo Mayor, Tenochtitlan, Mexico, fifteenth century. At
the center of the expansive ordered city was the dual pyramid dedicated to the two major gods of the Aztecs, Tlaloc
and Huitzilopochtli. The round temple in front of the Templo Mayor was dedicated to Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl. Model,
National Anthropological Museum Mexico. Photo: Gianni Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.

of Cortés’s soldiers, Bernal Díaz del Castillo, described their first sighting of Tenochtitlan in his
book titled The True History of the Conquest of New Spain:

We came to a broad causeway and continued our march. . . . And when we saw all those cities
and villages built in the water, and other great towns on dry land, and that straight and level
causeway leading to Mexico [Tenochtitlan], we were astounded. These great towns and pyra-
mids and buildings rising from the water, all made of stone, seemed like an enchanted vision. . . .
Indeed, some of our soldiers asked whether it was not all a dream.7

But when Cortés and his group were escorted up the tallest pyramid to view the entire urban
complex, the Spaniards were horrified at the sight of copious human blood spilled from the daily
sacrifices (the victims’ still-beating hearts were removed and offered to the sun god).8 The
Spaniards’ initial awestruck wonder at the careful planning and splendid construction of the pyr-
amids, temples, and palaces was immediately turned. Today, little evidence of the many impressive
buildings they saw remains above ground; everything was destroyed and buried to erase what
was seen as a horrific past9 [AM-5]. The great pyramid (the Templo Mayor) was reduced to its
foundations, and the Cathedral of Mexico City was begun on the site in 1573 (dedicated in 1656,
though construction continued). With the obliteration of the great central temple dedicated to
the dual gods Tlaloc (god of rain) and Huitzilopochtli (god of war), the Aztec world collapsed.

R
The architecture of the native peoples of the Americas, involving sites across two continents, is
a subject that presents many complex issues, since it involves so many cultural structures and
religious values spread over a span of nine thousand years. Most of these people lived in large
family groups and had intimate connections to each other, and they lived in a much closer rela-
tionship with the earth and understood its recurring natural cycles with an immediacy that eludes
people today.10 Nonetheless, we can yet recapture for our own architecture similar ways of con-
necting with each other and the earth.
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16.45. Johann Balthasar Neumann, Pilgrimage Church of Vierzehnheiligen, Franconia, Germany, 1742–1772. View of the
nave. In such southern German pilgrimage churches as this, much of the credit for the dazzling interiors must go to the stucco
carvers, gilders, and painters; at Vierzehnheiligen these artists included Johann Michael Feichtmayr, Johann Gerg Übelhõr,
and Giuseppe Appiani. Photo: Helga Schmnidt-Glassner, Stuttgart.
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Chapter 16

Baroque and Rococo Architecture

R
The Renaissance building exists to be admired
1750, for several independent courses of develop-
ment were being pursued simultaneously. By no
in its splendid isolated perfection. The Baroque means, even in Italy, was the work of the most ad-
building can only be grasped through one’s venturous architects generally viewed approvingly.
experiencing it in its variety of effects. . . . Baroque Cassiano dal Pozzo, writing in 1657, considered the
unity is achieved—at the expense of the clearly true arbiters of good architectural design to be rep-
defined elements—through the subordination of resented by Brunelleschi, Bramante, Serlio, Palladio,
the individual elements to invigorate the whole. and Vignola, “who took the true proportions of
Baroque space is independent and alive—it flows those perfectly regular orders from Roman buildings.
and leads to dramatic culminations. Departing from these always leads to errors.” In sur-
—Henry A. Millon, veying the recent work around him, dal Pozzo could
Baroque and Rococo Architecture, 1961

R
only comment: “It’s the great disgrace of our age
that, although it has before it such beautiful ideas
and such perfect rules in venerable, old buildings,
none the less it allows the whim of a few artists who

R enaissance architects of the fifteenth and six-

teenth centuries endeavored to create new ra-
tional, mathematically describable forms based on
wish to break away from the antique to bring archi-
tecture back to barbarism.”2 In a lecture given in
1664, Giovanni Pietro Bellori said: “Everyone im-
what they understood of the Classical architecture ages in his head a new idea of architecture in his
of ancient Rome. They even invented a term to de- own manner . . . so that they deform buildings. . . .
scribe their decisive break with the Gothic past, They use, almost deliriously, angles and broken and
saying their work marked a renaissance, or rebirth. distorted lines; they tear apart bases, capitals and
Some of the architects of the seventeenth century, columns with crowded stucco decoration and trivial
however, who continued to develop this Classical ornaments and with faulty proportions, in spite of
architecture, especially in Italy, made of it some- the fact that Vitruvius condemns such novelties.”3
thing quite different from what had been imagined Some French critics took a similar view, as did
by Alberti and Brunelleschi. They coined no special Augustin Charles D’Aviler, who, in his Cours
term except their word for “modern” to contrast d’Architecture (1693–1696), decried “those archi-
their work with that of the fifteenth century. The tects [who] consider their caprices to be ingenious
nearest equivalent is the term maniera, used by inventions, and say that it is an error to constrain
Vasari in the 1550s to describe affectation and de- oneself by the rules, when one can make new
liberate stylization. This is the origin of the modern ones.”4 Early in the eighteenth century, Germain
term Mannerism.1 In continuing to seek new forms, Brice published a description of Paris, heaping in-
in exercising their newly won artistic prerogative to vective on the incomplete Theatine church of
invent, these seventeenth-century architects cre- Sainte Anne-la-Royale, by Guarino Guarini (the
ated an architecture that became what Renaissance church was destroyed in the 1820s). Brice offered
architecture was not—complex, multilayered, some comfort to his readers, saying they should
molded, and plastically or sculpturally shaped. “not be sorry that work on the church . . . has re-
It is difficult to assign one descriptive term to en- mained incomplete; the bizarre idea underlying the
compass all European architecture from 1600 to design gives no reason to hope that the church

415
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416 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

would turn out well. . . . Guarini has imitated Bor- there was studied variety; instead of regularity, con-
romini only at his worst and most ridiculous, not trast. Whereas previously there had been planar
following his master in everything as he should forms, with an emphasis on the surface, now the
have done, and his caprice has spoilt everything!”5 emphasis was placed on elasticity and spatial depth.
But these objections against the liberties being The Early Renaissance buildings had most often
taken with the old Renaissance rules were voiced been human in scale; seventeenth-century archi-
by a minority. tecture often became superhuman in scale. Renais-
As Gothic architecture had been named in sance architecture had stressed easily perceived
derision by Renaissance writers, so too the term forms, but the new architecture projected a sense of
baroque was used by eighteenth-century French mystery, so that where the interest had once been
critics like Diderot and also by Goethe to denigrate in intellectual comprehension and cerebral satisfac-
the architecture of the seventeenth and early eigh- tion, now it shifted to creating an emotional impact.
teenth centuries. To them, the curving, heavily
embellished architecture of seventeenth-century
Rome, with its corkscrew columns and bent or An Architecture for the Senses
curving entablatures, was as much a deviation from The reasons for the shift toward visual complexity
proper architectural norms as a twisted pearl was about 1600 are several. First, as in any period of
from the pure spherical norm. They applied to that artistic creativity in which the goal is to achieve a
“misshapen” architecture the derogatory Portu- state of stasis, once that goal is reached, a reaction
guese term used for misshapen pearls: barocco, sets in. The Classical perfection and restraint of
“baroque.” Gradually, however, the term baroque Athenian architecture of the fifth century BCE was
came to be used by late-nineteenth-century art his- transformed into the more visually and plastically
torians such as Heinrich Wölfflin in a much more complex Hellenistic architecture of the fourth and
positive, descriptive sense, to indicate any art form third centuries BCE. Similarly, the austere archi-
that was elaborated, embellished, and complex, tecture of the Roman Republic became the heavily
compared to preceding simpler forms.6 ornamented and plastically molded architecture of
In the century and a half from 1600 to 1750, the the late Roman Empire. So, too, Late Gothic archi-
architecture of court and church in Europe can be tecture became more and more elaborate, with pro-
said to have developed along two parallel lines. liferating ribs that eventually pulled free of the
Generally speaking, in the areas of southern Europe vault surface altogether. In each of these periods,
that had opposed the Reformation—Spain, Italy, the latter stages of development can be described
Bavaria, and Austria, for example—the curvilinear as “baroque.”
qualities of Baroque architecture were widely Second, in Italy, France, Spain, and central Eu-
adopted. In northern Europe, even Catholic France, rope, there was a particular religious aspect to this
architects such as the Frenchmen François Mansart dramatic change in architectural character. This
and Jules Hardoiun-Mansart and the Englishman stimulus was the Counter-Reformation, the delayed
Sir Christopher Wren continued to use what they but decidedly emphatic reaction by the Catholic
considered Classical architecture, conforming to Church to the reforms advocated by Martin Luther.
the standards set up by Bramante and Vignola but For numerous political and ecclesiastical reasons,
working at a larger scale and with more sculptural Popes Leo X and Clement VII had postponed react-
plasticity. For their work, therefore, the term Ba- ing to Luther; those first years free of challenge were
roque has a different sense. critical in allowing the German states and the Baltic
The celebratory nature of Baroque architecture region to reject the domination of Rome and, in the
is clearly illustrated in one of the last buildings to case of some clerics, to refute the basic tenets of
adhere to these principles, the church of Vierzehn- Roman Church dogma. Soon, other splinter groups
heiligen (Pilgrimage Church of the Fourteen Holy moved beyond Luther’s modest position, advocating
Helpers) in Franconia, Germany, built by Johann even more drastic restructuring of the Catholic
Balthasar Neumann in 1742–1772 (discussed be- Church and changes in worship. These more radical
low). Whereas Renaissance architecture gave the factions were led by Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich and
visual impression of being comparatively simple, as John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland. The Calvinists,
with Giuliano da Sangallo’s church of Santa Maria as they came to be called, soon controlled half of
delle Carceri, Prato [15.12], Baroque architecture Switzerland, numerous duchies in Germany, the
was made deliberately and consciously complex. In- Netherlands, and Scotland. For a time, the contin-
stead of clarity, there was desired ambiguity; instead ued existence of the Roman Church might have
of the uniformity of elements and overall effect, seemed in question [16.1].
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Baroque Churches in Rome 417

16.1. Map of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

Not until 1545 did Pope Paul III (Alessandro ages to create a mystical, supportive atmosphere
Farnese) convene the first of several church coun- for worship.
cils that met at Trent to respond to the Protestant
revolt. The final decrees of the Council of Trent
were deliberately and decidedly not conciliatory Baroque Churches in Rome
toward the Protestants, and thus the breach was The most active campaign within the Roman
made irreparable. Some of the most flagrant abuses Church to recover the faithful was led by Ignatius
identified by Luther were indeed corrected, but of Loyola, a Spaniard, who had established a new
whereas Luther had advised priests to marry, the militant religious order in 1540, the Society of Jesus
council absolutely reaffirmed priestly celibacy. (the Jesuits). Ignatius was only one of many zealous
Whereas Luther and Calvin rejected the authority champions of the Roman Church who were quickly
of the Church as the sole interpreter of Scripture, canonized after their deaths. Another was Carlo
the council adamantly insisted on it. These and Borromeo. Other new religious orders, including
other points had to do with dogma, but others had the Theatines (1524) and the Capuchins (1535),
a direct bearing on church design and visual im- also arose in response to the Protestant threat, but
agery. Luther (and Calvin even more vigorously) it was the Jesuits especially who led the fight against
rejected the veneration of saints, but the council the heretics.
emphatically endorsed the practice. While the In 1568, the Jesuits began construction of a cen-
Calvinists preached the elimination of all sensory tral administrative convent and mother church, the
stimulation in worship, the council insisted that church of the Gesù, Rome, from designs by Vignola
music, painting, sculpture, and architecture were [16.2]. It was a large church clearly adapted from
powerful instruments enhancing religious devo- Alberti’s Sant’ Andrea in Mantua, but designed fol-
tion. Accordingly, the council strongly encouraged lowing the explicit instructions of the patron, “Il
the use of architecture, painting, and sculpted im- gran Cardinal” Alessandro Farnese, to facilitate
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418 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

16.2. Giacomo Barozzi da

Vignola, Church of the Gesú,
Rome, Italy, 1568–1577. Plan.
In order to emphasize preaching
in this mother church of the
newly founded Jesuit order,
Vignola used a Latin cross plan,
directing the attention of the
worshipers to the altar. The
plan was closely patterned
after Alberti’s Sant’Andrea in
Mantua. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after Peter Murray, The
Architecture of the Italian
Renaissance (London, 1963).

preaching. It had short transept arms covered with This compulsion to enrich, embellish, and over-
barrel vaults and a third short arm forming the lay reached its zenith in Spain, where the Classical
choir, terminating in a semicircular apse. The broad architectural vocabulary of the Renaissance was
nave, covered by a barrel vault, was flanked by combined with a love for pattern and surface orna-
square side chapels. This aspect of the church was ment, the legacy of the Islamic Moors. An example
Late Renaissance in its clarity of form; only in the is in the interior of the sacristy of the Cartuja in
facade, designed later by Giacomo della Porta in Granada, begun in 1730 by Francisco Hurtado and
1573 [16.3], was there a hint of the complexity that decorated in 1742–1747 by an unidentified stucco
would develop into the Baroque. The facade, too, carver [16.5]. Here, attached to an underlying sys-
is derived in part from Alberti, from his facade for tem of arches resting on pilasters, is layer upon layer
Santa Maria Novella in Florence [15.18], but it of ornament, to the degree that the basic structural
is more plastically molded, with paired engaged system is obscured and everything becomes an in-
columns and nested pediments, one inside the tricate pattern of light and shadow in which the eye
other. Jesuit missionaries carried this church image is drawn endlessly from part to part.
with them, and its variations appear across Europe,
as in Saint Michael’s in Louvain, Flanders (Bel-
gium), and throughout the New World. An Architecture of Emotional Power
In strictly architectural terms, the Baroque em- The sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini
phasis on sculptural plasticity can be seen at its (1598–1680) summarized most clearly the impact
fullest in the facade of the Church of Saints Vincent of the Council of Trent and provided the prototype
and Anastasius (Santi Vincenzo ed Anastasio), for the emotion-inducing function of the arts.8 In
Rome [16.4]. Designed by the architect Martino 1645, Bernini began work on a chapel for Cardinal
Lunghi the Younger in 1646–1650 for Cardinal Jules Federico Cornaro of Venice, to be built in the left
Mazarin of France, it is another variant on the pat- transept of the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria
tern established by the Jesuit church of the Gesù sev- (one of the many churches in Rome influenced by
enty years before.7 Now, however, the pilasters have the Gesù). Santa Maria della Vittoria had been de-
become fully disengaged, freestanding columns, and, signed by Carlo Maderno and built in 1608–1620,
in the center section, they stand in triplicate, carry- with the facade finished later. For Cornaro in the
ing three nested pediments. The pediments, more- upper part of the transept-chapel, Bernini designed
over, are cut away at the top, opening voids that are an illusionistic fresco around the window, showing
filled with garlands and carved figures. In fact, all billowing clouds and angels, some of the clouds
parts of the surface are enlivened with projecting ar- carved in high relief in stucco and covering up parts
chitectural members or figural sculpture. of the architectural moldings [16.6]. The surfaces
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An Architecture of Emotional Power 419

16.3. Giacomo della Porta, facade of the Gesù, Rome, Italy, 1573–1577. Giacomo della Porta, who completed the Gesù
façade, was also inspired by Alberti, and used large curved volutes to make the transition from the high nave to the lower side
chapels. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.

of wall and vault curve together and are covered nini, among his many activities, was busy designing
with molded clouds so that the intersection of wall sets, scenery, and machines for various theatrical
and vault disappears and the physical boundaries productions. The marble-paneled side walls of the
of the space become blurred. chapel contain “box seats,” in which Bernini de-
Below is a miniature theater, or so it appears to picted members of the Cornaro family reading and
us today, and if the parallel to the theater might discussing the miraculous event being enacted on
seem to us sacrilegious we should recall that Ber- the “stage” in the end wall of the chapel. At the
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420 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

16.4. Martino Lunghi the Younger,

Church of Saints Vincent and
Anastasius, Rome, Italy, 1646–1650.
In Italy, the Baroque church facade
reached its point of fullest plastic
development in this example; no part
of the surface is untouched by layered
embellishment. Photo: Alinari/Art
Resource, NY.

center of the composition, paneled in yellow, gray, tical experience. Architecture as an independent,
and green marble, is an aedicule that curves for- rational structural frame is transformed into a unity
ward as though being pushed forward by some force or fusion of the visual arts as propaganda. Archi-
behind it, breaking the pediment. On the “stage” tecture has become but one constituent part in
is the figure of Saint Teresa of Avila, one of the new what was “a total work of art.”
Counter-Reformation saints, who described in her In Baroque architecture and art, the line between
autobiographical meditations a visitation by an three-dimensional reality and mystical illusion was
angel carrying a golden spear with which he pene- increasingly blurred. In 1672–1685, the ceiling dec-
trated her heart, causing her exquisite spiritual ec- oration of the Gesù was completed by Giovanni Bat-
stasy. Bernini re-creates that moment in his Ecstasy tista Gaulli. On the barrel vaults of the Gesù, thickly
of Saint Teresa, conveying it in carnal terms so that modeled architectural moldings of stucco were
the observer could easily grasp a transcendent placed, framing illusionistic frescoes showing clouds
spiritual experience through its everyday secular and angels rising to heaven. But in places, the bil-
physical counterpart. The miraculous event is illu- lowing clouds spill out of the frames, making it diffi-
minated from a hidden source, a window behind cult for any viewer standing on the floor of the
the pediment of the stage, whose flood of light is church to distinguish between the real paneled vault
embodied by the gilded rays that stream down be- surface and the perspective illusion. Even more
hind the figures. The autonomy of architecture is dramatic was the nave vault fresco of the church
here eliminated, becoming commingled sculpture dedicated to Saint Ignatius (San Ignazio), Rome, de-
and painting meant to convey to the viewer a mys- signed by Padre Orazio Grassi in 1626–1650 [16.7].
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An Architecture of Emotional Power 421

16.5. Francisco Hurtado, Sacristy

of La Cartuja, Granada, Spain,
1730–1747. Interior. Baroque
enrichment was most elaborate in
Spain and its dominions, and
perhaps nowhere as elaborate as in
the carved stucco work of this
interior whose detailed elaboration
conceals underlying pilasters.
Photo: MAS, Barcelona.

The vaults were painted by Padre Andrea Pozzo in skilled practitioners were the brothers Cosmas
1691–1694 and show the Glory of Saint Ignatius, Damian and Egid Quirin Asam, both trained in
in an illusion of architectural elements extending Italy, Cosmas as a fresco painter and stuccoist and
into the open sky, with clouds and angelic figures ac- Egid as a sculptor. Hence, they combined to a high
companying the figure of Saint Ignatius. When this degree all the skills necessary to produce the most
is viewed from the right spot on the floor of the powerful emotional effects. One of their most strik-
church, it is nearly impossible to tell that one is ing creations was the sculptural complex at the end
actually looking up at a curved barrel vault, for the of the choir of the Augustinian Priory Church of the
reality of the curved planar surface has been com- Assumption at Rohr, Germany, a tiny village near
pletely eradicated by the illusion of the perspective. Regensburg, 1717–1722 [16.8]. A series of screens
Rational interpretation of a visual perception has of columns carrying pieces of broken pediments
been overpowered by mystical experience. serve to shield the eye from the sources of light
This kind of mystical presence appealed greatly to the sides. Beyond these “wings,” or “tormentors”
to the southern Germans, who remained loyal to (to use theatrical terminology once again), on the
the Church of Rome and rejected Luther’s reforms. “stage” is the figure of the Virgin Mary ascending
In the richly embellished pilgrimage and monastic to heaven, rising from an open sepulcher sur-
churches built in Bavaria in southern Germany in rounded by figures dramatically registering various
the early eighteenth century, such rhapsodic illu- stages of amazement. The figure of the Virgin liter-
sionism was pushed even further. Among the most ally hovers in the air, assisted by two angels, in
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422 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

16.6. Gian Lorenzo Bernini,

Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della
Vittoria, Rome, Italy, 1647–1652.
In the arm of the transept of this
church, Bernini created, in effect, a
miniature theater, with the members
of the Cornaro family in boxes
overlooking the divine mystery of
the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa onstage;
above them the fresco ceiling shows
the heavens opening up. This
eighteenth-century painting (in the
Staaliches Museum of Schwerin,
Germany) shows, as no photograph
can, the effect of the light both in
the upper vaults and on the figural
sculpture below. Photo: Erich
Lessing/Art Resource, NY.

apparent defiance of gravity, for she is supported gested by Vignola in his diminutive Sant’ Anna dei
from behind by hidden projecting bars of iron. Here, Palafrenieri, Rome, 1565 [15.38], which served as
the emotional impact of Bernini was pushed as far the point of departure for Bernini’s church of Sant’
as technology then allowed. If Bernini’s Saint Teresa Andrea al Quirinale, Rome, 1658–1670, a church
is a portrayal of a past miraculous event, at the Rohr sponsored by Cardinal Camillo Pamphili to serve
church such a miracle actually seems to be taking the Jesuit novices living on the Quirinal Hill. The
place before our very eyes. round plan of Bernini’s church is clearly evident
from the curve of the upper walls visible as one
nears the church [16.9, 16.10]. The half-oval walls,
The Central Plan Modified: counter-curving out to enclose the entry, greet the
Bernini’s Churches approaching worshipper and give a hint of what
The broad longitudinal plan of the church of Gesù one may expect to find inside. This concave curve
quickly became the model for seventeenth-century is countered in the convex curve of the portico,
Roman Catholic churches, but the centralized plan which is capped with a broken curved pediment.
did not disappear altogether. For smaller chapels Inside, one discovers that the line of movement is
and votive churches, the oval was often the gener- along the short axis of an oval plan, not along the
ating form. This direction had already been sug- more dominant, longer axis. In fact, there is no true
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The Central Plan Modified: Bernini’s Churches 423

16.7. Padre Andrea Pozzo, nave

vault fresco, Church of San Ignazio,
Rome, Italy, 1691–1694. Pozzo
completely disguised the intersection
lines of the groin vaults so that the
viewer, when standing at the right
spot on the church floor, can
scarcely guess that this is a curved
barrel vault; instead, the viewer
looks up into the heavens witnessing
the Glory of Saint Ignatius. Photo:
Archivi Aliknari, Florence, Italy.

perpendicular axis, for there are four chapels or re- of Saint Peter’s basilica in Rome, which finally
cesses on each side of this short longitudinal axis, brought this ambitious church to completion in
meaning that a perpendicular cross axis would run 1667, a century and a half after it had been started
into the ends of spur walls and not into chapel re- by Bramante [16.11, 16.12]. Before Bernini was
cesses. The principal altar on the short axis is con- given this task, the basilica itself finally had been
tained in a niche behind a portico made with paired enclosed by Carlo Maderno, but not until the last
red-veined marble Corinthian columns; behind the change was made in the plan. After the incessant
altar is a painting depicting the martyrdom of An- vacillation between central and longitudinal plans,
drew and, again, illuminated by a hidden source of the final decision was made to extend a nave from
light. The Corinthian columns carry a pediment Michelangelo’s east arm. Maderno added the bays
scooped out at its center to accommodate an as- of the nave in 1605 and finished the broad facade
cending figure of Saint Andrew. Over all rises an in 1612.
oval dome, punctuated by carved figures of angelic Still, the space in front of Saint Peter’s was ill
cherubs who flit among and over the top of the ar- defined. A broad space was needed to accommo-
chitectural elements. date the crowds who gather at Easter to receive the
Bernini also used an oval to solve his single papal benediction, Urbi et orbi, “upon the city and
largest building project, the great piazza in front the world.” Bernini’s problem was that the older
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424 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

16.8. Cosmas Damien Asam

and Egid Quirin Asam, altar
of the Priory Church of the
Assumption, Rohr, Germany,
1717–1722. The Asam brothers
pushed the illusionism of
Bernini to the emphatic extreme,
depicting the Virgin Mary
seemingly hovering in space
(but lifted from behind by hidden
supports), and lit by concealed
windows to either side. Photo:
Hirmer-Verlag, Munich.

existing buildings of the Vatican palace intruded

from the north, making it impossible to create one Borromini’s Churches
large, simple geometric enclosure. His solution was Bernini’s chief rival in Rome was Francesco Borro-
to divide the piazza into two component parts, the mini (1599–1667).10 The two men were unlike in
portion immediately next to the facade being a almost every way. Bernini, trained as a sculptor, had
trapezoid and the more distant portion an oval en- the support and patronage of some of the most
closed by curved Tuscan Doric colonnades focused powerful figures in the Roman Church, including
on two fountains. Between the fountains, there was Maffeo Barberini, who reigned as Pope Urban VIII,
already an Egyptian obelisk, erected here at the in- and Fabio Chigi, who became Pope Alexander VII.
structions of Pope Sixtus V as part of his replanning Bernini moved at ease among some of the most
of Rome in 1585–1590. Bernini viewed the wide, powerful individuals of his time, even including
encircling, semi-oval colonnades as the motherly Louis XIV, the king of France. Bernini’s prodigious
arms of the Church, which, he said, “embrace creations in architecture, sculpture, painting, and
Catholics to reinforce their belief, heretics to re- theater design, coupled with his air of confident
unite them with the Church, and agnostics to en- buoyancy and social ease, brought him international
lighten them with the true faith.”9 acclaim. Borromini, in contrast, was a reclusive and
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425

16.9. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Church

of Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale, Rome,
Italy, 1658–1670. Bernini announced
the oval of the plan in the curving arms
of the walls shaping the entry recess.
Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.

16.10. Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale. Plan.

Bernini turned the oval so that the principal
line of movement is along the short axis.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Norberg-Schulz,
Baroque Architecture (New York, 1974).
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426 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

16.11. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Piazza of Saint Peter’s, Rome, Italy, 1656–1667. Aerial view. The arms of the vast piazza,
adjusted to avoid existing Vatican Palace buildings, were intended by Bernini to symbolize the welcoming and embracing arms
of the church. Photo: Charles Rotkin/PFI.

brooding man; trained as an architect, he won described the universe as being based on geometri-
limited recognition and received his commissions cal, triangular relationships. Borromini’s surviving
from smaller organizations. Yet, he manipulated drawings show the essential modular derivation, for
space and the traditional Classical orders far more the delicate lines of the overlapped triangles are
sculpturally than did Bernini. Borromini rose to clearly visible among the heavier outlines of the
prominence with the small church and compact walls.11 He began with two large equilateral trian-
monastery he designed in 1634 for the Spanish gles joined on a common base and then enclosed
Trinitarian Order, San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane them in an oval; this determined the basic ground
(Saint Charles at the Four Fountains), built 1634– plan. In enclosing the ground floor, however, he
1641. The church was often called simply San Car- used spaced pairs of columns carrying an undulating
lino because of its diminutive size [16.13, 16.14]. Its cornice that has the fluidity of extruded clay rather
formal name derives from the fact that it sits at the than the linearity of traditional stone lintels. Above
intersection of two new streets that Pope Sixtus V this is a transitional level, with four pendentives
had cut through Rome, at the corners of which four that rise to form the oval base ring for a deeply
new public fountains were built. coffered oval dome. The dome, in turn, is opened
Borromini’s radical departure in the design of at the top by a lantern, at the very top of which is
San Carlino was to base the entire composition, the figure of the dove of the Holy Spirit encircled
both in plan and in section, not on the traditional by an equilateral triangle—the key to the entire
module of the column and its diameter—as had composition.
been the rule since the time of the Greeks—but, In 1662, Borromini was called back to complete
rather, on a complex union of the symbolic equilat- construction of the facade, designed earlier [16.15].
eral triangle (for the Trinity) and also on multiples In this, too, he used a system of generating triangles
of circles and ovals. This approach may have been related in plan to the triangles he had employed
inspired by Borromini’s contemporary, Galileo, who in the interior, resulting in a facade that undulates
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Borromini’s Churches 427

like rolling waves, one of the first such undulating triguing account is found in the official history of
Baroque facades. The curved entablatures and the San Carlino, in which the author comments on
surfaces packed with architectural and sculptural how many visitors the small church had, many re-
ornament prepare the visitor for the unorthodox turning again and again. After noticing a notable
interior. visitor returning repeatedly—a French cardinal, as
Despite its striking departures from the canons it happened—the chronicler asked the visitor if his
of Classical design, the church was immediately time might not be used more advantageously visit-
sought out by visitors to Rome, and the procurator ing the many large, important churches in the city,
general of the order wrote that members from nu- such as St. Peter’s or the Gesù. “It is true that they
merous countries asked for plans of the church, and are magnificent buildings,” the visiting cardinal
that “in the opinion of everybody nothing similar replied, “but once one has seen them the first time,
with regard to artistic merit, caprice, excellence, one has no desire to see them a second time. But
and singularity can be found anywhere in the one does want to see this church of S. Carlo a sec-
world.” The procurator general was clearly aware ond time, because it never gets boring; it always
of the special character of the building, a character seems new, as Bede said of the divine essence.”13
that would later become common in Baroque ar- Borromini again used a centralized plan in the
chitecture, for he wrote that everything in it “is chapel of Sant’ Ivo della Sapienze, which he added
arranged in such manner that one part supplements to the University of Rome in 1642–1660 [16.16,
the other and that the spectator is stimulated to let 16.17]. Sant’ Ivo was built at the end of the long
his eye wander about ceaselessly.”12 Another in- courtyard, which had been built earlier by Giacomo

CB= Cortile del Belvedere SA = Sant’ Anna dei Palafrenieri VG = Vatican Gardens
f = fountains SC = Sistine Chapel VP = Vatican Palace
ob = obelisk SP = Basilica of Saint Peter

16.12. Piazza of Saint Peter’s. Plan. Bernini carefully planned the open space to incorporate existing fountains and the
Egyptian obelisk previously re-erected there by Domenico Fontana. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Letarouilly and Nolli.
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428

16.13. Francesco Borromini, Church of

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome,
Italy, 1634–1641. Interior. The heavily
sculpted elements of this miniature church
are positioned according to a proportional
system generated by equilateral triangles.
Photo: Alinari/Art Resource, NY.

16.14. San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane.

Plan. The plan combines elements of the oval
with joined equilateral triangles. The dashed
lines, revealing the underlying triangular
basis of the design, are shown by Borromini
in his own drawings. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after Borromini.
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Guarini’s Churches 429

16.15. San Carlo alle

Quattro Fontane, facade
built 1662–1667.
Exterior. Photo: Scala/Art
Resource, NY.

della Porta, in 1585–1590. This church, too, was the planes of the walls; this cornice undulates
based on a system of equilateral triangles, but in around the space and holds it together. A unique
this instance, they were laid atop one another, and deeply molded dome rises directly from this
forming a six-pointed star around a hexagon. cornice, following the convolutions of the star-
Again, the triangles are clearly delineated in Bor- shaped plan below.
romini’s own drawings.14 Such a form had almost
never been used before, since it makes no provision
for perpendicularly crossed axes, as does a square Guarini’s Churches
or an octagonal plan. Three of the lobes of Sant’ This molding of space, as though by tremendous
Ivo, corresponding to the points of one triangle, forces that bend and curve walls, was further de-
end in semicircular apses, whereas the other three, veloped in the city of Turin, in northern Italy, by
corresponding to the second triangle, are pointed Guarino Guarini (1624–1683).15 Guarini entered
but have convex walls pushing in at the points. The the Theatine Order at age fifteen and was sent to
inherent conflict in this system (since opposing Rome, where he studied theology, philosophy, math-
faces of the interior are different in form) is recon- ematics, and architecture. The architecture of Bor-
ciled by a massive molded cornice, resting on romini, then under construction, was a powerful
the substantial Corinthian pilasters that articulate influence on him, as was, to a lesser extent, that of
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430

16.16. Francesco Borromini, Collegiate

Church of Sant’ Ivo della Sapienza, Rome,
Italy, 1642–1660. Plan. This plan, too, was
generated by equilateral triangles, to form a
Star of David. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after Borromini.

16.17. Sant’ Ivo della Sapienza. Interior, dome. Photo: Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le Attività culturali/Art Resource, NY.
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Baroque Scale 431

16.18. Guarino Guarini, Santa

Maria della Divina Providenza,
Lisbon, Portugal, 1652–1663
(destroyed by earthquake, 1755).
Plan. Guarini used a series of
overlapping ovals as the generating
elements in this church. Drawing:
L. M. Roth, after Guarini.

Bernini. Guarini traveled across Europe on behalf to a somewhat smaller circular ring [16.19]. On
of the Theatines, building churches for the order in this ring rests a hexagonal arcade that forms the
Portugal and France. In 1652–1663 the church of base of a dome. This dome, however, was unlike
Santa Maria della Divina Providenza in Lisbon was any ever built before, for it consists of six segmental
built to his design [16.18]. Although the church arches resting on the arcade, and six smaller seg-
was destroyed in the earthquake of 1755, its plan mental arches resting on the crowns of the first six,
was recorded in engraved plates in Guarini’s post- and six smaller arches resting on the crowns of the
humous book, Architettura civile (Turin, 1737). The second layer, and so on, diminishing by stages to
reverse curves of the facade recalled the facade of the top of the dome. Within each of these super-
San Carlino, but the interior was a reshaping of the imposed arches is a window, so that the dome is
traditional Latin cross plan exemplified in the Gesù; filled with light filtering in through the offset
each of the component spaces was based on an stacked window openings. It is an architecture that
oval—ovals overlapping ovals, in fact—and the ribs Galileo might well have understood, perhaps, for
of the vaults, instead of crossing transversely from although complex in form, it has a mathematical
one pier to another, were to cross the bays of the clarity and a directness of structural function.
nave diagonally.
Guarini was engaged by Carlo Emanuele of
Savoy, who was rebuilding and enlarging Turin as Baroque Scale
the capital city of the emerging duchy of Savoy. Another of the attributes that sets Baroque archi-
Among the important commissions given to Guar- tecture apart is the enormous jump in scale, from
ini was that for a palace for the ducal family, the the circumspect arcades of Brunelleschi and the su-
Palazzo Carignano, built 1679–1683. Inspired by perimposed orders of Alberti, to vast complexes that
the Louvre’s grand, undulating facade, which was surpass the limits of human visual perception. A
designed by Bernini in 1664, Guarini also designed Renaissance building, as exemplified by Sangallo’s
his palace around a central oval salon, with an ex- diminutive church of Santa Maria della Carceri, es-
ternal concave reverse curve modulating to a pro- sentially can be broadly understood at a glance, and
jecting central convex projection. The palace was the relationship of its component parts is almost im-
beautifully executed in brick. mediately recognized, at least sensed subliminally.
The House of Savoy happened to possess one Baroque buildings, in contrast, are so large and com-
of Christendom’s most famous relics, the Holy plex that they cannot possibly be comprehended in
Shroud, believed to have received the imprint of a single glance.
the body of Christ when he was entombed. Carlo This change in complexity and scale was one of
Emanuele desired to build a special chapel at the the first manifestations of the Baroque spirit, evi-
end of the cathedral of Turin to house the precious dent in the proposal of Pope Sixtus V to replan the
shroud, and he gave the task to Guarini. Built in city of Rome [16.20]. Although Sixtus V occupied
1667–1690, the Cappella della Santissima Sindone the papal throne for only five years, 1585–1590,
(Chapel of the Holy Shroud) consists of a round his vision has determined the shape of Rome ever
base from which rise three pendentives, converging since. This sweeping reorganization of the city was
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432 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

16.19. Guarino Guarini,

Cappella della Santissima
Sindone (Chapel of the
Holy Shroud), Turin, Italy,
1667–1690. Interior,
dome. This dome, sheltering
the famous Shroud of
Turin, is built up of
superimposed diminishing
arches, enclosing windows
that admit a diffuse light
into the chapel. Photo:
Wim Swaan, London.

another response of the Counter-Reformation; it ruins of the old city, toward the huge basilica of
was, in part, an effort to encourage pilgrims to visit Santa Maria Maggiore at the center of the old city,
Rome, to see the major sites associated with the continuing on to Santa Croce to the south [16.21].
earliest years of Christendom. When the earliest Where the Strada Felice crossed the existing Strada
Christian churches, especially the large major basil- Pia, the intersection of the four fountains was cre-
icas, were built in Rome in the fourth and fifth cen- ated (San Carlino would be built there later). Sixtus
turies, they rose in the spaces near the edges of the V corrected the alignment of the existing Via Gre-
city, in those areas where there was available open goriana, radiating off the Piazza Santa Maria Mag-
ground. Several, such as Sant’ Agnese and Saint giore and running toward the cathedral of San
Peter’s, were built over cemeteries. As a result, the Giovanni in Laterano, to improve its circulatory
great basilicas of San Lorenzo, Santa Croce, San function. Another major street was cut to the east,
Giovanni in Laterano, and, of course, San Pietro from the Strada Felice to San Lorenzo. And a new
(Saint Peter) were scattered at the edges of what street was cut from the Piazza Santa Maria Mag-
had been the ancient Roman metropolis; later, dur- giore, the hub of Sixtus V’s design, to the vicinity of
ing the Middle Ages, these peripheral areas had the Capitoline Hill (Michelangelo’s Campidoglio)
been largely abandoned. The principal entry to the and the hub of medieval Rome. Other streets were
city was at the north, through the Porta del Popolo, planned by Sixtus V as well. Though they were
into the then irregular Piazza del Popolo. Getting to intended to further knit together the dispersed basil-
these dispersed ancient basilicas from the Porta del icas, the streets were not immediately built. In
Popolo was difficult and meant traversing large parts addition to these new streets, Sixtus V built an
of the ruin-strewn expanses of the ancient city. aqueduct, the first influx of fresh water since Roman
Sixtus V resolved to bring order out of this chaos. times, and this, the Aqua Felice, also bore his name.
Although Sixtus V conceived the grand scheme, Its waters were discharged in a public fountain on
its implementation was left to his engineer and ar- the Strada Pia.
chitect, Domenico Fontana. He and Sixtus V pro- The nodes of Sixtus V’s plan were the great
posed cutting a new street, the Strada Felice (Felix, basilicas, and in front of each basilica, a piazza was
or Felice, was the pope’s given name), from the opened up. To mark these spots and to make them
Piazza del Popolo straight through the center of the visible along the distance of the straight new
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Baroque Scale 433

Am = Flavian Amphitheater L = San Lorenzo fuori le Mura SC = Santa Croce

AQ = Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale MA = Santa Maria degli Angeli SPe = San Pietro in Vaticano
BC = Baths of Caracalla MM= Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of Saint Peter)
BD = Baths of Diocletian P = Piazza del Popolo SPa = San Paolo fuori le Mura
C = Castel Sant’ Angelo Q = San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane T = Santa Trinitá dei Monti
JL = San Giovanni in Laterano SA = Sant’ Agnese

16.20. The new streets of Rome planned by Sixtus V in 1585. Plan. The straight new streets were planned to create a net
connecting the great pilgrimage churches in Rome, with the repositioned Egyptian obelisks being markers in front of each of
them. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Nolli.

streets, Sixtus V had Fontana re-erect Egyptian front of each basilica, as place markers beckoning
obelisks that had lain about in the ruins of the an- to the pilgrim, rose again the re-consecrated
cient city for several centuries. Not since Roman obelisks. One of these was the obelisk in front of
times had such huge stone monoliths been moved Saint Peter’s, raised in 1586, around which Bernini
and erected, and Fontana had to reinvent the nec- would later shape his piazza.
essary machinery and organize the synchronized Ironically, as Sixtus V reorganized Rome, the sec-
teams of men and horses to do the work. So, in ular power of the papacy was beginning to diminish,
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434 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

16.21. Diagram of the

replanning of Rome by
Sixtus V. Although the scale
is imprecise in this view
looking to the southeast,
the simplification makes
the connections between
the churches easier to see.
From S. Giedion, Space,
Time and Architecture
(Cambridge, MA, 1941).

and few of his successors were able to summon the buildings in space (largely abandoned since Roman
resources to initiate such vast projects on a citywide times) soon became fundamental to French archi-
scale. The kings of the European nation-states, tecture and urban planning, beginning in the sev-
however—particularly the French monarchs—were enteenth century. The idea of extending the axis
increasing their power at just this time, and very of the château at Chambord out into the landscape
shortly they were able to undertake even more would be pushed to its limit in the royal château at
expansive projects, both for their own estates and Versailles. Like the royal château at Blois and
palaces and in reshaping their principal cities. Chambord, Versailles was originally a royal hunting
lodge not far from Paris, but from 1661 to 1710 it
was enlarged by Louis XIV on a scale rivaling that
French Baroque: Versailles of the Rome of Sixtus V. The grounds were ex-
Implicit in the street plan that Sixtus V devised was tended farther by later monarchs, until the French
the notion of linking elements within the city with Revolution in 1789.
a system of axial lines in an irregular network, fix- Versailles, about 14 miles (22 km) southeast of
ing the ends of these axes with the newly erected the heart of Paris, had been a small village with an
obelisks. The concept of axial arrangement of adjoining hunting retreat favored by Louis XIII, as
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French Baroque: Versailles 435

it was by his son, Louis XIV. The father had built a the king, and its designers and builders were put to
relatively modest brick and stone hunting lodge in work rebuilding Versailles to make it even larger
1624, enlarged it in 1631–1636, and had several and grander than Vaux-le-Vicomte.16
geometric garden parterres laid out immediately The architect Louis Le Vau (1612–1670) was
west of the château, defining an axis centered on instructed by the king to wrap a new and larger
the lodge and stretching westward into the land- building around his father’s château, leaving the
scape. When Louis XIV reached maturity in 1661 original building relatively untouched. The painter-
and assumed personal control of the government decorator Charles Le Brun was charged with de-
operations, he began an extensive enlargement of signing all the interiors, including the allegorical
Versailles. He used the team of architect, landscape paintings to celebrate the king, his rule, and his mil-
architect, and painter-decorator that his minister itary victories using numerous allusions to Apollo,
of finance, Nicholas Fouquet, had assembled to the sun god. And the landscape architect André
build and landscape his own private country house Le Nôtre (1613–1700) was to begin the first of sev-
outside Paris at Vaux-le-Vicomte in 1657–1661 eral extensions of the gardens in terraces to the
[16.22]. However, Fouquet had taken a huge stra- north, south, and especially west of the château.
tegic misstep of building for himself a château and All of the parterres (the hedge-framed planted
landscaped estate much finer than anything owned beds) and the radiating allées were laid out in rela-
by the king. A month after Fouquet played host to tionship to the grand axis of the château, running
the nobles at a grand inauguration celebration at through the king’s own rooms at the center [16.23].
Vaux-le-Vicomte—replete with a ballet by Molière, Le Nôtre’s gardens combined the intricacy of tex-
music by Lully, decor by Le Brun, and fireworks— ture, detail, and color of the best Italian gardens
he was arrested on charges of embezzlement. Vaux- with the sense of vast scale of Sixtus V’s plan for
le-Vicomte was shortly thereafter confiscated by Rome. Since there were no dramatic changes of

16.22. André Le Nôtre (landscape designer) and Louis Le Vau (architect), Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, Maincy, near
Melun, France, 1657–1661. Nicholas Fouquet assembled a masterful team of landscape architect (Le Nôtre), architect
(Le Vau), and artistic designer (Le Brun) to create this country retreat that surpassed (for the moment) any of the estates of
King Louis XIV. Photo: Roger Viollet/Getty Images.
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436 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

C = Château de Versailles P = Petit Trianon

T = Grand Trianon H = Hameau

16.23. Louis Le Vau and André Le Nôtre, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France, 1661–c. 1750. To the east is the village
and to the west the gardens; both are laid out around a single axis that runs through the center of the king’s chambers at the
core of the château. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after the Delagrive engraving of 1746.

level in the landscape, Le Nôtre maintained visual 14,000; and the townspeople, who provided ser-
interest by using water in basins, long pools—the vices for the court, numbered another 30,000,
Grand Canal was over 1 mile (1.6 km) long—and making a total population within the château and
hundreds of fountains. The fountains were supplied adjoining town of Versailles around 64,000 people.
by a system of pipes and aqueducts fed by a huge The expanded château building alone measured
pumping apparatus called simply “the Machine at 1,250 feet (381 m) in length, and the entire land-
Marly,” which raised water from the Seine River. scape of Versailles, including both the park and the
During 1678–1688, there was a second major town, measured more than 2.7 miles by 2 miles (4.2
phase of construction at Versailles, when the archi- by 2.9 km). Here was an expansion of scale that
tect Jules Hardouin-Mansart added the Galérie des Italian Baroque architects could only have begun
Glaces (Hall of Mirrors) along the west front to imagine. In contrast to the compact Villa Lante
[16.24, 16.25]. Then, wings, tripling the bulk of the at Bagnaia, here was a building complex and a
château, were added to the north and south landscape that could hardly be understood even
[16.23]. These wings housed much of the nobility over a lifetime of exploration, a man-made land-
now required to reside at Versailles, for Louis XIV scape that stretched along the great east-west axis
had moved the entire mechanism of government extending from the heart of the château nearly as
to his rural retreat, abandoning Paris. The popula- far as the eye could see. Multiple axes converged
tion at Versailles continually expanded; when Louis on the bedroom of the king—and, behind it, the
XIV died, in 1715, the nobility numbered about imposing Galérie des Glaces—symbolizing the cen-
20,000 persons (of which 5,000 lived in the château tralized focus on the person and absolute power
itself ); military staff and servants numbered roughly of the king. When Louis XIV had said “l’état c’est
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437

16.24. Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart, aerial view of the Château de Versailles, 1661–1688, and later. With the
wings added by Hardouin-Mansart, the château stretched nearly 1,250 feet (381 m) in length, north to south. Photo: Caisse
Nationale des Monuments Historiques et des Sites/SPADEM.

16.25. Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors), Château of Versailles, 1678–1688. This grand room
replaced a terrace overlooking the gardens; tall windows face the gardens westward, and matching banks of mirrors on the
opposite walls reflect the light throughout the room. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY.
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438 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

moi” (The state is me), he meant not only that he of such a building enterprise, however, for an equiv-
was personally taking control of the machinations alent to Versailles was built, presented as the gift of
of his government but also that the declaration was the nation to a private citizen. The building was
a proud emphatic statement of his rule as absolute Blenheim Palace; paid for by Parliament, it was built
monarch, as his palace at Versailles physically and in 1705–1725 at the request of Queen Anne as a
symbolically displayed. gesture of thanks to John Churchill. The reason for
this generosity was that Churchill, general of the
English army and head of forces allied with England,
English Baroque had defeated the armies of Louis XIV at the small
Baroque architecture could be described as a cele- German village of Blenheim in 1704, establishing a
bration of absolutism, whether it was the command- new balance of power on the Continent. In grati-
ing power of the Church or the absolute rule, by tude for his services, the queen made Churchill the
divine right, of pope and king. In England, however, Duke of Marlborough and granted him the royal
absolutism as it was known in France was increas- manor of Woodstock outside Oxford, where the
ingly curtailed by the actions of Parliament. The great house was to be built. Since the house was
power of the Crown in Britain had been reduced by being paid for with public funds, its designer, the tal-
the rise of the conservative Whig aristocracy, which, ented amateur Sir John Vanbrugh (1664–1726),
working with the king or queen, governed through continually enlarged the plans, so that it became (as
Parliament. Hence, English monarchs never had was said waggishly) more a monument to the deed
the control of the treasury that would have enabled than to the doer. Eventually, the exorbitant cost put
them to build for themselves a Versailles, and John Churchill and his wife, Sarah, into royal and
thereby spared themselves that sense of myopic public disfavor, and the mansion was left not quite
privileged isolation that, in part, eventually led to finished.17
the bloodbath of the French Revolution. Not that Vanbrugh, assisted by architect Nicholas Hawks-
the English people were actually spared the expense moor, laid out the house in three huge parts—a

16.26. Sir John Vanbrugh with Nicholas Hawksmoor, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England, 1705–1725. This English
version of Versailles was built by the nation as a gift to John Churchill, general of the king’s army. The grounds visible in this
aerial view are the result of later re-landscaping in the 1760s by landscape architect Lancelot “Capability” Brown, who
replaced the original geometric French parterres with the meadows and copses of trees in the new style of the English Garden
Park. Photo: Aerofilms, London.
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English Baroque 439

16.27. Entrance court, Blenheim Palace. The design builds in scale toward the center, overpowering the approaching visitor.
This is more museum than private residence, more a monument to the deed than to the doer. Photo: Angelo Hornak, London.

kitchen court, a stable court, and the central main

block of the house—all enclosing a vast entrance
court [16.26, 16.27]. The components of this en-
semble, each highly embellished with extensive
ornamentation, were focused toward the center,
leading to the curved quadrants and the central
pedimented portico that rises over the axial en-
trance. The scale, of both ornament and building
elements, is huge. It is, in fact, less a private resi-
dence than a national monument, and the orna-
ment everywhere attests to this if one knows how
to read it. In the pediments are images of heaped-
up battle trophies, and peppered all over the pictur-
esque roofline atop the massive clustered chimneys
are clear symbols of the house’s political meaning.
The finials are actually stylized representations of a
ducal coronet sitting atop a cannonball crushing a
fleur-de-lis—symbolic of the duke victorious over
the French king [16.28]. Such theatricality was
basic to Baroque architecture, and it is significant 16.28. Blenheim Palace. Detail of the ornament used atop
that the bombast of Blenheim Palace was created the chimneys, symbolically showing a duke’s crown on a
by Vanbrugh, who was by training a professional cannonball on top of and crushing the French fleur-de-lis.
dramatist. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
Just as the French embraced Baroque complex-
ity in design in their own particular way, so too the takes us to the story of the Great Fire of London
complexity of Baroque design is found in a dis- and to the state of urban planning in England dur-
tinctly English way in the great number of London ing the mid-eighteenth century.
churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren. How In the case of Sixtus V’s new plan for Rome, the
the need for so many churches at once came about land lay relatively open owing to the shriveling
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440 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

down of Rome during the Middle Ages. Rome was bidding wood. Sadly, rebuilding London was a tri-
not a true tabula rasa (“cleared table”), since ruins umph of commercial expediency over planned artis-
stood everywhere, but these did not impede prog- tic clarity.
ress in making the new streets. However, in the An immediate need for many churches quickly
case of London, nearly sixty years later, that city arose from the fire. Christopher Wren (1632–1723)
was in fact laid to waste, turned into a true tabula was by education a mathematician, an astronomer,
rasa, because of a disaster in the autumn of 1666. and a scientist, but his avocation in architecture and
In the dark hours after midnight, September 2, building construction led to his being appointed
1666, a fire broke out near the Thames in central Surveyor-General of the King’s Works in 1669;
London in the area just north of London Bridge. this meant he was in effect chief architect to the
At first the blaze appeared controllable, but the Crown.19 He had already overseen construction of
city’s Lord Mayor refused to let nearby buildings be a number of his own building designs, and com-
demolished to create what would now be called a pleted a trip to France (where he met Bernini
firebreak. Soon the conflagration exceeded the briefly), when the fire gave him his unparalleled op-
power to extinguish it and spread, growing steadily portunity. As Surveyor-General, Wren was respon-
in intensity, becoming a firestorm consuming every- sible for providing designs for the scores of small
thing in its path as winds pushed the flames north London parish churches that had disappeared in the
and west. Finally, beginning on Thursday, Septem- flames. Of the 87 destroyed Gothic churches, 51
ber 5, the flames began to die down and finally the were rebuilt, since several parishes were consoli-
Great Fire was extinguished. Deaths were limited dated. Because almost no new churches had been
since people quickly fled before the flames, but the built in England since medieval times, the problem
destruction was catastrophic. Exact figures are Wren faced was how modern English Protestant
impossible to determine, but it is estimated that churches ought to be designed. The urban building
13,500 dwellings were destroyed along with 87 sites were often constricted between adjoining prop-
parish churches and Gothic St. Paul’s Cathedral, erties, but a few sites had true rectangular lots.
44 commercial buildings, nearly all the major public Wren’s ingenuity demonstrated itself in the unend-
buildings and city offices, and even 3 of the city’s ing variety of plans he devised for these churches,
western gates since the fire jumped the old city some centralized in plan, others rectangular [16.30].
walls. According to estimates based on the 2012 All were devised, as Wren wrote, to facilitate the
value of the British pound, the value of the build- worshippers’ hearing the words of the speaker. Prior
ings lost was £1.5 billion.18 to the fire, London’s medieval skyline had been a
British architects and natural scientists of the forest of slender Gothic spires rising over the old
day were well aware of planning projects in France churches, and Wren undertook to restore that
and of what had been designed for Rome, and they image—but in Classical terms. The new towers he
proposed several plans for the rational restructuring designed consisted of diminishing stages of Classical
of old medieval London, now swept away, with squares and octagons, belvederes and cupolas, rising
broad straight streets. Even King Charles II favored to slender spires [16.31].
the idea. One proposed plan that received serious Wren’s greatest achievement was the rebuilding
consideration was prepared by Sir Christopher of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, whose Gothic bulk for-
Wren [16.29]. The black area shown in the en- merly rose over old London. When it was deter-
graved version of Wren’s plan indicates the area that mined that the old stone walls were too badly
was burnt over. Wren proposed a grid of secondary damaged by the fire to permit reconstruction, the
streets extending north from the river, with broad site was cleared, giving Wren his opportunity to de-
primary thoroughfares running east to west and sign an ideal centralized cathedral. His first scheme,
connecting to existing old streets. Many ran on di- prepared about 1670, was an enormous Greek cross
agonals that focused on major buildings such as the (the arms connected by curved quadrants rather
new Saint Paul’s and the Royal Exchange. On Lon- than meeting in more traditional right angles), the
don’s west end Wren even proposed an octagon of whole capped by a great dome resembling that of
radiating streets, cleverly designed to connect with Saint Peter’s, Rome, but simpler in ornamentation
the ends of existing streets beyond the fire’s limits. [16.32]. At the request of cathedral officials, Wren
Next to nothing came of any of these idealistic city then modified the design by adding a domed
plans (even Wren’s), so that the previous tangle of vestibule at the west, which resulted in an axial
medieval streets was largely reestablished (though building. The clergy and royal family were still dis-
some were made wider), but new building codes satisfied, however, insisting that Wren devise a still
now required construction of brick and stone, for- more traditional basilican plan, with choir, transept
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441

16.29. Sir Christopher Wren, new plan for rebuilding the City of London, 1666. In working out a new plan for the city after
the disastrous fire of 1666, Wren used broad, straight thoroughfares focused on several nodes, as in the scheme of Sixtus V for
the new Rome. From the engraving published of Wren’s plan, 1666 (Historic Urban Plans, Inc., Ithaca, New York, USA).

16.30. Sir Christopher Wren,

assorted plans for London churches,
1670–1685 and after. No two of
the scores of churches that Wren
designed had the same plan; some
were essentially longitudinal in form
while others were centrally planned.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after E. Sekler.
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442 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

wings, and nave. This he did, devising the final plan

for the start of construction in 1675 [16.33].
As construction proceeded upward, Wren con-
tinuously studied and modified the upper portions
of the cathedral, particularly the design of the
dome, which was finished in 1709 [16.34, 16.35].
The result is a building of studied proportions full
of curious paradoxes. The choir and nave have a
traditional high-nave/low-side-aisle profile, with
the square bays of the nave covered by shallow
saucer domes resting on pendentives. The outward
thrusts of these domed vaults are transferred to the
outer side walls by parabolic flying buttresses, but
these are hidden behind the false second-level
upper walls, which are simply a screen (their “win-
dows” are blank). Instead of four massive piers
under the dome in the manner of Bramante, Wren
used eight smaller pendentives over eight piers to
support the broad dome—a solution he had exper-
imented with in the much smaller parish church of
Saint Stephen, Walbrook, London, 1672–1679,
where the dome was a plaster shell with a modest
diameter of 43 feet (13.1 m) [see 16.30f].
The lower inner dome of Saint Paul’s has a max-
imum span of 112 feet (34.1 m), but the structural
wall of the drum actually slopes inward and dimin-
ishes to a reduced diameter of 101 feet (30.8 m) at
roughly the level of the top of the colonnade run-
ning around the exterior of the dome. In fact, the
dome in its entirety is composed of three shells: the
lower shell, visible from the floor; an inner brick
cone to support the crowning stone lantern; and an
outer shell of timber framing and lead sheeting,
proportioned in size to the overall size of the cathe-
dral. Altogether, the innermost dome rises to a lit-
tle over 214 feet (65.2 m), while the outer dome
with its lantern and crowning orb and cross stretch
to 366 feet (111.6 m).
Wren’s mathematical and geometrical studies
persuaded him that the incline of the drum walls
should follow the direction the forces would take
coming down from the upper brick cone and outer
dome [16.36]. Wren understood, too, that lateral
forces would not be fully resolved in his design, and
therefore he incorporated iron chains banding the
dome at several locations. Accordingly, Saint Paul’s
is a complex and brilliant fusion of traditional plan
form and Renaissance-Baroque formal elements
and scale, its structure mathematically studied for
utmost stability and efficiency.

16.31. Sir Christopher Wren, Church of Saint Mary-le-Bow, The Baroque Staircase
London, England, 1670–1680. In re-creating the image of
tall Gothic spires in the new City churches, Wren used stacked As noted in the discussion of Michelangelo’s San
diminishing Classical elements. Photo: A. F. Kersting. Lorenzo Library staircase in Chapter 15, Alberti
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443

16.32. Sir Christopher Wren, Great Model design for Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London, England, 1673. In his early schemes
for Saint Paul’s, Wren employed the ideal forms of the Renaissance.

16.33. Saint Paul’s Cathedral, c. 1675. Final plan. In the final scheme for the building, Wren bowed to the Crown’s and the
clergy’s desire for a more traditional Latin cross, but he still retained his great dome for the crossing. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after A.F.E. Poley, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London . . . (London, 1927).
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444 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

16.34. Saint Paul’s Cathedral. Exterior, facade. Photo: A. F. Kersting, London.

had written that the smaller the stairs in a building, ploiting its spatial potential. It was not unusual for
the better. Baroque architects and their patrons, the staircase to be the single most developed part
contrary to this advice, delighted in creating ex- of a German or an Austrian Baroque palace.20
pansive rooms especially for stairs, molding sequen- Numerous examples of such elaborated stairs sur-
tial interior spaces, alternately dark and then light, vive, including the imposing Scala Regia in the Vat-
some areas confining, some expansive. This elabo- ican Palace designed by Bernini, 1663–1666, and the
ration of staircase development was most vigorous curved double stairs of Guarini’s Palazzo Carignano
north of Italy, especially in the German-speaking in Turin. The Guarini example likely inspired the
areas of Bavaria and Austria. The German and similar double-curved staircase in the Episcopal res-
Austrian architects of the early eighteenth century idence of the Prince-Bishop of Speyer, at Bruchsal,
deliberately ignored Alberti’s proscription, placing in eastern Germany just outside Speyer. The Bruch-
the staircase in a special room of its own and ex- sal stair was built during 1728–1752 and designed
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445

16.35. Saint Paul’s Cathedral. Exterior of the dome as

finished. Note the dual layering of the body of the church,
which allowed the complete upper order to be visible above
the roofs of the surrounding buildings. Visible in the
foreground on the right is the tower of the parish church
of Saint Augustine, rebuilt by Wren in 1683–1695
following the fire (but damaged by bombing, 1940–1943).
Photo: Dave Pressland/FLPA/Science Source.

16.36. Saint Paul’s Cathedral. Section through the dome.

Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Poley.
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446

16.37. Johann Balthasar Neumann, Prince-Bishop’s Palace, Würzburg, Germany, 1737–1742. Stair Hall. In German
Baroque palaces, the most important space was often the ceremonial stair hall. Photo: Helga Schmidt-Glassner, Stuttgart.
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Rococo Architecture: The End of the Baroque 447

that, in accordance with the prince-bishop’s wishes,

his carriage could escape the rain and pass into the
building, where he could alight at the foot of the
grand staircase. The staircase was housed in the
largest single room on the ground floor [16.37]. In
technical terms, the stair has what is called an im-
perial plan, meaning that it has a central flight that
ends in a landing at the rear wall and that it then
divides into two flights (running in the opposite di-
rection parallel to the lower flight), which ascend
the remaining distance [16.38]. The entire staircase
is enclosed in a room almost twice as long and wide
as the stair itself; this permits an enclosing balcony
at the upper level, so that one ascends into a larger,
lighter space. The coved ceiling vault was later em-
bellished by the Venetian fresco painter Tiepolo in
1752–1753, with figures representing the four con-
tinents and, in front of the illusionistic parapet, a
portrait of Neumann himself.

Rococo Architecture:
The End of the Baroque
The last phase of Baroque architecture in France
moved away from the heavy architectural decora-
tive elements and deep colors of the early seven-
teenth century in favor of more slender decorative
features and a much lighter palate of colors. The
use of light colors and the delicate, irregular, curvi-
linear ornament were part of an architectural reac-
tion that began in Paris in the 1720s and swept
through Europe by the mid-eighteenth century. As
with other stylistic labels, rococo began as a deroga-
tory term invented by the later Neoclassicists in the
1790s. They derived the word rococo from the
French rocaille (“shell”), which is used in reference
16.38. Prince-Bishop’s Palace, Würzburg, Germany. Plan. to the shell-encrusted grottos fashionable in gar-
The plan clearly shows that the stair hall is the largest single dens at the beginning of the eighteenth century.22
room in the palace. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
During the lifetime of Louis XIV, when all mem-
bers of court were required to live at Versailles, they
found themselves either in cramped, ill-maintained
quarters in the château itself or in whatever costly
by Johann Balthasar Neumann (1687–1753). Neu- accommodations they could find in the town. Le
mann, in fact, became something of an expert in Brun’s pervasive heavy Baroque Classical interiors
elaborate stair design, designing another staircase for came to be viewed as oppressive by those forced to
the schloss or palace at Brühl, 1743–1748.21 live there. As soon as Louis XIV died, there was a
Perhaps the best example of such spatial com- mass exodus from Versailles (and a collapse of the
plexity in stair design is, again, by Neumann. This local real-estate market). The nobles returned to
was created for the sprawling palace for Prince- Paris, where they erected spacious private houses,
Bishop Johann Philipp Franz Schönborn in Würz- hôtels, principally in what were then the western
burg, in central Germany. Neumann was brought in outskirts of the city. These hôtels were built on
to complete the staircase in 1737–1742, inside a large, irregular parcels that permitted an entrance
building started from plans by two other architects. court off the street, leading to a carriage court (with
The palace itself was in the form of a wide U, with a side opening to the stables) and the entry pavilion
a center pavilion opened up by three huge doors so of the house. There was often a spacious private
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448 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

garden to the rear. A good example of the new free- entablatures. Instead of the static orders of antiq-
dom in domestic design is the Hôtel de Matignon, uity, this new Rococo ornament derived from natu-
Paris, by Jean Courtonne, 1722–1724 [16.39]. The ral forms—shells, flowers, seaweed—particularly if
plan shows another break from the insistent axial there was a double S-curve. The character of the
symmetries of Versailles, for the entrance court fa- Parisian style is epitomized in the interior of the
cade is much narrower than the garden facade, yet Salon de Princesse of the Hôtel de Soubise, remod-
both are bilaterally symmetrical. This means that eled by Germain Bouffrand in 1732–1745 [16.40].
the axis of the entry is shifted to the side in a com- Whereas Baroque architecture and its illusionistic
plex interlocking of rooms to become the axis of visions had begun in Rome to express religious mys-
the garden facade. teries, Rococo architecture was developed in Paris
These hôtels were built low to the ground, with as a purely secular style; it was also perhaps the first
the principal rooms on the ground floor, opening di- architectural idiom to arise primarily as a style of
rectly onto garden terraces by means of what came residential interior decoration.
to be called French doors. Those parts of the wall
not filled with large windows or doors were often
glazed with mirrors, and the effect of the tall doors The Amalienburg
and the many mirrors was to create a blaze of light, Within a decade, Rococo had become the fashion-
deemphasizing the sense of structure. The rooms in- able style of interior decorating across Europe, and
side these hôtels were most often painted ivory, in fact the most fully developed examples are those
cream white, or in pale pastel tints, and paneled by French-trained designers working in Germany.
with delicate frames formed of lacy tendrils and Even more resplendent than the interiors of the
wisps of gilded ornament. While the overall scheme Salon de Princesse in Paris are those of the small
of wall panels might possess balanced symmetry, the hunting lodge, the Amalienburg, built in the grounds
ornamental devices were based on motifs drawn of the Nymphenburg, the royal Bavarian retreat out-
from nature, and close inspection often reveals ir- side Munich inspired by Versailles. The Amalien-
regular elements. These Rococo interiors must have burg was built in 1734–1739 for Amalia, wife of the
seemed like a breath of fresh air after the somber in- elector of Bavaria, from designs by François Cuvilliés
teriors of Versailles, loaded with heavy pilasters and (1695–1768), who had been born in France and

16.39. Jean Courtonne,

Hôtel de Matignon, Paris,
France, 1722–1724. Plan.
After the death of Louis XIV
in 1715, the nobility returned
to Paris, where they built new
residences with one or two
stories on large irregular
parcels in the open outer
fringes of Paris. The axial
formal plans were adjusted to
the irregularities of the sites.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
Levey and Kalnein, Art and
Architecture of the
Eighteenth Century in
France (Harmondsworth,
England, 1972).
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Rococo Architecture: The End of the Baroque 449

16.40. Germain Bouffrand, Salon de Princesse, Hôtel de Soubise, Paris, France, 1732–1745. In the salons of the Parisian
hotels, a new, light and airy style of interior decoration—Rococo—was developed, as exemplified in this room. Photo: Scala/
Art Resource, NY.

trained in Paris but was employed in the royal house- War, 1618–1648, which devastated the economies
hold in Bavaria from the age of thirteen onward of all the German bishoprics and principalities (al-
[16.41]. The comparatively plain white exterior of though those in the Catholic south were less rav-
the diminutive Amalienburg gives one little prepa- aged than in the Protestant north). Fought by
ration for the delicate encrustation of silver filigree Swedish, French, Spanish, and Austrian imperial
set against an azure blue background that covers armies on German soil, this bitter prolonged clash
nearly every surface of the central Mirror Salon not of Catholics against Protestants, together with the
glazed or covered by mirrors. In the adjoining rooms, famine that followed, reduced the population across
the walls are pale yellow with silver leaf on the deli- Germany by 15 percent and, in some areas of the
cate paneling [Plate 22]. The profusion of carved north and along the Rhine, by as much as 66 per-
and gilded stucco work by Johann Baptist Zimmer- cent. The shattered local economies did not fully
mann made painted panels unnecessary. No other recover until the dawn of the eighteenth century,
Rococo interior ever surpassed this. when the great palaces and pilgrimage churches in
southern Germany began to be built.
A number of new Benedictine monasteries and
Vierzehnheiligen monastic churches were built in the early decades
In the German-speaking states, the intensity of of the eighteenth century. A good example is the
ornamentation in eighteenth-century buildings was Benedictine Abbey at Ottobeuren, in southwestern
in large part delayed compensation for the long Bavaria just below Memmingen, designed by Joseph
period of deprivation caused by the Thirty Years’ Effner and J. M. Fischer. Inside the abbey church
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450 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

16.41. François Cuvilliés, exterior view of the Amalienburg Pavilion, on the grounds of the Nymphenburg Palace, outside
Munich, Bavaria, Germany, 1734–1739. The fullest expressions of Rococo were made by French artists working in
Germany, as in this hunting pavilion. The central round salon is completely lined with glass, either in French doors or in
mirrors. Photo: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.

are elaborate carved stucco work and exuberant Johann Balthasar Neumann. The supervising
Rococo wood cases for the twin matching pipe or- builder, G. H. Krohne, however, blithely deviated
gans. The many eighteenth-century pilgrimage from Neumann’s design, modifying the plan so that
churches built in Bavaria and southern Germany the principal shrine of Vierzehnheiligen would be
were also emblems of a rise in religious fervor. in the center of the nave instead of in the choir
These German/Austrian pilgrimage churches tend under the main altar. In 1744, Neumann was en-
to be isolated in the countryside, unlike urban gaged to take over construction himself, to rectify
churches or abbey churches. One good example is as best he could the errors that Krohne had intro-
the pilgrimage church of Die Wies, set in the coun- duced. Since the position of the altar with respect
tryside of southern Bavaria not far from Steingaden to the outer foundations was now fixed, Neumann
and built from designs by Dominikus Zimmermann decided to make the spatial divisions of the church
in 1744–1754. more fluid, reshaping the interior plan as a series of
Perhaps the most splendid of the pilgrimage interlocked and overlapping ovals, the largest one
churches is the Basilica of Vierzehnheiligen, set on containing the main shrine [16.42, 16.43, 16.44].
a high, wooded ridge near the Main River, in the Hence, the internal, curved arcades, capped by el-
Ober-Franken region, near Lichtenfels, Bavaria. lipsoidal plaster domes, have no particular relation-
Here, in 1445, a shepherd had a vision of the Christ ship to the exterior of the church. The vaults of the
Child surrounded by fourteen child-like angels, choir and the large nave oval meet in curved rib
who later came to be called the Fourteen Saints in arches over the crossing where one would expect
Time of Need. A pilgrimage church of Vierzehn- to find a dome. The main pilgrimage shrine was
heiligen (Fourteen Holy Helpers) was soon built placed at the center of the large oval in the nave,
there, and in 1742, work began on replacing that over the spot where the vision occurred; this
building with a grander one from plans prepared by arrangement allowed pilgrims to circulate around
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451

16.42. Johann Balthasar Neumann, Vierzehnheiligen (Pilgrimage Church of the Fourteen Helpers), Franconia, Germany,
1742–1772. From the outside, this pilgrimage church would appear to have a traditional Latin cross nave-with-side-aisles
plan. Photo: Marion Dean Ross.
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452 16. BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

16.43. Vierzehnheiligen. Plan.

Neumann’s plan uses
overlapped ovals throughout,
creating a fluidity of movement
from part to part. Drawing:
P. Boundy, after H. Stierlin.

the church and not disturb the celebration of the the colorful and beautifully veined marble columns
Mass at the altar located in the choir. are not stone but actually painted plaster called
The interior embellishment, carried out in scagliola. There was no desire to express structural
1744–1772, is also a superb example of the work of reality, for even the vaults overhead are plaster on
the Late Rococo stuccoists Johann Michael Feicht- wooden lath suspended from the wooden roof
mayr and Johann Georg Übelhör and the painter trusses. On the contrary, this is a purely environ-
Giuseppe Appiani [16.45, p. 414, Plate 10]. The mental shell, defining interconnected spaces and
white piers and vaults are covered with gilded ten- manipulating light, bouncing it from the inner side
drils, which also frame the vault paintings. Here, as of the encircling piers, suffusing the interior with a
in most Rococo German and Austrian churches, soft radiance. The interior is a world of delicate and

16.44. Vierzehnheiligen. Longitudinal

Section. The curved vaults are in fact a shell
of plaster suspended from the roof trusses.
Drawing: P. Boundy, after H. Stierlin.
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An Architecture of Artifice 453

joyful artifice, making the strongest possible con- something else; it was visual effect with very little
trast with the mundane world outside. To pilgrims structural truth. By the time Vierzehnheiligen was
entering the church, it must have seemed like the being completed in the early 1770s, however, a rad-
shepherd’s vision—a foretaste of paradise. ical change was already well established in France,
an abrupt turn toward a fully rational architecture
in which, conversely, structural truth was now to
An Architecture of Artifice control visual effect. The pendulum was swinging
In their striving for the fullest possible effects of sharply back to the rationalism of Renaissance
molded space, manipulated light, brilliant color, and purists. Yet, there was no return to the Renaissance
sensuous detail, Baroque architects and their later style itself, for an objective knowledge of history as a
Rococo counterparts created an architecture that, scientific discipline had emerged in the meantime.
increasingly, was concerned predominantly with the On the basis of what they were now learning about
shaping of space and almost not at all with expres- antiquity, these avant-garde Parisian architects now
sion of the fundamental underlying structure of ar- sought to create a rational modern architecture re-
chitecture. Architecture became, quite literally, an formulated structurally from the ground up in the
exquisite and colorful veneer that was applied over light of a new understanding of ancient architecture.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:14 PM Page 454

CH-1. Sakyamuni Pagoda, Fogong Buddhist Monastery, Yingxian, Shanxi Province, China, 1056. Built of wood (the oldest
pagoda building in China), this vertical tower form was inspired by the lower domical mound form of the Indian stupa; this
example shows the remarkable transformation of the simple series of small disks of the chattra feature atop Indian stupas into
a soaring vertical temple tower. Photo: © Li Wenkui/Xinhua Press/Corbis.
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E S S AY 4

Chinese Architecture

A lthough Chinese trade goods, particularly silks, were known and highly valued in the West
since before Roman times, it was the eighteenth-century European mania for tea that
brought the two worlds into collision in the early nineteenth century.1 Portuguese merchants,
followed by the Dutch, first reached China by sailing around Africa, trading for tea, and then in-
troducing it to Europe. The Dutch called the beverage thee, and tea became the word customarily
used in Europe; the Chinese word, cha, was not widely used in the West.
By the end of the seventeenth century, tea had become the aristocratic drink of choice, and
by the eighteenth century it was served in fashionable salons throughout western Europe. The
formal serving of tea prompted the development of delicate porcelain serving pieces and the
miniaturization of spoons (to become “tea” spoons), together with a huge increase in the con-
sumption of tropically grown sugar as a sweetener. Accompanying the growing export of tea from
China was a special Chinese porcelain ware painted with blue designs as part of the glazing. The
pictures on this “blue ware” fueled an interest in Chinese landscape images, particularly those
that depicted landscapes in the distinctive flattened perspective typical of Asian landscape paint-
ing. The rapid increase in the formal drinking of tea, and the creation of porcelain ware with
Chinese images of landscape for serving it, became integral to the craze for “Chinoiserie”—a fas-
cination with Chinese design, Chinese art, Chinese garden design, and Chinese architecture.
For roughly a century, from about 1700 to 1800, “Chinoiserie” flourished, resulting in the making
of splendid porcelain ware, “Chinese” interior and furniture design, and far-fetched Chinese gar-
den “follies,” as well as the creation of asymmetrical picturesque landscapes that produced the
English garden park movement. By the end of the eighteenth century, this landscape movement
had spread, resulting in “jardins anglais” in France (even at Versailles) as well as “Englisch
gärtens” in German-speaking states across Europe.2 But as to a correct understanding of the true
principles and major achievements of Chinese architecture and garden design, European igno-
rance of China was considerable. The underlying concepts of true Chinese design would become
better understood in the West only a century and a half later.
One principle of Chinese philosophy is the concept of yin and yang, literally “shadow and
light,” the fundamental, interdependent, and complimentary pairing of necessary opposites: odd
and even, dark and light, night and day, low and high, cold and hot, water and fire, female and
male. For millennia before direct contact with Western culture began in the sixteenth century,
China’s social structure had long been shaped by this yin and yang duality, well represented, as
it turns out, by the two complimentary Chinese philosophical systems that resulted from the
teaching and writings of two sages of the fifth century BCE—Confucius (Kong Fuzi) and Laozi
(Lao-Tse). These two contrasting but complementary systems would suffuse Chinese architectural
and landscape design for all the centuries following. Confucianism (based on the teachings of
Kong Fuzi, “Master Kong,” commonly Romanized as “Confucius”) originally was developed to
instruct pupils in their search for personal integrity and honorable values and, by extension, to
promote logical orderly governance. Kong Fuzi moved with a few followers from place to place
in China, endeavoring for years to find a ruler who would use his principles to create an orderly
and honorably balanced system of governance. Confucianism is rooted in a sense of underlying
rational order; in a person’s adherence to absolute integrity, obedience to authority, veneration
of ancestors, and respect for one’s elders; and in an ordering of the relationship of the individual

455
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456 ESSAY 4: CHINESE ARCHITECTURE

to the family, the family to the larger community, and the community to the state. A summation
of the teachings of Confucius is found in the Analects of Confucius—the rules of conduct and be-
havior uttered by the master and later collected and written down by his followers.
In dramatic opposition to Confucianism, the philosophy of Laozi is called Daoism (from Dao,
“the way”). It relies not on rational analysis or on observing prescribed rules of behavior but,
rather, on embracing and celebrating the spontaneous variation of nature. In contrast to the
codified rules of Confucianism, Daoism is nonauthoritarian and mystical. Adding to this philo-
sophical dualism, at about the start of the common era, Buddhism was introduced to China, and
these two Chinese philosophical systems were soon brought into alignment with the religious
tenets of Buddhism.
Buddhism, though it does incorporate philosophical elements, is primarily a religious system.
In the first century of the modern era, Chinese Buddhist temples were built in the Chinese wood-
frame tradition; none of these survive. More significant (if the number of surviving examples is
any indication) was the impact of the Indian stupa, transmuted in China as the pagoda.
Built as a monument marking the location of the remains of Buddha or some other revered
holy person, the stupa was almost immediately transformed in China from a low rounded mound
into a slender vertical multistage or tiered tower, derived in part from the multilevel chattra pin-
nacle atop the stupa, but also drawing inspiration from the established Chinese practice of build-
ing watchtowers. The term pagoda was derived from the Sanskrit dagoba (which means “stupa”).
The horizontal levels of the pagoda, resembling the superimposed parasols in the Indian chattra,
were enlarged to become encircling projecting narrow roofs or eaves. This is well illustrated in
the twelve-sided brick pagoda of the Songyue temple complex at Song Mountain, Henan
Province, built in 523 CE—the oldest surviving example. This pagoda has fifteen slightly pro-
jecting roof eaves, diminishing by increasing degrees so that the tall elliptical profile resembles
the tall shikhara towers of Indian Hindu temples. Other Tang dynasty pagodas (also built of ma-
sonry) are square in plan and have fifteen or so closely spaced encircling eaves or roofs.
From this evolved the Chinese timber-framed pagoda, with superimposed broader eaves carried
by the densely stacked timber brackets known as the dougong (tou-kung) system (also used in Bud-
dhist temples) and seen, for example, in the pagoda at Fogong Temple at Yingxian, Shanxi
Province, built in 1056 [CH-1]. Broader than the earlier brick or masonry pagodas, the Fogong
pagoda has six major projected roofs protecting smaller, less projected intermediate encircling bal-
conies. In early Chinese Buddhist temple complexes, the pagoda is typically the largest and most
important building, firmly centered on the axis that runs straight from the entry gate to the main
hall at the far end containing the images of the Buddha [CH-2]. In the Fogong pagoda, there were
also five additional, progressively smaller Buddha statues, one on each of its internal levels.
The principal statuary viewing halls in such temple complexes were rectangular wood-framed
buildings with heavy cantilevered roofs supported by regularly spaced wood columns lifting up
multiple superimposed projecting dougong brackets intended to reduce the length of the can-
tilevered roof rafters. The oldest surviving Chinese wood temple is the Nanchan Temple on
Wutai Mountain in Shanxi Province, begun in 782 CE [CH-3]. A good example of the earliest
temple type, the Nanchan Temple is comparatively constrained in size, whereas in subsequent
centuries these halls grew to be quite large. Typical, too, is the orientation of the Nanchan Temple
with its long side to the front. In important Chinese public buildings—whether the great halls in
Buddhist monasteries, the central building in larger house compounds, or the central throne
room hall in the imperial palace—the width of a facade was seen as a measure of a building’s im-
portance. The best-known example is the enormously broad front of the Hall of Supreme Har-
mony (Taihedian) at the very center of the imperial Forbidden City Palace in Beijing (first built
in 1406 but rebuilt in 1695–1697 after several fires). The huge hall, used for the most important
imperial ceremonies, is nearly 210 feet (63.96 m) wide across the front and only 122 feet (37.2 m)
in depth.
The Confucian ideas of an orderly system, intended to promote and maintain social order,
are well illustrated by one of the oldest manuscripts to survive in China, Kaogong ji (The Artificer’s
Record) from the fifth century CE. This remarkable document is a guide for laying out cities,
outlining general principles that also hold true for residential compounds, including the largest
such compound in China, the sprawling complex of the imperial household and governmental
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Chinese Architecture 457

CH-2. Fogong Monastery,

Yingxian, Shanxi Province, China,
1056. Plan of principal buildings.
Though the original gate has been
rebuilt, the plan shows the strong
axial arrangement from front gate
to the main hall. G = front gate;
B = bell tower; D = drum
tower; P = pagoda; M = main
hall. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after
L. Liu, Chinese Architecture
(New York, 1989).

center of Ming and Qing China—the Forbidden City at the center of Beijing. In essence, Chinese
culture is about protective containment: the nation is bounded by a wall (the Great Wall to keep
out the “barbarians”); the city is bounded by a wall (the Chinese word for city and wall is the
same, cheng); the imperial Forbidden City is contained within an encircling wall; and individual
private household compounds, large or small, are bounded by a high closed wall. The Kaogong ji
indicates that a capital city should be a square 4,000 feet to a side, oriented to the cardinal di-
rections, with three gates on each side. The main gate should face south, with the principal street
running north-south from that gate, leading to the governmental complex in the center of the
city. In the imperial Forbidden City, Beijing, that central position is occupied by the Hall of Su-
preme Harmony, and the palace itself is at the center of the orthogonal plan of Beijing. There,
in the center of the space inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, facing southward, sat the emperor
at the center of all things, in the kingdom still called Zhongguo—the “central nation.”
Moreover, each of the cardinal axes and directions, whether at the scale of a city or the small
scale of a private house, is associated with one of the Five Elements, with attributes and colors,
in turn, associated with each of the cardinal directions. East is linked with spring, wood, and the
color blue-green (pictorially represented by the Blue Dragon). South is associated with summer,
fire, and red (pictorially represented by the Red Phoenix). West is associated with autumn, har-
vest, metal (gold in particular), also weapons, and the color white (frequently depicted as the
White Tiger). North is associated with winter, night, and black (sometimes represented by the
xuanwu figure, a coiling snake).3 The ruler’s residence and place of administration were located
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458 ESSAY 4: CHINESE ARCHITECTURE

CH-3. Nanchan Buddhist Temple at Mt. Wutai, Shanxi Province, China, 782. The oldest wood temple in
China, this shows the wood bracketing (dougong) construction that carried roofs cantilevered well beyond the
walls. Photo: Christopher Liu, Chinastock.

where the axes of the city intersect in the center, or zhong. The emperor’s compound also was
associated with a central vertical axis mundi (in addition to the cardinal axes), which connects
Heaven to Earth; the associated color of the vertical axis is the royal yellow. Only imperial roofs
in the city were covered with yellow glazed roof tiles.
The other ancient method of ordering space and making correct planning decisions is ob-
serving correct fengshui, or geomancy (literally translated as “wind-water”). The objective of feng-
shui is to ensure the openness to positive qi (“breath”), life energy or energy flow, a concept closely
related to the Dao; correct fengshui also provides measures to redirect or block negative energy
flow. When undertaking a building, the patron would engage a fengshui consultant to determine
the most auspicious orientation of the proposed structure.4
Just as cities were walled enclosures, so too were residences walled family compounds, the
wall defining the edge of the street. Under Confucianism, the house is ruled by the eldest male
family member with, ideally, three generations living as one household. The walled house was
made up of a series of inward-focused courtyards with only a simple door opening to the narrow
street. As it typically had no windows onto the street (restricting access to intruders), light from
the internal courtyards lit the interior rooms. The street entry door was most often placed to one
side so that the entry path into the house required two turns, avoiding a straight line due to the
belief that evil forces, Sha, move in straight lines [CH-4]. Once inside the compound, a visitor
could perceive the central axis on which the entry court was placed. In a large house this was a
service court, lined by kitchen and service rooms to the south, with children’s and guest rooms
east and west. A door in the northern wall of this court led to a second larger inner court, lined
with consorts or children’s suites east and west. Flanking the axis on the north side of this court
would be the parent’s and sons’ rooms, with the parent’s chamber to the left and the sons’ to the
right. Daughters generally slept in the rear of the compound, farthest from the point of entry to
the house. In the very center, on the axis and against the north wall, was the largest chamber;
this served as a reception room and the ancestral hall, housing an altar table for veneration of
the family’s ancestors.
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Chinese Architecture 459

CH-4. Plan of a typical Beijing

siheyuan or northern-style walled
courtyard house, nineteenth
century. The plan shows the offset
entry, requiring several turns as a
person enters, the strong axial
alignment, and the succession of
courts that lead to the ancestral
hall. 1 = entry hall; 2 = entry
court; 3 = second court; 4 =
servants’ rooms; 5 = side halls or
children’s rooms; 6 = main
courtyard; 7 = ancestral or main
hall; 8 = inner family courtyard;
9 = master suite flanked with
wives’ rooms; 10 = service space
connecting to other chambers.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after L. Liu,
Chinese Architecture (New
York, 1989).

Still surviving in Beijing is the expansive Gongwangfu residential complex, built in 1777 for
imperial minister He Shen but later confiscated and passed through several owners until finally
being given in 1851 by Emperor Xianfeng to his brother, Prince Gong. Known by that name today
(and open to the public as a museum), the Gong Mansion is considered one of the largest and
most sumptuous private garden residences in Beijing in the old northern style.
Somewhat more typical of the southern residences of prosperous merchants is the Lin An Tai
residence, Taipei, Taiwan, begun about 1783–1785 (with side additions built in 1822–1823). The
house was built by Lin Chin-Neng, a successful merchant who had come from Fujian Province
with his father and family around 1754. The house in Taiwan was built in the Fujian style, and
it was named Lin An Tai by its builder to allude both to the family name and to the Rong Tai
company that he operated.5 The plan exemplifies moderate-sized homes, with an entry “gate
hall” with two doors on either side to avoid a straight line axial entry (today, there is a central
door for visitors since the house is a museum open to the public). Beyond the entry is an internal
court with small secondary family bedchambers left and right. On the central axis toward the
rear wall of the house is the ancestral hall, flanked on either side by bedchambers for the elders.
Thicker masonry walls separate the center block from the added hulong “wings” left and right;
these wings were built to provide ancillary bedchambers in the front and servants’ rooms in the
back, including a kitchen. Small open courts in the four hulong sections provide additional light
and air as well as rainwater for small indoor ponds.
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460 ESSAY 4: CHINESE ARCHITECTURE

While the Lin An Tai house is generous in space by Chinese Qing dynasty standards, other suc-
cessful merchants found ways of providing comparable living space in much more compact arrange-
ments. An exceptional example—a house for the Huang family, which traces its lineage back
through thirty-six generations—was built about 1790–1800 in the village of Huangcun in southern
Anhui Province, about 224 miles (350 km) west of Shanghai. Though the house, named Yin Yu
Tang (“Hall of Plentiful Shelter”), had been occupied by the same family for two hundred years, by
1996 it stood empty and suffered some vandalism before being acquired by the Peabody Essex In-
stitute of Salem, Massachusetts.6 Once all the necessary clearances had been obtained, the Huang
house was methodically disassembled, the parts transported, and the house meticulously recon-
structed in Salem, next to the Institute. The house has the additional advantage of being excep-
tionally thoroughly documented, with detailed interpretive presentations now available online.7
Because the Huangcun village is squeezed between a river and a mountain, building space
was limited, so the footprint of the two-story Huang house was compressed; it has a single wide
but narrow rectangular court rising through the center of the two stories of the house, the tianjing,
“skywell.” The presence of the mountain and the river also caused Yin Yu Tang to be oriented
completely opposite to orthodox fengshui: it faces north instead of south. Since a mountain rose
directly behind the house—a most auspicious condition—and since flowing water is associated
with wealth flowing into a house, Yin Yu Tang was oriented facing north, the mountain to the
back and the river to the front, although in all respects the house was considered by its residents
as facing south with all the interior rooms disposed according to traditional placements.
In marked contrast to the ordered structure and symmetrical axiality of the Confucian-based
house is the studied and felicitous irregularity of the Chinese garden. Contrary to the yin (femi-
nine) and yang (male) balance within the house, the garden was considered to be the province
of the Dao, exhibiting the unexpectedness and spontaneous variability of nature, achieved in
studied asymmetrical plantings, irregular bodies of water, winding or zig-zag paths, and a strate-
gically positioned ornamental pavilion called a ting from which, under the shelter of its dramat-
ically upturned roof, one could meditate on the carefully designed views. Some gardens were
large, such as those of the Gong Mansion. Others, such as the highly esteemed gardens in Suzhou,
Jiangsu Province, built by retired imperial officials from the eleventh through the nineteenth
centuries, are less ostentatious and more studied in design. Of the nine principal Suzhou gardens,
all of which have been placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, one appropriate represen-
tative is the Garden of the Humble Administrator, begun by Wang Xiancheng in 1510 [CH-5].8
But size is not critical, for through the adroit design of a small lagoon or pond, a few selected
trees, and perhaps a carefully chosen unusually irregular rock, even a small garden could be made
the alternate of nature. Gardens were considered more difficult to design than houses, as they
were intended to look as if they had grown out of nature though they were clearly a work of
human artifice. Hence, the intellectual study of garden design and the making of gardens was a
discipline associated with highly educated poets, philosophers, and those who had distinguished
themselves in government service. In the evening, in the garden, away from the cares of the daily
world, a scholar could escape the structured Confucian confinement of the house, relax within
the ting, sip rice wine, and, in the light of the full moon, write or contemplate a reflective poem.
In such moments, the rigorous discipline of Confucian order could be set aside while the mind
opened itself to the infinite expansiveness of the Dao [Plate 23].
As the poet Bai Juyi wrote in the ninth century: “There is one thing and one alone I never
tire of watching—The spring river as it trickles over the stones and babbles past the rocks.”9
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461

CH-5. Garden of the Humble Administrator, Suzhou, southern China, begun 1510. Plan. Artfully crafted to
combine water, a variety of plants, covered walkways in zigzag paths, and strategically placed pavilions, such
gardens as this provided places for officials to contemplate natural beauty in its manifold forms. E = entrance;
1 = The Secluded Ting (pavilion) of the Chinese Parasol Tree and Bamboo; 2 = The Green Ripple Ting;
3 = The Orange Ting; 4 = The Snow-Like Fragrant Chinese Plum Tree Pavilion; 5 = The Lotus Breezes Ting;
6 = The Mountain-in-View Tower; 7 = The Tower of Reflection; 8 = The Floating Green Tower; 9 = The
With-Whom-Shall-I-Sit Ting; 10 = The Keep and Listen Pavilion; 11 = The Pagoda Reflection Ting; 12 =
The Hall of 36 Pairs of Mandarin Ducks, with the Hall of 18 Camellias; 13 = The Good-for-Both-Families
Ting; 14 = The Magnolia Hall; 15 = The Fragrant Isle Pavilion; 16 = The True Nature Pavilion, leading to
the Small Flying Rainbow Bridge; 17 = The Bamboo Pavilion; 18 = The Hall of Distant Fragrance; 19 = The
Flowering Loquat Ting; 20 = The Tree Peony Ting; 21 = The Hall of Elegance; 22 = The Listening-to-the
Sound-of-Rain Pavilion; 23 = The Chinese Flowering Apple Court. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after L. Liu,
Chinese Architecture (New York, 1989).
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:15 PM Page 462

17.6. Jacques-Germain Soufflot, Church of Sainte-Geneviève (“Le Panthéon”), Paris, France, 1755–1790. Interior. The
vaults are true structural shells of cut stone, not plaster illusions; their weight is poised directly over the structural Corinthian
columns. Photo: Bridgeman-Giraudon/Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:15 PM Page 463

Chapter 17

The Origins of Modernism

Architecture in the
Age of Enlightenment, 1720–1790

R
Modern architecture is a product of Western
icans’ example of self-governance set off a passion
for similar self-governance that, more than two
Civilization. It began to take shape during the later hundred years later, still inspires other peoples who
eighteenth century, with the democratic and live under the thumb of despots. During the eigh-
industrial revolutions that formed the modern age. teenth century a new age had begun to take shape.
Like all architecture, it has attempted to create a The modern epoch is characterized by several
special environment for human life and to image encompassing trends, beginning with representa-
the thoughts and actions of human beings as they tive democratic republics. Another important trend
have wished to believe themselves to be. In these has been a growth in the power of business corpo-
two fundamental attempts the modern man has rations, and a comparative decrease in the political
faced psychic difficulties unparalleled in the West power of the established church compared to that
since the time of the breakup of Rome. The old, prior to the sixteenth century. The modern era also
Christian preindustrial, predemocratic way of is characterized by a rise in philosophical prag-
life has progressively broken away around him so matism and empiricism, together with a strong
that he has come to stand in a place no human reliance on scientific enquiry and its industrial ap-
beings have ever quite occupied. plication. As this list of characteristics suggests, it
—Vincent Scully, Modern Architecture, 1961

R
has little to do with any particular architectural
style, even though a style was later created in the
early twentieth century that came to be called
Modernism. With these concepts in mind, we can

T he modern age, our age, began in the eigh-

teenth century, it could be argued. In 1700
kings ruled in Europe with supreme authority, espe-
say that the modern epoch begins in the eighteenth
century, in what has come to be called “The Age
of Enlightenment.” What precipitated these fun-
cially in France. By 1800, a century later, there was damental social changes was a cycle of interrelated
no longer a French monarchy, for it had been abol- sweeping reorganizations and upheavals that col-
ished by the citizenry. In 1700 the dispersed British lectively can be labeled “revolutions.”
colonists along the Atlantic seacoast of North These revolutions are so interconnected that
America considered themselves, for the greater they can be thought of as operating almost in a
part, loyal subjects of a distant king. But a hundred circle, each feeding the next. We might start with
years later, by 1800, they had successfully beaten the the demographic revolution, for around the mid-
most powerful military force then existing in the eighteenth century there occurred a major change
Western world to obtain their freedom and then in the growth rate of populations, not just in Europe
had formed a union of states, creating for them- but in Asia as well. The shift in Europe and its colo-
selves a representative republic that operated ac- nies was caused in part by the agricultural revolution
cording to a written constitutional agreement. The beginning in the Netherlands and England, based
former British subjects now governed themselves, on increased yields from fields due to crop rotation
the first men to do so since the early Roman Repub- as advocated by Charles Viscount Townsend. In ad-
lic nearly eighteen hundred years earlier. The Amer- dition, Townsend promoted turnip production for

463
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464 17. THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM

feeding livestock through the winter so that animals century this expansion was still funded in large
would not need to be slaughtered each autumn. This measure by private family fortunes.
resulted in the retention of more breeding stock, in The single most sweeping change was the move
turn producing more offspring, and an increase in away from small-scale cottage production of goods
meat being added to the general diet. In England to large-scale factory production—first of thread
Jethro Tull developed the use of a seed drill for plant- and woven textiles and, then, of many other goods.
ing, replacing the ancient practice of broadcasting The one industrial enterprise that proved crucial
seed by hand; this produced greater rates of success- to many others was the great expansion of iron pro-
ful germination. The improved diet, along with ear- duction, beginning with cast iron in the western
lier marriages of couples, produced more children, counties, where coal and iron ore deposits were
leading to a population expansion. Moreover, during found near each other. Another facet of this indus-
the century various steps were taken to improve hy- trial revolution was the mechanized production of
giene and disease survival, most notably Edward Jen- goods, particularly the use of machines to make
ner’s introduction of vaccines against smallpox in other machines using standardized parts.
1796, so mortality rates were lowered. The end result The movement of ore and grain, as well as the
of these combined changes was a significant increase distribution of manufactured products, was greatly
in the rate of population growth. What had been a facilitated by what could be called the transporta-
long and gradual arithmetic growth curve in popu- tion revolution brought about by the rapid expan-
lation increase for the preceding eons shifted around sion of canals and all-weather roads, in some cases
1750 to a more logarithmic curve that has increased toll roads. Roads that had been little more than dirt
ever since.1 tracks since the Middle Ages were now being de-
In Europe the overall total population is cal- signed by English engineers such as John Metcalf
culated to have been about 110 million in 1700, and John Loudon McAdam; they were higher at
growing to 190 million by 1800. The demographic their center for drainage and made of layers of hard-
revolution resulting from the growth of population packed gravel.2
in general was intensified in Great Britain by new Taken together, these changes in population
“enclosure laws,” which reallocated land and other growth, industrial production, and transportation
natural resources formerly used by communities for produced a growing middle class the likes of which
raising sheep and other farming and subsistence had never existed before. This social class would
activities. The yeoman farmers being forced off the become significant patrons of architecture in the
land fed a migration to the cities’ proliferating fac- next two centuries.
tories, causing rapid urban growth. This urban in- Coupled with the growth of industry was the ex-
migration was felt first and most dramatically pansion of scientific inquiry in physics, inspired by
in London, whose population ballooned to nearly a the slightly earlier work of Isaac Newton and capped
million people by the end of the century. Other in large degree by the demonstration by Benjamin
cities such as Paris and Vienna had comparable Franklin that lightning was a form of electricity that
growth rates, although the absolute numbers were could be safely conducted to the ground through the
lower. The sheer increase in the number of gathered installation of lightning rods. Also highly significant
people meant that activities that had been housed were the advances in chemistry such as the work of
in adapted older buildings by the end of the century Joseph Priestly, who identified the element oxygen,
required wholly new purpose-built structures— as well as that of Antoine Lavoisier, who identified
banking houses, hospitals, orphanages, insane twenty-three additional basic chemical elements.
asylums, and prisons, to name a few. Soon the ex- Equal perhaps to the growth of industrial produc-
panding impact of industry led to the creation of en- tion in the fundamental reshaping of social values
tirely new building types, most notably railroad was the deepening impact of the political theories
passenger terminals in the early nineteenth century. of John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean-
Other closely related cultural revolutions con- Jacques Rousseau, among others, coupled with a
cerned business and industry, including a financial close reading of early republican Roman history. This
revolution. One aspect of this financial revolution led to a questioning of the acceptability of monar-
involved the creation of modern banking and the chical rule, particularly on the part of English Amer-
introduction of printed bank notes and letters of ican colonists who came to view rule by Britain as
credit. Another was the expanding sale of stock an illogical denial of what they considered their fun-
and the growth of stock exchanges. This trading of damental political rights. After 1776, the stirring
paper made possible the expansion of industry and words of their Declaration of Independence—that
business, although for a time in the mid-eighteenth all men are created equal and that they possess
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The Origins of Modernism 465

17.1. Richard Boyle, Third Earl of Burlington, Chiswick House, Chiswick, outside London, England, 1725. The English in
the early eighteenth century developed a new appreciation for the proportional clarity of Palladio’s architecture, resulting in
several country houses such as this based on the Villa Capra. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.

inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of tive and painted to look like marble; the columns in
happiness—resounded around the globe, beginning Sainte-Geneviève serve a vital structural function,
in France in 1789 and then throughout Europe in and the vaults are solid stone, not artificial sus-
the following century. pended plaster shells. Whereas Vierzehnheiligen is
From before the time of the Egyptians up to an illusion, Sainte Geneviève is “real.” Yet another
about 1750, monumental Western architecture, in way in which Sainte Geneviève serves as an effective
any given time or particular region, was relatively symbol of the modern age is that, as it was being fin-
uniform—one stylistic character or expression for ished, it was de-consecrated and converted into a
each relatively homogeneous culture. This homo- mausoleum commemorating the great heroes of
geneity had just begun to change during the Ren- French cultural and military achievement, becoming
aissance as the new humanist architecture spread the “Panthéon.”
outside Italy and mixed for a time with regional and The portico of Sainte Geneviève (Panthéon) was
national (i.e., Gothic) architectural traditions. Dur- particularly Roman in spirit, an early indication of
ing the eighteenth century, however, there began the growing push for a return to the clear forms and
to appear a multiplicity of architectural options. proportional relationships of ancient architecture.
This multiplicity is evident in the contrast be- Another alternative manifestation of this desire can
tween two important churches both under construc- be seen in the revival of Palladian architecture in
tion in mid-century, one an expression of Rococo England, brought on by the appearance of the first
visual illusion and the other a celebration of stark English translation of Palladio’s Four Books of Archi-
structural fact. Vierzehnheiligen, begun in 1742, was tecture in 1715. The strongest English promoter of
still being decorated as the 1770s began, its stucco Palladian ideals was Richard Boyle, Third Earl of
carving and scagliola work the product of the most Burlington (1694–1753), together with his architect,
accomplished skills of Baroque and Rococo artisan- William Kent (1685–1748). Lord Burlington de-
ship. Meanwhile, a very different view concerning signed Chiswick Villa in 1725 as a wing to his family
architecture was being embodied in the church of residence, Chiswick House, clearly inspired by Pal-
Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, begun in 1755 and built ladio’s Villa Capra but incorporating other elements
midway to completion when the decorative stuc- as well [17.1]. Kent and also Robert Adam designed
cowork of Vierzehnheiligen was being finished. Aus- a number of other country houses early in the eigh-
terely pure Classical elements were employed in teenth century, exploiting the proportioned geome-
Sainte-Geneviève, but they were no longer decora- tries of Palladio’s designs. To Burlington and his
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466 17. THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM

followers this simplified “un-Baroque” architecture human end. Instead they believed in the power and
embodied the ideals of the ruling Whig oligarchy. potential of rational human reason.
By the middle of the eighteenth century in The philosophes believed that knowledge was de-
France, the artifice of Rococo art and architecture rived solely from direct observation of the natural
came to be viewed as symptomatic of the affecta- world. Since human understanding would always
tion and corruption of what was called the ancien be incomplete, even though humans could be
régime, the times of the reigns of kings Louis XV certain of no absolute truth, there was a necessity
and Louis XVI. As social critics such as Denis to constantly investigate. Such a view tended to
Diderot (1713–1784) viewed lascivious images of foster tolerance, something that religious dogma—
cavorting plump pink nudes, such as shown by whether Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, or Islamic—
François Boucher at the annual painting exhibi- has tended to make impossible. The philosophes
tions, they felt the need for a new purer art and ar- emulated the critical objectivity of Ionian Greek
chitecture, which served not to pander but to scientists, adding to Greek disciplined observation
instruct and uplift. Diderot intended to write a the modern idea of proof through experimentation.
book on the subject of art criticism (it would have The only knowledge one could be certain of was
been one of the very first), and his notes for this what one could demonstrate by scientific observa-
book reveal deep misgivings concerning the visual tion and measurement, and out of this emerged
arts with respect to the social values of his period. modern notions of science and the mathematical
One finds among his notes such comments as this: model of the universe. Sir Isaac Newton’s explana-
tion of celestial movements, published in 1687, ex-
Every work of sculpture or painting must be the erted an enormous influence on the philosophes,
expression of a great principle, a lesson for the who envisioned the universe as a giant clock, per-
spectators. I am no Capuchin [a monk—that fectly made and operating without fault since the
is, a prude], but I confess that I should gladly time of creation according to rational and know-
sacrifice the pleasure of seeing attractive nudi- able mathematical principles. Inspired by Newton’s
ties, if I could hasten the moment when paint- model, scientists in the eighteenth century endeav-
ing and sculpture, having become more decent ored to explain other natural phenomena in an ef-
and moral, will compete with the other arts in fort to make the whole observable world the result
inspiring virtue and purifying manners. It seems of rational processes.
to me that I have seen enough tits and behinds.
These seductive things interfere with the soul’s
emotions by troubling the senses.3 The Emergence of Art and
Architectural History
He could easily have made comparable observa- The philosophes attributed to primitive nature an
tions concerning the Rococo seductive deceit of almost sacred power, searching for qualities of the
hiding a building’s structure while emphasizing primitive, the pure, and the uncorrupted in art and
overt sensual display in Rococo interiors. architecture. In architectural terms this meant that
Diderot was a champion of the philosophes, the the purest architecture, that most suited to funda-
moral and social philosophers in France who advo- mental human needs and to basic human society,
cated radical change in society; he edited and was what had appeared at the dawn of civilization.
published the Encyclopédie, a richly illustrated sum- But with the philosophes’ insistence on knowledge
mation of knowledge that also advanced new social based on direct observation, it was now apparent
ideas.4 The philosophes, and also progressive-minded that very little was truly scientifically known about
members of the growing middle class, believed it was ancient architecture. It was possible to read Vitru-
imperative to strip away the corrupting influence of vius, but as to what the Roman houses of his time
the ancien régime to arrive at what they believed to really looked like no one in the 1700s was positive.
be the natural condition of humankind, and to cre- From what Vitruvius wrote, however, it was clear
ate through deliberate and rational design a new that in antiquity it had been the column that was
social order, and with it a new, purer, more func- the basis of architectural structure, not the wall,
tionally and structurally expressive architecture. with proportions of entire buildings determined by
The philosophes had an implicit faith in human rea- the diameter of each respective columnar order.
son, which, pursued to its logical ends, they believed This was where Alberti had made a fundamental
would result in social enlightenment. They rejected error, basing his system of Renaissance architecture
the idea of supernatural religion and the notion of on the wall, embellished with engaged columns or
a divine plan directed toward some preordained pilasters, whereas it was from the orders themselves
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The Emergence of Art and Architectural History 467

17.2. Frontispiece of
Marc-Antoine Laugier, Essai
sur l’architecture, 2nd
edition (Paris, 1755). This
engraving, the only illustration
in this slender book, shows the
Muse of Architecture pointing
out what true architecture is.
Photo: From Essai sur
l’architecture.

that the entire system of proportion derived accord- This radical view was first expressed by Jean-
ing to Vitruvius. Yet when early-eighteenth-century Louis de Cordemoy in 1706 and then further elab-
critics looked about them at recent contemporary orated in a little book, the Essai sur l’architecture
late-Baroque architecture, what they saw were walls (Paris, 1753), by Marc-Antoine Laugier (1713–
that swelled inward and outward, plaster mas- 1769), which gave instant form to the feelings of
querading as stone, and ornament so elaborate it many architects of the period. The frontispiece of
obscured the structure. This deceptive ornament the second edition of the book [17.2], the book’s
had to be stripped away; architecture had to get only illustration, shows the muse of architecture
back to essentials. pointing out to a human infant (the first of his race)
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468 17. THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM

the mythical “primitive hut,” a pure structure of precious artifacts. Winckelmann’s objections re-
columns and beams in which, in fact, the columns sulted in the expulsion of amateur treasure hunters,
are the trunks of living trees. That, according to putting the excavations in more competent hands.
Laugier, was the beginning of architecture (and, un- For this he is credited as the father of archaeology.
knowingly, he was not so very far from describing His study of Greek sculpture (though pursued un-
the hut of Homo erectus at Terra Amata, Nice). Ar- knowingly through his study of Roman copies of
chitecture, Laugier asserted, in contrast to Rococo Greek statuary) resulted in two epochal works,
embellishment, was the art of pure structure, the Gedanken über die Nachahmung der Greichischen
essential elements of which are column, architrave, Werke . . . (Reflections on the Painting and Sculp-
and pediment, serving their original structural func- ture of the Greeks . . . ) (1755) and the more sweep-
tions and not applied as ornament. Yet he also ap- ing Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums (History of
preciated the structural directness of Gothic vault the Art of the Ancients) (1764). In the first work
construction (he was, after all, a Frenchman). In appeared Winckelmann’s famous characterization
many ways his little book was the first manifesto on of Greek art as being suffused with “noble simplicity
modern architecture, for it sparked lively discussion and calm grandeur.” His history, though imperfect,
and a search for a pure architecture, freed of decep- was the first to outline the organic growth of art,
tive ornamental overlay. An even more extreme po- passing from a period of youth to maturity of expres-
sition was taken by the Italian theorist Carlo Lodoli sion and then to a period of decline; in addition, he
(1690–1761), who insisted that architecture be de- attributed such natural, social, and cultural factors
termined solely by its internal function or use. as climate and politics to the development of art.
The first civilized people, so the philosophes rea- Because of this he is also credited as the father of
soned, had been closer to the natural state, and art history. While Winckelmann helped to establish
hence their architecture had been purer, but (as the strong affinity of Germans for Greek art, even
noted) the precise appearance of ancient domestic more important was the stress he placed on the en-
architecture was still a mystery. At least, that is, nobling moral impact of the study of Classical art,
until 1748, when workmen digging a canal near suggesting that making such works of art available
Naples came upon the remains of Pompeii. The de- to the public would improve the moral conscious-
struction of Pompeii in 79 CE was far from being un- ness of the nation—an idea many German rulers
known, for it was described at length in writings by readily embraced, leading to the opening of royal art
Pliny the Younger, who watched it from the safety collections to the public and to the housing of them
of a ship at sea. But it was indicative of the theoret- in specially designed art museums.
ical bias of Renaissance architects that they had As archaeological evidence began to accumu-
never bothered to locate Pompeii and uncover it. In late, and with perceptions reshaped through Winck-
1721 the Viennese architect Johann Fischer von Er- elmann’s writings, a new sense of the successive
lach had published a remarkable book, Entwürf einer phases of history began to be formulated. Although
historischen Architektur (A Study of Historical Ar- the concept of the distinct phases of Classical art—
chitecture), presenting the great buildings of antiq- Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman—was not yet fully
uity in large engraved plates. Although the plates developed, there were those like Winckelmann who
revealed a new interest in the successive phases of argued that Greek architecture was superior be-
architectural history, the images were largely Fischer cause it was older and purer than Roman. Since an-
von Erlach’s artistic invention. What was needed cient Greek architecture was even more imperfectly
instead was hard evidence concerning ancient ar- understood than Roman, expeditions of architects
chitecture, and that literally began to come to light and natural scientists soon set out for remote sites
in the mid-eighteenth century. Through the exca- around the Mediterranean to record in an objective
vations of Pompeii and its neighboring towns, actual way the appearance, dimensions, and proportions
Roman homes, furniture, garden ornaments, jew- of Greek buildings. The first expedition to Greece
elry, and other objects of everyday use were re- itself was led by James Stuart and Nicholas Revett
vealed, put on display, and eventually published. of England. During 1751–1755 they traveled across
To this new physical evidence was added a crit- Greece, visiting Corinth, Delos, and Delphi, but the
ical philosophical structure in the writing of the focus of their attention was Athens and the sur-
German art historian Johann Joachim Winckel- rounding region of Attica. In 1761 there appeared
mann (1717–1768). Winckelmann visited the dig- the first of their four engraved volumes, The Antiq-
gings at Herculaneum and Pompeii to observe uities of Athens, presenting the buildings of the
operations, but what he saw prompted him to write Akropolis in crisp engravings [17.3].5 In 1750–1751
a series of open letters protesting the looting of the Madame du Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV, spon-
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A Rational Architecture: Sainte-Geneviève, Paris 469

17.3. James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, restoration drawing of the Parthenon, Athens, c. 1755–1785. Engraving published in
the second volume of their The Antiquities of Athens (London, 1787), following intensive archaeological study in Athens;
this was the first truly accurate representation of the Parthenon and introduced the austere beauty of Greek architecture in
Europe. Photo: From The Antiquities of Athens, vol. 1.

sored a team that visited the ruins of the Greek design of the church of Sainte-Geneviève, Paris,
settlement at Paestum in Italy; one member of this designed in 1755 by Soufflot, who just four years
party was the young architect Jacques-Germain earlier had studied the Greek temples at Paestum.
Soufflot (1713–1780). The published result of this There he had seen Greek columns boldly silhouet-
expedition was Ruines de Paestum (Paris, 1764). ted against the sky, powerfully demonstrating the
Roman sites also began to receive similar scru- properties of load and support. Where the roof of
tiny. An English expedition to Yugoslavia resulted the temple of Poseidon had been supported, there
in Robert Adam’s Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor were superimposed columns, one atop the other.
Diocletian at Spalato . . . (London, 1764), and For the plan of Sainte-Geneviève, Soufflot used a
Adam’s fellow Briton, Robert Wood, traveled exten- Greek cross [17.5], but it was like a temple turned
sively, producing Ruins of Palmyra (London, 1753) inside out. The external walls were opened up with
as well as Ruins of Baalbec (London, 1757). In En- numerous windows (later filled in), and its internal
gland such investigations helped support a revival structure was a colonnade (Corinthian in this
of Roman forms and spatial configurations in inte- case—Soufflot was not yet prepared to use the more
rior design, of which Robert Adam (1728–1792) massive and austere Greek Doric he had seen and
was the leader. His column-screened library in Ken- sketched at Paestum). The internal columns of the
wood House, London, 1767–1768 [17.4], is based church would in turn support the domical vaults
on similar Roman rooms. Even Adam’s delicate dec- over the arms of the church; each dome would be
oration is inspired by Pompeian prototypes, but with carried by pendentives that come down in points
the flat painted Roman designs being translated into precisely over the columns [17.6, p. 462; 17.7]. The
low-relief carved plaster, and the atmosphere of the vaults are exactly what they appear to be—
whole room elevated by lighter, pastel colors. structural shells of solid cut stone, and not a false
shell of plaster suspended from some hidden arma-
ture. It was this structural realism, combining the
A Rational Architecture: best expression of load and support, Classical post
Sainte-Geneviève, Paris and lintel with medieval arch and vault systems,
How the study of antiquity might contribute to an that prompted Laugier to praise Sainte-Geneviève
original new architecture was demonstrated in the as “the premier model of perfect architecture.”6
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470 17. THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM

17.4. Robert Adam, library,

Kenwood House, London, England,
1767–1768. Such interiors as this
resulted from Adam’s own study of
ancient Roman architecture, such as
the Palace of Diocletian at Spalato
(Split), on the Dalmationa coast
(now Croatia), which he visited and
published. Photo: Edwin Smith,
London.

Over the central crossing was to be a dome carried external circular colonnade. Furthermore, in the
on four slender piers, while across the front would portico he incorporated a complex system of iron
be a Classical temple portico of Corinthian columns bar reinforcements in the flat arches of what ap-
[17.8]. pears to be the entablature (it was not possible to
The entire building was designed by Soufflot find single stone blocks to span the distance be-
with the new mathematics of architectural statics, tween columns). In its clarity of form and structural
allowing him to calculate pressure and thrust; there expression, Sainte-Geneviève seemed to its gener-
was no stone that was superfluous. During con- ation to announce a new era in architecture.
struction in 1776, however, cracks appeared in the
crossing piers, precipitating an onslaught of attacks
by those who felt the design was too minimal in its “Speaking Architecture”
use of stone. After detailed examination by several Some French architects endeavored to push Souf-
structural theorists, including Jean-Baptiste Ron- flot’s ideas to their inevitable conclusion, creating
delet, Soufflot was vindicated. However, he did an architecture of pure elemental form symbolically
restudy the design of the dome, which originally in- expressing function. What these architects pro-
corporated two shells, giving it three shells and posed was later called an architectural “revolution,”
making it taller, and wrapping it in a continuous although politically these architects were actually
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“Speaking Architecture” 471

17.5. Jacques-Germain Soufflot, Church of

Sainte-Geneviève (“Le Panthéon”), Paris, France,
1755–1790. Plan. The Greek cross plan, with
four arms of equal length, was popular with
academically trained French architects, but the use
of freestanding structural colonnades internally
was new. Drawing: T. Cheun.

quite conservative; indeed, Claude-Nicolas Ledoux ical dome. Reached by means of a tunnel passing
(1736–1806) nearly went to the guillotine for build- through the base of the building was an enormous
ing royal tax-collecting stations in a ring around spherical interior chamber, with a massive symbolic
Paris. Yet those tax tollhouse stations had a bold sarcophagus at its base. The upper masonry shell
severity of form and a simplicity of detail that was was to be penetrated by tiny apertures that admit-
radically new. Few survive, as many were ripped ted pinpricks of daylight; these points of light,
apart when the French Revolution erupted. One of viewed against the black interior of the dome, re-
the tollhouses that did survive is the Barrière de la created the vault of the heavens, whose planetary
Villette, 1784–1789, composed of a square base and mechanics Newton had explained. Considering the
a cylindrical upper section [17.9]. Windows, doors, state of building technology of the late eighteenth
and arched openings are completely free of embel- century, these vast projects were clearly unbuild-
lishing frames, and the entry porticoes are made up able, but even if never intended for construction,
of massive square Doric piers. None of the columns the Newton cenotaph and church exemplified a
or piers are fluted. new scale and a new simplicity of form, and were
Ledoux’s contemporary, Étienne-Louis Boullée challenging exemplars for Boullée’s students.
(1728–1799), built several private hôtels (all de- In his drawings and projects Ledoux was freer
stroyed) but his principal impact came through his than in his tollhouses to create an architecture of
teaching at the Royal Academy of Architecture. pure volumes declaring functional use. The best
Like Ledoux, he proposed a boldly scaled and aus- known of these idealistic designs is his house for a
tere architecture whose symbolic forms would river surveyor, done about 1785–1790 [17.11]. The
evoke a sense of function. Such architecture was house is a hollow cylinder lying in a cradling base;
intended to communicate its purpose directly to through the hollow of the cylinder the river flows,
the observer, to be l’architecture parlent, or literally, as dramatic an expression of control of the water
“speaking architecture.” Boullée’s most expressive as Ledoux was able to make. The boldness of this
designs were funerary monuments of enormous new architecture is contrasted to the old mills and
scale, and his best known is a cenotaph for Isaac their water wheels visible in the shadows in the
Newton designed about 1784 [17.10]. Deriving its foreground.
basic form from the round tumulus mausoleums of Another of Ledoux’s royal commissions was a
the Romans, the Newton cenotaph was to have a saltworks, begun in 1775 between the small villages
vast cylindrical base supporting a pure hemispher- of Arc and Senans in eastern France, not far from
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472 17. THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM

17.7. Sainte-Geneviève. Interior

view. One can see in this interior
detail how the church was designed
like a Greek temple turned inside out,
with the walls on the exterior and the
columns inside, carrying the weight of
the vaults and everything above; the
internal structure was so designed that
the weight of the vaults is collected
and focused on the point loads of the
pendentives. In the spirit of the
Enlightenment, nothing is hidden,
false, or an illusion concerning the
structure. Photo: L. M. Roth.

the Swiss border. This, too, had caused him political overscaled details, particularly the columns of the
trouble at the time of the French Revolution, but portico built up of alternated cylindrical and square
while in prison he redesigned the town, creating an blocks of stone. The only ornaments in the other-
ideal industrial community. After the Revolution he wise stark walls of the reduction buildings are
published engravings of his ideal town, now called openings from which protrude carvings of a thick
the Saline de Chaux (Saltworks at Chaux), along fluid, the sculpted representation of the brine. The
with other designs, in a volume entitled L’Architec- carvings thus expressed the buildings’ function—
ture considerée sous le rapport de l’art, des moeurs et de l’architecture parlent. Around the workshops in the
la legislation (Architecture Considered in Relation oval ring and framing a communal park were to be
to Art, Habits [or Morals], and Legislation) (Paris, the residential apartments for the workers, with gar-
1804). The buildings were arranged to enclose an dens in rear yards. Beyond the ring were to be public
oval, a form that Ledoux used because, as he wrote, facilities, markets, and more gardens and open farm-
it was “as pure as that of the sun in its course” land forming a green belt.
[17.12]. At the center of the oval plan are the first
buildings actually to be constructed: the house of
the administrator, flanked by the reduction build- Designing the City
ings where the brine pumped up from the salt mines The planning of ever-larger building complexes
was boiled down to obtain the salt. The stark geom- eventually resulted in architects planning entire
etry of the administrator’s house was emphasized by cities, but city design was an undertaking that re-
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Designing the City 473

17.8. Sainte-Geneviève.
The facade incorporates a
Roman temple portico.
Photo: Giraudon/Art
Resource, NY.

lied almost entirely on patrons with significant was reawakened as well. This scale of urban design
power and influence (unless the design was to re- increased still further in the sixteenth and seven-
main on paper). This may be one reason why the teenth centuries, most notably in the city of Paris,
history of urban design was so closely connected which established itself as the arbiter of taste and
with France, where the monarch and his ministers design.
had overwhelming control, and where powerful The process could be said to have begun with
aristocrats often preferred to live in cities. Perhaps the creation of the Place Dauphine, at the far north-
a word at the outset regarding urban design and western tip of the Île de la Cité, Paris, coincident
urban planning would be helpful. Urban design with the building there of the Pont Neuf (“the new
might be defined as dealing with shaping the rela- bridge”), which crossed the tip of the island allowing
tionship of numerous individual buildings within a for easy passage from the north side of Paris (where
city so as to create harmonious groupings, often the Louvre Palace was) to the southern half of Paris
arranged around open spaces. Urban planning, in (where schools and universities were located). The
contrast, is done at a larger scale, embracing the Pont Neuf was proposed as early as 1550 as a royally
whole of an urban complex. The topic of urban sponsored project. The first stones for the multi-
planning has been touched on in preceding chap- arch bridge were not laid until 1578; it was finished
ters dealing with Greek and Roman architecture. in 1607 by King Henri IV, who also started the proj-
With the renewed interest in the Classical world ect for the adjoining Place Dauphine, 1607–1610
during the Renaissance, interest in designing cities [17.13]. This was a residential “square” located
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474

17.9. Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Barrière de la Villette, Paris, France, 1784–1789. Ledoux’s consciously modern architecture
was reduced to the simplest possible geometries in the tax-collecting gate houses around Paris. Photo: L. M. Roth, 2003.

17.10. Étienne-Louis Boullée, cenotaph for Isaac Newton, project, c. 1784. This idealized monument to Newton
(theoretically impossible to build at that time) was a study in the expressive possibilities of pure geometry at enormous scale.
Photo: Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
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475

17.11. Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, house for a river surveyor, project, c. 1785–1790. The new architecture envisioned by
Ledoux and Boullée was to speak directly of its function—in this case, providing residence for a hydraulic engineer in charge
of controlling the flow of a river. Photo: From C.-N. Ledoux, L’Architecture considerée . . . (Paris, 1804).

17.12. Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Royal Saltworks at Chaux (Saline de Chaux), Arc-et-Senans, near Besançon, France,
begun c. 1775. Begun as a royal saltworks, this was later redesigned by Ledoux as an ideal industrial town with the saltworks
and housing in the center oval, other civic buildings around that, and all surrounded by an agricultural green belt. Photo:
From C.-N. Ledoux, L’Architecture considerée . . . (Paris, 1804).
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476 17. THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM

17.13. Place Dauphine, Ile-de-la-Cité, Paris, 1607–1610. This urban space was created to complement the newly built Pont
Neuf and to provide an elegant setting for townhouse residences. From the Plan of Paris commissioned by M.-E. Turgot,
1734–1739, published in twenty plates in 1739.

immediately against the new bridge’s southern In the second half of the seventeenth century
edge. Technically the Place Dauphine is a triangle two more royal square projects were undertaken
of individual contiguous residential townhouses by Louis XIV, and these were created in the de-
built of brick with stone trim elements. The con- veloping northwest quarter of the city. Both were
tinuous aligned houses read as a larger united designed by the king’s favored architect, Jules Har-
group, giving the Place Dauphine a sense of iden- douin Mansart. First was the Place des Victoires,
tity and singularity. The prototype was the larger, 1685–1692, started by Count d’Aubusson but
truly square Places des Vosges (Place Royale), transferred to the King’s Building Works program
which was also begun by Henri IV, two years earlier under Mansart’s direction. In this case, the Place
in 1605; it took five years to complete [17.14]. In was in the form of a circle, eventually opened by six
this square the houses are opened up with stone ar- streets that radiate from it. Individual residential
cades below the individual townhouses. The same units comprise the defining enclosure. Now the fa-
combination of brick with stone trim was used for cade building material was a uniform limestone.
this complex as well, but the Place des Vosges is The grandest of the residential squares designed by
located in the eastern half of old Paris whereas J. H. Mansart is the Place Vendôme, 1702–1720,
the Place Dauphine was closer to the very center begun as a speculative venture by Mansart, taken
of things. over by the king’s minister of finance, the Marquis
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Designing the City 477

de Louvois, and then finished under the direction was by far the largest one, on the undeveloped
of financier John Law. Louvois had intended to pat- northwestern edge of the City [17.16]. This was an
tern the square on the Place des Vosges, and the enormous defined open space, originally called the
Place Vendôme is nearly the same size, with some Place Louis XV, larger than the Place Vendôme and
differences: it is somewhat rectangular, had two the Place des Vosges combined. This public project
wide streets opening out of its north and south was designed by architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel in
faces, and had distinctive chamfered corners, giving 1755. The large new Place was to be placed directly
it the sense of being an octagon. At the Place west of the Gardens of the Tuilleries Palace, extend-
Vendôme, just as at the Place des Victoires, the uni- ing its northeasterly axis. But the new Place Louis
formity of material, the strong arcades at the street XV also helped to define a major new cross axis run-
level, the pediment accenting the angled corners, ning to the northeast and terminating in a proposed
and the two-story pilasters pulling together the new Church of the Madeleine (dedicated to Saint
upper floors—together with the continuous man- Mary Magdalene). The aerial view of the Place
sard roof, plus the large scale—give a strong pres- shown in 17.17 is looking along this new northeast-
ence to this urban space [17.15]. erly axis, over the Seine River and across the Place
All these Parisian spaces are shown, with scores Louis XV toward the proposed church. This new
more proposed to honor Louis XV in the 1750s, in square was not significantly residential but largely
a large map engraved and published by Pierre Patte ceremonial, and was strongly defined by dry moats
in 1765. Only one of these was accomplished, but it that ringed it (with entrances on both axes as well

17.14. Place des Vosges (Place Royale), Paris, France, 1605–1610. In the eastern edge of the city, this large residential
square was landscaped as a pleasure park. From the Turgot Plan of Paris, 1739.
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478 17. THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM

17.15. Jules Hardouin Mansart, Place Vendôme, Paris, France, 1702–1720. This large urban square, with its street-level
arcade, its uninterrupted facade design, and its unique canted corners, set the pattern for Parisian urban spaces. From the
Turgot Plan of Paris, 1739.

at each of the corners). The edges of these dry moats trial community. In hindsight, it can be viewed as
(long since filled in) were marked with elaborated prophetic, as it depicts a town of predetermined
balconies and sculptural groups (these sculptural size, composed of idealized buildings, set in a green
masses still stand). In the center was a bronze eques- countryside. This appears to foreshadow the idea
trian statue of the king. North of the Place Louis XV of the Garden City suburb that was developed at
were two new imposing buildings defining this edge, the end of the nineteenth century, when increasing
also designed by Gabriel, the east one housing the industrialization and the concentration of popula-
Ministry of the French Navy and the west one be- tion in cities were beginning to show their ill ef-
coming the urban palace of the Duc d’Aumont. fects; this Garden City model continued to be
During the bloody French Revolution, 1789–1795, rejuvenated throughout the twentieth century and
the king’s statue was soon pulled down and the remains a planning objective.
square became the location of the new mechanized In England in the eighteenth century, the most
execution device, the guillotine. Here, during the coherent demonstration of urban design was in the
length of the Revolution, perhaps as many as forty small spa town of Bath, which increasingly began to
thousand people met their swift deaths, including attract London society during the summer months.
King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. In John Wood (1704–1754) undertook to remake the
one month alone, during the summer of 1794, thir- town, designing clusters of town houses shaping
teen hundred people were executed. By 1795, how- urban spaces, beginning with Queen Square in
ever, the public guillotine had been removed, and 1729–1736 and adding the Circus in 1754, a circle
as if to expunge the memory of this bloodbath the of thirty-three residences facing inward toward a
square was renamed the Place de la Concorde. common park. His son, John (1728–1781), contin-
Idealistic city plans were developed during the ued this work, adding the Assembly Rooms, 1769–
eighteenth century, including Ledoux’s project for 1771, and the majestic Royal Crescent, 1767–1775,
the Saline de Chaux, an example of the increasing a group of thirty houses in a broad half-ellipse. In
attention that some architects were giving to the the case of Bath, the various housing clusters by the
form of the city. Ledoux’s Chaux is especially note- two Woods were adapted to existing streets and also
worthy since it was an example of an ideal indus- to the topography [17.18].
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Designing the City 479

Urban squares were designed in Paris, Bordeaux, would become a major movement in another
Copenhagen, and other cities, all of them royal proj- quarter-century, while the large Place Royale (now
ects, but perhaps the most intriguing case of urban the Place Stanislas) was embellished with gilded
design in France is Nancy, the administrative capital wrought iron gates and lamps that epitomize Ro-
of Lorraine in northwestern France. The duchy of coco delicacy. It was fitting, perhaps, that one of the
Lorraine was given by Louis XV to Stanisłas Leszc- last such royally sponsored urban rebuilding projects
zyński, father of Marie, queen of France, and former should have been so well done. Nancy survives with
king of Poland. A king without a country, Stanisłas virtually no change.
set out to make Nancy his own capital city, befitting The argument could be made that Ledoux’s ideal
his station.7 With the financial aid of Louis XV, he Saline de Chaux was not a real community, for it
engaged the architect Emmanuel Héré de Corny never prospered and, in fact, was closed down by
(1705–1763) to design a series of linked urban the new revolutionary French government in 1790.
squares, with his residence at one end and a major Solidly built, however, it still stands. And Nancy, in
urban space at the other, connected by a tree-lined Lorraine, as well, was based on a false premise: the
boulevard framed with rows of identical houses creation of an artificial though beautiful “capitol”
[17.19]. This new town center was built during for an ousted monarch. But then, at the very end of
1741–1753. Nancy brought together both a hint of the eighteenth century, a puzzling highly idealized
what was to come as well as the summation of what design was proposed for a wholly new governmental
was then ending. At the end of the boulevard (the center that would prosper beyond all expectation to
Place de la Carrière) is a Roman triumphal arch, become one of the greatest centers of political
foreshadowing the emerging Neoclassicism that power during the twentieth century: the Capitol of

17.16. Pierre Patte, Part of a General Plan of Paris Marking Out the Different Placements Selected for [Proposed]
Equestrian Statue of Louis XV, Paris, France, 1765. Engraving showing the numerous plazas and squares built as well as
proposed to honor Louis XV. On the far right is the Place des Vosges; in the upper center is the small round Place des
Victoires; and left of it, the octagonal Place Vendôme. At the far left, then at the very edge of the city, is the Place Louis XV
(later renamed the Place de la Concorde), in the process of being built in the 1760s when the map was published. Photo:
© RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY.
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480 17. THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM

17.17. Ange-Jacques Gabriel, Place Louis XV (later renamed the Place de la Concorde), Paris, France, 1755–1772. Vast
in scale and defined by the Seine along its south side and a pair of twin buildings by Gabriel along its north edge, the square
was further defined by dry moats around its perimeter. This view from over the Seine River toward the proposed Church of
the Madeleine in the distance (shown in the Patte plan) shows the dry moats (since filled in and paved). Engraving by
Le Rouge, from E. Comte de Fels, Ange-Jacques Gabriel (Paris, 1912).

the new United States of America that came to precise location of the “District” to the new presi-
called by its popular name of “Washington’s city” or dent, George Washington. As it happened, in 1791
Washington, District of Columbia. Washington selected a fairly open area just eleven
The fractious confederation of American states miles north by carriage ride from his plantation,
had to rewrite its governmental structure in 1787, Mount Vernon, on the Potomac, and appointed
just six years after the winning of independence. three commissioners to see to the development of
The product was the Constitution, a secure but the capitol city.
flexible document that was achieved as the result Obtaining the plan design was left in Washing-
of a multitude of compromises. One of those com- ton’s care as well, and he turned this task over to a
promises concerned the location of the seat of the young Frenchman who had volunteered to serve in
federal government. Northern, more commercially the Colonial army fighting against the British. This
oriented states wanted it in the North. Southern, was Charles Pierre L’Enfant, one of Washington’s
more agriculturally based states wanted it in the closest aides in the army, the son of a French court
South. Finally the deal was reached that it should painter who had lived as a boy with his family at Ver-
be nearly dead center, on the banks of the Potomac, sailles. The curious aspect of the city plan that
a river that promised access to the interior of the L’Enfant invented was that it so strongly resembled
new nation. However, it was to be placed not in any Versailles: in short, the seat of government of a freely
one particular state, where local politics might elected democratic republic was based on the design
exert too much influence, but in its own separate of the residence of the most absolute monarch in
District of Columbia, a square ten miles on each Europe. But L’Enfant adapted the French plan
side. Ultimately the decision was made to leave the uniquely to his site [17.20]. On inspecting the open
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481

17.18. John Wood (the elder), and John Wood

(the younger), Plan of Bath, England,
1720–1803. With a relaxed grace, new streets
lined with town houses were built during the
eighteenth century from the central hot springs
bath area to the round “circus” and from there to
the wide half “crescent” defined by town houses
along its northern edge. A New and Accurate
Plan of the City of Bath to the Present Year,
1799 (Bath 1799; Historic Urban Plans, Inc.,
Ithaca, New York, USA).

17.19. Emmanuel Héré de Corny, aerial view of Place Stanislas and Hemicycle, Nancy, France, 1741–1753. This small
town in Lorraine was replanned at its center to become a fitting seat for the French queen’s father, formerly the king of
Poland. From Werner Hegemann and Elbert Peets, American Vitruvius (New York, 1922).
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:15 PM Page 482

482 17. THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM

17.20. Charles Pierre L’Enfant, Plan for the City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia, designed in 1791, shown
as slightly adjusted by surveyor Andrew Ellicott and published in 1792. Placing the two most important government buildings
on low hills, L’Enfant connected them with a diagonal street, generating comparable radiating streets focusing on the two focal
points, and then overlaying an orthogonal grid of streets. From Plan for the City of Washington in the Territory of
Columbia (Philadelphia, 1792; Historic Urban Plans, Inc., Ithaca, New York, USA).

ground, he wrote, he had observed two slight rises, ing each one for one of the original colonies. Finally
the largest of them seeming to be a pedestal waiting he laid over this arrangement of diagonals a regular
for a monument. On these two elevations he would grid of streets oriented true north to south, east to
place the two major government buildings, the west. Where the two street systems created major
House of the Legislature on the highest and the intersections, he proposed that there be monuments
House of the Executive (the president) on the lower and centers for each of the states.
one. Between the two focal points he ran a broad Unfortunately, L’Enfant conducted himself as
roadway, so that the two agencies could, in a quite though he was a high government official operating
literal way (as he wrote to George Washington), on the orders of a superior officer (as Washington
keep an eye on each other—or, as he expressed it, had been during the time that L’Enfant served in
so that there might forever be “reciprocity of sight.”8 the army). He repeatedly ran afoul of the three
In preparation for working out his plan, L’Enfant commissioners, for he assumed the professional po-
was given the loan of several engravings of city plans sition that any Frenchman would have enjoyed,
from Thomas Jefferson’s collection, but whether given the training he had received in Paris. He
Wren’s 1666 plan for London was among them is thought of himself as an artistic planner whereas
not clear. Yet there are a number of commonalities American citizens had never heard of anything of
between those two plans as well. Then, L’Enfant laid the sort (and wouldn’t understand this concept
out a series of radiating principal avenues extending until 1893). L’Enfant was seen as merely an insub-
out from these two focal points, thirteen in all, nam- ordinate employee of the commissioners and was
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The English Garden: “Consult the Genius of the Place” 483

dismissed. Nonetheless, his plan for the city was manner of these paintings, damming streams to cre-
slowly realized, although his name and his role in ate irregular lakes and planting groups of trees so as
creating it were largely forgotten. Meanwhile, the to frame asymmetrical vistas of meadowland across
commissioners were successful in getting the city the landscape, dotted with Classical pavilions. Of
started, and Congress sponsored two architectural the scores of such garden parks, one of the best
competitions to obtain designs for the president’s preserved is the house and garden at Stourhead, En-
residence and the House of the Congress (the gland, adorned with a neo-Palladian house in 1720–
Capitol Building), both of which were successfully 1721 (by Colin Campbell) and then re-landscaped
concluded and the buildings started. With this be- following the designs of its owner, Sir Henry Hoare,
ginning, and with everything very much in a state from 1741 to 1781 [17.21, 17.22]. Hoare collected
of unfinished commencement, the government of such paintings, and in his collection was a copy of
the United States officially relocated from Philadel- the famous Claude painting, Coast View of Delos with
phia, Pennsylvania, to Washington, DC, at the turn Aeneas. What these Englishmen were trying to do
of the new century in 1800. In 1900, at the time of was to re-create in real materials, in soil, water,
the centennial of relocation of the government to and carefully arranged masses of trees and plants,
Washington, L’Enfant’s primary role in creating the the pastoral Classical landscapes described by the
plan of the American capitol was reestablished and Roman author Virgil. Not content with viewing the
its beautiful logic restored. painted versions of such pastoral landscapes, they
sculpted the earth itself to re-create those admired
landscapes. The result was the creation of the
The English Garden: English garden park with its new aesthetic of the
“Consult the Genius of the Place” Picturesque that prized irregularity, roughness, asym-
The arrangement of Ledoux’s industrial city of metry, and the surprise of unexpected vistas as one
Salines de Chaux on the landscape was exceedingly moved through the landscape. Again, Pope provided
formal, in the best French tradition of Le Nôtre, but a concise summation:
it is significant that so much open space was set
aside around it in a green belt. Around the edges of He gains all Ends, who pleasingly confounds,
formal Chaux, however, Ledoux was reflecting the Surprises, varies, and conceals the Bounds.10
new sensitivity to nature that arose in the Age of
Reason. Whereas in the seventeenth century (and Building such landscapes could be ruinously ex-
especially in France) nature was seen as something pensive, requiring teams of workmen and gardeners
to be mastered, tamed, controlled, and geometri- working year after year. For the landowners, build-
cally reshaped, having no inherent or worthy form ing such a garden was a life’s work, and shaping
or beauty in its own right, early in the eighteenth Stourhead was Hoare’s passion for more than forty
century that perception radically changed in En- years. And we must remember that the builder did
gland. The English aristocracy and gentry began to this in the full knowledge that he himself would
develop an entirely new approach to planning the never see the result; it would become a legacy for
grounds around their country houses. Instead of im- his heirs and their descendants. Such gardens were
posing an arbitrary geometric pattern of parterres, understood to be investments in the future.
they set out to enhance and augment the natural Artfully placed in these carefully crafted “nat-
contours of the land, following the advice that poet ural” landscapes were representations of historic
Alexander Pope gave in An Epistle to Lord Burlington or exotic buildings intended to induce reflection, or
(1731), advising designers to determine where even, as at Stourhead, the re-creation of the places
described in Virgil’s Aeneid. Hoare had his architect,
To swell the Terras, or to sink the Grot; Henry Flitcroft, place several Classical pavilions in
In all, let Nature never be forgot. . . . his garden: the Temple of Flora in 1745, an evoca-
Consult the Genius of the Place in all, tion of the Roman Pantheon (inspired by Claude)
That tells the Waters or to rise, or fall. . . . in 1754, and the Temple of Apollo in 1765. Besides
taking in the re-created pastoral environment, the
As Pope had said, “all gardening is landscape- visitor to the park could sit on a bench, facing the
painting.”9 In actuality, taking their inspiration di- Pantheon across the lake, and reflect on Virgil’s pas-
rectly from the seventeenth-century landscape toral Georgics, or perhaps even consider the impli-
paintings of Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain, nu- cations of Edward Gibbon’s newly published history
merous English aristocrats and wealthy gentry re- of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Other
shaped the grounds of their country estates in the buildings in different settings might evoke different
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484

17.21. Sir Henry Hoare,

English Garden, Stourhead,
Wiltshire, England, 1741–
1781. The picturesque English
garden, looking deceptively
“natural,” is totally a product
of human design and careful
planting, imitating the paintings
of Claude Lorrain and the
nature writing of ancient
authors. Drawing: L. M. Roth,
after F. M. Piper, 1779.

17.22. Henry Flitcroft, Pantheon garden pavilion, Stourhead, Wiltshire. Positioned at strategic points in this English garden
are buildings depicting episodes from Aeneas’s descent into the underworld, meant to serve as objects of contemplation.
Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.
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The English Garden: “Consult the Genius of the Place” 485

17.23. James Stuart, “Doric Portico,” Hagley Park, Worcestershire, England, 1758. Stuart based this garden pavilion on the
Parthenon in Athens, which he had just returned from measuring. Photo: Country Life, London.

associations with different historical periods; for ex- listic qualities that were important. And if real ruins
ample, an allusion to ancient Greece was made at did not exist, faux medieval buildings could be built
Hagley Park in Worcestershire, where in 1758 James and then knocked down to create instant ruins. In
Stuart built a Doric garden pavilion with a facade 1747 at Hagley, a mock ruin of a Gothic building
adapted from the Parthenon, which he had just re- was built in the park by Sanderson Miller [17.24].
turned from measuring in Athens [17.23]. Aside from the allusions to the pastoral Roman
Or the intent might be to induce reflections on and Greek past in garden pavilions, as in Flitcroft’s
local history by showing medieval architecture, an Pantheon at Stourhead or Stuart’s Doric pavilion
idea that had first emerged about thirty years earlier. at Hagley, and the references to England’s own me-
In 1705, when Sir John Vanbrugh inspected the dieval past, all manner of associations were made
Woodstock royal estate where he had been commis- to places and times far away in time and space. One
sioned to build Blenheim Palace, he discovered on newly fashionable style was Chinese—or, more
the grounds the ruins of the medieval Woodstock correctly, what eighteenth-century architects and
Manor, which Sarah Churchill insisted be removed. landowners imagined as Chinese. This interest in
For a time Vanbrugh strongly argued against this, things Chinese lasted from about 1715 through the
writing in a letter of 1709 that such ruins “move end of the century and manifested itself in country
lively and pleasing reflections . . . on the persons house interiors and garden ornaments. Sir William
who have inhabited them [and] on the remarkable Chambers published a book entitled Designs of Chi-
things which have been transacted in them.” If the nese Buildings . . . (London, 1757) that provides sug-
ruins were planted, he advised, “with trees (princi- gestions for garden buildings, and he also designed
pally fine yews and hollys), promiscuously set to the tall pagoda added to Kew Gardens outside Lon-
grow up in a wild thicket, so that all the buildings don in 1761–1762 [17.25]. In addition, he designed
left . . . might appear in two risings amongst them, a Turkish mosque at Kew, visible in the distance in
it would make one of the most agreeable objects 17.25.
that the best of landscape painters can invent.”11 As In France a sensitivity to nature was awakened
Vanbrugh clearly suggested, it was the associations by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In his
the mind made with the old buildings and their sty- Discourses (1750–1754) he made an eloquent plea
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:15 PM Page 486

486

17.24. Sanderson Miller, sham Gothic ruin, Hagley Park, Worcestershire, England, 1747. If no real medieval ruins existed
on the grounds of English garden parks, imitation ruins such as this were sometimes built. Photo: A. F. Kersting, London.

17.25. Sir William Chambers, Chinese Pagoda, Kew Gardens, London, England, 1761–1762. This engraved view of the
pagoda at the royal gardens at Kew (then outside London) shows well the mix of exotic architectural styles used for picturesque
effect. Note the Moorish pavilion (portion to the left) and the Turkish mosque (in the distance on the right). Photo: From Plans,
Elevations, Sections and Perspective Views of the Gardens and Buildings at Kew (London, 1763); author’s collection.
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The English Garden: “Consult the Genius of the Place” 487

for the natural man, writing that human beings encircling an irregular lily pond, designer Richard
were essentially free, virtuous, and happy but be- Mique created a mock hameau, or rustic farm ham-
came corrupted by society and urban ills. A friend let, where the queen tried desperately to recapture
of Rousseau, the Marquis de Girardin, resolved to the simple life of a milkmaid [17.27].
create at his estate at Ermenonville, outside Paris, The picturesque English garden park, in its
the kind of landscape in which the natural man embrace of nature in all its untidiness and planned
could rediscover himself. Assisted by J.-M. Morel irregularity, was one of the first expressions of
and the painter Hubert Robert, the marquis had another view of the world that eventually would
the park constructed in 1754 to 1778, with a vari- challenge Enlightenment rationality; this would be-
ety of open or wooded landscapes dotted with the come Romanticism. Named after the literary “ro-
sort of picturesque buildings, all permeated with mances” of mystery and suspense that writers
the pastoral and n atmosphere of Rousseau’s book modeled after medieval stories, Romanticism was a
Julie ou la Nouvelle Héloïse [17.26]. Even at Ver- reaction against the constricted mathematical mod-
sailles, at the far northern edge of the grounds of els of the philosophes, which the Romantics felt lim-
the Petite Trianon, and well away from Le Nôtre’s ited feeling and imagination. Early Gothic novels,
unrelenting geometries, in 1778–1782, Marie An- such as Horace Walpole’s Castle of Otranto (1765)
toinette had built a Jardain Anglais. In the garden, and Ann Radcliffe’s Mysteries of Udolpho (1794),

17.26. Rustic Temple,

gardens at Ermenonville,
France, c. 1764–1778. In the
Rustic Temple actual living
tree trunks are shown being
used as columns, suggesting
the primitive house described
by Vitruvius. Photo: From
S. Girardin, Promenade . . .
des jardins d’Ermenonville
(1788), in Transformations
in Late Eighteenth Century
Art, by Robert Rosenblum
(Princeton, NJ, 1967).
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488 17. THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM

17.27. Richard Miqué, Antoine Richard, and Hubert Robert, Hameau (Hamlet), Versailles, France, 1778–1782. In this
mock rural village tucked into a corner of the forest of Versailles re-landscaped as an English garden, Marie Antoinette liked
to play at being a peasant. This photograph made in 1953 shows the ancient surrounding trees before many were destroyed in
a wind storm in 1999. Photo: Marvin Wit, 1953, courtesy of the Visual Resources Collection, Architecture & Allied Arts
Library, University of Oregon.

were set in dark, mysterious, ancient houses in he nonetheless had an enormous impact on archi-
which the single governing principle of their ram- tects in the last half of the eighteenth century
bling design seems to have been irregularity and through the various series of engravings he pro-
asymmetry. As in the gardens, it was irregularity and duced. In his Veduta (Views of Rome), he presented
roughness that were prized. Another literary foun- fanciful visions of Roman ruins and recent build-
dation for the emerging Romanticism was provided ings, suggesting a scale that absolutely dwarfed ant-
by Edmund Burke’s essay A Philosophical Inquiry into sized humans. Piranesi’s creative invention reached
the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, its zenith in his Carceri (Prisons), about 1750, which
1756. Contradicting the philosophes at every turn, presented visions of endless spaces, delineated by
Burke discussed the heightening of the senses broken architectural fragments of overpowering
caused by darkness, danger, and great forces of na- scale [17.28]. Appearing in thirty-one different se-
ture, such as roaring waterfalls, storms, and volcanic ries or titles, his thousands of etchings were enor-
eruptions. So, in addition to the refined symmetry mously popular; one estimate is that by the end of
and proportion of the Enlightenment, and the irreg- his life over a million of his prints were circulating
ular roughness of the Picturesque aesthetic, there in Europe, and they continued to be printed in Paris
was the awe-inspiring danger of the Sublime. until about 1838, sixty years after his death.12 Like
The Romanticists’ vivid imagination and some- Boullée, Piranesi proposed an architecture whose
thing of their sense of awe were expressed in the en- scope far outreached the building technology of
gravings of Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778). the time but that soon became the prototype for the
An Italian architect who actually built very little, building needs of the nineteenth century.
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Eclecticism and the Architecture of Revolutions 489

forms of government that had just been re-created

Eclecticism and the following the American Revolution in the new
Architecture of Revolutions American federal government (and in each of the
The impacts of the carefully positioned pavilions in individual state governments) were the first true
English garden parks were twofold. One was the republican governments since early Roman times.
suggestion that architecture derived its value in What sort of building would a modern democratic
direct proportion to its literary associations—that republican government require? What sort of image
is, to the degree the historical references were in should it project? Those were the questions that
accord with the building’s function. The other im- Jefferson faced when he was asked by his fellow Vir-
pact was reinforcement of the concept of experien- ginians to provide them a design for the new Vir-
tialism or sensationalism as developed in John ginia State Capitol. What he wanted was a building
Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding that would provide the appropriate associations and
(1689). This essay proposed that all human under- experiential links in the minds of his colleagues.
standing came through direct experience based on As a result of designing his own home, Monti-
sensation, rather than through received or inherited cello, which he began building in 1770, Jefferson
knowledge. Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) be- had become well known among Virginians for his
lieved similarly and used this idea not only to incul- abilities in architectural design. At the time that
cate in his American countrymen a taste for good Jefferson received the request for the Virginia capi-
architecture but also to visually reinforce the nature tol design in 1785, he was serving as the first am-
of republican government. There were no Classical bassador of the United States to the court of France.
ruins in the New World from which Americans By then he had moved beyond his youthful admira-
could learn something of what made for good de- tion for the proportioned Renaissance architecture
sign, or to remind them of the virtues of the people of Palladio; he now was an ardent admirer of Palla-
of republican Rome. Moreover, the republican dio’s own inspiration, Roman Classical architecture.

17.28. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Plate XI from the Carceri series, c. 1745–1761. In these visions of boundless spaces, of
ramparts connected by bridges stretching away in vistas beyond comprehension, Piranesi gave form to a uniquely modern view
of architecture on a vast scale. Photo: Print courtesy The British Museum, London, England.
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490 17. THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM

17.29. Thomas Jefferson, Virginia State Capitol, Richmond, Virginia, 1785–1789. Jefferson specifically selected a Roman
temple, the Maison Carrée, in Nîmes, southern France, as his model, since he believed it to be an example of superior Roman
Republican architecture and therefore symbolic of republican self-government. See also 12.2. Photo: L. M. Roth.

Working in association with the Parisian architect model. In place of the Corinthian columns of the
Charles-Louis Clérisseau, who had recently pub- Maison Carrée, Jefferson called for the somewhat
lished measured drawings of the Maison Carrée in simpler Ionic. The side walls of Jefferson’s building
Nîmes, Jefferson took the Maison Carrée as his were punctuated by two stories of windows, lighting
model [17.29, 12.2]. He prepared sets of drawings, the various chambers inside. He wrote to his col-
using the new printed graph paper then being used leagues in Virginia that because the prototype in
by French engineers, putting the various state gov- Nîmes was “noble beyond expression” he was
ernmental functions into rooms fitted into the shell dismayed to hear that major changes were being
of a Roman temple, and had a plaster model made considered in his plans. He implored his friends to
in Paris for shipment to Richmond, Virginia. Jeffer- follow his designs, for “how is a taste in this beautiful
son did make some departures from his Roman art to be formed in our countrymen unless we avail
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Eclecticism and the Architecture of Revolutions 491

ourselves of every occasion, when public buildings This initial associational phase of eclecticism
are to be erected, of presenting to them models for gradually changed to a synthetic eclecticism, lasting
their study and imitation?”13 Persuaded by his argu- roughly from 1755 through 1820. Synthetic eclec-
ments, the Virginia committee suspended the work ticism advocated using various historical styles from
and then, when the drawings and model reached a range of historical periods combined in a single
them, had the building erected with only minor de- structure. This method sounds as though it would
viations from Jefferson’s drawings. As a result, on result in jumbled confusion, and in the hands of ill-
the bluff overlooking the James River rose a white trained architects it sometimes did. But Soufflot’s
Roman temple. Sainte Geneviève in Paris is a good example of syn-
Jefferson’s Virginia capitol was the first function- thetic eclecticism employed at its best. The Corin-
ally habitable building, on either side of the At- thian columns are used as structural supports in the
lantic, whose form was based on a specific historical sense that the Greeks used them (although they are
model. Since that form was meant to exemplify the inside the building); the entrance portico is Roman
architecture of people governing themselves in a in detail and scale; the plan form is contemporary;
republic, it was an example of associational eclec- the saucer domes on pendentives in the arms of the
ticism.14 But Jefferson’s adaptation of a specific an- church are Byzantine in concept; and the cut stone
cient building also gave authoritative approval to construction of the domes and the resolution of
the idea that a new building could successfully du- structural forces are Gothic in spirit, even to the
plicate an ancient model; this would soon lead to extent of using hidden flying buttresses. Moreover,
an outright Roman and Greek Revival. By the be- the dome, as finally completed, was inspired by
ginning of the nineteenth century, architects were Wren’s contemporaneous dome on Saint Paul’s,
turning increasingly to specific source models, in a London. Yet these various references are fused so
wide variety of historical styles, resulting in revivals as to create an organic whole, not a collection of
of Greek and Roman Classicism, medieval and ill-fitting parts.
Gothic architecture, as well as Egyptian and even The Baltimore Cathedral in the United States,
more exotic re-creations. (These developments are designed in 1804 by Benjamin Henry Latrobe
discussed in the following chapter.) Book publishers (1764–1820), is a similar synthesis of various ele-
obligingly provided architects with increasing num- ments. It has a plan inspired largely by Byzantine
bers of folios with engravings of historical ancient examples, covered with cut stone vaults [7.16],
buildings. The measured drawings by Stuart and with an entry portico supported by some of the
Revett were just the beginning of such architec- most beautifully carved Grecian Ionic columns of
tural publications. the period. When Latrobe was first asked to de-
With Jefferson, eclecticism was established as a velop a design for the diocese, he drew up two com-
basis for architectural design. Fundamental to this pletely different and independent proposals. One
approach was the associational connection be- was a version of a Gothic church (although not
tween the form or ornamental detail of a contem- very accurate in detail), since Latrobe recognized
porary building with another architecture, distant that Gothic architecture had been developed by
either in time or location. This initial phase of as- the medieval church and he thought it might have
sociational eclecticism lasted from roughly 1740 to symbolic meaning for the diocese. His alternative
1785 and formed the basis of historic associational design, the one finally selected and built, was the
eclecticism that continued through the nineteenth Classical domed scheme. The fact that Latrobe was
and twentieth and even the early-twenty-first cen- able to provide his client with two completely dif-
turies. The fact that the eighteenth-century garden ferent alternative designs, however, is a measure of
pavilions were meant to be seen from a distance his extensive professional training.
meant that they did not need costly building ma- Synthetic eclecticism was employed by the early
terials painstakingly detailed, nor did the historical Romantics just as it was by the early Neoclassicists,
references need to be especially precise (and in as is evident in Strawberry Hill, the country house
any case, archaeological knowledge in the mid- Horace Walpole designed as his own personal Castle
eighteenth century regarding the specifics of Greek of Otranto, the stage set for his life as a literary
or Gothic architecture was just emerging). So, for romance [17.30]. Walpole began Strawberry Hill,
instance, although the columns of Stuart’s Greek outside London at Twickenham, in 1748, and con-
Doric pavilion at Hagley are true Greek Doric, struction continued for almost forty years, as section
heavily proportioned and devoid of a base, the cor- after section was added, supervised by various archi-
ner columns are not thicker, nor do any of the tects with parts designed by various of his friends
columns have true entasis. who shared his enthusiasm for the medieval English
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492 17. THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM

17.30. Horace Walpole and others, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, near London, begun 1748. For his own home, the author
Horace Walpole and his friends designed a mix of miscellaneous medieval details to create an evocative and romantic setting.
Photo: A. F. Kersting, London.

past. It is a mixture of every conceivable expression finished firearms could then be rapidly assembled
from the Middle Ages, ranging from twelfth-century from the standardized parts by anyone. With the ap-
battlements to sixteenth-century Tudor moldings; it plication of simple machines to perform repetitive
even was given a library in a new “Gothick” style tasks, mass production of consumer goods began.
greatly influenced by the contemporary craze for in- The result was a dramatic increase in production
tricate and exotic Chinese design.15 and a lowering of production costs, meaning that
goods formerly available only to the aristocracy be-
came available to the growing middle class and even
The Industrial Revolution eventually to the workers themselves.
As displaced farmers relocated to the burgeoning
cities, and the urban populations swelled, people
were employed in proliferating shops and factories. Cast Iron
This change in production of goods radically re- The increased manufacture of consumer goods was
structured the European economy, for it meant re- dependent on the production of less expensive com-
placing traditional economic practices with new ponent materials, and of these the most important
procedures that fostered ever-expanding produc- was iron. Iron was not a new material, but the smelt-
tion of goods for general consumers. This increase ing of iron ore had been hampered from the begin-
in production began in Great Britain in the textile ning by the use of charcoal for fuel. At the very time
industry. The first step in the transformation of the that the need for iron began to rise, the English
textile industry was the mechanical spinning of forests were fast disappearing into the charcoal fur-
thread in 1765 and then Richard Awkright’s inven- naces. Abraham Darby devised a system of heating
tion of the water-powered loom in 1769. With mineral coal to drive off its sulfur content, creating
these inventions, soon powered by the steam en- coke; this carbon material could then be used to fuel
gine perfected by Watt and Boulton in 1769–1776, iron furnaces. Darby began to use this process in his
the production of cloth in Britain increased by 800 works at Coalbrookdale, England, in 1709. Not only
percent by the end of the eighteenth century. did coke allow for larger furnaces with hotter smelt-
The most important change in industry, perhaps, ing temperatures, it also produced a better grade of
was using machines in place of skilled labor to make molten iron, which could be cast into thin-walled
other machines, first done in 1799 by Marc Brunel, pots and other everyday items in great demand.
who designed machines in England to make pulley Darby’s son and grandson continued to develop the
blocks for ships’ rigging. A cube of wood went into iron industry and worked with Boulton and Watt to
the shop at one end and came out the other as a fin- perfect precision boring of the pistons of steam en-
ished piece of block and tackle. Brunel’s simple ap- gines. As the technique of iron smelting was im-
paratus was surpassed in 1798–1801, when the proved by the Darbys, the cost per ton gradually
American Eli Whitney used the division of labor, dropped, so that cast iron and its tension-resisting
together with standardized machine jigs, to enable derivative, wrought iron, became the basic materials
workers to produce identical musket components; for industrial growth.
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An Architecture of Rationality 493

17.31. John Wilkinson, Thomas F. Pritchard, and Abraham Darby III, Coalbrookdale Bridge, Coalbrookdale (Ironbridge),
England, 1777–1779. One of the first demonstrations of the dramatic potential of cast iron as a structural material, this
bridge was cast in 50-foot-long half sections. Photo: British Museum, London; Courtesy, the Trustees.

One of the landmarks in the emergence of iron distributed to the many spinning jennies and power
as a new building material was the construction of looms by a system of belts and pulleys, with long
a cast-iron bridge over the Severn River near Coal- shafts running the length of the mill and numerous
brookdale in 1777–1779, based on an idea of John wheels and leather belts transferring the power to
Wilkinson after designs by Thomas F. Pritchard and individual machines. Hence, the basic plan of such
manufactured by Abraham Darby III [17.31]. Tra- mills was long and narrow, not only to facilitate
ditional in its arch form, it was made of five half the shaft, belt, and pulley system but also to provide
arches on each side (ten pieces in all), with a total banks on windows along the sides of the mill to
clear span of 100 feet (30.5 meters). It was intended provide light for the machinery and workers inside.
as a dramatic demonstration piece. Each half-arch Although built slightly later, between 1800 and
was cast as a single piece, a formidable job of iron 1810, the Swainson, Birley and Co. cotton mill
casting. Soon other bridges of cast-iron voussoir-like near Preston, Lancashire, England, exemplifies the
sections were proposed, as were suspension bridges building type and machinery that transformed
using wrought iron chains. Cast iron was also being England at the turn of the seventeenth century
exploited for thin structural columns needed in tex- [17.32, 17.33].
tile factories during the 1780s, and in 1786 the ar-
chitect Victor Louis designed a light iron truss for
the roof of his Théâtre-Français in Paris. By the end An Architecture of Rationality
of the eighteenth century, iron was a major building Guided by the philosophes, European architects by the
material, although its full potential was just begin- mid-eighteenth century began to reject the visual
ning to be understood. excesses of Rococo architecture in favor of a struc-
With their intensive production, whether it was tural discipline shorn of extraneous ornament; the
grinding grain into flour or spinning and weaving generative basis of architecture was transformed. In-
cotton thread, mills and factories generated large creasingly architects were faced with devising solu-
amounts of flammable particles, and fire was a tions and using new building materials for the new
constant threat in the ever-larger facilities. A dis- buildings needed by the exploding urban popula-
astrous fire in the Albion Grain Mill, London, in tions. The church, splintering now into ever more
1791 prompted public debate and design reforms, numerous factions, was no longer the most impor-
resulting in such new factory designs as the new tant patron of architectural innovation. It says much
textile mill at Derby, England, in 1792. This calico about the times that during the French Revolution,
mill, designed by William Strutt, employed slender Soufflot’s Sainte-Geneviève ceased to be a church
cast-iron columns supporting floors constructed of and was secularized as the Panthéon, a political
shallow ceramic “flower pot” arches that spanned monument. The architectural corollary to the late-
between iron floor beams.16 The power driving all eighteenth-century processes of industrialization
the machinery in the mill was supplied by a large coupled with economic and political theory was this:
water wheel as well as a Boulton & Watt steam en- the building tasks that soon were the most pressing
gine. Typically in these mills, the rotary power was were those that provided the greatest use for the
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494

17.32. Swainson, Birley and Co. cotton mill, near Preston, Lancashire, England, c. 1800. This rather idyllic view shows
the long narrow shape of early factories reliant on extended belt and pulley systems for power transmission. Photo: From
E. Baines, History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain (London, c. 1835).

17.33. View of cotton weaving (carding, drawing, and roving), unidentified British factory, c. 1828. Although showing a
factory interior of the very early nineteenth century, this view depicts technology closely resembling that used with the
introduction of full internal cast-iron frames around 1799. Note the shafts, pulleys, and leather belts employed to transmit
power to the individual powered looms. Photo: From E. Baines, History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain
(London, c. 1835).
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An Architecture of Rationality 495

greatest number, the greatest public service to the ture of the nineteenth century, clothed and supplied
community. The most important commissions very by means of mass-produced goods, was being firmly
shortly were no longer great aristocratic palaces but established. The dramatic effect of this expanding
legislative halls, courts, museums, galleries; the new bourgeois middle class was a new secular culture and
patrons of architecture were industrialists and gov- an architecture inspired by egalitarian ideals and in-
ernmental bodies. As the eighteenth century came dustrial enterprise. The old religious and aristocratic
to a close, the basis of the bourgeois middle-class cul- architectural models would no longer suffice.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/29/13 10:46 AM Page 496

JP-1. Pagoda, Hōryū-ji Monastery, Hōryū-ji, Japan, c. 607. Inspired by Chinese pagodas, the Japanese pagoda tends to have
far more extended, cantilevered roofs encircling the central shaft. This is the oldest wood pagoda in Japan. Photo: © Ivan
Vdovin/Alamy.
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E S S AY 5

Japanese Architecture

T raditional Japanese architecture and its modern influence presents an intriguing conundrum:
it is based on a design aesthetic that, until the 1850s, was basically unknown outside Japan
because of the Sakoku, or “locked country” policy begun in 1633. Sakoku rigorously closed the
country to all foreigners and therefore to Japan’s art and architecture, as well as to the subtle
beauty of its landscape gardening, which was largely unknown to Europe and America. In 1853,
Commodore Mathew Perry, acting on behalf of the US government, sailed his fleet of “black
ships” into Edo (now Tokyo) harbor and forced Japan to open the country to foreigners and to
trade. Interest in Japanese culture, architecture, and landscape design then became almost insa-
tiable, particularly for early-twentieth-century architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Bruno
Taut, and Walter Gropius. Over the next century, the influence of the Japanese arts on the West,
particularly its architecture and garden design, was perhaps greater than that of any other.
To prevent social disruption, Japan had been closed to the outside world by the Shoguns, the
military leaders given control of the empire on behalf of the Japanese emperors (who for more
than two hundred years had been unable to exercise political control in the empire). Once the
gates of Japan were open, however, and the shogunate ended with the ascendency of the Meiji
emperors in 1868 (termed the Meiji Restoration), Japan began an active program of embracing
aspects of Western culture and technology considered compatible with Japanese culture, partic-
ularly Western manufacturing and military technology. In less than two generations, Japan went
from being a late-feudal society to becoming a fully industrialized modern power, adopting West-
ern dress and forming a parliamentary government. Japan was determined not to be humiliated
by being colonized by Western powers, in the way that China had been forced to cede coastal
ports and make other concessions to European powers during the nineteenth century. And
though it was Japanese governmental policy to embrace aspects of the modern Western world
with enthusiasm, the Japanese people never abandoned the essence of their ancient culture, par-
ticularly its foundation in Shinto, their indigenous spirituality.
While Japanese architecture, like its culture, is distinct and unique, it was influenced by Ko-
rean and Chinese architecture as well as by its particular geography and climate. Japan is an
island nation. It has four main islands but more than twenty-five hundred smaller ones, with its
northernmost island at the same latitude as the northern border of New Hampshire (and Venice,
Italy) and the southernmost at the same latitude as the lower tip of Florida (and the Canary Is-
lands in the Atlantic). Because the Japanese island chain is in the path of the warm North Pacific
ocean currents, Tokyo receives more rainfall than typical for similar latitudes—more than 60
inches (153 cm) of rain a year, whereas New York City receives just under 50 inches and Seattle
less than that. Moreover, the summer temperatures in Tokyo are sufficiently elevated that, cou-
pled with the high humidity, the buildings must be well ventilated.
Although Japan later assimilated Buddhism (introduced via Korea from China), as well as
Buddhist architectural forms introduced from China, the nation’s roots are founded in Shinto,
the indigenous animist religion. Shinto has fundamentally shaped Japanese architecture. The
“way of the gods” (the literal meaning of Shinto) is based on deep reverence and respect for kami
(“spiritual essence”), the innate supernatural force or eternal super-consciousness believed to be
inherent throughout nature, most strongly present in ancient or unusual gnarled trees, in re-
markable boulders, in streams, waterfalls, and other natural manifestations. Reverence before

497
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498 ESSAY 5: JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE

kami produces profound awe. This fundamental veneration of kami, and the perception of it as
a form of nature’s idealization, was largely responsible (some scholars have suggested) for Japan’s
being able to retain a distinct cultural identity in the face of strong Chinese cultural influence.
Though the Japanese embraced Buddhism once it was introduced, officially dated at 552 CE,
the Japanese found ways of integrating Shinto concepts with certain Buddhist practices.
Shinto is thought to have been formulated during the Yayoi period (c. 300 BCE to c. 300 CE),
though apparently it was observed and practiced for several thousand years before that. Shinto,
quite unlike other formalized religions, has neither doctrinal dogma, established scriptures, nor
the degree of ritual religious forms associated with Buddhism or Christianity. The purity and
essence of Shinto is made visible in the form, material, and construction of objects, including ar-
chitecture. The spiritual force of kami is also considered present in human constructions of utmost
simplicity of form and purity, as when beautiful wood is left unpainted so that the texture of its
grain is gradually intensified through natural weathering. Though Buddhist precepts seem at odds
with those of Shinto, the two religions were fused in Japanese life, with Shinto rituals being em-
ployed for civil life and social events (such as birth and marriage) while Buddhist practices are re-
lied upon in life transition events (such as funerals).
The clearest demonstration of kami embodied in architecture can be found in the most ancient
Shinto shrines, particularly at the dual temple site at Ise Jing on the eastern coast in Mie Pre-
fecture (in all, the Ise area contains 123 related Shinto shrines). Established according to mytho-
logical accounts about two thousand years ago, the present shrine complex was built under
Emperor Temmu (reigned 672–686) [JP-2 Ise]. To ensure that the Ise shrine is forever rooted in
Japan’s ancient past, but also forever new, the structure is meticulously duplicated every twenty
years on alternate adjacent sites using trees from sacred forests reserved especially for the re-
building. The hinoki Japanese cypress wood exposed by the chisels and planes of the workmen
starts out a bright golden honey color but weathers over the years to a silver sheen. Raised up on
stout wood posts placed directly in the ground, the shrine building is encircled by an elevated

JP-2. Ise Jing ū Inner Shrine (the Kotai Jingū), Uji-tachi, south of central Ise City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Begun in
the seventh century, the complex is ritually rebuilt every twenty years (most recently in 2013). The most sacred
Shinto shrine, this both represents the rarefied essence of ancient architectural forms and manifests the place where
the goddess Amaterasu-ōmikami dwells. Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS.
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Japanese Architecture 499

terrace covered by a massively thick but fastidiously trimmed thatch gable roof through which,
at each end, jut out the crossed ends of stylized roof rafters. On the adjacent cleared twin site,
ready for the next shrine rebirth, a sacred central pole is raised, awaiting the next shrine reiter-
ation. Rebuilt in 1993, the complex was rebuilt again in 2013, its sixty-second re-creation.1
The remains of the earliest discovered Japanese houses, dating from the Yayoi period, were
pit dwellings with a slightly excavated floor and four internal wood posts carrying beams and
rafter poles; the whole was covered with a gable thatched roof. A dwelling of this period, based
on excavated remains, has been reconstructed at the Toro site, Shizuoka. Also found at this site
were the remains of several elevated platform structures, believed to have been grain storehouses,
also covered with large thatch roofs protecting the side walls. These platform buildings recall the
archetypal shrines at Ise and other Shinto sites, though the oldest surviving platform granaries
had walls of triangular logs laid with one side forming a smooth vertical surface inside, as seen in
the log storehouse building elevated on stout wood posts (the Shōsōin, built in c. 756, is part of
the Tōdaiji temple precinct).2
During the following Kofun period (250–538 CE) a major new architectural form—the tu-
mulus tomb—was added to the range of building types, likely inspired initially by natural land
forms but then purpose-built with a raised earth mound joined with a trapezoidal extension,
often described as having a keyhole-shaped plan. This type of tomb building culminated in the
construction of the Daisen-kofun tumulus tomb, Osaka (fifth century), for Emperor Nintoku.
Covering a total of 79 acres (32 hectares), it has the distinctive keyhole shape and is surrounded
by three moats. After the fifth century, however, earth tomb building declined as the practice of
Buddhist cremation gained favor.
Given the area’s abundant rainfall, wood was originally plentiful throughout the chain of is-
lands and was the dominant building material for millennia. Particularly favored for its natural
resistance to decay was old-growth Japanese cedar and cypress wood, used especially for religious,
ceremonial, and imperial buildings. There was little stone construction because experience
demonstrated that the tensile strength of intricately interlocked wood frame members resisted
earthquakes far better than masonry.3 Frequent fires have meant that few old wood frame build-
ings survive, but the oldest today is believed to be the pagoda in the compound of the Hōryū-ji
Buddhist monastery, built about 607 [JP-1]. The enormous central mast pole, or “heart pillar,”
rising through the five-story pagoda has been dated to 594 through dendrochronology (analysis
of annual tree-ring growth). The temple buildings in the monastic compound, though they have
been rebuilt due to fires, have portions that date from 670.
Buddhism may have come to Japan in 467 or earlier, but the official date of introduction is 552,
when a contingent of monks arrived from Korea. Once Buddhism was embraced by Empress Suiko
(554–628) and Prince Sōtoku (or Shōtoku, 574–622), Buddhism spread throughout Japan. Prince
Sōtoku was a significant patron of building the Hōryū-ji monastery complex begun in 607 (Nara
Prefecture). The somewhat earlier Japanese Buddhist temple compounds, such as Shitennō-ji, had
a multi-tiered front gate as part of a surrounding roofed wall, with a pagoda, a kondō (statuary
hall), and a kodō (lecture hall) all aligned on a single axis extending from the front gate. Though
consumed by fire long ago, the foundations of Shitennō-ji make this arrangement very clear. It is
the classic Chinese Buddhist temple complex transported to Japan. Analogous is the axial linearity
of the Asukadera monastery (588), also in Nara, which again has an absolutely symmetrical plan,
with the pagoda on the center axis placed between twin kondō worship halls.
At Hōryū-ji, however, the Japanese aversion to rigid axial alignment (so at odds with Shinto)
asserted itself [JP-3]. As at Shitennō-ji, within a rectangular walled enclosure generally about
289 feet (88 m) wide and 328 feet (100 m) deep, and behind the centered chūmon gatehouse, is
a five-tiered pagoda and a two-level kondō hall. A kodō lecture hall is incorporated in the center
of the rear wall of the enclosure; flanking the lecture hall, and integrated into the side passage-
ways, are a sutra repository and the belfry. But, significantly, at Hōryū-ji the pagoda and the kondō
hall are positioned on either side of the central axis running back to the lecture hall. Instead of
the rigid fixed balance of axial symmetry, the Japanese concept of dynamic balance through cal-
culated asymmetry was introduced.
The earliest Japanese Buddhist temple buildings drew heavily on Chinese and Korean models,
but Japanese builders quickly adapted the Chinese bracketing system and adapted wood framing
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500 ESSAY 5: JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE

JP-3. Hōryū-ji temple complex, Hōryū-ji, Nara Prefecture, Japan, begun c. 607. This aerial view shows the
contrast with Chinese Buddhist temple compounds, for the Japanese tend to avoid straight-line axial symmetry;
here the axis runs between the five-story Gojū-no-Tō pagoda and the Kondō or Main Hall toward the Daikōdō
or Great Lecture Hall on the north perimeter. Photo: © amana images inc./Alamy.

techniques to create specifically Japanese prototypes4 [JP-1 Hōryū-ji pagoda]. One particularly
noticeable example is the adjustment of roof construction to emphasize the cantilevering of roof
projections in wood-framed pagodas, halls, and other buildings. Japanese builders employed the
Chinese sequence of cantilevered brackets supporting beams, but they extended the bracket-
supported principal rafter out much farther. Although Japanese pagodas were vertical towers (very
much like Chinese prototypes), the Japanese pagoda roofs were cantilevered out so far as to cast
the center pagoda shaft into deep shadow, making the strongly horizontal roofs appear to float in
ascending diminishing stages. The proportional ratios in the middle region of the Hōryū-ji pagoda
are revealing. If the rise between the roof levels is used as a module unit of 1, then the width of
the pagoda core measures 1.5, whereas the total width of the extended roof is 3.6, for a height-to-
width ratio of 1 to 3.6.
Increasingly, Japanese builders tried to avoid the customary Chinese practice of painting tem-
ple structural supports vermillion red; they favored unfinished wood, a good example of a Bud-
dhist practice being modified through the influence of Shinto aesthetics favoring natural finishes
for construction materials.5 Other larger temple and monastery compounds were built elsewhere,
as in the large Tōdaiji monastery compound built at Nara (743–752), the Imperial capital of
Japan in the Nara period.
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Japanese Architecture 501

One Japanese Buddhist temple long considered particularly special was created for the worship
of the Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Boundless Light. It was built during the Heian period (704–
1185), when the capital was in Heian-kyō (modern Kyōto) [Plate 24]. The temple was built in a
private residential compound owned by Fujiwara Yorimichi to embody the realization of the Pure
Land Buddhist Paradise as illustrated in the Taima Mandala brought from China in the late ninth
century. Built in 1053 in Uji, near Kyoto, the Byōdōin temple contains the regent’s private chapel,
the Amida Hall, called the Hōōdō (Phoenix Hall) because of its plan with central tail and out-
stretched wings that suggest a phoenix, and also because of the ceramic phoenix images crowning
its roof. Reflected in the waters of the lake, the outstretched wings also suggest flight. Inside sits
a gilded wooden image of the Amida Buddha seated on an open lotus, his resting hands serenely
folded in meditation.
An exceptionally ascetic form of Buddhism—Chan Buddhism in China but translated as Zen
Buddhism in Japan—was introduced from China around 1190 and melded well with Shinto aims
of utmost simplicity. This form of Mahayana Buddhism shunned elaborate formal external rituals
and the memorization of sutras while stressing intensely focused meditation to achieve a personal
direct insight into Buddhist teachings. Zen Buddhism held strong appeal for the ruling samurai
warriors during the shogunate, when direct political control by the emperor was lessened and
replaced by the strong regional lords (diamyo). Emphasizing asceticism and stern personal self-
discipline, Zen Buddhism proposed a different path to enlightenment. This reduction to pure
essence is well illustrated by the austere meditative rock gardens of Zen monasteries, most notably
in the rock garden at the Rōanji temple, likely built between 1450 and 1550 [JP-4]. The confined
temple courtyard is bounded by a roofed wall that is gradually lowered by 20 inches (50 cm) at
the far corner to make the space seem larger. Within the courtyard and set in a bed of meticu-
lously raked white stone pebbles are fifteen carefully chosen rocks arranged in five groups, judi-
ciously placed with some set vertically like miniature mountains; each group is surrounded by a
small irregular border of moss. The rocks might suggest islands in a shimmering, rippling sea, or
perhaps mountains rising out of a blanket of fog. The worshipper-practitioner sits on the raised

JP-4. Rōanji Zen Buddhist Temple, Rōanji, near Kyoto, Japan, c. 1450–1550. In the Zen garden, everything is
reduced to essence to focus contemplation. Photo: © Ei Katsumata/Alamy.
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502 ESSAY 5: JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE

wood temple veranda floor to focus attention on the rocks, not deliberately calling up formed
thoughts but clearing the mind and waiting for perception to emerge, perhaps in a flash of insight.
Perhaps the purest expression of the Japanese house as a philosophical ideal, embodying the
Zen Buddhist focus on essentials and exquisite refinement of detail, is found in the Katsura De-
tached Palace (or Villa, c. 1616–1660), built in stages by Prince Hachijo Toshihito and his son
Noritada on the Katsura River southwest of Kyoto. Rather than being a single large rectangular
mass, the house was laid out as a series of offset L-shaped units joined together so that the view
from a veranda presents a series of receding corners from one building section to the next. Re-
turning to ancient prototypes, Katsura is raised off the ground on slender posts. Because it was
intended as a place of meditation and withdrawal from the press of day-to-day affairs, Katsura
was not designed to make a dramatic frontal impression of power from the outside; rather, it was
created primarily to be used from the inside, as a place of utmost simplicity devoid of distracting
elements, providing locations from which to view the enveloping garden in which the house sits
[Plate 25]. As were all typical Japanese houses, the villa was designed on the basis of the module
of the tatami floor mat, very nearly 3 by 6 feet. Hence the various spaces of the Katsura villa can
be described as simply being an eight-tatami or a ten-tatami room. A pervasive sense of serenity
is achieved by the clear order created through the use of the tatami module, but to say “room”
is misleading, since the “walls” of these spaces are temporary, defined by sliding screens set in
grooves in the shikii or wood rail in the floor (the corresponding upper rail is the kamoi).6 These
screens, found both internally and along the house perimeter, include sliding opaque panels
(fusuma) or sliding translucent rice-paper-covered screens (shōji) that can be pushed aside to
create extended open spaces or pulled together to form multiple enclosed rooms. Along the
perimeter, the panels can be moved to shape an infinite number of openings to frame varying
views of the garden landscape. As with a Chinese garden, designing the classic Japanese garden
requires perhaps more attentive design than creating the architecture of the house itself.
Katsura—with its unfinished, age-darkened cedar frame contrasting with its white plastered
exterior panels and paper shōji screens, with the studied angles of its gentle gable roofs, and its
uncluttered internal spaces defined by the patterns of the tatami floor mats—perfectly projects
Zen ideals. But in the grounds of the villa complex itself, attention to exceptional detail is found
in each of five dispersed teahouses [Plate 1 and 1.9, 1.10].
Zen monks drank tea as a way of staying awake for their meditations, but offering and taking
tea eventually became a rigorously prescribed ritual, practiced initially by court members and
then by ordinary people. The purpose of the choreographed tea ritual was not for ceremony’s
sake but as a way of clearing the mind to focus on the essential qualities of life, as a means of re-
flecting on the concepts of wabi-sabi (roughly equivalent to “quietness in rustic beauty” plus
“serene beauty found in patina and wear”)—that is, on the acceptance of transience and the im-
perfection of life. As Richard Power has put it, wabi-sabi can be encapsulated as: nothing lasts,
nothing is finished, nothing is perfect.
To aim for this state of mind, the guest at a tea ceremony was to attentively examine the el-
ements of the garden while approaching the teahouse, carefully stepping from stone to stone set
in moss or gravel, focusing with deliberation on the coolness of the water lifted from a stone bowl
and drunk as an act of purification just before reaching the teahouse. On arriving at the small
veranda, the guest would remove his or her sandals and, bending low as a gesture of humility,
would crawl through the small square door into the teahouse chamber. Even more than the res-
idence itself, the teahouse was reduced to pure essence, with perhaps one carefully selected ink
painting and a simple asymmetrical arrangement of a few flowers (ikebana) placed in the tokonoma
recess built for that purpose. The tea master host would prepare the tea slowly and deliberately
and present it to the guest in a rough, seemingly crude bowl, specially made for this ceremony.
The irregular form, rough texture, and serendipitous accidents in the glaze of the bowl are meant
to represent the unpredictability of life, just as the delicate pink petals from the cherry tree in
the garden, as they flutter to the ground like snow, are meant to be reminders of the shortness of
life. The guest would slowly rotate the tea bowl to take in the fortuitous accidents of its making
and the interesting random patterns in its glazing, perhaps commenting on all these ruminations.
In the same way, the architecture of the teahouse, like the tea ceremony in its earliest manifes-
tation, is intended to remind those coming to it of the Zen principles of frugality, simplicity, and
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Japanese Architecture 503

restraint, to impart a sense of grace, in the anticipation that all of these qualities might be carried
back into everyday life. Perhaps it is not a fanciful exaggeration to say that the purpose of the
austere simplicity of a Zen residence, its garden and humble teahouse, as at Katsura, is to make
us aware that the focused examination of beauty in tea bowl, teahouse, and garden landscape is
directed at making life more satisfying through reflection on the evanescence of beauty.
With the start of the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and the rush to westernize Japanese industry
and related areas, ancestral architecture was temporarily ignored and even denigrated by some
Japanese progressives. In fact, many of the castles that had once been the daimyo lords’ strong-
holds were demolished, while temples and traditional structures fell into disuse and decay. Then,
through the efforts of Japanese scholar Ernest Fenellosa and his Japanese assistant Okakura
Kakuzo, a renewed appreciation developed.7 By 1897, the first Japanese legislation was created
for the preservation of historic architecture and art—the beginning of the National Treasures
listing that has saved a broad range of tangible cultural properties, as well as providing support
for living individuals who practice ancestral skills at risk of being lost.
Arguably the person in Japan initially most visible in affecting this change in saving and pre-
serving the nation’s heritage was Okakura Kakuzo, perhaps best known in the West through his
slender book published in English in 1906, The Book of Tea, which uses a discussion of the tea
ceremony as a focus for explaining aspects of Japanese culture. Frank Lloyd Wright later read
this book and was struck by the passage in which Kakuzo notes that the ancient Chinese philoso-
pher Laozi (Lao-Tse) asserted the Daoist view that the reality of a room lies not in its floors, ceil-
ing, and walls but in the space enclosed by those external elements, just as the reality of a pitcher
is found not in the clay from which it is made but in the enclosed volume that can be filled with
water.8 Wright perceived immediately that this was how he thought of space within his buildings.
He was one of the earliest American architects to find in traditional Japanese architecture a
source of continuing inspiration, particularly the idea of open, interwoven interior spaces such
as are possible through the moving of the shōji. It is through the impact of Wright’s work, par-
ticularly his residential designs, that Japanese influence has been doubly felt around the world.
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18.17. Charles Garnier, Paris Opéra. Grand staircase,1861–1875. In the generous staircase, Garnier provided a place for
Parisians to promenade—to see and be seen. Photo: Bridgeman-Giraudon/Art Resource, NY.
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Chapter 18

The Roots of Modernism

The Nineteenth Century

R
It is very important for architects, engineers,
course of previous human history: large covered
public markets, railroad stations, public and chari-
both civil and military, painters of both historical table institutions, hospitals, insane asylums, and
and landscape scenes, sculptors, draftsmen, housing for workers being drawn to rapidly expand-
theatrical decorators, in a word, for all those who ing industrial cities, to mention only a few of the
build or depict buildings and monuments, to study new building tasks. Moreover, these buildings had
and know all the most interesting things that have to be larger than any had been since Roman times.
been done in architecture in every country Architects were also presented with new building
throughout the ages. materials, cast and wrought iron as well as glass, in
—Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand, Recueil et parallèle des quantities never available before thanks to improve-
édifices en tout genre, anciens at modernes, 1801 ments in mass production.
These logistical and technical problems were
Must the nineteenth century, then, come to a perplexing enough in themselves, but architects also
close without ever possessing an architecture of its found themselves in an awkward position. Archi-
own? Is this epoch, so fertile in discoveries, so tects at the dawn of the nineteenth century now
abounding in vital force, to transmit to posterity knew the history of architecture better than any
nothing better in art than imitations, hybrid works designers before their generation, and they could
without character and impossible to classify? never again have the innocence of not knowing his-
—Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, tory. Once the evolutionary stages of the history of
Entretiens sur l’architecture, 1863–1872

R
civilization had been sketched out, the historical de-
velopment of architecture and its successive styles
had begun to be codified. Intoxicated with this new
knowledge, architects wanted to make buildings like

I t is nonsensical, of course, to speak of nineteenth-

century architecture as if it suddenly appeared in
1800 and ceased or was redirected with equal
those they were learning about. Furthermore, the
growing nationalistic fervor, particularly in those
countries overrun by Napoleon and now seeking to
abruptness in 1900. The building programs and the reestablish their unique national identities, impelled
available building materials did indeed change enor- architects to use historical references to establish
mously during the nineteenth century, but to a large recognizable national architectural styles.
degree the outward appearance of nineteenth- Architects inherited Romantic literary asso-
century architecture developed fairly logically from ciationalism from the eighteenth century, causing
what was being done in the 1780s and ’90s, and them to ask what the appropriate images of these
continued with only modest changes until 1914 and new building types should be. For buildings such as
the outbreak of World War I—with the dramatic churches and residences it was possible to look to
exception of Art Nouveau. And even after the war, native vernacular models for appropriate expression,
certain aspects of the conservative branch of design as Augustus Pugin and William Morris would do in
theory and practice continued through the 1920s England in the design of churches and houses. But
and into the 1930s. What did change in the nine- for other new building types, the temptation to draw
teenth century was the need to design for building analogies and to think of contemporary buildings in
functions that had never existed through the entire terms of similar ancient examples was very seductive.

505
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506 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.1. Leo von Klenze, Glyptothek (Sculpture Gallery), Munich, Germany, 1816–1830. Designed as part of the campaign
to embellish Munich as capital of Bavaria, this public museum was designed by von Klenze especially to house the Greek
sculpture recently discovered at the Temple of Aphaia on the island of Aegina, Greece. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto.
All rights reserved.

Moreover, all too readily available were prolif- the success of a design: how appropriate the histor-
erating portfolios of engravings of measured draw- ical allusion in conveying the image of the internal
ings, first of Classical buildings, then of Gothic function was, and how archaeologically correct the
churches, and even of exotic non-European archi- form of the building and its details were. Jefferson’s
tecture, such as the views of Egypt that excited so Virginia capitol would have been only a qualified
much interest after Napoleon’s campaign there in success in this respect, for its side walls had been
1797–1798. During the Renaissance, architects punctured by un-Roman (but functionally neces-
had had to visit Rome and other ancient sites to sary) windows.
make sketches of Classical ruins, an arduous under-
taking, and then to abstract their own principles of
composition and proportion. Although nineteenth- Neoclassicism
century architects were able to travel even more The image of Classical order came to be strongly as-
easily, now they could also purchase engravings and sociated with public buildings and the role of public
photographs, and they became deluged with infor- buildings in elevating public virtue. One early exam-
mation as to the accuracy of details. And by mid- ple was Leo von Klenze’s sculpture gallery built in
century there was photography to make detailed Munich, 1816–1830, for Ludwig of Bavaria [18.1].
records such as no artist or sketcher could make. Bavaria had just achieved the status of an independ-
Soon after the start of the century, the major ob- ent kingdom, having allied itself with Napoleon, and
jective of eclecticism in design now became archae- its king, Ludwig, an ardent patron of architecture
ological accuracy, making sure the entasis of a and a firm believer in the public function of archi-
column was exactly like that of its prototype, the tecture, quickly set about rebuilding Munich as a
curve of a capital was correct, the number of cusps royal capital and a symbol to the entire German
on a Gothic finial was accurate, the arrangement people. Leo von Klenze (1784–1864) faced the dual
of tracery of a Perpendicular Gothic window was problem of developing a new building type and of
authentic, or the inclination of the battered wall of giving it a recognizable and appropriate image. This
an Egyptian pylon was right. Eclecticism thus en- was to be the first major public sculpture museum,
tered a third phase, growing out of general histori- presenting for public study the remarkable early
cal and literary associationalism and synthetic Classical Greek pediment sculpture from the temple
accretions—revivalism—lasting from roughly 1800 of Aphaia on the island of Aegina that had been ex-
to around 1850, in which two criteria determined cavated in 1811. The newly recovered sculpture had
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Neoclassicism 507

just been purchased by the Bavarian king and its containing sculpture (another announcement of
missing fragments restored by the Danish Neo- what one will find inside), and at the center of the
classical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. The creation building is a Greco-Roman Ionic temple block serv-
of this public museum was the logical extension of ing as the entrance portico, its careful details in-
practice in the preceding century, when, under the spired by Greek sources.
influence of the philosophes, enlightened European Since 1798 much the same concern for making
monarchs and princes had been opening their resi- the royal collections available to the public had been
dences to the public so their collections of painting on the mind of Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia,
and sculpture could be viewed by their subjects. As and his curator of art, Alois Hirt. Their resolve was
Diderot and Winckelmann suggested, if Classical art further strengthened by the ideas of Alexander von
could be viewed by the general public it would have Humboldt on the role that cultural institutions
an uplifting and moralizing impact. Starting with von played in public education. As early as 1800 the ar-
Klenze’s building, other buildings began to be built chitect Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841) pre-
solely for this purpose, the museum becoming an ex- pared schemes for a museum to hold the Prussian
tension of the art being housed in it, enhancing its royal collections of painting and sculpture, but it was
educational function. not until Napoleon had been defeated in 1815 and
Because of this view, and because of what von the art he had carried off to Paris had been returned
Klenze’s building was designed to contain, it was to Berlin that final plans for the Altes (Old) Mu-
given the Greek name Glyptothek, “sculpture seum were undertaken (the name was adopted after
gallery.” And because this museum was to present a new museum was built in 1841–1855).
Greek sculpture, von Klenze made his Glyptothek The Altes Museum, designed by Schinkel in
Grecian Classical in its details. The plan, however, 1822 and built 1824–1830, is a large rectangular
was contemporary and not Greek, composed of block on an island in the Spree River in central
identical square cubicles, each capped by a dome, Berlin [18.2, 18.3, 18.4]. Its broad front closes off
based directly on a plan for a public gallery pub- the end of the old royal pleasure garden and faces
lished by Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand (1760–1834) the Baroque royal palace. Perhaps it was because it
in his Précis de leçons données à l’École Royale Poly- was intended to define and enclose a major public
technique (Paris, 1802–1805). Durand had been von space that Schinkel gave his museum the generic
Klenze’s teacher in Paris. The exterior of the Glyp- form of a Greek stoa; its long Ionic colonnade con-
tothek has no windows but, rather, blind aedicules tinues the average cornice height of surrounding

18.2. Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Altes Museum, Berlin, Prussia, Germany, 1822–1830. This major public art museum was
built as part of the redevelopment of the capitol of Prussia; its novel plan was carefully designed by Schinkel to provide ease
of circulation and good light, and to promote the educational function of the building. From K. F. Schinkel, Sammlung
architektonischer Entwürfe (Berlin, 1865).
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508 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.3. Altes Museum. Plan of the main floor.

Drawing: N. Nguyen, after Schinkel, Sammlung
architektonischer Entwürfe (Berlin, 1865).

Baroque buildings. The art works to be displayed in- these are spur walls or panels on which the paintings
side included both sculpture and painting so the could be hung, thus eliminating glare on the var-
building was divided into two zones, with a central nished surfaces of the paintings.
Pantheon-like rotunda to house the sculpture, and In the Altes Museum, Schinkel devised a logical
surrounding galleries for the paintings. Illuminating plan and a circulation pattern based on a thorough
the paintings was of paramount concern to Schinkel, study of the building’s function of displaying works
so he devised a system of galleries arranged around of art as an educational task, creating around it a
light courts. The court and the outer walls are crisply and accurately detailed Greek envelope. It
opened up with tall windows, and perpendicular to was designed as the ancient Greek architects them-

18.4. Altes Museum. Cross section. The central, domed rotunda was designed to house the sculpture collection. Drawing:
L. M. Roth, after Schinkel, Sammlung architektonischer Entwürfe (Berlin, 1865).
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The Gothic Revival 509

selves might have done if they had been required model to allow for modern needs without violating
to design such a large public museum. In buildings the image. The American sculptor Horatio Gree-
such as this, Neoclassicism became firmly linked nough recognized this problem and, in 1843, said
with public service and educational aspirations; this that his countrymen were going about architecture
museum and Schinkel’s other buildings also helped in a backward manner, trying to bend the Greek
to establish Berlin as the preeminent German cul- temple to contemporary needs. If, he suggested,
tural and architectural center. Americans would only design buildings the way
Both von Klenze’s and Schinkel’s galleries used they built their ships, with lean economy of form
Greek details selectively, in buildings whose plans dictated by function, they would soon create build-
were evolved almost solely with a view to solving ings “superior to the Parthenon.”1
contemporary functional requirements. They can
be called Revivalist because of the fidelity to Greek
and Roman source material in their details. In other The Gothic Revival
instances, however, architects duplicated whole Neoclassicism was only one manifestation of how
Greek temples, in form as well as in detail. Von the interest in history influenced design, for me-
Klenze himself did this in his memorial temple Wal- dieval, Egyptian, Asian Indian, and other exotic
halla, 1821–1842, a Germanic pantheon commis- styles were also being re-created with increasingly
sioned by Ludwig of Bavaria to commemorate the correct details. The major alternative to Neoclassi-
great figures in German literature and history, built cism in public architecture was the Gothic style. Re-
atop an immense ziggurat podium high on a bluff ligious and educational activities had been housed
overlooking the Danube near Regensburg, Ger- in Gothic structures since the earliest colleges and
many. Although the building was given the name of universities had been developed by the Church in
the Norse paradise, it is nevertheless a faithful the Middle Ages. The use of Gothic forms also cor-
replica of a Doric Greek temple. responded to the more romantic side of eclecticism;
American architects faced a similar need to for just as the trabeated Neoclassical orders sug-
make buildings express a national character. Follow- gested enlightened logic and ennobling probity, so
ing the example provided by Jefferson in his Virginia craggy and dark Gothic architecture corresponded
State Capitol, they built a number of state capitols to the Romanticists’ desire for mystery and irregu-
in the early years of the nineteenth century. Like larity of form.
Jefferson they wanted to give these governmental
buildings the image of democracy, and so they at-
tempted to fit all the requirements of state govern- The Houses of Parliament, London
ment into building shells patterned after Greek In northern Europe, especially, Gothic architecture
temples. One particularly well-detailed example is was viewed as inherently national in expression, the
the old Kentucky capitol at Frankfort, Kentucky, French and Germans also seeing it as embodying
1827–1830, by Gideon Shryock, built of white mar- their particular national character, but the English
ble. Nearly all these early state capitols were soon had an affinity for Gothic architecture. This be-
outgrown and replaced, but one that was built on came evident in 1834 following a catastrophic fire
an ample scale and continues to house state gov- that consumed the medieval palace of Westmin-
ernment is the Tennessee State Capitol Building at ster, where Parliament had been assembling since
Nashville, designed by William Strickland and built the thirteenth century. In 1052 an abbey had been
1845–1859. established there by Edward the Confessor, and
Perhaps the most elaborate of all the American next to it a royal palace was built and enlarged over
examples is Thomas Ustick Walter’s Greek Corin- the centuries. One major addition was Westminster
thian temple designed to house Girard College in Hall, in 1397, the great public room with its ham-
Philadelphia, 1833–1847. Built entirely of cut merbeam wooden trusses [see 14.46]. Another was
stone, it has beautifully and authentically detailed the mid-twelfth-century palace chapel of Saint
Greek Corinthian columns completely surrounding Stephen. Because subsequent monarchs came to
the temple block, although at the insistence of prefer other residences, the palace at Westminster
donor Steven Girard the building does not have the was made available to Parliament, and in Saint
canonical number of columns on the long sides Stephen’s chapel the upper and lower houses of
[18.5]. The problem that all Revivalists faced, how- Parliament alternately sat for debate. It was not an
ever, especially those trying to fit modern public arrangement specifically designed for this parlia-
functions inside a Classical temple, was that it was mentary function, but over the years Parliament ad-
not possible to make changes in the established justed its mode of operation to the spaces provided.
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510 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.5. Thomas Ustick Walter, Girard College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1833–1847. Required by the donor to be
Neoclassical in style, the building was designed by Walter to present extremely accurate Grecian details so as to enhance its
educational mission. Photo: Sandak, University of Georgia.

In 1834 royal tax records that had accumulated sible and elegant Classical buildings, while Pugin and
over eight centuries were burned to make room in his father had been among the leading advocates of
the government vaults. The incineration went on Gothic architecture and had already published sev-
nonstop in the palace furnaces for days, and finally eral books presenting measured details of thirteenth-
one night the heat buildup ignited the wooden and fourteenth-century churches (something like
structure near the furnaces; by the time the blaze the Gothic equivalent of Stuart and Revett for
was discovered it was impossible to contain the fire. Greek Classicism). The symmetrically Classical and
The ancient houses of Parliament were almost to- rationally efficient plan of the new Houses of Parlia-
tally consumed, in a great conflagration stirringly ment was devised by Barry, with two wings balanced
depicted in the bold color sketches of the landscape about a central circulation corridor and rotunda
painter Joseph Mallord William Turner. [18.6]. At the center of each wing was the principal
After the fire was extinguished it was quickly chamber, for the Lords and for the Commons, each
decided that the houses of Parliament should be surrounded by associated committee rooms, offices,
rebuilt on the same spot. It was also decided that the and libraries, all arranged around light courts. On
general style of the new buildings should be me- the Lords’ side were additional robing rooms and
dieval, so as to better accommodate the surviving special preparation chambers for the monarch when
portions of the original buildings, especially West- opening parliamentary sessions. All of this was
minster Hall. A competition held to procure the best clothed in the most accurate late English Perpendi-
design was won by the team of Charles Barry (1795– cular Gothic detail. This style made possible the rep-
1860), working with the young designer Augustus etition of many identical small bay units (thereby
Welby Northmore Pugin (1812–1852). Barry had al- permitting repetitive cutting of ornamental detail)
ready established his reputation as a designer of sen- and also provided for large banks of glass [18.7]. To
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511

18.6. Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, New Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament),
London, England, 1836–1870. Plan. Although the new Houses of Parliament were designed in the Perpendicular Gothic style
to better incorporate portions of medieval Westminster Hall (W), the strictly symmetrical plan was based purely on functional
needs, reflecting the two governing bodies—the House of Lords (L) and the House of Commons (C). The stippled areas are
internal light courts. Drawing: P. Boundy.

18.7. Houses of Parliament, London, England. Elevated eastern river facade. Photo: © Royalty-free/Corbis.
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512 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

provide for better ventilation (poor ventilation being For Anglican churches, the Gothic Revival
one of the great faults of the original buildings), large worked very well, for the reinvigorated architecture
plenum chambers were created over the meeting fitted perfectly with the building’s renewed function.
halls into which the warm, stale air rose and was One of the best examples of Pugin’s adaptation of
passed to large iron ventilators on the roof. Iron was fourteenth- and fifteenth-century parish church
used for the framing of the roof trusses as well, so as models is his church of Saint Giles in Cheadle,
to eliminate combustible material that might con- Staffordshire, 1840–1846 [18.9, 18.10]. The com-
tribute to future fires. pact plan of the church, with a separately articu-
Thus the new Houses of Parliament combined lated chancel, side porch, and tower, recalls such
a rational plan, carefully devised to enhance func- prototypes as Saint Andrew’s, Heckington, Lin-
tional use, with a new structural material exploited colnshire, 1345–1380. In building Saint Giles, Pugin
to improve mechanical services and fire safety, and had the fortunate patronage of the Earl of Shrews-
with historical references in the detailing that en- bury, who provided ample funds for the building so
hanced the functional meaning of the building in that Pugin was able to realize the intense and highly
three ways. First, the Gothic details of the new colored interior ornamentation he desired. Follow-
work allowed it to join with the surviving medieval ing Pugin’s example, in England and in the United
portions in such a way that the line between the States Gothic architecture was used extensively for
two is nearly indiscernible. Second, Perpendicular churches and collegiate buildings, although few
Gothic, in particular, was viewed by the mid- were as richly embellished as Saint Giles.
nineteenth-century Englishman as being an inher-
ently English architecture. And third, because of
the long association of Parliament with the me- Egyptian Revival
dieval palace of Westminster, the Gothic style was The two major stylistic categories just described—
viewed as being connected with the parliamentary Greek and Roman Classicism, and the Gothic
form of government. In fact, when designing the Revival—were employed because of strong associ-
new chambers for the Lords and Commons [1.5, ational ties: Classicism with governmental and com-
Plate 26], Barry and Pugin were careful to retain mercial buildings, and Gothic with religious and
the medieval chapel seating arrangement. Hence, educational (and in some cases governmental as
it could be argued that the Gothic style was perhaps well because of nationalistic links). Other historic
the only one that could have been used in building styles were also called upon for specialized uses. One
the Houses of Parliament.2 that had not been employed for almost two thou-
sand years was Egyptian architecture. Intensive
scholarly interest in Egyptian art and architecture
Saint Giles, Cheadle had been stimulated by various individuals, includ-
The revival of the Gothic style coincided with and ing Piranesi, but especially by the French publica-
gave support to the resurgence of mysticism in re- tion by the Compte de Caylus, Recueil d’antiquités
ligion in the Church of England that grew out of égyptiennes, étrusques, grecques et romaines (Paris) in
Romanticism. The Gothic Revival phase of eclec- seven volumes, 1752 to 1767. It should be kept in
ticism that emerged in the 1840s in England was mind, however, that for centuries few Europeans
linked with a liturgical reform movement within had traveled to Egypt. What truly constituted the
the English Anglican Church. Impassioned stu- art and architecture of Egypt was very imperfectly
dents at Oxford and Cambridge began a movement understood. Nor could anyone make sense of the
to return to the pre-Reformation English liturgy, carving covering Egyptian monuments, clearly some
and this could be best accomplished by a return to sort of writing. Interest in Egypt remained especially
the church architecture of that period. The ac- high in France, providing some basis for the adven-
knowledged arbiter of taste in this revival of ar- turous scheme devised by Napoleon in 1798 to in-
chaeologically correct Gothic church architecture vade Egypt and cut off England’s route to India, its
was Pugin. In 1836 he had published a highly pro- most valuable colony. The Egypt campaign of 1798–
pagandistic and persuasive book called Contrasts, 1799 was in military terms a failure, but the inten-
in which he presented side-by-side drawings of sive contact with the ancient culture of Egypt
fifteenth-century buildings with their nineteenth- resulted in a series of publications, including the
century counterparts, which unvaryingly lacked a huge production of the official Commission des Sci-
humane spirit and convincing architectural form ences et Arts d’Égypte, the twenty-one-volume, illus-
[18.8]. Quite obviously, according to Pugin, Gothic trated Description de l’Égypte produced from 1809 to
architecture had been far better. 1828.3
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513

18.8. A.W.N. Pugin, plate from his Contrasts (London, 1836). This pair of views contrasts the generous care of the
poor in the fifteenth century in a Christian almshouse with the impoverished provisions of a nineteenth-century English
poorhouse. Pugin suggested that the character of architecture reflected the quality of social concern and interaction.
Photo: Courtesy, Avery Library, Columbia University.
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514 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.9. A.W.N. Pugin, Church of Saint Giles, Cheadle, Staffordshire, England, 1840–1846. For his revitalized church
architecture, Pugin drew from English parish churches of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Photo: National
Monuments Record.

The Egyptian Revival style was likewise used Foulston in 1823 [18.11]. The small building is all
for buildings with strong associational links and, the more interesting since Foulston published a
hence, came to be used for funerary buildings, gates small book on The Public Buildings Erected in the
to cemeteries, medical schools, and jails and prisons West of England (London, 1838), explaining the ra-
due to the massiveness of construction. One par- tionale behind the cluster of buildings in various
ticularly interesting application is found in the historic styles he created for Devonport. While ap-
small library for the small town of Devonport, En- preciating, he wrote, the “grandeur and exquisite
gland, not far from Plymouth, designed by John proportions of the Grecian orders, the author has
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515

18.10. Saint Giles, Cheadle.

Plan. Just as in medieval
churches, the chancel area
containing the altar is a
separate smaller space.
Drawing: L. M. Roth.

18.11. Devonport Town Hall, Ker Street, by John Foulston. Watercolour. Devonport, Plymouth, England, 1823. Foulston
designed a new town center for Devonport, combining Greek, Egyptian, and other exotic historic styles to achieve a
“picturesque effect.” Photo: Plymouth City Council (Arts & Heritage).
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516 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

never been insensible to the distinguishing beauties portion and detail. The term creative eclecticism
of the other original styles; and it occurred to him was developed in the 1950s to describe this late-
that if a series of edifices, exhibiting the various fea- nineteenth-century mode of design by historian Car-
tures of the architectural world were erected in con- roll L. V. Meeks, growing out of his detailed study of
junction, and skillfully grouped, a happy result might European nineteenth-century train stations; it was
be obtained. Under this impression, he was induced the best way he could describe the architects’ inven-
to try an experiment (never before attempted) for tive use of traditional details and forms.
producing a picturesque effect, by combining, in
one view, the Grecian, Egyptian, and a variety of
the Oriental [styles].”4 Hence, Foulston’s reasons Second Empire Baroque
were both for picturesque effect and for educational For public buildings the Classical alternative was
impact. developed in Paris by the French architects Louis
Visconti and Hector-Martin Lefuel in the extensive
additions they made to the Louvre, Paris, 1852–
Creative Eclecticism 1857 [18.12]. What they created was a lavishly em-
There were limits to the literal reuse of established bellished variation on the French Baroque in what
architectural forms, as the many ill-formed variations came to be called Second Empire Baroque, since
on the Greek temple made clear by mid-century. For their patron was Louis-Napoleon, who declared
five decades such replication was feasible, but by himself emperor of the Second Empire, inspired by
1850 it was no longer possible to fit the ever-expand- the empire of his more famous uncle, Napoleon
ing needs of the nineteenth century into predeter- Bonaparte. The Louvre additions housed, in sepa-
mined fifth-century BCE building envelopes. The rate sections, residential quarters, government min-
alternative was a new approach to building design in istries, and portions of the palace converted to an
which historically derived details were inventively art museum.
manipulated in buildings planned strictly in accord The richly embellished character of Second Em-
with contemporary functional requirements. At first, pire Baroque was even further elaborated in the
the historical references were employed in highly sumptuous new opera for Paris built in 1861–1875
personal, creative, and often idiosyncratic ways, but by Charles Garnier (1825–1898) [18.13, 18.14,
by the 1880s, due to more extensive and better- 18.15, 18.16]. During the mid-twentieth century
informed education, creative eclectic designs had this building was considered by knowledgeable
greater restraint and archaeological accuracy in pro- modernist architects and critics to represent the

18.12. Louis Visconti and Hector-Martin Lefuel, the new Louvre, Paris, France, 1852–1857. The richly embellished French
Neo-Baroque style was developed by Visconti and Lefuel to integrate the new additions to the building with the original
portions of the Louvre, built in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, NY.
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Creative Eclecticism 517

18.13. Charles Garnier, Paris Opéra (Opéra Garnier), Paris, France, 1861–1875. Garnier designed the exterior to
accomplish several public functions, including expressing each of the three major sections of the building, providing a fitting
terminus to the new Avenue de l’Opéra, and celebrating the act of going to the opera. Photo: Art Resource, NY.

lowest point of rationality in design, but in fact Gar-

nier had made a careful study of how the opera High Victorian Gothic
functioned in Paris. Hence, he developed a care- The Gothic alternative in this more creative phase
fully plotted circulation pattern for each of the four of nineteenth-century eclecticism has come to be
types of opera-goers he identified: those arriving by called High Victorian Gothic, because of its elabo-
carriage, those on foot, those who already had tick- rate character, its development in England during
ets, and those who bought them at the box office. Victoria’s reign, and its creative and colorful use of
But above all, he perceived that late-nineteenth- Gothic forms. It likewise appeared about 1850, and
century Parisians went to the opera principally for is well illustrated by the Midland Grand Hotel de-
social reasons, rather than to hear the music—they signed by Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811–1878) as
went “to see and be seen.” Accordingly, Garnier the head house for the Saint Pancras Railroad Sta-
used a traditional horseshoe auditorium with lay- tion, London, 1868–1874 [18.18, 18.19, Plate 11].
ered galleries around the auditorium so opera-goers Now converted to new uses, it is a long J-shaped
could better see each other. But most important, building fitted to its irregular site, originally not
by far the greatest proportion of space in the build- only providing facilities for ticket offices, waiting
ing is devoted to circulation spaces and lobbies, fo- rooms, and baggage handling for the station but
cused on the elaborate staircase, which provides also serving as a terminus hotel for travelers, with
the perfect stage on which the opera-goers can pa- lounges, dining rooms, and private rooms on the
rade and exchange greetings [18.16, 18.17, p. 504]. upper floors. Its skyline is among the most pictur-
Garnier carefully studied the personal space main- esque in London, with a variety of clock towers,
tained by walking couples passing each other while dormers, chimneys, ventilators, and miscellaneous
promenading, and these spatial modules he em- projections. The colorful character of the profile is
ployed in designing the width of the major lobbies. enriched by the multiple colors of the building ma-
In many ways, on reaching the auditorium after terials, including red brick, stone, slate, and marble
having passed through the staircase and the suc- of various hues in the polished columns.
cessive lobbies, an opera-goer may have experi- This external representation of internal function
enced something of an anticlimax.5 through varied building masses, and the expressive
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518

18.14. Paris Opéra. Plan. Drawing: N. Nguyen, after Garnier.

18.15. Paris Opéra. Section. Drawing: N. Nguyen, after Garnier.

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519

18.16. Paris Opéra. Staircase. Revealing the important social aspect of opera attendance in Paris, the staircase space and the
promenade gallery next to it represent the largest area in the building, greater than the auditorium. Musée de la Ville de Paris,
Musée Carnavalet, Paris, France. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.
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520 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.18. Sir George Gilbert Scott, Saint Pancras Station and

Midland Grand Hotel, London, England, 1868–1874.
Built of multicolored stone, brick, and other materials, this
vigorously modeled building celebrated the power and status
of the railroad. Photo: National Monuments Record.

use of various building materials in their natural col-

ors, derived from the writings of the architectural
critic John Ruskin (1819–1900). Although not an
architect, Ruskin exerted a profound influence on
architectural development, primarily through two
books. In The Seven Lamps of Architecture (London,
1849), he argued in favor of seven criteria: the use
of functionally expressive ornament, truth in ex-
pression of building materials and structure, expres-
sive massing, beauty derived from observation of
nature, bold and irregular forms, durable construc-
tion, and adherence to traditional Christian archi-
tectural forms (that is, Gothic architecture). In his
other highly influential work, The Stones of Venice
(London, 1851, 1853), he extolled the architecture
18.19. Saint Pancras Station and Midland Grand Hotel. of Venice, suggesting that it provided the perfect
Behind the hotel rises the great train shed covering all the point of departure for developing a modern Gothic
tracks. Drawing: C. Amberson. architecture suited to a capitalist, mercantile cul-
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The Architecture of the New Industrialism 521

ture. It was also a highly colored architecture. In the final building form was dictated by what worked best
Midland Grand Hotel, Scott showed how Ruskin’s for the layout and operation of the machinery.
arguments could be applied to real situations. Another result of this factory building system
was the de-facto standardization of prefabricated
parts in the cast-iron columns and wrought-iron
The Architecture of the beams. The same technique also was employed for
New Industrialism the production of building parts used in putting up
garden greenhouses to protect and nurture the ex-
The Impact of Industry otic tropical plants being brought to England and
In the nineteenth century there arose building needs other areas of northern Europe.
that had never existed before, leaving architects per- It was at mid-century that the worlds of industrial
plexed as to how to design the required structures. building component manufacture, garden green-
At the turn of the eighteenth century, one new house building, and public architecture intersected.
building type that appeared was the factory, but in Seeking to highlight industrial manufactures (espe-
most cases it was designed not by architects but by cially English manufacturing), in 1850 Prince Albert
company engineers; only in some rare cases were and his supporters conceived of mounting a compre-
architects called up to design the administrative hensive international exhibition of industrial prod-
offices of companies. One striking instance is John ucts, the first world’s fair. Various executives and
Marshall’s Flax Mill in Leeds, 1838–1841, designed architectural committees were set up and the exhi-
by Joseph Bononi in a massive Egyptian style. For bition was scheduled for 1851. The most notable
the most part these early textile mills were long, rec- English architects of the day submitted designs for
tangular masonry shell buildings with walls opened the exhibition building. Not only were none found
up with windows as large as possible [see 17.32]. In- satisfactory in design, none could be built in the time
ternal space was optimized by using the slenderest remaining before the exhibition was to open. The
cast-iron columns to carry cast- or wrought-iron solution to this problem was provided not by an
beams. In the best construction, the floors were sup- architect but by Joseph Paxton (1801–1865), a hor-
ported by narrow brick segmental vaults spanning ticulturalist and a builder of greenhouses. He pro-
between the beams, covered by a light concrete floor posed a large building, essentially a grandly oversized
slab, resulting in a structure that was fully fire resist- greenhouse, to be assembled of identical modular
ant. In less expensive construction, thick wood posts cast-iron columns and beams, with a wall membrane
and floor girders made up the internal frame. The fabricated almost entirely of standardized panes of
long rectangular reach of these factories was neces- glass [18.20]. His initial sketch was drawn on June
sitated by the belt and pulley system used to transmit 11, 1850; in eight days he prepared the necessary
rotary power from the water wheels (and, later, drawings for approval; in July a contract for con-
steam engines) to all the internal machinery. So the struction was accepted; and within nine months all

18.20. Sir Joseph Paxton, Crystal Palace, London, England, 1851 (destroyed 1936). Elevated view. Photo: Victoria and
Albert Museum, London; Crown Copyright.
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522 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

parts had been manufactured and shipped to Hyde had created a building in which the volume en-
Park, London, ready for assembly. On May 1, 1851, closed far surpassed the mass of the building. Com-
the building was opened with great fanfare by Queen pared to all prior buildings, it was like a bubble, and
Victoria. It was almost immediately dubbed the so Paxton introduced cross bracing in wrought-iron
Crystal Palace by the London magazine Punch. diagonal rods in the upper parts of the structure to
Paxton made full use of all that the English had resist lateral wind pressures [18.21]. But he also cre-
learned of metal building technology in the con- ated a transparent building without visual limits.
struction of train stations and greenhouses in the Its cast-iron members were painted predominantly
preceding two decades, but his innovations pro- blue, so they tended to merge with the sky. Even
duced a giant leap in building scale, in the prefab- better, it was a demountable building, and when the
rication of standardized building parts in factories exhibition was over the parts were disassembled and
across England, and in methodical organization of removed to Sydenham, where an enlarged Crystal
the building process. The Crystal Palace covered Palace was re-erected and served as a cultural cen-
an enormous area, 1,848 by 408 feet (563.3 by ter for London until destroyed by fire in 1936.
124.4 m), with cast-iron columns set 48 feet The greatest limitation of historical styles was in
(14.6 m) apart. As in no building before, Paxton meeting the growing demand for such large public

18.21. Crystal Palace.

Interior view of the
central transept, May
Day 1851, showing how
the building incorporated
entire ancient trees
already existing on the
building site in Hyde
Park. From: B. Dunlop
and D. Hector, eds.,
Lost Masterpieces
(London, 1999).
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The Architecture of the New Industrialism 523

18.22. W. H. Barlow and R. M. Ordish, engineers, Saint Pancras Station Train Shed, London, England, 1863–1865.
Behind the hotel rises the great train shed covering all the tracks of the station; the clear span of this metal and glass roof is
234 feet (71.3 m). Photo: Science Museum, London.

buildings as train stations. Boulton and Watt’s steam developing technology in building in iron provided
engine was put on wheels in 1804 to move mining the answer, allowing extremely light trusses to be
cars, and in 1825 the first passenger railway began made of wrought-iron bars and rods. The railroad
operation between Darlington and Stockton, En- station reached a culmination in the vast arching
gland. During the following decade other passenger metal shed built at the Saint Pancras station in
rail systems were set up in England, with small depot London, 1863–1865, by the Midland Railway Com-
buildings erected by the sides of the tracks, some- pany, designed by the engineers W. H. Barlow and
times with the roofs extended toward the tracks to R. M. Ordish [18.22]. Barlow, who was the engi-
provide cover for passengers. Within thirty years the neer of the Midland Railway Company, had earlier
technology of rail transport was fully developed and helped Paxton in the design of the Crystal Palace.
several different types of rail stations had been de- Like the Crystal Palace, this train shed is a great
fined. Perhaps never before in human history had a bubble of vast Piranesian dimensions but little
building need arisen, been solved, and pushed to its building mass—a structure in which, compared to
limits so quickly as in the invention of the railroad the massive masonry of Roman and even Gothic
station.6 (In a few years the same rapidity in inven- construction, the greatest possible work is done by
tion and perfection would occur in the development the least amount of material. The arch of the shed
of the high-rise office building in the United States.) spans 234 feet (71.3 m) and rises 100 feet (30.5 m)
Since Roman times, buildings covering large with a slightly pointed profile; its length is 689 feet
spans had been built with wooden trusses, but the (210 m). In actuality the shed was built first
railroad buildings posed a particular challenge. and the head-house hotel built afterward, but it
What was required were buildings for locomotive would be a mistake to assume that Barlow or other
roundhouses and passenger depots that could cover nineteenth-century observers saw in this juxtapo-
the tracks and yet not be susceptible to fire caused sition of dissimilar elements any profound discor-
by embers blown from the smokestacks. The rapidly dance. Only mid-twentieth-century observers felt
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524 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

that the shed was superior to the hotel, because it (115 m), rising to a height of 142½ feet (43.5 m).
openly exploited metal structure. To nineteenth- Twenty transverse trussed arches supported the
century users each part of the building was well de- roof. As never before, the forces of nature pulled
signed to serve its distinct appointed function—the on this building, for its huge wrought-iron and steel
shed to protect passengers and baggage handlers structure expanded and contracted over the course
from the weather, and the head-house hotel to ad- of the day as the sun passed from one side to the
vertise the railroad and provide the most commodi- other, during the changes in temperature from mid-
ous and luxuriant accommodations for travelers. day to the cold of night, and during the changes in
Because the symbolic connotation, the meaning, of temperature from summer to the dead of winter.
each section was quite different, the forms and Accordingly, the trusses were hinged at their bases
structures correspondingly differed. and at the crown, so that they might bend and flex
Few train sheds exceeded Saint Pancras in size, at those points and not tear themselves apart.
and the only structures that did were temporary There seemed to be a denial of weight as well, for
buildings for exhibitions, the lineal descendants of there were no massive stone or concrete buttresses
Paxton’s Crystal Palace. The best known was the to resist the lateral thrust at the bottom of the arch.
cavernous Palais des Machines, built to house the Instead the huge trussed arches came to rest on the
large industrial exhibits at the World’s Fair in Paris, pins of large hinges, the lateral forces taken up by
1889, celebrating the centennial of the French tensile rods running under the floor. Like the Crys-
Revolution7 [18.23]. Designed by the architect Fer- tal Palace, the Palais des Machines was translucent,
dinand Dutert in 1886, in collaboration with the with glazed roof and end walls, and this apparent
engineers Contanmin, Pierron, and Charton, it was openness (particularly in photographs taken before
an enormous pointed barrel vault 1,407½ feet the exhibits were installed) accentuated the already
(429 m) long, with a clear span of 377¼ feet vast scale. Such buildings as this and the great mid-

18.23. Charles-Louis-Ferdinand Dutert, with Contanmin, Pierron, and Charton, Palais des Machines, Paris, France, 1886–
1889. Designed to house all the major machinery exhibits of the Paris World’s Fair of 1889 and marking the centennial of the
French Revolution, this vast shed had a span of 377.3 feet (115 m). It is shown here just after construction ended and before
the exhibits were installed. From N. Ponente, The Structures of the Modern World, 1850–1900 (New York, 1965).
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Industry and Urban Growth 525

nineteenth-century train sheds, all of them nearly valleys, lateral wind forces were sometimes more
pure structure, were the logical extension of the significant than the vertical weight of the structure
insistence on rationalism in design begun by or even its dynamic load when trains crossed over.
Laugier and Lodoli in the eighteenth century. Hence, the widely spaced feet of the tower were
One objective of the Palais des Machines was to necessary. (The large semicircular arches springing
cover the largest horizontal area possible for exhi- from and connecting the four feet are largely dec-
bition display, without any interfering supports, orative.) Because the tower was built of open lat-
while another was to celebrate the abilities of tices there is little surface area to catch the wind,
French engineers and industrial production. Un- so that horizontal movement is only about 4.7
fortunately the vast horizontal structure was tem- inches (12 cm). As Eiffel also knew well, exposure
porary, and the iron was recycled for later reuse. to the sun during the day, and changes in temper-
There was, however, another equally ambitious and ature over the course of the year, would cause the
awe-inspiring structure proposed for the Paris fair, tower to expand and contract; its height varies dur-
also proposed to be temporary, or at least to stand ing the course of the year by 6 inches (15 cm). The
for only twenty years. Events would take a different open latticework structure means that the tower’s
direction, however. This second, even more daring weight is not nearly as great as people imagine. The
demonstration of French scientific and industrial square column of air up to the stratosphere over
prowess was a soaring tower proposed by the engi- the tower’s base weighs more than the structure it-
neer Gustave Eiffel, consisting of four curved truss- self. Aside from its worldwide popularity with
framed legs of iron latticework rising to join into tourists (reportedly, it is the most visited monu-
one shaft and reaching the almost unimaginable ment in the world), there was some thought of dis-
height of 986 feet (300 m) [18.24]. The design was mantling the Eiffel Tower in 1909, but by that time
prepared beginning in 1884 by the chief engineers its importance as a transmission tower resulted in
in Eiffel’s office as a dramatic centerpiece for the its preservation. Now the tower has become the in-
upcoming revolutionary centennial exposition. Eif- stantly recognized symbol of Paris and is dearly
fel was already well known, a most successful engi- loved so that no one complains that it must be re-
neer entrepreneur who, with his engineering firm, painted, top to bottom, every seven years. Nor does
had built many celebrated railroad bridges in anyone complain about the “blot of ink” shadow
France and elsewhere. The overall design was then that daily sweeps over Paris rooftops.
modified by Eiffel himself and publically presented,
only to prompt an outcry among the literary and
artistic community in Paris. Prominent cultural lu- Industry and Urban Growth
minaries such as Charles Garnier, Adolphe Bou- The relocation of the population that had begun
guereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod, in the eighteenth century, first in England and
and Jules Massenet petitioned to stop construction then across Europe, expanded and accelerated as
of “this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower,” as they the nineteenth century began. Old cities such as
called it, fearing that they would forever “see London grew from just under a million inhabitants
stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of in 1800 to nearly 4.3 million by 1900. Paris ex-
the hateful column of bolted sheet metal.” Others, panded from over a half-million in 1800 to 2.5
particularly Eiffel himself, responded, extolling the million in 1900. Industrial cities in Great Britain—
tower as a symbol of French industrial progress so such as Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, and
that the protest had no effect. When the tower Glasgow—which all had populations of about
opened in May 1889, and visitors were able to as- 70,000 to 80,000 at the beginning of the century,
cend to the upper terraces or even to the very top, grew to almost three-quarters of a million each by
attitudes changed. Writer Guy de Maupassant, the end of the century. In the United States the rate
however, reportedly had lunch at the restaurant in- of urban growth was even greater, for New York,
corporated on the first terrace every day during the which had 63,000 people in 1800, was second only
fair because, he said perhaps sardonically, it was the to London in 1900, with 2.8 million. Even more
only place in Paris where he was not forced to see dramatic was the explosive growth of Chicago,
the structure. which had fewer than 30 permanent residents in
The tower was constructed of a form of very 1833, when it was formally established; by 1900
pure wrought iron; steel in such large quantities Chicago had more than a million inhabitants and
was not yet available in France, but perhaps the was the sixth-largest city in the world.8
wrought iron was selected for its flexibility. As Eiffel The results, most especially in those cities
knew well from his early large bridges over deep spawned by the proliferating factories, tended to be
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526

18.24. Gustave Eiffel, Eiffel Tower for the World’s Fair, Paris, France, 1884–1889. At 300 m (986 ft), this wrought-iron
structure was for decades the tallest structure in the world. Photo: © nobleIMAGES/Alamy.
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Industry and Urban Growth 527

grim indeed. The English author Charles Dickens from travel experiences came his idea for how that
(1812–1870), whose sense of public moral respon- might be done through landscape design.
sibility was especially keen, sketched a revealing car- In 1850, Olmsted, then age twenty-eight, visited
icature of the mid-nineteenth-century no-nonsense England to study public gardens. In Birkenhead
industrial city Coketown in his novel Hard Times Park (near Liverpool), he was deeply impressed by
(1845). Coketown, he wrote, was a creation of eco- the many ordinary people using and enjoying “their”
nomic determinism. new park, built with public tax funds. Designed and
built in 1843–1847 by English landscape architect
It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, and gardener Joseph Paxton (soon to design the
out of which interminable serpents of smoke Crystal Palace in London), the 125-acre park had
trailed themselves forever and ever, and never been sculpted with the excavation of two lakes and
got uncoiled. It had a black canal in it, and a the laying of winding carriage drives and public
river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye, and walkways; artistically designed bridges crossed the
vast piles of building full of windows where lakes, and row-houses lined the irregular perimeter.
there was a rattling and a trembling all day Olmsted was astonished, both by the successful so-
long, and where the piston of the steam-engine cial purpose of the park and by its design, especially
worked monotonously up and down like the the rock-work, the plantings of shrubs and ferns, the
head of an elephant in a state of melancholy beds of flowering plants, the carefully tended lawns,
madness. . . . You saw nothing in Coketown the ornamental pavilions, and the walks and drives.
but what was severely workful . . . everything “And all this magnificent pleasure ground is entirely,
was fact between the lying-in hospital and unreservedly, and for ever, the people’s own. The
the cemetery, and what you couldn’t state poorest British peasant is as free to enjoy it in all its
in figures, or show to be purchasable in the parts as the British queen.”9
cheapest market and saleable in the dearest, The United States had nothing like it, but a
was not, and never should be, world without movement was gradually gaining momentum to
end. Amen. create a public park in New York City, then busily
filling up every square foot of its constricted island
with businesses and houses. Landscape gardener
The Restorative Power of Nature: Andrew Jackson Downing had already begun pro-
Frederick Law Olmsted and Public Parks moting this proposal and would likely have been its
When the Industrial Age (c. 1750–1850) was well designer had he not died. An open competition for
under way, Charles Dickens realized that, without the park plan, held in 1857, was won by the team
intervention, its dehumanized workers would con- of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, a
tinue to be isolated from any connection with the transplanted Englishman who had come to New
natural world. The American landscape architect York to be Downing’s architectural partner. It was
Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903) also perceived a most unpromising site—a long, rigidly squared
this disconnection and came to realize that land- rectangle running down the center of Manhattan
scaped public parks could be an antidote. Olmsted Island, filled with rough ridges of schist rock erupt-
is often considered the father of the modern pro- ing through the soil (the lands closer to the flank-
fession of landscape architect, but only through long ing rivers had been held back by business owners
and arduous work experience did he learn what a unwilling to yield such valuable riparian real estate
socially beneficial endeavor it could be. After aban- for a project they then considered totally pointless).
doning college studies due to eye- damaging sumac Moreover, to maintain communication across the
poisoning, he farmed on Staten Island, New York, park, every seven blocks or so was to be a major
where he closely studied horticulture and experi- cross-town thoroughfare. To separate this cross-
mental gardening and cultivation; these activities town traffic from the carriage drives, bridle paths,
eventually brought him into close contact with and pedestrian walkways, the streets were pushed
pioneering landscape gardener and author Andrew somewhat down, using bridges and tunnels to carry
Jackson Downing (1815–1852). Olmsted also the drives and walks within the park. Masses of
worked as a seaman, merchant, and journalist; chief trees were planted to define large meadows for
among his early journalistic accomplishments was a recreation, while the slightly lower areas of the orig-
series of essays commissioned by the New York Daily inal landscape were dredged to create several irreg-
Times, published 1852–1857, on the impact of slav- ular lakes for pleasure boating, with artistic bridges
ery in the American South. From that experience to accommodate the crossing drives and walks that
arose a passion to improve the lot of the poor, and meandered through the trees [18.25]. While the
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528 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.25. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Central Park, New York, NY, designed 1857, built over the decades
following. Within an awkward long rectangular site, Olmsted and Vaux designed a recreational landscape with open meadows
framed by trees, placing the cross-town streets below grade so that walkways and carriage drives could pass over them. From
J. G. Fabos, G. T. Milde, and V. M. Weinmayr, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. (Amherst, MA, 1968).

southern half of the park had a tamer, gentler nat- The last project in which Olmsted partici-
ural character, the northern half was deliberately pated—the Columbian Exposition held in Chicago
landscaped to appear more rustic and wilderness- in 1893—helped initiate another field of design ac-
like. The imprint of Paxton’s Birkenhead Park was tivity. As a major contributor to this first large-scale
clearly evident, and “Central Park” became beloved world’s fair, Olmsted persuaded the other partici-
as “the people’s park,” filled with picnickers, pants to build on the shore of Lake Michigan, ad-
strollers, bicycle and horse riders, ice skaters, car- vising them that the many individual buildings
riages in summer, sleighs in winter—all manner of should be integrated not just in character and style
people of all ages from every station in life enjoying but also through the spaces that knitted them to-
their park. gether. The impact of the plan and architectural
Even before it was finished, neighboring Brook- spectacle of the Columbian Exposition inaugurated
lyn engaged Olmsted and Vaux, now instantly ac- the profession of city planning, as scores of Ameri-
claimed the masters of such landscape shaping, to can cities endeavored to bring sensible order to the
design Prospect Park. Other cities hired them to do jerry-built chaos of their centers that had resulted
likewise. Before Olmsted’s retirement in 1895, he from expediency rather than conscious planning.
and Vaux had designed urban parks for more than
thirty-five cities; an interconnected park system for
Boston with eighteen separate elements; landscape The Replanning of Paris
plans for ten institutions including hospitals, insane In the United States, where laissez-faire capitalism
asylums, and the US Capitol; campus and land- controlled business as well as politics, no direction
scape plans for fourteen colleges and universities; was given to urban growth, but in Europe, where
landscape plans for numerous private estates; and governmental and bureaucratic control was more
the overall plan for an ideal landscaped suburb in customary, steps were taken to shape urban growth
Riverside, Illinois. Started in 1868, Riverside was in a few places, as illustrated in the replanning of
the model for scores of later suburbs: its paved Paris from 1852 to 1870. The growth of Paris was
streets followed the flow of the topography, with due only in part to the influx of rural immigrants,
lots and streets planted with trees so that, in time, for the city also grew through the annexation of
a leafy canopy would shelter everything. Every adjacent suburbs. The water and sewer systems
landscape Olmsted designed demonstrated that he of the city were a patchwork of seventeenth-
understood precisely what Alexander Pope had ad- and eighteenth- century additions. Cholera was an
vised those who wish to design a landscape: that annual epidemic, since drinking water was drawn
they first “consult the genius of the place,” using from the Seine almost directly downriver from where
the term genius in its ancient Latin sense, the spirit major sewers emptied into the river. In addition to
dwelling in a particular location. Olmsted’s work these health concerns, the twisted, narrow streets
looks as though it always was there, rather than ap- of the medieval part of the city were repeatedly
pearing as a conscious imposition of human will on blocked by barricades during uprisings that con-
the earth. vulsed the capital city almost every twenty years.
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Industry and Urban Growth 529

When Louis-Napoleon declared himself em- vision of bucolic loveliness [18.27]. Not even Six-
peror in 1852, he embarked on a rebuilding of tus V had dreamed of an urban rebuilding scheme
the city of Paris following the designs of his chief so vast as this.
engineer of the Department of the Seine, Baron Although there was criticism concerning the
Georges-Eugène Haussmann (1809–1891) [18.26]. historical medieval architecture in Paris wantonly
To connect the railway stations scattered around destroyed during the process, Napoleon III’s and
the periphery of the city, Haussmann cut new streets Haussmann’s determination to restructure the city
through the heart of the city and had entire sections was a challenge to planners in other cities, who
of the medieval core demolished. It was also be- likewise attempted to reshape jumbled medieval
lieved that the broad new tree-lined boulevards cities, transforming them into modern metropo-
would make civil insurrection impossible (a hope lises. Since the Turks had been so decisively de-
that was dashed in the uprising of 1870). New aque- feated in 1683 and pushed back well south and east
ducts were built, extending thirty miles to the trib- of Vienna, it seemed certain that this threat had
utaries of the Seine, and the fabled sewers of Paris been removed. Yet, as conservative reassurance,
were laid under the new street system to carry the the fortifications and battlements encircling the old
effluent of the city several miles downstream, thus part of the city had never been removed. Mean-
eliminating the summer outbreaks of cholera. Two while, numerous suburban communities had arisen
enormous park preserves were created from royal and circled the city, standing outside the smooth
hunting grounds at the west and east edges of the glacis, left as an open field of cannon fire. In the up-
city; these Haussmann called “the lungs of the city.” risings of 1848 that swept across Europe, citizens
In the north of Paris an abandoned open limestone demanding reform even used the old ramparts to
quarry, with a railroad now running through it, was defend themselves against government forces. Ex-
transformed by the landscape architect and designer treme conservatives then pushed for further im-
of all the parks in Louis-Napoleon’s new Paris, provement on the old battlements to prevent a
Adolphe Alphand. The bare rock terraces were repeat of such uprisings. But in 1857 the Austrian
thickly covered with soil and planted, the deep ex- emperor Franz Joseph decreed that the city’s forti-
cavations were allowed to fill with water, and walk- fications be removed and a boulevard, lined with
ways and bridges were installed, so that what had public buildings and parks, built in its place, uniting
been a noxious eyesore was transformed into a the medieval core of the city with the suburbs that

18.26. Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, plan for Paris, 1852. At the direction of Emperor Louis-Napoleon, Haussmann
undertook the rebuilding of the city, cutting major new streets, laying new water and sewer systems, and adding new parks.
From J. Alphand, Les Promenades de Paris (Paris, 1867–1873).
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530 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.27. Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand, landscape designer, Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Paris, France, 1860–1864. Starting
with an abandoned limestone quarry, Alphand transformed it into a wooded landscape of ponds and hills. (In the Paris plan,
18.26, it is the kidney-shaped park in the northeast quadrant.) Photo: From A. Alphand, Les Promenades de Paris
(Paris, 1867–1873).

had grown up outside the walls, making numerous the most progressive socially) was Pullman, 12 miles
individual communities into one united city. The (19.3 km) south of Chicago, designed by landscape
result was the Ringstrasse, designed by Ludwig architect Nathan F. Barrett and architect Solon S.
Förster and carried to completion, with major pub- Beman, and built largely from 1879 to 1895 to house
lic buildings by various architects still being com- workers making the luxurious Pullman sleeper rail-
pleted up to the time of World War I, in 1914. road cars10 [18.28].
A new problem that architects and planners Constructing a single idealized model worker’s
faced was creating new industrial towns on open community here or there was all very well, but En-
land, including all necessary civil amenities and glish urban reformer Ebenezer Howard foresaw that
housing for the workers. One of the first of the such isolated piecemeal solutions could not be suf-
planned industrial communities was the textile ficient for the future. He realized that large metrop-
factory town of Saltaire, outside Bradford, England, olises would expand outward indefinitely, ultimately
begun in 1852 by Titus Salt. Subsequently, in 1879 producing unlivable cities. Even with late-nine-
the Cadbury family began construction of Bourn- teenth-century improvements in rail and streetcar
ville outside Birmingham, as the site of the Cadbury transportation, urban residents would face long un-
chocolate factory, with rows of housing and com- comfortable commutes through dense urban con-
munal facilities set on winding landscaped roads. struction. There had to be a way to provide the
Even more picturesquely idyllic was Port Sunlight, multiple social opportunities of a true urban center
built by the Lever family beginning in 1888, in combined with the restorative power of the open
which the houses were specially designed and countryside. This better way, it seemed to him—as
arranged on winding landscaped streets so as to he wrote in his revised book, Garden Cities of To-
suggest the quaint atmosphere of a preindustrial Morrow, 1902—was for municipal public planning
English village. In the United States several similar bodies to limit the expansion of large cities while
industrial towns were planned and built, of which creating satellite communities, also limited in their
perhaps the most elaborate architecturally (if not optimum size. Strong links to the center metropolis
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Reaction to the Machine 531

by efficient rail lines would permit easy connections in England, and more recently much of what
from center to satellite while simultaneously ensur- Howard advocated was incorporated in what has
ing that the open land remain farm or woodland in been called the New Urbanism with its deemphasis
perpetuity as a “green belt.” Howard, who wrote on the private automobile and emphasis on building
well before the age of automobiles and freeways, en- with better human scale. Howard’s advice is difficult
visioned outlying self-supporting “Garden Cities” to implement, however, for it requires applying
whose outer ring was filled with industries surround- controls on unbridled commercial and private
ing an inner core of housing, shops, and parks development.
[18.29]. As a result, Garden Cities would possess
both the advantages of employment opportunity
and the intellectual stimulation of the city, while Reaction to the Machine
also providing ready access to recreational opportu- The Palais des Machines of 1889, and the earlier
nities in the nearby open countryside—the best of Crystal Palace that had inspired it, were made pos-
all worlds. As one Garden City satellite would fill sible by the growth of industry in producing iron
up to its design limit, another would be started and steel, as well as by the application of mathe-
nearby. Howard had already set up the Garden matical statics to determine the forces at work in
Cities Association in 1899, which advocated these such large structures. They were manifestations of
objectives, and advised on the creation of two such the impact of the machine on architecture. The
Garden Cities outside London (Letchworth begun Crystal Palace had been created, in fact, specifically
in 1903, and Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, to showcase the products of mechanized industry,
in 1919). The houses designed for both new towns the kinds of mass-produced goods that made
were created by architects affiliated with the English nineteenth-century middle-class culture possible—
Arts and Crafts movement. Moreover, Howard’s pianos, rugs, chairs, pitchers, goblets, scissors, and
ideas were taken up in Germany and also in the thousands of other objects. To the English artist
United States, resulting in the building of several and designer William Morris (1834–1896), how-
new towns, though seldom were they as independ- ever, it seemed also an exhibition of the worst pos-
ent as Howard had hoped. Other new Garden City sible design, in which bad variations on Classical
communities were undertaken after World War II and medieval forms were adapted to mechanized

18.28. Nathan F. Barrett, landscape architect, and Solon S. Beman, architect, general plan of Pullman, Illinois (now
incorporated in Chicago), 1879–1895. Barrett designed the street and park system, and Beman designed the public buildings
and houses of this ideal American industrial village. From Harper’s Magazine, February 1885.
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532 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.29. Ebenezer Howard. Diagram showing a

portion of a satellite garden city, proposed
adjacent to a large urban center. Not a plan for
a specific landscape location, this diagram was
meant to illustrate the relationship between the
various areas in the city. From E. Howard,
Garden Cities of To-morrow (London, 1902).

reproduction. The results were pitchers with han- duced could never be made cheaply enough to ap-
dles so contorted as to be impossible to hold and peal to a broad audience. In the end, the Arts and
chairs in which no person could sit at ease. How Crafts Movement that Morris initiated in the 1860s,
could the taste of the middle class be improved, and that continued up through 1920, was able to
Morris pondered, if such was the poor quality of de- attract (and still attracts) the interest of a few de-
sign in the objects offered for sale to them? voted affluent followers. Morris’s greatest impact on
design, however, was to be made by later disciples
such as Charles Francis Annesley Voysey in England
The Arts and Crafts Movement and Frank Lloyd Wright in the United States.
Taking a theme first proposed by Pugin and then Reinvigorating an English vernacular tradition
Ruskin, that Gothic architecture was good because became the very essence of the domestic architec-
it was handmade, by workmen who took joy in their ture of Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (1857–
work, Morris set about to reform standards in de- 1941) from the time he designed his first house in
sign. He began by designing, with the architect 1885 through 1914 when his practice began to de-
Philip Webb, a house for himself—simple in design cline. His houses employed tight plans, often fitted
and based on medieval vernacular prototypes, yet into clear rectangles, with long unbroken wall sur-
free of any attempt at deliberate copying [18.30]. faces punctuated by repeated steep sharp roof
His house, at Bexley Heath in Kent, built in 1859– gables. The basic type is well illustrated in Voysey’s
1860 of exposed common red brick without a coat own house, The Orchard, at Chorleywood, a sub-
of fashionable stucco, came to be called Red House. urb of London, 1899–1900 [18.31]. The walls were
Inside, the rooms were finished in simple moldings built of solid random ashlar stone, the masonry
of stained wood, with some built-in pieces of carefully dressed only around the windows and
wooden furniture, and freestanding pieces inspired doors, with the broad surfaces between openings
by medieval models but designed to facilitate use covered with rough stucco painted white. The re-
and handmade with an emphasis on making evident sult was a traditional design rendered with abstract
the constructive process. If wallpaper or rugs were clarity. A simultaneous parallel approach was taken
required, Morris designed them with comparatively by the Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackin-
simple, flat curvilinear foliate patterns, instead of tosh (1868–1928), who drew on Scottish baronial
the illusionistic three-dimensional-looking flowers architectural tradition but reduced his architecture
and landscapes that were then fashionable. Morris to a careful study of abstracted planes.
then began to gather about him artisans who made The formal clarity of Voysey’s houses, based
furniture, tableware, and other objects used in on functional use and highlighted by crisp, white
domestic interiors. Although their designs were de- stuccoed wall surfaces, began to interest German ar-
liberately kept uncomplicated, the objects they pro- chitects and theorists in the 1920s. Later, when
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533

18.30. William Morris with Philip Webb, Red House, Bexley Heath, near London, England, 1859–1860. In his own
house, Morris returned to English vernacular architectural traditions, exposing the materials and revealing the method of
construction. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.

18.31. Charles Francis Annesley Voysey, The Orchard, Chorleywood, near London, England, 1899–1900. Inspired by
plastered, late-medieval vernacular houses, Voysey developed a modernized vernacular with steep roofs and abstracted wall
planes accentuated by rough stuccoed surfaces. Photo: © Wayne Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.
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534 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.32. Sir Edwin L. Lutyens, The Deanery, Sonning Berkshire, 1900–1902. Lutyens established himself with the design of
country houses, drawing freely from English medieval vernacular inspiration. Photo: Lucinda Lambton/arcaid.co.uk.

Nikolaus Pevsner praised him for being the grand- of Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944). His country house,
father of the emerging International Modernism, The Deanery, at Sonning, Berkshire, 1900–1901,
Voysey vigorously objected, saying he never had any is a good example of the extension of William
intention of spawning a new architecture but, rather, Morris’s theories in Arts and Crafts architecture
had set about improving the old. Mackintosh was [18.32]. Built of red brick, with a red tile roof, it is
lauded by the few ardent modernists in Vienna, and set against an old brick wall, facing an orchard and
even Voysey had an influence on the Continent, for a series of garden terraces designed by the land-
during the early years of the new century the ideals scape architect Gertrude Jekyll (1843–1932). Al-
of English Arts and Crafts architecture, particularly though derived ultimately from medieval sources
the insistence on excellence in design and extreme that determined such things as the two-story living
care in craftsmanship, were carried to Germany hall at the center of the garden facade, The Dean-
and Austria by writers such as Hermann Muthesius. ery nonetheless has a carefully studied functional
Muthesius then helped establish the Deutscher plan and deliberate artful geometries in the ar-
Werkbund in Germany to promote these design rangement of windows, masses, and planes. By
ideals. (This thread of development will be returned 1906, however, Lutyens had turned by stages to a
to later.) weighty Neoclassicism reminiscent of the English
Voysey’s and Mackintosh’s houses, for all their Baroque architecture of Hawksmoor and Van-
nostalgic reminiscences of medieval traditions, brugh, perhaps because he saw this as a more fitting
were planned around contemporary use and needs. cultural expression of the self-secure British Edwar-
The same was true, in the early years, of the houses dian Imperialism.
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Reaction to the Machine 535

had been the principal assistant in Adler & Sulli-

Frank Lloyd Wright van’s Chicago office during 1888–1893, shared with
Strongly linked to Morris’s English Arts and Crafts Sullivan the belief that American architecture ought
movement was the early work of Frank Lloyd to evolve its own forms, derived from unique Amer-
Wright. Although he was loath to admit to any out- ican circumstances.
side influences, he did acknowledge Morris’s design As Wright built suburban residences in the flat
philosophy, and in the early years of the twentieth prairie land around Chicago, he began to stretch
century he was closely connected to the American them out into the landscape and to emphasize their
Arts and Crafts movement. Where he deviated from horizontal lines in his designs. The first fully devel-
the established Arts and Crafts view was in embrac- oped expression of what he called the Prairie House
ing the machine to facilitate production. As he cor- was the Ward Willits residence [18.33]. In design-
rectly perceived in his address of 1901, “The Art and ing this house Wright had the advantage of work-
Craft of the Machine,” the architecture of the future ing on a large lot, so that the house could expand
would be built of machine-formed elements; the outward from the chimney mass at the center in
modern architect would of necessity need to em- four wings accommodating separate functional sec-
brace the machine in every aspect of design.11 tions. On the ground floor (aside from the servants’
Where Wright held fast to the Arts and Crafts ideal, quarters), the public rooms of the house—the
however, was in the firm belief that all parts of the entry, living room, and dining room—are con-
modern house had to germinate from a single design nected spaces, teasingly screened from each other
idea, that there be unity throughout the whole. De- by lattice panels. Inspired by Japanese architecture,
spite the one note of disagreement with English Arts the exterior of the wood-frame house is reduced to
and Crafts leaders (concerning mechanized pro- a stark pattern of dark-stained wooden members
duction), he received their approval. When C. R. contrasting with the white stucco of the walls.
Ashbee—one of the preeminent Arts and Crafts In 1906 Wright began work on what has gener-
practitioners in England—visited the United States, ally been regarded as the finest of the Prairie
he made a pilgrimage to visit Wright and see his ar- Houses, the Frederick C. Robie house on the South
chitecture. It is no surprise that when Wright had Side of Chicago, 1908–1909 [18.34, 18.35]. Wright
his early designs published by the Wasmuth Com- pulled the house up out of the damp clay of the
pany of Berlin, he arranged for Ashbee to write the prairie, so that the main living level is on the upper
commentary in one of the volumes.12 Wright’s ear- level, with three bedrooms in the cupola on the
liest work, such as his own residence in Oak Park, third level. At every point the horizontal line is
Illinois, 1889, was greatly indebted as well to the stretched and emphasized, internally as well as
American Shingle Style that had been developed on externally. The main living level is one long space,
the Eastern seaboard during the 1880s. Wright, who divided into living room and dining room by a

18.33. Frank Lloyd Wright, Ward Willits House, Highland Park, Illinois, 1900–1902. Wright’s houses, superficially similar to
those of Voysey and Mackintosh, were partly inspired by Japanese architecture but were shaped by Wright’s unique conception
of expanding, open, interwoven spaces. Photo: Rosenthal Collection, Department of Art History, Northwestern University.
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536

18.34. Frank Lloyd Wright, Frederick C. Robie House, Chicago, Illinois, 1908–1909. Wright exaggerated the horizontal
lines to integrate his houses with their prairie settings, creating a strong connection with the earth. Photo: Sandak, University
of Georgia.

18.35. Frederick C. Robie House. Plan of the living level. For privacy the living level is lifted to the second story; here is
a single living space divided into two parts by the freestanding fireplace. Drawing: L. M. Roth, after HABS drawings
and Wright.
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Academic Eclecticism and the École des Beaux-Arts 537

18.36. Frederick C. Robie House. Dining room. This view shows the interior fixtures and furniture specially designed
by Wright as an integral part of the house’s architecture. Photo: Rosenthal Collection, Department of Art History,
Northwestern University.

freestanding fireplace. To achieve the long internal 1660s in royal building projects, resulting in the
spans, and to support the long cantilever where the creation of the Royal Academy of Architecture in
roof to the west covers the porch, Wright had to use 1671 to train architects. The Royal Academy was
hidden steel beams inside the roof. Wright also in- then transformed during the French Revolution, be-
tegrated the lighting and heating into the ceiling coming the École des Beaux-Arts (“School of Fine
and floor, and designed nearly all the furniture, Arts”). It quickly established itself as the largest and
using machine-cut oak components given only a most comprehensive school of architecture during
dark stain13 [18.36]. Wright’s early work was well the nineteenth century. One important but less in-
published and became widely known. Although ternationally influential school was the Prussian
European architects in search of an architecture Bauakademie in Berlin, under the direction of Karl
appropriate to the new century paid little notice to Friedrich Schinkel. By the end of the nineteenth
Wright’s exploitation of wood and his expansive century, there were also schools of architecture at
house plans that exploited large American suburban numerous American universities patterned after
building lots, they were inspired by his rejection of these two.
traditional forms and building methods. Alongside the architectural students at the École
des Beaux-Arts were students of painting and sculp-
ture (in the tradition of the Renaissance), whereas
Academic Eclecticism and those who wished to study the various branches of
the École des Beaux-Arts mechanics and engineering were taught in the com-
As the multiplicity of building types increased in the pletely separate École Polytechnique, unfortunately
nineteenth century, and as those buildings became encouraging a split between architects and struc-
larger in size and more complex, the sheer scale of tural engineers. While it is true that students at the
building activity meant that the apprentice method École des Beaux-Arts were taught structural design
of training architects and engineers in the offices of and construction techniques, design instruction
practitioners was no longer adequate. The French there focused strongly on plan organization, with a
had long before confronted this problem in the view to achieving the simplest possible circulation
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538 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

into and through a building, as well as emphasizing scandalized his teachers in Paris when he sent back
that students give expression to the character of the detailed drawings showing the temples in use rather
function being housed. than as remote austere Classical ideals, suggesting
that buildings arise as expressions of unique func-
tional and social environments and not as universal
Henri Labrouste prototypes. So upset were École officials that they
The architect who has come to best represent École prevented Labrouste from getting any government
des Beaux-Arts precepts of functional planning and commissions for ten years.
character expression is Henri Labrouste (1801– Finally, however, in 1838, Labrouste was given
1875).14 He entered the École in 1819 at the age of the commission for a large new reference library
eighteen, progressed through the successive levels on the Place du Panthéon, the Bibliothèque Sainte-
of instruction, and won various design competi- Geneviève (1838–1850), north of Soufflot’s church-
tions, which culminated in his winning first prize now-museum. One of the civic functions of the new
in the Prix de Rome competition in 1824. This al- library was to define this edge of the Place around the
lowed him to live in Rome for the next five years, Panthéon. Internally, the building had to provide a
where he prepared the required series of restoration large reading room, for books were not to be taken
drawings of Roman buildings. For his last project, from the library [18.37]. Accordingly, Labrouste
however, Labrouste chose to study not an ancient placed the reading room on the upper level. Even
Roman building but the ancient Greek temples at though the building was to be the first library in Paris
Paestum. In the course of working on these draw- illuminated with gas, and hence the first library to
ings, Labrouste came to a new understanding of the have regular hours irrespective of the amount of day-
relationship between form and expressive structural light, the need for daylight was still great. Labrouste
function in Greek architecture, which determined opened up the upper level by creating an arcade run-
the development of his own subsequent design. He ning completely around the building so that sunlight

18.37. Henri Labrouste, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, France, 1838–1850. In this public reference library, framed
in iron, Labrouste took care to define urban space and to let the external form and details of the building speak of its internal
function by means of the glazed arcade and the inscribed authors’ names. Photo: L. M. Roth, 2003.
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Academic Eclecticism and the École des Beaux-Arts 539

18.38. Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. Plan at the upper reading-room level. Drawing: B. Huxley.

could stream through its broad glazed openings are two parallel barrel vaults carried by delicate open
[18.38]. The lower portion of the arcade corre- web transverse arches of cast iron [18.39, 18.40].
sponded to the two levels of bookshelves around the These are fastened to the stone piers of the perimeter
perimeter of the reading room, so there Labrouste in- walls, but down the center of the room they are car-
serted stone panels inscribed with the names of au- ried by the slenderest of cast-iron columns. What
thors, symbolic of the books housed just on the other Labrouste achieved in the library was the combination
side of the stone panels. Covering the reading room of clarity of functional arrangement and directness of

18.39. Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. View of the reading room. From R. Middleton and D. Watkin, Neoclassical and
19th Century Architecture (New York, 1987), v. 2, pl. XXIX.
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540 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.40. Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève.

Section. Drawing: B. Huxley.

circulation with a structure that exploited new build- beautiful as well. You must therefore compose a
ing materials and expressed in a straightforward building with a view towards its usefulness and its
way just what the building was used for. Moreover, beauty. You will seek character, which contributes
he had done all this without applying superfluous to beauty by creating variety.”15 This triple goal
Classical ornament. Understandably, among students (based on Vitruvius) of clear structural expression
and progressive architects, the Bibliothèque Sainte- and functional composition in beautiful designs was
Geneviève quickly became a model of what a modern the goal of American architects who studied at the
library ought to be. École des Beaux-Arts in the late nineteenth century.
The basic principles of architectural design When these students returned from Paris, they were
taught at the École des Beaux-Arts were codified by asked by businessmen to design large commercial
the school’s theorist, Julien Guadet (1834–1908), in blocks of offices or warehouses, a building type that
1901. He summarized the instruction given there had seldom engaged the attention of architects be-
during the last half of the nineteenth century, when fore. For these Paris-trained American architects,
so many young Americans attended the École. the idea of wrapping a functionally designed com-
Guadet wrote that the first requirement in design is mercial building in an appliqué of unrelated Second
to understand the function of the building and to Empire Baroque or High Victorian Gothic details
accommodate it fully, but that secondly the building was considered inappropriate. The external charac-
site and the prevailing climate will necessarily mod- ter of the building had to result from the inside
ify the way function is accommodated. Third, a function projected to the outside.
good design must be easily buildable and should not
rely on complicated and costly structural gymnas-
tics. Fourth, truth in architectural expression must Henry Hobson Richardson
be maintained. Fifth, a building must look strong as Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886), the sec-
well as be structurally sound. Sixth, a good design ond American to study at the École, during 1860–
must have easy and inevitable patterns of circula- 1865, tackled this problem of finding an appropriate
tion for the movement of people, for admitting light, expression for modern buildings. He created for
and for carrying away rainwater. And seventh, he himself a personalized and simplified Romanesque
wrote: “Composition proceeds by necessary sacri- style that used masses of masonry in strongly expres-
fices. Composition must be good first, but it must be sive ways to accentuate points of entry into a build-
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Academic Eclecticism and the École des Beaux-Arts 541

ing, bands of windows, and solid structural supports. the wholesale branch of Field’s department store.
His last two buildings, designed in 1885 as nephritis Field’s wholesale building was the largest single
was gradually killing him, summarized his views business building then in the city, and Richardson
concerning the expression of character in large expressed this by a unity of massing and a singular-
urban buildings. His Allegheny County Courthouse ity of effect, superimposing masonry arcades in the
and Jail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, basically is di- exterior wall. Since it was to be a strictly utilitarian
vided into two parts [18.41]. The courthouse sec- commercial building, it was stripped of almost all
tion focuses on a massive tower that serves as a civic historical ornament, employing only the roughness
symbol; its external walls are modeled with project- of the stones themselves to provide visual texture.
ing towers that correspond to the alternation of The Marshall Field Wholesale Store had a most
courtrooms and private judges’ chambers inside. To dramatic impact on Chicago architects, showing
the rear, however, is the county jail, enclosed in a them how to express the scale of the increasingly
wall of gigantic granite blocks and unadorned with large commercial blocks without falling into the
any of the delicate Romanesque details that grace pitfall of overusing ornament.
the public areas of the courthouse.
Richardson’s Marshall Field Wholesale Store,
Chicago, 1885–1887, was also austere [18.42]. The Chicago School: Adler & Sullivan
Field had asked for a huge building, occupying an Richardson’s Marshall Field Wholesale Store was
entire city block, on the west side of Chicago’s structurally quite traditional, with thick heavy
warehouse district. It was to contain showrooms for outer masonry walls that carried their own weight

18.41. Henry Hobson Richardson,

Allegheny County Courthouse,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
1885–1887. Richardson attempted
to suggest permanency in American
buildings by the massiveness and
roughness of his Romanesque
masonry, devising plans driven by
internal functional requirements.
Photo: Carnegie Collection.
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542 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.42. Henry Hobson Richardson,

Marshall Field Wholesale Store,
Chicago, Illinois, 1885–1887
(demolished 1930). For this
utilitarian building, Richardson
simplified his masonry, unifying this
massive commercial block by the
repetition of window arcades. Photo:
Charles Allgeier, Chicago, c. 1887;
author’s collection.

and that of adjacent floor loads, and an interior As business buildings got higher and higher, the
structural skeleton of heavy wooden timbers. Al- movement of people within these buildings was
most at the moment Richardson began designing mechanized by the introduction of the passenger
the Field store, however, there appeared in Chicago elevator. This stimulated architects and the clients
a radically new technique for supporting office to build even higher office blocks, going from five
blocks. In 1883 the architect William Le Baron to ten, to sixteen, and finally to twenty stories and
Jenney (1832–1907) had begun construction of the more. And yet, while the various technological
Home Insurance Building in Chicago, with outer advances making possible this height were being
walls of solid brick piers, when a bricklayers’ strike perfected, few architects were seriously considering
brought work to a halt [18.43]. Wishing to finish how this new verticality might affect design. What
the building, Jenney decided to use a metal iron Chicago architects and structural engineers had
skeletal frame, not only on the inside but in the ex- done in the space of five years was to invent a
terior walls as well. When the bricklayers came wholly new building type, and yet architects were
back to work, the metal skeleton was wrapped with still thinking of the vertical office towers as com-
protective masonry cladding attached to the metal posed of stacked sections of two- and three-story
skeleton instead of supporting its own weight.16 units.
Within five years Chicago architects had almost It was the architect Louis H. Sullivan (1856–
completely changed over to using metal frames, 1924), a student at the École during 1874–1875,
composed of every form of iron available, first of who first analyzed this new design problem in his
cast and wrought iron and some steel, and soon of essay of 1896, “The Tall Office Building Artistically
steel entirely. Such wrought-iron and steel frames Considered.” He insisted that “form follows func-
reduced the total weight of these business and of- tion,” and he correctly perceived that the tall office
fice blocks by a half or more (and consequently re- block was a totally new building type, requiring
duced settlement in the soft subsoil of Chicago), completely new thinking, and made up of four prin-
and the metal frame eliminated the thick support- cipal visible functional zones. The Guaranty Build-
ing walls at the ground floor and in the basement. ing in Buffalo, New York, which he and his partner,
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Academic Eclecticism and the École des Beaux-Arts 543

Dankmar Adler, had designed the year before, em- patterns stressing the different character of the
bodied all the points Sullivan expressed in his essay three visible zones and indicating that this skin was
[18.44]. Below sidewalk level is a basement area clearly not the structural support. Above all, Sulli-
filled largely with mechanical equipment and util- van gave expression to his definition of the modern
ities, but this had little bearing on the external ex- commercial skyscraper: “It must be every inch a
pression since it was not visible. Above this is the proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exultation
first principal visible area, a street-level zone made that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single
up of a mix of street-oriented shops around the dissenting line.”17
perimeter, with public entrances leading to a cen-
tral elevator lobby; above this is a related mezza-
nine level of offices reached by stairs from the Academic Eclecticism:
internal lobbies. Above this, in turn, is the third McKim, Mead & White
major visible zone, the stacked identical office cells Sullivan’s rational analysis of the modern office
grouped along corridors that branch out from the tower, applying the essence of his École training, laid
central elevator spine. Atop all of this is the fourth, the basis for the modern architectural movement,
terminating visible zone, with some offices, elevator as early apologists of Modernism later recognized.
machinery, and other utilities. Sullivan proposed What Sullivan did in applying École principles to
that the new office blocks were decidedly vertical the design of the new commercial high-rise office
buildings and ought, therefore, to emphasize and building, the architects McKim, Mead & White
celebrate that character. Moreover, since they were accomplished in the design of urban public build-
a cage of thin steel columns and beams, the exter- ings, with this difference: they did not reject the use
nal protective skin should not appear to be heavy of traditional Classical ornamental details in favor
supporting masonry. In the Guaranty Building, of a personal invented ornamental language such as
Sullivan used protective blocks of terra cotta em- Sullivan devised. McKim had been a student at the
bellished with his own unique foliate ornamental École during 1867–1870 and, hence, was trained to

18.43. William Le Baron

Jenney, Home Insurance Office
Building, Chicago, Illinois,
1883–1886 (demolished 1931).
When a bricklayers’ strike
interrupted progress in
construction, Jenney substituted
a full metal structural skeleton to
allow work to continue; later, the
outer masonry veneer was
attached to the standing skeleton.
This was the first constructed
metal frame skyscraper. From
A. T. Andreas, History of
Chicago (Chicago, 1884–1886).
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544 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.44. Adler & Sullivan,

Guaranty Building, Buffalo,
New York, 1895. Sullivan gave
clear expression on the exterior
of three major functional zones
of the modern office skyscraper.
Photo: Rosenthal Collection,
Department of Art History,
Northwestern University.

think of the Classical tradition as something still ap- to the upper reading room was much larger than
plicable to the late nineteenth century. One of his Labrouste’s.
and his firm’s earliest successes was the Boston Pub- The most commanding example of McKim,
lic Library, 1887–1895 [18.45]. Forming a defining Mead & White’s attempt to merge functional clarity
wall along the southwest side of Copley Square (a with expressive form was their Pennsylvania Station
major open space in a newly developed portion of in New York, designed in conjunction with engineers
Boston), the library was inspired by Labrouste’s for the Pennsylvania Railroad during 1902–1905,
Bibliothèque in Paris. Although its internal plan built in 1905–1910, and demolished in 1963 [18.46,
arrangement was not as forthright as Labrouste’s— 18.47]. Hoping to draw off some of the transconti-
for the Boston library officials kept changing their nental business of the rival New York Central Rail-
minds as to what they wanted, even as the walls road, the Pennsylvania Railroad built this new
were being built—it was richly embellished inside station over tunnels that brought the trains under
and out with painting and sculpture as a way of the Hudson River from New Jersey, under Manhat-
inviting the populace into the building, for this was tan Island, and continuing under the East River out
the first large urban public lending library. The en- to Long Island. The station had a double function,
trance doors were tripled, for example, and the stair providing for crowds of commuters who poured into
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:15 PM Page 545

545

18.45. McKim, Mead & White, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts, 1887–1895. Like Labrouste, McKim, Mead
& White defined an urban space while at the same time expressing the fact that this was a library generously open to the
public. Photo: L. M. Roth.

18.46. McKim, Mead & White, Pennsylvania Station, New York City, 1902–1910 (demolished 1963–1965). As had
G. G. Scott in the St. Pancras Station in London, McKim, Mead & White wanted to celebrate the power of the railroad and
create a magisterial gateway for the city. Photo: Dreyer photo, c. 1909; courtesy of Avery Library, Columbia University.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 11/8/13 9:46 AM Page 546

546 18. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM

18.47. Pennsylvania Station. Plan. The main working floor was below street level and was reached by stairs and ramps for
vehicles; from the Concourse area additional stairs led down to the train tracks, about 45 feet below the street, as they still do.
Drawing: M. Waterman and L. M. Roth.

the city from Long Island in the morning and fun- of a long journey, whereas the Concourse was a cal-
neled back through the station in the afternoon on culated transition from the monumental Classical
their return home, while at the same time accom- architecture of the Waiting Room to the twentieth-
modating the different needs of long-distance trav- century mechanical utilitarianism of the trains them-
elers, with their more extensive baggage. The paths selves. In short, the Waiting Room and Concourse
of these two groups of users were carefully studied so were an envelope molded to evoke historical forms
that they would not cross; commuters could exit the but built of twentieth-century materials.18
station going in any direction or connect directly
with subterranean mass-transit subways.
At the heart of the building, which filled two en-
R
tire blocks in the heart of Manhattan, was the soar- Architects such as McKim, Mead & White set out
ing General Waiting Room [18.48], modeled after to design wholly modern buildings, drawing on the
the huge public spaces of the Roman baths, specifi- full capacity of contemporary building science but
cally the Baths of Caracalla [12.25]. Beyond the using traditional forms based on studiously in-
Waiting Room was the Concourse, in which stairs formed knowledge of specific periods of past archi-
descended to the nineteen parallel-track platforms tecture. Nearly all these late-nineteenth-century
below the station; the Concourse was covered by a architects had extensive academic training, as well
glazed system of groin vaults, recalling the form of as ready access to huge libraries of photographs,
the Roman groin vaults of the Waiting Room but monographs, and illustrated portfolios covering the
constructed of exposed steel columns, steel arches, rich panoply of past architectures. They used an
and glass. The Waiting Room was designed as a eclectic approach to design, but one based on aca-
great gate to the city, a monumental termination demic knowledge and restraint.
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547

18.48. McKim, Mead & White, Pennsylvania Station. Interior of the Waiting Room, once one of the grandest public spaces
in the United States. Photo: Avery Library, Columbia University, New York.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:15 PM Page 548

AF-1. Great Mosque at Timbuktu, Mali, Africa, fourteenth century. The oldest mosque south of the Sahara, built of
rounded adobe bricks and stone rubble with a clay stucco finish. Photo: Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:15 PM Page 549

E S S AY 6

African Architecture

A frica is a huge continent containing more than 20 percent of the earth’s land area. It extends
roughly 5,000 miles (8,000 km) south from Tunis on the Mediterranean to the Cape of
Good Hope and is nearly as wide as it is long. Climatically the continent is divided into broad
horizontal bands ranging from moderate Mediterranean seasons to extremely arid desert. Such
a profound range of temperatures, the varying amounts of rainfall, and the many kinds of vege-
tation over this vast expanse has led to a variety of building solutions over the centuries.
The human species originated in Africa, with early hominids appearing about 4 million years
ago; ironically, it is the last of the major areas of the world to develop its own regionally generated
modern architecture. For millennia, the continent was populated by myriad tribal societies, but
starting in the early Renaissance period, region after region was colonized by European nations,
first the Portuguese in search of India and the Far East, soon followed by others.
Architecture in Africa can be thought of in two ways: as the architecture of Africa, with em-
phasis on indigenous vernacular or tribal building, and as architecture in Africa, including intro-
duced colonial European architecture in the nineteenth century in addition to the work of recent
native-born black Africans, particularly those who focus on building for their own people. The
earliest African buildings began within tribal social communities with clear disposition of cus-
tomary structures (headman’s residence, wives’ residences, women’s shelters, granaries, animal
corrals, and so on). Early African structures exploited whatever organic materials were easily
available—branches, saplings, grasses—with adobe plaster or stucco formed of clayish soils
blended with water and grass, straw fibers, or desiccated animal dung. Blocks of this adobe mortar
could be formed and baked in the sun to make adobe brick. A good example of distinctive sapling-
framed but completely stucco-covered dwellings are the tall, egg-shaped houses built by the Mus-
gum people in Cameroon [AF-2].
But that is just one of thousands of ways in which these traditional houses “out in the bush”
were constructed. Even within the borders of one modern African nation, Kenya, tribal housing
types vary from one region to another, with the general form being a round enclosure covered
with a conical thatch roof.1 Some houses, as among the Luo people, might be ringed with free-
standing posts supporting an extended thatch roof gallery providing shade for the walls at any
time of the day. Some, as among the Galla people, might have saplings bent in the form of large
hoops as framing members, forming a dome-shaped round dwelling covered with thatch; others,
as among the Pokot people, might have vertical posts set close in a ring like a palisade, supporting
a conical thatch roof. Still other houses, as among the Maasai, might have spaced vertical posts
placed in a ring (with the intervals between filled with interwoven sticks and branches), but with
a rounded flattened roof covered with adobe plaster mixed with cattle dung as a hard roof shell.
In the various conical houses, the way the thatch materials are pulled together and bound and
finished at the top varied from tribe to tribe. Among the Pokomo people the thatch is attached
in thick batches to encircling inside sapling stringers, creating the external appearance of con-
centric thatch rings around their domed houses. The Kishi and other tribes cover the inside and
outside of the round walls of their sapling-framed dwellings with smoothed adobe plaster.
Western observers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries all too often referred to
such structures, whether architectonically simple or complex, as “mud huts”—a designation that
placed the buildings in the lowest architectural status and, in the European view, made them

549
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550 ESSAY 6: AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE

AF-2. Musgum house, in Cameroon, Africa, late twentieth century. Over a light sapling frame, layers of a
clay-adobe are applied forming slightly projecting oval forms; once dried, these forms serve as foot rests for those
applying the upper layers of the adobe shell until the top is reached. These houses can reach heights of over
35 feet (30.7 m). Photo: © Anthony Asael/Art in All of Us/Corbis.

hardly worth considering.2 This dismissive nomenclature overlooked the fact that the materials
were perhaps the only ones readily available, that their cost was minimal, and, more important,
that these materials responded well to the nature of the local climate. They still retain these ad-
vantages; in villages in the back country, some dwellings continue to be built in these ancient
traditional ways.
Conversely, larger and more socially structured African kingdoms produced permanent ar-
chitecture at a time when Egypt was well into its decline. Although the Egyptians had conquered
and controlled the kingdom of Nubia in the Kushite region south of Egypt along the Nile, by 760
BCE Nubians took control of Egypt, establishing the twenty-fifth Pharonic Dynasty until it in
turn was conquered by the Assyrians around 656 BCE. It is architecturally significant that the
Kushites took on some of the architectural traditions of ancient Egypt, wrote in hieroglyphs, and,
by around 750 BCE and continuing up to about 330 BCE, built stone pyramid tombs with asso-
ciated funerary temples for their rulers. Far smaller than the pyramids of Gisa, the Nubian pyra-
mids rose perhaps 30 feet (10 meters) and had very steep slopes covered in smooth plaster. Some
223 of these small pyramids were built at three sites in Nubia—more pyramids, in fact, than were
built in ancient Egypt itself.
Other cultures that left lasting architectural legacies were the Shona kingdom in Zimbabwe,
active from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries CE, and the Ethiopian kingdom of Fasilides
and his successors, who established their capitol within the fortress-city of Fasil Ghebbi in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries CE. The Shona people built the Great Zimbabwe complex
near Masvingo, Zimbabwe, composed of large stone buildings of dry masonry.3 It is estimated
that these structures could have housed eighteen thousand people, including a palace to house
the ruler of the kingdom (now in ruins), and an oval enclosure with curving stone walls of dry
masonry 13 feet (4 m) thick at the base and rising as much as 26 feet (8 m) (with sections still
standing), as well as a round tower 33 feet (10 m) high [AF-3]. Evidence suggests that within
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African Architecture 551

the enclosure, set inside smaller curving stone walls, sapling-framed and thatched-roof individual
houses were built, probably very much like the houses today in the Shona villages near Great
Zimbabwe. Even more accomplished in its masonry is the fortified town of Fasil Ghebbi near
Gondar, Ethiopia, built in the mid-seventeenth century. The seat of Ethiopian Emperor Fasilides
(who ruled from 1630 to 1632), this permanent stone-built city consisted of at least eight build-
ings plus three churches. The castellated buildings suggest European counterparts and very likely
were influenced by the presence of Portuguese in the kingdom.
Of all the kingdoms arising in Africa, Ethiopia (a colony for only a short time) has the longest
history of organized self-governance. Its history is extraordinarily deep, for in the Awash Valley
of Ethiopia’s Afar region, the skeleton of an Australopithecus afarensis female calculated to be 3.2
million years old was found in 1974. (She was named “Lucy” by her discoverer.) The recorded
history of Ethiopia includes biblical references, and the legendary Queen of Sheba is believed to
have been Ethiopian. The son she reportedly conceived with King Solomon is said to have re-
turned to Ethiopia from his travels to Israel with a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, discovering
only later that he had the actual Ark, with the replica being left in Jerusalem. According to
Ethiopian tradition, the true Ark of the Covenant is still preserved in a small church in the town
of Axum. Long isolated from the rest of Christianity after being surrounded by territories con-
verted to Islam, Ethiopia has been predominantly Christian since the religion was first introduced
about 330 CE. Though now separate with its own Patriarch since 1959, the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church was once a branch of the Coptic Church. This long history of a unique form of Christi-
anity in Ethiopia is important for understanding the thirteen dramatic rock-cut churches in the

AF-3. Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, Africa, twelfth or thirteenth century. Using rocks of a size that could be lifted
by hand, walls and enclosures were raised to protect smaller dwellings very much like those built by the Shona in
Zimbabwe today. Photo: Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY.
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552 ESSAY 6: AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE

AF-4. Djenné Mosque, Djenné, Mali, Africa, 1906–1907. Though rebuilt after extended neglect, the form and
building material continue a centuries-old local tradition; the protecting bundles of rodier palm are used for
periodic adobe plaster maintenance. Photo: AFP/Getty Images.

area of Lalibela, such as the Church of St. George, carved perhaps sometime in the twelfth or
thirteenth century [Plate 27].
Northern Africa was swept by the spread of Islam, beginning, it is said, when Muhammad
himself briefly took refuge across the Red Sea in Zeila in the Axumite kingdom (Ethiopia). In
the century following the death of Muhammad in 632 and the end of the Umayyad Caliphate
in 750, Islam spread through either conquest or conversion across the length of North Africa,
carrying with it the architectural forms of mosque, minaret, and madrassa (“school”) and asso-
ciated decorative features such as brightly colored glazed tile, which shaped the architecture of
North Africa. Numerous embellished gates, such as that of the Sultan’s Palace at Meknes, Mo-
rocco, built about 1700, exemplify Muslim architecture, with its many-lobed horseshoe arch, re-
cessed geometric panels filled with colored tile, and strong geometric patterning.
As Islam was carried southward, the associated building types became merged with local con-
struction methods, resulting in mosques and madrassas such as those around Timbuktu in Mali.
The Sankore mosque was built about 1325, and the Sidi Yahya mosque and school were built
about 1400 using stucco-covered adobe brick (later partially reconstructed). Perhaps best known
is the Djenné mosque, today the largest remaining adobe brick structure in the world [AF-4].
First built between 1200 and 1330, it was wholly reconstructed in 1906–1907 with the support
of the French colonial government, leading to the suggestion that the early-twentieth-century
design was heavily influenced by a French architect. Regrettably, there seem to be no photographs
or drawings of the original mosque, which had been allowed to dissolve into ruins. Félix Dubois
visited the site and published a book on Timbuktu in 1896. When he returned on a subsequent
visit, he was shocked by the appearance of the rebuilt mosque, particularly the formality of the
three symmetrical minaret towers on the qibla wall facing Mecca. He also thought the new
pointed “finials” atop each of the wall buttresses were rather strange. Adding to the curious effect
are the many protruding beams, the toron, but these projecting bundles of rodier palm sticks are
essential supports used for the annual adobe replastering. The Djenné mosque and nearby old
adobe buildings were designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988.
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African Architecture 553

The rebuilding of the Djenné mosque illustrates well the profound impact of colonial gov-
ernments on areas that they claimed and controlled. The creation of colonies in Africa began
with the first landing of European explorers during the fifteenth century as they sought an ocean
passage around Africa to India. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the creation
of coastal European colonies had increased, driven by the almost unfathomable wealth amassed
by European brokers who paid Africans to capture and sell their own people as slaves. By the
end of the nineteenth century, the two European nations that controlled the largest portions of
Africa were France (holding colonies across North Africa), and Great Britain (holding several
colonies along the Ivory Coast as well as an almost uninterrupted band of colonies in the eastern
half of Africa stretching from Egypt to South Africa). Portugal retained Angola on the western
coast and Mozambique on the east, and Spain had a few small holdings; Belgium profited greatly
through its large central colony of the Congo; Germany seized Cameroon, Namibia, and Tanza-
nia; and Italy took over Libya and the coastal areas of Eritrea and Somalia. The last colonization
occurred with the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1936, a cynical effort by Mussolini’s Fascist gov-
ernment to re-create a new Roman Empire; it lasted only five years but resulted in some trans-
planted Italian modernist architecture in Asmara, Eritrea (then part of Ethiopia), such as the
Cinema Impero, an Art Deco movie house built in 1937.
Each of the European nations imposed their own language, culture, and laws, as well as aspects
of their national architectures, such as the Neoclassical buildings in the British colonies (see the
domed Cairo University, 1910). Not only did Europeans—most notably the British—posted to
these colonial stations create for themselves enclosed enclaves away from home, replete with
cricket teams, afternoon high tea, and other amenities, but they also put up buildings that brought
a little of their England to areas “back of the beyond.” Among many other examples is the
Edwardian-Classical Town Hall of Durban, South Africa, but perhaps the most impressive (or
oppressive?) are the Union Buildings at Pretoria, South Africa (1910–1913), the seat of the South
African colonial government designed by British architect Sir Herbert Baker. The broad encir-
cling colonnade was considered a symbol of a united African people, while the two towers were
seen as representing the two major languages used in the colony, English and Afrikaans. To the
expatriates, the two domed towers would have been comfortingly familiar, since they strongly
recall Sir Christopher Wren’s twin cupolas flanking the open quadrangle space of the Royal Naval
Hospital, Greenwich (1696–1714). Expatriates see what they want to see.
After World War II, one after another of the colonial possessions were granted their freedom.
Most were ill equipped to assume their new nation’s responsibilities, since their indigenous citizens
had typically not been trained for administrative positions; nor did the new countries have well-
developed industries, since the valuable raw materials had previously been stripped and shipped
back to the governing European nations. The architectural situation was analogous, with major
new postwar buildings being designed by European or American architects, including the schools
designed by Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew in Ghana and other locations in West Africa, or the
parliament building for Guinea designed by Frenchmen Michel Andraut and Pierre Parat (not
built). In North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia), architects of Euro-African descent began
designing new buildings in the 1960s, including the African-born, French-trained Jean-François
Zevaco, who designed numerous schools and civic buildings. Though using large smooth planes
derived from the International Style aesthetic, Zevaco employed substantial roof overhangs to
create deep shadows and prevent solar heat gain. Clearly aware of contemporary developments
in 1960s Europe, Zevaco and Elie Azagury also used concrete poured into deliberately rough
board lumber formwork, leaving carefully controlled patterns in the finished building, as Zevaco
did in his Post Office for Agadir, Morocco (1966). Brutalism, as it was being contemporaneously
defined in Britain, France, and Switzerland, was brought immediately to North Africa.
At the same time, native Africans were leaving their homeland to be educated in universities
in their former ruling countries, then obtaining valuable work experience with established European
architects before returning home to reformulate what they had been taught to fit the social and
climatic conditions. One representative is Oluwole Olumuyiwa, born in Nigeria, West Africa, who
studied architecture and city planning at the University of Manchester, England (1949–1954).
After graduation, he worked in architectural offices in Britain, Holland, and Switzerland, and in
1958 he returned to Nigeria and opened a practice in Lagos. His Nigerian buildings employed free
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554 ESSAY 6: AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE

ground plans (derived from International Modernism) but were coupled with “breathing walls” to
facilitate traditional cross-ventilation, as well as doubled roofs to provide an “air cushion.” In a
1968 house in Lagos, protected under a broad sheltering roof, Olumuyiwa used floor-to-ceiling
glass doors that pivoted in the middle to allow the wall to virtually disappear and permit the full
flow of air.4
As the twenty-first century began, architecture in Africa demonstrated the widest possible
range of form and material, though for certain highly specialized buildings such as colossal sports
arenas, European and local Euro-African architects have been the designers of choice. In the far
north along the Mediterranean, as well as at the other end of the continent in the Republic of
South Africa, strikingly contemporary buildings and high-end residences have been built.5 Nearly
all large urban centers in Africa—Cairo, Casablanca, Lagos, Harare, Kampala, Nairobi, and
others—are becoming filled with high-rise office buildings so that, from a distance, they seem
indistinguishable from European or North America major cities, at least at their core; beyond
that cluster of modern central office towers may spread sprawling slums.
Among the more customary expressions of modern architecture, particularly in South Africa,
have appeared monumental structures as well as parks and interpretive centers celebrating the
end of apartheid in 1991. Particularly intriguing are two buildings designed by GAPP Archi-
tects/Urban Designers (based in Capetown), the interpretive centers for the Cradle of Mankind
World Heritage Site where, in limestone caves, more than five hundred hominid remains some
2 million years old have been identified in the last half-century. The visitors’ center at Sterk-
fontein (Afrikaans for “strong spring”) is a long, low linear building lifted on a number of short
posts so that it seems to hover over the undulating veld below; the center at Maropeng is a taller,
sloped tear-shaped building that rises on its high side as a tall earth- and grass-covered tumulus.
A few young black African architects, educated in places like Great Britain, are establishing
themselves as “starchitects.” Best known, perhaps, is David Adjaye, born in Tanzania, the son of
a Ghanaian diplomat, educated from the age of nine in England and earning his professional de-
grees there. Among his celebrated accomplishments are the design of the Skolkovo Management
School outside Moscow, Russia; his consulting participation in the design of the National Mu-
seum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC; and the translucent glass cube
he designed for the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (MCA Denver) (2007), a serene
counterstatement to Daniel Libeskind’s explosively angular titanium Hamilton wing of the Den-
ver Art Museum (DAM) (2006).6
Another approach being pursued by native-born aspiring architects is to complete their edu-
cation outside of Africa but then focus on building for the marginalized peoples in their home
countries. Of these less-privileged African architects, one example is Diébédo Francis Kéré, son
of the headman in Gando, a village of about three thousand people in Burkina Faso in sub-
Saharan west-central Africa. As son of the headman, he was able to attend local schools; when
he showed promise, he was awarded a scholarship to study woodworking in Germany. Kéré has
observed with amused irony that he was being trained as a carpenter for a country devoid of
wood. He earned the equivalent of a high-school diploma in Germany and graduated from the
Technical University of Berlin in 2004. Meanwhile, he learned that the village school in Gando
where he had started his education was near collapse, so he developed a design that exploited
local materials, then raised funds and devised methods for building the new school using local
volunteer labor. The resulting primary school at Gando (2004) was awarded a number of inter-
national prizes [AF-5]. This design, and a subsequent one for the Dano village high school
(2007), both exploit raised and extended double roofs of galvanized sheet steel to promote natural
ventilation and cooling; both also use locally produced earth blocks, a type of adobe material
mixed with roughly 10 percent cement and molded in hand-operated presses, to make brick units
that withstand the occasional rains.
In the early twenty-first century, the combination of urban building on a grand scale (locally
produced, but European inspired) with unpretentious modern architecture for rural villages (in-
spired by ancient indigenous building practices) suggests a most promising future for the modern
architecture both of and in Africa.
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555

AF-5. Diébédo Francis Kéré, Primary School, Gando, Burkina Faso, Africa, 2004. Drawing on inexpensive
modern materials (galvanized sheet metal) and traditionally based materials (hand-molded adobe brick), Kéré
designed this school to be built largely using village workers. Photo: © Siméon Douchoud of the Aga Khan Award
for Architecture.
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19.14. Hans Scharoun, Schminke house, Löbzu, Saxony, Germany, 1933. Hans Scharoun suggested in this house that
modernism was not limited to flat-sided square box shapes. Photo: Achim Bednorz, Architekturfotografie, Achim Bednorz,
Siemensstrasse 29, D-50825 Cologne, Germany.
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Chapter 19

Versions of Modern Architecture,

1914–1970

R
Architecture is the will of the epoch translated
the twentieth century. All these idioms or styles
need to be understood if we are to appreciate the
into space. Until this simple truth is clearly complex intermix of multiple “moderns” that de-
recognized, the new architecture will be uncertain veloped in the twentieth century.
and tentative. Until then it must remain a chaos The situation in the twentieth century was fur-
of undirected forces. The question as to the nature ther complicated by two global conflicts that have
of architecture is of decisive importance. It must customarily been called World War I in 1914–1918
be understood that all architecture is bound up and World War II in 1939–1945. The issues left un-
with its own time, that it can only be manifested in resolved after the first conflict led almost inevitably
living tasks and in the medium of its epoch. In no to the second, so perhaps in future years historians
age has it been otherwise. and others may speak of the twentieth century as a
—Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, hundred-year period torn by nearly constant war-
“Baukunst und Zeitwille,” 1924 fare in at least some part of the globe.

We have had enough and to spare of the arbitrary

reproduction of historic styles. In the progress of An Architecture of Its Own Time
our advance from the vagaries of mere architectural Critics and architects in the nineteenth century were
caprice to the dictates of structural logic, we have consumed with an interest in historic style. As they
learned to seek concrete expression of the life studied Greek, Roman, and Gothic architecture, they
of our epoch in clear and crisply simplified forms. came to understand by the end of the nineteenth
—Walter Gropius, century that these ways of building had begun first as
The New Architecture and the Bauhaus, 1935

R
vernacular expressions, which then had been clarified
and stylized, becoming cultural expressions rich in
meaning. As Ruskin put it in the Preface to St. Mark’s
Rest (1877), great nations write their autobiographies

M odern architecture, especially as indicated by

such phrases as International Modernism or
Canonical Modernism, has come to mean the lean,
in the “books” of their literature, their political his-
tories, and their art, and “of the three,” he insisted,
“the only quite trustworthy one is the last.”1 What
crisp, sharp-edged, boxy buildings, exploiting in- then, as Viollet-le-Duc asked in the 1860s, was the
dustrial building materials such as concrete, steel, nineteenth-century architectural expression that
and glass, designed in Europe in the 1920s and ’30s. summarized its culture; what style was it creating that
This design type came to be epitomized by the glass embodied the spirit of adventurousness of the age?
boxes designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and This was the question that Louis Sullivan struggled
the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with as well. Although Sullivan attempted to develop
in the 1950s and ’60s in the Unites States. Yet this an American approach to design broad enough to be
use of the word modern wholly ignores other forms applied to any building task, his most notable suc-
of modernism evident in a far wider range of build- cesses were largely limited to commercial and office
ings in the developed West, including examples buildings, rather than churches and residences of
representing Expressionism, Classicism, and na- which he designed relatively few. Sullivan rejected
tional vernacular or national romanticism during the literal reuse of styles and historical architecture,

557
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558 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

while at the same time observing the crucial lesson mathematically, so that supporting columns were in-
of history that the best designs always grow out of a clined and vaults were twisted and ramped to follow
cultural response to function. the lines of structural action. As a result, he was able
Other architects responded in their own ways in to eliminate all external flying buttresses in the im-
developing a method of building unique to their own mense church of the Sagrada Familia, on which he
place and time. Some put the emphasis on exploiting began work in 1884 and which remained incomplete
local vernacular traditions, as was the case in the Red at his death.2 His fusion of organic naturalism and
House designed for William Morris. Perhaps the most the structural logic of curved vaults is demonstrated
unusual of such architects was Antoni Gaudí (1852– in the large apartment block, the Casa Milá, that he
1926), of Barcelona, Spain, who developed an archi- designed for Dona Rosario Milá on the Paseo de
tecture of brilliant color inspired by Moorish ceramic Gracia, Barcelona, 1905–1910 [19.1, 19.2]. Its plan
tiles and molded forms based on curved structural of irregular walls, looking like a microscopic enlarge-
walls and thin masonry vaults. Catalonia, the Span- ment of the cross section of a plant stem, provides
ish province of which Barcelona is the chief city, has for four apartments per floor, grouped around interior
continually chafed under the rule of Madrid, and at light courts. On the exterior the massive walls of
the end of the nineteenth century the province wit- cut stone give the appearance of a weathered cliff
nessed a resurgence of separatist sentiment. Gaudí (closely resembling the sea cliffs outside Barcelona),
created an architecture rooted in Catalonia’s Moor- with balcony balustrades of wrought iron fashioned
ish and medieval past, ablaze with colored tile, ex- in the likeness of tangled kelp seaweed. The attic
ploiting the thin, curved tile vault construction for roof, whose undulations, ventilators, and mechanical
which Catalonia had long been famous. Hence, it houses create a surreal roof garden, is supported
could be said that Gaudí’s extremely personal archi- by diaphragm tile arches and thin parabolic vaults
tecture was also an expression of “critical regionalist” [19.3]. It is a unique vision of a functional, struc-
design. Moreover, his architecture was closely stud- turally utilitarian, organic architecture that could
ied from nature, as well as being carefully analyzed have been created only in Barcelona.

19.1. Antoni Gaudí, Casa Milá (La Pedrera, “The Quarry”), Barcelona, Spain, 1905–1910. Gaudí sought to create an
architecture that was modern yet inspired by Moorish traditions, as well as uniquely identified with Barcelona and Catalonia.
Photo: MAS, Barcelona.
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559

19.2. Casa Milá. The plan of a typical apartment floor reveals few traditional straight lines. Four apartments (their party
walls are indicated by the dotted lines extending from the periphery) are arranged around internal light courts. Drawing:
L. M. Roth, after Martinel and Gaudí.

19.3. Casa Milá. The undulating roof of the attic level is formed of arched tile vaults supported by thin parabolic diaphragm
arches. Photo: Ampliaciones y Reproduciones MAS, Barcelona.
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560 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

19.4. Victor Horta, Tassel

House, Brussels, Belgium,
1892–1893. Stair hall.
Horta’s modernity came
from the use of metal for
both structural and
decorative elements and
the artistic assimilation of
electric incandescent lighting
fixtures, all woven together
in a continuous curvilinear
pattern. Photo: Ch. Bastin
& J. Evrard Photographes,
Bruxelles, Belgique.

An altogether different approach in creating a Horta’s inventiveness in Brussels was matched in

new design language was taken in Brussels, Belgium, Paris by the work of Hector Guimard at the turn of
by architect Victor Horta (1861–1947). Horta de- the century, in residences and especially the com-
liberately rejected historical styles and invented a mission that Guimard was given to design scores of
new architectural idiom for his progressive, wealthy stations for the new electrified underground Paris
industrialist clients, using ornamental motifs in mass-transit railroad, the Métropolitain or Métro.
metal and glass derived from plant forms. As with Devising a kit of basically identical parts in cast iron,
Rococo architecture, whose delicacy and irregular- glazed block, glazed terra cotta panels, and glass, and
ity in detail it resembled, this “new art”—or as the incorporating the new incandescent electric illumi-
Parisian collectors called it, l’Art Nouveau—was em- nation, Guimard built stations both small and large
ployed largely for interiors. It appeared fully devel- in variations on a theme throughout the city during
oped in the interiors of the Tassel house, Brussels, 1900–1913, many of them still prized and in use
that Horta designed in 1893 [19.4]. The Tassel today [19.5]. In this instance, Guimard demon-
house staircase, with its integration of pattern and strated that the new art was not always or by defini-
line in floor mosaic, foliate column with bud-like tion costly and therefore inaccessible by ordinary
capital, wall painting, tendril-like gas lighting fix- citizens. Not only was Guimard’s work intimately
ture, and curvilinear stair balustrade, was the proto- connected to the newest transportation technology,
type for the other houses Horta designed in Brussels. but it was unquestionably a deliberate attempt to ex-
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Creative Eclecticism (Redux) 561

19.5. Hector Guimard, Metro Station (Les Abbesses stop) in Montmartre, Paris, France, 1900–1913. Using forms inspired
by plants, Guimard devised a system of identical cast iron and ceramic parts to create entry gates for the new electrically
powered underground mass-transit system. Photo: L. M. Roth, 2003.

press the architect’s own time. It was decidedly new. portation and electrical innovations, so the station
And whereas Guimard was able to exploit industrial was considered modern even if the architectural
production of building parts for the Métro suffi- details were inspired by ancient and Renaissance
ciently to make it reasonably cost-effective, the pri- Rome. The same was true of the equivalent and
vate houses that Horta and Guimard designed and contemporaneous new railroad station built by
built, and the comparable work of other Art Nouveau the New York Central company in New York City,
architects, with their many hand-crafted elements, 1902–1910, Grand Central Terminal, by architects
were too costly to be the start of a universal modern Warren & Wetmore and Reed & Stem, working
architecture. with Wilbur Wilgus and his staff of railroad engi-
neers of the New York Central Railroad [Plate 28].
Here, too, the building and transportation technol-
Creative Eclecticism (Redux) ogy was the most advanced (even better in some
For many building users and architects alike, simply technical aspects than Penn Station), even though
building something in the early twentieth century the stone envelope of the station drew heavily on
automatically made it modern, even if the stylistic Classical design motifs taught in Paris at the École
character was strongly based on past expressions. des Beaux-Arts. In 2013, a century after it opened,
The railroad engineers as well as architects McKim, Grand Central still functions efficiently as the rail-
Mead & White, in planning Pennsylvania Station, road and commuter hub of New York, a testament
exploited the very latest and most advanced trans- to its modernity.3
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562 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

19.6. John Russell Pope, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington, DC, 1937–1943. Forming a gesture of homage to
Jefferson, who first introduced the classical revival to the United States, Pope is here emulating the Roman domed library for
the University of Virginia designed by Jefferson. Photo: © idp eastern USA collection/Alamy.

The use of Classicism continued well into the Classicism of a more British character was
twentieth century for certain building functions. In championed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, who had been
the United States, governmental buildings were designing in the Arts and Crafts mode, as indicated
somehow considered inappropriate if not done in in his country house, The Deanery, Sonning, of
traditional Greco-Roman Classicism. Two good ex- 1901, set in gardens by Gertrude Jekyll (see Chap-
amples from well into the twentieth century are the ter 18). Lutyens’s shift to an English Classicism was
Washington State Capitol Building in Olympia, declared in another country house designed in
Washington, by architects Wilder & White and 1905, Heathcote, in Yorkshire, England, where the
built in 1911–1928, strongly patterned on the references to Van Brugh in the massing and detail-
United States Capitol though made more compact ing of the garden front are unmistakable. Lutyens
since offices and other chambers were housed in rose to the pinnacle of his profession, being called
separate flanking buildings creating a capitol cam- upon to produce designs for British structures out-
pus. While the Washington State Capitol building side of England itself, including World War I me-
was completed just before the Great Depression morials in Flanders, a new British ambassadorial
halted most such construction, a bit later, and in compound in Washington, DC, 1928–1931, and a
some ways even more decidedly Roman Classical large residence for the British viceroy in New Delhi,
in style, was John Russell Pope’s Thomas Jefferson India, a protracted undertaking that extended from
Memorial on the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, 1912 to 1931 [19.7]. For the ambassador’s residen-
designed as early as 1925 but not built until 1937– tial compound in Washington, Lutyens produced a
1943, so that this monument to pure Roman Clas- Wren-like building of accomplished massing that
sicism was finished almost at the midpoint of the hinted at what the colonial plantation owners
twentieth century [19.6]. Pope’s simple domed de- might have built had they possessed the education
sign is meant to recall Jefferson’s own domed library and budget of Lutyens. For the Viceroy’s House in
for the University of Virginia. Delhi, Lutyens devised a sprawling structure, set in
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National Romanticism 563

formal gardens, with the palace itself built of red sions drawn from national vernacular architectural
sandstone below and cream-colored stone above. traditions, sometimes called national romanticism.
In particular, he incorporated references to local This was particularly evident in the northern Eu-
building traditions, as in the extended horizontal ropean Scandinavian countries in the years be-
shelves of the cornices creating deep shadows, and tween 1890 and 1940, and especially in the case of
especially in the small Mugul chattra pavilions atop Finland this was directly connected to its having
the roof. For the expansive porticoes, Lutyens de- gained its freedom in 1917 after a century of Russ-
veloped a column capital composed of Indian mo- ian dominance. The subtle regional differences in
tifs but which, when viewed at a distance, suggests this resurgent vernacular nationalism were analo-
the Classical Corinthian capital. The commanding gous to how Renaissance architecture had been
central dome (built of concrete), while also making modified in the Scandinavian countries several
reference to long-established European Classical centuries earlier.
models, is in fact proportioned and detailed to re- Particularly celebrated is the City Hall for Stock-
call the ancient rounded Buddhist stupa at Sanchi, holm, Sweden, the design for which was won in
begun in the third century BCE, particularly in the competition by Ragnar Östberg in 1908, with con-
distinctive banded base or drum stage that refer- struction occurring 1911–1923 [Plate 29]. With a
ences the stylized fence surrounding the Great beautiful waterfront setting on Kungsholmen island,
Stupa at Sanchi.4 Hence, Lutyens fuses the archi- the building’s construction was protracted because
tecture of both ruled and ruling peoples so as to of the extraordinary level of skill among the many
convey the image of familiar Western forms in a artisans who contributed to the building, and in
composition that, in its component parts and de- many ways this set the standard for the national ro-
tails, draws on ancient Indian traditions. manticism that was embraced in the larger Scandi-
navian region.
In Denmark, a particularly good example of this
National Romanticism national regionalism can be seen in the new hous-
Another form of modernism in the early twentieth ing development in the midst of which stands
century was the creation of well-articulated expres- Grundtvig’s Church in Copenhagen, initiated by a

19.7. Sir Edwin Lutyens, The Viceroy’s House, New Delhi, India, 1912–1931. Drawing on generalized traditional
European classicism, Lutyens nonetheless used ancient Indian models for the columns and the dome, and particularly the
parasol-like chattra embellishments. Photo: Country Life Picture Library, London.
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564 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

19.8. Marinus Jan Granpré Molière, Town Hall, Waalwijk, The Netherlands, 1939. In this example built just prior to the
outbreak of World War II, well into the twentieth century, Granpré Molière makes clear reference to Netherlandish
Renaissance traditions as seen in the Vleeshal (“meat market”), Haarlem, of 1602–1603. Photo: M. M. Minderhoud.

competition in 1913 but then built after World A later phase of reductivist classicism was
War I during 1921–1926. The architect was P. V. practiced by Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund,
Jensen-Klint, and the church is often described as perhaps best known for his dramatically simple
being part of Expressionist postwar reaction, but in Stockholm Public Library, 1924–1928. One of his
fact Jensen-Klint was drawing inspiration from most attractive works was a cemetery on the out-
small rural parish churches, such as St. Jørgensberg skirts of Stockholm designed with Sigurd Lewer-
in Roskilde or the twelfth-century Falster Church entz, built on the basis of a competition they won
in Astrup. Perhaps the architect was attempting to in 1917. (A classically severe crematorium built in
soften the cultural shock of rural folk moving into 1940 for the cemetery was one of Asplund’s last
the densest city in Copenhagen, putting them works.) Built in a grove of small evergreen trees
around a church type that they would have been that had established itself in an old gravel quarry,
familiar with back home. the Woodland Cemetery, as it came to be called in
A perfect example of this national vernacular English, had burials marked with small headstones
resurgence can be found in the Netherlands, a grouped around a chapel that, like Laugier’s prim-
northern country (though not Scandinavian), in itive hut, is architecture reduced to its essence
the town hall built for the little town of Waalwijk [19.9]. A plain hip roof is placed directly on slender
as late as 1939 by architect Marinus Jan Granpré archaic Doric-like columns, the roof dark and the
Molière. What he created was a simplified version walls and columns painted white strongly contrast-
of the familiar traditional brick stepped-gable mod- ing with each other. The suggested heaviness of the
els found in Deventer, or seen in the Renaissance roof is lifted lightly by the grid of columns, creating
Vleeshal (meat market) in Haarlem [19.8]. a deep, protected “porch” that prepares visitors for
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National Romanticism 565

passage through the door into the intimate internal became a nationalistic assertion of the primacy of
space. the state through architecture. Some of the same
Perhaps the most accomplished architect in this basic stylistic forms were used, but for very different
group was Eliel Saarinen of Finland, who began as ends. In Spain, Generalissimo Francisco Franco
a proponent of national romanticism but then re- emerged victorious during the Spanish Civil War
worked and rethought that approach to create a of 1936–1939 as dictator of Spain, exercising a
unique modernism that appeared in his celebrated hard-handed rule he held until his death in 1975.
design in the global competition for the new While it is not easy to isolate a Franco Fascist ar-
Chicago Tribune office tower in Chicago, 1922. As chitectural stylistic character, what was achieved
it turned out, although Saarinen’s design was during his rule was the absence of creativity and
awarded second place, it proved far more influen- the stifling of a genuine modern architecture in
tial in later skyscraper design than the winning Spain during the mid-twentieth century. The tight
Gothic Revival design by Howells & Hood.5 The clamp that the Franco regime had over imaginative
roots of Saarinen’s Chicago entry can be seen in his artistic and architectural life was made evident by
Helsinki Railroad Station, 1904–1909, particularly the explosion of creativity that emerged from Spain
in the step-backs of the copper-clad tower top. almost immediately after his death in 1975.
Shortly after, Saarinen designed the city hall for the In Italy, Benito Mussolini leading the Fascist
town of Lahti in southern Finland, a good example Party took over control of the country in the polit-
of his mature national romanticism leading to his ical unrest following World War I. The Fascists
Chicago success. looked back to the glory and power of ancient
Rome, lamenting the emasculated Italy following
the war. Hence, rebuilding Italy in the style of an-
Fascist Architecture cient Rome became a goal, even to the extent of
The darker side of this national romanticism was rebuilding a modern Italian (that is, Roman) em-
how a search for an identity through architecture pire by seizing the African countries of Eritrea,

19.9. Gunnar Asplund with Sigurd Lewerentz, Woodland Cemetery chapel, outside Stockholm, Sweden, 1917. Seeming
to go back to Laugier’s basic primeval building, Asplund here created a kind of classicism that was pure essence. Photo:
© Arcaid Images/Alamy.
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566 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

Libya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. The emblem of the To Adolf Hitler, architecture was extremely im-
party was the fasces, the ancient Roman ceremonial portant as an expression of Nazi ideals. Indeed,
axe that served as an symbol of strength through Hitler believed he had the makings of an architect
unity: a thin weak metal axe with bundles of light himself and considered architecture to be, as he put
sticks placed around it and bound with tight leather it in a speech of 1938, “the word in stone.” Party
bands. It is, in fact, an official emblem of the United officials spoke of him, with exaggeration, as being a
States House of Representatives, but the political great builder, and he imagined undertaking gran-
and subsequent military outrages of the Italian Fas- diose building projects. A willing collaborator in
cist Party have caused the ancient Roman fasces to these schemes was the young German architect Al-
fall into public disgrace. One of Mussolini’s partic- bert Speer. Hitler, along with Nazi officials who took
ular interests was encouraging archaeological exca- up his architectural views, developed an architec-
vations in Italy, to better bring to light ancient tural program of building styles considered appro-
Roman accomplishments in the arts and architec- priate for particular uses. Residences could be either
ture. One achievement, among many others, was chalet-like in southern Germany or steep-roofed
the excavation of the parts of the Ara Pacis, an altar with half timbering for the north, and factories
covered with sculptural reliefs originally built to could have exposed, or at least expressed, steel
honor the Emperor Augustus in 13–9 BCE. The frames with glass and brick panel walls (these fac-
sections were unearthed over the years, beginning tories looked much like what Gropius and Mies van
in 1937, and the altar reassembled. For public dis- der Rohe had been designing before they fled Ger-
play, as a way of promoting a new Rome as glorious many and relocated to the United States). But for
as ancient Rome, Mussolini had a protective shelter civic and government buildings a sort of severe clas-
built over the reconstructed altar (in 2006 a totally sicism was required. This was not the graceful Greek
new sheltering glass building was built for it from Classicism of Karl Friedrich Schinkel of a century
designs by Richard Meier). In an even more ambi- earlier. Schinkel, most ironically promoted by the
tious project, Mussolini had tunnels cut to drain Nazis as a supreme cultural hero, had produced
Lake Nemi to expose the sunken wood frames of elegant buildings comprehensible in their human
two huge, fabled pleasure boats built for Caligula. scale; his Altes Museum incorporated delicate Ionic
After 40 million cubic meters of water were drained columns whose slight entasis and sensuously curling
during 1927–1932, the boats were recovered and volutes softened the rigor of the broad colonnade.
housed in museums built on site, but regrettably the In contrast, official Nazi Classicism was hard-edged
boats were largely destroyed by fire due to allied and superhuman in scale, utterly dwarfing human
military shelling in World War II. These two exam- beings. The Nazis built what could be called “colon-
ples illustrate the importance that Mussolini placed nades,” but these were endless rows of hard,
on recovering as much as possible of the ancient straight-sided square piers, standing stiff like soldiers
Roman era. at attention. We see this in the huge Zeppelin Field
Italian Fascist architecture attempted to emulate stadium that Speer designed for party rallies held at
Roman greatness, but sadly its graceless brutalism is Nuremburg, capable of holding 100,000 people
all too visible today in the surviving Palazzo della [19.11]. Fed by Hitler’s megalomania, Speer’s de-
Civilita Italiana located in the EUR district in Rome signs became ever larger and scaleless—architecture
(the initials coming from Exposition Universal of to crush the human spirit.
Rome, which Mussolini had hoped to host in 1942
to celebrate forty years of Fascist rule). The Palazzo
was to be featured in the grounds of the EUR fair. Modernism:
Another building strongly associated with Italian Phase One, 1914–1940
Fascism is the Casa del Fascio in Como, Italy, the Since the dawn of human symbolic thinking, archi-
work of Giuseppe Terragni. Conceived as a stylish tecture has not only provided utilitarian shelter but
“set piece” for the large local Fascist rallies held has also silently expressed how humans view them-
there, it is a severe, cubic palazzo centered on a glass selves in relation to the cosmos, to their gods, and
atrium [19.10]. However, Terragni’s Casa del Fascio to each other. It has given formal expression to
possesses a degree of lightness and subtlety not nor- their whole social and religious natures. This has
mally thought of as qualities associated with Fascist been the foundation of symbolic architecture from
policies, and shows Terragni’s connection to the the Paleolithic period up to the present, and pro-
Modernist movement. vided the basis for the secular philosophies of
Architecture by and for the National Socialist empiricism, utilitarianism, and positivism in the
Party (Nazi Party) in Germany was of a heaviness eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. By the mid-
and inhuman scale that Mussolini did not achieve. nineteenth century, architecture had lost much of
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567

19.10. Giuseppe Terragni, Casa del Fascio, Como, Italy, 1932–1936. Although working in Fascist Italy with its strong
association with the ancient Roman empire, Terragni shunned historicism and attempted to create a unique Italian modernist
idiom. Photo: Scala/Art Resource, NY.

19.11 Albert Speer, Zeppelin Field Stadium, Nuremburg, Germany, 1934–1935. Encouraged by Hitler, Speer readily
devised a form of austere Classicism, massive in scale, that was rigidly stiff, suggesting masses of soldiers snapped at attention.
Photo: © CORBIS.
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568 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

its age-old cosmological significance and had be- American youth disappeared in the trenches, never
come instead a literary symbolic vehicle, conveying to reappear.
historic traditions. Then, during the early twentieth The young architects who did survive took one
century, architecture was reduced by Modernists to of two diametrically opposed positions. Either they
being simply a utilitarian vessel for housing human turned to an even more obsessively logical and rad-
activity. ical functionalism, a new objectivity or Neue Sach-
During the nineteenth century, philosophers lichkeit (literally “fact-like-ness” that later was given
and art historians such as Hegel and Jakob Burck- the label International Style), or they absolutely
hardt developed the concept that history evolves as threw off the restraints of logical formalism and
the result of an inner spiritual necessity, and that struck out in new directions, following personal and
each period in history is shaped by its unique zeit- subjective visions that favored irregular, dynamic,
geist, the spirit of the age. The art historian Heinrich contrasting forms commonly gathered under the
Wölfflin then extended this idea to the interpreta- label Expressionism. These two fundamentally op-
tion of architecture, writing in 1888 that “architec- posed philosophies of functional/structural deter-
ture expresses the attitude to life of an epoch.”6 minism and dynamic personal invention manifested
Thus, it was up to architects at the end of the nine- themselves early in the twentieth century. What
teenth century to express the character of their they held in common, as a result of the experience
time, but precisely what that character was proved of World War I, was a driving passion to sweep away
difficult to define. Further complicating the issue the Old Europe and to build a new utopian world,
was the fact that a new millennium was beginning. a new social and moral order. For this reason, many
Clearly, for those promoting this zeitgeist idea, the of the younger architects embraced socialism or
architecture of the twentieth century ought to de- communism, with the doctrines’ emphases on up-
clare its uniqueness, to celebrate the advances lifting and improving the lot of the working class.
made possible by electric illumination, radio com-
munications, the automobile, and (by 1904) the air-
plane. The dawning century was to be the era of the A Counter-Architecture to
machine, of greater speed, and of unprecedented Rationalism: German
mobility, and the architecture of the new epoch Expressionism in the 1920s
must surely manifest this mechanization. There were architects in the 1920s who believed
The forces of change in the eighteenth and that architecture—far from being simply a utilitar-
nineteenth centuries had dramatically changed ian appliance—could and should be primarily a ve-
Western society from monarchy to democracy, from hicle for evoking emotional, even mystical states of
religious certitude to a broader secular focus, and experience achievable in no other way. The essence
from an aristocratic taste in the arts to one domi- of the modern idiom developed by Gropius, Mies,
nated by industrial entrepreneurs and the rising and Le Corbusier (discussed in the latter part of this
middle class. To achieve a sense of order in this ap- chapter) was an absolute reliance on rational analy-
parent chaos, architects could turn to one of sev- sis. An adjective Le Corbusier often used with re-
eral design alternatives: eclecticism, vernacular spect to his designs was Cartesian, referring to the
national traditionalism, personal invention, or logical, analytical thought of philosopher René
functional/structural determinism. The design con- Descartes. Yet in the wake of the waste and utter
cepts of academic eclecticism and vernacular tra- madness manifested in the “Great War” (and no
ditionalism (or national romanticism), formulated one could yet imagine the even more horrific repe-
in the late nineteenth century, continued well into tition in a second world war), this reliance on ration-
the twentieth. The architects who put themselves ality seemed to make no sense to some architects,
in one or the other of these theoretical camps seem particularly in Germany. What quickly emerged
not to have shifted in their design approach among them was an architecture that turned its
markedly in the opening years of the twentieth cen- back on Cartesian logical analysis in favor of the
tury, but for countless others—architects, patrons, suggestive and emotive power of architectural form
the public—the unfolding of World War I had a as pure sculpture.
most profound and disturbing effect. The general One building that may serve to illustrate the in-
attitude before 1914—that things were gradually tent of the German Expressionists is the Einstein
getting better and better, that applied logic could Tower, built in Potsdam, outside Berlin. The work
solve all problems—was shattered beyond all recov- of the architect Erich Mendelsohn (1887–1953),
ery by the horrors of the war and the deaths in the it was designed in 1917–1919 and built in 1919–
trenches. The finest generation of European and 1921. Mendelsohn had been educated for a career
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A Counter-Architecture to Rationalism: German Expressionism in the 1920s 569

19.12. Erich Mendelsohn, sketch for an optical instrument factory, project, 1917. This sketch, one of many done in the
trenches during World War I, was the inspiration for the Einstein Tower commission. From Zevi, Erich Mendelsohn (New
York, 1985).

in architecture in Munich, then the center for ect of 1917–1919 was converted into detailed draw-
Expressionism championed by Wassily Kandinsky.7 ings for a boldly molded building, to be built of rein-
From this school of architectural thought, Mendel- forced concrete, the material that for Mendelsohn
sohn learned to think of the function of architec- symbolized the potential of the new century [19.13].
ture as the symbolic expression of inner human However, when it came time to build the tower in
emotions realized in physical form. He had just set Potsdam, outside Berlin, the postwar German econ-
up a practice in Berlin when World War I inter- omy was collapsing and the necessary concrete could
rupted his career. In the trenches, he began to write not be found. So the structure was built of concrete
out his theory of architecture and to make small foundations, with a tower of brick covered in con-
sketches, some of them no bigger than postage crete stucco.
stamps. The small size enabled him to concentrate Such a substitution of material would have been
on a few bold, energetic lines conveying a sense of unthinkable to Gropius or Mies without changing
mass and motion. Some of the visionary projects the form, but for Mendelsohn, the form was para-
were for garden pavilions and great public halls, mount and the substitution posed no significant
and some of the abstract designs were done in re- problem. In the rotating dome atop the tower was a
sponse to hearing pieces of music; but many were system of lenses and mirrors that reflected starlight
hypothetical sketches for industrial buildings, rail- to another mirror at the base of the tower, which in
way stations, automobile plants, and foundries. turn reflected it to various instruments in the labo-
One in particular was a design sketch for a factory ratory base of the structure. Instead of encasing this
of optical instruments [19.12]. This sketch would mechanism in a light framework of industrial steel
lead to Mendelsohn’s first major commission—the (which would not have given the necessary thermal
Einstein Observatory Tower—built immediately insulation nor provided the mass necessary to pre-
after the war. vent vibrations from disturbing the delicate instru-
Mendelsohn had become a friend of Erwin ments), Mendelsohn sculpted a heavy mass that was
Freundlich, a research associate of Albert Einstein, not so much a direct expression of the mechanics
and immersed himself in studying their scientific of the scientific and technological age as it was a
investigations concerning relativity. Once the war symbol of Promethean power. Mendelsohn’s gesture
was over, Mendelsohn was invited to redraw his was prophetic, for in 1917 only a few scientists could
thumbnail sketches for exhibition in Berlin. Conse- imagine how Einstein had put the immeasurable
quently, he came to the attention of a group of sup- and terrible atomic “fire of the gods” into the hands
porters who were proposing to build an observatory/ of humankind with the simple formula of E = mc2.
laboratory where Einstein’s theories about the re- The claim that Expressionism was a reaction to
lationship between energy and matter could be the perceived failure of rationalism in World War I
proven. Mendelsohn’s hypothetical observatory proj- is, in truth, not wholly correct. One of the leading
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570 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

19.13. Erich Mendelsohn, Einstein Tower, Potsdam, near Berlin, 1917–1921. Designed especially to house equipment
to test Einstein’s theory of relativity, this also was meant to suggest an image of modern Promethean power. Photo: © Wayne
Andrews/Esto. All rights reserved.

polemical writers and architects of the movement environment and its influence on culture, noting
was Bruno Taut, whose base was Berlin. In February that people live and work for the most part in
1914 (before war broke out), he published an essay, spaces enclosed by opaque materials:
“A Necessity,” in the magazine Der Sturm. In this
essay he advocated a new structural intensity If we wish to raise our culture to a higher level,
achieved through the expression of rhythm and dy- we are forced . . . to transform our architecture.
namics, built using steel, concrete, and glass. At And this will be possible only if we remove the
nearly the same time, another essay appeared in enclosed quality from the spaces within which
Der Sturm; this second piece was written by Paul we live. This can be done only through the in-
Scheerbart and entitled “Glass Architecture.” troduction of glass architecture that lets the
Scheerbart made the connection between the built sunlight and the light of the moon and stars
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Functional Utilitarianism and the Rise of International Modernism 571

into our rooms . . . simultaneously through the matic and utilitarian view opted to let functional
greatest possible number of walls that are made requirements and structural solutions determine
entirely of glass—colored glass. The new envi- their designs. To an extent, Louis Sullivan had ap-
ronment that we shall thereby create must peared to do this at the close of the nineteenth cen-
bring with it a new culture. tury, using ornament to delineate the four visible
zones of internal function in his skyscrapers. But
Scheerbart envisioned an architect’s dream of Sullivan was no strict structural determinist, for to
light, crystal-clear, colorful, mobile, floating, and emphasize the verticality of his skyscrapers, he had
soaring constructions that would transform “Old Eu- used twice the number of required vertical piers.
rope’s habits of thought and feeling.”8 This idea of This had the practical advantage of reducing the
the reforming power of glass architecture, conceived size of windowpanes, but it also made the building
as crystalline structures, reappeared more forcefully look much higher than it actually was, emphasizing
after the war, as in the books published by Bruno its vertical nature [see 2.5, p. 20, and 18.44]. Be-
Taut. For example, in Die Stadtkrone (Jena, 1919), cause he was trained in the principles of Beaux-Arts
Taut described the “city crown,” the central commu- theory and composition, Sullivan made his primary
nal public structure, as “a crystal building of colored objective the definition and expression of character
glass” that would “shine like a sparkling diamond.” (a concept fundamental to the Beaux-Arts) appro-
After 1919, however, the emotionally evocative priate to the modern high-rise office tower.
power of strongly modeled form was taken up by sev- For designers seeking a purely utilitarian architec-
eral German architects for the design of churches. ture, the form could be (or at least could appear to
For them the avoidance of rationally dictated box- be) absolutely determined by internal function and
like forms seemed to promote a sense of mysticism necessary structure. The American buildings that
and made possible allusions to medieval architecture particularly fascinated European observers in the
with its pointed arch forms. Among these architects opening years of the twentieth century were the bold,
who exploited sculptural architectural form were cylindrical concrete grain elevators and the bare, util-
Dominicus Böhm and Otto Bartning, whose best itarian concrete-frame American factories, with their
work consisted of several churches. In these build- structural bays filled with panels of brick and steel
ings the strongly molded architectural forms manip- sash windows. These appeared to be building forms
ulated light in ways that paralleled what had been wholly determined in every part by internal func-
done by Baroque architects, who also aimed at shap- tional necessity. Architects like Charles-Édouard
ing human psychological experience. Jeanneret (Le Corbusier) saw in photographs of such
Striking angular crystalline qualities dominate strictly utilitarian structures a hint of what twentieth-
the sketches made by Hans Scharoun in the years century architecture might become.
immediately after the war, but by the mid-1920s he How the machine might inspire a new architec-
had shifted his design ideology to include form as ture was demonstrated first in Berlin, in a Germany
an expression of function.9 For him, however, this just beginning at the turn of the century to develop
never meant restricting building form to reductive, its potential as a political and industrial power. The
box-like forms, as was clearly demonstrated in his creation of a new architecture to express the aspi-
Schminke House in Löbzu, Saxony, built in 1933 rations of industrialism in the rising German empire
[19.14, p. 556]. Two axes at an acute angle, sug- was strongly encouraged by German industrial
gested by the site, determine an open house plan di- leaders. Its originator was Peter Behrens.
vided by movable partitions. Projecting, triangular
exterior balconies create a series of stacked angles,
with rounded corners, not the sharp right angles fa- Peter Behrens (1868–1940)
vored by his Modernist peers. The materials used— Behrens, who received training in Karlsruhe and
steel columns, large sheets of glass, smooth stuccoed Munich as an artist and a designer, quickly became
surfaces—make a connection to the rationalists, but a central figure in the progressive art movement in
the sharp, angular forms retain a connection with Munich, a center for the German equivalent of Art
the dynamics of Expressionism. Nouveau, jugendstil (“Youthful Style”).10 He trained
himself as an architect-designer, a provider of the
appropriate forms for the new social order. Mean-
Functional Utilitarianism and the while, he taught and practiced design in a wide va-
Rise of International Modernism riety of fields, becoming well known for his graphic
Turning away from Expressionism as well as na- and typographical design. Whereas his early ar-
tional romanticism, designers holding a purely prag- chitectural leanings had been toward an austere,
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572 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

19.15. Peter Behrens, AEG Large Assembly Building, Berlin, Germany, 1911–1912. As in his Turbine Factory for the
AEG [2.1], in this even larger assembly building Behrens offered another archetype of industrially based architecture elevated
to the status of high-art architecture. Photo: bpk, Berlin/Art Resource, NY.

simplified Greek Classicism, he gradually turned to economic strength in the wor1d.11 Behrens saw that
more purely abstract circular and square shapes as his position as designer for the AEG allowed him an
he became interested in the mystical-symbolic sug- unusual opportunity to advance these causes, to ad-
gestion of geometry. vance the ennobling effect of art on technology.
In 1907, Behrens was appointed industrial de- In the following year, 1908, Behrens worked
signer for the Allgemeine Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft with the company engineer Karl Bernhard, design-
(AEG, or German General Electric Company), first ing the first major assembly building for the AEG,
designing some of its lamps, and then all of its elec- the turbine factory, where large turbines were being
trical appliances, their trade catalogs and other pub- manufactured for ships. As Alan Colquhoun has
lications, as well as the various buildings in which put it, Behrens set out “to spiritualize the power of
AEG products were assembled. Behrens was also one modern industry in terms of an eternal classicism.”12
of the founders of the Deutscher Werkbund, an or- Since Germany was rapidly expanding its maritime
ganization of architects, artists, designers, craftsmen, trade and its navy, the demand for these turbines
political economists, and industrialists who pursued was high and new facilities were urgently needed.
educational and industrial reform in various ways. Behrens viewed this situation as an excellent op-
The organization sought to encourage a reconcilia- portunity to create a factory building that, like the
tion of fine and applied arts, the elevation of the machinery built inside it, was determined by its pri-
artist’s position in an industrial society, the improve- mary mechanical functions. In this way, the factory
ment of architecture and interior design, and espe- was elevated to the higher realm of architecture
cially the expansion of German industrial and [2.1, 19.15].
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Functional Utilitarianism and the Rise of International Modernism 573

First, the technical requirements were provided to be reduced to sheets of glass (with the window
for in the turbine factory, with two gantry cranes rid- panes at the floor lines replaced by opaque metal
ing on rails in the walls of a long, rectangular block. panels), but here, significantly, the corners are not
These cranes had to be able to lift loads of 50 tons solid masses but the merging of transparent glass
to a height of 49 feet (15 m). The basic frame of the planes; the corner as a visible, significant support
building was 123 feet (37.5 m) across by 402 feet has been erased. In the yellow brick walls, the grid
(122.5 m) in length. Twenty-two girder frames sup- of the windows is repeated in recessed courses of
ported the rails for the gantries as well as the glazed dark brick, recalling the banding of Behrens’s cor-
roof. Since the box-section columns of these frames ners in the turbine factory. As in Behrens’s factory,
had to be thicker at the top, the outer surface was here is the image of a mechanized architecture.
kept perfectly vertical while the inner face slanted Gropius’s career was then interrupted by World
inward. Rising between the columns along the in- War I (he served in the German army), and after
clined inner edge were walls of windows, so the steel the conflict, like so many other artists, he joined
columns were openly revealed to the street. At the revolutionary groups seeking to replace the old so-
end of the building, the faceted profile of the inner cial order with one that was more socially progres-
roof girders determined the line of the gable. Below sive and responsive to modern needs in industrial
this hangs a curtain-wall of windows. Enclosing the design and housing. In 1919, he was invited to take
corner is an inclined concrete membrane (its incli- over the direction of the School of Arts and Crafts
nation matching that of the side window-walls) at Weimar, originally established by the Grand
striped with bands of steel. Ironically, this corner, Duke of Sachsen-Weimar. Gropius merged this
originally intended by Behrens to suggest the thin- school with the Weimar Academy of Fine Arts,
ness and nonsupportive function of the corner, has forming an institute of design he called the Bau-
often been misinterpreted as representing contain- haus. He reorganized the curriculum to stress basic
ment and support. principles of design. His objectives were proclaimed
What Behrens set out to create was a com- in numerous manifestoes and publications. In the
pelling symbol for electricity, and his work for the Bauhaus manifesto of 1919 he wrote rhapsodically:
AEG, beginning with this building, was soon lauded
for its clarity of form determined by function.13 The ultimate aim of all visual arts is the com-
Subsequent buildings by Behrens for the AEG in- plete building. . . . Together let us desire, con-
cluded the small motors factory, 1909–1913, and ceive, and create the new structure of the future,
the high-tension material factory of 1908. which will embrace architecture and sculpture
and painting in one unity and which will one day
rise toward heaven from the hands of a million
Walter Gropius (1883–1969) workers like the crystal symbol of a new faith.15
Behrens’s conception of the architect as the shaper
of form and taste, as exemplified in his buildings for In these early years, the character of the
the AEG, attracted a number of young architects Bauhaus was strongly influenced by Johannes Itten
to his Berlin office. One was Walter Gropius, the (1888–1967), who taught the Vorkurs, the basic in-
son of a family of teachers, civil servants, and ar- troductory course in design. After Lazzlo Moholy-
chitects prominent through the nineteenth century Nagy took his place in 1923, and following the
(his grand-uncle, Martin Gropius, had been the arrival of the Dutch architect Theo van Doesburg,
architect of the Neues Gewandhaus in Leipzig).14 the focus on crafts diminished in favor of an em-
Walter Gropius was trained in Berlin to become an phasis on industrial production and the develop-
architect in the noble tradition of Schinkel. During ment of normative industrial standards.
1907–1908 Gropius was Behrens’s chief assistant, Gropius’s concept of the Bauhaus changed as the
but by 1909 the young man had set up his own school gained new teachers, and when the Bauhaus
practice with Adolf Meyer. He received his first relocated in 1926 to new buildings in Dessau (de-
major commission, the Fagus Shoe Last Factory, signed by Gropius and Meyer), Gropius summarized
from company owner Carl Benscheidt, who shared the emphasis of the modified curriculum:
Gropius’s progressive social ideals [19.16]. In the
administrative wing of the factory, Gropius created Modern man, who no longer dresses in histor-
an austere block inspired by Behrens’s turbine fac- ical garments but wears modern clothes, also
tory. Here, too, the structural supports taper inward needs a modern house appropriate to him and
as they rise to a flat roof, with the glass curtain walls his time, equipped with all the modern devices
seemingly hung from the roof. The building appears of daily use.
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574 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

19.16. Walter Gropius and

Adolf Meyer, Fagus Factory,
administrative wing, Alfeld-
an-der-Leine, Germany,
1911–1912. Gropius pursued
the lead provided by his teacher
Rights Behrens in using an industrial
expression for the administrative
office wing of the factory.
Photo: Vanni Archive/Art
Resource, NY. © 2013 Artists
Rights Society (ARS), New York/
VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

The nature of an object is determined by sity. On the whole, the necessities of life are the
what is does. Before a container, a chair, or a same for the majority of people. The home and
house can function properly its nature must its furnishing are mass consumer goods, and
first be studied, for it must perfectly serve its their design is more a matter of reason than a
purpose; in other words, it must fulfill its func- matter of passion. . . . The Bauhaus workshops
tion practically, must be cheap, durable, and are essentially laboratories in which prototypes
“beautiful.”16 of products suitable for mass production and
typical of our time are carefully developed and
It is significant that Gropius should have used constantly improved.18
the word beautiful, for by what standard was some-
thing to be considered beautiful in this new func- In another description of the program, Gropius
tionally ordered world? The architect Bruno Taut, wrote, “The Bauhaus believes the machine to be
a contemporary of Gropius’s then working in Berlin, our modern medium of design and seeks to come to
held similar views and believed that beauty and terms with it.” An architecture generated by this
total adaptation to function were inextricably inter- principle, he was certain, would be clear and or-
twined. As he wrote in his book Modern Architec- ganic, “whose inner logic will be radiant and naked,
ture, “The aim of architecture is the creation of the unencumbered by lying facades and trickeries.”
perfect, and therefore also beautiful, efficiency.”17 Gropius further asserted that if modern designers
Gropius continued to refine his theory of were to understand the role of the machine in de-
Bauhaus principles, writing in 1926: sign and production, their education “must include
a thorough, practical manual training in workshops,
The creation of standard types for all practical actively engaged in production, coupled with sound
commodities of everyday use is a social neces- theoretical instruction in the laws of design.”19
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Functional Utilitarianism and the Rise of International Modernism 575

These ideas were perfectly realized in the archi-

tecture of the new Bauhaus at Dessau designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Gropius and Meyer [19.17]. The school building (1886–1969)
had a pinwheel plan straddling a street. Faculty of- Gropius’s two concerns—the development of an
fices formed a bridge over the street, linking the industrialized architecture, and social responsiveness
classrooms, dining hall, and student housing to the to housing needs—were shared by his colleagues in
workshop wing, in many ways the most symbolic Behrens’s office, Ludwig Mies and Charles-Édouard
portion of the entire building complex. Everywhere, Jeanneret. Mies (who later added his mother’s sur-
the surfaces of the school were of smooth stucco or name, van der Rohe) chose to concentrate on the
glass, but in the workshop wing, the wall was en- perfection of the industrial image in consummately
tirely of glass, fully transparent (no visually disrup- crafted buildings, whereas Jeanneret (who soon
tive opaque panels) and suspended away from the adopted the professional pen name Le Corbusier)
reinforced concrete floor slab [19.18]. It was in- focused his concern on housing. Ludwig Mies van
tended as the model of what all architecture should der Rohe was born in Aachen to a family of stone-
become. masons, from whom he inherited a strong sense of
Although Behrens and Gropius had hoped to craft in building construction.20 In 1905, he moved
raise the factory to the level of architecture, the to Berlin and entered the office of the designer
economy of a war-ravaged Germany redirected Bruno Paul. Three years later, Mies moved to the of-
Behrens’s dream. Forced by the Treaty of Versailles fice of Peter Behrens, where, after the departure of
to pay enormous reparations to the victorious allies Walter Gropius, he became Behrens’s chief assistant.
after World War I, Germany experienced disastrous It was from Behrens that Mies absorbed the
inflation, with the result that in many buildings, the concept of the artist as the agent of the taste of the
desired excellence of construction and durability of age, and of architecture as an expression of techni-
materials had to be sacrificed. Instead of Behrens’s cal power. He also learned from Behrens a keen ap-
hope of raising the factory to the higher plane of preciation of detail and precision in both design
Architecture, architecture was reduced to the per- and construction, for in 1907 Behrens began an in-
functory utility of a factory. tensive study of the work of Karl Friedrich Schinkel

19.17. Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer, Bauhaus, Dessau, Germany, 1925–1926. Aerial view. The school of design organized
by Gropius provided the model for the proposed new, efficient, and objective architecture. Photo: Vanni/Art Resource, NY.
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576

19.18. Workshop wing, Bauhaus, Dessau. In the workshop wing, particularly, Gropius succeeded in suggesting a weightless,
transparent architecture; the wall, entirely of glass, is hung away from the supporting structure. Photo: Courtesy, Museum of
Modern Art, New York.

19.19. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Weissenhof Siedlung (“White Housing Estate”), Stuttgart, Germany, 1927. Planned by
Mies and incorporating designs by sixteen major progressive European architects (including Gropius and Le Corbusier), this
was to be a model workers’ housing complex. Photo: Foto Marburg/Art Resource, NY.
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Functional Utilitarianism and the Rise of International Modernism 577

in which he involved his whole office staff. During construction of Mies’s idealized glass towers was not
1913–1914, Mies produced several austere, almost feasible. Nonetheless, Mies was able to build country
Neoclassical, Schinkelesque residences, but then houses for a few wealthy intellectuals who shared his
his career, too, was interrupted by World War I. views. He also rose to professional prominence or-
After the war, in 1919, Mies joined the Novem- ganizing and directing the Werkbund housing exhi-
bergruppe and, with three other young idealists, bition at Stuttgart in 1927, the Weissenhof Siedlung
published a magazine entitled G: Material zur Ele- (“White Housing Estate”) [19.19]. Conceived as a
mentum Gestaltung (G: From Material to Form), or demonstration of the best in housing design, the ex-
simply G, devoted to promoting a new architecture. hibition involved major avant-garde architects from
Mies’s postwar designs were dramatically evocative, across Europe, each designing a cluster of apartment
as evident in several projects he exhibited and pub- units built on a hill outside Stuttgart and to be sold
lished in 1919. Among them were two designs for after the exhibition (the buildings still stand today).
soaring office skyscrapers, free-form in plan and As a result of this success, Mies was put in
completely sheathed in glass, one sharply angular charge of the German exhibits at a small interna-
and the other more rounded in form, and also a tional trade fair held in Barcelona in the summer
project for a horizontal, concrete office block.21 In of 1929. Mies’s particular responsibility was to de-
G, Mies published statements of his design princi- sign a pavilion for official ceremonies, and on this
ples, pithy epigrams such as “architecture is the will pavilion, Mies lavished his attention [19.20, 19.21,
of the age conceived in spatial terms” and “create Plate 30]. At the same time, he was designing a res-
form out of the nature of the task with the means idence for the Tugendhats at Brno, Czechoslovakia,
of our time.”22 Like Gropius, Mies saw a certain 1928–1930.
connection between architecture and industry: “I The two buildings are much the same in their
see in industrialization the central problem of build- free organization of space. The principal difference
ing in our time. If we succeed in carrying out this is that while the German pavilion was completely
industrialization, the social, economic, technical, open, since it was intended to be used only during
and also artistic problems will be readily solved.”23 the warm summer months of 1929, the Tugendhat
Given the depressed condition of the German House was to be built in a much cooler central Eu-
economy in the postwar Weimar republic, however, ropean climate and, hence, was enclosed with large

19.20. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain, 1929. This open-air pavilion was designed as an
expression of the precision of German industry for an international exhibition held in Barcelona during the summer of 1929;
demolished at the end of the year, it was reconstructed on the same spot in 1984–1986. Photo: Courtesy, Mies van der Rohe
Archive, Museum of Modern Art, New York.
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578 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

sheets of glass. Both the main living level of the Tu-

gendhat House and the single level of the German
Pavilion consist essentially of a single space delin-
eated into subsidiary spaces by isolated planes
arranged in space. In both, the best materials were
selected and hand-assembled with infinite care: red
and green onyx, travertine, marble, macassar wood
veneers, smoked glass, chrome-plated steel, and
raw silk for the draperies in the Tugendhat House.
The curious irony concerning the German Pavilion,
designed as it was to demonstrate the ideals and
achievement of German industry, was that it was
painstakingly handmade. Indeed, all of Mies’s later
architecture—as industrialized as it appears, and
despite how important mass production and pre-
fabrication of parts were to its realization—required
patient hand assembly to achieve its apparent au-
tomatic mechanical perfection. Mies achieved an
elemental and essential simplicity, fusing Classical
clarity with industrial production.24

Le Corbusier (1887–1966)
Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris)
was born in La Chaux-du-Fonds, Switzerland. He
was initially trained in the local Arts and Crafts
school to take up the family trade of watch en-
graver and enameller; his teacher was Charles
L’Eplattenier, who inculcated in his pupil the social
responsibility of the artist and the role of architec-
ture as symbolic expression.25 After 1908, Jeanneret
moved to Paris, where he began working in the
office of architect Auguste Perret, the early master
of reinforced concrete, learning from Perret the
enormous potential of this new material.
In 1910, Jeanneret began traveling, going to
Berlin where for six months he worked in the office
of Peter Behrens. Then he toured the Balkans, Tur-
key, and Greece, returning through Italy. A north-
ern European with an alpine background, he was
captivated by the sharpness of Classical forms seen
in the crisp Mediterranean sunlight (unlike Mies,
who always remained partial to the cloud-covered
skies of his native Aachen); Jeanneret lingered for
days on the Akropolis in Athens, sketching the
Parthenon and other buildings. Enamored by the
geometric precision of Classicism, he designed sev-
eral houses on his return to La Chaux-du-Fonds
with stylized Classical ornament and governed by
Classical proportional systems. Despite the war, in
19.21. German Pavilion. Plan. Drawing: L. Maak and 1917 Jeanneret settled permanently in Paris, paint-
L. M. Roth. ing, writing, and joining Amédée Ozenfant in pro-
moting a new character in art and architecture.
They published a journal, L’Esprit nouveau (New
Spirit), in which Jeanneret expounded a theory of a
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Functional Utilitarianism and the Rise of International Modernism 579

new socially responsive architecture based on ex- governmental offices, and the lower, linear buildings
pressing structural necessity. For these articles, he for housing. After World War II, when American
adopted the pen name Le Corbusier, a loose deriv- planners began to turn to Le Corbusier’s ideas as the
ative of the French for raven, le corbeau, which he basis for actual city planning, they misappropriated
used professionally for the rest of his life. the high-rise tower for housing since it allowed
Out of these essays came Le Corbusier’s mani- greater population density per acre. An unfortunate
festo, Vers une architecture (Paris, 1923), translated example, one of many public housing developments
in English as Towards a New Architecture (London, built in the United States following this model, was
1927). Although he acknowledged that “architec- the Pruitt-Igoe complex built by the city of Saint
ture goes beyond utilitarian needs,” Le Corbusier Louis, Missouri, in 1952–1955, after designs by ar-
extolled the mechanical perfection of the modern chitect Minoru Yamasaki (see p. 606).
airplane, steamship, and automobile as supreme Although Le Corbusier produced several city
expressions of the beauty of form determined by plans on paper in the 1920s, he built only a single
absolute response to modern function. In his book, group of fifty model housing units at Pessac, outside
he placed photographs of these modern machines Bordeaux, in 1924–1926, and then two apartment
side by side with views of the Parthenon, arguing buildings in the Weissenhof housing exhibition,
that twentieth-century machines possessed the Stuttgart, in 1927. What he actually built in the
same elegance of form and function [19.22]. The 1920s were expensive private suburban villas for
problem, he wrote, was that the functional require- members of the artistic avant-garde in Paris. These
ments of modern architecture had not yet been ad- private commissions culminated in the Villa Savoye
equately formulated. Once that was done, as in the at Poissy, outside Paris, 1928–1931. The house is a
design of an automobile, the appropriate form would square, lifted up on what Le Corbusier called pilotis
automatically and immediately spring forth. After (literally, “piles,” or stilts) set in a broad field with
all, he pointed out, “the house is a machine for liv- a view of the Seine [19.25, 19.26]. An elaborate
ing in.” And lest his readers underestimate the ur- retreat, it incorporated all of the five points that
gency of completely reshaping modern architecture, Le Corbusier had stipulated in an article published
Le Corbusier laid out this ultimatum: “It is a ques- in 1927.26
tion of building which is at the root of social unrest First, the building has no traditional supporting
today: architecture or revolution.” walls but instead has a spare, concrete structural
Meanwhile, Le Corbusier busied himself design- frame, with slender pilotis that lift the building free
ing prototypes for the new architecture. In 1920– of the earth. This eliminates problems of dampness
1922, he produced what he called the Citrohan in the house as well as providing usable space under
House, a prototype concrete-frame single-family the house. At the Villa Savoye, the turning radius
unit, with one upper-level bedroom on a balcony of an automobile determined the curvature of the
overlooking a two-story living room [19.23]. The glass wall of the ground floor, for there, under the
name was a pun on Citroën, the popular French shelter provided by the raised living level, is a cov-
automobile, since Le Corbusier hoped that such ered driveway, a three-car garage, plus a reception
houses, using standardized factory architecture area, and other auxiliary spaces. Visitors may
components, would be as easy and cheap to build as mount to the raised living level by means of a hel-
low-priced automobiles and, similarly, available to ical curved stair or by taking a long, sloping ramp
everyone. Simultaneously, he drew up a scheme for that doubles back through the center of the house.
a City for Three Million. At its center was to be an Second, by using a concrete frame, Le Corbusier
aerodrome set in the center of a cluster of regularly could achieve a free plan, for no wall is structurally
spaced office towers, with biplanes buzzing about determined. On the third level of the Villa Savoye,
the buildings [19.24]. Around this core ranged five- for example, purely sculptural walls are curved to
story apartment blocks set in large, grassy parks dot- shape special spaces.
ted with playing fields and athletic facilities. The Third, by cantilevering the floors beyond the
entire city was crisscrossed by multilane automobile column supports, Le Corbusier produced a free fa-
freeways. In his drawings, Le Corbusier provided a cade. The facade wall was also freed of any support-
basic blueprint of the city of the mid-twentieth cen- ing function and could be opened or closed as
tury, with high-rise towers flanking such a broad function and artistic decisions determined.
thoroughfare. Fourth, the Villa Savoye had free fenestration,
In the City for Three Million, Le Corbusier made the horizontal ribbon window that Le Corbusier
a clear, functional distinction between the lofty was convinced provided better illumination of the
high-rise towers, which were to house business and interior.
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580

19.22. Le Corbusier, page 125 from Vers une architecture (Paris, 1923; translated as Towards a New Architecture,
London, 1927). Through such comparisons, Le Corbusier suggested that modern automobiles were like Greek temples, in
their adaptation to function, economy of form, and precision of assembly; modern architecture, he argued, should aspire to the
same qualities. From Towards a New Architecture (London, 1927).
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Functional Utilitarianism and the Rise of International Modernism 581

19.23. Le Corbusier, model of the Citrohan House, 1920–1922. This was Le Corbusier’s proposal for mass-produced housing.
The name was word-play on the Citroën automobile, since Le Corbusier wanted the same mass-production techniques to be
used to lower the cost of housing. Photo: Rosenthal Collection, Department of Art History, Northwestern University.

Fifth, the villa was provided with a roof garden. large, outdoor living space or terrace [19.27]. Some
The garden showed the influence of Le Corbusier’s of the long, horizontal window strips are the glazed
study of Mediterranean vernacular architecture, windows of the enclosed living quarters, while oth-
which uses the flat roof to reclaim additional living ers are openings onto the outdoor living room,
space. through which the spreading countryside is viewed
In the Villa Savoye, the main living level is di- as though it were a broad panorama painting. From
vided into the usual enclosed living, dining, the outdoor living room, the ramp rises through
kitchen, and bedroom spaces, but there is also a one more switchback to the upper roof garden.

19.24. Le Corbusier, drawing for the City for Three Million, project, 1922. Le Corbusier proposed that the city of the future
consist of regularly spaced office towers and low-rise apartment blocks connected by multilane automobile expressways. From
Le Corbusier, Oeuvre complète de 1910–29 (Zurich, 1946).
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582 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

19.25. Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye, Poissy, near Paris, 1928–1931. View. In this house Le Corbusier perfected his vision of a
dematerialized architecture, lifted free of the earth. It is also an architecture that reflects the impact of transportation by
private automobile, for it sits atop a three-car garage. Photo: Ludwig Glaeser.

Le Corbusier continued to press for housing re- expensive mechanical systems for cooling and heat-
form and, eventually, he had some success. In 1928, ing these summer heat sponges and winter heat
he persuaded officials of the Salvation Army in radiators (see Chapter 6). The driving cause of In-
Paris to build a hostel for single men, the Cité de ternational Modernism in its early years had been
Réfuge. Built in 1929–1933, it was a long, glass- social utilitarianism, the provision of the most sup-
enclosed, austere slab block [6.10, p. 125]. Le Cor- portive and healthful environment for the greatest
busier called it an usine du bien, a “factory of number of people. Now it seemed that the new ar-
goodwill.” Along the south wall, he experimented chitecture, instead of being protective, was inflict-
with a double glazing system as a way of generating ing itself on its inhabitants. Something had gone
heat in the winter and he called for a mechanical amiss in the pure logic and social concern that had
ventilation system to cool the building in the sum- originally called modern architecture into being.
mer, since all the glass panes were to be fixed (this
was one of the first hermetically sealed buildings).
Unfortunately, the double glazing was omitted due Modernism: Phase Two,
to needed cost savings, as was the mechanical sys- 1945–1970
tem, so the sealed building became a hothouse in Civilian building in nearly every technically ad-
the summer. After 1947, his cousin Pierre Jean- vanced country and their dependencies and colo-
neret was called in to replace the windows with op- nies around the world ground to a halt in the years
erable sashes set in a louvered concrete screen wall between 1939 and 1945 as the globe descended
to keep sunlight off the glass. into a vicious series of interwoven conflicts that
Two years later, Le Corbusier made a similar came to be called World War II, but which, it might
mistake in not protecting the southern glass wall of be argued, was really a flaring up of unresolved
the dormitory for Swiss students at the City Uni- issues left from the murderous first war of 1914 to
versity in Paris (the Pavilion Suisse), 1930–1932, 1918. Enormous numbers of exquisite buildings,
but within a year, he hit upon a simple solution to the cultural legacy of the Middle Ages through the
the heat-gain problem. He began to use deep con- nineteenth century, were damaged if not totally de-
crete wall-fins—vertical and horizontal louvers— stroyed. Particularly efficient in obliterating whole
to prevent sunlight from reaching glazed wall cities and their inhabitants was the atomic bomb
surfaces; he called these fins brise soleils (“sun used by the United States to force Japan to “endure
breakers”). Even as late as 1965, however, Mies van the unendurable,” as the emperor said on the radio
der Rohe was still specifying all-glass buildings to his people when he announced Japan’s surrender.
(with single panes) that mandated elaborate and Sadly and ironically, some of the most intriguing
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Modernism: Phase Two, 1945–1970 583

and, given their purpose, disturbingly beautiful

structures to come out of the war were the sharply
geometric and massive concrete artillery emplace-
ments designed by German architects and engi-
neers for the “Atlantic Wall” defenses. In the
United States, which was spared the blanket bom-
bardment that was inflicted on European and
Asian cities, the factory system that was built up to
make automobiles (but was quickly converted to
produce aircraft, jeeps, trucks, and tanks) remained
and, after the war, began producing the flood of
consumer goods that fueled the American recovery.
The United States emerged ascendant and its ar-
chitects established an international standard (at
least in the business world). It was ironic that the
reductive Modernism born in Germany in the
1920s was brought to the United States and from
there was spread around the globe.

Modernism Exported Globally,

1937–1970
In 1937, Mies van der Rohe left Germany, where he
had been prevented from working for several years
by the National Socialists. He accepted the position
of head of the Architecture Department at the Illi-
nois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and began a
career of international reach. Virtually all of the
buildings Mies van der Rohe designed after coming
to the United States were prototypes for universal
buildings, a few models adaptable to a wide range of
uses. In essence, his buildings from this point onward
were either tall vertical shafts of stacked floor levels
or single-level horizontal boxes, most often contain-
ing a single universal space. This prototypical ap-
proach was first clearly demonstrated in his Lake
Shore Drive Apartments, Chicago, 1948–1951.
At last, with the industrial production capacity
of the United States available to him, Mies was able
to realize the dream of the glass tower conceived in
his northern cloud-covered homeland. The site
available for building was a trapezoid looking east-
ward to Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan. Mies
might have devised a molded building, presenting
the largest possible number of windows to the lake,
the preferred view, but instead of creating one
single, extremely tall shaft, he created two identical
towers, each with the Classically proportioned bay
structure of three by five. By turning one tower
19.26. Villa Savoye. Plans of the ground floor and main perpendicular to the other, he arrived at an
living level. The curve of the glass wall around the entry L-shaped arrangement that would fit in the trape-
vestibule in the lower level was determined by the turning zoid [19.28, 19.29]. The twin apartment blocks
radius of automobiles. Above the living level was a roof were reduced to their simplest terms, functionally
garden. Drawing: L. Maak and L. M. Roth. and structurally, with a small glass-enclosed lobby
at the ground floor, freestanding structural columns
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584 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

19.27. Villa Savoye. View of the outdoor living room, showing the ramp to the upper roof garden. Photo: © Jeff Goldberg/Esto.

(actually steel-sheathed, concrete-enclosed struc- Mies himself demonstrated the purest essence
tural steel columns), and a flat top. The major of this reductivist Modernism in his corporate office
structural bays, three on the short side and five on tower for the Seagram Corporation on Park Av-
the long side, were then subdivided by prefabri- enue in New York, 1954–1958 [6.13, 6.14, p. 127].
cated aluminum window mullions whose alterna- In this design, the glass curtain-wall window was
tion of widths sets up a counter rhythm to the hung in front of the structural columns, hiding
regular, larger rhythm of the structure (see the dis- them completely except where they protrude and
cussion in Chapter 4). All the facades of the two stand clear at the base. As this was a corporate
towers were made identical; there is no recognition headquarters, no expense was spared, so not only
that some face the lake while others have the was the glass tinted a warm brown but the panels
hottest orientation to the south and west, where enclosing the structural columns and the mullions
their glass-walled apartments become hothouses in holding the glass were of bronze, also of natural
summer afternoons. brown patina.27 Mies had done just what Gropius
Not only could such buildings be turned to any said was necessary—discovering and perfecting a
orientation (as they are in this demonstration), but type that could be used to the widest degree—and
they could also house a wide variety of functions, by the time of his death in 1969, Mies could see
such as luxury apartments, speculative rental of- adaptations of his glass box tower type, both good
fices, and corporate headquarters (as this building and bad, around the globe.
type was used in the next several years). These glass
towers, together with others being designed at the
same time, first for Portland, Oregon, by Pietro Bel- Modernism: Form Follows
luschi and then for New York City by Skidmore, Function—or the Other Way Around?
Owings & Merrill, provided the prototype for the The pioneers of modern architecture in the 1920s
glass towers that soon became the mark of modern- and 1930s tried to create a wholly new idiom gen-
ization and urban renewal in cities across the erated solely by functional use and structural sys-
United States and then around the world. tems. Their ascetic architecture was intended to
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Modernism: Form Follows Function—or the Other Way Around? 585

make no statement other than to reveal itself. Mod- had begun to move in decidedly different directions
ernism was not exactly l’architecture parlent—it was as early as the late 1930s. Le Corbusier’s interest in
not “speaking architecture.” Or at least, if the ar- intuited sculptural form and deliberate roughness or
chitecture did speak, it was only expressing current crudeness in construction, introduced in such work
building technology and structural science. And as his dining room projection in the Swiss Pavilion,
yet in making an architecture of nonstatement, is just one example. Following World War II, many
these theorists were, in fact, making a statement. of these architects shaped entirely new definitions
Modernist architects had caught themselves up in of Modernism. For many architects, an interest in
an endless means-and-end cycle. Unwilling to ac- building form for its own sake began to inform their
knowledge that architecture was something in and work, and these Modernists began to take particular
of itself, they insisted it was only a means to an end: care with the artistic statement their work would
utility. And as the philosopher Hannah Arendt make. The call for this new interest in form was
warned, “utility established as meaning generates made by a young Polish American architect,
meaninglessness.” Matthew Nowicki, in a series of essays published in
Some of the originators of Modernism—most 1949–1951. In a 1949 article entitled “Composition
notably, Le Corbusier and Alvar Aalto in Finland— in Modern Architecture,” not only did he use the

19.28. Ludwig Mies van der

Rohe, Lake Shore Drive
Apartments, Chicago, Illinois,
1948–1951. In the United
States following World War II,
Mies had access to the kind of
industrial production that
enabled him, at last, to realize
his long-standing dream of a
glass tower. This view, made
shortly after completion, shows
the impact the buildings made in
their original setting (see also
6.16). Photo: © Wayne
Andrews/Esto. All rights
reserved.
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586 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

19.29. Lake Shore Drive Apartments. Plan at ground level, showing the open, glass-enclosed lobby areas.
Drawing: David Rabbitt.

terms style and composition (terms that had become the United States, a similar argument was advanced
anathema in canonical Modernism), but he also by architectural critic Lewis Mumford. In his 1949
called for architectural design that would “provide essay “Monumentality, Symbolism, and Style,” he ar-
human comfort in the visual and psychological as well gued that it was not enough for a contemporary
as in the strictly physical sense of the word.”28 Two building simply “to be something and do something;
years later, he declared what conventional Mod- it must also say something. What is this, however,
ernism considered heresy: “In the overwhelming but a return to ‘commodity, firmness, and delight,’
majority of modern design, form follows form and with the emphasis, once more, on delight?”30
not function.”29 Among the postwar architects interested in ar-
A parallel stirring was occurring in Europe. Faced chitectural form for its own sake was Frank Lloyd
with the daunting challenge of rebuilding so much Wright, but he had never rejected the powerful,
that had been destroyed there in the war, architects evocative, sculptural power of architecture in the
were urged by the preeminent apologist of Mod- first place. Since the 1920s, Wright had been fasci-
ernism, critic Sigfried Giedion, in a lecture before nated with the spiral helix as a means of both wrap-
the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1946, to ping and defining space and also as a means of
infuse their new architecture with greater meaning vertical movement, using it in a number of unbuilt
and symbolism, to create a new monumentality. In designs. In 1943, Wright was approached by Solo-
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Modernism: Form Follows Function—or the Other Way Around? 587

mon R. Guggenheim to design a museum to house each room, so that by the simple selection of this tra-
Guggenheim’s unparalleled collection of modern ditional material, Aalto provided himself with easy
art, and in this request, Wright saw his opportunity solutions to potential scale, thermal, and textural
to build a helical ramp building. By 1945, Wright problems. Mies’s Lake Shore Drive Apartments can
had worked out the basis of a solution, but another be anywhere; Aalto’s Baker House can be only here,
eleven years passed as the details were designed and looking out across the Charles River.
as New York building officials were persuaded that From the moment Aalto embraced Modernism
the design was safe to build; construction took place in the 1920s, his rendering of it was always strongly
in 1956–1959. What Wright proposed was a gigan- tempered by a warmth and humanism not easily
tic helical ramp in reinforced concrete. The ramp found in the work of his contemporaries such as
would expand outward as it rose, enclosing a vast Gropius or Mies van der Rohe. In 1940, Aalto crit-
space to be covered by a glass skylight; the building icized the existenz minimum austerity of the work of
would be a modern-day Pantheon whose space was his Modernist colleagues, contrasting conventional
contained not by static masses but by the sweep of Modernist “architecture whose main concern is
a dynamic curve [19.30, 19.31, 19.32, 19.33].31 Per- the formalistic style a building shall wear” with
haps not since Schinkel built the unique Altes “architecture that we know as functionalist.” Ac-
Museum had a museum building itself been as im- commodating utilitarian function, he realized, was
portant a statement as the art it contained. Indeed, a deceptively easy and empty achievement, for
to some observers, the Guggenheim Museum prom- “since architecture covers the entire field of human
ised to overpower the paintings. Certainly, Wright life, real functional architecture must be functional
was declaring in this, the last building he supervised mainly from the human point of view.” Despite the
personally, that the form of a building could be as rigorously pure analysis of the empiricists of the
important as, perhaps even more important than, 1920s, or of neo-functionalists later in the century,
simple utilitarian accommodation of function. Aalto insisted that architecture can never be a pre-
In contrast to Mies, who devised identical glass- cise science; architecture is not merely the process
sheathed towers for the Lake Shore Drive Apart- of defining mechanical function and supporting this
ments, Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) function in the most economical structural skeleton.
produced a far different solution for a comparable de- Architecture is, Aalto asserted, “still the same great
sign situation. Baker House, a dormitory for the Mas- synthetic process of combining thousands of definite
sachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) built in human functions, and remains architecture. Its pur-
1946–1948, is also essentially residential in function pose is still to bring the material world into harmony
[19.34]. But the building is far from a prototypical so- with human life.”32
lution that could be dropped down anywhere. During This humanist design approach especially shapes
World War II, Aalto had taught at MIT and conse- one of Aalto’s last works: the library for the Mount
quently had gotten to know well the physical envi- Angel Benedictine Abbey, St. Benedict, near
ronment of the university and its placement on the Mt. Angel, Oregon, 1967–1970 [19.35, 19.36,
banks of the Charles River, overlooking Boston. 19.37, 19.38]. Specifically sought out by the abbey
When he was asked to design the dormitory, Aalto librarian because of his previous library designs in
was given a site on the drive along the Charles River Finland, Aalto responded to a dramatic building
between two existing buildings. He resolved to orient site, keeping the building low on the uphill side fac-
the rooms toward the river, so that residents could ing the campus quadrangle, but dropping the build-
see the city and watch the activity in the water. To ing down several levels on the downhill side. The
fit the required number of student rooms into the interior is filled with a soft light reflected from the
available space, he bent the form of the building, skylight and strategically placed task lights, while
which resulted in the visually commanding S, or the Aalto-designed furniture throughout is of nat-
rounded W, curve. Along the back side of the build- ural maple with black leather upholstery, on gray
ing, away from the river, are lounge rooms, lavatories, carpeting. The color was to be provided by the book
baths, and the stairs. The skin of the building is of covers arrayed on shelves. Everywhere, the spaces
brick enclosing a reinforced concrete frame—rough, and finishes seem perfectly attuned to the activities
misshapen clinker brick, irregular in color, in contrast planned to occur there; the door handles, for ex-
to the mathematically uniform brick that Mies was ample, are aligned to the angle of the outstretched
using at the very same time for his buildings on the hand. When it was completed, New York Times
Illinois Institute of Technology campus [4.21, p. 82]. architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable found it to
The south wall of Baker House, facing the river, is be “a small and perfect work” that was “elegant, hu-
punctured by moderate-size individual windows at mane, and full of sophisticated skills.”33
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588

19.30. Frank Lloyd Wright, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, 1943–1959. Wright’s museum, one of his
last works, makes few concessions to its setting, but instead grew out of Wright’s concept of a long, curved processional path, a
spiraling helix. Photo: L. M. Roth.

19.31. Guggenheim
Museum. Plan. The plan
is based on circular
modules. Drawing: L. M.
Roth, after Wright.
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589

19.32. Guggenheim Museum. Interior. Photo: L. M. Roth.

19.33. Guggenheim Museum.

The section view shows how the spiral
ramp swells outward as it rises.
Drawing: L. M. Roth, after Wright.
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590

19.34. Alvar Aalto, Baker House, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1946–1948. Aerial
view. Aalto bent his dormitory building to fit into the available space; in doing so, he provided oblique views across the
Charles River and created a powerfully evocative form. Photo: Rosenthal Collection, Department of Art History,
Northwestern University.

19.35. Alvar Aalto, Mount Angel

Abbey Library, Mount Angel, Oregon,
1967–1971. Aalto’s work repeatedly
demonstrates that responding to function
and human psychology can produce
architecture of both noble purpose and
stimulating form. Photo: L. M. Roth.
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591

19.36. Mount Angel Abbey Library. Plan. The plan of the library combines closely arranged rectilinear offices with broadly
fanned book stacks. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

19.37. Mount Angel Abbey Library. Section. By dropping the floors down the side of the hill, Aalto kept the main-entry
story low and simple in deference to adjoining campus buildings. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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592

19.38. Mount Angel Abbey Library. Interior of the book-stack and reading area. Photo: L. M. Roth.
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Modernism: Form Follows Function—or the Other Way Around? 593

spaces behind the altar for office and sacristy as well

Two Solutions for Collegiate Chapels as a dais denoting a chancel area. It was, in fact,
It was becoming increasing clear that there was no converted to a storage facility in 1996.)
one solution for any given building type, despite the The contrast between this and the chapel built
Modernists’ advocacy of types. Two examples of dif- at MIT by Eero Saarinen in 1953–1955 is revealing
fering responses to the same problem are found in [19.40, 19.41]. Saarinen was an architect who
the chapels built at two engineering schools almost spared no effort searching for the unique form for
simultaneously—one for MIT and the other for the each of his commissions. At MIT, he was given the
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). At IIT, the dual task of designing a large auditorium for general
chapel and all the other institute buildings were de- university functions and an adjacent small chapel
signed by Mies van der Rohe from 1938 through suitable for quiet meditation. Both structures had
1969. The chapel, built in 1949–1952, is a steel- forms generated by circular or spherical forms, the
framed, cubical block with infill walls of uniform, auditorium a triangular segment that is one-eighth
buff, glazed brick [19.39]. At one end is a glass wall of a sphere, and the chapel a brick cylinder. The
accommodating the entrance. The interior is de- chapel was built of the rough, irregular brick similar
cidedly unmystical, evenly illuminated by diffused to what Aalto had used in Baker House, but its
light bounced off the glazed brick walls. As origi- outer cylindrical wall was supported by arches rest-
nally conceived, there would have been only a ing on stone blocks in a surrounding pool of water
panel at the end behind the altar and no raised at the base. The principal source of light is through
dais. It would have been the perfect all-purpose a single oculus in the roof, whose beam of light is
space, immediately adaptable for a handball court caught, so to speak, on the twinkling metal blades
or a physics lab. (As built, it did have enclosed of a sculpture by Harry Bertoia. There is no sculpted

19.39. Mies van der Rohe, Chapel, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois, 1949–1952. Although a chapel, it has
none of the conventional clues as to its function. Photo: Hedrich-Blessing, Chicago. Photo by Hedrich Blessing. Chicago
History Museum, negative HB-15691-D.
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594 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

19.40. Eero Saarinen, Chapel,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1953–1955.
Saarinen’s chapel uses a simple cylinder
form, unique to this campus, though built of
the red brick typical of the Boston and
Cambridge area. Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto.
All rights reserved.

figure of heavenly rapture, à la Bernini, yet the ef- deliberately rougher in execution, and composed
fect achieved by the focused light is much the same of apartments with an L-shaped cross section,
as in Bernini’s Cornaro chapel. in many ways nonetheless continued the themes
begun in the apartment blocks that Le Corbusier
had been designing since the 1920s. In particular,
Le Corbusier’s Later Work the building block is lifted aloft on massive con-
In the 1930s Mies van der Rohe continued to push crete piers (recovering the ground plane for use),
refinement in building form while Le Corbusier rad- and the building has a huge, flat roof turned into a
ically reconceptualized his architecture. The most children’s play yard (recapturing the top of the
dramatic evidence of this shift appeared in the building for use).
buildings he designed immediately after World The most vivid break with his past, and one for
War II. These changes involved the molding of which most observers were unprepared, was Le
space, but more importantly, they revolved around Corbusier’s chapel at Ronchamp, France, built just
a change in materials, away from the smooth stucco after the war. Notre-Dame-du-Haut at Ronchamp
and the seamless surfaces of the 1920s to rough ma- had been a site of pilgrimage since the twelfth cen-
terials and deliberately crude workmanship, giving tury. There, on a hill at the base of the Vosges
the surfaces of Le Corbusier’s postwar buildings a Mountains, a few miles from Belfort and the Swiss
rich, rough texture. The concrete he had used pre- border, a statue of the Virgin Mary had long been
viously in thin structural frames hidden from view the object of special veneration. Ronchamp had
behind smoothed stucco was now revealed on the never become a major commercial pilgrimage city
surface in bold masses and imprinted with patterns and hence had retained a particularly rural charac-
left by the carefully constructed rough-sawn lumber ter, but it was nonetheless a strategic passage. A
used for formwork. A good example is the Unité succession of chapels housing the statue had been
d’Habitation in Marseilles, 1946–1952, described built, destroyed, and rebuilt over the centuries. The
in Chapter 4 [4.15]. The Unité, although taller, nineteenth-century neo-Gothic chapel had been
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Modernism: Form Follows Function—or the Other Way Around? 595

completely destroyed during World War II. In 1950, the concave indentation of the wall and the over-
at the strong recommendation of several leaders of hanging curve of the roof frame an outdoor chancel
a reform movement in the French Catholic Church, that faces a hillside sanctuary where large crowds
Le Corbusier was selected to rebuild the chapel; he can gather for worship at special times of pilgrim-
was given a completely free hand. Le Corbusier age. The brilliant whiteness of the rough stucco ex-
spent several days on the site in the ruins of the old terior is in the sharpest contrast to the dark interior,
chapel, sketching the profile of the surrounding which is lit only by small apertures in the south wall
forested hills. He absorbed the setting, and gradu- filled with colored glass, and by the reflected light
ally, the new chapel formed itself in his mind, cre- scooped up in the towers and splashed down on the
ating what he would call “a visual echo of the altars below (the manipulation of light at Ron-
landscape.”34 champ is discussed in Chapter 4).
Although the plan of Notre-Dame-du-Haut at To critics and historians of the rationalist camp,
Ronchamp was based on a mathematically propor- such as Nikolaus Pevsner and James Stirling, this
tioned Modulor grid incised in the concrete floor, apparent about-face by Le Corbusier was greatly
the chapel seemed completely at odds with the ra- puzzling.35 Yet the free-form walls were not so dif-
tional precision of Le Corbusier’s prewar work (see ferent from the poetic shapes of the roof terrace of
Chapter 4). The thick outer walls curve in, and the the Villa Savoye. What Le Corbusier intended to
heavy roof settles and sinks in the middle. When create here was a sculptural response to the site, an
seen from outside, the curves seem to open out to- expression of what Stanislaus von Moos has called
ward the landscape, but when experienced from the “atavistic mysticism of nature.”36 It was a sacred
within, they give a sense of compression and con- building in a way far more profound than represent-
tainment [19.42, 19.43, 19.44, 19.45]. To the east, ing a particular religious institution or dogma; it

19.41. MIT Chapel, Massachusetts

Institute of Technology. Interior.
The main source of light is a circular
oculus at the top. Photo: Ezra Stoller
© Esto. All rights reserved.
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596 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

19.42. Le Corbusier, Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, France, 1950–1955. View from the southeast. The church seems
like a huge piece of sculpture, molded according to some intuited vision of the architect. Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto. All
rights reserved.

spoke instead of the mystical connection of hu- Le Corbusier himself said his inspiration was a clam
mankind and the cosmos. When the building was shell he had picked up on the beaches of Long Is-
finished in 1955, Le Corbusier said to the Arch- land in 1946.38 That Ronchamp represented some-
bishop of Besançon at the dedication ceremonies: thing larger than itself was compounded by the way
“When I built this chapel, I wanted to create a the building was not what it seemed. In places, the
place of silence, of prayer, of peace and inner joy. walls were of concrete, elsewhere they were rubble
The feeling of the sacred inspired our efforts.”37 To stone, but all were covered with a uniform, rough
some, it was surprising that a person who was not a stucco so as to suggest a single material. Moreover,
practicing Catholic could design what they saw as once inside and with eyes adjusted to the cave-like
the most religious building of its time (the 1950s light, the visitor can see that what seems from the
and ’60s). Le Corbusier confounded sectarian or- outside to be a massive, heavy roof is actually light
thodoxy. For him, Ronchamp was a symbol of the and is raised aloft by slender columns, hovering
sacral element of life and not of a specific creed, 10 inches (25 cm) above the thick walls [19.45].
for, as he said to the archbishop, “Some things are Clearly, the structure is a hidden, delicate frame
sacred and others are not, regardless of whether or and not the massive-looking walls. And the south
not they are religious.” wall, pierced by the tiny windows on the outside, is
If Le Corbusier’s early buildings of the 1920s had actually hollow but made deliberately thick and
suggested the utilitarian efficiency of ocean liners opened in broad embouchures inside so that the
in their abstract economy of form, the swelling roof tiny, colored windows can be seen from around the
of Ronchamp suggested many things—a nun’s sanctuary. Le Corbusier was putting into concrete
cowl, a monk’s hood, a ship’s prow, praying hands. and stucco what Matthew Nowicki was then saying
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597

19.43. Notre-Dame-du-Haut. General plan.

The church is carefully positioned on the hill to
take advantage of the views and to define
individual spaces to the east, west, north, and
south. Drawing: W. Chin and L. M. Roth.

19.44. Notre-Dame-du-Haut. Axonometric

view. Despite the appearance of an intuited
arrangement, the plan is actually determined
by a modular system like that used in
Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in
Marseilles. Drawing: W. Chin.
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598 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

19.45. Notre-Dame-du-Haut. Interior. The roof, apparently massive when viewed from the exterior, appears much different
when viewed from the interior, for it hovers above the walls, carried by widely spaced, slender piers. Photo: G. E. Kidder
Smith, New York.

in print—that the primary function of a building is the Saarinen team created an altogether different
to mold space, to create form. but equally dramatic solution (see the discussion of
tensile structures in Chapter 3).
Saarinen: Two Airport Terminals
As the chapel at Ronchamp demonstrated, the In- Hans Scharoun:
ternational Style ban on symbolic expression was The Philharmonie, Berlin
being swept away, while a new generation of Ex- One of the most striking of these formally evocative
pressionists blossomed. Among the most inquisitive and yet entirely functional buildings is the Philhar-
in his search for communicative, evocative form monie in Berlin, 1957–1965, by Hans Scharoun
was the American architect Eero Saarinen (1910– (1893–1972). The symphony hall is one of the last
1961). When presented with the commission to works of this Expressionist designer from the older
design the “flagship” terminal building for Trans generation [19.48, 19.49, 19.50, 19.51]. In this in-
World Airlines at Kennedy (then Idlewild) Airport stance, however, the building form is shaped by the
in New York in 1956–1962, Saarinen decided to music, with the audience surrounding the musi-
make a building that would suggest the miracle of cians and seated on elevated sections lifted over
flight [19.46]. He and his assistants, working with lobbies on the ground floor below. The many an-
large-scale design models, shaped a pair of gigantic gled surfaces and the convex curves of the ceiling
shells cantilevered out from central “feet,” and be- (mirrored by the angles and curves of the exterior)
fore the glass was installed to enclose the volume disperse the sound well. Scharoun made clear his
below the shells, the cantilevered shells had very objectives:
much the profile of a gull’s outstretched wings
[19.47]. At roughly the same time, in designing an- Music as the focal point. This was the keynote
other airport terminal outside Washington, DC, from the very beginning. . . . The orchestra and
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599

19.46. Eero Saarinen, Trans World Airlines Terminal, John F. Kennedy Airport, New York, NY, 1956–1962. With its
soaring cantilevered concrete wings, Saarinen endeavored to shape in the TWA Terminal a symbolic representation of flight.
Photo: L. M. Roth.

19.47. Trans World Airlines Terminal, John F. Kennedy Airport. This night view, taken from the parking area, shows well
the enormous reach of the 80-foot cantilevered roof shells. Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto. All rights reserved.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:16 PM Page 600

600

19.48. Hans Scharoun, Berlin Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany, 1957–1965. Exterior. The unusual plan and profile of this
building were shaped by the desire to put music at the center of the audience. Photo: German Information Center, New York.

19.49. Berlin Philharmonie. Plan. Drawing: L. M. Roth.

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601

19.50. Berlin Philharmonie. Section. The exterior is determined in all its parts by internal functional requirements. Drawing:
L. M. Roth.

19.51. Berlin Philharmonie. Interior. Scharoun wrote: “Music as the focal point, this was the keynote from the very
beginning.” Photo: German Information Center, New York.
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602 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

conductor stand spatially and optically in the to build the nested shells. The image was simply too
very middle of things; and if not in the mathe- compelling not to build. The rising shells suggested
matical center, then certainly they are com- sails in the harbor, and the undulating ceilings of
pletely enveloped by the audience. Here you the auditoria not only recalled the surrounding
will find no segregation of “producers” and water but also suggested sound waves. How to build
“consumers,” but rather a community of listen- the shells, and how many of the details of the build-
ers grouped around an orchestra in the most ing were to be resolved, was far from clear. Utzon
natural of seating arrangements. . . . Man, worked on the design through 1965, when he re-
music, and space—here they meet on a new signed.40 The profile of the design was changed by
relational basis.39 the subsequent architects and engineers to make
the shells pairs of triangles cut from the same
sphere; the shells were then fabricated of wedge-
Jørn Utzon: The Sydney Opera shaped, precast concrete segments. The details of
The danger inherent in such monumental symbol- the structural design were worked out by the engi-
ism was that a captivating image could come to neer Ove Arup, and changes were made in the
dominate the building, just as, at the other extreme interiors of the auditoria. Quickly surpassing the
in International Modernism, structural systems or original cost estimate of $9 million, the final cost
reputed function had become dominant. This point spiraled to $131 million and eventually reached
was reached in the striking 1957 design of the Syd- $400 million. Finally, in 1973, the Sydney Opera
ney Opera House. The unusual structure was built House opened to acclaim, even though its two au-
in 1965–1973 at the end of Bennelong Point, jutting ditoria did not always work especially well and were
into the middle of the harbor of Sydney [19.52]. small. Whatever purely musical and performance
The design was based on the sketch submitted by aspects Utzon’s design might have fallen short of
the Danish architect Jørn Utzon (1918–2008) in a providing, without any doubt the Opera quickly be-
celebrated international competition in 1957, even came the preeminent worldwide symbol of the spirit
though it was not at all clear how Utzon intended of Sydney and Australia.

19.52. Jørn Utzon, Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia, 1957–1973. Despite stupendous cost overruns, the Sydney
Opera House was carried to completion as a symbol of the cultural aspirations of Sydney and of Australia. Photo: © Jack
Sullivan/Alamy.
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Brutalism: The Rough Edge of Modernism 603

sion and perfection of connection to modern archi-

Louis I. Kahn: tecture. As noted, the gleaming chromium-steel-
Functional Monumentality clad cruciform columns of Mies’s German Pavilion
By 1960–1965, numerous architects, especially in were meticulously handcrafted despite their very
the United States, were asking why architecture mechanical appearance. Perhaps the apogee of this
had to move to such Expressionist extremes. Was perfectionism was reached in the finishing of Mies’s
it not possible to create an architecture that ac- elegant weekend house for Dr. Edith Farnsworth.
commodated function to an optimum degree and yet Not only were exquisite materials selected for the
expressed character and function in clearly recogniz- interior—travertine for the floor paving panels, nat-
able ways? One alternative approach was proposed ural primavera for some cabinetry, and shantung silk
by Louis I. Kahn (1902–1974) of Philadelphia. for the curtains—but the steel frame itself was
Trained in the École des Beaux-Arts tradition at meticulously finished as well. All welding marks at
the University of Pennsylvania in the 1920s, Kahn the connections of the columns and the edge beams
viewed the purpose of architecture as elevating were ground to achieve smooth fillet surfaces (with
human institutions and human activity to an almost any gas bubble voids carefully filled and again
metaphysical mystical plane. ground down), then the finished frame was sand-
This viewpoint is well illustrated in his Jonas Salk blasted to further smooth the surface, next a zinc
Institute for Biological Studies (1959–1965) at La coating was applied, and finally coats of white paint
Jolla, California [19.53, 19.54, 19.55]. Kahn was for- were carefully and repeatedly applied so that the
tunate in having as his client scientist Jonas Salk, final result appeared almost porcelain-like. As
who shared Kahn’s conviction that the element of Mies’s biographer, Franz Schulze, noted, although
stately mystery was to be integral to the design of the the most evident components of the house “were
laboratory. Kahn’s original scheme for a complex of drawn from the inventory of modern technology,
buildings on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean they were brought to completion by methods more
called for three distinct groups around the edges of suggestive of the crafts.”41
a ravine—a residential quarter, a research labora- While many architects at mid-century yearned
tory, and a community center—forming a balance for such perfectionism, others deliberately rejected
of living, working, and communal activities. Of the this attempted cover-up of the messy realities of in-
three parts, only the laboratory was built. The labo- dustrial production and the building process. Their
ratory is U-shaped, enclosing a court, with the open reaction came to be called the New Brutalism by
end of the U allowing an unobstructed view of the critic Reyner Banham and was discussed in a book
ocean and sky. The actual working labs are layered of the same name that he published in 1966.42 The
between open floors containing plumbing, wiring, catchphrase originated in Sweden, was quickly taken
and every conceivable utility. On the inner court up in Britain, and was used even by some architects
sides of these laboratory blocks are the researchers’ themselves to describe their work, particularly the
individual studies; the intimacy of the small, domes- team of Peter and Alison Smithson. The Smithsons’
tically scaled dens paneled in teak contrasts dramat- secondary school at Hunstanton, Norfolk, England,
ically with the scientific objectivity of the laboratory 1949–1954, with its frankly expressed welded-steel
spaces. The structural masses throughout are of frame and brick and glass infill panels, was directly
reinforced concrete, carefully detailed to reveal the inspired by Mies van der Rohe’s IIT buildings (which
method of construction. There is imbued in the they then knew only through photographs). The
building the sense of a monastic community gath- Smithsons also were inspired by the emphatically
ered together in a quest for truth, given a clarity of rough surfaces carefully created by Le Corbusier in
form that grows out of the work being performed. the concrete of his Unité d’Habitation apartment
Kahn’s Salk Institute is a monument to the celebra- block in Marseilles and the monastery at La Tourette
tion of human reason, but with the clear admoni- [4.15]. The Smithsons purposely left traces of the
tion, embodied in the studies clustered at the center, assembly, with deliberately crude weld joints, creating
that part of scientific inquiry is contemplating the a texture of materials seemingly left “as found,” as
extended impact one is making on nature. Banham put it, to convey “the rough grain of modern
urban life in a new art,” as William Curtis observed.43
Pipes, electrical conduits, and other mechanical
Brutalism: The Rough elements are frankly exposed, and this deliberate
Edge of Modernism crudeness is celebrated in the arrangement of the
In the hands of Gropius and most certainly Mies bathroom pipes, which descend from sinks and drop
van der Rohe, there was an exertion to bring preci- their effluent into an open drain trough in the floor.
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604

19.53. Louis I. Kahn, Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, 1959–1965. View of study model,
showing all three proposed portions of the complex—housing, laboratory, and community center; only the laboratory building
was completed. Photo: Courtesy, L. I. Kahn.

19.54. Salk Institute. Plan. Although

the drawing suggests that the laboratory
spaces and the studies are on one level,
the studies are actually one-half flight
up. Drawing: L. M. Roth.
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An Architecture of Perfect Function: Success or Failure? 605

19.55. Salk Institute for Biological Studies. View of the interior court. The working areas are housed in large multifunctional
spaces, whereas small, individual private studies are clustered in the central courtyard. Photo: L. M. Roth.

Shortly after the Smithsons began the Hunstan- the exposed-concrete space-frame floors and stair
ton School, Le Corbusier built the two Maisons tower of his Yale University Art Gallery of 1953.
Jaoul in 1952–1956 outside Paris, in Neuilly. The The subtitle of Banham’s book posed the ques-
conjoined weekend villas had ordinary brick piers tion “Ethic or Aesthetic?” and certainly in Kahn’s
supporting shallow, segmental concrete vaults. The case it was ethic, for he desired always to frankly and
mortar bulged out from between the bricks, and the openly indicate the process of construction: “let me
concrete bore the clear marks of rough board form- tell you how I was made” was what he hoped his
work. Everything was deliberately crude in con- buildings would communicate to the user. But in
struction. Quickly, British architects took to the Rudolph’s case, particularly in his Art and Archi-
use of similarly rough board formwork to leave im- tecture Building for Yale University, 1964, the
pressions in their cast concrete, as did James Stir- jagged edges of the bush-hammered concrete ridges
ling and James Gowans in their apartment flats at resulted from an aesthetic choice [4.22, p. 83].
Ham Common, London, 1958, with exposed con- What Brutalism clearly made evident, however, was
crete floor slabs and rough brickwork. Poured-in- that there was a latent dissatisfaction with conven-
place concrete, in particular, lent itself to this sort tional International or Canonical Modernism as
of coarse treatment. Many of the younger British taught and built by Gropius and Mies and their dis-
architects, especially those working for public hous- ciples, with its bland, smooth, industrially perfected
ing agencies such as the London County Council, surfaces and pure forms.
treated building materials and construction meth-
ods similarly, as did other architects across Europe,
in Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. An Architecture of Perfect Function:
In the United States, the work of Paul Rudolph Success or Failure?
in the 1960s fell into this classification, as in the International Modernism, labeled the International
married-student housing he designed for Yale Uni- Style by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip John-
versity, New Haven, Connecticut, 1962. Even the son in 1932, had been viewed by its inventors and
early work of Louis I. Kahn manifested a certain apologists as being technically and intellectually bet-
roughness and “as found” quality in the materials ter than older forms of architecture, but it did not
used and the construction techniques, notable in usher in a new millennium as its early proponents
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606 19. VERSIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970

had anticipated.44 By the 1960s, a growing discontent enough in scale to meet the challenges of the twen-
with what was viewed as the straitjacket of Mod- tieth century. They developed an architectural
ernism occasioned a frank admission, even by some image of extended smooth planes and sharp cubic
who had once been champions of the cause, that volumes, freed of the tyranny of formulaic bilateral
modern architecture had come up short. A major symmetry, that unfortunate legacy of the École des
reason was that it communicated so little at a sym- Beaux-Arts. But to their discredit, they insisted on
bolic level to ordinary users. The moment, some using the flat roof everywhere, even in climates
critics said, when the pure logical determinism of where it could never be properly sealed against
modern architecture died was 3:32 p.m., July 15, seepage from melting snow.
1972, when the first dynamite charges were set off to International Modernism failed in several signifi-
level the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex in Saint Louis cant ways, some of which did not become clearly
[19.56].45 The housing complex had been thoroughly apparent until a half-century had passed.47 Despite
vandalized by its residents. Due to socially prejudiced the laudable social utopian goal, society was not to
judgments made by its designers, aspects of its layout be transformed by buildings alone. And Modernism
facilitated the decline of the buildings into seedbeds was founded in philosophical and ideological con-
for crime. Eventually, the impoverished residents it cepts that had little to do with architecture in itself.
had been designed for flatly refused to live in it. From capitalist industrial production it had adopted
What had been intended as a demonstration of the the notion that lean and maximum functional effi-
highest ideals of modern architecture serving enlight- ciency was always best. In a 1908 essay, Viennese
ened social engineering had to be destroyed less than architect Adolf Loos equated the luxurious extrav-
a quarter-century after its construction.46 agance of ornament with degenerate criminal be-
Still, the pioneers of early modern architecture havior, and the brutal and total elimination of
had realized significant successes. In pursuit of a ornament became an article of faith of the new
modern style, Behrens, Gropius, Mies, and Le Cor- creed.48 As centuries of weathering clearly demon-
busier had grappled with the industrial processes of strated (had Modernist architects bothered to look
making building components; they exploited indus- around them), historical ornament provided very
trial materials and forms evocative of the machine practical and visually satisfying ways of shedding
age. To an extent, they reestablished the connec- water, accommodating expansion joints, or other-
tion between architecture and engineering and laid wise allowing for buildings to age gracefully. In less
the basis for a rationalized architecture expansive than two decades, in contrast, buildings like the Villa

19.56. Dynamiting the Pruitt-Igoe Housing Complex, Saint Louis, Missouri. At 3:32 p.m., July 15, 1972, the first charges of
dynamite were detonated, demolishing what had once been considered a model public housing complex. All the vaunted high
ideals of International Modern architecture seemed to come crashing down with it. Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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An Architecture of Perfect Function: Success or Failure? 607

Savoye began to self-destruct, revealing that Inter- to be fallacious, too, when, after the midcentury,
national Modernism is a very fragile architecture. eighteenth- and nineteenth-century buildings
From Protestant evangelism came the notion of increasingly were converted to new uses, often
truth and honesty in architecture, so that all mate- accommodating their new uses better than the ones
rials and methods of construction had to be ex- they had originally been designed for. As Stanley
pressed for exactly what they are; plumbing was to Abercrombie pointed out in Architecture As Art,
be proudly displayed and bare light bulbs could dan- function and beauty had very little absolute
gle in the center of cubical white rooms. From this connection.51
root, too, came the evangelical zeal of spreading the Because of the unwavering faith in the possibil-
word to the “unenlightened,” so that International ities of technology, Western architects in the late
Modernism—and the Western cultural values that twentieth century, up to about the mid-1970s,
shaped it—were exported to all parts of the globe, stopped bothering to think about the interactive
irrespective of indigenous architectural cultures. relationship of a building with its climatic or envi-
Whether or not this exported architecture was ronmental setting. If a building was too hot or too
appropriate to local climatic conditions or social in- cold, it was simply a matter of fortifying the cooling
stitutions was never much considered. Gropius re- or heating equipment. If a new building material
vealed his upper-middle-class European chauvinism was required, the building-materials industry would
when he wrote that “on the whole, the necessities eagerly supply the need. As good capitalists, how-
of life are the same for the majority.”49 While this ever, these suppliers were more interested in the
was perhaps true in the 1920s among the German short-term expansion of their markets than in pro-
workers Gropius intended to house, that philosophy viding safe, stable, durable, and nontoxic materials.
was applied in such far-flung places as Pakistan, Whether a sealant, a plastic, or an adhesive would
Yemen, Kenya, Iran, Indonesia, and Malaysia, where last even as long as the mortgage on the building
sealed, glass-sheathed skyscrapers rose in searing was anyone’s guess.52
deserts and equatorial heat. Le Corbusier’s once- International Modernism was based on an im-
proud boast of devising “one building, for all nations plicit faith in deified Cartesian reason, in the ability
and climates” was actually attempted by the next of the human mind to perceive, analyze, and solve
generation of Modernists.50 In fact, emerging Third any problem—a faith that was deeply shaken in the
World countries, often because of the aspirations of third quarter of the twentieth century. To para-
their Western-educated political leaders, were eager phrase T. S. Eliot, things started falling apart.
to see these towers built as evidence of their arrival Where science had once been proclaimed the
in the international political arena. source of ultimate truth, it turned out also to be the
The early Modernists also believed fervently in a source of the ultimate threat, for science had made
kind of inverted Social Darwinism. They were con- easy the possibility of nuclear genocide. And even
vinced that if the physical architectural environment if global holocaust can be indefinitely held at bay,
were improved, if the crowded slums and congested the ever-accumulating toxins resulting from nu-
streets that were a legacy of past ages were swept clear power and industrial processing pose thorny
away and replaced by sleek, glazed housing blocks in problems. Hence, the poisonous by-products pro-
neat, rational rows, then crime and poverty would duced during the late twentieth century now pose
be lessened, even eradicated. Le Corbusier himself a danger to life that will endure for an eon, extend-
had asserted that, unless such “radiant cities” were ing into the future over a length of time equal to
built, the inevitable alternative was revolution. the ages elapsed since those first dwellings were
For all its seductive simplicity and beauty, Inter- built at Terra Amata.
national Modernism was based on a number of fun- In the end, ironically, the proponents of Canon-
damental fallacies. The most pervasive was that ical Modernism who had passionately searched for
function in architecture was simple and therefore crystalline architectural purity in the service of so-
as easily analyzed as in a linear industrial manufac- cial improvement, who had hoped to create an ar-
turing process. Ambiguity, surprise, and delight in chitecture beyond style and time, became the
architecture were disregarded as irrelevant, and cir- arrogant purveyors of what they were convinced
culation as a primary social function of architecture were timeless, revealed, fundamental, universal ar-
was also greatly undervalued and minimized. chitectural truths. Despite their lofty ideological
The Modernist insistence on the causative re- ambitions, however, what they created was simply
lationship between function and beauty was shown another historic style.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:16 PM Page 608

20.28. Norman Foster, Hong Kong Shanghai Bank, Hong Kong, 1979–1985. In such megastructures the expressive force of
engineering reaches its height. Photo: Ian Lambot/arcaid.co.uk.
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Chapter 20

The Expansion of Modernism

From the Twentieth Century into the Twenty-First

R
. . . architecture is not a science. It is still the same
the most appropriate for the twentieth century
(though there were some who pursued a more per-
great synthetic process of combining thousands of sonal design path). Aside from a few isolated exam-
definite human functions, and remains architecture. ples, such as the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society
Its purpose is still to bring the material world into Building in Philadelphia, this sort of modernism was
harmony with human life. To make architecture not widely embraced in the United States before
more human means better architecture, and it 1940. Then, during World War II, civilian building
means a functionalism much larger than the merely essentially ceased in Europe and the United States
technical one. This goal can be accomplished only between 1939 and 1945. After peace was achieved,
by architectural methods—by the creation and and the European émigrés such as Gropius and Mies
combination of different technical things in such van der Rohe among many others were established
a way that they will provide for the human being in the United States, industrially driven modernism
the most harmonious life. was embraced by corporate capitalism in this country
—Alvar Aalto, “The Humanizing of Architecture,” 1940 and, with the emergence of the United States as a
dominant economic and political power after the
I believe that today there is a need for images, for war, was exported around the globe.
emotion in architecture; a need for architecture to The earnest social utopianism of earlier European
speak once again to people, to become “presence” Modernism of the 1920s and ’30s, of early Gropius
once again, to become material, to reacquire a and Mies van der Rohe, was replaced after 1945 by a
meaning that can sometimes be erotic; a need to featureless standardized commercial aesthetic, exem-
reestablish a partnership with people, after decades plified by sleek, machine-like buildings, stripped of
in which architecture was so antiseptic, distant, traditional ornament. This corporate modernism ap-
after the International Style ruined all possibility peared in office and apartment towers, in suburban
of communication. office parks, schools, and shopping centers. As the
—Mario Botta, interview with Stuart Wrede, production of building assemblies also became stan-
in Mario Botta, 1986 dardized, modernism became increasingly cost-
R effective and was enthusiastically supported by the
financial and corporate worlds. As Diane Ghirardo
observed, it was not difficult to endlessly copy steel

I nternational Modernism or Canonical Modern-

ism, as defined by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and
Philip Johnson in 1932 in their momentous ex-
frames and glass curtain walls1 [20.1]. Nonetheless,
some postwar architects—Eero Saarinen, Jørn Utzon,
Le Corbusier, and others—shaped their Modernism
hibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, as a means of highly personal self-expression; and
was an architecture of normative standards, of other individuals and groups, such as Buckminster
sharp-edged industrial forms built of steel, concrete, Fuller, Superstudio in Italy, the Archigram Group in
and glass, an architecture that rejected the use of ax- England, and the Metabolists in Japan, created what
ially directed space in favor of random movement. Ghirardo has described as “hyper-celebrations of the
By the late 1930s this aesthetic was being champi- supposedly liberating possibilities of endless techno-
oned by architectural journals and by many archi- logical development” that “swept away any tedious
tects who were convinced that this architecture was connection with reality.”2

609
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610 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

20.1. Sixth Avenue at 50th Street, New York,

NY. The hard sterility of the mid-twentieth
century is evident here, with repeated glass-
sheathed boxes reflecting each other, seemingly
unendingly. Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto.
All rights reserved.

Modernism literally began to show cracks by the Modernism and the misguided aims of Modernist
1970s and even to fail in spectacular and horrific urban planning and urban renewal. First appeared
ways. One highly visible example, as already noted, Jane Jacob’s The Death and Life of Great American
was the self-destructing windows of the incomplete Cities (1961), which attacked the Modernist no-
John Hancock Tower in the mid-1970s. Another tions of rebuilding blighted urban areas and re-
was the failure of Modernist planning principles in placing living neighborhoods with sterile high-rise
the service of urban renewal of the 1950s that pro- towers. Hassan Fathy’s Gourna: A Tale of Two Vil-
duced the social collapse of the Pruitt-Igoe housing lages (1969) exposed the unsuitability of Western
complex in Saint Louis, precipitating its dramatic Modernism in solving housing issues in developing
demolition in July 1972. Far more serious, however, countries such as Egypt. Also highly critical was
was the structural failure of elevated walkways in Aldo Rossi’s The Architecture of the City (1966). Per-
the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri, haps the smallest book had the greatest impact in
built in 1978–1980. The collapse, which occurred redirecting the course of modern design. This was
just about a year after the building was completed, the “gentle manifesto,” Robert Venturi’s slender
was due both to the minimalist structural detailing volume entitled Complexity and Contradiction in Ar-
so as to be virtually invisible and also to the con- chitecture (1966), which addressed the lack of com-
struction methods of suspending the aerial atrium municated meaning in Modernist architecture. This
walkways. This disaster, the single worst American small but richly illustrated book was the result of de-
building failure arising solely from architectural cades of reflection on what Venturi (born 1925) had
design and the engineering of the construction studied during two years at the American Academy
process, was the direct result of the Modernist im- in Rome. He came to see that buildings from the
pulse to appear to defy gravity.3 past (and there was no shortage of examples in
Well before these building failures, however, dur- Rome)—both famous monumental architecture as
ing the mid-1960s there appeared several books well as ordinary vernacular buildings—were admired
challenging the increasingly empty character of and cared for in proportion to their degree of com-
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Postmodernism Emerges 611

plexity and layered meanings. Such buildings were deal of critical attention. His initial experiment in
double coded, he suggested, with multiple and this new mix of new and old was a house for his
sometimes contradictory intentions. What archi- mother, in the inner suburbs of Philadelphia, but
tects had to rediscover, he argued, was how to create his first public demonstration of this philosophy was
a modern architecture that drew from the structure provided in an apartment house for elderly Quak-
and materials modernists had developed in the early ers, Guild House, Philadelphia, 1960–1965 [20.2,
part of the twentieth century, while also incorporat- 20.3]. The plan was complex, contained in a block
ing ornament and visual references to the past and that stepped back from the entrance at the side-
to local tradition. Architects had to avoid “either- walk; the individual apartments, therefore, had ir-
or” formulaic design solutions in favor of “both-and” regular floor plans similar to those in apartment
solutions in search of “the difficult whole,” as he put blocks of the 1920s. The red brick exterior was
it. What Venturi proposed in this new design ap- based on the surrounding ordinary brick industrial
proach to counter the blandness of Modernism was buildings of this dense urban setting. Yet Venturi
Postmodernism, as it was labeled by subsequent the- also suggested the organization of a Classical build-
oretical writers though Venturi did not use the term ing in the white tile base and the band of white
himself.4 glazed brick that sets off an attic story. The broad
segmental window of the upper lounge recalled
Classical pediments, and there was even ornament
Postmodernism Emerges provided in the gold-plated television antenna at
Coming out of his teaching at the University of the very center; it was, in fact, a symbolic antenna,
Pennsylvania from 1954 to 1965, Venturi’s “coun- since in those pre-cable television days the real
terrevolutionary” principles were manifested in sev- working antenna was at the back of the building.
eral of his early buildings, which attracted a great Venturi found a way to combine abstract references

20.2. Venturi and Rauch with Cope and Lippincott, Vanna Venturi house, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
1959–1964. In the early 1960s, when the minimalism of International Modernism was still dominant, Venturi composed a
modest house for his mother that incorporated in abstracted form a classical pediment, articulated by decorative moldings.
Photo: Courtesy of Venturi, Scott Brown, and Associates.
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612 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

20.3. Venturi and Rauch with Cope and Lippincott, Guild House, Philadelphia, 1960–1965. Venturi and his associates
designed this apartment block to fit in with the surrounding industrial lofts and warehouses. Photo: Courtesy of Venturi,
Scott Brown & Associates.

to traditional ornament and Classical form, and yet Ironic Classicalism but to the collected and contin-
accommodate function in a building that endeav- uing reaction worldwide to the reductivism of mid-
ored to become integrated within its immediate en- twentieth-century Canonical Modernism.
vironment. Venturi’s Guild House suggested the Following Venturi’s example, other architects
possibilities of referring to the long-standing Clas- pursued parallel paths, in a spreading movement that
sical traditions of Western architecture, particularly bifurcated repeatedly in the next several decades,
in older cities like Philadelphia. producing many variants of Postmodernism, leading
Venturi, and the Postmodernists inspired by him, to a puzzling multiplicity of design alternatives.
rejected aspects of Canonical Modernism while In the late 1980s, Robert A. M. Stern (born 1939)
simultaneously making their buildings referential— began examining these various modes of Postmod-
addressing context and tradition, giving architec- ernism, suggesting the beginnings of a taxonomical
ture a civic meaning beyond the esoteric formal tree of variants (at least those generally deriving
concerns that appealed only to a handful of similarly from classicism) that helps to place these many di-
inclined architects. In fact, Venturi’s Postmodernism verse design approaches into an understandable pat-
could be seen as a later variant of the Academic tern.5 The categories devised by Stern included:
Eclecticism prevalent at the turn of the nineteenth
century. • Ironic Classicism (as illustrated by the work of
For some observers, the term Postmodern has the Americans Venturi and Charles Moore)
been limited to meaning the over-scaled classical • Latent Classicism (Mario Botta in Switzerland,
detailing and playful irony used by Venturi, Moore, Kevin Roche in the United States)
Stern, and Graves in the 1960s and ’70s. All of these • Fundamentalist Classicism (Aldo Rossi in Italy,
architects moved on to other design approaches, Rafael Moneo in Spain)
and yet all of their work, as well as the many differ- • Canonic Classicism, essentially the continua-
ent reactions to modernism yet to be discussed, can tion of nineteenth-century Academic Classi-
be gathered under the overall umbrella of Postmod- cism (Quinlin Terry in England, Christian
ernism as a term referring not to a specific style of Langlois in France)
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Postmodernism Emerges 613

• Modern Traditionalism (Stern himself, Michael isting buildings, is paved to show a map of the boot
Graves, Thomas Gordon Smith) of Italy (with Sicily at the very center); the edge of
the piazza rises in steps toward a Palladian door
Other writers and critics, among them Charles centered in a semicircular Corinthian colonnade
Jencks, James Steele, and W.J.R. Curtis, have since [Plate 13]. Highly colored and ringed with neon
offered their own interpretations and expanded on tubing, the “Classical” capitals are impishly ren-
Stern’s list of stylistic modes.6 dered in chrome steel; jets of water sprout from un-
expected places, such as the abstracted leaves of
the Corinthian capitals.
Ironic Classicism Whimsical allusion was also intrinsic to Hans
The term Postmodernism became nearly synony- Hollein’s Austrian Travel Agency headquarters in
mous with the early work of Robert Venturi or Vienna, 1978–1979. Since this is a place where
Charles Moore in 1970s. This initial form of Post- travelers come to dream of romantic escapes, the
modernism was based on interpreted “quotations” lobby is filled with allusions to faraway places—
of classical ornamental details. Comparable to the tropical palm columns with the metal fronds, a
eclectic architects starting in the mid-eighteenth Moghul Indian pavilion, a fragment of a pyramid,
century, so too these mid-twentieth-century archi- a Classical column whose broken shaft is trans-
tects wished their building to be conveyors of formed into a gleaming chrome cylinder. Other
meaning. In the case of the Ironic Classicists, it was fragments refer to automobiles, ships, and planes,
often a sarcastic or deliberately whimsical message. all covered by a curved milk-glass vault recalling
Robert Venturi was among the very first to use this the similar glass-vaulted banking room of Otto
approach, in the Guild House apartment building Wagner’s Postal Savings Bank, 1904–1906, which
noted previously, and even earlier in the residence stands a few blocks away.
for his mother. The Vanna Venturi house, in Chest- Such flights of fancy and tongue-in-cheek allu-
nut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1959–1964, sions work best in buildings of festive function.
with its broken gable roof and suggested classical Much more difficult is ironic allusion in buildings of
moldings recalled traditional gable house roof forms more serious public service. This dilemma was evi-
while at the same time alluding to the broken-scroll dent in the first major American Postmodern public
pediments so often used in eighteenth-century building, Michael Graves’s Portland Building for
doorway surrounds in Philadelphia. the City of Portland, Oregon, 1978–1982 [20.4].
The first international public demonstration of Graves was responding to the adjoining subdued
Postmodernism was in the exhibition held in Venice Neoclassical Portland City Hall, 1893, in his enor-
in 1980, the prestigious Biennale. The theme cho- mous abstracted column forms, swags, garlands, and
sen for that year was “The Presence of the Past,” three-story keystone. Yet for all the architect’s writ-
and within the large hall used for the exhibition, ten assertions and visual intimations that this was a
twenty invited architects contributed facades along return to the gracious public architecture of the turn
the “Strada Nouvissima” exploring this theme. of the century, the gesture rings hollow, for the or-
Among them were such American architects as nament is painted plaster and not marble, the en-
Charles Moore, Robert Venturi, and Robert A. M. trances are constricted and not inviting, and the
Stern; Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill; and Vien- interior public spaces are cramped and not gener-
nese architect Hans Hollein. It is striking how many ous. Countering Graves’s claim that this building
designs were classically derived, ranging from the was unique to its site, the four facades are suffi-
personally idiosyncratic to virtual Neoclassicism. ciently alike that the building could be turned in
Clearly, both European and American architects any direction. Postmodernism is bold and, as here,
were ready to employ ornament once again, and often audacious, but the results are often mannered
several in a whimsical, creative way. and more than a little grotesque. Caprice and wit
Along with Venturi and Stern, Charles Moore are to be welcomed in architecture, but in much
was another American architect who early ex- early Postmodernism the result all too often was a
plored Ironic Classicism, and nowhere more whim- modern idiom that had been changed, put in new
sically than in his controversial and intriguing fancy dress, but not necessarily improved.
design for the Piazza d’Italia in New Orleans, Once the most prominent American champion
Louisiana, 1975–1980. This was commissioned of Modernism, and the man largely responsible for
specifically as a gathering place for New Orleans’s Mies van der Rohe leaving Germany and settling
small Sicilian community, especially on the feast in the United States, Philip Johnson (with John
day of Saint Joseph. The piazza, fitted in among ex- Burgee) moved decidedly into the camp of the
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614 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

20.4. Michael Graves, Portland Building, Portland, Oregon, 1978–1982. In this office block, Graves tried to make a visual
connection to the Renaissance-inspired turn-of-the-century City Hall next door (1895) and also to evoke turn-of-the-century
twentieth-century public architecture. Photo: Dallas Swogger, Portland.

Ironic Classicists in the design of a major corporate posed building: the budget was to be big, the build-
office tower in New York. Johnson’s granite-clad ing design had to be unique (immediately suggest-
AT&T building, 1978–1983 [20.5], has a Classical ing to Johnson a highly distinctive crown at the
loggia base and a so-called Chippendale top that top), and stone was to be used as a sheathing ma-
make clear allusions to such New York skyscrapers terial (a marked departure from the metal exterior
of the 1920s as Warren & Wetmore’s New York of Mies’s towers). In particular, deButts instructed
Central Building (Helmsley Building), 1929, just a Johnson, “we would like the building to say, loud
few blocks to the south. Here it was the unequivo- and clear, ‘We love New York.’”7
cal instructions of the client that determined the Johnson’s over-scaled broken pediment crown
essential character of the design. In 1975, in the for the AT&T Building is easily identifiable, and in
first discussions with Johnson, John deButts, then the 1980s one had only to say to the ordinary New
CEO of AT&T, laid out several criteria for the pro- Yorker on the street, “Oh, you know, the building
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Postmodernism Emerges 615

that looks like a piece of furniture,” and that person are widely recognizable. A good example is found in
would understand precisely which structure you the Team Disney Building (a corporate office head-
were referring to. Johnson at least made corporate quarters building) in Burbank, California, by the of-
architecture fun to look at again, and the subject fice of Michael Graves, 1985–1991 [20.6]. Using
of common discourse—even if the final result, in what had now become his signature color palette—
the long term, seemed curiously hollow and devoid buff, cream, terra cotta red-brown, and turquoise—
of deeper significance. Michael Graves devised a broad four-story building
capped by an expansive pediment (the rear wall
glazed within the defining cornices). The pediment
Populist Modernism is visibly supported from below by six nineteen-foot
When it first appeared, many critics of Postmod- caryatid figures, representing the principal dwarfs
ernist architecture, particularly those with a limited from Disney’s animated film Snow White, while the
sense of humor, accused designers of seeking to seventh and smallest dwarf, Dopey, stands within
reach the lowest common denominator among the the pediment and lifts the ridge of the pediment.
public. In fact this was exactly what some architects Other similar buildings by Graves for the Disney
did seek to achieve in a special genre called by James organization include the paired tourist hotels—
Steele “Populist Modernism” or, alternatively, “Nov- the Dolphin and the Swan—outside Walt Disney
elty Architecture” (not included in Stern’s analysis World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, each sur-
since it does not draw from the classical tradition). mounted by enormous figures of their namesake.
In this approach, architectural images are used that This was Graves at perhaps his most whimsical.

20.5. Philip Johnson, AT&T

Building, New York, NY,
1978–1983. In this corporate
headquarters building, Johnson
used bold ornament and pattern,
recalling similar New York
skyscrapers of the 1920s.
Photo: Richard Payne.
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616 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

20.6. Michael Graves, Team Disney Corporate Headquarters, Burbank, California, 1986. Populist Postmodern architecture
typically incorporates imagery immediately recognized by the mass public, such as the Seven Dwarfs in this Disney office
building. Photo: © Jeff Goldberg/Esto. All rights reserved. Disney characters © Disney.

Other examples of so-called populism in the has been less evident in Europe (the difficulties of
United States include the themed resorts built dur- the EuroDisney theme park outside Paris being an
ing the roaring 1990s in Las Vegas, Nevada, such as example, since authentic examples of the “themed”
the New York–New York Hotel and Casino Resort architecture rise all about them), it has been very
complex by Gaskin and Bezanski with Yates and popular in Japan, as illustrated by the enormous and
Silverman, 1994–1997. Its New York City skyline of brightly colored combination hotel, commercial and
bundled miniatures of the Empire State Building, entertainment complex called Canal City Hakata in
Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty is well known. Fukuoka, 1996, by the Jon Jerde Partnership.
Another was the Luxor of 1992–1993 with its huge At a somewhat more serious level and for knowl-
stark black glass pyramid, fronted by an enormous edgeable architecture students, Philip Johnson did
sphinx. This was followed by the Venetian Resort something comparable, returning to an iconic build-
Hotel Casino, Las Vegas, 1996–1999, marked exter- ing project for the architecture school at the Uni-
nally by a reduced replica of the sixteenth-century versity of Houston, Texas, named for Gerald D.
Campanile bell tower in Venice, Italy, together with Hines, one of Johnson’s principal clients in Houston.
canals through the grounds, and elaborate interiors Johnson based his design very closely on the idealist
suggesting those of the Palace of the Doges in “House of Education” (Maison d’Éducation) pub-
Venice. This use of populist imagery, labeled the lished by Claude Nicolas Ledoux in 1804, an exam-
phenomenon of “theming” by critic Louise Hux- ple of Ledoux’s functionally expressive l’architecture
table, became widespread in the United States for parlent [20.7]. In adapting this model for an archi-
high-profile restaurants and resorts. Even when the tectural school, Johnson was compounding the ref-
theme is not kitsch, it can become over-the-top par- erence, creating what might be called l’architecture
ody of late or high-tech modernism. While theming parlent redux.
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Postmodernism Emerges 617

to this group typically opted for balanced symmet-

Latent Classicism rical, often axial compositions.
While some architects in the 1970s such as Stern Among the American architects who turned in
and Moore clearly enjoyed the bemusement caused this direction is Kevin Roche, as well illustrated
by the irony of some of their designs, other archi- in his General Foods Headquarters building, in sub-
tects were carefully avoiding the mocking whimsy urban Rye, New York, 1977–1983 [20.8]. The ma-
of Ironic Classicism, seeking instead a generic clas- terials and building methods clearly derive from
sical balance and order in their Postmodern work. Canonical Modernism, but the composition is axial,
Unlike the Ironic Classicists they were not espe- and the central pavilion hints at a dome. Another
cially interested in semiotics, in making the build- architect who merged clarity of form with a decid-
ing a sign referring to something else. They were edly direct statement of building materials is the
certainly not interested in whimsical humor, for as Swiss architect Mario Botta (born 1943). To these
they were well aware nothing goes flatter faster qualities Botta has added a primal imagery that
than a joke; they were seeking a more timeless makes his buildings look very old and yet new, as
quality. Robert Stern described latent classicism in a house in Viganello, Switzerland, 1981–1982
as an attempt to marry the technologically driven [20.9]. The precision of form and the careful han-
aesthetic of Modernism with the composition prin- dling of brick and concrete block clearly reveal
ciples of Classicism; it employs “a kind of erased Botta’s debts to his two mentors, Le Corbusier and
Classical language, in which the traces, outlines, especially Louis I. Kahn (he worked briefly for both
and impressions of the constructionally based forms men). But Botta moved away from the nonreferen-
remain, but the ornamental detail, whether in the tial abstraction of their work, seeking forms that
decorative of an order or in idiosyncratic nuance, echo images dwelling deep in the human sub-
is eliminated.”8 Accordingly, architects belonging conscious, endeavoring to make an “architecture to

20.7. Philip Johnson, University of Houston School of Architecture, Houston, Texas, 1982–1985. One wonders what
message was meant for the students housed in a building that was essentially a realization of a project of Claude-Nicolas
Ledoux of two centuries earlier. Photo: Richard Payne.
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618

20.8. Kevin Roche, General Foods Headquarters, Rye, New York, 1977–1983. Latent Classicism incorporates a
fundamental order, often based on bilateral symmetry, but couched in a language of modern building technology.
Photo: Courtesy of Kevin Roche.

20.9. Mario Botta, house,

Viganello, Switzerland, 1981–1982.
Botta’s early buildings, emphasizing
dramatic geometric order, were
created with the simplest of building
materials and construction
techniques. Photo: Alo Zanetta.
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Postmodernism Emerges 619

speak once again to people.”9 This impulse to care- These architects were in search of a reduced Classi-
fully reveal the building process and the component cism that was timeless. Comparatively few American
materials is found in his later work as well—for ex- architects turned in this direction, although the early
ample, his Evry Cathedral, Evry, France, 1995, with work of architects Andrés Duany and Elizabeth
its precision brick work—and in his Museum of Plater-Zyberk—such as their Galen Medical Build-
Modern Art for San Francisco, California, 1994. ing in Boca Raton, Florida, 1981–1983—can be
Later work along the same lines includes his Petra placed in this category. This husband and wife part-
Winery, Suvereto, Tuscany, Italy, 1999–2003, with nership would later become far better known, how-
its pure cylinder cut by symmetrical narrow window ever, for their planning activities.
bands, and his Leeum-Samsung Museum of Art in Perhaps the archetypal representative of this de-
Seoul, South Korea, 1995–2004, with its crisply sign approach is the Italian architect Aldo Rossi,
modeled banded brick. seen in his early work such as the Cemetery for
Modena, Italy, 1971–1976, as much as in his later
building such as the austere Hotel Il Palazzo, in
Fundamental or Fukuoka, Japan, 1989 [20.10]. What Stern identi-
Essentialist Classicism fied as Fundamental or Essentialist Classicism is
Other architects moved toward even more ab- nearly the same as what James Steele calls “Mini-
stracted form, “seeking to reduce buildings to the malism.” Some of the architects Steele places in this
purest geometrical constructs, in an effort to achieve category are Tadao Ando of Japan, as represented
‘natural’ essential truths,” as described by Stern.10 in his Koshino house, Tokyo, Japan, 1981, or the

20.10. Aldo Rossi, Hotel Il Palazzo,

Fukuoka, Japan, 1989. Rossi’s Il
Pallazo Hotel, part of the upscale
redevelopment of the city of
Fukuoka, makes generalized stylistic
references to elemental classical
forms. Photo: Uchida Design and
Nacasa & Partners.
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620 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

20.11. Herzog & de Meuron, Goetz Art Gallery, Munich, Germany, 1989–1992. The austere and pristine glass box
of the Goetz Art Gallery is an excellent example of the minimalist architecture of the 1990s. Photo: Margherita Spiluttini,
Schonlaterngasse 8, A–1010 Vienna, Austria.

Buddhist temple addition called the Water Temple, the opposite direction, insisting that eighteenth-
on Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, 1990, in century Neoclassicism is the true and proper lan-
both of which pure circular or cylindrical forms fig- guage of Western modern architecture, and they
ure importantly. This minimalism is simply and di- strived to stay close to the established standards, or
rectly communicated in the small Goetz Art Gallery canon, of forms and details, while introducing only
in Munich, Germany, the work of the Swiss archi- minimal modern modifications. Where the Funda-
tects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, built in mentalists/Minimalists see truth emerging from
1989–1992. Set in a flat lawn framed by trees, this their return to elemental form, the Canonic Clas-
gallery for a private art collector has been described sicists see immutable truth embodied in age-old hu-
as “a cool platonic box” forming “a perfectly neutral manist architectural forms and ideals. In the view
container, against which the art can be appreci- of Greek-born and London-based architect and
ated.”11 Viewed from the exterior, a middle opaque theorist Demetri Porphyrios, “classicism is not a
band floats above an etched-glass-enclosed ground style; it transcends the vicissitudes of time and fash-
floor, echoed by a similar etched-glass clerestory ion as an enduring set of principles and in those
band at the top [20.11]. things we call classical we recognize a kind of time-
less present that is contemporaneous and at ease
with every historical period.” He goes on to say that
Canonic Classicism the “classical order makes us see the immutable
If the Fundamentalists/Minimalists rejected mod- laws of nature by means of tectonic fiction.”12 Por-
ernism by moving toward pure abstract geometric phyrios made these theories tangible in his build-
form, the Canonical Classicists moved precisely in ings for the new town extension of Pitiousa on the
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Postmodernism Emerges 621

island of Spetses, Greece, 1993–1996, designed in reception rooms for the US State Department in the
a generalized Mediterranean vernacular. Executive Office Building, Washington, DC, built
One particularly early expression of this Neoclas- in 1984. He accomplished this using a meticulously
sical revivalism was the first Getty Museum (now crafted Composite Corinthian order taken directly
called the Getty Villa) built in the hills of Malibu, from the portico of the Pantheon in Rome. Compa-
California, a literal re-creation of the Roman Villa rable to the mastery achieved by classicist architects
dei Papiri, outside Pompeii, destroyed by Mount trained a century earlier at the École des Beaux-
Vesuvius. The replica was built in 1970–1975, de- Arts, Greenberg was able to subtly modify the order,
signed by architects Robert Langdon and Ernest C. substituting for the rosette customarily resting
Wilson of Los Angeles, with archaeological advice by between the capital volutes an adaptation of the
Dr. Norman Neuerberg13 [20.12]. Shortly afterward, heraldic seal of the United States [20.13]. In a new
when the much larger Getty Center complex was de- building housing two newspaper operations in
signed by Richard Meier for Brentwood, Los Angeles, Athens, Georgia, Greenberg turned to strict Grecian
a far different architectural language was used. classicism, providing the main public entry through
Among the many architects who have champi- a massive hexastyle pedimented portico. In an inte-
oned Canonic Classicism, Allan Greenberg in the rior lobby his Greek details are precise, accurate to
United States and Quinlan Terry in Great Britain the point of being brilliantly painted as Greek tem-
can be singled out; both have returned to the clas- ples originally were [Plate 31].
sicism of the eighteenth century for wholly new Quinlan Terry, in adding the Maitland Robin-
work, even when not necessarily indicated by im- son Library to Downing College, Cambridge Uni-
mediate context. Terry, in fact, published in 1981 a versity, Cambridge, England, in 1992, chose to
well-argued defense of his use of eighteenth-century closely associate his new building to the strict
classicism in an essay, “Seven Misunderstandings Greek Revival classicism of its original buildings by
About Classical Architecture.”14 Greenberg was William Wilkins, 1804–1821 [20.14]. Terry used
charged with providing ten appropriate meeting and an exacting Greek Doric order, employing a strict

20.12. Langdon and Wilson, with Dr. Norman Neuerberg, J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California, 1970–1975. To
house the Getty Museum (and according to Getty’s personal direction), the architects meticulously re-created a Roman villa
that had been buried outside Pompeii in AD 79. Photo: L. M. Roth.
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622 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

20.13. Allan Greenberg,

Diplomatic Reception
Rooms, US Department of
State, Washington, DC,
1984. Inspired by specific
Classical models, Greenberg
slightly modified the
Corinthian order, strictly
within the guidelines of the
Classical canon, introducing
an American bald eagle in
place of the upper rosette of
the capital. Photo: Courtesy
of Allan Greenberg.

canonical correctness not seen for nearly a century pushed to the forefront of a neo-conservative
and a half. Moreover, in the metope panels he in- movement “which imagined that ‘taste’ and ‘tradi-
corporated relief sculpture reflecting the contents tional values’ might somehow restore national
of the library, including one sculpted panel showing glory.”15 At its emptiest, such recollections from the
a radio telescope. For a redevelopment of a stretch past result in the kind of architecture critiqued in
along the Thames outside London, to house a mix 1985 by Charles Newman:
of offices, shops, and restaurants—the Richmond
Riverside Development, 1985–1987—Terry assem- What we invariably end up with is a gesture
bled a series of period London facades, ranging of historical pathos without content; the res-
from the Georgian to the Regency periods (1700– toration of historical images with no coordi-
1810), artfully varied and balanced, but behind nates . . . testimony not to a new eclecticism but
them the rooms are rather plain late-twentieth- merely to the artist’s erudition. What we have
century examples of commercial Modernism. recently—in painting, music, and architecture,
To those not sharing views like Porphyrios’s, no less than in literature, in opposition to an un-
such canonical and exacting revivalism seems hol- critical rejection of the past . . . —is an uncritical
low and out of its time, and accordingly such critics reception, an all-embracing nostalgia, in which
see not authenticity but vacuity. As William Curtis all historical styles are dredged up simultane-
notes, Terry, who had been pursuing a modest if ously, history as gesture to a “pastness” which
dull classical practice, suddenly found himself disguises the real pain of history and the struggle
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Postmodernism Emerges 623

for knowledge. The ideology of making it new interiors so eviscerated a half-century ago. Even en-
becomes the ideology of making it (sort of ) old. tirely new churches are being designed in this man-
As Modernism has become the respectable cul- ner, in what is viewed by some as the proper spirit
ture, “tradition” becomes the Avant-garde.16 of a church as a sacred place, crafted to be appro-
priate to their particular setting. A good example
Yet there are many others who see the return to is Stroik’s chapel for Saint Thomas Aquinas, Santa
Renaissance classicism not as false posturing but as Paula, California, 2003–2009, a reflection of the
a return to reason, clarity, a fundamental truth. This coastal California mission churches established by
view is particularly common among those today Fray Junípero Serra, with churches built by Father
who react against Modernist Catholic churches Fermín Francisco de Lasuén in the eighteenth cen-
they describe as “Ugly As Sin,” as discussed in a tury [Plate 32].
book of the same title.17 In many cases, as the
twenty-first century opens, parishioners who believe
that their churches were stripped of their nine- Creative Postmodern Traditionalism
teenth-century or early-twentieth-century historic As Postmodernism continued to develop in the
detail in favor of then-fashionable “googie” mod- 1980s and ’90s, and as the early clever self-
ernist renovations during the 1960s and ’70s are consciousness of Ironic Classicism faded from view,
turning now to architects such as Duncan G. Stroik many of the early protagonists such as Robert
to replace the altars, baptismal fonts, even entire Venturi and Robert A. M. Stern moved toward a

20.14. Quinlan Terry, Maitland Robinson Library, Downing College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, 1992.
The Robinson Library incorporates the massive ancient Greek Doric order, a response to the Neoclassicism of the original
Downing College buildings by William Wilkins. Photo: © Dennis Gilbert/View Pictures.
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624 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

20.15. Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates, Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery of Art, London, England, 1985–1991.
While clearly drawing inspiration from the Classicism of the adjacent original mid-nineteenth-century gallery, the Venturi and
Scott Brown addition at the same time uses the Corinthian order in playfully inventive ways. Photo: Courtesy of Venturi,
Scott Brown, & Associates.

Postmodern classicism that was less self-referential classicism he describes] and best renders archi-
and whimsical, and endeavored to consider more tecture capable of achieving in our time the in-
the essential character of the context in which they tegrative role it enjoyed in its most illustrious
were building. Here again Stern framed a useful periods.
definition, writing that “Modern Traditionalism”
(as he labeled it) “attempts a synthesis, trying to Most important, for Stern, this Creative Postmod-
reach a level of architectural discourse in which the ern Traditionalism results in an architecture that
representation is not necessarily ironic, types and once again “is conceived of as a collective public
ordering systems do not preclude the picturesque, entity, built up over time, continuing a dialogue
and styles are seen as evolving dialects within a with the past in the present.”18
common language.” In seeking such a synthesis and Contextual and site response was the key to
advocating a stylistically eclectic approach, Stern the Sainsbury Wing that Robert Venturi and his
admits, this broadly creative Postmodern Tradition- associates added to the National Gallery, London,
alism, exposes itself to 1985–1991 [20.15]. Venturi took his cues from
Wilkins’s adjoining National Gallery, 1832–1837,
charges of cultural, technological, and aesthetic holding to the same cornice line, using the same
opportunism, of “bourgeois” surrender to the Corinthian plaster order, but manipulating the po-
tastes and production methods of consumer sitions of the pilasters in a freer, more sculptural
capitalism. Yet, for me at least [Stern contin- way. Particularly important, Venturi did not try to
ues], Modern Traditionalism offers the most upstage Wilkins’s National Gallery. Another splen-
optimistic and accommodating of all the points did example, small, convincing, but short-lived,
of view [among the five variants of Postmodern were the Observatory Hill Dining Hall additions at
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Postmodernism Emerges 625

the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, of them was made by the university. In the official
by Robert Stern in 1982–1984 [20.16]. The exist- environmental impact report prepared for the uni-
ing dining hall, built just ten years earlier, was al- versity, the assessment was that “this project will
ready too small and Stern was engaged to attach not impact local historic resources. Observatory
additional dining pavilions on both the north and Hill Dining Hall in and of itself is not a significant
south sides of the existing facility. Stern retained historic structure nor are any of the surrounding
the red brick and, on the south side where the structures, all of which are less than 50 years old.”20
ground fell away, used the substantial white classi- Despite this snub, Stern continues to design using
cal Tuscan Doric orders favored by Jefferson in his a contextual response, as seen in a building for a
nearby buildings. Stern kept the scale of the dining different university with its own venerable classical
hall additions low, creating a building friendly to- tradition: for the Mason School of Business at the
ward and worthy of Jefferson’s original campus, College of William & Mary, Stern’s office designed
yet clearly not a replica of anything Jefferson had a Georgian-inspired building, hip-roofed and sur-
designed.19 By 2000, however, further growth of mounted by a tall narrow cupola (recalling the orig-
the student body required nearly doubling the inal structure of 1695 that housed the college),
space of the dining hall, and, with no space avail- 2010–2012.
able (allegedly), the proposed solution was to build In another building type that he made par-
a wholly new facility adjacent to the existing facility ticularly his own—the shingled summer seaside
and then demolish and re-landscape the grounds house—Stern studied carefully the early houses of
where Stern’s pavilions had been built just a decade late-nineteenth-century American architects such
earlier. Curiously, despite the care with which Stern as McKim, Mead & White, Peabody & Stearns, and
had made his additions, no particular recognition John Calvin Stevens. It should be noted, moreover,

20.16. Robert A. M. Stern, Observatory Hill Dining Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1982–1984,
demolished c. 2005. Elevating the dining rooms because of the sloping site, Stern uses brick arches and white Roman Tuscan
Doric columns in an innovative way sympathetic to Jefferson’s original campus buildings. Photo: Whitney Cox.
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626 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

that Stern was an architecture student at Yale in the that summons visions of the hypnotic arches re-
1960s when Vincent Scully was there, defining the peated row after row in the Islamic Mosque of Cór-
American Shingle Style, the building tradition to doba. Such a response to a broad cultural context
which Stern has returned again and again as a foun- marks Moneo’s work, not simply by alluding in ob-
tainhead of inspiration. This can be seen clearly in vious ways to adjoining buildings but also by making
Stern’s shingled house at Chilmark, Martha’s Vine- a multilayered connection to a more encompassing
yard, Massachusetts, 1979–1983, inspired by the history. In the Roman Museum, Moneo navigated
Low house by McKim, Mead & White, 1885–1886. the difficult path between dry classical revivalism
While Stern’s classicism at the University of Vir- and the empty theatrics of Postmodern imagery, cre-
ginia had been inventive, if somewhat literal, other ating a strong but varied formal tectonic order that
architects have devised more abstract ways of re- achieves timelessness.
sponding to site and context. One good illustration Equally creative, but in a different direction, was
is Rafael Moneo’s National Museum of Roman Art one of the last buildings completed by James Stirling
in Mérida, Spain, 1980–1986 [Plate 33]. Moneo’s (1924–1992): the Neue Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart,
work illustrates well the explosion of creative energy Germany, 1977–1983. Having begun his career
in Spanish architecture that erupted following the doing work described by Reyner Banham as “Bru-
end of Fascist repression with the death of Gener- talist,” with its celebration of rough building mate-
alissimo Franco in 1975. It is surely significant that rials in deliberately crude construction, Stirling
many of the Spanish architects leading this reinvig- quickly established his leading position in British
orated late-twentieth- and twenty-first- century re- architecture with the bold design of the Leicester
surgence came out of the Escola Tècnica Superior University Engineering Building, 1959–1963, with
d’Arquitectura of Barcelona, one of whom was its metal, glass, and brick construction honoring the
Moneo. Educated in Madrid and Barcelona, Moneo dynamic building forms of the Russian Construc-
(born 1937) pursued further study in Rome and this tivists in the 1920s. Stirling’s career flagged some-
strongly affected his work, particularly his sense of what in the later 1960s and early 1970s but then was
the permanence and materiality of ancient Roman significantly boosted with the commission for the
architecture. This interest in making connections Neue Staatsgalerie. To be built next to the existing
to the past found its strongest expression in what and exceptionally bland nineteenth-century Neo-
is arguably Moneo’s masterpiece, the Roman Mu- classical city art gallery, Stirling’s addition became
seum at Mérida, 1980–1986. Mérida—originally the the principal focus [Plate 34]. Employing honey-
Roman military colony of Augusta Emerita, founded colored sandstone and travertine in banded ma-
in 25 BC—had lost or covered up much of its sonry walls, Stirling made reference to the adjoining
ancient history. Moneo’s museum was to be built older building, but in a more informal, terraced com-
over an excavation, with tall, spacious galleries for position descending the sloped site. References to
displaying Roman antiquities and revealing the the neighboring Neoclassicism are made through
bases of the exposed Roman walls. Essentially, the stout abstracted Doric columns, while the central
museum consists of a series of parallel concrete di- circular rotunda court, open to the sky in the middle
aphragm walls, opened up by aligned arched open- of the plan, presents the negative image of Karl
ings. The structural concrete walls are covered with Friedrich Schinkel’s plan for the Altes Museum in
thin Roman brick of a warm sienna color, with three Berlin. Against these references to the previous cen-
concentric rows of voussoir brick in each arc. At tury, Stirling balanced the use of Le Corbusier–like
certain times of the day, shafts of light fall across the ramps that create a path through the building mass
brick walls, accentuating the displayed objects. The with contrasting aspects of high-tech twentieth-
criticism that the brick obscures the true structure century industrial Modernism. He incorporated an
of concrete fails to take into account that the Ro- undulating glass wall with green glazing bars, bright
mans themselves covered their concrete building pink and blue metal railings, and brilliantly red steel
masses with colorful stone veneers, or even lined supports for the external glass canopies. In time,
their formwork with brick that then became in- vines will drape over the stone walls, and this, to-
tegrated into the final wall. Moneo’s brick work gether with randomly placed, seemingly dislodged
reflects the city’s Roman history and, at the same stones, will suggest a discovered ruin and bring to-
time, echoes the tall brick arches in Josep Fronserè’s gether the many elements of Stirling’s sweeping his-
Reservoir Building in Barcelona, 1874–1880, thus torical yet modern collage.
linking the distant Roman past with a more recent Another historical mixture is the Harold Wash-
Spanish past (although at some distance to the ington Library Center in Chicago, Illinois, 1987–
east). In the lower levels of the Mérida museum 1991, by Hammond, Beeby, and Babka [20.17].
there is the sense of a vast hall of repeated arches This facility, the centerpiece of the Chicago public
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627

20.17. Hammond, Beeby, and Babka, Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago, Illinois, 1987–1991. Responding to
the downtown Chicago location, the architects incorporated many generic references to numerous surrounding historic early
skyscrapers. Photo: Courtesy of Hamman, Beeby and Babka.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:16 PM Page 628

628

library system, was positioned in the southern end sleek white wall surfaces of porcelain-enameled
of Chicago’s downtown “Loop” business district. square panels, attached to an underlying steel frame,
Surrounded by the towers that had established the was quickly established as Meier’s trademark, and
city’s reputation as the birthplace of the modern of- the pipe railings recall Le Corbusier. Yet in its formal
fice skyscraper a century earlier, the building makes and constructive purity, this building typified one
many allusions to this rich history, from the brick of the problems of reductivist Late Modernism; it
masonry enclosure, especially in the sloped battered turned its back on the adjoining museum, built
base and the tall wall arcades that refer not only to in the 1960s. There was no apparent link between
the enduring legacy of Richardson and Sullivan but the two.
also to the restrained classicism of the neighboring By the time Meier was given the choice commis-
Second Leiter Building by Jenney directly across sion in 1984 for the expansive Getty Center com-
State Street to the east. There is additional refer- plex, high atop the hills overlooking Brentwood
ence to the city’s rich classical heritage following the (Los Angeles), California, his version of Late Mod-
Columbian Exposition, suggested in the rising ped- ernism had matured. In response to the often bril-
iment that corresponds to the glass-roofed winter liant light of Southern California (as well as nearby
garden at the top of the building. Incorporating the residents’ concerns), he refrained from using white
latest in electronic library equipment, the building glazed metal panels in favor of honey-hued Italian
by itself is a summary history of commercial archi- travertine stone and matching buff-colored enam-
tecture in Chicago. eled panels. Because of the differing complexities of
There is nothing, however, in Creative Postmod- the divisions and operations of the Center, Meier
ern Traditionalism that restricts its references to devised not a single all-encompassing form but a vil-
classicism alone. One good illustration of a coun- lage of five separate agencies that spread across the
terpart is the New Longwall Quadrangle addition hilltop [20.19, 20.20]. Finished and opened to the
to Magdalen College, Oxford University, Oxford, public in 1998, it was the single most expensive
England, 1991. Designed by Demetri Porphyrios, it building project to be undertaken up to that time:
is of solid coursed ashlar masonry, with restrained nearly 1 million square feet of space costing roughly
late-medieval details such as hood moldings over $1,000 per square foot, for a total budget of approx-
the windows, in reference to the adjoining fifteenth- imately $1 billion—one of the first of a number of
century Perpendicular Gothic college buildings. turn-of-this-century examples in which a new mu-
seum became the cynosure of public and cultural
attention.22
Late Modernism or Neo-Modernism Meier has remained consistent throughout the
Another response to mid-century Canonical Mod- arc of his career, only slightly modifying his version
ernism was what could be called Late Modernism or of Late Modernism, as seen in such buildings by
neo-Modernism. In this variant, proponents looked him as the Museum of Contemporary Art, Barce-
to the early work of Le Corbusier as their point of lona, Spain, 1986–1995; the US Courthouse and
departure.21 Perhaps the best example of a Late Federal Building, Islip, New York, 1993–2000; and
Modernist is Richard Meier (born 1934), who has the Burda Collection Museum, Baden-Baden, Ger-
continually stressed purity of form and sleekness of many, 2002–2004. In the early years of the twenty-
surface while increasingly exploiting the expressive first century, however, Meier expanded his design
power of the irregular form introduced into an oth- approach, as seen in the three curved rising walls
erwise insistent structural grid. One house that in his Jubilee Church (La Chiesa del Dio Padre
brought Meier early recognition unmistakably drew Misericordioso), Rome, Italy, 1996–2003 [Plate
its inspiration from the mature Modernism of Le 35]. Yet other Meier projects retain the cubical
Corbusier, as evident in the pure white geometric purism of his early years, as in the stone and glass
forms and pipe railings of the Douglas House, Har- Ara Pacis Museum, Rome, 2006.
bor Springs, Michigan, 1971–1973 [20.18]. As his Meier’s early contemporary, Peter Eisenman
recognition grew, Meier received larger public com- (born 1932), produced some of the most stringently
missions, notably his High Museum of Art, Atlanta, neo-Modern designs in the 1970s. Later, however,
1980–1983. The building has five cubic masses he would shift radically to a quite different theoret-
arranged in an L that forms the sides of an atrium ical base, but in his first independent buildings
that sweeps around in a quarter-circle. This glass- (mostly residences, such as Falk house, Hardwick
enclosed atrium, with its constricted ramp providing Vermont, 1969–1970, called House II), he devel-
vertical circulation, came from Wright’s Guggen- oped a purely formal rectilinear architecture, totally
heim but without Wright’s amplitude of space. The devoid, he insisted, of any connection to outside sys-
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Late Modernism or Neo-Modernism 629

20.18. Richard Meier, Douglas House, Harbor Springs, Michigan, 1971–1973. With its crisp geometries, dramatic white-
ness, and such signature details as metal pipe railings, Meier’s work in the early 1970s was clearly an homage to Le Corbusier.
Photo: Ezra Stoller © Esto. All rights reserved.

tems of references. Eisenman’s was a completely self- identified the houses he designed at this time by
referential abstract architecture (even if coinciden- Roman numerals rather than by clients’ names.
tally it did sometimes look like early Le Corbusier). House X (or House 10) was presented in such an ax-
He even used abstract aerial axonometric projection onometric view [20.21]. In fact, so nonreferential
drawings when publishing his designs, a drawing type were these early designs as shown in his preferred
preferred by the De Stijl designers such as Theo van axonometric presentations that the drawings have
Doesburg and by architects such as Le Corbusier. been repeatedly inverted when published, even
To emphasize this nonreferential quality, Eisenman in layouts created by visually trained professional
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630 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

20.19. Richard Meier, Getty Center II, Los Angeles, California, 1984–1998. Aerial view of the Getty Center campus. In a
cluster of five component buildings, this entry to the museum portion shows the incorporation of warm, golden-colored travertine
panels in a light, slightly buff color scheme. Photo: © Scott Frances/Esto. All rights reserved. © The J. Paul Getty Trust.

graphic designers. Later work by Eisenman demon- tries of mid-twentieth-century steel-framed, glass-
strated remarkable flexibility in design; examples sheathed office boxes became sculpted into singular
include the deliberate historic references combined and unique forms. Shaping an architecture that
with an extremely abstracted grid in the Wexner communicates with the user became the goal of a
Center for The Ohio State University, Columbus, few former ardent Modernists, most notably Philip
1989; the curved forms and brightly colored facade Johnson (1906–2005). Once the closest disciple of
segments of his Columbus, Ohio, Convention Cen- Mies—he quipped about being called “Mies van der
ter, 1989–1993; and the smoothly molded metallic Johnson”—Johnson had been Mies’s associate ar-
wall plates and retractable roof of the 78,000-seat chitect in the design of the Seagram Building in
University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona, New York City. Johnson first began his shift to
2002–2006. Interesting because they show another sculpted masses in the curved shingled roof of his
design paradigm shift are the rough stone blocks and “Roofless Church,” for the Blaffer Trust at New
sweeping curved roof of the Galicia Cultural Center Harmony, Indiana, in 1960, making this one of the
at Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 1999–2012 [Plate first reactions to the Canonical Modernism he had
36]. The Late Modernism with which Eisenman been so instrumental in establishing as the corpo-
started seems to have been left far behind. rate model in the mid-1950s23 [20.22]. The undu-
lating form of the molded roof was meant to recall
the rose that had been the symbol of the utopian
Sculpted (Shaped) Modernism community founded in New Harmony by social re-
A special variant of this Late Modernism appeared former Robert Owen at the beginning of the nine-
early in the development of modeled or Shaped teenth century. Johnson’s use of Shaped Modernism
Modernism, in which the rigid rectilinear geome- was then further encouraged by a series of commis-
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Sculpted (Shaped) Modernism 631

sions for Texas developer Gerald Hines, beginning Another architect whose work was marked by
with the clustered rounded-off office towers called this growing desire for sculptural form was I. M. Pei.
Post Oak Central, in Houston, Texas, 1970–1981. This shift in his work was dramatically announced
Hines informed Johnson that he specifically wanted by his East Wing addition to the National Gallery,
buildings that stood out and had unique character. Washington, DC, 1968–1978, and then achieved
Subsequently, when client J. Hugh Liedtke hired truly international recognition in the extensive
Johnson and his partner John Burgee in 1972 to de- renovation of the Louvre (1983–1989), commis-
sign Pennzoil Place, Houston, Liedtke instructed the sioned as one of the Parisian Grands Travaux
architects that he did not want just “another up- (“Great Works”) by French president François Mit-
turned cigar box.”24 He wanted something distinc- terand. Much of this design was contained within
tive to establish an identity for his company. Instead the vast renovated building, but new spaces were
of one tall, flat-topped tower, Johnson and Burgee created underground in the court, marked by Pei’s
devised twin towers, clad in black glass, appearing transparent glass pyramid, which provides a new
in plan to have been sliced on the diagonal from one public entrance. Its space frame truss supports a skin
large rectangular form; the tops, too, were sliced off of glass, dark during day but glowing from within at
on the diagonal [20.23, 20.24]. night [20.25].

20.20. Richard Meier,

Getty Center II. While crisp
geometries continued to
govern Meier’s work in the
1990s, in the Getty Center
buildings, muted color was
introduced, as was tactile
texture in the rough surfaces
of the golden travertine
panels. Photo: Scott
Frances/Esto © The
J. Paul Getty Trust.
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632 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

High Tech
Mid-century Canonical Modernism had drawn in-
spiration from the technology of structure, which
led eventually to yet another reaction after about
1970, a sort of expressionism of exuberantly empha-
sized structural systems. This became known as
High Tech architecture due to its extreme accentu-
ation and exaggeration of structure and mechanical
systems. One of the early manifestations of this ap-
proach was a new museum in Paris, the Centre
Georges Pompidou, 1971–1977, designed by Renzo
Piano and Richard Rogers [20.26]. This museum
was one of the Grands Travaux initiated by President
Georges Pompidou and continued by President Mit-
terand, and was aimed at greatly expanding art and
cultural facilities in Paris. It is an immense rectan-
gular box of glass, with all of its hardware pulled to
the exterior so that the interior could be a series of
huge Miesian universal spaces. The exterior, there-
fore, is a maze of color-coded air ducts, electrical
conduits, and Plexiglas-enclosed escalators. This is
an exo-skeletal building, with the supports made
20.21. Peter Eisenman, House X, 1976–1978. Eisenman’s up of exposed steel members, most dramatically
abstract, nonreferential aesthetic is clearly evident in the
the large, almost biomorphic cast steel cantilevers,
axonometric drawings used to present his early work. From
P. Eisenman, House X (New York, 1982). called gerberettes, that appear to clamp onto the ex-
terior columns.25 It is architecture-as-machine ele-
vated to the most prestigious cultural level.

20.22. Philip Johnson, “Roofless Church,” for the Blaffer Trust, New Harmony, Indiana, 1960. The molded form recalls the
rose, an important symbol for this nineteenth-century utopian community, while the shingles refer to a traditional American
material. This was one of the earliest designs by a former hard-line modernist to exploit sculptural form for its artistic and
symbolic properties. Photo: L. M. Roth.
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Megastructures 633

20.23. Philip Johnson,

Pennzoil Place, Houston,
Texas, 1972–1976. Johnson
was among the first to move
away from the boxy glass
office tower and to invent
unique forms as a way of
creating identifiable office
buildings. Photo: Courtesy,
Philip Johnson.

At times, and in the right hands, structural ex- “Santiago Calatrava: Artist, Architect, Engineer,”
pression can transcend to poetic heights, becoming presented at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy,
pure art. Few examples surpass the sheer elegance during 2000–2001. Calatrava’s work aims at a sus-
and emotive power of the work of the Spanish ar- tainable correctness as well, as seen in the white
chitect-engineer Santiago Calatrava (born 1951), “wing” parasol he designed for the expansion of the
based in Zurich, Switzerland. The evocative power Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
of structure in his hands was made evident in his 1996–2001. Its curved ribs fan out or retract in re-
El Alamillo Bridge in Seville, Spain, 1992, with its sponse to changing light levels. Another form that
single back-leaning counterweight mast and its dra- has intrigued Calatrava is the twisted tower, as il-
matically diagonal cable stays. This bridge concept lustrated in the Turning Torso tower in Malmo,
has been used several times by Calatrava with vari- Sweden, 54 stories (623 ft, 190 m), 1999–2005, a
ations, as in his Samuel Beckett Bridge over the motif that Calatrava enlarged in the 76-story
Liffy in Dublin, Ireland, 2006–2009. The base or (1,004 ft, 306 m) Infinity Tower, Dubai, United
“foot” of the concrete and steel shell for the termi- Arab Emirates, 2005–2013 [Plate 37].
nal station he designed for the “Tres Grande
Vitesse” rail line at Lyon-Satolas, France, 1988–
1994, has a grace that is the outcome of structurally Megastructures
precise action married to an appropriate use of ma- Related to High Tech architecture, and inspired by
terials (concrete and steel), creating a biomorphic the imaginative inventions of the British Archi-
form suggestive of an alternative universe [20.27]. gramists and Japanese Metabolists in the early
If Calatrava’s buildings look like works of sculpture, 1960s, were the megastructures of the second half
it is because they are—but with a fusion of form of the twentieth century, huge buildings encom-
perfected by engineering. This was confirmed by passing many connected functionally related activ-
the title of an extensive exhibition of his work, ities, often made possible by the use of a repetitive
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634

20.24. Pennzoil Place.

Plan. The ground floor
plan appears to have
been generated by taking
a long rectangle, sliced
through the center on the
diagonal, and the halves
then slid past each other
to fill a large square.
Drawing: L. M. Roth.

20.25. I. M. Pei, The Grand Louvre, Paris, France, 1983–1989. In the Louvre court Pei used a markedly modern idiom to
shape an ancient form, a pyramid of glass, referencing Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt that opened ancient Egyptian history
to France and the world at large. Photo: © Michael S. Yamashita/Corbis.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 11/8/13 10:00 AM Page 635

635

20.26. Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers,

Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France,
1971–1977. This museum has been
turned inside out, so to speak, with the
structure and building utilities
externalized so that the internal spaces
can be opened up. Photo: Michel Proulx,
Architectural Record.

20.27. Santiaga Calatrava,

Lyon-Satolas TGV Terminal,
Lyon, France, 1990–1994.
Using the detailed analysis of
structural action, Calatrava’s
team achieves forms suggest-
ing organic forms in nature.
Photo: © Patrick Durand/
Sygma/Corbis.
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636 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

large-scale structural system. British architect Lord economic conditions, it usually makes no logical
Norman Foster became particularly identified with economic sense to erect office towers more than 80
this approach in several buildings of the 1980s, in- stories tall. Such excessive heights result not so
cluding the Lloyd’s Building in London and his much from economic pressures as from a desire to
Hong Kong Shanghai Bank in Hong Kong, 1979– make a dramatic signature statement about the
1985 [20.28, p. 608]. By convention we say such power and resources of the patron, and about a na-
buildings are the work of a single person, but these tion’s arrival among the big players on the world
megastructures quite obviously are the product of stage. For example, there was ample open ground
large firms, employing the services of scores of office around the site of the Petronas Towers when they
designers, engineers, systems experts, drafts-people, were first conceived (although there has been sub-
and numerous other functionaries. In both of Fos- stantial filling-in subsequently), but rather than ac-
ter’s towers just mentioned, the service facilities commodate the desired office space in a campus of
were positioned around the exterior, opening up lower buildings, the commissioning agency wanted
large internal spaces defined by boldly scaled struc- to make the most dramatic political and economic
tural systems whose individual bays embrace sev- statement possible. As the designs were being fin-
eral floors or levels. Although Foster and his firm ished, it was also possible with slight changes to give
went on to design numerous notable buildings the soaring towers the image of minarets, seen as
around the globe in the decade before and follow- particularly appropriate for this Muslim nation.
ing the turn of the century—among them the res- The beginning of the twenty-first century was
toration of the burned Reichstag, Berlin, with its marked by an upsurge in the impulse to build the
dramatic glazed dome, 1999, and the diagonally world’s tallest building. Particularly eager to an-
framed “green” office building known as the Hearst nounce its emergence as a major world economic
Tower in New York City, 2002–2006, as well as the power has been China, with Shanghai reestablishing
redesign and reconstruction of the Dresden railroad itself as a principal place of interchange between
station with its glass barrel vaults, 2002–2006—it East and West as it had been in the early twentieth
was scores of buildings in England that resulted century. In 1998 the 88-story Jin Mao Tower was
in Foster being elevated to the peerage with the completed in Shanghai from designs developed by
title Baron Foster of Thames Bank. Not since the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (1,380 ft, 421 m). An-
Earl of Burlington in the eighteenth century has a other even taller tower was the Shanghai World Fi-
peer of the realm had such an architectural influ- nancial Center, from designs by Kohn Pedersen Fox,
ence. Foster’s notable projects in Britain include developed for Japanese entrepreneur Minoru Mori,
the dramatically slanted bulbous glass tower for begun in 1997 and finished in 2008 at 101 floors or
the Greater London Authority, 2000–2002, and the 1,614 feet (492 m). Not to be outdone, mainland
even more memorable high-rise tower called affec- China’s independently minded democratic satellite,
tionately “The Gherkin” (officially known as 30 Taiwan, set out to raise an even taller tower in
St. Mary Axe), 1996–2004, because of its elongated Taipei. Designed by Taiwanese architect C. Y. Lee
ellipsoidal shape sheathed in green glass set in a spi- and called Taipei 101 (1997–2004), the tower rises
raling diagonal frame [Plate 38]. 101 stories (1,670 ft, 509 m), including its spire
[Plate 39]. Lee gave his enormous tower something
of the form of a pagoda, with the upper floors in
Offices Above the Clouds groups of eight—a most auspicious number in Chi-
Some writers assessing turn-of-this-century archi- nese numerology. In Hong Kong, the International
tecture include as megastructures the many giant Finance Centre, also designed by the office of César
office towers that went up around the globe in Pelli, was simultaneously completed in 2003, rising
the 1980s and 1990s, including the Messeturm in 1,352 feet (412 m). But far taller still is the Burj
Frankfurt, Germany, 1990–1991 (850 ft, 259 m), Khalifa, a residential and mixed-use tower rising
the Commerzbank also in Frankfurt, 1997 (850 ft, 2,717 ft (828 m) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
259 m), both by Norman Foster, as well as the Built in 2003–2010, it was designed as a series of
Tokyo City Hall towers, 1991 (797 ft, 243 m) by rounded setbacks in a three-lobed plan by Skid-
Kenzo Tange, and—most notably—the soaring twin more, Owings & Merrill of Chicago, and built by a
Petronas Towers, 1992–1998, designed by the firm large South Korean contractor. For years, as the
of American architect César Pelli [20.29]. In some building was rising, the ultimate height was kept se-
cases, as in Europe, ground space is at a great pre- cret lest some other country, on hearing about the
mium, so the only practical way to build is straight projected height, should set out to build something
up. But in other locations, depending on prevailing taller [20.30]. Here, too, such phenomenal height
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:16 PM Page 637

637

20.29. César Pelli, Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1992–1998. Rising like slender silver minarets, the twin
Petronas Towers emphatically announced Malaysia’s arrival on the stage of modern nations, as was intended. Photo:
© Jose Fuste Raga/Corbis.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:16 PM Page 638

638

20.30. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2003–2010. For the moment the tallest
building in the world, the tower has a series of setbacks at its base to provide a broader footprint. © Jose Fuste Raga/Corbis.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:16 PM Page 639

The International Architect 639

was needed simply to attract tourists, for the ruling tallest skyscraper in the world. Construction began
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is on the substantial foundations in 2007–2008, but
quoted as saying that he “wanted to put Dubai on by 2008, at the depths of the “Great Recession,”
the map with something really sensational.”26 only 350 of the 1,193 condominium apartments
The attacks on the World Trade Center Towers had been sold (at prices ranging from $750,000 to
in 2001 and their resulting collapse occurred as a $40 million apiece); meanwhile, funding arrange-
number of these gigantic towers were in the design ments to pay for construction began to fall apart.
stage or under construction. The New York towers’ By 2010, as the recession lingered, the financial sit-
horrific collapse prompted intensive examination of uation had become so dire that the project was put
the reasons for the structural failure, and why people in the hands of a receiver and the Chicago Spire
in the upper stories of the World Trade Center were project was pronounced dead, leaving only a hole
unable to evacuate the buildings before they col- in the ground where the foundations had been pre-
lapsed. As noted earlier, the towers were strong pared [20.31].
enough for the 1960s, but only to the minimal ex- Even as late as 2012, with the lingering effects
tent required by law, strong enough to resist a Cat- of the recession, as many as two dozen proposed
egory 1 or 2 hurricane or perhaps the impact of an major projects—either for extremely tall towers or
old Boeing 707 empty of fuel after a long flight and large building complexes, in design since the start
searching for one of New York’s airports in fog. But of this century (and some with construction actu-
there was insufficient structural redundancy in the ally started)—had been suspended or cancelled
towers, and the escape stairways were encased in a outright.27
minimal breakaway drywall enclosure. Any sizeable
explosion could have blown out the stairway walls
as well as the blown-on fireproofing material, as hap- The International Architect
pened. Hit by hijacked airliners full of fuel that were Except for Lee’s Taipei 101 giant tower, nearly all the
nearly twice the weight and size of the older 707s, high-profile towers along the Pacific Rim and in the
the towers were mortally wounded and each fell Islamic world, up to 2010, have been designed by
within one to two hours of being hit. The towers in European or American architects, and built by
Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taipei then being con- South Korean or other outside contractors. That
structed were immediately and intensively evaluated American architects such as César Pelli, or Skid-
and modified to ensure that they could not be more, Owings & Merrill, or Kohn Pedersen Fox were
brought down in the same way. Because of the ever- given these highly esteemed tower commissions in-
present threat of typhoons and earthquakes on the dicates that many architects are now operating on
Pacific Rim, moreover, the towers going up there in an international scale, working on numerous build-
the late 1990s had been designed to be far stronger, ings worldwide. European and Asian architects have
with inner concrete cores containing the elevators, been equally busy in the United States, as demon-
stairs, and other critical services encased in walls two strated by such work as Japanese-architect Arata
feet thick. In fact, as Taipei 101 was under construc- Isozaki’s Museum of Contemporary Art in Los An-
tion, the city was subjected to an earthquake mea- geles, 1986; Swiss-architect Mario Botta’s dynami-
suring 6.8 on the Richter scale. The building stood cally striped Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco,
unharmed, although the temporary building cranes 1994; and the end-of-century renovation and en-
atop the unfinished building were shaken loose and largement of the Museum of Modern Art, New
plummeted to the streets below. York, 1997–2004, by Japanese architect Yoshio
Building the world’s tallest skyscraper is simply Taniguchi. Other American architects have been
an invitation to be surpassed by the next patron, engaged in Europe to design more horizontally ori-
institution, or country seeking bragging rights entated art museums, such as Richard Meier in
(however briefly). And given the worldwide “Great Frankfurt and Barcelona, or Frank Gehry in Bilbao,
Recession” of 2007–2009 with its lingering half-life, Spain. At the turn of the twentieth century, art mu-
it was inevitable that the seemingly limitless hubris seums have become the highest-profile reputation-
of clients and architects would intersect with the making building type.
contemporaneous realities of financial funding. A Globetrotting by architects has continued into
case in point was the proposed Chicago Spire, de- the twenty-first century, as illustrated by Gehry’s
signed in 2005 by Santiago Calatrava. It was to be commissions in Hong Kong; Barcelona, Spain; Søn-
another of his spiraling twisted towers, on Chicago’s derborg, Denmark; and elsewhere. Various high-
lakeshore, designed to rise 150 stories to 2,000 feet rise tower commissions have also been given to
(610 m), intended to be (if only momentarily) the Kohn Pedersen Fox in Tokyo, London, Hong Kong,
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640 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

20.31. Santiago Calatrava, The Chicago Spire (proposed project), Chicago, Illinois, 2005–2010. Aiming to be the tallest
building in the world (for however short a period of time), this projected building appears to be twice the height of the Sears
Tower (left) and the Hancock Tower (right)—once the tallest buildings in the world. Photo: REUTERS/Handout.

and Seoul; Mario Botta’s museum in Charlotte, by a panel of five to nine “experts” in a range of dis-
North Carolina; Rafael Moneo’s work in Los An- ciplines to have achieved particular distinction in
geles and Houston; César Pelli’s commissions in his or her built work. In the first several years it was
Tulsa, Oklahoma, Barcelona, Spain, and Santiago, awarded to long-admired older architects such as
Chile; and Richard Rogers’ work in Washington, I. M. Pei or Gottfried Böhm because of their estab-
DC, and Seville, Spain. Two more examples are lished record of excellence, but more recently it has
Thom Mayne/Morphosis’s Tour Phare in Paris and been awarded to much younger architects, and in
Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas’s work ranging from 2004 it was awarded for the first time to a woman,
Seattle to Dallas to Beijing. A word coined early in Zaha Hadid, born in 1950 in Iraq but now based in
the twenty-first century to describe such interna- London. As of the early twenty-first century, the
tionally known architects with a high level of public Pritzker Prize has also been awarded to architects
recognition is “starchitects”—that is, designers se- largely unknown to the public such as Wang Shu
lected for a project because simply the knowledge of China, who was born in 1963 and became a
that they are to create a building automatically Pritzker Laureate in 2012. The architect who was
marks it as a building worth anticipating, a building named the twelfth Pritzker Laureate in 1989, and
into which a client or community will invest more who certainly has achieved this instant name
than the usual funds, and one certain to attract recognition far beyond the esoteric realm of “high
substantial publicity once it opens. What certainly architecture,” was Frank Gehry, now known prin-
marks architects as having achieved this state of cipally for his work in Resurgent Expressionism.
celebrity is their election to receive the annual
Pritzker Architecture Prize, customarily described
as the Nobel Prize for architects. Established by Resurgent Expressionism
Jay A. and Cindy Pritzker and the Hyatt Founda- Diametrically opposed to both the formal correctness
tion in 1979, it is awarded yearly to the architect, of the Late Modernists and the historical correctness
of whatever nationality or ideology, who is judged of canonical revivalism was a renewed embrace in
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Resurgent Expressionism 641

the late twentieth century of the visual and emotive struction has been interrupted [20.32]. While this
power of pure architectural form, a return to Expres- seemingly “unfinished” structure was built in this
sionism. There had been isolated instances of this way out of a conscious design decision to provoke
impulse to shape expressive forms in preceding de- comment, the similarly evocative structural expres-
cades, as in the Berlin Philharmonie Concert Hall, sion of Santiago Calatrava results from pushing the
Berlin, 1957–1965, by Hans Scharoun, arguably the engineering implications of structural systems to
last of the German Expressionists of the 1920s their artistic and poetic limits.
[19.48]. In the same group could be placed the For many architects the driving concept of their
nested shells of the Sydney Opera, 1957–1973, by design is achieving form that takes on the quality of
Jørn Utzon, as well as the two airport terminals de- being alive, what might even be described as an or-
signed by Eero Saarinen begun in the late 1950s (see ganic quality, a kind of biomorphic expressionism.
Chapter 19). After about 1980, however, a range of The work of Hungarian architect Imre Makovecz
comparable Resurgent Expressionist designs began could be placed in this category, as seen in his
to appear around the globe. Roman Catholic Church at Paks, Hungary, 1987–
One variant was structural expressionism, as 1991. The origins of Makovecz’s work lies perhaps
illustrated in the industrial office building in Völk- in Transylvanian carpentry traditions and regional
ermarkt, Austria, 1995, by Günther Domenig. From vernacular buildings.
a skeletal frame of concrete piers and beams extends But far better known, and bringing to its architect
a trussed steel and glass mass that curves as it worldwide celebrity, is the Barcelona building for
reaches out, extending further in each story as it the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, by Frank
rises, with slender steel beams and diagonals further Gehry in 1991–1997. Born Emphriam (Frank) Gold-
stretching out from the finished enclosure, as if con- berg in Toronto, Canada, in 1929, Gehry has had a

20.32. Günther Domenig, industrial office building, Völkermarkt, Austria, 1995. The dramatic collisions and juxtapositions
of the real and decorative structural members make a dramatic statement. Photo: Gisla Erlachet/arcaid.co.uk.
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642 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

career that has metamorphosed several times, lead- in new walls made of corrugated sheet metal and cy-
ing by stages to his signature curving, undulating cre- clone fencing. Increasingly thereafter his designs fea-
ations.28 Gehry earned an architecture degree from tured angled walls and angular roof planes. For the
the University of Southern California in 1954 (while new campus for the Loyola Marymount University
also studying sculpture) and then served in the US School of Law, however, he shifted momentarily to
Army, where he learned how to make good use of a kind of eclectic Postmodernism—not deliberately
ordinary building materials. After his army service, ironic—that was suggested by the faculty, who re-
Gehry worked for a succession of architects special- quested something that spoke of permanence and
izing in minimal, flat-roof Modernist commercial the traditions of the law. The final result incorpo-
structures, including Welton Becket, Pereira & rated highly abstracted colonnades and pediments
Luckman Associates and finally the office of Victor but was built of ordinary materials.
Gruen. Meanwhile, Gehry was forming many friend- In the later 1980s, Gehry and his design team
ships with artists in the Los Angeles area, and con- began to employ curved forms, as in the twisted spi-
tinuing his study of sculpture. In a combined studio raling forms of the Vitra International Furniture
and residence for Louis and Dorothy Danziger, Company’s exhibition hall and gallery in Weil-am-
1964–1965, Gehry began to move away from the Rhein, Germany, 1987–1989 [Plate 40]. The prob-
rather tepid Modernism ingrained in him by the lem that Gehry and his team faced was how to
firms he had worked for, employing a sculptural play translate the sculpted forms into inhabitable build-
of cubic forms. By 1972 he was using trapezoidal plan ings; using models, they cut them into scores of
layouts, with angled roofs, incorporating ordinary sections and located the various wall, floor, and
materials such as corrugated sheet metal. The build- roof points to create the working drawings, all this
ing that brought him national attention (not all of it work done by hand. As the buildings coming out
positive at the time) was the renovation of his own of the Santa Monica office became more and more
ordinary Dutch Colonial gambrel-roofed house in complex—for example, the American Center in
Santa Monica, California, 1978, which was wrapped Paris, 1988–1994 [20.33]; or the Center for the

20.33. Frank Gehry, American Center, Paris, France, 1988–1994. Moving away from the angular straight-line forms of his
work in the previous decade, Gehry confronted the difficulty in hand-drawing construction drawings for free-form buildings,
prompting his firm’s interest in using the French aviation design software, CATIA. Photo: View Pictures Ltd/SuperStock.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:16 PM Page 643

Resurgent Expressionism 643

Visual Arts, University of Toledo, Ohio, 1990– When finished and opened in 1997 the Guggen-
1992; or the Weisman Art and Teaching Museum, heim Museum Bilbao was received with enormously
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1990–1993—this process positive critical and popular acclaim, so much so
of creating the working drawings to direct con- that Gehry almost immediately became a victim of
struction was becoming increasingly burdensome. his own success. The Bilbao museum became such
And the slightest change later would require that a draw that it made the city a new tourist destina-
all the tedious work be laboriously redone. tion, creating what came to be called the “Bilbao
While working on the American Center for effect.” It certainly fulfilled the commercial hopes
Paris, Gehry and his design partner James Glymph of the Basque government. Soon scores of other as-
were introduced to the French computer-aided de- piring clients were contacting Gehry, requesting
sign program CATIA originally developed by the similar buildings of their own, buildings they de-
Dassault aerospace company for aircraft design. scribed as having a “shwoosh.” Very similar was the
Gehry and his team were already exploring non- effect created by the Disney Concert Hall, in down-
Euclidean nonlinear design, but by adapting CATIA town Los Angeles, begun by Gehry’s team in 1986–
they could simultaneously explore design alterna- 1987 and finished in 2003. In this building, too,
tives, calculate structural systems, and determine after many delays caused by political complications
building costs on a day-to-day basis. CATIA al- and rapidly mounting cost estimates, the computer
lowed architects to make subtle changes in design, made the final result possible and buildable. Here,
even returning to the very beginning of the concep- too, the final building opened to great critical
tual design stage; all subsequent computer drawings acclaim; and most important, the concert hall’s
would automatically reflect any changes as design acoustics were praised by musicians. The Disney
refinement continued. This eliminated the costly Concert hall became a major attractant, a cultural
manual reworking of the design development draw- magnet for downtown Los Angeles—the “Bilbao ef-
ings. Even the subsequent working drawings for fect” at work.
contractors and fabricators could be altered largely Without anticipating it, in the Bilbao museum
at will. The computer was gradually becoming a and the Disney Concert Hall, Gehry created the
major tool—even a generator of form—in the de- prototype for younger generations of architects, pro-
sign and construction process. Ironically, Gehry viding a model that inspired subsequent museums,
admitted early on that he personally did not like public buildings, and other civic structures, either
computers, but he and his design team eagerly em- swooping or sharply angular, many likewise clad in
braced its capacity to make the realization of pro- shining titanium. In 2010 a Vanity Fair writer sur-
gressively more sculptural buildings feasible and veyed more than fifty architects and critics, asking
more reasonable in cost. them to name what they considered the five most
In 1987, Gehry was approached by the Basque important buildings built after 1980.29 The over-
regional government and by Guggenheim Museum whelming selection among this group was Gehry’s
officials, in tandem, for the design of a new museum Bilbao museum. While both the Bilbao and Disney
to be built in a former industrial district in Bilbao, Concert Hall were intricate horizontal complexes,
Spain, in an urban renewal effort to bring tourists Gehry applied the same re-imagining of a typological
and cultural venues to the heart of the city. The re- form to the design of an urban apartment building,
sult was the wondrously curved and shifting Bilbao no longer simply a plain flat-surfaced box but essen-
museum, made possible by the recently adopted tially a thin soaring tower whose external glazed sur-
CATIA software. In portions of previous similarly faces undulate as they rise. This is 8 Spruce Street,
curved buildings, Gehry’s team had used lead- New York City, 2005–2011, rising 76 stories to 876
coated copper sheets as the outer covering, but feet (267 m). While primarily intended for 898 very
these were now eliminated due to environmental upscale apartments, the lower part of the tower
concerns about lead’s toxicity. At that historical mo- houses a 5-story school and also space for the New
ment there occurred the political collapse of the York Downtown Hospital [20.35].
Soviet Union, and the new Russian government, While the reshaping of the skyscraper archetype
desperate for cash influx, threw on the world market was oriented vertically—in this example, by having
its considerable supply of the rare metal, titanium. vertical wrinkles—another response was to reshape
Thus, titanium was selected for the new museum’s the edges of the horizontal floor slabs, the approach
skin, rolled in sheets so thin that when applied to taken by architect Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Ar-
the building they fluttered and shimmered in the chitects in her condominium apartment in Chicago
wind, contributing a special luster to the museum called simply Aqua, built 2007–2010 [Plate 42]. In
[20.34, Plate 41]. this case, the glass walls are maintained as absolutely
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644 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

20.34. Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, 1987–1997. By exploiting the potential of computer-aided design
technology to manage structural solutions and buildings costs, Gehry created a most dramatic building form that instantly put
Bilbao, Spain, on tourist maps. Photo: © Jeff Goldberg/Esto. All rights reserved.

flat surfaces, but the projecting concrete floor slabs architectural inspiration comes in part from the
undulate horizontally in a pattern running vertically earlier industrial designs of Russian Constructivism
such that the building, especially when viewed from of the 1920s. In its literary origins, deconstruction
below, appears like rippling waves sliced through by referred to a deep analysis of a text, linked to re-
the gleaming flat planes of glass. In addition, the lated concepts of a later reader being unable to
projecting, curving balconies were designed (partic- truly understand the times and conditions prevail-
ularly on its southern face) to provide extensive ing when an author wrote the text. Alois Müller
shading of the glazed surfaces so as to reduce heat described the essence of literary deconstruction as
gain. At a height of 859 ft (262 m), when built, “a way of reading philosophical or literary texts in
Aqua was the tallest skyscraper in the world to have order to get to the bottom of them. . . . Deconstruc-
a woman as lead architect at the time of its tion means burrowing deep, to find out what un-
construction. conscious premises a text is based on and what the
blind spot in the author’s eye cannot see.”30 Archi-
tectural theorists, in adapting portions of these
Deconstructivism literary concepts, proposed a radical departure
The most extreme reaction to the structural order from previous thinking, suggesting that, fundamen-
and logic of Modernism has been Deconstruction, tally, a building exists as an isolated abstract phe-
Deconstructivism, or Decon. The name Decon- nomenon, and that the ultimate “function” of
struction originated as a reference to a contempo- architecture is “disruption, dislocation, deflection,
rary movement in literary criticism, though its deviation, and disorientation.”31
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Deconstructivism 645

In the United States the arrival of Deconstruc- cure, functional and orderly,” providing some mea-
tivism was marked by an exhibition mounted by the sure of comfort in an otherwise fractious world.34 In
Museum of Modern Art in the summer of 1988, the subsequent manifestoes and essays discussing
entitled “Deconstructivist Architecture.” Featuring Deconstructivism, a decidedly negative and violent
few actual buildings but many drawings (for works vocabulary was adopted, laced with such verbs as
largely unbuildable at that point) by European and violate, tear, dislocate, infect, scar, reject, confuse,
American architects, the exhibition was described and destabilize. Moreover, architects and theorists
this way by one reviewer: “They’ve tossed out every seemed unconcerned as to whether the general
orderly precept of architecture since the Greeks and public—their potential clients—understood any of
have prompted the most basic questions, starting this, creating a special “argot of obfuscation.” This
with which end is up.”32 Mark Wigley, co-curator of mystification was evident in the reply by Peter Eisen-
the exhibition, said frankly that the buildings being man to a question concerning the role of the media
displayed were “dangerously deranged.”33 Prior to in architectural discourse: “Architecture posits the
the arrival of Deconstructivism, Robert Stern noted, question of aura in regard to both iconic and index-
architects operating in the public realm had consid- ical signs. . . . I believe we are always going to have
ered their task the making of buildings to fulfill an auratic condition, meaning some kind of pres-
“grand public purposes,” which had traditionally ence in architecture, because there is always some
meant “providing an environment that is safe, se- being-in as opposed to the condition of being-as. It is

20.35. Frank Gehry, 8 Spruce Street,

New York, NY, 2005–2011. A multi-use
building, at 878 feet in height this tower
was reportedly the second-tallest residential
building in the Western Hemisphere
when built. Photo: © Ty Cole Ty Cole/
Arcaid/Corbis.
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646 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

20.36. Coop Himmelb(l)au

(“Blue Sky” Cooperative),
rooftop remodeling (law
office), Vienna, Austria,
1983–1988. In the starkest
contrast to the staid classical
building on which it sits, this
rooftop office addition
appears to be the twisted
remains of a crashed
biplane, exaggerating the
contrast of balanced
decorum in the nineteenth-
century building below with
discordant deconstruction
above. Photo: Gerald
Zugmann/Vienna.

the being-in of architecture that is questioned in the increasing scale, as in the firm’s Akron, Ohio, Art
media today.” In quoting this passage, historian Museum, 2003–2007, a commission it won in an in-
Carter Wiseman observed that such impenetrable ternational competition; the sharply angular building
utterances can be understood only through access is marked by slanted glass walls and dramatically
to the private and esoteric language of its partici- large cantilevered roofs. Even larger is the paired
pants. Theorists such as this, Wiseman said, have angular glass towers and adjoining lower auxiliary
rediscovered the ancient mystique of appearing to building complex for the European Central Bank in
be profound by using material with which their lis- Frankfurt, Germany, with the tower rising 591 ft
teners or readers are unfamiliar, and which they are (180 m). Won by competition in 1999, the complex
not likely to challenge while they willingly give the was begun in 2008; completion is expected in 2014.
speaker or writer the status of guru.35 The sense of destabilization is a recurrent theme,
At the same moment this philosophy was intro- particularly evident in the sharply angled and folded
duced in print in the United States, a building addi- glass envelope of the Seattle Central Library, by
tion was being completed in Vienna, Austria, that Rem Koolhaas (of the Office for Metropolitan Ar-
embodied perfectly the artistic sentiments charac- chitecture, Rotterdam), with local architect Joshua
terizing Deconstructivism. Designed by the Viennese Prince-Ramus of LMN [20.37]. Begun after passage
“Blue Sky” partnership called Coop Himmelb(l)au, of a bond measure in 1998 and opened in 2004
comprising Wolf Prix, Helmut Swiczinsky, and (with the additional gift of $20 million from Bill
Michael Holzer, this rooftop addition of a law office, Gates), the new building was to replace the existing
1983–1988, gave the appearance, especially from cramped building, since more than 60 percent of the
upper windows across the street, of a lightly metal- library holdings were in storage due to lack of space;
framed biplane that had crashed on the roof seismic issues also were a cause for concern in the
[20.36].36 In Coop Himmelb(l)au’s continuing work existing 1960 building. Floating floor platforms in-
this sense of disorientation has continued at an ever- side the library are enclosed in a folded glass skin,
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Critical Regionalism 647

with panes held in a diagonal lattice. Although the May 30, 2007, which had to be done very early in
floor slab edges are kept away from the many angled the morning, when both sections were at the same
glass envelope walls, the question remains as to how temperature throughout. Internally there are closely
such an asymmetrical building will react to the ver- spaced slender columns, though externally the skin
tical and lateral movements of an earthquake, of glass is crisscrossed with seemingly randomly po-
which is a very real risk in Seattle. sitioned diagonal lines. In this seismic zone, too, the
Far larger and, from some perspectives, even extreme asymmetry remains to be tested. Whatever
more destabilized is the large CCTV building in Bei- happens when this building is put to the ultimate
jing, China, also by Rem Koolhaas and his office dynamic trial, it is nonetheless a most visually in-
[Plate 43]. Built to house the China Central Tele- triguing building. Together with the success of the
vision (CCTV) headquarters, the structure consists Olympic Games held in Beijing in the same year as
of a 44-story skyscraper shaped like a large squared its completion, the CCTV tower certainly marks the
upside-down U bent 90° in the middle. After win- arrival of China as a major international architec-
ning this commission in an international competi- tural force.
tion in 2002, Koolhaas and his office associate Ole
Scheeren worked with the engineering firm of Arup
(London) to solve the complex engineering prob- Critical Regionalism
lems created by such a tall three-dimensional asym- For several centuries European nations carried to
metrical bent “arch” structure. Construction took (one might say imposed on) their African and Asian
place during 2004–2008. The structure can be de- colonies the architectural forms and types then in
scribed as the joining of two individual inverted fashion at home, whether Classicism for govern-
L-shaped towers. The difficulty in dealing with mental buildings or Gothic Revival for houses of
locked-in structural differentials is illustrated in the worship. A generation after the breakup of these
final steps necessary in joining the two towers on transglobal empires in the mid-twentieth century,

20.37. Rem Koolhaas and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Seattle Central Library, Seattle, Washington,
1998–2004. With projecting asymmetrical elements, this library suggests the dynamism of learning, while resembling a
folded origami sculpture. Photo: © Russell Kord/Alamy.
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648 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

architects in many regions began to create a new that reliance on Western technologies and building
kind of Modernism using, where applicable, modern materials made inevitable, Fathy rejected Western
industrial materials and technologies, but stressing Modernism by returning to long-established Egyp-
local traditional materials together with the combi- tian materials and building forms—sun-baked
nation of ancestral and traditional building forms adobe brick in domed vaults. One of his earliest
with Western design concepts. Because this alter- demonstrations was in the mosque for a new
nate style represents a deliberate and studied re- settlement, New Gourna, near Luxor, 1946–1953.
examination of local climate, structural, formal, and Later projects, using a similar palette of materials
stylistic traditions, merging the “indigenous” with and building methods, included another village
the “introduced,” it has been called Critical Region- complex at Anew Nariz, 1970; his own house at
alism. It reinvigorated national vernacular building Sidi Krier, 1971; and the Khaleel-Al-Talhooly
expressions and idioms (previously denigrated), in house at Ghur Memren, Jordan, 1988. One of the
the process creating strong associative links to the traditional design elements that Fathy re-embraced
heritages and histories of various regions of the de- was the rooftop malkaf, “wind catch,” an angled
veloping Third World. funnel used to direct prevailing cooling breezes into
the building. He used ranks of these malkaf in the
roofs of the market hall for a new agricultural
Hassan Fathy and Indigenous settlement in New Baris, begun in 1967 about 37
Egyptian Architecture miles (60 km) south of the Karga Oasis, Egypt.
The model for this return to indigenous prototypes These malkaf effectively reduced the typical high
as inspiration for new architecture was provided by summer temperature of 122° F to about 95° F (a
Hassan Fathy (1900–1989) at nearly the moment drop from 50° C to 35° C) [20.38].
the British Empire began to be disassembled in the Equally important, however, were such activities
mid-1940s. Well aware of the cultural dependence as his establishment of the International Institute

20.38. Hassan Fathy, Market building for a new agricultural settlement, New Baris, in the Kharga Oasis, Egypt, 1967.
Using traditional adobe (mud) brick, Fathy devised malkaf (“wind catcher”) hoods that reduced the typical summer
temperatures of 122° F by 95° (50° C down to 35° C). Photo: Courtesy of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, William O’Reilly,
Aga Khan Trust for Culture.
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Critical Regionalism 649

for Appropriate Technology in 1971 and his many clay strips (the concrete being applied by hand), are
published writings such as Gourna: A Tale of Two covered with a final outer coat of concrete plaster
Villages (Cairo, Egypt, 1969), republished as Archi- embedded with a mosaic of white glazed pottery
tecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt fragments—a surface finish used on old Hindu
(Chicago and London, 1973), as well as The Arab shrines still found along the streets in Ahmedabad.
House in the Urban Setting: Past, Present and Future This white mosaic finish has several advantages, al-
(London, 1972) and Natural Energy and Vernacular lowing for smoothly rounding the intersecting
Architecture (Chicago, 1986). curved surfaces but also providing extra insulation
Greatly influenced by Fathy’s principles, archi- together with a high reflectivity to reduce heat gain.
tect Abdel-Wahed El-Wakil (born 1943) continued The architectural language that Doshi developed for
this newly reaffirmed traditionalism, designing the Sangath progressed further, with a somewhat more
Halawa house in Agany, Egypt, 1975, and going on formal character, for the Gandhi Labour Institute in
to design several new mosques in Saudi Arabia, in- Ahmedabad, 1980–1984, intended to continue the
cluding the large Al-Miqat Mosque in Jeddah, ideals of one of the greatest leaders in modern In-
1991. Using a more abstracted architectural lan- dian history [20.39]. Doshi again exploited the re-
guage, but one still rooted in types from the past, is peated round barrel vaults covered with the white
the Jordanian architect Rasem Badran (born 1945), mosaic, but used contrasting walls of grey stone
who completed the al Jame Mosque and Qasr al slabs. The many spaces, offices, and the director’s
Hokm Justice Palace complex in Riyadh, Saudi residence are treated like building components in a
Arabia, in 1992. Badran’s work goes well beyond small village.
certain stylistic forms and details; placed in the
heart of the old portion of the city, the mosque and
court complex complement the traditional scale Geoffrey Bawa and
and character of the site. As Badran commented: Sri Lankan Architecture
“The solutions for any architectural problem are In Sri Lanka (Ceylon), the island southeast of India,
bound to a set of interconnected factors related to another architect who successfully fused Mod-
socio-cultural, environmental, morphological, and ernism with traditional design concepts and build-
technical issues. As for my role as an architect in ing methods was Geoffrey Bawa (1919–2003). Bawa
activating these factors, I see it as giving value to occupied the position of inspirational father figure
human needs through emphasizing the character for southeast Asian architects, much as Fathy did
of place, its architectural and morphological pat- for architects in the middle Eastern Islamic world.
terns and giving meaning to the built environment Malaysian architect Ken Yeang honors Bawa, saying
[in order] to truly relate it to its inhabitants.”37 that “he is our first hero and guru.”
Bawa traced his lineage to both Dutch traders
and indigenous Sinhalese. The implication of re-
Balkrishna Doshi and sponding to and respecting indigenous building tra-
Indian Architecture ditions became evident in the house that Bawa and
In India the development of an indigenous architec- his partners designed in 1961–1963 for Dr. Noel
ture unfolded differently because of the enormous Bartholomeusz. A narrow building filling the middle
impact of Le Corbusier’s design for Chandigarh, the of a long narrow lot in Colombo, the house project
new capitol of the Punjab, especially on young In- was dropped by the original client even before con-
dian-born architects such as Balkrishna Doshi and struction was completed, prompting Bawa and his
Charles Correa. Doshi (born 1927) studied in Poona partners to occupy it as their office and studio,
and Bombay but then entered Le Corbusier’s atelier which they did until 1997 when it was sold. Once
in Paris, where he worked on some of the major Bawa had turned away from the modernism he had
buildings in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad, 1951– been exposed to in his training, he quickly con-
1957, subsequently working with Louis I. Kahn on cluded that the roof was the essential element in
the buildings of the Indian Institute of Management tropical architecture, and soon settled on a roof cov-
at Ahmedabad, in 1962. Doshi began his break with ering of half-round Portuguese clay tile laid on con-
Western Modernism in his own studio called San- crete sheeting that was watertight, durable, and
gath (meaning “moving together through participa- provided good thermal insulation, even though the
tion”), on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, 1979–1981, weight required a substantial timber structure of
with its various open barrel vaults and semi-subter- close-spaced rafters, purlins, and beams carried on
ranean placement, both strategies to mitigate heat.38 polished coconut posts set on high stone bases. The
The vaults, built up of wire mesh and concrete and broadly extended roofs, coupled with the many
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650 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

20.39. Balkrishna Doshi, Gandhi Labour Institute, Ahmedabad, India, 1980–1984. Doshi has brought together influences
from his teachers Le Corbusier and Kahn, in forms shaped by the ancient cultures of the subcontinent. Photo: From W.J.R.
Curtis, Balkrishna Doshi: An Architecture for India (New York 1988).

courtyards, open loggias, and verandahs rendered groups in Sri Lanka—Tamil and Sinhalese, each
mechanical air-conditioning unnecessary.39 with its own architectural traditions; he managed
Although Bawa built a number of elegant resi- to meld the imagery, although clearly favoring the
dences and hotels in Sri Lanka, arguably the pinna- Sinhalese. After viewing the proposed building site
cle of his career was the new Sri Lanka Parliament, from the air, Bawa suggested flooding a marshy area
designed to fuse elements referring to the island’s to create a lake and, with dredging, constructing an
indigenous vernacular building traditions, while also island in the center for the location of the new Par-
incorporating references to the island’s British colo- liament building.
nial heritage [20.40]. Whereas the original Parlia- The overall profile of the building complex, set
ment building had been constructed under the on a low platform, featured broad extended copper-
British in a neo-Palladian Classical Ionic style in the covered roofs on the main central building and its
old colonial port of Colombo, in 1978 the govern- surrounding five pavilions, each roof covering
ment decided on the construction of an entirely encircling verandahs, thus recalling ancestral Sin-
new capital complex. The site selected by the then- halese council buildings, while the plan had intima-
president was well outside Colombo, at Kotte, in the tions of Moghul lake palaces as well as Sri Lankan
center of a new capital city. The new location was Buddhist monasteries of the late-Anuradhapura
in fact strongly associated with the fifteenth-century period. In a series of interviews, Bawa commented
kingdom, once centered at Kotte, that represented on the Parliament design, saying it was “sort of a
the last epoch of unified autonomous governance design continuum, reflecting the visual formalities of
before the beginning of Western colonization, the old Sinhalese buildings, grand but not pompous,”
which lasted from the sixteenth century until the and giving the driving reason behind his design:
island regained its independence in 1948. Bawa was “We have a marvelous tradition of building in this
given the commission for the new parliamentary country that has got lost. It got lost because people
complex in 1979, but a particular problem Bawa followed outside influences over their own good in-
faced was that there are two bitterly fractious ethnic stincts. . . . I just wanted to fit [the Parliament] into
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Critical Regionalism 651

the site, so I opened it into blocks.”40 In the individ- building underneath. The roof, its shape, texture and
ual pavilions he employed extremely subtle saddle- proportion, is the strongest visual factor.”41 Begun in
back double-pitch hip roofs, a distant reminder of 1979, the Parliament complex was completed and
traditional “Kandyan” roofs; as Bawa wrote: “One opened in April 1982. In laying out the ceremonial
unchanging element [in Sri Lankan architecture] is approach to the Parliament complex, in drawing
the roof—protective, emphatic and all-important— from ancient Buddhist temple plan arrangements,
governing the aesthetic whatever the period, what- and in abstracting traditional Kandyan roof forms,
ever the place. Often a building is only a roof, Bawa created an architecture unique to its place and
columns, and floors—the roof dominant, shielding, time; and in laying out his principle debating cham-
giving the contentment of shelter. Ubiquitous, per- ber like the House of Commons in London, Bawa
vasively present, the scale or pattern shaped by the acknowledged the debt of the modern democratic

20.40. Geoffrey Bawa,

Parliament, near
Colombo, Sri Lanka,
1978–1982. Interior view
of one of the flanking
pavilions. By emphasizing
the roof, and using open
latticework, Bawa
suggested traditional
building forms while also
using shade and natural
ventilation to good effect.
Photo: From Steele,
Architecture Today
(London, 1997).
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652 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

Sri Lankan form of government to former colonial of Magenta and a lagoon, along a gently curved
power. Bawa and his partners (one a Jaffna Tamil walk, are spaced low rectilinear buildings and ten
and another a Buddhist Sinhalese) created what tall rounded diaphanous wooden shell pavilions,
they hoped would be an inclusive expression of the called “great houses” or “cases,” whose steep pro-
aspirations of the whole nation.42 files suggest the steeply conical traditional thatched
houses of the Kanak. The buildings are clustered
in three villages; presenting Kanak identity and cul-
Renzo Piano: Recognizing ture and exhibiting contemporary Kanak art, they
New Caledonian Indigenous Traditions include a commemorative house for Jean-Marie
In the cases of Fathy and Bawa, we are dealing with Tjibaou together with administrative facilities. The
architects from emerging nations, trained in the “great houses” vary in height from 65 to 95 feet (20
Western tradition but then reacting to those West- to 28 m) and rise in staggered groups above the lush
ern colonial traditions, endeavoring to create an in- forest peninsula canopy [Plate 44]. The exhibits
digenous expression using long-established materials and demonstrations presented in the “great houses”
or building forms that they know well from child- interpret the traditional values of Kanak culture for
hood. In the inverse of that approach, consider the an indigenous population undergoing extraordinary
work of Renzo Piano, formerly a champion of expres- cultural change. The “great houses” themselves are
sionistic high-tech building (as in his Pompidou Cen- constructed of tall curved laminated wood verti-
ter, Paris), working on behalf of the people and cals, made of untreated but extremely durable iroko
government of New Caledonia, a group of tropical wood that is naturally resistant to termites, with
islands about 930 miles due east of Australia. The galvanized steel tubes and rods used for the diago-
first European sighting of New Caledonia was made nal bracing. The pattern of louvers incorporated
by Captain James Cook in 1774, and he named the throughout the tall curved shells of the “villages”
land he saw using the ancient Roman name for Scot- were carefully studied in wind tunnel tests to pro-
land, since he perceived a resemblance. Taken over vide natural ventilation but also to allow typhoon-
by the French in 1853, the island group is today force winds to pass through. Although there was
known as a “special collectivity of France,” having some controversy concerning its luxuriousness and
two representatives in the French National Assem- monumental character, the siting of the Tjibaou
bly.43 In the late twentieth century, the island group Center with its emphasis on the landscape and its
pushed for greater political self-governance, encour- architectural response to tropical climatic condi-
aged by Jean-Marie Tjibaou, a Kanak indigenous to tions seems an appropriate solution for a European
the islands who had long advocated for a special working on behalf of a recently tribal people.44
building complex honoring the local native language
and culture. At the request of the New Caledonia
government, France agreed to fund the construction Building Communities
of this cultural center named in honor of Tjibaou. One of the pervasive components of the critical
As a result, the Tjibaou Cultural Center was built as regionalist reactions to imported Euro-American
the last and most far-flung of the Grands Travaux Modernism was the reaffirmation of community, of
supported by French president François Mitterand creating environments for groups of people, living
in the 1990s. The design of the Tjibaou Center re- and working together. What makes housing com-
sulted from a competition held in 1991, won by the plexes successful rests on two essential factors: a
Renzo Piano Building Workshop of Geneva, Switzer- consistent design that results in a related family of
land, begun in 1992 and completed in 1998. forms and, even more important, an appropriate-
Avoiding his earlier reliance on modern indus- ness of scale and an organization of spaces that
trial expression, Piano redirected his practice to- arise from the ethos of those who will live there.
ward climatic and environmental responsiveness in Fathy’s effort to relocate the residents of Gourna
this tropical region. His Tjibaou Cultural Center, was only partially successful because of their resist-
outside Nouméa, reflects and promotes the culture ance to moving; otherwise, his building designs fit
of the indigenous Kanak island people, avoiding well with local expectations and living patterns. Ef-
counterfeit historicism while also reducing reliance forts to respond to the need for housing in the Post-
on introduced outside technologies. Endeavoring modern period have yielded varied results.
to honor the traditions and history of the Kanak, In the United States, one planned town that
their past, present, and future, Piano and his team attracted a great deal of attention was Seaside,
decided against a literal replication of a Kanak vil- Florida, a small enclave planned in 1978–1983 by
lage. On the long Tina peninsula, between the Bay the team of Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-
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Building Communities 653

20.41. Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Seaside, Florida, 1978–1983. Developer Robert Davis set out to have a
beachfront community designed that emphasized foot traffic and closeness of municipal services instead of requiring everyone
to use their automobiles. Courtesy of Duany and Plater-Zyberk.

Zyberk, with Leon Krier as consultant. What Robert since its design and the close physical relationship
Davis, owner of the land, desired was a community of its buildings appeared too good to be true.
based on movement on foot, rather than by auto- Particularly intriguing, because the final design
mobiles, so the distances between buildings are far results clearly seemed to belong in the category of
less than commonly found in American suburbs Ironic Classicism, are the housing developments
[20.41]. The planners also drew up a building code and new towns built around Paris in the 1970s and
that regulated building scale and architectural de- 1980s. The creation of Barcelona-based architect
tail, to foster the ambience of a small southern town Ricardo Bofill (born 1939) and his atelier, the
of the very early twentieth century. Although the Taller de Arquitectura, these include the housing
greater density of buildings per acre would have en- cluster called the Palace of Abraxas at Marne-la-
couraged a sense of greater community, homeown- Vallée, near Paris, 1978–1982 [21.42]. This and the
ers opted to commute there on weekends from other complexes are uniquely identifiable: vast and
places like Atlanta. The town, with its buildings by Baroque in scale, but Neoclassical in detail and
many well-known architects, was lauded in the pro- broken down into varied component sections. De-
fessional and popular press and became such a focus spite what appears to be handcrafted historicism,
of attention that homeowners reportedly began what made these housing complexes possible at a
renting their houses to visitors; eventually Seaside reasonable cost was prefabrication of massive pre-
became a very upscale resort community. The town cast concrete parts. Bofill, and Peter Hodgkinson,
design seemed so perfect and yet unreal that it was his principal designer, believed that previous mod-
selected as the outdoor set for filming The Truman ernist public housing lacked meaning, whereas they
Show (1998), a satirical drama about a baby raised attempted an architecture in which daily life could
to manhood in a commercial reality-television show be “exalted to become rich and meaningful.”45
set in a make-believe town. Some movie viewers While prefabrication of large parts of Bofill’s hous-
were unaware that it was a real town in Florida, ing complexes in France brought the construction
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654 20. THE EXPANSION OF MODERNISM

cost down, allowing rents to be within the reach of design process he uses to deeply involve residents,
lower-income residents, a different approach was community members, and stakeholders in the revi-
taken by architect Michael Pyatok in the United talization of low-income communities. Using hands-
States. In the light of the Pruitt-Igoe housing debacle on modeling exercises, Mike helps communities
in Saint Louis of the mid-twentieth century, Pyatok identify their core needs and plan how to meet those
realized that low-income residents resist being placed needs through quality design.”46 The fact that these
in apartments designed for them that look like bar- were subsidized housing units, available only to res-
racks for the poor. As a solution to this problem, he idents with greatly reduced incomes, was not al-
and his partners designed compact housing clusters lowed by the architects to diminish the excellence
that could be squeezed into “left over” spaces, small of their work or the quality of their design [20.43].
in scale and designed in the same way as apartment Pyatok and his partners were not building storage
complexes intended for prospective upper-middle- facilities for the poor but, rather, homes in which
class occupants. The funding came from various they could lift their damaged confidence in them-
civic agencies and charitable groups. The architects’ selves and raise their standard of living. Pyatok re-
experience indicated that the low-income residents counts in public lectures that as his team was
mistreated the buildings that were so obviously finishing up a complex of subsidized housing units
“designed down” for them. Pyatok and his partners next to an interstate, people began to arrive in their
decided that their prospective residents deserved luxury vehicles, asking when these attractive new
better, and subsequently the occupants developed a condos were to go on sale. They were astonished
sense of personal ownership and treated their new when they were informed that they could live there
homes with respect. As Pyatok posted on his web- only if their income was somewhere below the fed-
site: “At the heart of Mike’s work is the participatory erally established poverty level. Building livable com-

20.42. Ricardo Bofill, Palace of Abraxas Apartment Complex, Marne-la-Vallée, near Paris, 1978–1982. This and Bofill’s
other apartment complexes outside Paris establish clear and unique identities, avoiding the monotonous sterility of many
twentieth-century housing developments. Photo: Ricardo Bofill, Paris/Deidi von Schawen.
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Building Communities 655

20.43. Michael Pyatok, Tower Apartments, Rohnert Park, California, 1993. By arranging the low-rise apartments around
interior courts, Pyatok and his associates created a strong sense of identity and community. Photo: Courtesy of Michael Pyatok.

munities applies to the well-off just as much as to The architecture extending past the twentieth cen-
those whose lives have been blunted through adver- tury discussed in this section is still developing and
sity and disadvantage, and architects need to address progressing, so it is not appropriate to attempt a
the spectrum of those needing places not just to live summation here. Nonetheless, a number of issues
but to thrive. are influencing design as the twenty-first century
moves into its next decade, and these are treated
R in the following concluding chapter.
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21.7. Ken Yeang, Solaris Building, Singapore, 2009–2010. More than most other architects, Yeang designs buildings as total
bio-climates. Here the wrap-around vertical garden offers more planted area than was possible on the site before the building
was constructed. Photo: Courtesy of Ken Yeang.
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Chapter 21

Into the Twenty-First Century

R
When all the poems and music have become silent,
Hamilton Building addition (2002–2006) [Plate 45]
or in Ai Weiwei and Herzog & de Meuron’s
the architecture will continue speaking. Olympic arena in Beijing (2001–2008) [21.1]. With
—Chinese Proverb

R
the development of ever-more sophisticated CAD
programs for architectural and engineering design
allowing for the simultaneous ability to track struc-
tural calculations, to explore building assembly

I n a discussion of recent architecture, a point is

reached where it is no longer possible to talk
about what has happened; instead, we speak of what
methods, and to monitor material costs, it is now
possible to design buildings of any imaginable shape.
CAD also allows architects to freely alter complex
is happening and, further, what appears to be emerg- forms even at an advanced stage in design develop-
ing as the issues of the architecture of tomorrow; ment by going back to saved files or layers of design.
hence, there is a shift from historical summary to Moreover, other specialists can use the design files
critical comment. Compared to what it was a half- to prepare three-dimensional images, both outside
century ago, architecture now is clearly a global and inside a proposed building, showing the effects
phenomenon, and, as was noted in the preceding of building materials and colors, even creating mov-
chapter, well-known “starchitects” today routinely ing images to allow clients or commissioning com-
have commissions around the world. Architects in mittees to explore the proposed building—all well
training, particularly from emerging nations, often before the first spade of earth is turned. Such digital
seek their formal instruction in countries far from imaging can be applied not only to work in progress
their place of birth. Their particular challenge but also to the virtual creation of buildings never
when returning home is to find ways of bringing to- actually built (such as the unrealized designs of
gether learned modern methods and technologies Louis I. Kahn) or to the reconstruction of buildings
with their ancestral social traditions, building ty- and environments of antiquity that no longer sur-
pologies, and planning strategies. It is no longer vive (such as the Roman Forum of Trajan). It seems
possible to have a single universal modern archi- we have already arrived at the point where it is pos-
tecture, the “one building for all people every- sible to identify the difference between buildings de-
where,” as proposed by the European modernist signed before the 1990s—before computers—and
advocates in the 1920s and attempted in the 1950s those that came afterward, just as it is common to
and ’60s. Instead, there are now multiple regional speak of the evident change that occurred in nine-
inflected modernisms. teenth-century architecture due to the enormous
Without question, computer-aided design increase in the production of iron, steel, and glass.
(CAD) continues to shape not only the design This “liberation” from the physical constraints of
process but all phases of design development and form and structure has led to what some critics have
the construction process. Since the beginning of the labeled “blobitecture,” in which the buildings ap-
twenty-first century, CAD has given architects total pear to shape-shift; others favor adjectives such as
control over building form, freeing them to use as- curvy, fluid, or protoplasmic.1 Yet another descriptor
sertively dramatic irregular angles or amorphous is “biomorphic architecture,” with a building form
rounded shapes, as seen in Daniel Libeskind’s seeming to originate as an unknown life-form. Some
sharply crystalline-looking Denver Art Museum recent examples would include project designs by

657
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658 21. INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

21.1. Herzog & de Meuron with artist/designer Ai Weiwei, Olympic National Stadium, Beijing, China, 2001–2008.
Affectionately dubbed “The Bird’s Nest” because of its interwoven strands, this and other dramatic buildings were
commissioned to make a dramatic public announcement of China’s arrival as a major player on the world’s architectural
stage, signified also by China’s serving as host of the 2008 Olympic games. Photo: REUTERS/Alvin Chan.

Zaha Hadid for the Dubai Financial Market (2007), transporting the finished parts to the building site;
her Dubai Performing Arts Center (2006), or her the clearing of the building site prior to construc-
Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center, Baku, Azerbaijan tion; the carting away of the debris of a demolished
(2007–2012) [Plate 46]. Other examples might in- previous structure and its deposit in a landfill; the
clude the Sage Gateshead center for music perform- energy involved in raising a building (significant in
ance by Norman Foster (opened 2004); or the the lifting of materials to great heights); the energy
Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany (2001–2005) by continuously expended in operating a building
Herzog & de Meuron; or the Beijing National whether for ten years or a hundred; and the further
Center for the Performing Arts (2000–2007), a consumption in all these categories when the whole
titanium-covered ellipsoidal dome by French archi- process is repeated in the future for the seemingly
tect Paul Andreu [Plate 47]. Arguably, also in this inevitable “replacement” building. In recent years,
category of “blobitecture” could be Herzog & de all these costs have begun to be critically examined
Meuron’s National Arena in Beijing, the stadium through what is called Life-Cycle Assessment or
that became so familiar during the 2008 Olympic Life-Cycle Cost Analysis—an expanding activity
games as “The Bird’s Nest.” and one that will be very much a part of building
The use of computers in designing complex in the future.
building forms, however, has so far had minimal im- Given these interwoven concerns, architects
pact on the selection of building materials or the need to become more serious about sustainability and
use of energy. Whether a building swoops or juts “green architecture,” which involves such measures
out with sharp points is of no consequence when as reducing and recycling the water used in a build-
architecture is examined for its continuing impact ing; diverting runoff from roofs, terraces, and parking
on the planet. Considering how many millennia lots into “rain gardens” for irrigation; using reflectors
humans have been building, it is only since about to redirect and use sunlight inside a structure; and
1970 that any fleeting thought has been given to using voids in a building’s shape as a way of moving
the after-effects caused in obtaining and processing air to carry away unwanted heat, among many other
all the materials from which buildings are now considerations. To encourage architects to improve
made. The impact on the planet includes the cut- energy and material conservation, the LEED pro-
ting of trees; the extraction of ores from the earth gram was instituted in 1998 (the acronym stands for
and the resulting environmental degradation; the “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design”).
energy consumed in smelting, pouring, rolling, and Developed by the US Green Building Council, the
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Into the Twenty-First Century 659

LEED program, in its third iteration in 2009, pro- ings can be analyzed for their respective LEED
vides guidelines with accreditation for designing achievement as well.4 C. Y. Lee’s Taipei 101 super
professionals as well as certification of completed skyscraper (1999–2004) was awarded Platinum sta-
buildings in four classifications arising from the num- tus (the tallest building as of 2013 to receive this
ber of points awarded out of a maximum of 100. The designation). Even existing buildings can be reno-
categories range from “Certified” (40–49 points), vated and retrofitted to achieve LEED certification,
“Silver” (50–59 points), “Gold” (60–79 points), and as demonstrated by the renovated Empire State
“Platinum (80 points and above).2 Perhaps there is Building, New York, which in 2011 earned Gold sta-
no more fitting example of a recent building given tus for this famous skyscraper originally built in
LEED Platinum status than the Aldo Leopold 1929–1931, long before energy consumption was
Legacy Center (2006–2007), designed by a team led considered. LEED certification is based on site sus-
by The Kubala Washatko Architects (TKWA) and tainability, consumption and recycling of energy,
built in Baraboo, Wisconsin, where Aldo Leopold production cost of building materials, indoor envi-
lived and died [Plate 48]. As a challenge to other ar- ronmental quality, and resource depletion and water
chitects, the Center’s zero net energy building is car- intake, with additional special points for innovation
bon-neutral in operation and produces more than in design and regional considerations. While per-
110 percent of its annual energy needs. haps not ideal, the ranking system is continually
If the conservation movement has a patron saint, being refined and does offer an objective and em-
it would be Leopold, author of A Sand County Al- pirical way of comparing individual buildings.
manac (1949). Though his name may not be promi- Some “starchitects” have achieved high profes-
nent today in the minds of ordinary building users, sional status for their design gymnastics, pushing the
Leopold’s influence in the ecological conservation limits of the weightlessness of their hovering can-
movement has been profound. Well before the mid- tilevers and creating splendid sculptures sheathed in
dle of the twentieth century, Leopold began to ex- the exotic gleam of rare metals, as exemplified by the
amine the rhythms of the natural world. A champion Denver Art Museum by Daniel Libeskind, 2000–
of conservation growing out of a land ethic, he wrote 2006 [Plate 45]. Other architects, however, have
toward the end of this seminal book that “conserva- made it a point of honor at the turn of this century
tion is a state of harmony between men and land.” to elevate the use of ordinary materials in their build-
Stating this objective is deceptively easy. ing efforts. But such a design decision to be unobtru-
sive and to deliberately simplify does not necessarily
This sounds simple: do we not already sing our mean being relegated to professional oblivion. One
love for and obligation to the land of the free example is the Australian architect Glenn Murcutt.
and the home of the brave? Yes, but just what Born in London in 1936, Murcutt was raised in New
and whom do we love? Certainly not the soil, Guinea where he learned to appreciate uncompli-
which we are sending helter-skelter down river. cated aboriginal buildings. Although his father had
Certainly not the waters, which we assume introduced him to the work of Mies van der Rohe,
have no function except to turn turbines, float he also grew to admire the philosophy of Henry
barges, and carry off sewage. Certainly not the David Thoreau. Bringing these philosophies together
plants, of which we exterminate whole commu- in his designing, he demonstrates that less can “sim-
nities without batting an eye. Certainly not the ply” be more. Trained at the University of New
animals, of which we have already extirpated South Wales, he was influenced by several local de-
many of the largest and most beautiful species. signers to focus his work on relationships with nature
A land ethic of course cannot prevent the and on sustainability well before “sustainability” be-
alteration, management, and use of these “re- came a buzzword. He developed a particular sensi-
sources,” but it does affirm their right to con- tivity to the unique landscape character of Australia.
tinued existence, and, at least in spots, their Adhering to a professional motto inspired by Aus-
continued existence in a natural state. In short, tralian aboriginal precepts to “touch the earth
a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens lightly,” Murcutt customarily employs ordinary ma-
from conqueror of the land-community to plain terials, such as the corrugated sheet metal often used
member and citizen of it. It implies respect for in rough “outback” ranch buildings. And he gives
his fellow-members, and also respect for the careful consideration to building orientation, wind
community as such.3 direction, water flow, prevailing temperature, and
light [Plate 49]. Despite conducting a small one-
In addition to buildings under design prior to person practice (when so many Priztker Laureates
construction, existing and recently completed build- direct architectural corporations with hundreds of
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660 21. INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

employees), as well as focusing on small-scale build- students with little concern for garnering celebrity
ings including many residences, Murcutt was for the “master architect.” Using old tires knitted
awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 2002. The together with steel rods and overlaid with wire mesh
language of the award citation summarizes why he and stucco, covered with a lightly framed salvaged
received such high recognition: wood roof over a floor of slate found nearby, Mock-
bee and the Rural Studio created the Yancey Chapel
Glenn Murcutt is a modernist, a naturalist, an (1995) in Sawyerville, Hale County [Plate 50].
environmentalist, a humanist, an economist With its unusual walls, roof, and floor framing an
and ecologist encompassing all of these distin- open view through a woodland over a forest canopy
guished qualities in his practice as a dedicated and grassy valley beyond, the Yancey Chapel encap-
architect who works alone from concept to re- sulates the same quiet serenity in an undisturbed
alization of his projects in his native Australia. natural setting that characterized the chapels of
Although his works have sometimes been de- Faye Jones, as in his tranquil Thorncrown Chapel
scribed as a synthesis of Mies van der Rohe and (1980), Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Not all aspiring
the native Australian wool shed, his many sat- architects can create a grandchild of the Bilbao mu-
isfied clients and the scores more who are wait- seum, all aglitter in its titanium skin and bringing
ing in line for his services are endorsement acclaim to its designer; but all aspiring architects
enough that his houses are unique, satisfying can seek daily to improve the lives of ordinary
solutions. His is an architecture of place, archi- people, using the ordinary materials at hand, in
tecture that responds to the landscape and to inspiring and uplifting ways, as the Auburn students
the climate. . . . and their supervisors continue to do, after leukemia
His houses are fine tuned to the land and took Mockbee well before his work was done.
the weather. He uses a variety of materials, The aboriginal concept of touching the earth
from metal to wood to glass, stone, brick and lightly also informs the rising practice of green ar-
concrete—always selected with a conscious- chitecture by architects around the globe as they
ness of the amount of energy it took to produce aim to lessen the negative impact of human activity.
the materials in the first place. . . . One of Mur- One method is to introduce “green roofs,” working
cutt’s favorite quotations from Henry David together with “rain gardens.” The objective of both
Thoreau, who was also a favorite of his father, is simple, though a green roof requires careful design
[reads:] “Since most of us spend our lives doing of the underlying flat roof structure to carry the
ordinary tasks, the most important thing is to eventual weight and to ensure protection against
carry them out extraordinarily well.” With the water infiltrating the building below. A green roof
awarding of the 2002 Pritzker Architecture is made up of planted beds that present a green sur-
Prize, the jury finds that Glenn Murcutt is more face to the sun. One politically visible installation
than living up to that adage.5 is the green roof of the Chicago City Hall Building;
though it cannot be seen from the streets below, it
In an analogous approach, the inspirational is clearly visible from the thirty-three office sky-
American architect Samuel Mockbee (1944–2001) scrapers surrounding it [Plate 51]. This example,
made it his mission to provide professional services designed in 2001 by Conservation Design Forum,
to the architecturally disenfranchised, impoverished Inc., is also important because it was installed on a
rural folk of west Alabama. A graduate of the archi- building already a century old, demonstrating that
tectural program at Auburn University in 1974, green roofs are not intrinsically restricted to place-
Mockbee moved his practice from affluent Jackson, ment only on proposed new buildings. The layer of
Mississippi, to Hale County, Alabama, creating earth provides effective insulation against both solar
what he called the Rural Studio. He persuaded ar- heat gain in the day and heat loss through radiation
chitectural students from Auburn to join him in de- at night. The evaporation of water in the planted
signing and building needed community structures surfaces also achieves a measure of cooling on the
in an area plagued by grinding poverty since before building below, as well as cooling the air immedi-
the early twentieth century. He and his students ately above the garden. Measurements by the city
listened closely to the potential building users, em- taken in the decade following installation of the
ployed their ideas, used ordinary and “found” ma- City Hall roof garden indicate that in the summer
terials like rammed earth or hay bales for walls, and the roof is 30° cooler than surrounding traditional
old license plates or discarded automobile wind- flat roofs.6 The garden also protects the underlying
shields for roof coverings [21.2]. They have fash- roof membrane from deterioration due to incessant
ioned buildings improvised by Mockbee and his ultraviolet light as well as providing habitat for birds.
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Into the Twenty-First Century 661

21.2. Samuel Mockbee and the Rural Studio, Mason’s Bend Community Center, New Bern, Alabama, 2000. Using found
materials (including dumped tires), Mockbee and his Rural Studio students built a small chapel in a wooded copse overlooking
a valley. Photo: Timothy Hursley.

Roof gardens accessible only to maintenance per- and small trees, which, together with paved ter-
sonnel can be composed of low-lying plants like se- races, can create an aerial garden accessible to
dums and mosses in appropriate climates, since they building occupants, as is the landscape atop the
can endure extended periods without watering—a Chicago City Hall.
consideration in situations where frequent mainte- Another example is the green roof over the new
nance or regular irrigation is not available. Or the building for the California Academy of Sciences
planting beds can be deeper, supporting shrubbery (2005–2008), designed by Renzo Piano; from a
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662 21. INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

21.3. Renzo Piano, California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, 2005–2008. Covering
the entire roof with gently undulating roof gardens, Piano and his associates created a landscape that mediates between the
park and nearby hills. Photo: © Lee Foster/Alamy.

distance, it resembles gently rolling hills [21.3]. The nearly $30,000 annually in reduced heating and
green roof, which is not publically accessible, en- cooling costs); and, most appropriately, the retrofit-
ables the Academy of Sciences building to achieve ted green roof of the headquarters building of the
a 35 percent energy savings over what was required American Society of Landscape Architects, in
by the building code. Other significant green roofs Washington, DC, designed by landscape architect
built in the United States include those of the Ford Michael Van Valkenburgh.
Motor Company’s River Rouge Plant, Dearborn, The Chicago City Hall roof garden was inspired
Michigan, which collectively has 450,000 square by similar installations in Germany, where research
feet of roof surface covered by sedum plantings. started in the 1980s and experimental roof gardens
Even larger, though arguably not a true roof garden were created in cities like Stuttgart. In Germany,
since it includes large pedestrian paved areas, is Mil- the impetus for roof gardens was to reduce storm-
lennium Park in Chicago. This 25.5-acre area is a water runoff and requisite treatment. New building
roof over the Millennium Park garage, built on what materials were developed specifically for such roof
had been a huge, unsightly rail yard since the end gardens, professional standards were formulated,
of the nineteenth century. Now an enchanting and a professional rating organization, the FFL (an
adult playground in the city’s front yard, Millen- acronym for the German research organization for
nium Park illustrates dramatically how a dead space landscape architecture) was created. In 2008, the
that was once a major urban heat generator and FBB (from the German words for “green roof asso-
eyesore can be made into a place that brings people ciation”) was formed. Green roof building has be-
delight [Plate 52]. Other examples in the United come a major activity in Germany, with about 10
States include the roof garden at Ballard branch of million square meters of green roofs constructed
the Seattle Public Library; the roof garden at the there every year in the first decade of the twenty-
Morgan Processing Center of the New York City first century. Other countries have also begun in-
Postal Service (which saves the Postal Service stallation of roof gardens, including Greece and the
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Into the Twenty-First Century 663

United Kingdom. Switzerland, Sweden, and Ice- ings not placing a rain-load on municipal facilities,
land all had long-standing traditions of sod roofs, and some require large businesses to provide such
so the introduction of roof gardens on modern rain gardens to treat runoff from their parking lots.
buildings was readily accepted. An example in Asia The architectural work done by Murcutt and
is the ACROS Fukuoka building in Fukuoka City, Mockbee exemplifies sustainable or ecological
Japan, a concert hall and convention building hav- design, another issue on which future building will
ing a stepped profile on its south face, but straight increasingly depend. Briefly, sustainable architec-
glass walls on the other three sides (screened with ture results in minimum negative impact on the
projecting sun shields). Designed by Emilio Ambasz environment—through the materials used and the
and opened in 1995, the stepped-back south wall energy consumed—as well as on the relationship of
consists of tiers planted as dense gardens, so that it the building to the site. If done correctly, such ar-
presents something of the appearance of a thickly chitecture will not reduce the opportunities of fu-
planted terraced hill when viewed from the south ture generations. This means conserving energy and
[21.4]. the consumption of fossil fuels, both in the building
Another advantage to green roofs is the reduc- process and through minimizing the need for future
tion in rainwater runoff, though with heavy precip- fuels to heat, cool, ventilate, and provide illumina-
itation there may be some “filtered” overflow. To tion throughout the building’s lifetime by integrat-
deal with this periodic discharge from low-rise build- ing into the design the use of solar, thermal, and
ings such as suburban office complexes and resi- wind technologies. In the construction process, it
dences, the roof runoff can be used to irrigate a rain means investigating the use of both sustainable and
garden—a ground-level garden designed specifically recycled materials. Mockbee’s and the Rural Stu-
to absorb excess rain, reducing or even eliminating dio’s buildings illustrate how this can work. Though
storm water runoff that needs to be treated by mu- much on the Internet is regrettably evanescent,
nicipalities. Many cities grant tax credits for build- websites such as e-architect.co.uk can provide a

21.4. Emilio Ambasz, ACROS Fukuoka Building, Fukuoka City, Japan, 1995. Seeming to hint at the famous hanging
gardens of ancient Babylon, Ambasz provides here a plant-covered man-made hill in the middle of a hard urban environment.
Photo: © Andrea Balzano.
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664 21. INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

wealth of updated information on architects, build- mercial-residential towers he designs as the equiva-
ings (including images), and building products and lent of vertical “urban districts”; he observes that “the
materials, as well as on political developments and basis for the vertical theory of urban design is the re-
other news affecting sustainable design. creation up in the sky, of ideal habitable urban con-
The small scale of such architectural designs will ditions found at ground level.”8
need to be implemented on a far grander scale, Yeang’s Menara Mesiniaga Tower (mesiniaga
argues architect and planner Ken Yeang. Born in means “business machine”), built to house the local
Penang, Malaysia, in 1948, Yeang studied at the IBM franchise in Selangor, Malaysia (1989–1992),
Penang Free School and then at Cheltenham Boys represented an early realization of his principles
College (a British “public school” in Gloucestershire, [21.5]. The 15 stories have separations, and the
United Kingdom). His professional education was at service core is completely open, allowing air to flow
the Architectural Association, London, where he through the building; windows facing east and west
came into contact with the fantastic futuristic urban are shaded by external louvers. Here the “vertical
schemes of the Archigram group. Yeang later earned landscaping” is not as pervasive as it would become
a PhD from Cambridge University in the fields of in later designs, but the gaps in the floors, opening
ecological design and planning, his dissertation sub- up as “skycourts,” are evident. Not installed so far
sequently published as the book Designing With Na- have been the solar electro-voltaic cells on the roof,
ture (New York, 1995). In 1975, Yeang returned to but the louvered skeletal armature for them, look-
Southeast Asia, where he worked in an architectural ing like a crowning sculpture, provides shade for
office in Kuala Lumpur and eventually entered into the rooftop swimming pool.
partnership with Tengku Robert Hamzah. By the Also striking is Yeang’s taller Malayan Borneo
early 1980s, Yeang had begun to define a new build- Finance (MBF) Tower in Penang, Malaysia (1990–
ing type, the tropical skyscraper, exploiting strategies 1993), a 31-story mixed-use building with 68 apart-
for reducing the need for energy consumption (es- ments above ground-level offices and banking
pecially for ventilation and cooling), for incorporat- facilities. The columnar reinforced concrete frame
ing elevated masses of landscaping, and for creating provides for two parallel rows of stacked apartment
“neighborhoods” or communities of people within units, with open skycourts between the units. To-
the built high-rise. A prolific architect, writer, and gether with large voids in the main shaft, the two
speaker, Yeang makes an eloquent and powerful case parallel rows of apartment clusters, and the open
for a broad ecological approach to total design, be- lobby floors at each level, this openness allows for
ginning at the scale of a building and extending out easy air circulation through the entire structure.
to the city and region. His expanding and successful Additionally, the deep recesses of the individual
practice is in both these areas; he also now has of- apartment terraces shade the windows, preventing
fices not only in Kuala Lumpur but also in London heat buildup inside. As his practice expanded,
(as the firm of Llewelyn Davies Yeang) and in Beijing Yeang has enlarged on his early objectives. His firm
(as North Hamzah Yeang Architectural and Engi- won the competition in 1998 to design the Singa-
neering Company). Yeang, who currently resides in pore National Library [21.6]. The 16-story exterior
London, is considered by many of his colleagues as a presents a series of projecting floor slabs as well as
leader in green design.7 numerous recesses and skycourts, achieving a lively
Yeang’s reaction to Western-derived high-rise play of light and shadow while simultaneously pre-
design—typical Western box-like buildings with venting sunlight from heating the library or dam-
closed flush wall surfaces of glass and metal panels— aging the books. A broad range of sensing systems
is illustrated in his study, The Architecture of Malaysia constantly adjusts cooling rates, depending on out-
(1992). Such conventional glass-enclosed skyscrapers side conditions and whether there are humans
were originally conceived for latitudes ranging from present in the building. In terms of how the build-
40° to 60° north (New York, Chicago, Berlin, Stock- ing reacts to conditions and occupancy, it seems al-
holm), often-cloudy regions with cold winters, most alive.
whereas Yeang’s designs are for sun-drenched, humid As Yeang’s work expanded into city planning,
tropical latitudes ranging from 3° to 6° north. For he created a design approach that suggests that any
such hot climates, one must think about buildings building being constructed needs to be designed as
anew. In addition to carefully calculating initial ma- an intimate part of its surrounding ecosystem; as
terials and construction labor costs, he also suggests Yeang remarks, architects should understand that
that the protracted cost of the building over time— making green architecture is more than simply hav-
material replacement and energy consumption—be ing photovoltaic panels on the roof—it is the build-
factored into the total cost. Yeang describes the com- ings themselves that are the ecosystems.
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Into the Twenty-First Century 665

21.5. Ken Yeang, Menara Mesiniaga

(IBM) Tower, Subang Jayan, near
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1992. By
introducing open levels between floors
and separating the central spine from the
surrounding offices, and by incorporating
sun screens calculated in accordance
with the building’s orientation, Yeang
and his associates facilitate natural
ventilation while reducing the solar heat
load. Photo: Courtesy of Ken Yeang.

Throughout the past, from the time that perma- waste from the building industry, whether from the
nent buildings began to be built about five thou- manufacturing of building components or as the
sand years ago, the usual practice has been to make residue from the building process.9 He insists that
structures that were nonorganic—a practice that we need to do better.
worked reasonably well so long as there were vast Green and sustainable architecture and planning
organic expanses of grasses or forests nearby to bal- impose a number of responsibilities on clients and
ance human construction. But today, especially municipalities. One is that “green building” means
with cities and populations rapidly expanding thinking beyond the customary parameters, for, as
around the globe, that ancient building mentality Yeang asserts, the cost of a building is not just its
can no longer continue. Yeang urges us to consider one-time up-front expenditure but must also in-
building with a more balanced approach—one that clude the expenses involved in its continued oper-
is founded on a better ratio between inorganic and ation and maintenance. LEED buildings are not
organic elements within the buildings themselves. only more expensive to construct, he notes, but
Moreover, we need to construct and operate our come with associated long-term costs: he estimates
buildings more efficiently; as Yeang notes, 30 to 50 that achieving Silver status entails 10 percent more
percent of a developed nation’s energy expenditure cost over conventional design, Gold status costs an
is consumed by its buildings, and as much as 60 per- additional 15 percent, and Platinum status, the
cent of the material going into landfills comes from most prestigious, requires an additional 20 to 25
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666 21. INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

21.6. Ken Yeang, Singapore National Library, Singapore, 1998–2005. In a graceful form for this tropical high-rise, Yeang
incorporates varied projecting floor ledges and fins, as well as open spaces, to reduce heat gain and allow wind to circulate
through portions of the building. Photo: Courtesy of Ken Yeang.

percent more in initial cost. Aside from the bragging that he identifies by symbolic colors: gray, blue, red,
rights connected with being the owner of a LEED- and green. The gray component includes the phys-
designated building, financial payback is reached ical and structural elements, including “greentech”
after ten to fifteen years, when the accumulated en- solutions, sustainable energy systems, and sewage
ergy savings matches the initial extra cost (and this and material recycling systems. The blue compo-
break point may occur sooner as energy costs rise). nent encompasses water systems, including hydro-
After that, the savings become a perpetual benefit, logical management, a “closed” water cycle, water
a silent gift to future owners and occupants. conservation and management, gray-water reuse,
As Yeang says, using current conventional eco- rainwater harvesting, sustainable drainage, and
nomic calculations, there may never be any persua- other considerations. The red component, since red
sive commercial justification for green building. is the color of blood, encompasses the human di-
Nevertheless, he insists, there is an ethical justifica- mension: “This human ecoinfrastructure consists of
tion that architects must persuade clients to em- our human community. . . . This is the social and
brace. For Yeang, buildings and cities need to be human dimension that is often missing in the work
designed as total living things, as integrated eco- of many green designers. It is evident that our pres-
systems, responding to four basic infrastructures ent profligate lifestyles, our economies and in-
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Into the Twenty-First Century 667

dustries, our modes of transport, our diet and food balance of organic and inorganic mass that works
production, etc., need to be changed to be sustain- as a whole and is [connected] to the landscape at
able.”10 The green component involves the full in- the ground. It should look, I believe, indeterminate,
tegration of living plant systems in the design, with fuzzy or hairy.”11
features such as connected ecological corridors,
zones, and networks that link existing and new open
spaces, providing various habitats for fauna and
R
flora, as well as natural resource management and For hundreds of centuries, people and their succes-
integrated urban food production systems. This sion of architects have built abundantly and often
green living component, Yeang observes, is the one extravagantly. Stone, wood, sand for glass, deposits
most frequently reduced or eliminated in conven- of rich iron ore were everywhere, ready for the tak-
tional design, and yet it is precisely the component ing. And since the time of the Industrial Revolution,
that must be most vigorously defended. with its rise of readily available energy, heavy ma-
A good illustration of Yeang’s all-embracing chinery, and elaborate transportation systems, little
ecodesign is his firm’s Solaris building, part of an attention has been paid to the true and long-term
even larger commercial and research district built cost of how we build. Fuel, stone, old-growth wood,
in Singapore called Fusionopolis, whose master and the range of other building materials—even the
plan was devised by Zaha Hadid [21.7, p. 656; Plate easy availability of water—all are finite, though we
53]. Yeang’s firm won the competition in March have never been obliged to think much about it be-
2008 for the latest office building/research complex fore the twenty-first century. For the past two hun-
to be added to this district. Constructed in 2009– dred years, it is true, we have set aside some land as
2010, the 15-story Solaris building (often identified preserves and built landscaped parks, but the inclu-
by the single word “Solaris”) continues the fluid sion of a substantial living, organic component
curvilinear design concepts used by Hadid in plan- within our buildings never was seriously considered
ning the district, but with a particularly distinctive before now, except by a handful of architects. More-
external feature: a 10-foot wide spiral balcony ramp over, we humans are increasing our numbers at a
around the building that extends for a continuous logarithmic rate: from 1 billion around the globe in
mile, densely planted with trees and shrubs from 1800 to 7 billion sometime in 2013, and perhaps
bottom to top. Project architect Mitch Gelber re- reaching over 10 billion by 2050, a tenfold increase
ports that the total area of green space on the en- in just two and a half centuries. Even now, a half-
circling ramp (which also serves as a most effective century after humans first saw the iconic photo-
sunscreen protection for the windows) amounts to graphs taken from the moon in the 1960s showing
90,000 square feet, or about 20 percent more green the tiny blue globe of the earth set in the black lim-
space than was available on the original empty itlessness of space, most of us continue to conduct
building site covering roughly 75,000 square feet. our lives (though intellectually we may know better)
The plantings are varied according to the side of as though our resources will always be without limit
the building and depending on the variations in and that we can comfortably go on forever with
sunlight. Moreover, the enclosing vegetation is things just as they are now. This cannot continue
planned to be self-sustaining through the use of indefinitely. It is time for humankind to pause, to
rainwater. Yeang envisions that “a green building consider, to begin building—our architecture and
should look like what the term indicates—‘green.’ our cities—as though our lives depend on it.
It should look like a human-made ecosystem—a For in truth they do.
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Suggested Readings

INTRODUCTION Dom H. Van der Laan. Architectonic Space. Leiden and

New York, 1983.
Roger Caras, ed. Animal Architecture. Richmond, VA, Bruno Zevi. Architecture As Space. New York, 1957.
1971.
E. T. Cook and A. Wedderburn, eds. The Works of CHAPTER 2: “COMMODITIE”:
John Ruskin. London, 1903–1912. BUILDING FUNCTIONS
Michael Henry Hansell. Animal Architecture. New
York, 2005. Adolf Behne. The Modern Functional Building. Trans-
Ada Louise Huxtable. “Inventing American Reality.” lated by Michael Robinson. Santa Monica, CA,
New York Review of Books 39 (December 3, 1992): 1996.
28. William W. Caudill, William M. Peña, and Paul Ken-
Louis I. Kahn. “Remarks.” Perspecta 9–10 (1965): 305. non. Architecture and You: How to Experience and
Walter McQuade. “Where’s the Architecture?” Con- Enjoy Buildings. New York, 1978.
noisseur 215 (November 1985): 82. Adrian Forty. Words and Buildings: A Vocabulary of
Nikolaus Pevsner, An Outline of European Architecture. Modern Architecture. New York, 2000. See the
London, 1943. entry on “Function.”
Sir Herbert Read, The Origins of Form in Art. New Karsten Harries. The Ethical Function of Architecture.
York, 1965. Cambridge, MA, 1998.
John Ruskin. The Seven Lamps of Architecture. London, Neil Leach, ed. Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in
1849. Cultural Theory. New York, 1997.
Jan Michl. “Form Follows What?: The Modernist Notion
CHAPTER 1: ARCHITECTURE: of Function as a Carte Blanche.” http://janmichl
THE ART OF SHAPING OF SPACE .com/eng.fff-hai.html.
Farshid Moussavi and Daniel Lopez. The Function of
Andrew Baum and Stuart Valins. Architecture and Form. Cambridge, MA, 2009.
Social Behavior: Psychological Studies of Social Den- James F. O’Gorman. ABC of Architecture. Philadel-
sity. Hillsdale, NJ, 1977. phia, 1998.
Amos Ih Tiao Chang. The Tao of Architecture. Prince- Niels Luning Prak. The Language of Architecture: A
ton, 1956. Contribution to Architectural Theory. The Hague,
C. M. Deasy. Design for Human Affairs. New York, 1974. 1968.
Clovis Heimsath. Behavioral Architecture: Toward an Harold Small, ed., Form and Function: Remarks on Art.
Accountable Design Process. New York, 1977. Berkeley, CA, 1947.
Bill Hillier and Julienne Hanson. The Social Logic of
Space. Cambridge, England, 1984. CHAPTER 3: “FIRMENESS”:
Glenn Robert Lym. A Psychology of Building: How We STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES THE
Shape and Experience Our Structured Spaces. BUILDING STAND UP?
Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1980.
Christian Norberg-Schulz. Existence, Space and Archi- Carl W. Condit. American Building: Materials and Tech-
tecture. New York, 1971. niques from the Beginning of the Colonial Settlements
Yi-Fu Tuan. Space and Place: The Perspective of Experi- to the Present, 2nd ed. Chicago and New York,
ence. Minneapolis, 1977. 1982.

669
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670 Suggested Readings

———. American Building Art: The Nineteenth Cen- Arthur Benade. Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics.
tury. New York, 1960. New York, 1976.
———. American Building Art: The Twentieth Century. Leo L. Beranek. Acoustics. New York, 1954.
New York, 1961. ———. Music, Acoustics, and Architecture. New York,
Norman Davey. A History of Building Materials. New 1979.
York, 1971. Leslie L. Doelle. Environmental Acoustics. New York,
James Edward Gordon. Structures: Or Why Things 1972.
Don’t Fall Down. New York, 1978. M. David Egan. Architectural Acoustics, 2nd ed. New
Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori. Why Buildings Fall York, 1988.
Down: How Structures Fail, rev. ed. New York, Michael Forsyth. Buildings for Music: The Architect, the
2002. Musician, and the Listener from the Seventeenth
Rowland J. Mainstone. Developments in Structural Century to the Present Day. Cambridge, MA, 1985.
Form. Cambridge, MA, 1975. George C. Izenour. Theater Design. New York, 1977.
Steven Ross. Construction Disasters: Design Failure, Peter Lord and Duncan Templeton. The Architecture of
Causes, and Prevention. New York, 1984. Includes Sound: Designing Places of Assembly. London, 1986.
discussion of the Hancock Tower fiasco, the fail- H. J. Purkis. Building Physics: Acoustics. Oxford, 1966.
ure of the Kemper area roof, and the Hyatt Re- Wallace C. Sabine. Collected Papers on Acoustics. Cam-
gency skywalk collapse. bridge, MA, 1922; New York, 1964.
Mario Salvadori. Why Buildings Stand Up: The Strength
of Buildings, rev. ed. New York, 1990. CHAPTER 6: ARCHITECTURE:
Mario Salvadori and Robert Heller. Structure in Archi- PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
tecture: The Building of Buildings, 3rd ed. Engle-
wood Cliffs, NJ, 1986. G. Z. Brown. Sun, Wind, and Light: Architectural Design
Stephen Timoshenko, History of the Strength of Mate- Strategies. New York, 1985. A guidebook for
rials. New York, 1983. those learning architectural design, this volume
Alexander J. Zannos. Form and Structure in Architecture: is filled with essential data and historical exam-
The Role of Statical Function. New York, 1986. ples and concludes with a glossary of terms and
an extensive bibliography.
CHAPTER 4: “DELIGHT”: Ken Butti and John Perlin. A Golden Thread: 2500
SEEING ARCHITECTURE Years of Solar Architecture and Technology. New
York, 1980.
Stanley Abercrombie. Architecture As Art: An Aes- Hassan Fathy. Natural Energy and Vernacular Architec-
thetic Analysis. New York, 1984. ture. Chicago, 1986. A study by one of the lead-
Rudolf Arnheim. Art and Visual Perception. Berkeley, ing architects advocating a return to traditional
CA, 1971. construction methods.
———. Principles of Visual Perception. New York, James Marston Fitch. American Building, Vol. 2: The
1976. Environmental Forces That Shape It, 2nd ed.
Faber Birren. Color and Human Response. New York, Boston, 1972.
1978. James Marston Fitch and William Bobenhausen.
Sinclair Gauldie. Architecture. Oxford Appreciation of American Building: The Environmental Forces That
the Arts Series. New York, 1969. Shape It. New York, 1999. A thorough revision
Heath Liklider. Architectural Scale. New York, 1965. of Fitch’s earlier groundbreaking book, first pub-
Frank H. Mahnke and Rudolf H. Mahnke. Color and lished in 1948.
Light in Man-Made Environments. New York, 1987. Mohsen Mostafavi and David Leatherbarrow. On
Frank Orr. Scale in Architecture. New York, 1985. Weathering: The Life of Buildings in Time. Cam-
Roy Osborne. Lights and Pigment: Color and Principles bridge, MA, 1993.
for Artists. New York, 1980. Benjamin Stein, John S. Reynolds, and William J.
Steen Eiler Rasmussen. Experiencing Architecture, 2nd McGuinness. Mechanical and Electrical Equipment
ed. Cambridge, MA, 1962. for Buildings, 7th ed. New York, 1986.

CHAPTER 5: ARCHITECTURE CHAPTER 7: THE ARCHITECT:

AND SOUND FROM HIGH PRIEST TO PROFESSION

Hope Bagenal and Alexander Wood. Planning for Martin S. Briggs. The Architect in History. Oxford,
Good Acoustics. London, 1931. 1927. Somewhat dated but still very useful.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:17 PM Page 671

Suggested Readings 671

Howard Davis. The Culture of Building. New York, ———. The Goddess and the Bull: Çatalhöyük—An
1999. Archaeological Journey to the Dawn of Civilization.
Edmund B. Feldman. The Artist. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, New York, 2005.
1982. Surveys the parallel social history of the ———. “The Seeds of Civilization.” Smithsonian 36
painter and the sculptor. (May 2005): 68–74.
Alexander Garvin. The American City: What Works, George Bataille. Lascaux. Geneva, 1955.
What Doesn’t, 2nd ed. New York, 2002. An analy- Antonio Beltrán, ed. The Cave of Altamira. Barcelona
sis of planning that examines aesthetics, politics, and New York, 1998–1999.
finances, history, and culture. Thomas G. Brophy. The Origin Map: Discovery of a Pre-
Spiro Kostof, ed. The Architect: Chapters in the History historic, Megalithic, Astrophysical Map and Sculpture
of the Profession. New York, 1977. Consists of of the Universe (Bloomington, IN, 2002).
chapters written by experts in their respective Dale Brown and Edmund White. The First Men. New
fields. York, 1973.
Leland M. Roth. America Builds: Source Documents in Göran Burenhult, ed. People of the Past: The Epic Story
American Architecture and Planning. New York, of Human Origins and Development. San Fran-
1983. cisco, 2003. An extensive presentation of more
———. American Architecture: A History. Boulder, recent thinking concerning the paleontology and
2001. A comprehensive survey. archaeology of humankind and of Neolithic and
Andrew Saint. The Image of the Architect. New Haven, Bronze Age settlement, with contributions by
CT, 1983. Examines the self-image of the architect fifty scholars and scientists.
in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, includ- Jean-Marie Chauvet, Eliette Brunel Deschamps, and
ing a discussion of the fictional architect Howard Christian Hillaire. The Dawn of Art: The Chauvet
Roark in Ayn Rand’s 1943 novel The Fountainhead. Cave, the Oldest Known Paintings in the World.
New York, 1996.
CHAPTER 8: ARCHITECTURE, V. Gordon Childe. Man Makes Himself. London, 1936.
MEMORY, AND ECONOMICS Rev. ed., New York, 1951.
———. Skara Brae. London, 1931.
Hilary Ballon. New York’s Pennsylvania Stations. New Jean Clottes and Jean Courtin. The Cave Beneath the
York, 2002. Sea: Paleolithic Images at Cosquer. Paris and New
John Burchard and Albert Bush-Brown. The Architec- York, 1994–1996.
ture of America: A Social and Cultural History. Desmond Collins. The Human Revolution: From Ape to
Boston, 1961. Artist. Oxford, 1977.
John Kenneth Galbraith. Economics, Peace, and Laugh- George Constable. The Neanderthals. New York, 1973.
ter. Boston, 1971. John Darnton. Neanderthal. New York, 1997.
Paul Goldberger. Why Architecture Matters. New Haven, Brian Fagan. Ancient Lives: An Introduction to Archae-
CT, 2009. ology and Prehistory, 5th ed. Boston, 2012.
Ada Louise Huxtable. Goodbye History, Hello Ham- ———. Cro-Magnon: How the Ice Age Gave Birth to
burger. Washington, DC, 1986. the First Modern Humans. New York, 2010.
Lewis Mumford. Architecture. Chicago, 1926. Brian Fagan, ed. Avenues to Antiquity: Readings from
———. The Highway and the City. New York, 1963. Scientific American. San Francisco, 1975. Contains
Leland M. Roth. McKim, Mead & White, Architects. articles by Henry de Lumley on Terra Amata as
New York, 1983. well as other essays on Ukrainian settlements.
John Ruskin. The Seven Lamps of Architecture. London, Shahina Farid. “Çatalhöyük: Modern Excavations.”
1849. Archaeology Odyssey 8 (May/June 2005): 26–32.
Farid is the excavation site director for Çatal-
CHAPTER 9: THE BEGINNINGS höyük.
OF ARCHITECTURE: FROM CAVES Clive Finlayson. Neanderthals and Modern Humans: An
TO CITIES Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective. New York,
2004.
R.J.C. Atkinson. Stonehenge. Baltimore, 1960. Sigfried Giedion. The Eternal Present, Vol. 1: The Be-
Michael Balter. “Çatalhöyük: How a Flamboyant Eng- ginnings of Art. New York, 1962.
lishman Found the World’s Largest Stone Age ———. The Eternal Present, Vol. 2: The Beginnings of
Village.” Archaeology Odyssey 8 (May/June 2005): Architecture. New York, 1964.
16–25, 50–51. Balter is the archaeology writer for Gerald S. Hawkins. Stonehenge Decoded. Garden City,
the journal Science. NY, 1965.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:17 PM Page 672

672 Suggested Readings

André Leroi-Gourhan. Prehistoire de l’art occidentale, James Fitchen. “Building Cheop’s Pyramid,” Journal,
3rd ed. Paris, 1973. Society of Architectural Historians 37 (March
———. The Art of Prehistoric Man in Western Europe 1978): 3–12.
(translation of Prehistoire de l’art occidentale). Lon- Henri Frankfort. The Art and Architecture of the An-
don, 1968. cient Orient, 5th ed. New Haven, CT, 1996.
David Lewis-Williams. The Mind in the Cave: Con- Charles Gates. Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of
sciousness and the Origins of Art. London and New Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt,
York, 2002. Greece and Rome. London, 2003.
Euan Mackie. The Megalith Builders. Oxford, 1977. Sigfried Giedion. The Eternal Present, Vol. 1: The Be-
James Mellaart. Çatal Hüyük: A Neolithic Town in ginnings of Architecture. New York, 1964.
Anatolia. New York, 1977. Dora Jane Hamblin. The First Cities. New York, 1973.
Paul Mellars. The Neanderthal Legacy: An Archaeo- Kevin Jackson and Jonathan Stamp. Building the Great
logical Perspective of Western Europe. Princeton, Pyramid. Westport, CN, 2003.
1995. T.G.H. James. Introduction to Ancient Egypt. New York,
Tom Prideaux. Cro-Magnon Man. New York, 1973. 1989.
Mario Ruspoli. The Cave at Lascaux: The Final Photo- Paul Jordan. Egypt: The Black Land. New York, 1976.
graphs. Paris and New York, 1986–1987. Paul Lampl. Cities and Planning in the Ancient Near
N. K. Sandars. Prehistoric Art in Europe, 2nd ed. New East. New York, 1968.
Haven, CT, 1985. Mark Lerner. The Complete Pyramids. London, 1997.
Ann Sieveking. The Cave Artists. London, 1979. Seton Lloyd, Hans Wolfgang Müller, and Roland Mar-
Olga Soffer. The Upper Paleolithic of the Central Russian tin. Ancient Architecture: Mesopotamia, Egypt,
Plain. Orlando, 1985. Crete, Greece. New York, 1973.
Robert S. Soleckei. Shanidar: The First Flower People. Kurt Mendelssohn. The Riddle of the Pyramids. New
New York, 1971. York, 1974.
Michael Van Walleghen. The Last Neanderthal. Pitts- John Romer. Ancient Lives: Daily Life in Egypt of the
burgh, 1999. Pharaohs. New York, 1984.
Fred Wendorf et al. Holocene Settlement of the Egyptian Regine Schulz and Matthias Seidl, eds. Egypt: The
Sahara. New York, 2001. World of the Pharaohs. English edition, Potsdam,
Robert Wernick. The Monument Builders. New York, 2010; German edition, Köln, 2004.
1973. Earl Baldwin Smith. Egyptian Architecture As Cultural
Randall White. Prehistoric Art: A Global Perspective. Expression. New York, 1938; reprint, Watkins
New York, 2003. Glen, NY, 1968.
W. Stevenson Smith. The Art and Architecture of An-
CHAPTER 10: THE ARCHITECTURE cient Egypt, 3rd ed., revised. New Haven, CT,
OF MESOPOTAMIA AND 1999.
ANCIENT EGYPT Desmond Stewart. The Pyramids and the Sphinx: Egypt
Under the Pharaohs. New York, 1977.
Dieter Arnold. Building in Egypt: Pharonic Stone Ma- Jon Manchip White. Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt.
sonry. New York, 1991. New York, 1963.
———. The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egyptian Archi- Ruth Whitehouse. The First Cities. Oxford, 1977.
tecture. Cairo, 2003. Richard H. Wilkinson. The Complete Temples of An-
Alexander Badawy. Architecture in Ancient Egypt and cient Egypt. New York, 2000.
the Near East. Cambridge, MA, 1966. John A. Wilson. The Burden of Egypt: An Interpretation
———. A History of Egyptian Architecture, 3 vols. of Ancient Egyptian Culture. Chicago, 1951.
Berkeley, 1954–1968.
M. L. Bierbrier. The Tomb-Builders of the Pharaohs. CHAPTER 11: GREEK ARCHITECTURE
London, 1982.
Göran Burenhult. Old World Civilizations: The Rise of Mary Beard. The Parthenon. Cambridge, MA, 2010.
Cities and States. New York, 1994. M. Bieber. The History of the Greek and Roman Theater.
Lionel Carsen. Ancient Egypt. New York, 1965. Princeton, 1961.
Rosalie David. Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt, rev. J. S. Boersma. Athenian Building Policy from 561/0 to
ed. New York, 2003. 405/4 B.C. Groningen, The Netherlands, 1970.
I.E.S. Edwards. The Pyramids of Egypt, rev. ed. Balti- H. Brevé, G. Gruben, and M. Hirmer. Greek Temples,
more, 1961. Theaters, and Shrines. London, 1963.
Ahmen Fakhry. The Pyramids, 2nd ed. Chicago, 1969. V. J. Bruno, ed. The Parthenon. New York, 1974.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:17 PM Page 673

Suggested Readings 673

John M. Camp. The Archaeology of Athens. New R. E. Wycherley. How the Greeks Built Cities. New
Haven, CT, 2002. York, 1962.
———. The Athenian Agora: Excavations in the Heart ———. The Stones of Athens. Princeton, 1978.
of Classical Athens. London, 1986.
R. Carpenter. The Architects of the Parthenon. Balti- CHAPTER 12: ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
more, 1970.
F. Castagnoli. Orthogonal Town Planning in Antiquity. R. H. Barrow. The Romans. Baltimore, 1949.
Cambridge, MA, 1971. Axel Boëthius. Etruscan and Early Roman Architecture,
J. J. Coulton. Ancient Greek Architects at Work. Ithaca, 2nd ed., rev. New Haven, CT, 1987.
NY, 1977. Frank E. Brown. Roman Architecture. New York, 1961.
———. The Architectural Development of the Greek Mark Wilson Jones. Principles of Roman Architecture.
Stoa. Oxford, 1976. New Haven, CT, 2003.
W. B. Dinsmoor. The Architecture of Ancient Greece, Heinz Kähler. The Art of Rome and Her Empire. New
3rd ed., rev. New York, 1975. York, 1963.
A. Evans. The Palace of Minos. New York, 1921. Now T. Kraus and L. von Matt. Pompeii and Herculaneum.
dated but a lively account by the archaeologist Translated by E. Wolf. New York, 1973.
who excavated this site. William L. MacDonald. The Architecture of the Roman
J. W. Graham. The Palaces of Crete. Princeton, 1962. Empire, Vol. 1: An Introductory Story. New
R. Higgins. Minoan and Mycenaean Art. New York, Haven, CT, 1965.
1967. ———. The Architecture of Rome, Vol. 2: An Urban
Wolfram Hoepfner and Ernst-Ludwig Schwandner. Appraisal. New Haven, CT, 1986.
Haus und Stadt im klassichen Greichland. Munich, ———. The Pantheon: Design, Meaning, and Progeny.
1994. Cambridge, MA, 1976.
J. M. Hurwit. The Acropolis in the Age of Pericles. Cam- A. G. Mackay. Houses, Villas, and Palaces in the Roman
bridge, England, 2004. World. London, 1975.
———. The Art and Culture of Early Greece, 1100– Paul MacKendrick. The Mute Stones Speak: The Story
480 B.C. Ithaca, NY, 1985. of Archaeology in Italy. New York, 1960.
———. The Athenian Acropolis: History, Mythology, L. S. Mazzolani. The Idea of the City in Roman Thought.
and Archaeology from the Neolithic Era to the Pres- Translated by S. O’Donnell. Bloomington, IN,
ent. New York, 1999. 1970.
H.D.F. Kitto. The Greeks, rev. ed. Baltimore, 1957. R. Meiggs. Roman Ostia. Oxford, 1973.
Arnold W. Lawrence. Greek Architecture, 5th ed. New Morris Hicky Morgan, The Ten Books of Architecture.
Haven, CT, 1987. Cambridge, MA, 1914. A translation of Vitru-
P. MacKendrick. The Greek Stones Speak: The Story of vius’s On Architecture.
Archaeology in Greek Lands. New York, 1962. E. Nash. Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome, 2 vols.
Nanno Marinatos. Minoan Religion: Ritual, Image, and London, 1961–1962.
Symbol. Columbia, SC, 1993. James E. Packer. The Forum of Trajan in Rome: A Study
R. D. Martienssen. The Idea of Space in Greek Archi- of the Monuments. Berkeley, 1997.
tecture. Johannesburg, 1956. Lawrence Richardson. Pompeii: An Architectural His-
J. J. Pollitt. Art and Experience in Classical Greece. New tory. Baltimore, 1988.
York, 1972. Donald S. Robertson. A Handbook of Greek and Roman
Donald Preziosi and Louise Hitchcock. Aegean Art Architecture, 2nd ed. Cambridge, England, 1954.
and Architecture. New York and Oxford, 2000. Frank Sear. Roman Architecture. London, 1982.
Robin F. Rhodes. Architecture and Meaning on M. Vitruvius. On Architecture, 2 vols. Translated by
the Athenian Acropolis. Cambridge, England, F. Granger. Cambridge, MA, 1931.
1995. John B. Ward-Perkins. Cities of Ancient Greece and
Donald S. Robertson, A Handbook of Greek and Roman Italy: Planning in Classical Antiquity. New York,
Architecture, 2nd ed., rev. Cambridge, England, 1974.
1954. ———. Roman Imperial Architecture. New York, 1981.
V. Scully. The Earth, the Temple, and the Gods, rev. ed. Mortimer Wheeler. Roman Art and Architecture. New
New Haven, CT, 1979. York, 1964.
J. Travlos. Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens. Lon-
don, 1971. ESSAY 1: INDIAN ARCHITECTURE
J. B. Ward-Perkins. Cities of Ancient Greece and Italy:
Planning in Classical Antiquity. New York, 1974. Vidya Dehejia. Indian Art. London, 1997.
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674 Suggested Readings

Satish Grover. The Architecture of India: Buddhist and S. Runciman. Byzantine Style and Civilization. Har-
Hindu. New Delhi, 1980. mondsworth, England, 1975.
Susan L. Huntington and John C. Huntington. The E. B. Smith. The Dome: A Study in the History of Ideas.
Art of Ancient India: Buddhist, Hindu, Jain. New Princeton, 1950.
York, 1985. E. H. Swift. Hagia Sophia. New York, 1940.
Thomas R. Metcalf. An Imperial Vision: Indian Archi- Robert L. Van Nice. Saint Sophia in Istanbul: An Ar-
tecture and Britain’s Raj. Berkeley, 1989. chitectural Survey. Washington, DC, 1965.
George Michell. Hindu Art and Architecture. London
and New York, 2000. ESSAY 2:
———. The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
Meaning and Forms, 2nd ed. Chicago, 1988.
Jan Morris. Stones of Empire: The Buildings of the Raj. Bianca Maria Alfieri and F. Borromeo. Islamic Archi-
Oxford and New York, 1983. tecture of the Indian Subcontinent. London and
R. Nath. Islamic Architecture and Culture in India. New York, 2000.
Delhi, 1982. Catherine B. Asher. Architecture of Mughal India. Cam-
Benjamin Rowland. The Art and Architecture of India, bridge, England, and New York, 1992.
3rd ed. Baltimore, 1967. Sheila Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom. The Art and Ar-
Christopher Tagdell. The History of Architecture in chitecture of Islam, 1250–1800. New Haven, CT,
India: From the Dawn of Civilization to the End of 1996.
the Raj. London, 1994. Issam El-Said. Islamic Architecture: The System of Geo-
metric Design. Reading, England, 1993.
CHAPTER 13: EARLY CHRISTIAN Richard Ettinghausen, Oleg Grabar, and Marilyn
AND BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE Jenkins-Madina. Islamic Art and Architecture,
650–1250. New Haven, CT, 2002.
Roland H. Bainton. Christendom: A Short History of M. Frishman and H.-U. Kahn. The Mosque: History,
Christianity, 2 vols. New York, 1974. Architectural Development, and Regional Diversity.
J. Beckwith. The Art of Constantinople. New York, 1961. London, 1994.
William C. Brumfield. Gold in Azure: One Thousand Oleg Grabar. The Formation of Islamic Art. New Haven,
Years of Russian Architecture. Boston, 1983. CT, 1973.
J. Davies. The Origin and Development of Early Chris- Robert Hillenbrand. Islamic Architecture: Form, Func-
tian Church Art. London, 1952. tion, and Meaning. New York, 2004.
O. Demus. The Church of San Marco in Venice. Cam- John D. Hoag. Islamic Architecture. New York, 1987.
bridge, MA, 1960. ———. Western Islamic Architecture. New York, 1963.
George Heard Hamilton. The Art and Architecture of J. Kehrman. Earthly Paradise: Garden and Courtyard in
Russia, 3rd ed. New Haven, CT, 1992. Islam. London, 1980.
Heinz Kähler. Hagia Sophia. Translated by E. Childs. E. Koch. Mughal Architecture: An Outline of History
New York, 1967. and Development. Munich, 1991.
Spiro Kostof. The Orthodox Baptistery of Ravenna. New George Michell, ed. Architecture of the Islamic World:
Haven, CT, 1965. Its History and Social Meaning. New York, 1978.
Richard Krautheimer. Early Christian and Byzantine R. Nath. Art & Architecture of the Taj Mahal. Agra,
Architecture, 4th ed. New York, 1986. India, 1996.
———. Rome: Profile of a City, 312–1308. Princeton, Jean-Louis Nou. Taj Mahal. New York, 1993.
1980. Diana Preston. A Teardrop on the Cheek of Time: The
John Lowden. Early Christian and Byzantine Architec- Story of the Taj Mahal. London, 2008.
ture. London, 1997. M. Sevcenko, ed. Theories and Principles of Design in
William L. MacDonald. Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture of Islamic Societies. Cambridge, En-
Architecture. New York, 1962. gland, 1988.
Rowland J. Mainstone. Hagia Sophia: Architecture, Henri Stierlin. Islamic Art and Architecture: From Isfa-
Structure, and Liturgy of Justinian’s Great Church. han to the Taj Mahal. New York, 2002.
London, 1988.
Cyril Mango. Byzantine Architecture. New York, 1977. CHAPTER 14:
T. F. Mathews, Early Churches of Constantinople, Ar- MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE
chitecture and Liturgy. University Park, PA, 1971.
David Talbot Rice. Art of the Byzantine Era. New York, William Anderson. Castles of Europe from Charlemagne
1963. to the Renaissance. London, 1970.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:17 PM Page 675

Suggested Readings 675

Günter Bandmann. Early Medieval Architecture As Denys Hay. Europe in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Cen-
Bearer of Meaning. Translated by K. Wallis. New turies. New York, 1966.
York, 1995. George Henderson. Early Medieval. Harmondsworth,
John Beckwith. Early Medieval Art. Translated by England, 1972.
M. M. Postan. New York, 1964. ———. Gothic. Harmondsworth, England, 1967.
Maurice Beresford and John Hurst. Wharam Percy: Walter Horn and Ernst Born. The Plan of St. Gall, 3
Deserted Medieval Village. New Haven, CT, 1991. vols. Berkeley, 1979.
A valuable treatment of nonmonumental me- Johan Huizinga. The Waning of the Middle Ages. Lon-
dieval architecture. don, 1924; New York, 1954.
Marc Bloch. Feudal Society. Chicago, 1968. Hans Jantzen. High Gothic: The Classic Cathedrals of
Jean Bony. French Gothic Architecture of the Twelfth and Chartres, Reims, Amiens. Translated by James
Thirteenth Centuries. Berkeley, 1983. Palmes. Princeton, 1983.
Robert Branner. Chartres Cathedral. New York, 1969. Peter Kidson. The Medieval World. New York, 1967.
———. Gothic Architecture. New York, 1961. Hans Erich Kubach. Romanesque Architecture. New
Wolfgang Braunfels. Monasteries of Western Europe: York, 1972.
The Architecture of the Orders. Translated by Walter Leedy. Fan Vaulting: A Study of Form, Technol-
A. Laing. Princeton, 1973. ogy, and Meaning. London, 1980.
R. Allen Brown. The Architecture of Castles: A Visual Joseph Lynch. The Medieval Church: A Brief History.
Guide. New York, 1984. London and New York, 1992.
Donald A. Bullough. The Age of Charlemagne. New Emil Male. Religious Art in France: The Twelfth Cen-
York and London, 1966. tury. Princeton, 1978.
Robert Calkins. Medieval Architecture in Western Eu- Robert Mark. Experiments in Gothic Structure. Cam-
rope, AD 300–AD 1500. New York, 1998. bridge, MA, 1982. A highly interesting account
Nicola Coldstream. Medieval Architecture. Oxford, of engineering analyses of selected Gothic
2002. churches.
Kenneth J. Conant. Carolingian and Romanesque Ar- Erwin Panofsky. Abbot Suger on the Abbey Church of
chitecture, 800 to 1200, 4th ed. New Haven, CT, St.-Denis and Its Art Treasures, 2nd ed. Princeton,
1992. 1979.
———. Cluny: Les églises et la maison du chef d’ordre. ———. Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism. New
Macon, France, 1968. York, 1957.
George Gordon Coulton. The Medieval Village, Manor, Henri Pirenne. Medieval Cities: Their Origins and the
and Monastery. New York, 1960. Revival of Trade. Translated by Frank D. Halsey.
Joan Evans. Monastic Life at Cluny, 910–1157. Lon- Princeton, 1952.
don, 1931. Talbot D. Rice, ed. Dawn of European Civilization. New
Brian Fagan. The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made York, 1965.
History, 1300–1850. New York, 2001. Fritz Rörig. The Medieval Town. Berkeley, 1971.
John Fitchen. The Construction of Gothic Cathedrals: J. C. Russell. Medieval Cities and Their Regions. Bloom-
A Study of Medieval Vault Erection. New York, ington, IN, 1972.
1961. Howard Saalman. Medieval Architecture. New York,
Henri Focillon. The Art of the West in the Middle Ages, 1962.
Vol. 1: Romanesque Art. London, 1963. ———. Medieval Cities. New York, 1968.
———. The Art of the West in the Middle Ages, Vol. 2: Veronica Sekules. Medieval Art. Oxford, 2001.
Gothic Art. New York, 1963. Otto von Simson. The Gothic Cathedral: Origins of
Paul Frankl. Gothic Architecture, 2nd ed. New Haven, Gothic Architecture and the Medieval Concept
CT, 2001. of Order, 2nd ed. New York, 1962.
Joseph Gies and Frances Gies. Life in a Medieval Vil- Earl Baldwin Smith. The Architectural Symbolism of Im-
lage. New York, 1990. perial Rome and the Middle Ages. Princeton, 1956.
Jean Gimpel. The Cathedral Builders. Translated by Richard William Southern. The Making of the Middle
Teresa Waugh. New York, 1983. Ages. New Haven, CT, 1953.
Louis Grodecki. Gothic Architecture. Translated by Roger Stalley. Early Medieval Architecture. New York,
I. M. Paris. New York, 1977. 2000.
John Harvey. The Gothic World, 1100–1600. London, Marilyn Stokstad. Medieval Art, 2nd ed. Boulder, CO,
1950. 2003.
———. The Master Builders: Architecture in the Middle Geoffrey F. Webb. Architecture in Britain: The Middle
Ages. London, 1971. Ages. Harmondsworth, England, 1956.
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676 Suggested Readings

John White. Art and Architecture in Italy, 1250–1400, Norman Newton. Design on the Land: The Development
3rd ed. New Haven, CT, 1993. of Landscape Architecture. Cambridge, MA, 1971.
Christopher Wilson. The Gothic Cathedral. The Archi- Contains excellent discussions of Renaissance
tecture of the Great Church, 1130–1530. London, villas and gardens.
1990. Paolo Portoghesi. Rome of the Renaissance. Translated
by P. Sanders. London, 1972. Useful for its illus-
CHAPTER 15: trations.
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE John Shearman. Mannerism. Harmondsworth, En-
gland, 1967.
James Ackerman. The Architecture of Michelangelo, J. C. Shepherd and G. A. Jellicoe. Italian Gardens of
2nd ed. London, 1986. the Renaissance. London, 1925; new ed. Prince-
———. Palladio. Baltimore, 1966. ton, 1986. Dated, but useful for its illustrations.
Leon Battista Alberti. De re aedificatoria: On the Art Christine Smith. Architecture in the Culture of Early
of Building in Ten Books. Translated by J. Rykwert, Humanism: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Eloquence,
N. Leach, and R. Tavernor. Cambridge, MA, 1400–1470. New York, 1992.
1988. John Summerson. Architecture in Britain, 1530 to 1830,
Giulio C. Aragon. The Renaissance City. New York, 6th ed. New York, 1977.
1969. M. Wackernagel. The World of the Florentine Renais-
E. Battisti. Filippo Brunelleschi. New York, 1981. sance Artist. Translated by A. Luchs. Princeton,
Anthony Blunt. Art and Architecture in France, 1500 1981.
to 1700, 4th ed. New York, 1980. David Watkin. A History of Western Architecture. Lon-
———. Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450–1600. Oxford, don and New York, 1986. Has good summaries
1940. of the spread of Renaissance architecture
Bruce Cole. Italian Art, 1250–1550: The Relation of throughout Europe.
Renaissance Art to Life and Society. New York, Dora Wiebenson, ed. Architectural Theory and Practice
1987. from Alberti to Ledoux. Chicago, 1982.
Giovanni Fanelli. Brunelleschi. Florence, 1980. Rudolf Wittkower. Architectural Principles in the Age of
Joan Gadol. Leon Battista Alberti: Universal Man of the Humanism, rev. ed. London, 1962.
Renaissance. Chicago, 1969.
Richard Goldthwaite. The Building of Renaissance Flo- ESSAY 3: ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE
rence: An Economic and Social History. Baltimore, IN THE AMERICAS
1980.
Ludwig H. Heydenreich. Architecture in Italy, 1400– Elizabeth P. Benson and Beatriz de la Fuente, eds.
1500. Revised by Paul Davies. New Haven, CT, Olmec Art of Mexico. Washington, DC, 1996.
1996. Kathleen Berrin and Esther Paztory. Art from the City
Ludwig H. Heydenreich and Wolfgang Lotz. Architec- of the Gods. London, 1993.
ture in Italy, 1400 to 1600. Translated by Mary Elizabeth Hill Boone. The Aztec World. Montreal,
Hottinger. Baltimore, 1974. 1994.
Christopher Hibbert. The Rise and Fall of the House of J. J. Brody. The Anasazi: Ancient Indian People of the
Medici. London, 1974. American Southwest. New York, 1990.
Norman Johnston. Cities in the Round. Seattle, 1983. Román Piña Chan. The Olmec: Mother Culture of
Ross King. Brunelleschi’s Dome: How a Renaissance Ge- Mesoamerica. New York, 1989.
nius Reinvented Architecture. London and New Michael D. Coe. Breaking the Maya Code, 3rd ed. Lon-
York, 2000. don and New York, 2012.
Claudia Lazzaro. The Italian Renaissance Garden: From ———. The Maya, 8th ed. London and New York,
the Conventions of Planting, Design, and Ornament 2011.
to the Grand Gardens of Sixteenth-Century Central ———. Mexico from the Olmecs to the Aztecs, 7th ed.
Italy. New Haven, CT, 1990. New York, 2013.
Wolfgang Lotz. Architecture in Italy, 1500–1600. Re- Michael D. Coe et al. The Olmec World: Ritual and
vised by Deborah Howard. New Haven, CT, Rulership. Princeton, 1996
1995. T. Patrick Culbert. Maya Civilization. Montreal, 1993.
G. Masson. Italian Villas and Palaces. London, 1959. Richard A. Diehl. The Olmecs: America’s First Civliza-
Peter Murray. The Architecture of the Italian Renais- tion. London, 2004.
sance. London, 1963. ———. Tula: The Toltec Capital of Mexico. London
———. Renaissance Architecture. New York, 1977. and New York, 1983.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:17 PM Page 677

Suggested Readings 677

Brian M. Fagan. Ancient North America, 4th ed. New Ray A. Williamson. Archaeoastronomy in the Americas.
York, 2005. College Park, MD, 1981.
———. Chaco Canyon: Archaeologists Explore the Lives ———. Living the Sky: The Cosmos of the American In-
of an Ancient Society. Oxford and New York, dian. Boston, 1984.
2005. Ray A. Williamson, ed. Earth & Sky: Visions of the Cos-
Graziano Gasparini and Luise Margolies. Inca Archi- mos in Native American Folklore. Albuquerque,
tecture. London and Bloomington, IN, 1980. 1992.
John Hemming and Edward Ranney. Monuments of the
Incas, rev. ed. London and New York, 2010. CHAPTER 16: BAROQUE AND
John S. Henderson. The World of the Ancient Maya, ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
2nd ed. Ithaca, NY, 1997.
George Kubler. The Art and Architecture of Ancient William Howard Adams. The French Garden. New
America: The Mexican, Maya and Andean Peoples, York, 1979.
3rd ed. New Haven, CT, 1990. Considered a Germain Bazin. Baroque and Rococo. New York, 1964.
classic in the field. Now dated, but compact while broad in cover-
Joyce Marcus and Kent V. Flannery. Zapotec Civiliza- age, including eastern and northern Europe.
tion: How Urban Society Evolved in Mexico’s Oax- Robert W. Berger. A Royal Passion: Louis XIV As Patron
aca Valley. London and New York, 1996. of Architecture. Cambridge, England, 1994.
Rebecca Stone Miller. Art of the Andes from Chavín to Anthony Blunt. Art and Architecture in France, 1500–
Inca. London and New York, 1995. 1700, 5th ed., revised by Richard Beresford. New
Laura L. Minelli, ed. The Inca World: The Development Haven, CT, 1999.
of Pre-Colombian Peru, A.D.: 1000–1534. Nor- ———. Borromini. Cambridge, MA, 1979.
man, OK, 2000. Includes an essay on Incan ar- ———. François Mansart and the Origins of French
chitecture by Jean-Pierre Protzen. Classical Architecture. London, 1941.
Eduardo Matos Moctezuma. Teotihuacán: City of the ———. Some Uses and Misuses of the Terms Baroque
Gods. New York, 1990. and Rococo as Applied to Architecture. London,
Peter Nabokov and Robert Easton. Native American 1973.
Architecture. New York, 1989. Anthony Blunt, ed. Baroque and Rococo: Architecture
John M. Pohl. Exploring Mesoamerica. Oxford, 1999. and Decoration. New York, 1978. A detailed
Tatiana Proskouriakoff. An Album of Maya Architec- study covering much of Europe through the mid-
ture. Mineola, NY, 2003. A reprint of a classic of eighteenth century.
beautifully detailed drawings showing many re- Allan Braham. François Mansart. London, 1973.
stored Mayan buildings. A skilled artist working Kerry Downes. English Baroque Architecture. London,
in the 1940s, Proskouriakoff was one of the first 1966.
to recognize that Mayan glyphs were the writing Sigfried Giedion. Space, Time, and Architecture, 5th ed.
of their history. Cambridge, MA, 1967. Now dated, but contains
Jean-Pierre Protzen. Inca Architecture and Construction a useful summary of the planning of Rome by
at Ollantaytambo. New York, 1993. Sixtus V.
James B. Richardson III. People of the Andes. Montreal, Karsten Harries. The Bavarian Rococo Church. New
1994. Haven, CT, 1983.
Jeremy A. Sabloff. The New Archaeology and the An- Francis Haskell. Patrons and Painters: A Study in the Re-
cient Maya. New York, 1990. lations Between Italian Art and Society in the Age
Linda Schele. The Code of Kings: The Language of of the Baroque. London, 1963.
Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs. New York, Julius S. Held and Donald Posner. 17th and 18th Cen-
1999. tury Art: Baroque Painting, Sculpture, Architecture.
Gene S. Stuart. The Mighty Aztecs. Washington, DC, New York, 1972.
1981. Eberhard Hempel. Baroque Art and Architecture in
George E. Stuart and Gene S. Stuart. The Mysterious Central Europe. Baltimore, 1965.
Maya. Washington, DC, 1977. Howard Hibbard. Bernini. Baltimore, 1965.
Victor W. von Hagen. F. Catherwood: Architect-Ex- Henry-Russell Hitchcock. German Rococo: The Zim-
plorer of Two Worlds. Barre, MT, 1968. A study mermann Brothers. London, 1968.
of the English architect who explored Central ———. Rococo Architecture in Southern Germany.
American in the mid-nineteenth century, mak- London, 1968.
ing exacting views of Mayan monuments and Wend Graf Kalnein. Architecture in France in the Eigh-
sculpture. teenth Century. New Haven, CT, 1995.
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678 Suggested Readings

Richard Krautheimer. The Rome of Alexander VII, Toshir Inaji. The Garden As Architecture: Form and
1655–1667. Princeton, 1985. Spirit in the Gardens of Japan, China, and Korea.
George Kubler and Martin Soria. Art and Architecture Tokyo and New York, 1998.
in Spain and Portugal and Their American Domin- Liang Ssu-Ch’eng. Chinese Architecture: A Pictorial
ions. Baltimore, 1959. History. Mineola, NY, 2005.
Irving Lavin. Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. New Liu Dunzhen and Joseph C. Wang, Chinese Classical
York, 1980. Gardens of Suzhou. New York, 1993.
John Rupert Martin. Baroque. New York, 1977. Laurence G. Liu. Chinese Architecture. New York,
Harold Alan Meek. Guarino Guarini and His Architec- 1989.
ture. New Haven, CT, 1988. Tuo Liu. Classical Gardens in China. New York, 2012.
Henry A. Millon. Baroque and Rococo Architecture. Yun Qiao, Yang Gusheng, Chen Xiaoli and Cheng
New York, 1961. Liyao. Classical Chinese Gardens. Hong Kong,
———. The Triumph of the Baroque: Architecture in 1982.
Europe, 1600–1750. New York, 1999. Lou Qingxi. Chinese Gardens. New York, 2011.
Christian Norberg-Schulz. Baroque Architecture. New Yang Hongxun and Hui Min Wang, The Classical Gar-
York, 1974. dens of China: History and Design Techniques. New
———. Late Baroque and Rococo Architecture. New York, 1982.
York, 1974. Maurizio Scarpari. Splendours of Ancient China. Lon-
Christian Otto. Space into Light: The Churches of don, 2000.
Balthasar Neumann. New York, 1979. Laurence Sickman and Alexander Soper. The Art and
Richard Pommer. Eighteenth-Century Architecture in Architecture of China, 3rd ed. Baltimore, 1971.
Piedmont. New York, 1967. Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt. Chinese Traditional Ar-
Paolo Portoghesi. Borromini. London, 1968. chitecture. New York, 1984.
———. Roma Barocca: The History of an Architectonic Frances Ya-sing Tsu. Landscape Design in Chinese Gar-
Culture. Cambridge, MA, 1970. dens. New York, 1988.
———. The Rome of Borromini: Architecture As Lan- William Watson. The Arts of China to A.D. 900. New
guage. New York, 1968. Haven, CT, 1995.
Clare Robertson. “Il Gran Cardinale”: Alessandro Far- Nelson I. Wu. Chinese and Indian Architecture. New
nese, Patron of the Arts. New Haven, CT, 1992. York, 1963.
John Summerson. Architecture in Britain, 1530 to 1830,
6th ed. New York, 1977. CHAPTER 17: THE ORIGINS OF
Rolf Toman, ed. Baroque: Architecture, Sculpture, Paint- MODERNISM: ARCHITECTURE IN THE
ing. Cologne, 1998. AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT, 1720–1790
John Varriano. Italian Baroque and Rococo Architecture.
New York, 1986. Carl Becker. The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth Cen-
Rudolf Wittkower. Art and Architecture in Italy, 1600– tury Philosophers. New Haven, CT, 1932. Contro-
1750, 6th ed. Revised by Joseph Connors and versial but informative.
Jennifer Montagu. New Haven, CT, 1999. Leonardo Benevolo. History of Modern Architecture,
———. Studies in the Italian Baroque. London, 1975. 2 vols. Translated by H. J. Landry. Cambridge,
MA, 1971. In particular, see 1:3–37.
ESSAY 4: CHINESE ARCHITECTURE Barry Bergdoll. European Architecture, 1750–1890.
New York, 2000. Although compact, the best
Almut E. I. Bettels. Traditional Architecture in China. survey of this period, with an excellent biblio-
Wabern, Germany, 2002. graphical essay.
Andrew Boyd. Chinese Architecture and Town Planning, Allan Branham. The Architecture of the French Enlight-
1500 B.C.–A.D. 1911. Chicago, 1962. enment. Berkeley, 1980.
Chinese Academy of Science. Ancient Chinese Archi- Peter Collins. Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture,
tecture. Beijing and Hong Kong, 1982. 2nd ed. London, 1965.
Fang Xiaofeng, The Great Gardens of China: History, Peter Gay. Age of Enlightenment. New York, 1966.
Concepts, Techniques. New York, 2010. ———. The Enlightenment: An Interpretation, 2 vols.
Fu Xinian et al. Chinese Architecture, trans. Nancy S. London, 1966–1969.
Steinhardt. New Haven, CT, 2002. Contains a N. Hampson. The Enlightenment. Harmondsworth, En-
detailed treatment. gland, 1968.
Dieter Hassenpflug. The Urban Code of China. Basel, Wolfgang Herrmann. Laugier and Eighteenth-Century
2010. French Theory. London, 1962.
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:17 PM Page 679

Suggested Readings 679

Sigfried Giedion. Space, Time, and Architecture, 6th ed. Arata Isozaki. Katsura Villa: Space and Form. New
Cambridge, MA, 1967. York, 1987.
Henry-Russell Hitchcock. Architecture; Nineteenth and Teiji Itoh and Yukio Futagawa. Traditional Japanese
Twentieth Centuries, 4th ed. Baltimore, 1977. Houses. New York, 1980.
Hugh Honour. Neo-classicism. Baltimore, 1968. Andrew Juniper. Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Imper-
Christopher Hussey. The Picturesque. London, 1927. manence. North Clarendon, VT, 2003.
Edward Hyams. The English Garden. London, 1962. Okakura Kakuzo. The Book of Tea. London, 1906.
Dawn Jacobson. Chinoiserie. London, 1993. Among other editions see The Book of Tea, New
Wend Graf Kalnein. Architecture in France in the Eigh- York, 1964, edited with an Introduction by
teenth Century. New Haven, CT, 1995. Everett F. Bleiler.
Emil Kaufmann. Architecture in the Age of Reason. Penelope Mason. History of Japanese Art. New York,
Cambridge, MA, 1955, and New York, 1968. 1993.
Now dated, but still a useful overview. Geeta K. Mehta and Kimie Tada. Japanese Gardens:
Marc-Antoine Laugier. Essai sur l’architecture (An Tranquility, Simplicity, Harmony. Tokyo and Rut-
Essay on Architecture). Translated by Wolfgang land, VT, 2008.
and Anni Herrmann. Los Angeles, 1977. Edward S. Morse. Japanese Homes and Their Surround-
Dominique de Ménil. Visionary Architects: Boullée, ings. Boston, 1886, and New York, 1961.
Ledoux, Lequeu. Houston, 1968. Kazuo Nishi, What Is Japanese Architecture? A Survey
Robin Middleton and David Watkin. Neo-Classical of Traditional Japanese Architecture. Translated by
and 19th Century Architecture. New York, 1977. H. Mack Horton. Tokyo and New York, 1996.
Norman T. Newton. Design on the Land: The Develop- Kiyoyuki Nishihara. Japanese Houses: Patterns for
ment of Landscape Architecture. Cambridge, MA, Living. Tokyo, 1967.
1971. Günter Nitschke. From Shinto to Ando: Studies in Ar-
Nikolaus Pevsner. History of Building Types. Princeton, chitectural Anthropology in Japan. London, 1993.
1976. Robert Treat Paine and Alexander Soper, with D. B.
Robert Rosemblum. Transformations in Late Eighteenth Waterhouse and Bunji Kobayashi. The Art and
Century Art. Princeton, 1969. Architecture of Japan, 3rd ed. New York, 1981.
Joseph Rykwert. The First Moderns: The Architects of Richard R. Powell. Wabi Sabi Simple. Cincinnati, 2004.
the Eighteenth Century. Cambridge, MA, 1980. Joan Stanley-Baker. Japanese Art. London and New
———. On Adam’s House in Paradise. New York, 1972. York, 2000.
John Summerson. The Architecture of the Eighteenth Nancy S. Steinhardt, ed. Chinese Architecture. New
Century. London, 1986. Haven, CT, 2002.
Dora Wiebenson. The Picturesque Garden in France. Seno Tanaka. The Tea Ceremony. New York, 1977.
Princeton, 1978. Kenzo Tange and Nooru Kawazoe. Ise: Prototype of
———. Sources of Greek Revival Architecture. London, Japanese Architecture. Cambridge, MA, 1965.
1969. Atsushi Ueda. The Inner Harmony of the Japanese
Rudolf Wittkower. Palladio and English Palladianism. House. Tokyo and New York, 1990.
London, 1974. Langdon Warner. The Enduring Art of Japan. Cam-
bridge, MA, 1952.
ESSAY 5: David Young and Michiko Kimura Young. The Art of
JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE Japanese Architecture (Tokyo and Rutland, VT,
2007.
William Alex. Japanese Architecture. New York, 1963.
Werner Blaser. Japanese Temples and Tea-Houses. New CHAPTER 18:
York, 1956. THE ROOTS OF MODERNISM:
Delmer M. Brown, ed. The Cambridge History of Japan: THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Ancient Japan. Cambridge, England, 1993.
Heinrich Engel. The Japanese House: A Tradition for Leonardo Benevolo. History of Modern Architecture,
Contemporary Architecture. Tokyo and Rutland, 2 vols. Translated by H. J. Landry. Cambridge,
VT, 1964. MA, 1971.
Jiro Harada. The Lessen of Japanese Architecture, rev. ———. The Origins of Modern Town Planning. Trans-
ed. London, 1954. lated by H. J. Landry. Cambridge, MA, 1967.
Toshiro Inaji. The Garden As Architecture: Form and Richard G. Carrott. The Egyptian Revival: Its Sources,
Spirit in the Gardens of Japan, China, and Korea. Monuments, and Meaning, 1808–1858. Berkeley,
Tokyo and New York, 1998. 1978.
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680 Suggested Readings

François Choay. The Modern City: Planning in the Nine- Leland M. Roth. American Architecture: A History.
teenth Century. New York, 1969. Boulder, CO, 2001.
Kenneth Clark. The Gothic Revival: An Essay in the ———. A Concise History of American Architecture.
History of Taste. London, 1950. New York, 1978.
Peter Collins. Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture. ———. McKim, Mead & White, Architects. New York,
London, 1965. 1983.
Carl W. Condit. American Building, 2nd ed. Chicago, Howard Saalman. Haussmann: Paris Transformed. New
1982. York, 1971.
———. The Chicago School of Architecture. Chicago, R. Schmutzler. Art Nouveau. New York, 1962.
1964. Vincent Scully. American Architecture and Urbanism.
Roger Dixon and Stefan Muthesius. Victorian Archi- New York, 1969.
tecture. New York, 1978. ———. Modern Architecture, rev. ed. New York, 1974.
Arthur Drexler, ed. The Architecture of the École des Phoebe Stanton. The Gothic Revival and American
Beaux-Arts. New York, 1977. Includes an essay Church Architecture. Baltimore, 1968.
on Labrouste’s Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève ———. Pugin. New York, 1971.
by Neil Levine.
Georg Germann. Gothic Revival in Europe and Britain. ESSAY 6: AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE
Translated by G. Onn. London, 1972.
Sigfried Giedion. Space, Time, and Architecture, 5th ed. David Adjaye. Adjaye, Africa, Architecture. London
Cambridge, MA, 1967. and New York, 2011.
David Handlin. American Architecture. London, 1985. ———. African Metropolitan Architecture. New York,
George Hersey. High Victorian Gothic. Baltimore, 2011.
1972. Kaj Blegvad Andersen. African Traditional Architec-
Henry-Russell Hitchcock. Architecture: Nineteenth and ture: A Study of Housing and Settlement Patterns of
Twentieth Centuries, 4th ed. New York, 1977. Rural Kenya. London and New York, 1977.
———. Early Victorian Architecture in Britain, 2 vols. Suzanne Preston Blier. The Anatomy of Architecture:
New Haven, CT, 1954. Ontology and Metaphor in Batammaliba Architec-
Ebenezer Howard. Garden City of To-morrow (Cam- tural Expression. Cambridge, England, and New
bridge, MA, 1965). This is a reprint of the origi- York, 1987.
nal book started as To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Suzanne Preston Blier and James Morris. Butabu:
Real Reform (1898) and rewritten and published Adobe Architecture of West Africa. New York,
in London under the title Garden City of To-mor- 2003.
row (1902). The 1965 edition cited here includes Jean-Paul Bourdier and Trinh T. Minh-ha. Vernacular
a Preface by F. J. Osborn as well as an introduc- Architecture of West Africa: A World in Dwelling.
tory essay by Lewis Mumford, the principal pro- London, 2011.
ponent of Howard’s ideals in the United States. Lucy Bullivant. British Built: UK Architecture’s Rising
F. Loyer. Architecture of the Industrial Age. New York, Generation. New York, 2005. Contains an exam-
1983. ination of the work of David Adjaye, among
Dugald MacFadyen. Sir Ebenezer Howard and the Town others.
Planning Movement. Cambridge, MA, 1970. Dora P. Crouch. Traditions in Architecture: Africa,
Carroll L. V. Meeks. The Railroad Station. New Haven, America, Asia, and Oceania. New York, 2001.
CT, 1955. Thorsten Deckler, Anne Graupner, and Henning Ras-
Robin Middleton and David Watkin. Neoclassicism muss. Contemporary South African Architecture in
and 19th-Century Architecture. New York, 1980. a Landscape of Transition. Cape Town, 2006.
Kermit C. Parsons and David Schuyler, eds. From Gar- Fassil Demissie. Colonial Architecture and Urbanism in
den City to Green City: The Legacy of Ebenezer Africa: Intertwined and Contested Histories. Lon-
Howard. Baltimore, 2002. don, 2012.
Nikolaus Pevsner. Some Architectural Writers of the Nnamdi Elleh. Architecture and Power in Africa. New
Nineteenth Century. Oxford, 1972. York, 2002.
David H. Pinkney. Napoleon III and the Rebuilding of ———. African Architecture: Evolution and Transfor-
Paris. Princeton, 1958. mation. New York, 1997.
M. H. Port, ed. The Houses of Parliament. New Haven, J. W. Fernandez. Fang Architectonics. Philadelphia,
CT, 1976. 1977.
Hermann G. Pundt. Schinkel’s Berlin. Cambridge, MA, Antoni Folkers. Modern Architecture in Africa. Ams-
1972. terdam, 2010.
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Suggested Readings 681

Rene Gardi and Sigrid MacRae, trans. Indigenous Joan Campbell. The German Werkbund: The Politics of
African Architecture. New York, 1973. Reform in the Applied Arts. Princeton, 1978.
Peter S. Garlake. Early Art and Architecture of Africa. Alan Colquhoun. Modern Architecture. Oxford and
Oxford, 2002. New York, 2002. A succinct and insightful sum-
Janet Berry Hess. Art and Architecture in Postcolonial mary of architecture from 1892 through 1960.
Africa. Jefferson, NC, 2006. Ulrich Conrads. Programs and Manifestoes on 20th-
Udo Kultermann. New Directions in African Architec- Century Architecture. Translated by Michael Bul-
ture. New York, 1969. lock. Cambridge, MA, 1970. An essential
Sabine Marschall. Opportunities for Relevance: Archi- collection of the most important theoretical writ-
tecture in the New South Africa. Praetoria, South ings by early Modernists.
Africa, 2000. Le Corbusier. Towards a New Architecture. Translated
J. C. Moughtin. Hausa Architecture. London, 1985. by Frederick Etchells. London, 1927.
Steven Nelson. From Cameroon to Paris: Mousgoum William J. R. Curtis. Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms.
Architecture In and Out of Africa. Chicago, 2007. New York, 1986.
Jonathan Alfred Noble. African Identity in Post-Apartheid ———. Modern Architecture Since 1900, 3rd ed. En-
Public Architecture. Farnham, England, 2011. glewood Cliffs, NJ, 1996.
Labelle Prussin. African Nomadic Architecture: Space, Norma Evenson. Le Corbusier: The Machine and the
Place, and Gender. Washington, DC, 1995. Grand Design. New York, 1969.
———. Architecture in Northern Ghana; A Study of James Marston Fitch. Walter Gropius. New York, 1960.
Forms and Functions. Berkeley, 1969. Kenneth Frampton. Modern Architecture: A Critical
———. Hatumere: Islamic design in West Africa. Berke- History, 3rd ed. New York, 1992.
ley, 1986. Marcel Franciscono. Walter Gropius and the Creation
———. “An Introduction to Indigenous African Ar- of the Bauhaus in Weimar. Urbana, IL, 1971.
chitecture.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Sigfried Giedion. Space, Time, and Architecture, 5th ed.
Historians 33, no. 3 (October 1974): 182–205. Cambridge, MA, 1967.
Contains a most useful concise survey of tribal Walter Gropius. The New Architecture and the Bauhaus.
building traditions. London, 1935.
Amos Rapoport. House Form and Culture. Englewood ———. The Scope of Total Architecture. New York,
Cliffs, NJ, 1969. 1962.
Dennis Sharp, ed. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ar- Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson. The In-
chitects and Architecture. New York, 1991. ternational Style: Architecture Since 1922. New
Gary Van Wyck. African Painted Houses: Basotho York, 1932; reissued as The International Style,
Dwellings of Southern Africa. New York, 1998. New York, 1966.
Charles Jencks. Modern Movements in Architecture.
CHAPTER 19: VERSIONS OF MODERN Garden City, NY, 1973.
ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970 William H. Jordy. American Building and Their Archi-
tects, Vol. 4: The Impact of European Modernism
Reyner Banham. The Architecture of the Well-Tempered in the Mid-Twentieth Century. Garden City, NY,
Environment, 2nd ed. Chicago, 1984. 1972.
———. Theory and Design in the First Machine Age, Barbara Miller Lane. Architecture and Politics in Ger-
2nd ed. Cambridge, MA, 1980. many, 1918–1945. Cambridge, MA, 1968.
Tim Benton and Charlotte Benton, with Dennis C. Lodder. Russian Constructivism. New Haven, CT,
Sharp. Architecture and Design, 1890–1930: An 1983.
International Anthology of Original Articles. New Stanislaus von Moos. Le Corbusier: Elements of a Syn-
York, 1975. thesis. Cambridge, MA, 1979.
Peter Blake. Form Follows Fiasco: Why Modern Archi- Wolfgang Pehnt. Expressionist Architecture. Translated
tecture Hasn’t Worked. Boston, 1977. by J. A. Underwood and E. Kustner. New York,
———. Frank Lloyd Wright: Architecture and Space. 1973.
Baltimore, 1964. Nikolaus Pevsner. Pioneers of Modern Design: From
———. Le Corbusier: Architecture and Form. Balti- William Morris to Walter Gropius. Baltimore,
more, 1964. 1974.
———. Mies van der Rohe: Architecture and Structure. Leland M. Roth. American Architecture: A History.
Baltimore, 1964. Boulder, CO, 2001.
Brent C. Brolin. The Failure of Modern Architecture. Franz Schulze. Mies van der Rohe: A Critical Biography.
New York, 1976. Chicago, 1985.
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682 Suggested Readings

Vincent Scully. Louis I. Kahn. New York, 1962. Charles Jencks and Karl Kropf, eds. Theories and Man-
Dennis Sharp. Modern Architecture and Expressionism. ifestoes of Contemporary Architecture. Hoboken,
New York, 1966. NJ, 1998.
Nancy J. Troy. The De Stijl Environment. Cambridge, Philip Johnson and Mark Wigley. Deconstructivist Ar-
MA, 1983. chitecture. New York, 1988.
Frank Whitford. Bauhaus. London, 1984. Heinrich Klotz, ed. Postmodern Visions: Drawings,
Arnold Whittick. Erich Mendelsohn, 2nd ed. London, Paintings, and Models by Contemporary Architects.
1956. Munich, 1984, and New York, 1985.
Alan Windsor. Peter Behrens, Architect and Designer. Stanislaus von Moos, Le Corbusier: Elements of a Syn-
London, 1981. thesis. Cambridge, MA, 1979.
H. Wingler. The Bauhaus: Weimar, Dessau, Berlin, and Paolo Portoghesi. After Modern Architecture. New
Chicago. Cambridge, MA, 1969. York, 1980.
Stuart Wrede. Sketches: Alvar Aalto. Cambridge, MA, Robert Powell. Rethinking the Skyscraper: The Complete
1978. Contains translations of Aalto’s speeches Architecture of Ken Yeang. London and New York,
and published articles. 1999.
Richard Saul Wurman, ed. What Will Be Has Always Ivor Richards. T. R. Hamzah & Yeang: Ecology of the
Been: The Words of Louis I. Kahn. New York, 1986. Sky. Mulgrave, Victoria [Australia], 2001. A
Bruno Zevi. Erich Mendelsohn. London, 1985. well-illustrated treatment of Yeang’s theory and
tropical skyscraper designs.
CHAPTER 20: THE EXPANSION OF Leland M. Roth. America Builds: Source Documents in
MODERNISM: FROM THE TWENTIETH American Architecture and Planning. New York,
CENTURY INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST 1983.
———. American Architecture: A History. Boulder,
Wolfgang Amsoneit and Philip Jodidio, eds. Contem- CO, 2001.
porary European Architects, 6 vols. Cologne, Roger Scruton. The Aesthetics of Architecture. Prince-
1991–1998. A continuing series of assessments ton, 1979.
of recent work. Vincent Scully. American Architecture and Urbanism,
Reyner Banham. The New Brutalism: Ethic or Aesthetic. 2nd ed. New York, 1988.
London, 1966. ———. The Shingle Style Today, or, The Historian’s Re-
Brent Brolin. Flight of Fancy: The Banishment and Re- venge. New York, 1972.
turn of Ornament. New York, 1985. James Steele. Architecture Today. London, 1997.
William J. R. Curtis. Modern Architecture Since 1900, Robert A. M. Stern. Modern Classicism. New York,
3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1996. 1988.
Francesco Dal Co. Frank Gehry: The Complete Works. Alexander Tzonis. Santiago Calatrava: Complete Works.
London and Boston, 2003. New York, 2004.
———. Modern Architecture: A Critical History, 3rd Robert Venturi. Complexity and Contradiction in Archi-
ed. New York, 1980. tecture. New York, 1966. The book that laid out
———. Richard Meier. New York, 1999. the theory of Postmodernism and provided its
Arthur Drexler. Transformations in Modern Architec- intellectual base.
ture. New York, 1979. Stuart Wrede. Mario Botta. New York, 1986.
Diane Ghirardo. Architecture After Modernism. Lon- Ken Yeang. Reinventing the Skyscraper: A Vertical The-
don and New York, 1996. ory of Urban Design. Chichester, England, 2001.
Charles Jencks. Architecture Today, rev. ed. New York, See also his earlier volume, The Green Skyscraper:
1982. The Basis for Designing Sustainable Intensive Build-
———. The Language of Post-Modern Architecture, ings. Munich, 2000.
6th ed. New York, 1991. This book, first pub-
lished in 1977 and many times revised and reis- CHAPTER 21: INTO THE
sued, has significantly shaped the definition of TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Postmodernism.
———. Modern Movements in Architecture, rev. ed. Bryan Bell. Good Deeds, Good Design: Community
New York, 1987. Service Through Architecture. New York, 2004.
———. The New Paradigm in Architecture: The Lan- Blaine Brownell. Material Strategies: Innovative Appli-
guage of Post-Modernism. New Haven, CT, 2002. cations in Architecture. New York, 2011.
———. What Is Post-Modernism? 4th ed. New York, David Gissen. Big and Green: Toward Sustainable Ar-
1996. chitecture in the 21st Century. New York, 2003.
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Suggested Readings 683

Sara Hart. EcoArchitecture: The Work of Ken Yeang. Bernard Tschumi and Irene Cheng, eds. The State of
Chichester, UK, 2011. Architecture at the Beginning of the 21st Century.
David Moos and Gail Andrews Trechsel. Samuel New York, 2004.
Mockbee and the Rural Studio: Community Archi- Ken Yeang. Green Design. London, 2011.
tecture. Birmingham, AL, 2003. ———. Reinventing the Skyscraper: A Vertical Theory
Andrea Oppenheimer Dean. “Samuel Mockbee,” Ar- of Urban Design. Chichester, England, 2001. See
chitectural Record 192 (June 2004): 184–203. also his earlier volume, The Green Skyscraper: The
Andrea Oppenheimer Dean and Timothy Hursley. Basis for Designing Sustainable Intensive Buildings.
Rural Studio: Samuel Mockbee and an Architecture Munich, 2000.
of Decency. New York, 2002.
Phaidon Atlas of 21st Century World Architecture. New
York, 2008.
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NOTES

INTRODUCTION Book of Tea (New York, 1906), 24, who in turn para-
phrases Laozi (Lao-Tse).
1. Ada Louise Huxtable, “Inventing American 4. Winston Churchill, speech before House of
Reality,” New York Review of Books 39 (December 3, Commons, October 28, 1943, in Onwards to Victory:
1992): 28. War Speeches by the Right Hon. Winston S. Churchill
2. Louis I. Kahn, “Remarks,” Perspecta (Yale archi- (Boston, 1944), 317.
tectural journal) 9–10 (1965): 305. 5. For an explanation of the distinction between
3. Roger Caras, ed., Animal Architecture (Rich- “BCE” and “CE,” see note 1 in Chapter 9.
mond, VA, 1971); see also Michael Henry Hansell, 6. This concept is discussed in Edward T. Hall, The
Animal Architecture (New York, 2005). Hidden Dimension (Garden City, NY, 1966), and
4. Nikolaus Pevsner, An Outline of European Ar- Robert Sommer, Personal Space (Englewood Cliffs, NJ,
chitecture (London, 1943). This has remained a stan- 1969).
dard work and continues to be reprinted. 7. Territoriality was another important but ignored
5. Walter McQuade tells a similar story in “Where’s design issue in the creation of Pruitt-Igoe; see the
the Architecture?” Connoisseur 215 (November 1985): analysis of Pruitt-Igoe in Oscar Newman, Defensible
82. Space (New York, 1972).
6. Ruskin’s The Seven Lamps of Architecture is still
in print. Because of the many editions of Ruskin’s writ- CHAPTER 2: “COMMODITIE”:
ings over the past century and a half, the best source BUILDING FUNCTIONS
is the multivolume standard edition: E. T. Cook and
A. Wedderburn, eds., The Works of John Ruskin (Lon- 1. Vitruvius’s De Architectura, written on ten scrolls,
don, 1903–1912); for St. Mark’s Rest, see vol. 24. provides us our only glimpse into the thinking of the
7. Sir Herbert Read, The Origins of Form in Art architects of antiquity. Although Vitruvius wrote
(New York, 1965), 182. around 15 BCE, the oldest complete copy of the lost
original manuscript dates from the eighth century CE
CHAPTER ONE: ARCHITECTURE: and was copied out by the monks of the Saxon scripto-
THE ART OF SHAPING OF SPACE rium in Northumbria, England. Sixteen other complete
copies survive, but all derive from the Northumbria
1. This observation might be open to question with copy and date from the tenth through the fifteenth
the development of computer-generated imagery— centuries. The most recent English translation is by In-
especially CGI for generating three- dimensional im- grid D. Rowland and Thomas Noble Howe, Vitruvius:
ages of cities, spaces, buildings, and interiors in motion Ten Books on Architecture (Cambridge, England, 1999).
pictures. Indeed, the coming together of story line and In addition to an extended introduction, it has numer-
such imagery, set within a theater or home setting ous illustrations. Somewhat more graceful if less literal
where observers willingly suspend belief, can cause is the English translation in the Harvard Loeb series,
powerful psychological effects. Vitruvius, On Architecture, 2 vols., trans. Frank Granger
2. Nikolaus Pevsner, An Outline of European Ar- (Cambridge, MA, 1931), which lists the surviving me-
chitecture, 7th ed. (Baltimore, 1974), 15. dieval Vitruvius manuscripts. Like other translations in
3. Frank Lloyd Wright, The Natural House (New the Loeb series, it presents the Latin original on the left
York, 1954), 220; he refers to Okakura Kakuzo, The page and the corresponding English on the facing page.

685
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686 Notes

The earlier translation—Vitruvius, The Ten Books on 13. Louis Kahn, quoted in Ann Mohlor, ed., “Louis I.
Architecture, trans. Morris Hickey Morgan (Cambridge, Kahn: Talks with Students,” Architecture at Rice 26
MA, 1914)—is even more gracefully idiomatic. The (1969): 12–13. See also Peter Papademetriou, ed., Louis
major translations of Vitruvius into European languages I. Kahn: Conversations with Students (Houston, 1998).
are listed in Granger, xxxiii–xxxiv, including the para-
phrase version by Sir Henry Wotten, The Elements of CHAPTER 3: “FIRMENESS”:
Architecture (London, 1624). STRUCTURE, OR HOW DOES
The variations in recent translations of the Vitru- THE BUILDING STAND UP?
vian Latin into English reveal both the shifts in think-
ing over time and varying desires for poetic felicity. 1. Louis I. Kahn, from a lecture at the School of
For example, in 1914, Morris Hickey Morgan phrased Architecture, Pratt Institute, New York, 1973, quoted
the passage Haec autem ita fieri debent, ut habeatur ratio in John Lobell, Between Silence and Light (Boulder, CO,
firmitatis, utilitatis, venustatis in this way: “All these 1979), 42. In contrast, the tradition in China is that
must be built with due reference to durability, conven- the column came first to support the roof structure.
ience, and beauty.” Most recent is the painstaking Only after the columns and tie beams were in place
translation of Rowland and Howe (1999), who trans- was the roof built, followed by construction of the
late it: “All these works should be executed so that walls underneath.
they exhibit the principles of soundness, utility, and 2. Research by George Hersey suggests that the
attractiveness.” Greek orders were first developed in imitation of the
2. Vitruvius, Ten Books, trans. Morgan, 17. trunks of trees in sacred groves and that the names of
3. William A. Starrett, Skyscrapers and the Men the many parts that make up the orders can be traced
Who Build Them (New York, 1928), 63. The building to the sacrificial offerings made to the gods. This is
process was so finely studied and coordinated that steel discussed further in Chapter 11.
columns and beams for the Empire State Building were There are many books detailing the proportions of
rolled to specification at steel plants in Pennsylvania, the various classical orders, from the Renaissance on-
loaded in flat bed train cars, transported to New York ward. Particularly informative—because it includes
City, and hoisted into place within eighty hours of their the Greek orders and those from Roman antiquity as
manufacture. One could make the case that films or well as Renaissance, Baroque, and eighteenth-century
movies as an art form similarly require the coordinated variations—is Arthur Stratton, The Orders of Archi-
efforts of hundreds of skilled individuals—actors, writ- tecture: Greek, Roman and Renaissance . . (London,
ers, producers, directors, art designers, and so many 1931). More recent and also most useful because of
more—but with the difference that buildings may well its breadth of coverage is Robert Chitham, The Clas-
last longer. sical Orders of Architecture (New York, 1985).
4. For a discussion of utility and adaptation to use 3. For a structural analysis of the Pantheon, see
in antiquity, see Edward Robert De Zurko, Origins of Robert Mark and Paul Hutchinson, “On the Structure
Functionalist Theory (New York, 1957), 15–31. of the Roman Pantheon,” Art Bulletin 68 (March
5. Walter Gropius, “Where Artists and Technicians 1986): 124–134. See also the discussions of the struc-
Meet,” Die Form, new series, 1 (1925–1926): 117–120. ture of the Pantheon in Rowland J. Mainstone, Devel-
6. Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture, trans. opments in Structural Form (Cambridge, MA, 1975),
Frederick Etchells (London, 1927), 10. and in Mario Salvadori, Why Buildings Stand Up: The
7. Bruno Taut, Modern Architecture (London, Strength of Buildings, rev. ed. (New York, 2002).
1929), 9. 4. See the analysis of the failure of the Hyatt Re-
8. Stanley Abercrombie, Architecture As Art: An gency skywalks in Steven S. Ross, Construction Dis-
Esthetic Analysis (New York, 1984), 99. asters: Design Failures, Causes, and Prevention (New
9. Louis I. Kahn, interview in John W. Cook and York, 1984), 388–406, and in Matthys Levy and Mario
Heinrich Klotz, Conversations with Architects (New Salvadri, Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail,
York, 1973), 204. rev. ed. (New York, 2002), 221–230. In January 1986,
10. “Mies van der Rohe’s New Buildings,” Architec- the state of Missouri revoked the professional licenses
tural Forum 97 (November 1952): 94. of two structural engineers who had designed the sky-
11. Le Corbusier, Précisions sur un état présent de l’ar- walks, after they had been cited for gross professional
chitecture et de l’urbanisme (Paris, 1930), 64. negligence in November 1985.
12. Louis H. Sullivan, “The Tall Building Artisti- 5. See Levy and Salvadri, Why Buildings Fall Down,
cally Considered,” Lippincott’s Magazine 57 (March 257–268.
1896): 403–409, reprinted in Leland M. Roth, ed., 6. See the structural-failure analysis in ibid. Sev-
America Builds (New York, 1983), 340–446. eral even taller office towers were in the design phase
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Notes 687

in the fall of 2001, when the World Trade Center 9. This may perhaps be a learned cultural re-
Towers collapsed—among them Taipei 101. Immedi- sponse. Published evidence so far has focused on ex-
ately, their structural designs were scrutinized to de- periments performed in the West. Individuals from
termine their degree of risk. Since these towers were non-meat-eating cultures may react differently.
planned for the Pacific Rim of Asia, earthquake 10. Written in part by Theo van Doesburg, “De Stijl
stresses had been anticipated, leading to the use of Manifesto V” is translated into English in Ulrich Con-
thick inner concrete cores. Even so, the walls of these rads, ed., Programs and Manifestoes on 20th-Century
concrete cores were further thickened to more than 2 Architecture (Cambridge, MA, 1970), 66.
feet (0.61 m) to protect emergency exit stairs and to 11. See Peter Collins, Changing Ideals in Modern
prevent collapse. Architecture (London, 1965), 243–248.
7. A memorial to the thousands killed has been 12. International Modernists were inspired by the
built within the square footprints of the destroyed essay by Adolf Loos, “Ornament and Crime,” first pub-
towers and, as this book goes to print, a greatly lished in 1908 and then republished in a collection of
strengthened replacement “Freedom Tower” adjacent Loos’s early essays, Ins Leere Gesprochen (Paris, 1921),
to the memorial has been topped off with a spire to and reprinted in Conrads, Programs and Manifestoes.
reach a symbolic height of 1,776 feet. 13. John Ruskin, addenda to lectures 1 and 2, Lec-
tures on Architecture and Painting (London, 1854).
CHAPTER 4: “DELIGHT”: 14. Adolf Loos, “Ornament and Crime,” 1908, in
SEEING ARCHITECTURE Conrads, Programs and Manifestoes, 20.
15. See Michael Forsyth, Buildings for Music . . .
1. Bruno Taut, Modern Architecture (London, (Cambridge, MA, 1985), 284–289; Bruce Bliven, Jr.,
1929), 9. “Annals of Architecture: A Better Sound,” The New
2. The importance of the psychology of vision is Yorker, November 8, 1976, 51ff.; and Sharon Lee
stressed in Niels Luning Prak, The Language of Archi- Ryder, “Music to My Ears,” Progressive Architecture 58
tecture (The Hague, 1968). See also K. Koffka, Princi- (March 1977): 64–68.
ples of Gestalt Psychology (New York, 1935); the many 16. Regarding Chartres, see Robert Branner, ed.,
books by Rudolph Arnheim, especially his Art and Vi- Chartres Cathedral (New York, 1969), and Adolf
sual Perception (Berkeley, 1971) and his Visual Thinking Katzenellenbogen, The Sculptural Programs of Chartres
(Berkeley, 1969); Carolyn M. Bloomer, Principles of Vi- Cathedral (Baltimore, 1959; New York, 1964).
sual Perception (New York, 1976), which has a good 17. Regarding Olympia, see J. J. Pollitt, Art and Ex-
bibliography; and Gyorgy Kepes, The Language of Vi- perience in Classical Greece (New York, 1972); see also
sion (Chicago, 1944). Jeffrey M. Hurwit, “Narrative Resonance in the East
3. The intriguing manifestations of the Golden Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia,” Art Bul-
Mean are well-explored and explained in Mario Livio, letin 69 (March 1987): 6–15. Although the temple was
The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World’s Most As- toppled by earthquakes centuries ago, a great deal is
tonishing Number (New York, 2002). As Livio explains, known about its appearance from the descriptions of
phi is the mathematical “cousin” of pi. Pausanias, a second-century CE physician who de-
4. See Heath Licklider, Architectural Scale (New voted twenty years traveling through Greece, making
York, 1965), which includes a chapter devoted to pro- detailed descriptions of everything he saw; see Pausa-
portional systems. See also Frank Orr, Scale in Archi- nias, Guide to Greece, 2 vols., trans. Peter Levi (New
tecture (New York, 1985). York, 1972).
5. This subtle contrast between elements that, at 18. A similar sense of the honorable striving for ex-
first glance, appear to be the same is a good example of cellence in human endeavor prompted the modern re-
what has come to be called Mannerism. See Chapter 15. vival of the Olympic games in 1896; while that sense
6. Regarding Katsura, see Walter Gropius and of honorable contest endures, the use of chemical en-
Kenzo Tange, Katsura: Tradition and Creation in Japan- hancements or other fraudulent behavior violates the
ese Architecture (New Haven, CT, 1960), and Akira spirit of the games and must be deplored.
Naito, Katsura: A Princely Retreat (Tokyo, 1977).
7. It is of interest that some of these “theatrical” CHAPTER 5:
aspects preceded their use in actual theaters in Italy. ARCHITECTURE AND SOUND
8. For a discussion of the effects of color, see the
many studies by Faber Birren, especially Color and 1. In 1971, an acoustical renovation—by Ronald
Human Response (New York, 1978); see also Roy Os- Ward and Partners, architects, and Kenneth Shearer,
borne, Lights and Pigments: Color Principles for Artists acoustical consultant—significantly improved the
(New York, 1980). acoustical performance of Royal Albert Hall.
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688 Notes

2. There is some difference of opinion regarding 2. Figures cited in James Marston Fitch, American
whether such complicated spaces with side aisles func- Building, Vol. 2: The Environmental Forces That Shape
tion as precisely as simple, closed pipes. It, 2nd ed. (Boston, 1972), 266–267.
3. Another example in which the acoustical prop- 3. Figures cited in Brown, Sun, Wind, and Light, 38.
erties of architecture influence musical composition 4. The environmental qualities of the Robie House
and performance practice has been documented in the are analyzed in Reyner Banham, The Architecture of the
case of the Basilica of San Petronio, Bologna; see Marc Well-Tempered Environment, 2nd ed. (Chicago, 1984),
Vanscheeuwijck, The Cappelle Musicale of San Petronio 115–121. This work should also be consulted regard-
in Bologna Under Giovanni Paolo Colonna 1674–95 ing the development of air-conditioning by Wallis H.
(Brussels, 2003), 64. A low, strong tone created in this Carrier.
church generates a sustained third major triad har- 5. For a discussion of the functional parts of the Sal-
monic overtone. Hence, when a musical piece is per- vation Army Building in the Cité du Refuge, see Stanis-
formed in a minor key, the sustained final chord will las von Moos, Le Corbusier: Elements of a Synthesis
include the minor triad (as written in the score), but (Cambridge, MA, 1979), 154–517; regarding the build-
the minor triad would conflict with the acoustically ing’s environmental shortcomings, see Reyner Banham,
generated major triad, causing dissonance. This auto- The Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment, 155–
matically generated major triad may be a universal 158. See also Brian B. Taylor, Le Corbusier: The City of
phenomenon, accounting for the widespread practice Refuge, Paris, 1929–33 (Chicago, 1987).
of ending many pieces written in the minor key with 6. Such lateral forces had been encountered be-
a major harmony in the extended final chord, as J. S. fore in Gothic cathedrals. The high roofs, lifted 120
Bach did so frequently. I must thank Katie Moss for to 140 feet (37 to 43 m) in the air, were subject to
drawing my attention to this phenomenon; see Katie winds nearly three times higher in velocity than at
Moss, “Architectural Influences on the Composition ground level. The Gothic solution was trussing in the
and Performance of Sacred Music in the French wooden roof and externalized diagonal braces, or fly-
Gothic Period,” senior thesis, University of Oregon, ing buttresses. Robert Mark of Princeton University
spring 2005. conducted a number of experiments on models of
4. Hope Bagenal has suggested that in Bach’s time, Gothic cathedrals to measure the effects of wind pres-
the church of Saint Thomas was lined with wooden sure; see Robert Mark, Experiments in Gothic Structure
paneling, greatly reducing the church’s reverberation (Cambridge, MA, 1982).
time, so that Bach’s early organ pieces worked equally 7. Carl W. Condit, “The Wind Bracing of Build-
well in this later environment. See Hope Bagenal, ings,” Scientific American 230 (February 1974): 92–105.
“Bach’s Music and Church Acoustics,” Journal, Royal 8. For reviews of this celebrated failure, see Steven
Institute of British Architects 37, no. 5 (January 11, S. Ross, Construction Disasters: Design Failures, Causes,
1930): 154–163; see also Hope Bagenal, Planning for and Prevention (New York): 274–287, and Matthys Levy
Good Acoustics (London, 1931). and Mario Salvadori, Why Buildings Fall Down: How
5. See the discussion of Boston Symphony Hall in Structures Fail, rev. ed. (New York, 2002), 197–205.
Leland M. Roth, McKim, Mead & White, Architects 9. The date overlap is due to the fact that the ma-
(New York, 1983), 223–227, and in Michael Forsyth, sonry pedestal was started before the iron frame com-
Buildings for Music: The Architect, the Musician, and the ponents were completed and the copper skin arrived
Listener from the Seventeenth Century to the Present Day from France. The Statue of Liberty was the gift of the
(Cambridge, MA, 1985), 243–253. nation of France to the United States, with the cost
6. Louis I. Kahn, “Remarks,” Perspecta 9–10 of the base and erection borne by the American
(1965): 318. people. Though a piece of sculpture, it is on the scale
7. Hans Scharoun, Akademie der Kunst (Berlin, of—and uses many of the same structural solutions
1967), 95. then being developed for—the newly emerging Amer-
ican office skyscrapers. Literature on the Statue of Lib-
CHAPTER 6: ARCHITECTURE: erty is plentiful; see in particular James B. Bell and
PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT Richard L. Abrams, In Search of Liberty: The Story of
the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (Garden City, NY,
1. The British thermal unit (Btu) is the amount of 1984); Jonathan Harris, A Statue for America: The First
heat required to raise the temperature of 1 pound of 100 Years of the Statue of Liberty (New York, 1985);
water 1° F. The figure of 2,750 Btu per square foot on Richard Seth Hayden and Thierry W. Despont, Restor-
a clear day in June in Albuquerque is derived from ing the Statue of Liberty (New York, 1986); Yasmin
G. Z. Brown, Sun, Wind, and Light: Architectural Design Sabina Khan, Enlightening the World: The Creation of
Strategies (New York, 1985), 21. the Statue of Liberty (Ithaca, NY, 2010); Barry Moreno,
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Notes 689

The Statue of Liberty Encyclopedia (New York, 2000); Plan of St. Gall: In Brief (Berkeley, 1982). More recent
Pierre Provoyeur and June H. Hargrove, Liberty: The research has suggested that, contrary to what Horn
French-American Statue in Art and History (New York, and Born write, the plan was not prepared as an out-
1986); Cara A. Sutherland, The Statue of Liberty (New growth of a council of abbots in 816–817, that it was
York, 2003); and Marvin Trachtenberg, The Statue of not a copy of another drawing, nor was it meant as an
Liberty (New York, 1976). exemplar of monasteries to be built throughout
Charlemagne’s empire. See Warren Sanderson, “The
CHAPTER 7: THE ARCHITECT: Plan of St. Gall Reconsidered,” Speculum 60 ( July
FROM HIGH PRIEST TO PROFESSION 1985): 615–632.
10. François Bucher, “Villard de Honnecourt,” in
1. Alexander Badawy, “Imhotep,” in Macmillan En- Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects 4:322–324;
cyclopedia of Architects, ed. Adolf K. Placzek (New York, Theodore Bowie, ed., The Sketchbook of Villard de Hon-
1982), 2:455–464; Nabil Swelim, “Imhotep,” in The necourt (Bloomington, IN, 1959); Carl F. Barnes Jr.,
[Grove] Dictionary of Art (New York, 1996), or also The “Villard de Honnecourt,” in The [Grove] Dictionary of
Oxford Art Online, which includes Grove. The basic Art (New York, 1996), or also Oxford Art Online,
printed survey histories of the architectural profession which includes Grove; Nicola Coldstream, “Villard de
are Martin S. Briggs, The Architect in History (Oxford, Honnecourt,” in The Oxford Companion to Western Art,
1927), and Spiro Kostof, ed., The Architect: Chapters in ed. Hugh Brigstocke (Oxford, 2001).
the History of the Profession (New York, 1977). Now the 11. Stephen Murray, “Libergier, Hugues,” in The
basic resource, the Kostof book consists of chapters [Grove] Dictionary of Art (New York, 1996), or also
written by experts in their respective fields. Oxford Art Online, which includes Grove.
2. Alexander Badawy, “Senmut,” in Macmillan En- 12. Peter Murray, “Donato Bramante,” in Macmillan
cyclopedia of Architects 4:33–37. Encyclopedia of Architects 1:269–282; Paul Davies and
3. For discussions of the lives of the workmen at David Hemsoll, “Bramante, Donato,” in The [Grove]
Deir el-Medina, see T.G.H. James, Pharaoh’s People Dictionary of Art (New York, 1996), or also Oxford
(Chicago, 1984), and John Romer, Ancient Lives: Daily Art Online, which includes Grove.
Life in Egypt of the Pharaohs (New York, 1984). 13. Eugene J. Johnson, “Leon Battista Alberti,” in
4. Daedalus’s exploits are described by Apol- Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects 1:48–58; Paul
lodorus and Ovid; see the narrative account in Edith Davies and David Hemsoll, “Alberti, Leon Battista,”
Hamilton, Mythology (Boston, 1940). In addition, see in The [Grove] Dictionary of Art (New York, 1996), or
Sarah P. Morris, “Daidalos,” in The [Grove] Dictionary also Oxford Art Online, which includes Grove.
of Art (New York, 1996), or also Oxford Art Online, 14. For a discussion of architectural treatises, see
which includes Grove; and Kenneth D. S. Lapatin, Dora Wiebenson, Architectural Theory and Practice
“Daedalus,” in The Oxford Companion to Western Art, from Alberti to Ledoux (Chicago, 1982).
ed. Hugh Brigstocke (Oxford, 2001). 15. This novel is more commonly known in the
5. J. J. Coulton, Ancient Greek Architects at Work: English-speaking world as The Hunchback of Notre
Problems of Structure and Design (Ithaca, 1977). Dame.
6. Lothar Haselberger has suggested that lines en- 16. See James Ackerman, Palladio (Baltimore,
graved on the walls of the Temple of Apollo at Didyma 1966), as well as Douglas Lewis, The Drawings of An-
are in fact drawings for proportioning the columns; see drea Palladio (Washington, DC, 1982), and Andreas
Scientific American 253 (December 1985): 126–132. Beyer, “Palladio, Andrea,” in The [Grove] Dictionary
7. Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture, 1.1.2, trans. of Art (New York, 1996), or also Oxford Art Online,
Morris Hicky Morgan (Cambridge, MA, 1914). For which includes Grove.
further discussion of Vitruvius, see Eugene Dwyer et 17. Andrea Palladio, I quattro libri dell’ architettura
al., “Vitruvius,” in The [Grove] Dictionary of Art (New (The Four Books on Architecture), trans. Robert Tav-
York, 1996), or also Oxford Art Online, which in- ernor and Richard Schofield (Cambridge, MA, 1997).
cludes Grove. 18. The word amateur is used here in its original
8. William L. MacDonald, “Anthemios,” in sense (from Latin, amator, “lover”), meaning a person
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 1:84–87; Thomas who pursues an activity as a pastime, for the sheer
E. Russo, “Anthemios of Tralles,” in The [Grove] Dic- pleasure it provides, rather than for payment; gentle-
tionary of Art (New York, 1996), or also Oxford Art men-amateur architects, in fact, would have been in-
Online, which includes Grove. sulted had they been offered payment.
9. Walter Horn and Ernest Born, The Plan of 19. Dorothy Stroud, “John Soane,” in Macmillan En-
St. Gall, 3 vols. (Berkeley, 1979); this exhaustive cyclopedia of Architects 4:95–101; David Watkin,
analysis of the plan is summarized in Lorna Price, The “Soane, John,” in The [Grove] Dictionary of Art (New
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690 Notes

York, 1996), or also Oxford Art Online, which includes 8. Goldberger, Why Architecture Matters, 209. For
Grove. information on the legal case, see Charles M. Haar
20. Samuel Wilson, Jr., “Benjamin H. Latrobe,” in and Jerold S. Kayden, Landmark Justice: The Influence
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects 2:611–117. of William J. Brennan on America’s Communities (Wash-
21. Talbot Hamlin, Benjamin Henry Latrobe (New ington, DC, 1989).
York, 1955); Jeffrey A. Cohen, “Latrobe, Benjamin 9. John Ruskin, “The Lamp of Memory,” in The
Henry,” in The [Grove] Dictionary of Art (New York, Seven Lamps of Architecture (London, 1849), ch. 6, sec-
1996), or also Oxford Art Online, which includes tion 20. The italicized emphasis is Ruskin’s.
Grove. 10. John Burchard and Albert Bush-Brown, The Ar-
22. For the reasons Pruitt-Igoe failed, see Oscar chitecture of America: A Social and Cultural History
Newman, Defensible Space (New York, 1972). (Boston, 1961), 5. “The Nature of Architecture,” the
23. See the assessment in J. M. Richards, Ismail preface to the hardcover edition of the book, is a per-
Serageldin, and Darl Rastorfer, Hassan Fathy (Singa- ceptive introduction to the study of architecture; re-
pore and London, 1985), and in Hasan-Uddin Khan grettably, it was deleted from the subsequent abridged
et al., “Fathy, Hassan,” in The [Grove] Dictionary of paperback edition.
Art (New York, 1996), or also Oxford Art Online, 11. John Kenneth Galbraith, Economics, Peace, and
which includes Grove. Regarding Geoffrey Bawa, see Laughter (Boston, 1971), 158.
David Robson, Geoffrey Bawa: The Complete Works
(London, 2002), and John Musgrove, “Bawa, Geof- CHAPTER 9: THE BEGINNINGS
frey,” in The [Grove] Dictionary of Art (New York, OF ARCHITECTURE: FROM CAVES
1996), or also Oxford Art Online, which includes TO CITIES
Grove.
1. A word about dating conventions used here: In
CHAPTER 8: ARCHITECTURE, this chapter, because many of the dates are so distant,
MEMORY, AND ECONOMICS the measure is backward from present time, hence the
phrase “years ago.” Occasionally, this phrase is re-
1. Lewis Mumford, Architecture (Chicago, 1926), placed in some publications by the abbreviation BP,
25–26. meaning “before the present,” which equates to “years
2. Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture, 1.2, 8–9. It ago.” In this book, “years ago” is how those distant
is significant that the École des Beaux-Arts particu- dates are indicated. In the next three chapters, which
larly stressed achieving the most appropriate caractère discuss Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the
(“character”) in a building’s design. dates are given with reference to the common dating
3. Paul Goldberger, Why Architecture Matters (New system generally used around the globe today—that
Haven, CT, 2009), 196–197. is, the Christian calendar. So, dates are given in either
4. Goldberger quotes Summerson’s lecture, “The BCE, “before the common era” (which equates to BC,
Past in the Future,” reprinted in Summerson’s Heav- “before Christ”), or, for later dates, in CE, “common
enly Mansions and Other Essays on Architecture (Lon- era” (which equates to AD, or anno Domini, “year of
don, 1949, and New York, 1963). our Lord”). Later in the book, when the discussion is
5. For further information on Pennsylvania Sta- exclusively about more recent time frames—that is,
tion, see Leland M. Roth, McKim, Mead & White, Ar- after the Christian calendar had become established
chitects (New York, 1983), and Hilary Ballon, New in Europe—era designations are eliminated.
York’s Pennsylvania Stations (New York, 2002). Ballon’s 2. Sir Herbert Read, “The Disintegration of Form
book also provides a good analysis of the struggle to in Modern Art,” in The Origins of Form in Art (New
prevent demolition. York, 1965), 182.
6. First published in Mumford’s continuing col- 3. One recent summary of the reevaluation of ho-
umn, “The Sky Line,” in The New Yorker, 1958, and minid research is Göran Burenhult, ed., People of the
reprinted in the anthology, Lewis Mumford, The High- Past: The Epic Story of Human Origins and Development
way and the City (New York, 1963), 143–151. (San Francisco, 2003), with contributions from scores
7. Vincent Scully, American Architecture and Ur- of leading researchers in their respective fields. Be-
banism (New York, 1969), 143. Scully’s judgment was cause of the continuing exploration, the most current
quoted by Ada Louise Huxtable in a New York Times sources are to be found online.
editorial, “Beaux-Arts Buildings I Have Known,” No- 4. There is a difference of opinion regarding species
vember 9, 1974, and was reprinted in her anthology, names for what some paleontologists label Homo er-
Goodbye History, Hello Hamburger (Washington, DC, gaster and what some label Homo erectus. The former
1986), 131–134. term is a twentieth-century designation, while the
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Notes 691

more familiar designation Homo erectus was proposed 11. Since it is possible that these models were chil-
in the nineteenth century. See the clear, concise dis- dren’s toys, they should not be interpreted literally.
cussion in Juan Luis Arsuaga, The Neanderthals’ Neck- 12. Danuta Piotrowska, Biskupin, “1933–1996: Ar-
lace: In Search of the First Thinkers (New York, 2002). chaeology, Politics and Nationalism,” Archaeologia
5. Steven R. James, “Hominid Use of Fire in the Polona 35–36 (1997–1998): 255–285; Z. Rajewski,
Lower and Middle Pleistocene: A Review of the Evi- “Biskupin-osiedle obronne sprzed 2500 lat,” Arkady,
dence,” Current Anthropology (February 1989). Warszawa 1970.
6. Henry de Lumley, “A Paleolithic Camp at Nice,” 13. Lewis Mumford, The City in History: Its Origins,
Scientific American 220 (May 1969): 42–50. Its Transformations, Its Prospects (New York, 1961), 7.
7. Robert S. Soleckei, Shanidar: The First Flower 14. Klaus Schmidt, “Zuerst kam der Tempel, dann
People (New York, 1971). The alleged Shanidar “flower die Stadt,” Vorläufiger Bericht zu den Grabungen am
children” burials are now debated; it is intriguing how Göbekli Tepe und am Gürcütepe 1995–1999, Istan-
archaeological findings are interpreted in light of the buler Mitteilungen 50 (2000): 5–41. Author translation.
ethos of the period, the Shanidar findings having orig- 15. Such astronomical alignments in the distant
inally been published at the height of the hippie past are not visible to present-day observers because
“Flower Power” movement in the early 1970s. A much of the precession of the earth’s axis or rotation. Over
more cynical generation now views such findings a cycle of 26,000 years the earth “wobbles” in rotation,
through a very different lens. the axis making a complete circle. Hence, alignments
8. Lascaux became a victim of its own celebrity, as far back as 9,000 years ago involved an earth whose
for the moisture introduced in the expelled breath of axis was in a different position.
hundreds of thousands of visitors caused organisms to 16. Ulrich Boser, “Solar Circle,” Archaeology 59
grow on the paintings, threatening to destroy them. (July/August 2006): 30–35; Madhusree Mukerjee,
Today, the original cave is closed to ordinary visitors; “Circles for Space: German ‘Stonehenge’ Marks Old-
tourists view a painstaking replica built nearby. See est Observatory,” Scientific American 289 (December
Mario Ruspoli, The Cave at Lascaux: The Final Photo- 2003): 32–34.
graphs (New York and Paris, 1986–1987). 17. Kevin Greene, “V. Gordon Childe and the Vo-
9. André Leroi-Gourhan, Prehistoire de l’art occi- cabulary of Revolutionary Change,” Antiquity 73
dentale, 3rd ed. (Paris, 1973), attempted to organize (1999): 97–109.
the cave paintings as a system of symbols rather than 18. The original excavator, James Mellaart, pub-
as naturalistic images. The recent publications on the lished Çatal Hüyük: A Neolithic Town in Anatolia (New
newly discovered Cosquer and Chauvet caves present York, 1977). For an examination of more recent find-
current thinking about the meaning of these striking ings by current excavator Ian Hodder, see Michael
images. See also David Lewis-Williams, The Mind in Balter, The Goddess and the Bull: Çatalhöyük—An Ar-
the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art (London chaeological Journey to the Dawn of Civilization (New
and New York, 2002). York, 2005), and also a digest of this study by Balter,
10. The principal investigator, Professor Tom Dille- “The Seeds of Civilization,” Smithsonian 36 (May
hay, has published several accounts of his find, the pri- 2005): 68–74.
mary one being the official excavation report, Monte 19. Balter, “The Seeds of Civilization,” 72.
Verde: A Late Pleistocene Settlement in Chile, 2 vols.
(Washington and London, 1997). Prior to this, Dille- CHAPTER 10: THE ARCHITECTURE OF
hay published a summary in A. L. Bryan, ed., New MESOPOTAMIA AND ANCIENT EGYPT
Evidence for the Pleistocene Peopling of the Americas
(Orono, ME, 1986), 319–337, and subsequently he of- 1. In his book Legacy: The Search for Ancient Cul-
fered a good précis in his own The Settlement of the tures (New York, 1994), Michael Wood notes that it
Americas: A New Prehistory (New York, 2000), 160– is highly significant that the very earliest forms of writ-
168. See also J. M. Adovasio and J. Page, The First ing in India (Sanskrit) and in China (oracle bones)
Americans: In Search of Archaeology’s Greatest Mystery were devised to record religious concepts and to serve
(2002), 207–216; John Wilford, “Chilean Field Yields divination purposes, respectively. In Mesopotamia,
New Clues to Peopling of Americas,” New York Times, however, writing was developed to catalog possessions;
August 25, 1998, C1; David J. Meltzer and Tom D. only later did literary and religious writing develop.
Dillehay, “The Search for the Earliest Americans,” Ar- Recent discoveries in Egypt indicate that very much
chaeology 52 (January/February 1999); Kambiz Kam- the same materialist intent drove the initial develop-
rani, “Earliest Known Archaeological Evidence of ment of writing there as well.
Americans Found in Monte Verde, Chile,” www 2. See Gavin Young, “Water Dwellers in a Desert
.Anthropology.net, posted May 8, 2008. World,” National Geographic Magazine 149 (April
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692 Notes

1976): 502–522 (with many photographs of how such sphere of influence, and then, in 332 CE, Egypt was
bundled-reed dwellings are made); and Wilfred The- taken over by Alexander the Great. Upon his sudden
siger, “Marsh Dwellers of Southern Iraq,” National Ge- death, Egypt fell under the rule of one of his generals,
ographic Magazine 113 (February 1958): 204–239. See Ptolemy; although he assumed the role of pharaoh,
also Edward L. Ochsenschlager, Iraq’s Marsh Arabs in there remained a strong Hellenistic cultural influence.
the Garden of Eden (Philadelphia, 2004). With pressure By 47 CE, with the arrival of Julius Caesar, Egypt had
to modernize and with efforts to drain the marshes, this become a part of the growing Roman Empire, and an
ancient way of life and its architecture are under essential part after its annexation in 30 CE, because
threat. The pressure on these marsh-dwelling Ma’Dan Egypt supplied large amounts of grain to feed the ur-
people has been exacerbated recently because they are banized Romans.
Shiite Muslims under a government that (until 2003) 9. Wood, Legacy, 137.
was controlled by Sunni Muslims. 10. Due to confusing archaeological evidence, there
3. Strabo (c. 64 BCE to 24 CE) spent the last years is some thought that the pharaohs Menes and Narmer
of his life writing and rewriting his comprehensive sev- are the same person—and that this person founded
enteen-book historical geography of the ancient the First Dynasty. See Stephan Seidlmayer, “The Rise
world. For his account of Mesopotamia, and Babylon of the State to the Second Dynasty,” quoted in
particularly, see Horace L. Jones, trans., The Geogra- R. Schulz and M. Seidel, eds., Egypt: The World of the
phy of Strabo (London, 1927), 7:199. Pharaohs (Köln, 2004).
4. Ibid., 7:201. 11. It may have been during this unsettled period
5. Quoted from Stephen Mitchell, Gilgamesh: A that the Hebrews were in servitude in Egypt; another
New English Version (New York, 2004), 168. Not a lit- interpretation is that it was during the reign of
eral translation, Mitchell’s version endeavors to con- Ramses II.
vey the rhythm of the original text. For a more literal 12. At Zoser’s pyramid at Saqqara, the Serdab (from
translation, see N. K. Sanders, The Epic of Gilgamesh the Arabic word for cellar or cave) was a small Ka
(London, 1972), 102. The story of Gilgamesh, written chamber at the foot of the step pyramid, just large
down in the first centuries of the second millennium enough to house a painted limestone statue of Zoser
CE, had been formed many centuries earlier. Frag- (now in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo).
ments of the story were discovered in nineteenth-cen- This life-size statue was the vessel for the king’s Ka
tury excavations of many Mesopotamian cities. The spirit. Two small holes in the chamber wall, aligned
most complete edition was uncovered in the vast sev- with the eyes of the statue, provided for a view out to
enth-century CE library of Assurbanipal, the last great what is called the Serdab court, where various offer-
king of Assyria. The tale is the story of a hero’s jour- ings were made and rituals performed.
ney, as Mitchell explains, but it is also a story about 13. Quoted in Lionel Casson, Ancient Egypt (New
how a man becomes civilized and how he learns to York, 1965), 134.
rule himself and therefore his people and to act with 14. These passages are quoted in I.E.S. Edwards,
temperance, wisdom, and piety (Mitchell, Gilgamesh, The Pyramids of Egypt, rev. ed. (Baltimore, 1961), 288–
7). See also Wood, Legacy, 32. 291. See also the translations in J. H. Breasted, The
6. Wood, Legacy, 213. See also Stephanie Dalley, Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt
Myths from Mesopotamia (Oxford, England, 1989), and (New York, 1912).
Thorkild Jacobsen, The Harps That Once . . . : Sumer- 15. Tutankhamen’s tomb in fact was entered shortly
ian Poetry in Translation (New Haven, CT, 1987). after it was sealed, and objects in it were disturbed. But
7. Herodotus, The Histories, ii. 5. the robbers apparently were caught in the act, and the
8. To be accurate, there were incursions into tomb was then again officially re-consecrated, closed,
Egypt, but the first—by the so-called Hyksos, who as- and resealed; the imprinted clay seals were still hang-
sumed domination in about 1674 CE—occurred after ing, intact, from the door handles three millennia later,
two millennia of protected cultural development. In when they were uncovered by Howard Cater in 1922.
any event, Hyksos domination had essentially no We can only guess at what delightful anticipation he
effect on redirecting Egyptian cultural development. experienced when he saw these seals untouched for
The remaining Hyksos were expelled after about a three thousand years (as well as the mounting expec-
century. With the expansion of the Egyptian Empire tation of everything to be found behind them).
into Palestine and Syria came warfare with adjoining 16. The evidence for a small pyramid is scanty;
powers, and increasingly afterward, there were attacks some other structure may have stood at the center.
from the sea. The Assyrians invaded in 671 BCE but 17. The pyramid of Khufu was surrounded by pits
were driven back about seven years later. The expan- cut into the rock plateau for holding full-scale wooden
sion of the Persian Empire drew Egypt into the Persian boats in which he could travel with Ra; one of these
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Notes 693

pits was uncovered and the boat recovered intact in Parthenos and Athena Polias: A Study in the Religion of
1954. Crafted of Lebanese cedar, the boat had been Periclean Athens (Manchester, England, 1955), and par-
carefully disassembled into 651 parts, carefully laid ticularly Jeffery M. Hurwit, The Athenian Acropolis:
in 13 layers in a specially cut stone chamber. So care- History, Mythology, and Archaeology from the Neolithic
fully sealed was the boat chamber that when it was Era to the Present (New York, 1999).
reopened in 1954 it was said the scent of cedar still 9. Kitto, The Greeks, 75.
lingered in the air. In 1991, near the temple of Khen- 10. In contrast to the far more inclusive attitudes
tyamentiu outside Abydos, archaeologists uncovered of the twenty-first century, for ancient Greeks political
fourteen wooden boats dating from around 2950– life and activity were restricted to free male citizens.
2775 BCE. Accordingly, the male pronoun is used here in discus-
18. The stone blocks removed from Akhenaton’s sions involving Greek and Roman political life.
temples, with their carved and painted surfaces, were 11. Delphi was a remote site sacred to ancient fe-
turned around and the blank backsides presented in male earth deities, but with the arrival of the Dorians
the new construction. These image fragments have it became associated with the male deity Apollo.
been studied and recorded, which has allowed the Around the Bronze Age, apparently, the site had been
image pieces to be reassembled by computer analysis discovered to possess extraordinary attributes, for
on paper, like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle, to give some priests who descended into a small grotto became pos-
idea of the form of the original temples. sessed of special abilities and experienced visions. In
19. E. B. Smith, Egyptian Architecture As Cultural time, the women priests associated with the shrine on
Expression (New York and London, 1938), 246–248. this site would descend into the grotto several days
20. Ibid., 249. after the new moon and answer questions while in a
trance. Plutarch later described the oracle and the
CHAPTER 11: GREEK ARCHITECTURE priestesses who made their utterances there, and
Strabo wrote of “the seat of the oracle [being in] a cave
1. This description, by an unknown writer of the that is hollowed deep down in the earth, with a rather
second century BCE, is quoted in J. G. Frazer, Pausa- narrow mouth, from which rises breath [pneuma,
nias’ Description of Greece (London, 1897), xliii, n. 1; “vapor, gas”] that inspires a divine frenzy” (Geography,
quoted in Vincent J. Bruno, The Parthenon (New York, 9.3.4–5; see Horace L. Jones, trans., The Geography of
1974), 71. Strabo [London, 1927], 4:349). Although this story has
2. Plato, Epinomis, 987d, trans. W.R.M. Lamb long been discounted in modern times, recent scholars
(London, 1927), 473. have theorized that several days after the new moon
3. Plato, Critias, section 111. Quoted in H.D.F. and its tides, there arose from the fissure described in
Kitto, The Greeks, rev. ed. (Baltimore, 1957), 34. the floor of the grotto ethylene fumes, brought to the
4. The Thera Foundation website provides de- surface because of geophysical tectonic forces pressing
tailed information; see therafoundation.org. The pre- on hydrocarbon deposits deep below. Inhaling these
ciseness of the date has been determined by tree-ring fumes put the oracle priestess, called the Pythia, in an
studies as far away as Ireland and Sweden. ecstatic trance, during which she would answer the
5. C. M. Bakewell, Source Book in Ancient Philoso- questions put to her. A major earthquake in 373 BCE
phy (New York, 1939), 8–9. See also H.D.F. Kitto, The changed the tectonics sufficiently that the gases grad-
Greeks, rev. ed. (Baltimore, 1957), and Edith Hamil- ually ceased rising to the surface and the oracle grad-
ton, The Greek Way (New York, 1942). ually became less efficacious. Strabo, writing circa 2 CE
6. Sophokles, Antigone, trans. E. F. Watting (Bal- to 23 CE, describes the temple and shrine structure
timore, 1947), 135. then as “much neglected.” Regarding the role of eth-
7. This elemental relationship was first perceived ylene vapors, see Jelle Z. de Boer and John R. Hale,
by Vincent Scully; see his The Earth, the Temple, and “The Oracle at Delphi” Archaeology Odyssey 5 (No-
the Gods (New Haven, CT, 1962). The concept is still vember–December 2002): 46–53, 58–59.
considered somewhat controversial by traditional 12. According to legend, after the defeat of the Per-
Classical scholars trained to think only of buildings in sians at Marathon, and aware that the Persians were
isolation. about to sail to attack unprotected Athens, a soldier
8. Although the Athenians had several names for named Phidippides, wearing full battle armor, ran the
Athena, they performed rituals for Athena Polias only twenty-six miles from Marathon to Athens to declare
in the older, northern temple (later replaced by the the victory and to warn the Athenians to prepare
Erechtheion) on the Akropolis; the larger, southern for the Persian attack. This is the origin of the 26-mile
temple, the Parthenon, seems to have been built to 385-yard marathon race celebrated at the modern
embody civic ideals. See C. J. Herington, Athena Olympic games. Having presented his news and proven
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694 Notes

his arete, Phidippides is reported to have dropped dead 22. Jerome Pollitt, Art and Experience in Classical
of exhaustion. Greece (London, 1972), 76.
13. Aristotle, Politics, ii. 8, trans. B. Jowett (Oxford, 23. Joseph Fontenrose, Didyma: Apollo’s Oracle,
1905), 76. Cult, and Companions (Berkeley, 1988). The unfin-
14. Scully, The Earth, the Temple, and the Gods, 206. ished temple is described by Strabo, Geography,
15. The meaning of the Classical orders, at least in xiv.1.5, and by Pausanius.
Roman times, and of their numerous component
parts, is treated in George Hersey, The Lost Meaning CHAPTER 12:
of Classical Architecture: Speculations on Ornament from ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
Vitruvius to Venturi (Cambridge, MA, 1988). For a dis-
cussion of the Corinthian order in particular, see 1. This may be the basis of the legend, transcribed
Joseph Rykwert, “The Corinthian Order,” Domus 426 by Virgil in the Aeneid, that Rome was founded by Ae-
(May 1965), reprinted in The Necessity of Artifice, ed. neas, who was fleeing from the ruins of Troy after its
Joseph Rykwert (New York, 1982), 33–43. For a mod- capture by the Greeks.
ern interpretation of the proportions of the orders, 2. Although there have been numerous modern
Greek and Roman, see Robert Chitham, The Classical scholarly studies of the rise and fall of Rome, the mag-
Orders of Architecture (New York, 1985). isterial work of Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall
16. The list of the Seven Wonders, compiled by sev- of the Roman Empire, 6 vols. (London, 1776–1788) re-
eral authors in antiquity, originally varied slightly in mains unsurpassed for its wealth of information and
the monuments they selected. See Peter Clayton, The superb poetic command of the English language. It
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (London, 1988). also remains a sheer pleasure to read.
17. As mentioned earlier, after their defeat at 3. Virgil, Aeneid, I. 278, trans. W. F. Jackson
Marathon, the Persians withdrew, marshaled their Knight (Harmondsworth, England, 1956), 36.
forces, and returned a decade later in force; they in- 4. The proper design of the temple is described in
vaded Greece, attacked Athens, and sacked the Vitruvius, On Architecture, books III and IV; trans.
Akropolis, burning the temples there. There is, of M. H. Morgan (Cambridge, MA, 1914).
course, the great irony that, the domination the Per- 5. Ibid., V:i.
sians failed to win by force, Athens easily achieved 6. Vitruvius discusses the considerations in city
over the smaller Aegean poleis through the Delian planning in ibid., I.iv–vii.
League. Eventually, however, this “empire” proved 7. William L. MacDonald notes that the Roman
Athens’ undoing, causing the long and disastrous foot was somewhat shorter than the modern foot,
Peloponnesian War, 435–404 BCE. about 11.625 inches (29.5 cm). Hence, 2,400 Roman
18. Jeffery M. Hurwit, The Acropolis in the Age of feet was roughly equal to 2,325 modern feet (708.7
Pericles (Cambridge, England, 2004). meters); see MacDonald, The Pantheon: Design, Mean-
19. The cattle taken up to the Akropolis altar for ing, and Progeny (Cambridge, MA, 1976), 62.
slaughter remind us that we are not as close to the 8. Rules for the design of basilicas are given in Vit-
Greeks as we sometimes like to imagine. David Watkin, ruvius, On Architecture, V.i.iv–x.
A History of Western Architecture (London, 1986), 38, 9. See the detailed restoration drawings in James
cautions us to remember “the stench, squalor, and noise E. Packer, The Forum of Trajan in Rome: A Study of the
of such an occasion as the flies settled on the blacken- Monuments (Berkeley, 1997).
ing blood in the stifling heat.” 10. On the pediment of this building, the second
20. Although much is now missing from the Pantheon on this site, Hadrian retained the inscrip-
Akropolis, as at Olympia and all other Greek sites, we tion that had appeared on the original: m. agrippa. l. f.
have a detailed record of what was there and at other cos. tertium. fecit (“Marcus Agrippa the son of Lucius,
sites, in the meticulous travel record kept by the three times Consul, built this”). This inscription has
Greek traveler Pausanias, who toured Greece in the often caused confusion among those not familiar with
second century CE; see the translation by Peter Levi, the history of the building.
Guide to Greece, 2 vols. (Harmondsworth and New 11. Aside from periodic repairs faithfully restoring
York, 1971). See also the description of the Pana- original work, the only major change in the interior of
thenaic festival in S. Kostof, A History of Architecture the Pantheon was the unfortunate introduction of a
(New York, 1985), 149–158. colored stucco treatment of the attic band just below
21. Vitruvius, On Architecture, III.4.5 and III.3.11– the curve of the coffering. A portion of this attic band
13. Vitruvius lists a treatise by Iktinos and Karpion has been restored to show the original design, as de-
(misspelling for Kallikrates?), which he says he picted in the interior view painted by Panini about
consulted. 1750 just before this alteration was made [see 3.27].
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Notes 695

12. David Watkin, A History of Western Architecture, Chandigarh, 1951–1959; Secretariat, Chandigarh,
3rd ed. (London and New York, 2000), 77. Perception 1951–1958; Governor’s Palace, Chandigarh, 1951–
shifts over time, and the Pantheon and Roman archi- 1953; Millowners’ Association Building, Ahmedabad,
tecture were not always held in high regard, as the fol- 1954–1956; Museum, Ahmedabad, 1954–1957; Sarab-
lowing comment by Arthur Kingsley Porter, made about hai residence, Ahmedabad, 1955–1956; Shodhan resi-
1919, attests (he was, incidentally, an early historian of dence, Ahmedabad, 1956–1957; Legislative Assembly,
medieval architecture): “Future investigations may pos- Chandigarh, 1956–1964; Sector 17, Central Business
sibly show that Roman architecture was not as dull as it Area, Chandigarh, 1958–1969; Boat Club, Lake Sukna,
now appears. I fear, however, that this is unlikely” Chandigarh, 1963–1965; School of Art and Architec-
(quoted in William L. MacDonald, The Pantheon: Design, ture, Chandigarh, 1964–1969; and Museum and Art
Meaning, and Progeny [Cambridge, MA, 1976], 133). Gallery, Chandigarh, 1964–1969.
13. Cicero, Ad Atticum, XIV.9 (letter to Atticus, 2. The other building by Kahn in Bangladesh is
April 17, 44 BCE), trans. E. O. Winstedt (London, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad,
1918), 231. 1962–1974.
14. Vitruvius, On Architecture, II.i and VI.i–viii, dis-
cusses the proper design of houses. For a concise ac- CHAPTER 13: EARLY CHRISTIAN
count of the destruction of Pompeii and its later AND BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE
rediscovery, see Robert Etienne, Pompeii: The Day a
City Died (New York, 1992). 1. For further discussion of the rise and spread of
15. Today, with our knowledge of the catastrophic Christianity, among many useful surveys, see Roland
nature of many volcanic explosive eruptions (notably Bainton’s excellent study, Christendom: A Short History
those of Krakatau off Java in 1883 and of Mount Saint of Christianity and Its Impact on Western Civilization, 2
Helens in 1980), we might well wonder why the Pom- vols., rev. ed. (New York, 1966); John McManners,
peians did not all flee immediately. What must be re- ed., The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity (New
membered is that Vesuvius had not erupted for perhaps York, 1990); and Jaroslav Pelikon, Jesus Through the
a thousand years and no one expected it to. Pliny the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture (New
Elder, admiral of the Roman navy and a keen observer Haven, CT, 1985).
of natural phenomena, in fact ordered his ship to sail 2. Matthew 16:18.
to Pompeii so that he might observe the eruption more 3. Acts of the Apostles 19:9–10; upon Paul’s visit to
closely; he remained there a day or two but succumbed Ephesus, the Christian community rented the lecture
to the ash because of his asthma (his nephew Pliny the room of Tyrannus. In Acts 2:46, Luke writes that the
Younger recorded this story later) (see Etienne, Pom- first Christians met to break bread together [celebrate
peii). Volcanic eruptions elsewhere were known to the the Eucharist] “in [their] private houses.” From The
Romans at this time through the frequent eruptions of New English Bible: The New Testament, 2nd ed. (New
Stromboli off the north coast of Sicily, and through the York, 1971), and The New Jerusalem Bible (New York,
activity of Mount Etna on that island. Both these 1985), among recent scholarly translations.
mountains erupt frequently but with limited effect and 4. Constantine to his bishops, quoted in R. H. Bar-
quickly settle down afterward. These familiar volca- row, The Romans (Baltimore, 1949), 185–186.
noes gave no suggestion of the nearly incomprehen- 5. Revelation 6:9.
sible blasts that can happen without much warning. 6. The dimensions of old Saint Peter’s Basilica are
16. Vitruvius, On Architecture, V.iii–viii, discusses based on Turpin C. Bannister, “The Constantinian
theater design. Basilica of St. Peter at Rome,” Journal of the Society of
17. Regarding the theater at Aspendus, see George Architecture Historians 27 (March 1968): 3–32; in-
C. Izenour, Theater Design (New York, 1977), 182– cluded in this issue also is Kenneth J. Conant, “The
183, 263–264. After-life of Vitruvius in the Middle Ages,” 33–38,
18. Axel Boëthius and John B. Ward-Perkins, Etruscan which discusses the use of geometric ratios in planning
and Roman Architecture (Baltimore, 1970), 271. Vitru- early churches.
vius, On Architecture, V.x, discusses the design of baths. 7. The decree and an early description of the
19. In antiquity, the settlement was known as He- Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem are given
liopolis in Coelosyria. in Eusebius, Life of Constantine, III.26; for a discussion
of this and the other Constantinian churches, see
ESSAY 1: INDIAN ARCHITECTURE Richard Krautheimer, Early Christian and Byzantine
Architecture, 3rd ed. (New York, 1979).
1. Other buildings in India designed by Le Cor- 8. In a bitter historical irony, the hilltop Abbey of
busier include Plan for Chandigarh, 1951; High Court, Monte Cassino and its unequaled library, which had
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696 Notes

served as a beacon of reason and enlightenment the rival divisions between the Shia and Sunni
through the Middle Ages, were taken over by the Ger- branches of Islam.
man army during World War II as the Allies began 3. Had the Umayyad forces been successful, all of
their move up the Italian peninsula in the spring of western Europe might have experienced an era of
1944. The monastery occupied a strategic, high posi- great advancement in learning, development of the
tion, enabling the entrenched German forces to block sciences, and architectural refinement, all extensions
the march of the Allied armies to Rome. After ago- of Islamic scholarship and the arts; instead, only the
nizing deliberation, in which the consequences were Iberian peninsula remained Muslim and the rest of Eu-
carefully evaluated, the regrettable decision was made rope fell into the Dark Ages.
to shell and bomb the monastery, totally destroying it. 4. Islamic architecture began in the deserts of
It was later discovered that soldiers occupied only the northern Arabia and expanded largely into arid re-
hillside, not the interior of the monastery itself. The gions between the 10th and 40th parallels.
monastery has since been rebuilt, as it had been earlier 5. Not only was the site already holy to the Jews
at numerous other times after attacks and earth- because of the former presence of the temple there
quakes. The archives, the library, and some paintings, (and because of the traditional Jewish view that this
however, were saved. was where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac follow-
9. Procopius of Caesarea, Buildings, trans. H. B. ing God’s order), but it was sacred also to Christians
Dewing and G. Downey (Cambridge, MA, 1940), because of Christ’s activities in the temple during his
I.i.45–47. life, culminating in his dramatic expulsion of the
10. Ibid., I.i.29, 48–49. money changers and their commercial enterprise from
11. This often-repeated phrase, suggesting Justin- the temple.
ian’s preening self-importance, seems to be legendary, 6. Further influence of the local Constantinian
and was not written down until the eleventh century; models is seen in the dimensions of the dome of the
see John W. Baker, Justinian and the Later Roman Em- Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is 20.2 meters
pire (Madison, WI, 1966), 183, n. 12. in diameter with a height of 20.48 m, while the Dome
of the Rock is 20.9 m in diameter with a height of 21.5
ESSAY 2: ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE meters.
7. This was the age of such polymaths as Ibn Sina
1. The religion of Muhammad is called Islam and (c. 980–1037, usually called Avicenna in the West),
its adherents are known as Muslims. Islam, which can who wrote 450 or so treatises on medicine, mathemat-
be roughly translated as “submission to god,” is based ics, physics, and astronomy, among a host of other top-
on five basic precepts: first, proclaiming the shahada ics. Sadly, when the Mongols overran Baghdad in 1258,
or Muslim creed: “There is no god but God (Allah), and they killed enormous numbers of residents and burned
Muhammad is the messenger [or, “his Prophet”] of God”; the great library of Baghdad, destroying much of
second, salah, or obligatory ritual worship including recorded Muslim intellectual and scientific knowledge.
five formal prayers each day, offered prostrate while 8. In part, the motivation for creating a semi-
faced toward Mecca; third, zagāt, or charity and the independent state in Persia was the strong resistance
giving of alms; fourth, sawm, fasting in the daylight against colonizing efforts at creating an Arab culture
hours during the holy month of Ramadan; and fifth, that was deeply resented by the Persians, who viewed
making a pilgrimage, the hajj, at least once in one’s themselves as an entirely different ethnic group and as
life, to the holy city of Mecca. the heirs of a far more ancient and advanced culture.
2. Central Muslim administration was conducted 9. Timur, who was a devout Muslim, exercised
by the successive caliphates, established by successive adroit but ruthless military expansion; he hoped to
ruling families. The centers of their activities shifted reestablish the sprawling Mongol Empire and, in a few
from place to place over the centuries: The Rashadid short years, extended the rule of his Timurid dynasty
Caliphate based in Mecca (632–661); the Umayyad from the Black Sea midway through modern Pakistan,
Caliphate based in Damascus, Syria (661–750); a sep- and from the southern edge of Kazakhstan through
arate Umayyad Caliphate in Spain (c. 750–eleventh Afghanistan all the way to the Indian Ocean.
century); the Abbasid Caliphate centered in Baghdad, 10. Though Mecca is actually southeast of Córdoba,
Iraq (750–1519); the Fatamid Caliphate based in in a departure from strict tradition the mihrab points
Cairo (909–1171); the Mamluk Sultanate based in south.
Cairo (1250–1517); and the Ottoman Caliphate 11. This court is named for the large circular al-
based in Istanbul, Turkey (1517–c. 1918), which abaster basin in the center supported by twelve small
ended when Turkey was secularized after World War I. stylized lions from whose mouths jets of water pour into
The overlaps in dates for some caliphates were due to an encircling channel below. From that circular chan-
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Notes 697

nel, water flows into four narrower channels, following of European culture, for in the great centers of Islamic
the crossed axis and extending outward to fountains learning in Spain were found vast libraries of Greek
in the center of each of the projecting pavilions on the manuscripts, many of them works of theoretical sci-
four sides of the court. For further information, see ence translated into Arabic and previously unknown
Robert Irwin, The Alhambra (Cambridge, MA, 2011). in Europe; when these were translated back into
12. See the incorporation of similar chattras orna- Greek and Latin, some of the Arabic technical terms,
mental pavilions in Sir Edwin Lutyens Viceroy’s House such as zero and azimuth, had to be left in Romanized
in New Delhi, discussed in Chapter 19. Arabic because no substitute could be found in Euro-
13. This emperor, whose Persian-inspired name can pean languages.
be translated as “Ruler of Everywhere,” seems to have 5. From the Gallican liturgy quoted in Gregory
wished that his new mosque could accommodate all Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy (London, 1952), 581.
his subjects, for it is described as being able to simul- 6. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, pro-
taneously accommodate about twenty-five thousand logue, trans. J. U. Nicolson (New York, 1934). The
worshippers. martyr mentioned is Saint Thomas Becket, archbishop
14. This would put the completion of the Taj Mahal of Canterbury, killed in 1170 and canonized in 1172.
just prior to the start of Louis XIV’s Versailles or Chaucer describes a pilgrimage that he joined in the
Wren’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. spring of 1387; in the party were thirty people, includ-
ing a knight, a miller, a monk, a nun, a clerk, a mer-
CHAPTER 14: chant, a physician, and a farmer—a cross section of
MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE medieval society. The tales he relates are based on
those told by the travelers for their mutual amusement
1. This idea is explored in Erwin Panofsky, Renais- and edification while on the road. The twelfth-century
sance and Renascences in Western Art, 2nd ed. (New “Pilgrim’s Guide” is translated into English in Annie
York, 1972). Shaver-Crandell and Paula Gerson, The Pilgrim’s Guide
2. The Crusades, in which European Christian to Santiago de Compostela: A Gazetteer (London, 1995).
forces repeatedly attempted to recapture control of 7. For an interesting description of the conflicts
the Holy Land from the forces of Islam, have had long- within the medieval monastic community concerning
lived consequences. While they introduced Europe to the study of Classical literature, see the novel by Um-
delicacies and luxury goods imported from India, berto Eco, The Name of the Rose, trans. William
China, and the spice islands of the Far East (which Weaver (New York, 1983).
would later fuel ocean voyages to the west, leading to 8. Erwin Panofsky, ed. and trans., Abbot Suger on
the discovery of the Western Hemisphere), the Cru- the Abbey Church of St.-Denis and Its Art Treasures, 2nd
sades also ingrained in Islamic territories a continuing ed. (Princeton, 1979), 101.
distrust, if not hatred, of the West that has endured 9. Ibid., 19.
through the centuries. 10. Ibid., 63–65.
3. This interpretation of the origin and purpose of 11. Ibid., 51.
the plan of Saint Gall is based on research by Warren 12. Ibid., 101.
Sanderson, Paul Mayvaert, Norbert Stachura, and 13. The Renaissance commentators used the phrase
others; see Warren Sanderson, “The Plan of St. Gall maniera tedesca (“German manner”) to suggest this bar-
Reconsidered,” Speculum 60 (July 1985): 615–632. In baric character in contrast to the classical humanist ar-
their major publication, The Plan of St. Gall, 3 vols. chitecture then being invented in places such as
(Berkeley, 1979), Walter Horn and Ernest Born inter- Florence and Rome. However, by the time Sir Christo-
pret the inscription on the plan to mean that Abbot pher Wren wrote about “what we now vulgarly call
Haito sent the plan to Abbot Gozbertus as a result of Gothic” at the end of the seventeenth century, the
the synods held at Aachen in 816–817 to effect Bene- term Gothic, in England at least, had become neutral
dictine reform. Horn and Born also assert that it was in connotation. (Wren used vulgar to mean “in com-
a duplication of some other plan prepared at the mon speech.”) Wren’s comment appeared in his auto-
Aachen meetings, intended as a model for emulation biographical Parentalia (London, 1750; reprinted
throughout the Carolingian Empire. Recent study of Farnborough, 1965), 306. See Nicola Coldstream, Me-
the inscription and of the physical evidence provided dieval Architecture (Oxford, 2002), 26.
by the original parchment has led to differing conclu- 14. Jean Gimpel, The Cathedral Builders, trans.
sions. I am indebted to my colleague Richard Sundt Teresa Waugh (New York, 1983).
for pointing out this shift in interpretation to me. 15. A technical explanation of the failure is given
4. The Christian reconquest of Islamic Spain was in Robert Mark, Experiments in Gothic Structure (Cam-
to have an enormous influence on the development bridge, MA, 1982), 58–77; see also Stephen Murray,
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698 Notes

“The Choir of the Church of St. Pierre, Cathedral of Buildings Stand Up: The Strength of Architecture, rev. ed.
Beauvais: A Study of Gothic Architectural Planning (New York, 1990), 233–242. A recent, very readable,
and Construction Chronology in Its Historical Con- detailed biographical account is presented in Ross
test,” Art Bulletin 62 (December 1980): 533–562. King, Brunelleschi’s Dome: How a Renaissance Genius
16. Today, numerous substantial diagonal struts are Reinvented Architecture (London, 2000).
placed inside the incomplete cathedral at Beauvais to 7. Quoted in Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle
enable the church to remain standing. Hyman, Architecture from Prehistory to Postmodernity,
17. Desjardin, quoted in Mario Salvadori, Why 2nd ed. (New York, 2002), 279.
Buildings Stand Up (New York, 1980), 222–224. 8. Plato, Philebus, trans. B. Jowett (Oxford, 1953),
18. Peter Kidson, Peter Murray, and Paul Thomp- 610–611.
son, A History of English Architecture (Harmonds- 9. Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture, trans. Mor-
worth, England, 1965), 135. ris H. Morgan (Cambridge, MA, 1914), 73.
19. A. B. Kerr, Jacques Coeur: Merchant Prince of the 10. Galileo, quoted in E. A. Burtt, The Metaphysical
Middle Ages (New York, 1927). Foundations of Modern Physical Science (Garden City,
NY, 1954), 75. One of the early modern reassessments
CHAPTER 15: of the Renaissance interest in number and proportional
RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE systems, first published in 1949 and still an important
study, is Rudolf Wittkower, Architectural Principles in
1. Giorgio Vasari, a student of Michelangelo, the Age of Humanism, 4th ed. (New York, 1988). More
wrote Vite de’ più eccellenti architetti, pittori e scultori ital- recent studies investigating Renaissance number and
iani during the period 1546–1550. See the edited ver- proportional systems include Robin Evans, The Projec-
sion, Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists, trans. George tive Cast: Architecture and Its Three Geometries (Cam-
Bull (Baltimore, 1965). The concept of the Renais- bridge, MA, 1995); Alberto Pérez-Gómez and Louise
sance is discussed in Erwin Panofsky, Renaissance and Pelletier, Architectural Representation and the Perspective
Renascences in Western Art (Stockholm, 1960). Hinge (Cambridge, MA, 1997); and, particularly well
2. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, “Oration on the illustrated and clear, Lionel March, Architectonics of
Dignity of Man,” trans. Elizabeth L. Forbes, in The Humanism: Essays on Number in Architecture (London,
Renaissance Philosophy of Man, ed. Ernst Cassirer et al. 1998). For the continuation of this design theory, see
(Chicago, 1948), 224–225. The quotations in Pico’s also George Hersey, Architecture and Geometry in the
text reveal his knowledge of Greek and Latin sources. Age of the Baroque (Chicago, 2000).
Also included in Cassier’s anthology are selections by 11. Leon Battista Alberti, De re aedificatoria (On the
Francesco Petrarch (such as his account of the ascent Art of Building in Ten Books), trans. Joseph Rykwert et
of Mount Ventoux), Marsilio Ficino, and others. al. (Cambridge, MA, 1988), VI.ii.
3. Ibid., 225, 227. 12. Ibid., IX.v.
4. Brunelleschi, who had been trained as a gold- 13. For the basics of Brunelleschi’s life, see Giuliano
smith and then studied sculpting, had achieved recog- Chelazzi, “Filippo Brunelleschi,” in International Dic-
nition in 1402 by winning second place in a tionary of Architects and Architecture: Architects, ed.
competition for new bronze doors for the Florence Randall J. Van Vynckt (Detroit, 1993), 117–121;
baptistery in front of the cathedral, Santa Maria delle Howard Saalman, “Filippo Brunelleschi,” Macmillan
Fiore. Vasari, Lives of the Artists, I:139, reports Encyclopedia of Architects, ed. Adolf K. Placzek (New
Brunelleschi’s loss of the contest. Brunelleschi then York, 1982), 1:303–314; and Harold Meek, “Filippo
spent several years in Rome making detailed exami- Brunelleschi,” in The Grove Dictionary of Art, ed. Jane
nations and taking measurements of the Roman ruins. Turner (New York, 1996), and online at www.oxford
5. Recounted in ibid., I:146–147. artonline.com.
6. The intriguing story of Brunelleschi’s solution to 14. Vasari, Lives of the Artists, 139. Vasari drew
the Florence dome dilemma is told in detail in E. Bat- much of his information from the contemporary biog-
tisti, Filippo Brunelleschi (New York, 1981); F. D. Prager raphy of Brunelleschi by Antonio Manetti, written
and G. Scaglia, Brunelleschi: Studies of His Technology about 1448–1449, shortly after the architect’s death.
and Inventions (Cambridge, MA, 1970); and Howard Manetti described Brunelleschi as the innovator of
Saalman, Filippo Brunelleschi: The Cupola of Santa “true architecture.” See the translation of Manetti in
Maria del Fiore, vol. 20 of the Studies in Architecture Elizabeth Gilmore Holt, A Documentary History of Art
series (London, 1980). A condensed explanation is (Garden City, NY, 1957), 1:167–179.
given in Rowland J. Mainstone, “Brunelleschi’s Dome,” 15. This clarity of spatial proportions, fixed in a
Architectural Review 162 (1977): 156–166. Particularly three-dimensional grid, was analogous to the grid of
clear is the account given by Mario Salvadori in Why equal squares being proposed at the time by the Flo-
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Notes 699

rentine mathematician Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli for chitects and Architecture: Architects, 638–642; Douglas
locating land masses on maps. Lewis, “Andrea Palladio,” in Macmillan Encyclopedia of
16. Marvin Trachtenberg has proposed that the Architects, 3:345–362; and Andreas Beyer, “Ándrea
Pazzi Chapel was the design of Michelozzo, but this Palladio,” in Grove Dictionary of Art, and online.
reattribution has received little support. 26. More precisely, Almerico sold his house in Vi-
17. Regarding Giuliano da Sangallo, see Richard J. cenza and made the Villa Rotunda his residence. See
Tuttle, “Giuliano da Sangallo,” in Macmillan Encyclo- Bruce Boucher, Andrea Palladio: The Architect in His
pedia of Architects, 3:644–645. Time, rev. ed. (New York, 1998). James Ackerman has
18. Regarding Alberti’s architecture, see Charles R. written extensively on Palladio and his villas; see his
Mack, “Leon Battista Alberti,” in International Diction- Palladio, rev. ed. (London and New York, 1991); Palla-
ary of Architects and Architecture: Architects, 10–14; Eu- dio’s Villas (Locust Valley, NY, 1967); and The Villa:
gene J. Johnson, “Leon Battista Alberti,” in Macmillan Form and Ideology on Country Houses (Princeton,
Encyclopedia of Architects, 1:48–59; and Paul Davies 1990).
and David Hemsoll, “Leon Battista Alberti,” in Grove 27. Regarding Michelangelo’s architecture, besides
Dictionary of Art, and online. James S. Ackerman, The Architecture of Michelangelo,
19. Alberti to Matteo de’ Pasti, quoted in Peter 2nd ed. (London, 1986), see Bernaerd Schultz, “Mi-
Murray, The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance chelangelo,” in International Dictionary of Architects and
(New York, 1963), 50. Architecture: Architects, 572–576; Howard Hibbard,
20. For biographical information, see Eunice D. “Michelangelo,” in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Archi-
Howe, “Donato Bramante,” in International Dictionary tects, 3:165–179; and Anthony Hughes, “Michelangelo
of Architects and Architecture: Architects, 102–106; (Buonarroti) [Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti
Peter Murray, “Donato Bramante,” in Macmillan En- Simoni],” in Grove Dictionary of Art, and online.
cyclopedia of Architects, 1:269–282; and Paul Davies 28. Alberti, De re aedificatoria, I.xiii.
and David Hemsoll, “Donato Bramante,” in Grove 29. Vasari, Lives of the Artists, 366.
Dictionary of Art, and online. 30. Regarding Giulio Romano, see Bette Talvac-
21. Since the drawing by Bramante (now at the chia, “Giulio Romano,” in Grove Dictionary of Art, and
Uffizi in Florence), so often used for the reconstruc- online.
tion of the entire plan, is only a fragment showing half 31. It is no coincidence that Mannerist architecture
the plan, there is a possibility that the original intent was admired by the early Postmodernists in the mid-
was for a Latin cross plan with a nave. Drawing A20 twentieth century. The slipping keystones in the
at the Uffizi, presumably made by followers of Bra- Palazzo del Te court are “double coded”; that is, they
mante, shows the plan of the old Constantinian basil- are not only whimsical but can also be seen as a literal
ica combined with that of Bramanate’s church representation of the ruinous nature of much of the
overlaid on it; this shows the beginnings of a nave. A ancient architecture then visible in Rome. A drawing
somewhat different scheme with a centralized plan but of the Basilica Aemilia by Giuliano da San Gallo looks
a projecting entry facade is shown in a cutaway per- like it could be a study for the Palazzo del Te court.
spective of the new St. Peter’s, made by Baldassare Pe- 32. See Claudia Lazzaro, The Italian Renaissance
ruzzi; this drawing is also at the Uffizi, Florence. Garden (New Haven, CT, 1990).
22. The Italian Renaissance palazzo was much more 33. See the catalog of architectural books in Dora
than a single-family residence, for it housed not only Wiebenson, ed., Architectural Theory and Practice from
the business of the builder but also accommodations Alberti to Ledoux (Chicago, 1982). Another assess-
for the extended family as well as servants. See F. W. ment of the impact of printing and the use of illustra-
Kent, “Palaces, Politics and Society in Fifteenth Cen- tions is Mario Carpo and Sarah Benson, Architecture
tury Florence,” I Tatti Studies (1987): 41–64. in the Age of Printing: Orality, Writing, Typography, and
23. Vasari, Lives of the Artists, 164. Printed Images in the History of Architectural Theory
24. Regarding Michelozzo’s architecture, see Giu- (Cambridge, MA, 2001).
liano Chelazzi, “Michelozzo di Bartolomeo,” in Inter-
national Dictionary of Architects and Architecture: ESSAY 3: ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE
Architects, 577–578; Harriet McNeal Caplow, “Mich- IN THE AMERICAS
elozzo di Bartolomeo,” in Macmillan Encyclopedia of
Architects, 3:179–181; and Francesco Quinterio, 1. That the indigenous peoples already “owned”
“Michelozzo di Bartolomeo,” in Grove Dictionary of their lands was ignored by the invading Europeans.
Art, and online. Yet there were perhaps 20 million native inhabitants
25. Regarding Andrea Palladio, see Elwin C. Robi- whose ancestors had been living in the Americas
son, “Andrea Palladio,” in International Dictionary of Ar- for millennia. That none of the natives had a written
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700 Notes

language recognizable or acceptable to the European modity—human blood. This was a principal reason for
intruders worked against them heavily. their continued warfare to conquer new regions. The
2. It was not until the middle of the twentieth cen- need for sacrificial offerings and the onerous tributes
tury that the Mayan code began to be deciphered and demanded from these new conquests generated grow-
that the remaining writing (almost entirely sculpted ing resentment from the conquered territories. After
glyphs) could be read. See Michael D. Coe, Breaking landing, Cortés was almost immediately made aware
the Maya Code, 3rd ed. (London and New York, 2012). of this hatred toward the Aztecs in their outlying ter-
3. The groups consisted of the following, shown ritories, and he was enormously successful in recruit-
with the period in which they flourished: the Olmec ing these subjected peoples as allies as he marched
(1,500 to 300 BCE), the Teotihuacaños (100 BCE to toward Tenochtitlan with an ever-growing army.
c. 800 CE), the Maya (c. 1800 BCE to 900 CE), the Even though Cortés’s Spanish forces were small and
Zapotec (600 BCE to 700 CE), the Toltec (800–1000 native allies quickly disappeared, in the months follow-
CE), the Mixtec (900 to 1400 CE), and, finally, the ing Moctezuma’s capture and death another even more
Aztec (1100 to 1521 CE). lethal force was unleashed: the Spanish carried with
4. The much later Aztecs, so influenced by the them the smallpox virus to which, over the centuries,
Teotihuacán culture, also worshiped the god Quetzal- they had developed some resistance. So rapid was the
coatl, who they believed had left this world and sailed transmission of this disease from tribe to tribe that Na-
east on a great raft, promising to return to reclaim his tive Americans from Alaska to Terra del Fuego, who
kingdom. This belief is thought, by some authorities, had never been exposed to such a pathogen, died by
to have contributed significantly to the collapse of the millions. Subsequent conquest of the Incas by the
their empire upon the arrival of the ships of Cortés. Spanish led by Pizzaro two decades later was greatly fa-
5. The lower portion, the talud, is a sloped riser cilitated by the epidemic that preceded them.
base (the angle is variable); the second part, the 9. Much has been uncovered in the Plaza Major
tablero, is a vertical element, typically the location of and examined during the past century, so that a great
sculptural embellishment. The relative proportions of deal is now known of the appearance of Moctezuma’s
the two components were endlessly variable, each Tenochtitlan. A good introduction to Tenochtitlan
equal in height, or one or the other larger. and the Aztecs in general is found in John M. D. Pohl,
6. Over the centuries, the Maya lived in scores of Exploring Mesoamerica (New York, 1999), pp. 211–
cities in the area now known as the Yucatan peninsula 222; see also the bibliographic references concerning
of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and western Honduras, Tenochtitlan.
on lands that ranged from flat in the north to ruggedly 10. For an introduction to archaeoastronomy (the
mountainous. Although the Maya city-states devel- study and analysis of celestial observation and spatial
oped according to individual local schedules, the marking by the ancients), see the work of Ray A.
Maya as a broad group are said by anthropologists and Williamson, including Archaeoastronomy in the Amer-
archaeologists to have proceeded through five cultural icas (College Park, MD, 1981); Living the Sky: The Cos-
stages: Preclassic (3000 up to 300 BCE), Late Preclas- mos of the American Indian (Boston, 1984); and his
sic (300 BCE to 300 CE), Classic (300 to 900 CE), anthology Earth & Sky: Visions of the Cosmos in Native
Early Postclassic (900 to 1250), and Late Postclassic American Folklore (Albuquerque, 1992).
(extending from 1250 up to the arrival of the Span-
ish). The dispersed individual Maya city-states rose CHAPTER 16: BAROQUE AND
and fell in power as their leaders pursued constant ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
civil fraternal warfare. Although they achieved great
heights of architectural and artistic achievement, they 1. See John Shearman, Mannerism (Harmonds-
lost their political power and cultural authority once worth, England, 1967), 15–22.
the Spanish overran their lands. A good overview of 2. Quoted from Carlo Dati in Francis Haskell, Pa-
this development is provided in John M. Pohl, Explor- trons and Painters: A Study in the Relations Between Ital-
ing Mesoamerica (Oxford, 1999). ian Art and Society in the Age of the Baroque, rev. ed.
7. Bernal Diaz Del Castillo, The Discovery and (New Haven, CT, 1980), 103–104.
Conquest of Mexico 1517–1521, ed. Genaro Garcia 3. Giovanni Pietro Bellori, “Idea,” lecture given in
(New York, 1956), 269. Originally published in Span- 1664 and published in 1672; translated in Anthony
ish as Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva Es- Blunt, Borromini (Cambridge, MA, 1979), 212.
paña (The True History of the Conquest of New Spain). 4. Charles Augustin d’Aviler, Cours d’architecture
8. The Aztecs believed that the continuity of their qui comprend les Ordes Vignole, avec des commentairs, les
lives and the continuance of their city-state was de- figures & descriptions de ses plus beaux bâtiments, & de
pendent on daily offerings of the most precious com- ceux de Michel-Ange . . . (Paris, 1693–1696).
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Notes 701

5. Germain Brice, Description de la ville de Paris et 12. Quoted in Wittkower, Art and Architecture in
de tout ce qu’elle contient de plus remarquable (Paris, Italy, 2:43.
1713). This quote was kindly pointed out to me by my 13. Quoted in Leo Steinberg, Borromini’s San Carlo
colleague Andrew Morrogh, who provided the trans- alle Quattro Fontane (New York and London, 1977), 338.
lation, and who drew my attention to the preceding 14. See note 11 above. For other interpretations re-
critiques as well. garding the plan development and symbolism of Sant’
6. See Kerry Downes, “Baroque,” in The Grove Ivo, see John Beldon Scott, “S. Ivo alla Sapienza and
Dictionary of Art, ed. Jane Turner (London, 1996), and Borromini’s Symbolic Language,” Journal, Society of
online at www.oxfordartonline.com. Architectural Historians 41 (December 1982): 294–
7. It might be noted that the client was born 317, and two articles by Joseph Connors: “S. Ivo alla
Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino, 1602, in Pescina in the Sapienza: The First Three Minutes,” Journal, Society
Kingdom of Naples, Italy. Because of his political of Architectural Historians 55 (March 1996): 38–57,
adeptness in the papal diplomatic service, he came to and “Borromini’s S. Ivo alla Sapienza: The Spiral,”
the attention of Cardinal Richelieu and was reas- Burlington Magazine 138 (October 1996): 668–682.
signed to work in the French court. Eventually he rose 15. Regarding Guarini, see Harold Alan Meek,
to become the chief minister under the French king Guarino Guarini and His Architecture (New Haven,
and is now best know by the Gallicized version of his CT, 1988); and the following entries: Elwin C. Robi-
name—Cardinal Jules Mazarin. son, “Guarino Guarini,” in International Dictionary of
8. Regarding Bernini, see Tod Marder, Bernini and Architects and Architecture, 1:343–346; Henry A. Mil-
the Art of Architecture (New York, 1998), as well as the lon, “Guarino Guarini,” in Macmillan Encyclopedia of
following entries: Edward J. Olszewski, “Giovanni Architects, 2:265–279; and Peter Stein, “Guarino
Lorenzo Bernini,” in International Dictionary of Archi- Guarini,” in Grove Dictionary of Art, and online.
tects and Architecture: Architects, ed. Randall J. Van 16. Regarding the designers of Versailles, the fol-
Vynckt (Detroit, 1993), 1:76–80; Howard Hibbard, lowing works are helpful. Regarding Le Vau, see
“Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini,” in Macmillan Encyclopedia Robert W. Berger, “Louis Le Vau,” in MacMillan En-
of Architects, ed. Adolf K. Placzek (New York, 1982), cyclopedia of Architects, 2:695–297; Ann Stewart Bal-
1:190–201; and Rudolf Preimesberger and Michael P. akier, “Louis Le Vau,” in International Dictionary of
Mezzatesta, “Gianlorenzo (Giovanni Lorenzo) Ber- Architects and Architecture: Architects, 516–518; and
nini,” Grove Dictionary of Art, and online. Dietrich Feldman, “Louis Le Vau,” in Grove Dictionary
9. Bernini, quoted in Rudolf Wittkower, Art and of Art, and online. Regarding Le Nôtre, see F. Hamil-
Architecture in Italy 1600–1750, 6th rev. ed. (New ton Hazelhurst, “André Le Nostre (Le Nôtre),” in
Haven, CT, 1999), 2:35. MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 2:665–675; Joyce
10. Regarding Borromini, see Blunt, Borromini, and M. David, “André Le Nôtre,” in International Diction-
the following entries: C. Murray Smart, Jr., “Francesco ary of Architects and Architecture: Architects, 506–508;
Borromini,” in International Dictionary of Architects and and F. Hamilton Hazelhurst, “André Le Nôtre” in
Architecture, 1:96–99; Joseph Connors, “Francesco Grove Dictionary of Art, and online. Regarding Le
Borromini,” in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects, Brun, see Claire Constans, “Charles Le Brun” in Grove
1:248–260; and Peter Stein, “Francesco Borromini,” Dictionary of Art, and online.
in Grove Dictionary of Art, and online. An interesting 17. Regarding Vanbrugh, see Kerry Downes, “John
account of the rivalry between the cheerfully positive Vanbrugh,” MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects,
Bernini and the dour Borromini is found in the dual 4:257–269; David Cast, “John Vanbrugh,” Interna-
study by Jake Morrissey, The Genius in the Design: tional Dictionary of Architects and Architecture: Archi-
Bernini, Borromini, and the Rivalry That Transformed tects, 918–920; and Kerry Downes, “Sir John
Rome (New York, 2005). Vanbrugh,” in Grove Dictionary of Art, and online.
11. The three generating modules—equilateral 18. Information concerning the London Fire is
triangles, circles, and ovals—are clearly shown in Bor- abundant, including the eyewitness accounts of John
romini’s own drawings, now at the Albertina in Vi- Evelyn and John Pepys. See such studies as Neil Hanso,
enna and well reproduced in Paolo Portoghesi, The The Dreadful Judgment: The True Story of the Great Fire
Rome of Borromini: Architecture As Language (New of London (New York, 2001); James Leasor, The Plague
York, 1968). While the equilateral triangle seems to and the Fire (1961, 2011); T. F. Reddaway, The Rebuild-
have been paramount, particularly regarding the de- ing of London After the Great Fire (London, 1940); and
termination of heights, there were other modules Adrian Tinniswood, By Permission of Heaven: The Story
used, as in the circles shown in George Hersey, Archi- of the Great Fire of London (London, 2003).
tecture and Geometry in the Age of the Baroque 19. Regarding Wren, see Kerry Downes, “Christo-
(Chicago, 2000), 137–142, 194–195. pher Wren,” MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects,
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702 Notes

4:419–433; Lydia M. Soo, “Christopher Wren,” Inter- 3. The animal representations are discussed in
national Dictionary of Architects and Architecture: Ar- Nelson I. Wu, Chinese and Indian Architecture (New
chitects, 991–997; and Kerry Downes, “Sir Christopher York, 1963), 12. The author cites the example of a
Wren,” in Grove Dictionary of Art, and online. Han dynasty tile showing these heraldic animal images
20. There was a similar grand, imposing staircase at inside a square frame.
Versailles—the Ambassador’s Stair—but it was later 4. Though this practice may strike some Western
removed and filled in with additional living space. observers as superstition, much wisdom is incorpo-
21. Regarding Neumann, see Christian Otto, “Jo- rated in fengshui. Derek Walters describes the hypo-
hann Balthasar Neumann,” MacMillan Encyclopedia of thetical case of a proposed farmstead being best
Architects, 3:279–290; Petra Leser, “Johann Balthasar located on the slope of a hill, not at the top where
Neumann,” International Dictionary of Architects and water would not be present, nor at the bottom where
Architecture: Architects, 607–610; and Christian Otto, defense would be difficult. In addition, it should face
“Balthasar Neumann,” in Grove Dictionary of Art, and south to take advantage of the sun. See Derek Wal-
online. ters, “Dragon Lines in the Land: Feng Shui,” in John
22. For a discussion of Rococo as a stylistic move- Matthews, The World Atlas of Divination (Boston,
ment and related essays on its florescence in various 1992).
countries, see Harold Osborne and Marc Jordan, “Ro- 5. Originally located on Siwei Road in Taipei, this
coco,” in Grove Dictionary of Art, and online. house was slated for demolition but several agencies
arranged to dismantle and move it, and meticulously
ESSAY 4: CHINESE ARCHITECTURE reconstructed and restored it (1978–2000).
6. About two decades before the Huang house was
1. Due to the sharply increasing desire for tea, built in Huangcun, the first ship left Salem bound for
Great Britain used opium produced in India to pay for Canton where it was loaded with a cargo of tea; thus
tea exports being shipped home in the early nineteenth began the active sea trade out of Salem and the town
century. The Chinese imperial government forbade merchants’ interest in China. The tea trade between
this importation of opium, recognizing its serious neg- China and Salem, Massachusetts continued for de-
ative health and social implications. In response, the cades into the nineteenth century. The ancestor or-
British sent gun ships to bombard Chinese port cities ganization of today’s Peabody Essex Institute was
in two episodes termed the Opium War, 1839–1842 established by several of these sea captains in 1799 as
and 1856–1860. In the Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing), the East India Marine Society. Somewhat by chance,
1842, China was obliged to permit opium imports and, an institute visitor to the Huang house in the 1990s
further, to grant Great Britain the port of Hong Kong expressed concern for the house on learning of its
as a British Territory “in perpetuity.” The British relin- probable demolition, and was asked simply, “Would
quished all claims and returned Hong Kong to the you like to buy it?” This set in motion the complex in-
People’s Republic of China in 1997. This was just one ternational arrangements to allow the house to be sold
example of the way in which European nations ac- to an American institution and be dismantled and
quired “favorable” trade positions (for them) in China. moved to Salem for meticulous reconstruction.
2. The basic concept of the asymmetrical S-curve 7. For an interactive interpretation of the Yin Yu
line in garden design was introduced in England by Tang house, see the website maintained by the Pea-
Sir William Temple in an essay, “Upon the Gardens of body Essex Institute: www.pem.org/yinyutang/. See
Epicurus,” in his anthology Miscellanea (1692). Hav- also the two publications documenting this house: Yin
ing discussed the formal geometric French sort of gar- Yu Tang: Preserving Chinese Vernacular Architecture
den design, Temple continued: “The Chineses [sic] (Albany, NY, 2003), available from the Peabody Essex
scorn this way of [regular] planting. . . . And though Institute, Salem, MA, and Nancy Berliner, Yin Yu
we have hardly any Notion of this Sort of Beauty, yet Tang: The Architecture and Daily Life of a Chinese
they have a particular Word to express it; and, where House (Boston and Rutland, VT, 2003). These present
they find it hit their Eye at first Sight, they say the a detailed history of the Huang family, the history of
Sharawadgi is fine or is admirable.” In fact, Temple the house, its dismantling, and its reconstruction at
may very well have coined this word himself for there the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, 1996–2003.
is no such word in Chinese; various scholars have pro- 8. Started as the garden of a Tang dynasty court
posed conjectural etymologies, including derivation scholar, the garden was acquired by a series of later
from the Japanese words sorowaji or shorowaji, which court administrator scholars who expanded and en-
may have been heard by Dutch traders, the only Eu- riched it. The name of the garden was inspired by a
ropeans who were permitted a restricted import- poem by Pan Yue, and it was the subject of an ink
export station on an island in the Nagasaki harbor. painting by Wen Zhenming in 1533.
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Notes 703

9. Po Chü-I, “The Spring River,” More Translations of the United States are reprinted in Leland M. Roth,
from the Chinese by Arthur Waley (New York, 1919), 39. ed., America Builds: Source Documents in American Ar-
chitecture and Planning (New York, 1983), 32–33. For
CHAPTER 17: THE ORIGINS OF the plan of Washington, DC, see John Reps, Monu-
MODERNISM: ARCHITECTURE IN THE mental Washington: The Planning and Development of
AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT, 1720–1790 the Capitol Center (Princeton, 1967). For more about
L’Enfant, see Scott W. Berg, Grand Avenues: The Story
1. Ansley J. Coale, “The History of the Human of the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C.
Population,” Scientific American 231 (September (New York, 2007); Kenneth R. Bowling, Peter Charles
1974): 40–51. The entire issue is devoted to popula- L’Enfant: Vision, Honor, and Male Friendship in the Early
tion studies. American Republic (Washington, DC, 2002); and Eliz-
2. In the early twentieth century, after the appear- abeth Sarah Kite, L’Enfant and Washington, 1791–1792
ance of automobiles, such compacted gravel road sur- (Baltimore, 1929).
faces were finished with a layer of bitumen, creating 9. Quoted in John Dixon Hunt and Peter Willis,
the “macadam” familiar today. The Genius of the Place: The English Landscape Garden,
3. Denis Diderot, “Random Thoughts on Paint- 1620–1820, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, MA, 1988), 15, 212.
ing,” in Lorenz Eitner, Neoclassicism and Romanticism: 10. Quoted in a letter by Joseph Spence, a close as-
1750–1850 (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1970), 64–66. sociate of Pope, quoted in Hunt and Willis, Genius of
4. The full title was Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire the Place, 271. To create the illusion that these ideal
raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. The first vol- landscapes extended forever, the practice was to plant
ume appeared in 1751 and the seventeenth in 1780. the highest distant ridges with dense masses of tress—
It was richly illustrated with engravings showing con- as Pope says, to “conceal the Bounds.”
temporary achievements in the sciences, construction, 11. See Vanbrugh’s letter in Geoffrey Webb, The
and industry. As many as sixteen thousand copies Works of Sir John Vanbrugh, Vol. 4: The Letters (Lon-
were published, exerting a great influence on the dis- don, 1928), 28–30. This correspondence between
semination of progressive ideas. Because of the overall Vanbrugh and Sarah Churchill also appears in Hunt
theme rejecting received wisdom and questioning au- and Willis, Genius of the Place, 119–121.
thority, the Encyclopédie was considered subversive 12. The entire range of Piranesi’s creativity can now
and its publication banned, necessitating that it be be seen in Luigi Ficacci, Giovanni Battista Piranesi: The
printed at changing locations. Complete Etchings (Cologne and New York, 2000), a
5. For all the care they took measuring the Par- complete compendium of his entire productivity.
thenon, Stuart and Revett seem to have failed to no- 13. Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, September
tice the entasis of the columns and the curvature of 20, 1785, reprinted in Leland M. Roth, ed., America
the stereobate. Builds: Source Documents in American Architecture and
6. Laugier, quoted in W. G. Kalnein, Architecture Planning (New York, 1983), 28.
in France in the Eighteenth Century (New Haven, CT, 14. Although the Maison Carrée was built during
1995): 170. the reign of Augustus Caesar, and is thus technically
7. Poland was the focus of constant political in- speaking a Roman imperial building, it does closely
trigue and foreign intervention during the eighteenth follow the type of the earlier republican temple as seen
century. Drawn into conflict through treaty alliances, in several small examples that survive in Rome. Soon
Sweden invaded Poland in 1700, installing Stanisław after designing the Virginia State Capitol, Jefferson
Leszczyński as a puppet king, though he was elected traveled to Nîmes to see the Maison Carrée for him-
to the throne in 1704. His daughter Marie (later self, but he never personally viewed such similar ex-
queen consort of Louis XV) was born in 1703 in Bres- amples as the Temple of Fortuna Virilis in the Forum
lau (Wrocław, Poland). When Swedish support evap- in Rome.
orated in 1709, Stanisław Leszczyński was deposed and 15. The eighteenth-century spelling “Gothick” is
escaped from Poland. After 1716 Poland was in effect used to distinguish this early free adaptation of this
a protectorate of the Russian Tzar, up to 1795. historical style as distinct from the far more archaeo-
Stanisław Leszczyński was made Duke of Lorraine in logically correct Gothic Revival or neo-Gothic that
1738 and proved a good administrator there, creating developed in the 1830s and ’40s.
an Academy of Science. See Jacques Levron, Stanisław 16. “Flower pot” arches, as indicated in the factory
Leszczyński, Roi de Pologne, Duc de Lorraine: Un Roi floor construction, referred to the use of comparatively
Philosophe au Siècle des Lumières (Paris, 1984). strong yet very lightweight hollow structural units
8. The letters of Pierre Charles L’Enfant to George rather like fired-clay flower pots. The same technology
Washington relating to the design of the capitol city was used by Sir John Soane in the vaulting of the
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/29/13 10:50 AM Page 704

704 Notes

various chambers added to the Bank of England, Lon- Surroundings was author Edward S. Morse’s endeavor
don, between 1788 and 1833; see 7.15, p. 149. to record traditional Japanese houses before, he
feared, they disappeared in a wave of modernization.
ESSAY 5: 7. The traditional Japanese form of his name is
JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE Kakuzō Okakura (family name first). Because of his
many books written in English and his later profes-
1. When the buildings are dismantled as part of sional activities, Kakuzo’s name is normally presented
the re-creation, the old materials, which were sancti- in Western style as Okakura Kakuzo (given name
fied in constructing the Ise Jing shrine, are reused to first), as it is presented in the many editions of his
replace parts of the many other Shinto shrines in the well-known The Book of Tea.
Isa area. Precisely when the twenty-year rebuilding 8. As noted by Neil Levine in The Architecture of
cycle was firmly established is not clear, but it has cer- Frank Lloyd Wright (Princeton, 1996), 189, 461 n.
tainly been going on for more than a thousand years. 81,Wright mentioned reading Kakuzo in his London
2. This granary construction is called azekura. Lectures (1939). Wright often referred to the Laozi
Given the problems that high humidity can cause with (Lao-Tse) passage, as in his book The Natural House
items stored in closed facilities, this azekura technique (New York, 1954).
was developed so that as humidity rises in the rainy
warmer seasons, the logs swell, closing the gap be- CHAPTER 18: THE ROOTS OF
tween the acute angles of the logs, sealing off the in- MODERNISM: THE NINETEENTH
terior; as humidity drops, the gaps open, allowing air CENTURY
to circulate inside.
3. Rural farmhouses (minka), as at Omigachi, were 1. Horatio Greenough’s critique “American Archi-
traditionally built with thickly thatched, steeply tecture” first appeared in The United States Magazine
pitched roof frames of peeled log and bamboo timbers and Democratic Review 13 (August, 1843): 206–210,
tightly bound with straw rope so the frame could shift and is reprinted in Leland M. Roth, ed., America
and adjust itself under heavy snow loads or flex during Builds (New York, 1983), 77–84.
earthquakes. 2. See the comment by Winston Churchill regard-
4. Because the ravages of time, decay, and politics ing the importance of rebuilding the damaged House
have caused so much of China’s oldest architecture to of Commons with careful attention to retaining the
be lost, the oldest surviving Japanese buildings are typ- old medieval seating arrangement, for, as he said, “We
ically said to be good representatives of Tang Chinese shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings
buildings. Fu Xinian, in a most authoritative recent shape us”; noted in Chapter 5.
study of Chinese architecture, comments on this, not- 3. The full title of this massive publication is De-
ing that the early Buddhist monasteries of Hokki-ji scription de l’Égypte, ou, Recueil des observations et des
and Shitennō-ji preserve elements of pre–Tang Chi- recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendent l’expédition
nese buildings; he further notes that the imperial de l’armée française, publié par les orders de Sa Majesté
Heian capitol at Kyoto, begun in 794, is “perhaps the l’empereur Napolean le Grand (Paris, 1809–1828), in
most perfect implementation of the ideal Chinese city twenty-one volumes; for a discussion of the historical
plan ever built” (quoted in N. S. Steinhardt, ed., Chi- context, see Richard G. Carrott, The Egyptian Revival:
nese Architecture [New Haven, CT, 2002], 132). Its Sources, Monuments, and Meaning: 1808–1858
5. Some early Japanese Buddhist temples do have (Berkeley, 1978). The Description de l’Égypte has been
red painted wood frames, as in the Hondō hall at reprinted in one miniature thick volume of 1,008
Yakushiji, Nara. Another shift was away from the pages: Gilles Neret, ed., Chris Miller, trans. (New
Chinese-style deep green shiny ceramic roof tiles in York: Taschen, 1995).
favor of wood shingles or copper. 4. John Foulston, The Public Buildings Erected in the
6. In an effort to encourage maximum ventilation West of England (London, 1838), quoted in Carrott, The
and airflow through the house, there is an open space Egyptian Revival, 3. The effusive italics are Foulston’s.
called the ramma between the kamoi upper rail and 5. Exactly the opposite approach was taken by the
the ceiling. This opening can be left unfilled or con- composer Richard Wagner in 1870, when he began
tain different patterns of lattice. These design features sketching plans for an opera house at Bayreuth, Ger-
are discussed in a number of books on Japanese many. For him the absolute primary purpose was for the
houses, but one shows all of the parts of the house par- audience to hear the music-drama and see clearly the
ticularly well. Moreover, this volume was perhaps the action on the stage. Accordingly, little space was given
first study to analyze the traditional Japanese dwelling. over to the circulation, with all seats placed on a single
Published in Boston in 1886, Japanese Homes and Their steeply pitched fan for maximum visibility. This contrast
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Notes 705

in the interpretation of functional needs and resulting Lloyd Wright’s Robie House: The Illustrated Story of an
building design is discussed in a chapter devoted to Architectural Masterpiece (New York, 1984).
the Paris Opéra and the Festival Hall in Bayreuth in 14. Only in the late twentieth century was Henri
Michael Forsyth, Buildings for Music (Cambridge, MA, Labrouste perceived as a typical product of the École;
1985), 163–196. See Chapter 5 of the present volume. in his own time he was considered something of a rad-
6. The development and evolution of this new ical. See Neil Levine, “The Romantic Idea of Architec-
building type is treated in Carroll L. V. Meeks, The tural Legibility: Henri Labrouste and the Néo-Grec,”
Railroad Station (New Haven, CT, 1955). Very much in Arthur Drexler, ed., The Architecture of the École des
the same cycle of invention and perfection occurred Beaux-Arts (New York, 1977).
a century later with the development of airline pas- 15. Julien Guadet, Eléments et théories de l’architecture,
senger terminals. vol. 1, ch. 3, trans. Leland M. Roth and Jean-François
7. For a dated but still highly useful and informa- Blassel (4 vols., Paris, 1901–1904); quoted in Leland
tive account of the development of metal train sheds M. Roth, America Builds (New York, 1983), 334.
and international exhibition buildings, see Sigfried 16. For accuracy it should be noted that Jenney’s
Giedion, Space Time, and Architecture, 5th ed. (Cam- metal frame was one step short of being a true skeletal
bridge, MA, 1967), 165–290. frame. The horizontal beams and lintels in the exter-
8. For statistics on urban growth in the nineteenth nal wall were not fastened to the vertical exterior iron
century, see Adna Ferrin Weber, The Growth of Cities columns but simply rested on brackets that were part
in the Nineteenth Century (New York, 1899; reprinted of the columns. This technique may have been in-
in Ithaca, NY, 1963). tended to allow for flexibility due to temperature
9. Frederick Law Olmsted, Walks and Talks of an changes. See Leland M. Roth, American Architecture:
American Farmer in England (New York, 1852). A History, 269–274.
10. Concerning Pullman, see the illustrated and an- 17. Louis Sullivan, “The Tall Office Building Artis-
notated contemporary assessment by Richard T. Ely, tically Considered,” originally published in Lippincott’s
“Pullman: A Social Study,” Harper’s Magazine 70 (Feb- Magazine 57 (March 1896): 403–409; reprinted in Le-
ruary 1885): 452–466, reprinted in part in Leland M. land M. Roth, ed., America Builds: Source Documents
Roth, ed., America Builds (New York, 1983), 202–216. of American Architecture and Planning (New York,
Although architecturally elaborate, Pullman was not 1983), 340–346.
truly representative of planned industrial communities 18. The published statements of the architects re-
built in the United States; see Gwendolyn Wright, garding their intent in the design of Pennsylvania Sta-
Building the Dream: A Social History of Housing in tion are quoted in Leland M. Roth, McKim, Mead &
America (New York, 1981), 58–72, 177–192. Other White, Architects (New York, 1983).
studies on company towns and company-built housing
are: John Garner, ed., The Company Town: Architecture ESSAY 6:
and Society in the Early Industrial Age (New York, AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE
1992), which examines company towns in Europe and
the United States, and also Margaret Crawford, Build- 1. The many varieties of dwellings are discussed
ing the Workingman’s Paradise: The Design of American and illustrated in Kaj Blegvad Andersen, African Tra-
Company Towns (London and New York, 1995). ditional Architecture: A Study of Housing and Settlement
11. “The Art and Craft of the Machine” was a lec- Patterns of Rural Kenya (London and New York, 1977).
ture that Wright delivered in several versions, starting See also the many publications of Labelle Prussin on
in 1901; it is reprinted in part in Frederick Gutheim, traditional buildings in Africa.
ed., Frank Lloyd Wright on Architecture: Selected Writ- 2. Such easy European dismissal seemed blind to
ings, 1894–1940 (New York, 1941), 23–24, and in its the fact that European houses throughout the Middle
revised entirety in Wright’s Modern Architecture Ages in moderate climates were made of wood frames
(Princeton, 1930), 7–23, as well as in Leland M. Roth, with walls filled in with woven saplings and then cov-
ed., America Builds (New York, 1983), 364–376. ered with plaster (wattle and daub), yet these were sel-
12. Although the second and smaller of the Was- dom denigrated as “mud huts.”
muth publications has been reprinted several times, 3. Zimbabwe is a Shona term meaning “ruined set-
with varying new titles, it seldom included the original tlement.” There are numerous zimbabwe ruins found
Ashbee commentary. For the full Ashbee text, retro- in locations throughout the country now called Zim-
translated from the published German into English, babwe. Great Zimbabwe, however, is used in reference
see Leland M. Roth, America Builds, 391–398. to the largest such ruin, seemingly the cultural center
13. The original interiors of the Robie house are at the time the complex was built between the
shown in rare photographs in Donald Hoffman, Frank eleventh and fourteenth centuries.
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706 Notes

4. For a discussion of this first wave of native Mod- [Grove] Dictionary of Art (New York, 1996), or also
ernism, see Udo Kultermann, New Directions in Oxford Art Online, which includes Grove.
African Architecture (New York, 1969). 6. Heinrich Wölfflin, Renaissance and Baroque
5. A useful well-illustrated survey is provided in (1888), trans. K. Simon (Ithaca, NY, 1966), 78.
The Phaidon Atlas of 21st Century World Architecture 7. See these essays on Erich Mendelsohn: Wolf von
(New York, 2008), 578–611. Eckardt, in Macmillan Dictionary of Architects, ed. Adolf
6. David Sokol, “David Adjaye Contains a Minia- K. Placzek (New York, 1982), 3:157–159; Gilbert Her-
ture City of Art, Learning, and Social Experiences In- bert, in International Dictionary of Architects and Archi-
side the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver’s tecture: Architects, ed. Randall J. Van Vynckt (Detroit,
Enigmatic Walls,” Architectural Record 196, no. 3 (Au- 1993), I:570–572; and Ita Heinze-Greenberg, in The
gust 2008): 126–131. The Hamilton wing of the Den- [Grove] Dictionary of Art (New York, 1996), or also
ver Art Museum was designed as a joint venture by Oxford Art Online, which includes Grove.
Studio Daniel Libeskind and the Denver firm Davis 8. For Taut’s essay, “A Necessity,” see Rosemary
Partnership Architects (the architect of record). Haag Bletter, “Expressionist Architecture,” in German
Expressionism: Documents from the End of the Wil-
CHAPTER 19: VERSIONS OF MODERN helmine Period to the Rise of National Socialism, ed.
ARCHITECTURE, 1914–1970 Rose-Carol Washton Long (New York, 1993). Paul
Scheerbart’s essay, “Glass Architecture,” 1914, is in-
1. John Ruskin, Preface of St. Mark’s Rest (London, cluded in Ulrich Conrads, Programs and Manifestoes on
1877). 20th-Century Architecture, trans. Michael Bullock
2. With the end of the Fascist regime in Spain fol- (Cambridge, MA, 1975), 32–33.
lowing the death of Franco, an outpouring of creative 9. See these essays on Hans Scharoun: Susan
spirit swept Spain, leading to the rise of many archi- Strauss, in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 4:674–
tects such as Rafael Moneo. This upwelling of creative 676; Uwe Drost, in the International Dictionary of Ar-
energy also prompted the increase of donations for chitects and Architecture: Architects, I:789–791; and
completing the church of the Sagrada Familia. Work Peter Blundell Jones, in The [Grove] Dictionary of Art
toward completion continues to this day. (New York, 1996), or also Oxford Art Online, which
3. Penn Station also continues to function, per- includes Grove.
haps less efficiently due to its reliance on stairs to 10. See Stanford Anderson, “Peter Behrens,” in
change levels rather than the ramps used in Grand Macmillan Dictionary of Architects, 1:165–169; Otakar
Central; Penn Station also suffers from being reduced Máèel, “Peter Behrens,” in International Dictionary of
to a basement under an office building and Madison Architects and Architecture: Architects, 1:65–68; and
Square Garden. See the discussion of the stewardship Iain Boyd White, “Peter Behrens,” in The [Grove] Dic-
of Penn Station in Chapter 8. tionary of Art (New York, 1996), or also Oxford Art
4. Lutyen’s reference to the Great Sanchi Stupa is Online, which includes Grove.
all the more revealing when one considers that the 11. See Joan Campbell, The German Werkbund: The
stupa, abandoned since the thirteenth century, had Politics of Reform in the Applied Arts (Princeton, 1978).
fallen into ruin and became covered in brush. With 12. Alan Colquhoun, Modern Architecture (Oxford
British support, restoration began in 1880, with a new and New York, 2002), 66.
reinvigorated restoration campaign beginning in 1912 13. One contemporary assessment is given by
just when Lutyens started work on his Viceroy’s House Robert Breuer, “Peter Behrens,” Werkkunst 3 (Febru-
designs. See Vidya Dehejia, ed., Unseen Presence: The ary 9, 1908): 145–149.
Buddha and Sanchi (Mumbai, India, 1996), and also 14. See these essays on Walter Gropius: Reginald
Robert Grant Irving, Indian Summer: Lutyens, Baker, R. Isaacs, in Macmillan Dictionary of Architects, 2:251–
and Imperial Delhi (New Haven, CT, 1981), a detailed 263; Leslie H. Cormier, in International Dictionary of
history of the political background, design and com- Architects and Architecture: Architects, 1:337–341; and
pletion of the Viceroy’s House and the new Imperial Gilbert Herbert, in The [Grove] Dictionary of Art (New
capitol of India. York, 1996), or also Oxford Art Online, which in-
5. As a result of the acclaim that his Tribune Tower cludes Grove.
competition entry attracted, Saarinen was invited to 15. Walter Gropius, “Program of the Statliches
come to the United States where he was soon ap- Bauhaus in Weimar,” 1919, in Conrads, Programs and
pointed head of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, which Manifestoes, 49. In the years immediately after World
he made into a sort of American Bauhaus school. For War I, Gropius took a theoretical position close to that
further discussion of Eliel Saarinen, see A. Christ- of the Expressionists; the manifesto in which this
Janer, Eliel Saarinen (Chicago, 1948, rev. London, passage appears had on its cover a dramatic angular
1979), and Pekka Korvenmaa, “Eliel Saarinen,” in The wood-block print by Lyonel Feininger, depicting the
9780813349039-text_Layout 1 10/28/13 2:17 PM Page 707

Notes 707

crystal cathedral that this new design ideology would 27. The Seagram Building was to have been a far
produce. more prosaic design until Phyllis Bronfman Lambert
16. Walter Gropius, “Dessau Bauhaus: Principles of persuaded her father, Samuel Bronfman, owner of the
Bauhaus Production,” March 1926, in Conrads, Pro- company, to hire a truly distinguished architect; she
grams and Manifestoes, 95–96. Another translation ap- suggested Mies van der Rohe. Lambert told the author
pears in Frank Whitford, Bauhaus (London, 1984), (Leland M. Roth) that when the building was sold in
205–206. the 1990s there was a covenant in the sale documents
17. Bruno Taut, Modern Architecture (London, that requires future owners to maintain the annual
1929), 9. waxing and oiling of the bronze so that it forever re-
18. Walter Gropius, “Principles of Bauhaus Produc- tains its brown color rather than developing its natural
tion,” in Conrads, Programs and Manifestoes, 95–96. green patina.
19. Herbert Bayer, Ise Gropius, and Walter Gropius, 28. M. Nowicki, “Composition in Architecture,”
Bauhaus, 1919–1928 (New York, 1938), 24–30, 127. Magazine of Art 42 (March 1949): 108–111; reprinted
20. See these essays on Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: in Leland M. Roth, America Builds: Source Documents
Ludwig Glaeser, in Macmillan Dictionary of Architects, of American Architecture and Planning (New York,
3:183–195; Franz Schulze, in International Dictionary 1983), 558–564. See also these essays on Matthew
of Architects and Architecture: Architects, 1:578–582; Nowicki: Lynda Greenberg, in Macmillan Dictionary of
and Peter Carter, in The [Grove] Dictionary of Art Architects, 3:308; J. A. Starczewski, in International
(New York, 1996), or also Oxford Art Online, which Dictionary of Architects and Architecture: Architects,
includes Grove. I:618; and J. A. Starczewski, in The [Grove] Dictionary
21. The angular, glass-sheathed tower, in particular, of Art (New York, 1996), or also Oxford Art Online,
shown in Mies’s drawings with sharp-pointed upper which includes Grove.
corners, illustrates his momentary connection with 29. M. Nowicki, “Origins and Trends in Modern
Expressionist sympathies. Architecture,” Magazine of Art 44 (November 1951):
22. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, “Working Theses,” 273–279; reprinted in Roth, America Builds, 564.
1923, in Conrads, Programs and Manifestoes, 74. 30. Lewis Mumford, “Monumentality, Symbolism,
23. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, “Industrialized Build- and Style,” Architectural Review 105 (April 1949):
ing,” 1924, in Conrads, Programs and Manifestoes, 81. 173–180; reprinted in Roth, America Builds, 545–558.
24. With the onset of the Great Depression after 31. An excellent analysis of the design and function
October 1929 and the contemporaneous economic of the Guggenheim Museum is provided in William
problems besetting the Germans, there was no serious Jordy, American Buildings and Their Architects, Vol. 4:
effort to retain the German Pavilion and it was dis- The Impact of European Modernism in the Mid-Twentieth
mantled early in 1930. The critical success of Mies van Century (Garden City, NY, 1972), 279–360.
der Rohe’s achievement in the German Pavilion, how- 32. Alvar Aalto, “The Humanizing of Architec-
ever, was quick to emerge and grew exponentially ture,” from Technology Review, in Sketches: Alvar Aalto,
among proponents of Modernism, though by then the trans. Stuart Wrede (Cambridge, MA, 1978), 76–77.
object of this admiration was gone. One might argue 33. Ada Louise Huxtable, “Finnish Master Fashions
that the loss of this epochal building was felt so keenly Library for Abbey in Oregon,” New York Times, May
that the pavilion was re-created—on the original site 30, 1970, 23; republished as “Alvar Aalto: Mt. Angel
in Barcelona from Mies’s own drawings in 1983– Library,” in Ada Louise Huxtable’s anthology Kicked
1987—by Spanish architects Cristian Cirici, Ignasi de a Building Lately? (New York, 1976), 92–95.
Solà-Morales, and Fernando Ramos. See M. Carmen 34. Le Corbusier, The Chapel at Ronchamp (London,
Grandas, L’Exposició Internacional de Barcelona de 1929 1960; translation of Ronchamp [Zurich, 1957]), 89.
(Barcelona, 1988). 35. See Nikolaus Pevsner, An Outline of European Ar-
25. See these essays on Le Corbusier: Mary P. M. chitecture, 7th ed. (Baltimore, 1963), 429, and James
Sekler and Eduard F. Sekler, in Macmillan Dictionary Stirling, “Le Corbusier’s Chapel and the Crisis of Ration-
of Architects, 2:630–648; A. Peter Fawcett, in Interna- alism,” Architectural Review (March 1956): 155–161.
tional Dictionary of Architects and Architecture: Archi- 36. Stanislaus von Moos, Le Corbusier: Elements of
tects, 1:494–500; and Tim Benton, in The [Grove] a Synthesis (Cambridge, MA, 1979), 254.
Dictionary of Art (New York, 1996), or also Oxford Art 37. Le Corbusier, Ronchamp, 7.
Online, which includes Grove. 38. Le Corbusier, Text et dessins pour Ronchamp
26. Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, “Five Points (Paris, 1965).
Towards a New Architecture,” originally published in 39. Hans Scharoun, quoted in Michael Forsyth,
Alfred Roth, Zwei Wohnhiiuser von Le Corbusier und Buildings for Music (Cambridge, MA, 1985), 303.
Pierre Jeanneret (Stuttgart, 1927), and in Conrads, Pro- 40. See David Messent, Opera House Act One (Bal-
grams and Manifestoes, 99–101. gowlah, New South Wales, 1997), and similar studies.
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708 Notes

41. Franz Schulze, Mies van der Rohe: A Critical 3. For a brief discussion of the Hyatt elevated
Biography (Chicago and London, 1985), 256. walkway structural failure, see Chapter 3 of the pres-
42. Reyner Banham, The New Brutalism: Ethic or ent volume. For analyses of these structural and build-
Aesthetic? (New York, 1966). ing materials failures, see Matthys Levy and Mario
43. Quoted in William J. R. Curtis, Modern Archi- Salvatori, Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail
tecture Since 1900, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ, (New York and London, 2002), 197–205, 220–230.
1996), 530. See also in this expanded and updated edition the dis-
44. The name “International Style” was coined by cussion of building failures resulting from terrorist at-
architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock and tacks on the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma
architect Philip Johnson for an exhibition entitled City, Oklahoma, 1995, and the World Trade Center
“The International Style: Architecture Since 1922,” Towers, New York, in 1993 and again in 2001.
held at the new Museum of Modern Art, New York, 4. Postmodernism as a term describing a reaction to
in 1932. The exhibition’s catalog, illustrated with 140 Modernism was first used by Spanish writer Federico
plans and photographs of the most recent work of Eu- De Onis in 1934 and then picked up by Arnold Toyn-
ropean and American architects, defined the elements bee in his A Study of History written in 1938 but not
of the new architecture, with its clear emphases on published until 1947. With respect to architecture
space enclosed by thin planes, regularity as distinct specifically, the term was first used by Joseph Hudnut
from bilateral symmetry, and a dependence on mate- in an article entitled “The Post-Modern House,” Ar-
rial, technical precision, and proportions in replacing chitectural Record 97 (May 1945): 70–75, and then in-
applied ornament. The epochal catalog is still in print: cluded in Hudnut’s collection of essays Architecture
H.-R. Hitchcock and P. Johnson, The International and the Spirit of Man (Cambridge, MA, 1949), 109–
Style (New York, 1966). 119. The term was dormant for nearly thirty years,
45. See Peter Blake, Form Follows Fiasco: Why Mod- until 1975, when, almost simultaneously, the word
ern Architecture Hasn’t Worked (Boston, 1977). postmodern was taken up, capitalized, and hyphenated,
46. For an analysis of the design problems of the and employed by Robert A. M. Stern and Peter Eisen-
Pruitt-Igoe housing complex, see Oscar Newman, De- man in New York and by Charles Jencks in London.
fensible Space: Crime Prevention Through Urban Design Jencks discussed the rise of Ironic Postmodernism in
(New York, 1972). two essays published in 1975 and then in the first edi-
47. For criticisms of Modernism, see Brent C. tion of his book, The Language of Post-Modern Archi-
Brolin, The Failure of Modern Architecture (New York, tecture (London, 1977), which was quickly reissued in
1976), and Blake, Form Follows Fiasco. a series of updated editions. For an analysis of Post-
48. Adolf Loos, Ornament and Crime: Selected Essays modernism and its meaning in late-twentieth-century
(Studies in Austrian Literature, Culture, and architecture, see Charles Jencks, The Language of Post-
Thought. Translation Series), trans. Michael Mitchell Modern Architecture, 4th ed. (New York, 1988), and
(Riverside, CA, 1997). his more recent The New Paradigm in Architecture: The
49. Walter Gropius, “Principles of Bauhaus Produc- Language of Post-Modernism, 7th ed. (New Haven, CT,
tion,” in Conrads, Programs and Manifestoes, 96. 2002); Charles Jencks, What Is Post-Modernism? 4th
50. Le Corbusier, Précisions sur un état present de l’ar- ed. (New York, 1990); and Robert A. M. Stern, “The
chitecture et de l’urbanisme (Paris, 1930), 64. Doubles of Post-Modernism,” Harvard Architecture Re-
51. Stanley Abercrombie, Architecture As Art: An view 1 (1980): 75–97, reprinted in Leland M. Roth,
Esthetic Analysis (New York, 1984), passim. America Builds (New York, 1983).
52. In clearing out back issues of professional jour- 5. Robert A. M. Stern, Modern Classicism (New
nals in an architectural office in the summer of 1962, York, 1988).
the author (Leland M. Roth) came across an example 6. See Charles Jencks, The New Paradigm in Archi-
of a sample model building code in one magazine; it tecture: The Language of Post-Modernism, 7th ed. (New
proposed that buildings should be designed so as to be Haven, CT, 2002); James Steele, Architecture Today, 2nd
able to survive only just long enough to pay off the ed. (New York, 2001); and William J. R. Curtis, Modern
building’s financing. Architecture Since 1900, 3rd ed. (New York, 1996).
7. DeButts, quoted in Kenneth Frampton, “AT&T
CHAPTER 20: THE EXPANSION OF Headquarters, New York, John/Burgee Architects,”
MODERNISM: FROM THE TWENTIETH Catalogue 9, Institute for Architecture and Urban Stud-
CENTURY INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST ies (September-October 1878): 61. In the later twenti-
eth century, real estate and building names change with
1. Diane Ghirardo, Architecture After Modernism each decade or so; what had been intended to make a
(London and New York, 1996), 12. dramatic corporate statement about AT&T was sold to
2. Ghirardo, Architecture After Modernism, 12–13. the Sony corporation in 2002.
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Notes 709

8. See Stern, Modern Classicism, 62, 113–114. 26. Megan K. Stack, “In Dubai, the Sky’s No Limit,”
9. “Interview with Mario Botta,” in Stuart Wrede, Los Angeles Times (October 13, 2005), retrieved online
Mario Botta, exhibition catalogue, Museum of Modern September 23, 2012.
Art (New York, 1986), 68. 27. As of 2013, a number of super towers were under
10. Stern, Modern Classicism, 62, 131. construction, with their completion dates expected
11. Steele, Architecture Today, 137. during 2014–2016. Initially the highest of these was
12. Demetri Porphyrios, Classical Architecture (Lon- the projected but now cancelled Digital Media City
don, 1991), as quoted in Steele, Architecture Today, Landmark Building (also known as Seoul Lite Tower),
142, 157. Seoul, South Korea, with 133 stories, rising to 1,772
13. The original Getty Museum was expanded with feet (540 m) with a broadcast antenna to have reached
new exhibition spaces and an outdoor hemicycle clas- 2,099 feet (640 m). Also in Korea is the Busan Lotte
sical theater. World Tower, Busan, with 107 stories rising to 1,673
14. Quinlan Terry, “Seven Misunderstandings feet (510 m). At least three super towers are proposed
About Classical Architecture,” in Quinlan Terry (Lon- for China: the China 117 Tower (also known as Goldin
don, 1981); reprinted in Architects Anonymous (Lon- Finance 117), Tianjin, with 117 stories rising to
don 1994). 1,959 feet (597 m); the Shanghai Tower, Shanghai,
15. William J. R. Curtis, Modern Architecture Since with 121 stories rising to 1,826 feet (556.7 m) with the
1900, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1996), 621. spire tip at 2,073 feet (632 m); and the Ping An
16. Charles H. Newman, The Post-Modern Aura: The Finance Center, Shenzhen, with 115 stories rising to
Act of Fiction in an Age of Inflation (Evanston, IL, 1985), 1,821 feet (555 m) with a spire reaching 2,165 feet
quoted in Curtis, Modern Architecture Since 1900, 621. (660). The last of these is the tallest building under
17. Michael S. Rose, Ugly As Sin: Why They way in China as of mid-2013.
Changed Our Churches from Sacred Places to Meeting Meanwhile, topped off in August 2012 is the re-
Spaces—and How We Can Change Them Back Again placement for the destroyed World Trade Center Tow-
(Manchester, NH, 2009). ers, now called One World Trade Center, designed by
18. This quoted passage and the preceding ones in David Childs and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; it has
the paragraph are from Stern, Modern Classicism, 63. 104 stories and reaches 1,368 feet (417 m) to the top
19. The design may have been worthy of Jefferson, of its roof; its final crowning spire was lifted and in-
but it was not seen so by the Regents of the University stalled in May 2013, extending at its tip to a symbolic
of Virginia, who authorized its demolition around 1,776 feet (541.3 m) in accordance with its popular
2000 to make room for a larger replacement structure. name, the Freedom Tower. This new tower has been
Sadly, such decisions do not encourage architects designed specifically to withstand future terrorist at-
hired because of their high professional profile to cre- tacks, with an inner elevator and stair core enclosed
ate their most sensitive and accomplished work. in concrete walls several feet thick, as well as an ar-
20. Office of Environmental Health and Safety mored base to withstand huge truck bombs.
University of Virginia, Environmental Impact Review, 28. Aside from the abundant literature on Gehry,
Observatory Hill Dining Hall Replacement, Project see the capsule biographical-architectural sketch in
Number 207–16094, August 8, 2002. Posted online Leland M. Roth, American Architecture: A History
at http://ehs.virginia.edu/ehs/ehs.eir/eir.documents (Boulder, CO, 2001), 523–528.
/examples/EIR%20OHill%20Replacement.PDF. 29. Matt Tyrnauer, “Architecture in the Age of
21. James Steele uses the phrase New Modernism to Gehry,” Vanity Fair (August 2010).
mean the Late Modernism described here. See Steele, 30. Alois Martin Müller, “The Dialectic of Mod-
Architecture Today. ernism,” Architecture in Transition: Between Deconstruc-
22. The trust created by J. Paul Getty annually gen- tion and New Modernism, ed. Peter Noever (Munich,
erates around $150 million, which, by law, must be 1991), 10.
fully expended each year. 31. Philip Johnson and Mark Wigley, Deconstruc-
23. Calling this a roofless church may appear to tivist Architecture (New York, 1988), 17.
contradict appearances. The body of this commemo- 32. Cathleen McGuigan, “From Bauhaus to Fun
rative church is open to the sky, enclosed by a high House,” Newsweek (July 11, 1988), 64.
surrounding wall; the molded form illustrated here is 33. 1. Quoted in Miriam Horn, “A New Twist on
a cover over what would be considered the altar area. Architecture,” U.S. News and World Report 105 (July
24. Liedtke, quoted in Franz Schulz, Philip Johnson: 18, 1988), 40–42.
Life and Work (New York, 1994), 326. 34. Ibid., 41.
25. The term gerberettes was derived from the 35. Carter Wiseman, Shaping a Nation: Twentieth-
French engineer Heinrich Gerber, who devised these Century American Architecture and Its Makers (New
massive cantilevers. York, 1998), 345–348.
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710 Notes

36. The curious spelling of the firm’s name, a coop- azine, though it seems to have been current in archi-
erative, indicates a double meaning. Without the “l” tectural circles somewhat earlier. It was originally used
it means “heaven building;” with the “l” it means as a term of derision but almost immediately lost that
“blue heaven.” The firm’s name itself suggests ambi- negative connotation.
guity and disorientation. 2. The US Green Building Council maintains a list
37. Badran, quoted in Steele, Architecture Today, 230. of LEED certified buildings online at http://www.usgbc
38. For further information on Doshi, see Curtis, .org/LEED/Project/CertifiedProjectList.aspx. Compa-
Modern Architecture Since 1900, passim, and also his rable, though set up on an international level, is the
Balkrishna Doshi: An Architecture for India (New York, Energy Star ranking created in 1992 by the US Envi-
1988), as well as James Steele, Rethinking Modernism ronmental Protection Agency and the US Department
for the Developing World: The Complete Architecture of of Energy.
Balkrishna Doshi (New York 1998). 3. Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, and
39. David Robson, Geoffrey Bawa: The Complete Sketches Here and There (New York, 1948), 204.
Works (London, 2002), 84. 4. See https://new.usgbc.org/leed.
40. Ibid., 146–148. 5. Quoted from the Pritzker website at http://www
41. Ibid., 150. .pritzkerprize.com/2002/jury.
42. Despite the architects’ high-minded hopes, the 6. Regarding “green roofs,” see the US Environ-
building could not mitigate the bitter political divi- mental Protection Agency website (http://www.epa
sions that have split Sri Lanka. The building was fin- .gov/hiri/mitigation/greenroofs.htm) as well as the
ished with minimalized interior finishes as a result of website maintained by the International Green Roof
“fast-track” construction methods, the development Association (http://www.igra-world.com/).
of the proposed surrounding garden city capital never 7. Yeang has produced several books presenting
took place as a result of political changes, and the his work and ecodesign philosophy (see the Suggested
onset of a bitter civil war between ethnic and religious Readings), most recently, his Green Design published
factions modified Bawa’s building complex in its final in 2011. Other authors also have written books and
form. Nonetheless, the Parliament complex, when articles examining his architecture and planning.
seen across the lake, is a powerful national statement, 8. Ken Yeang, Reinventing the Skyscraper: A Vertical
even if its richness of symbolic meaning resonates Theory of Urban Design (Chichester, England, 2002).
largely only with the Sinhalese population. See the po- 9. Yeang commented on these calculations in two
litical analysis in chapter 7 (“Sri Lanka’s Island Parlia- interviews conducted in 2008–2009, one with Ross
ment”) of Lawrence J. Vale’s Architecture, Power, and von Berg for the Club of Pioneers and the other with
National Identity (New Haven, CT, 1992), 190–208. Richard Steer on GTV. The interviews are available
43. New Caledonia is technically designated as a online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYON
French Overseas Territory. QW78qbE and http://www.gleeds.tv/index.cfm?video
44. See Eric Waddell, Jean-Marie Tjibaou, Kanak =413, respectively.
Witness to the World: An Intellectual Biography (Hon- 10. See Ken Yeang’s “Essay,” in Sara Hart, EcoAr-
olulu, 2009). chitecture: The Work of Ken Yeang, ed. David Littlefield
45. Ghirardo, Architecture After Modernism, 149. (Chichester, England 2011), 261.
46. See http://www.pyatok.com/pyatok.html. 11. Yeang, quoted in Alexsandr Bierig, “Ramping
Up Green: Ken Yeang’s Visions for Greening the Sky-
CHAPTER 21: INTO THE scraper Move Toward Realization in Singapore,”
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY GreenSource: The Magazine of Sustainable Design (May,
2009); also published online at http://greensource
1. “Blobitecture” was coined by William Safire in .construction.com/people/2009/05_Ramping-Up
a December 2002 article in the New York Times Mag- -Green.asp.
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Glossary

R
For additional terms and definitions, please consult such compact dictionaries as John Fleming, Hugh Honour,
and Nikolaus Pevsner, The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture, 4th ed. (London and New York, 1991), and
Henry H. Saylor, Dictionary of Architecture (New York, 1952), as well as these somewhat larger dictionaries:
James Stevens Curl, A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, 2nd ed. (New York, 2007), and John
Fleming, Hugh Honour, and Nikolaus Pevsner, The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture,
5th ed. (London and New York, 2000). Even more extensive definitions may be found in these large works by
Cyril M. Harris: American Architecture: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (New York, 1998), Dictionary of Architecture
and Construction (New York, 1975), and Historic Architecture Sourcebook (New York, 1977). For brief biographies
of important architects, see such resources as J. M. Richards, ed., Who’s Who in Architecture, From 1400 to the
Present (London and New York, 1977); Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 4 vols. (New York, 1982); and the
online resource Grove Art Online.
R
abacus (from Greek abax, “counting board”) The consisting of columns or pilasters supporting an
square slab that forms the topmost element of a entablature and pediment.
Classical capital. (See also order.) aggregate (from Latin aggregare, “to add together”)
abbey (from Old French abaie, which comes from The crushed stone, sand, and other solid material
Latin, abbas, “abbot”) A monastery or convent, used to make concrete.
a place of residence, work, worship, and study for agora (Greek) An open area used as a marketplace;
monks or nuns. in Greek cities of the Hellenistic period often
acanthus (from Greek akanthos, thorn plant) A lined by stoa buildings.
plant, native to the Mediterranean region, whose aisle (from Old French and from Latin ala) A pas-
thick, serrated leaves provided the model for the sage or open corridor running parallel to the
leaf-like forms of the Corinthian capital. (See principal space or nave of a church or basilica and
also order.) separated from it by an arcade.
acropolis (from Greek akropolis, from akro, “top,” plus ambulatory (from Latin ambulare, “to walk”) A
polis, “city”) Generic sense: the elevated plateau curved or polygonal aisle forming a passageway
or citadel containing the principal municipal and around the choir or chevet of a church.
religious buildings of a city. Specific sense: the amphitheater (from Greek amphi, “around,” plus the-
ancient citadel of Athens, the site of the Erech- atron, “watching place”) Originating in Roman
theion, the Parthenon, and other temples. architecture, a round or oval arena for sports
adobe (from Spanish adobar, “to plaster,” which events, surrounded by tiers of seats.
comes from Arabic al-tūb, “the brick”) A brick of annular vault (from Latin anulus, “ring”) A tunnel or
sun-dried mud (using soil rich in clay and silt) barrel vault (see vault) that curves around in a
mixed with grass or straw, and by extension, closed ring.
buildings made of such brick. anta (from Latin antae, “pilasters”) The pier or pi-
aedicule (from Latin aedes, “temple,” and aedicule, laster formed by the projection of the side walls
“small temple”) A framing motif, around a blind of a building, often found at the ends of the naos
window or door, or around an actual opening, chamber of Greek temples.

711
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712 Glossary

apse (from Latin apsis, “arch” or “vault”) A semicir- attic A story above the main cornice level in classical
cular projection from an enclosed space, typically architecture.
covered by a hemispherical vault, often found on axis An imaginary line about which parts of a build-
the short side of a Roman basilica or at the end ing or individual buildings in a group are dis-
of an Early Christian church. posed, usually with careful attention to bilateral
aqueduct (from Latin aqua, “water,” plus ductus, past symmetry.
participle of “to lead”) A channel used to carry axonometric projection A method of mechanical draw-
water, often raised up on a long arcade. ing to represent a building in three dimensions
arcade (from Italian arcata, from Latin arcus, “arch”) in which vertical lines are drawn vertically and
A series of arches, often raised on piers or horizontal lines are drawn at unequal angles to
columns; a covered passage with such arches on the true horizontal, usually 30° and 60°.
one or both sides; a covered passage with such bailey (Middle English from Old French, baille) The
arches on each side opening into shops or offices outer wall of a castle, and by extension the open
(used figuratively even when no true arch forms court enclosed by this wall.
are present). balloon frame (from balloon, since the frame was said
arch (from Latin arcus, “arch”) A structure, formed to go up as fast as a rising balloon) A building
of wedge-shaped blocks laid to form a semicircle frame, historically developed in the mid-United
or a parabola or some other curve, that spans an States about 1830, made of slender wooden mem-
opening. A flat arch is formed by a segment of a bers, or studs, spaced about 16 inches (.5 meters)
semicircle and can have very little curvature. apart. In a true balloon frame, the wooden studs
architecture parlent (French) Literally, “speaking ar- rise through two floors. In a platform frame, the
chitecture.” First used in eighteenth-century studs rise only one floor and support a platform
France to describe an architecture that clearly that forms the base for the next floor.
expressed its functional purpose. baluster (from French and Italian derivatives of
architrave (from Old French and Old Italian arch Greek balaustion, the flower of the pomegranate,
plus trabs, “chief beam”) Specifically, the lowest because of the shape of the post) An upright
element in the entablatures of the Ionic and vase-shaped post used to support a rail.
Corinthian columnar orders (see order), with two balustrade A series of balusters supporting a rail.
or three stepped-back faces; by extension the baptistery In Christian architecture, a chamber or
frame around windows, doors, and arches in clas- often a separate building used for the sacramen-
sical architecture. tal ceremony of baptism.
arcuated A structural form composed of numerous barrel vault A masonry vault resting on two parallel
arches, in contrast to trabeated. walls and having the form of a half cylinder;
arris (from Old French areste, “ridge”) The edge sometimes called tunnel vault; also, by extension,
formed when two surfaces meet at an angle, as a nonstructural wooden ceiling of the same form.
in the flutes of a classical column. base (from Latin and Greek basis) The lowest ele-
ashlar A dressed or squared stone, and a masonry ment of a column, pier, or wall.
wall or structure built of such hewn stone. Ashlar basilica (from Latin and Greek basilike, “royal por-
masonry may be coursed (with continuous joints) tico”) In Roman architecture, a large meeting
or random (with discontinuous joints). hall, most often used to hold law courts. Adapted
astylar (from Greek a plus stylos, “without column”) for Early Christian churches, often with the ad-
Term used to denote a building that, although dition of aisles on the long sides and terminating
embodying classical features, has none of the tra- in an apse.
ditional orders or pilasters. (See also order and batter The downward and outward slope of a ma-
pilaster.) sonry wall, generally resulting in diminishing
atelier (from Old French astelier, “carpenter shop,” thickness.
from Old French astele, “splinter,” from Latin as- battlement (from Old French battillement) A parapet
tula, “board”) A studio or workshop, particularly built atop a wall with openings (crenels) for
an artist’s or architect’s studio in which younger defense.
students are trained. bay In a building, a regular and repeated structural
atrium (from Latin atrium) In Roman houses, the or spatial unit or module marked by repeated
central court, open to the sky, that provided ac- beams or ribs.
cess to the principal rooms; by extension, any bearing wall A structurally active wall, such as made
central circulation space, whether open to the with brick or stone, that carries its own weight
sky or covered by a skylight. plus the floor and ceiling loads of adjoining areas
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Glossary 713

down to the foundation. Also called a structural cartouche (from French, from Italian cartoccio,
wall or a load-bearing wall. This contrasts to a “card”) A decorative tablet or panel, with carved
non-bearing wall such as those attached like cur- edges resembling curled paper.
tains to an interior metal skeleton. (See also cur- caryatid (from Latin and Greek Karuatides, the maid-
tain wall.) ens of Karui, a village in ancient Greece) A
belt course (or stringcourse) A projecting horizontal building column sculpted in the form of a female
course of masonry in a wall, of the same or dis- figure.
similar material of the wall, used to throw rain- cast iron. (See iron.)
water off a wall; usually coincides with the level castellated Having battlements (parapet walls with
of an interior floor. notched openings) and turrets like those of a me-
blind arch An arch within a wall framing a recessed dieval castle.
flat panel rather than an opening; used to en- castellation In an upper wall parapet, the inclusion
liven an otherwise plain expanse of masonry or of spaced openings or notches to protect defend-
to decrease the dead weight of a wall. ers. Essentially the same as crennelation.
boss (from Old French boce) In architecture, a round castrum (Latin) An ancient Roman military camp,
ornamented keystone at the intersection of ribs with streets laid out in a rectilinear grid. (See also
in a rib vault. cardo and decumanus.)
bouleuterion (from Greek boule, the council of an- catacomb (from late Latin catacumbae) An under-
cient Athens) The council chamber of ancient ground passage or chamber used as a cemetery.
Greek cities. cathedral (from Latin cathedra, “chair”) A church
boulevard (from Old French bolovart and German that contains the bishop’s throne, from which of-
bollwerk) A rampart converted to a promenade) ficial pronouncements are made. Usually, but not
A major thoroughfare in a town, usually laid out always, the largest church in the diocese.
where old fortifications were removed, often causeway (from Middle English caucewei, “raised
lined with rows of trees. road”) A roadway on a raised embankment.
bracket A projecting brace used under cornices, cella (Latin) The Latin term for the naos, the inner
eaves, balconies, or windows to provide struc- chamber of a classical temple.
tural support or visual support. cement (from Latin caementa, “broken stones”) Term
buttress (from Middle English and Old French used to identify the bonding agent in concrete;
bouteret, from bouter, “to strike against”) A pier nowadays made from pulverized baked limestone.
built into or against a wall to help it resist lateral cenotaph (from Greek kenos, “empty,” plus taphos,
forces. (See also flying buttress.) “tomb”) An empty tomb built as a monument to
caisson foundation (from French caisse, “box”) A a person buried elsewhere.
technique for constructing deep foundations in centering Term used to describe the temporary sup-
loose or water-saturated soils, developed in the port used to carry a vault or an arch until the
United States, 1865–1890. An open-bottom air- keystone is put in place.
tight chamber is lowered into the soil and the central plan A building plan focused on a central
earth is excavated from beneath it by workmen point and usually laid out on two axes crossed at
called “sand hogs.” As the chamber descends, right angles; square and octagonal plans are
the air pressure inside the chamber is increased examples.
to match the water pressure outside; meanwhile, centuriation The system of land division practiced in
the hole left above is lined or filled with stones ancient Rome, with units large enough to con-
or concrete. When dense soils or solid rock is tain one hundred traditional farms.
reached, the chamber is filled with dressed stones chamfer (from French chanfrein, “a bevel”) To re-
or concrete. move the edge or corner; also, the flat surface left
cantilever (from Middle English and Norman French after the corner is cut away.
cant, “side,” plus levier, “to raise”) A beam or a chancel (from Old French) In a Latin cross-plan
part of a building supported by such beams that church, the eastern end, including the choir, side
is supported at one end only, with the other end aisles, ambulatory, and chapels. (In France this is
hovering in the air. called the chevet.)
capital The topmost part of a column (see order), chapel (from medieval Latin capella, a diminutive of
above the shaft, which carries the entablature. the Latin cappa, “cloak”; derived from the name
cardo The principal north-south street in an an- of a small chamber at the church of Saint-Martin,
cient Roman town or military camp. (See also Tours, France, which contained the cloak of Saint
decumanus.) Martin) A small chamber containing an altar and
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714 Glossary

used for private worship; a similar room within a a ceiling or vault; usually square (trapezoidal in
larger church or religious building. A Lady Chapel shape inside a dome) but sometimes octagonal
is one dedicated to the Virgin Mary. or lozenge-shaped.
chevet The French term for the chancel, or east end colonnade (from Italian colonnato, from Latin columna,
of a church, including side aisles, choir, ambula- “column”) A row of evenly spaced columns, usu-
tory, and chapels. ally carrying a continuous entablature.
choir (from Middle English quer and Old French cuer, colonnette (French, diminutive of colonne, “column”)
from Latin chorus) An organized group of singers, A small, slender, or greatly elongated column,
such as medieval monks; hence, that part of the more often used for visual effect than for struc-
church in which the monks gathered for services, tural support.
usually the area between the crossing and the column (from Latin columna, “column”) A narrow
altar at the east end of the chancel or chevet. round support post, often having a base and a
church (from Middle English chirche and from Greek capital. (See also order.)
kuriakos, “of the lord”) The principal building compression A force acting on a structure that tends
used for Christian public worship. to push, crush, or squeeze. Many materials,
circus (Latin, “circle”) In ancient Roman architec- whether crystalline or fibrous, are strong in com-
ture, a long, open arena used for chariot races pression.
and other contests. In the eighteenth century, concrete (from Latin concretus, past participle of con-
this term was used to describe curved ranges of crescere, “to grow together” or “to harden”) An
connected town houses. artificial stone made by mixing water, aggregate
classic Of the highest order, or representing the best made of crushed stone and sand, and a cement-
of its type; often capitalized, referring to the art ing or bonding material. Like crystalline stone,
of architecture of ancient Greece or Rome. concrete is relatively weak in tension; the addi-
Classical Referring to the art or architecture of an- tion of iron or steel bars to resist the tensile forces
cient Greece or Rome; uncapitalized when used creates reinforced concrete.
in reference to the generic properties of balance, console (from Latin consolator, “one who consoles”)
order, and proportional relationships as seen in an- Figuratively, a support. (See also bracket.)
cient Greek and Roman architecture; capitalized corbel (from Middle English corp and Latin corvus,
when referring particularly to the forms and details “raven”) A block of masonry projecting from the
of Greek and Roman architecture. Analogous plane of the wall used to support an upper ele-
spellings are used for generic versus specific uses ment such as a cornice, battlements, or an upper
of words such as modern/Modern and neoclassical/ wall.
Neoclassical and other similar terms. Corinthian. (See order.)
Classicism The principles of design and proportion, cornice (from Greek koronos, “curved,” referring to
as well as the repertoire of forms and details, the curved profile) Specifically, the uppermost
found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and projecting section of the entablature; hence,
as well as later Renaissance and Baroque archi- generically, the uppermost projecting molding or
tecture. (See also Neoclassicism.) combination of brackets and moldings used to
clerestory (from Middle English clere, “lighted,” plus crown a building or to define the meeting of wall
“story”) Originally the upper section of the and ceiling. (See order.)
nave of a Gothic cathedral, with its banks of corps de logis In French classical architecture, the
large windows; hence, any elevated series of win- dominant center motif or element, in contrast to
dows for light and ventilation. the flanking wings.
cloister (from Latin claustrum, “enclosed place”) In crennelation (from Latin crena, “notch”) A series of
a medieval monastery, the courtyard and its openings or large notches in an upper parapet
surrounding covered walkways enclosed by the wall to protect defenders. (See also battlement
church, dormitory wing, refectory, and storage and castellation.)
buildings. crocket (from Old French crochet, “hook”) In Gothic
cloister vault A form of dome, with curved surfaces architecture, a carved, foliate, hook-like projec-
that rise from a square or polygonal plan; the in- tion used along the edges of roofs, spires, towers,
tersections of the curved surfaces form groins or and other upper elements.
have ribs (example: the dome of Santa Maria del cromlech (from Welsh crwm, “arched,” plus llech,
Fiore, Florence, by Filippo Brunelleschi). “stone”) A prehistoric structure consisting of
coffer (from Middle English coffre, “box,” and Latin monoliths encircling a mound; the term is some-
cophinus, “basket”) A recessed box-like panel in times used in place of dolmen.
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Glossary 715

crossing In a Latin cross-plan church, the area where sphere; a melon or umbrella dome is divided into
the four sections (nave, transepts, and chancel) radiating sections or gores by ribs (example:
come together; the area where the two axes of Santa Maria delle Carceri, Prato).
nave-chancel and of the two transepts cross. donjon (variation of dungeon, from Middle English
cross-in-square plan A Byzantine centralized church and from Latin dominus, “master”) The fortified
plan of nine bays in which the central bay and tower at the center of medieval castles, either
the middle bay on each side are domed. (See also square or round in plan; the dwelling of the lord.
quincunx plan.) Doric. (See order.)
crypt (from Latin and Greek kruptos, “hidden”) A dormer (from Old French dormeor, “bedroom win-
chamber or story beneath the main floor of a dow”) A vertical window and its housing, which
church, often below ground, usually containing projects outward from a sloping roof.
graves. drum (because it resembles the musical instrument)
cupola (from late Latin cupula, diminutive form for A circular or polygonal wall that carries a dome;
“tub”) A rounded tower-like device rising from also, one of the individual cylindrical blocks of
the roof of a classical building (usually Renais- stone used to build columns.
sance or Baroque), typically terminating in a dry masonry Blocks of stone, either regular or irreg-
miniature dome. ular in shape, laid in a wall without mortar.
curtain wall In ancient fortifications and medieval duomo The Italian term for a cathedral.
castles the part of an enclosing wall between two eave The lower edge, often overhanging, of a roof.
towers. In modern architecture since 1885, a echinus (from Latin and Greek ekhinos, “sea urchin”)
non-load-bearing wall or non-structural skin at- In the capital of the Doric order, the circular flar-
tached to an internal structural skeleton; since ing block that carries the abacus.
1920, this lightweight outer skin or curtain has eclecticism (from Greek ek, “out,” plus legein, “to
often been composed of panels of glass, steel, alu- choose,” “to select”) The combination of se-
minum, or composites. lected elements from different sources to form
cyclopean (from Greek Cyclops, the one-eyed giant one whole; in architecture, the use of historic
in Homer’s Odyssey) A type of dry masonry char- styles from previous time periods to make asso-
acterized by huge irregular stones laid in random ciational links between appearance and func-
patterns. tional use.
decamanus (Latin) The principal east-west street in egg and dart A form of molding, or decorative band,
an ancient Roman town or military camp. (See in Classical architecture made up of forms that
also cardo.) resemble alternated eggs and darts.
dentil (from Latin dens, “tooth”) A small rectangular elevation (from Latin elevare, “to raise up”) A draw-
block used in a series below the cornice in the ing of the walls of one side of a building (either
Corinthian order; any such block used to form a interior or exterior) with all lines of true dimen-
molding below a cornice. (See also order.) sion and shown vertical and horizontal; also used
dependency An outbuilding or other subordinate in reference to the vertical plane of a building, as
structure that serves as an adjunct to a central, in “the west elevation.”
dominant building. engaged column A column that is attached to and ap-
diaphragm arch An arch that spans a space crosswise pears to emerge from the wall; in plan it forms a
to support a ceiling or other superstructure; often half to three-quarters of a fully rounded column.
an arch that spans across the nave of a church It is usually purely decorative and may serve as a
(example: Saint-Philbert of Tournous). buttress-like thickening of the wall.
dolmen (from Celtic and Breton tol, “table,” plus entablature (French, from Italian intavolatura, “to put
men, “stone”) A prehistoric European structure on a table,” “to support”) The horizontal beam-
consisting of two or three upright stones carrying like member supported by Classical columns (see
a stone slab as a roof. also order). Although the details and proportions
dome A convex roof with a smooth curved surface of the entablatures of the Doric, Ionic, and
rising either from a circular or a polygonal base Corinthian orders vary, each has three compo-
(if the latter, then is more accurately a cloister nent parts: the lower architrave, the middle
vault). The simplest true dome is a hemispherical frieze, and the crowning cornice.
dome; an onion dome may have a shape that is entasis (Latin, from Greek enteinein, “to stretch or
somewhat more than a half-sphere and may be strain”) The subtly curved rising diminution of
pointed at the top (example: the Taj Mahal); a the thickness of the Classical column. (See also
saucer dome is a low dome that is less than a half- order.)
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716 Glossary

epistyle (from Greek epi, “upon,” plus stulos, “col- sonry construction. Traditionally, a wooden frame
umn”) The Greek term for architrave. (See also was composed of large hewn hardwood members,
order.) connected with complex interlocking joints (see
esplanade (from Italian and Latin explanare, “to flat- mortise and tenon). Also called braced frame.
ten out”) A flat open space, often laid out as a fresco (from Italian for “fresh”) A form of wall paint-
walkway. ing in which pigments are mixed into the wet,
estipite Spanish term for a pilaster whose surface is fresh plaster immediately after it is applied to the
covered by elaborate secondary decorations, wall.
sometimes to such an extent that the basic frieze (from Old French frise, from Latin Phrygia, the
pilaster is difficult to see (example: Cartuja, name of an ancient country in Asia Minor) In
Granada, Spain). Classical architecture, the flat horizontal panel
exedra (from Greek ex, “out,” plus hedra, “seat”) A in the entablature of the Ionic order, between the
seat with a high back, curved in a semicircle; also lower architrave and the crowning cornice, or-
a semicircular roofed recess in a building with namented with low relief sculpture. Hence, by
seats or a curved bench. extension, the center panel or section of all
facade (from Italian and Latin facies, “face”) The entablatures, even of the much different Doric
face of a building, especially the principal face or order, which has grooved stylized beam ends
front. (triglyphs) with the spaces between filled with
fenestration (from Latin fenestra, “window”) A gen- panels of low relief sculpture (metopes). By fur-
eral term used to denote the pattern or arrange- ther extension, any projecting horizontal deco-
ment of windows. rative band or panel. (See also order.)
fillet (from Middle English and Old French, diminu- gable (from Middle English, via Old French from Old
tive of Latin filum, “thread”) A narrow flat mold- Norse gafl, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch
ing, usually between two larger elements, as gaffel and German Gabel, “fork”) The triangularly
between the indented flutes of a Classical column. shaped area enclosed by the two sloped surfaces
finial (Middle English, variant of Latin finis, “end”) of a gable roof and the wall below; a generic term
A decorative ornament that ends a gable, pinna- distinct from pediment, which refers to a portion
cle, or spire, usually foliate in form. of a Classical facade.
fireproof construction A system of construction em- gable roof A simple roof composed of two angled flat
ploying masonry bearing walls and arches. When surfaces meeting to form a straight ridge.
iron and steel frames were introduced in the nine- gallery (from Middle English galerie, from medieval
teenth century, the metal was protected from ex- Latin galeria) In medieval architecture, especially
posure to fire by tile cladding or concrete/plaster. Gothic churches, a passage above the side aisle
flute One of the several shallow vertical grooves cut and below the clerestory window that provided
into the shaft of Classical columns or pilasters. access to the roof over the side aisles; in general,
(See also order.) a long passage, often with windows on one side,
flying buttress An inclined or ramped arch extending sometimes used for the display of paintings.
from the wall of a building to an outer, freestand- gambrel roof (from Old North French gamberel, from
ing buttress pier, thus transmitting outward thrusts late Latin gamba, “leg,” referring to the bent or
from the main building to externalized supports. crooked stick used by butchers to suspend car-
foliate (from Latin foliatus, “bearing leaves”) Having casses) A roof, similar to a gable roof, but with
a two-dimensional or carved three-dimensional two slopes on each side, a steeper pitch in the
pattern based on leaves or plants; often stylized. lower, outer portion of the roof, and a lower pitch
folly In eighteenth-century English gardens and in the upper, center portion of the roof. In En-
landscape design, a garden ornament building gland this term is used to denote a mansard roof.
such as a tower or fake ruin constructed to high- gargoyle (from Middle English gargoyl and Old French
light a view. gargoule) A rain spout carved in the form of a fan-
forum (Latin) An open space in a Roman town used tastical creature or demon; any such projecting
as a marketplace and public gathering place; ornamental feature in the form of a grotesque.
hence, a place for civic discussion. glacis (from Old French glacier, “to slide”) In me-
foundation. (See caisson foundation, raft foundation, dieval military architecture, a long, gentle, open
and spread foundation.) slope outside a fortified wall.
frame A structural support system composed of sep- golden section A proportional ratio devised by the an-
arate linear members (columns and beams) joined cient Greeks that expresses the ideal relationship
together to form a cage, as contrasted to solid ma- of unequal parts. Capable of being demonstrated
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Glossary 717

by Euclidian geometry, it can also be stated thus: and smoke from fires were channeled as a means
a is to b as b is to a + b; or a/b = b/(a + b). If of heating the interior; used extensively in
this is rewritten as a quadratic equation and the Roman baths.
value 1 is assigned to a, and then solved for b, hypostyle (from Greek hupo, “underneath,” plus stu-
the value of b is 1.618034. Hence, the ratio of los, “column”) Used to describe a hall or chamber
the golden section is 1:1.618. whose roof is supported by many columns.
Greek cross A type of centralized plan with two axes impost (from Old French imposte, from medieval
at right angles and with identical elements on Latin impostum, past participle of imponere, “to
each of the axes around the central element (ex- place upon”) The block or line upon which the
ample: San Marco, Venice, Italy). foot of an arch rests.
groin (from Middle English grinde) The junction of in antis (from Latin and Greek, meaning “within the
the intersection of two curved vaults. walls”) Used to describe the placement of two or
groin vault A vault formed when two barrel vaults four columns in the porch of a Classical building
intersect at right angles; sometimes called a cross between the projecting antae or spur walls of the
vault (example: Baths of Caracalla). naos behind the columns.
hall church A late Gothic type of church in which insula (Latin, “island”) Latin term for an ancient
the side aisles are as high as, or nearly as high as, Roman multilevel apartment building that filled
the central nave. an entire city block.
hammerbeam A short beam projecting from a wall, intercolumniation (from Latin inter, “between,” plus
supported from below by a hammer brace and columna, “column”) Term used to describe the
used in turn as the support for the collar brace in distance between columns in a colonnade; ex-
a hammerbeam truss. pressed in terms of fractions of the diameter of
henge A circle of upright stones or wooden posts. the individual columns.
heroum (plural: heroa) (Latin) In ancient Greek and Ionic. (See order.)
Roman architecture, a building or sacred enclo- iron A basic chemical element, Fe (from Latin fer-
sure dedicated to a hero, usually over a grave; rum), normally found in the form of one of sev-
such buildings typically had central plans. eral oxides and that can be smelted to produce
hexastyle (from Greek hex, “six,” plus stulos, “col- iron metal. Architecturally, iron is used in three
umn”) Having six columns; used to describe essential forms: cast iron, wrought iron, and steel.
Classical temples according to the number of 1. Cast iron: Traditionally in cast-iron produc-
columns across the short side. tion the molten liquid iron is poured into
hipped roof A roof of four sloped surfaces that meet special molds, often formed with special cast-
in a point (with a square plan) or a sharp ridge ing sand around a wood original or master
line (rectangular plan). that is then removed before pouring. As the
historicism The reference to historic periods in the molten iron cools and solidifies, it forms
past; the use of architectural forms derived from crystals—small when the cooling is more
the past. In contrast to eclecticism, which may rapid and larger when the cooling is slower.
result in the combination of elements of many The crystalline structure makes cast iron ex-
historic periods in one building, historicism may tremely strong in compression (as for cast-
be said to confine the references in a single build- iron columns) but relatively weak in tension
ing to a single time period. (when being stretched) so that it is not espe-
hood molding A large projected molding over a win- cially good for beams whose lower edge is in
dow used to throw rainwater away from the win- tension. Though small portions of other ele-
dow; sometimes supported by brackets. ments may be present in cast iron such as sil-
hôtel (French) A French town house of the eigh- icon, the high content of carbon—which
teenth century, usually of one or two floors, can be up to 5 percent (the residue from the
spread out horizontally in a large suburban es- charcoal or coal used for smelting)—makes
tate. The main living level was at ground level the cast iron brittle. Though not combustible
(see the contrast with piano nobile), with large in itself, cast iron melts at just under 2,200° F
casement windows or French doors that provided (1,200° C) and hence easily softens and de-
easy access to the garden terraces. forms in the heat of a fire so that, unpro-
hypocaust (from Latin hypocaustrum, from Greek tected by some form of insulation, iron by
hupo, “underneath,” plus kaiein, “to burn”) In itself is not fire-proof.
Roman architecture, a type of hollow floor, hon- 2. Wrought iron (puddled iron): “Wrought,”
eycombed with passages, through which hot air from Middle English wroght, from Old English
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718 Glossary

geworht, past participle of wyrcan, “to work.” isometric projection (from Greek isometros, “of equal
Hence, wrought iron is iron that has been measure”) A method of mechanical drawing to
re-smelted, formed into bars, and then re- represent a building in three dimensions in which
heated to a red to white hot stage and vertical lines are drawn vertical and horizontal
worked by forging or hammering. With con- lines are drawn at equal angles to the true hori-
trolled reheating and also through working zontal, usually 30° or 45°.
or forging, the carbon content of wrought jamb (from Middle English jambe, from late Latin
iron can be reduced from 2 percent to as low gamba, “hoof”) The vertical posts forming the
as 0.25 percent; this refinement also re- sides of a door or window.
moved other impurities such as silicon, phos- keep Also called donjon, the central fortified tower
phorus, or manganese. The hammering or inside medieval castles.
forging process destroys any crystalline struc- keystone The uppermost central voussoir of an arch
ture and produces a more fibrous quality. As that locks all the other wedge-shaped voussoirs
a result, wrought iron is good in tension and together, often bearing carved embellishment.
was quickly used in the bottom chords of Lady Chapel A type of chapel dedicated to the Vir-
trusses and also for beams, both of which are gin Mary. (See also chapel.)
in tension. Wrought iron has a melting point lancet (Middle English launcea, from Latin lancea, a
of from 2,700 to 2,900° F (1480 to 1,500° C). lance or spear) Used to describe tall, extremely
The Eiffel Tower, Paris, is made of wrought narrow, spear-like windows, particularly in early
or puddled iron and not steel (the steel- English Gothic architecture.
making process not yet being economically lantern (from Middle English, from Old French
practicable in France). lanterne, from Latin lanterna, from Greek lampter,
3. Steel: This ferrous metal is an alloy, combin- from the verb “to shine”) In architecture, a small
ing iron with specific quantities of other met- glass-enclosed square or round structure built
als added during smelting; making steel often atop a larger structure to admit light.
starts by melting cast-iron ingots and recy- Latin cross Term used to describe the plan type of
cled steel. Heating the molten mixture to a many Western Medieval churches shaped like a
temperature as high as 2,800° F drives off the cross, with a long nave, short north and south
carbon, reducing carbon content from a transepts, and short chancel or chevet.
range of 2.1 percent down to 0.002 percent; leaded glass Small glass panes, most of them clear but
this process also removes phosphorus, silicon, often colored too, forming a geometric or foliate
aluminum, and other deleterious elements. pattern, held in place by channels of lead sol-
For special types of steel, small amounts of dered together.
other elements such as nickel, chromium, lierne (French) A subordinate, often purely decorative,
manganese, and molybdenum are added to rib that connects a principal rib to a tierceron.
the molten mass. Stainless steel, for example, lintel (Middle English, from Old French and Latin
may have from 4 to 10.5 percent chromium limes, “boundary” or “threshold”) A beam used
and nickel. Although steel had been made to carry a load over an opening or to span be-
for centuries, the process was difficult and tween two columns.
yielded very small quantities. In the 1850s loggia (Italian, from French loge, “small house,”
large-scale commercial smelting processes “hut”) A covered but open gallery, often in the
were developed by Henry Bessemer in En- upper part of a building; also, a covered passage-
gland and William Kelly in the United way, often with an open trellis roof, connecting
States, followed by the Siemens-Martin two buildings.
open-hearth process in the 1860s. By the lunette (from Old French and Latin luna, “moon”) A
1890s, steel was the major ferrous metal semicircular or crescent-shaped area, often
being produced and true wrought iron essen- opened with a semicircular window.
tially gradually ceased to be used for archi- machicolation (from Old French macher, “to crush,”
tectural structures. Usually malleable, steel plus col, “neck”) In medieval castles, a projecting
possesses good tensile strength, especially gallery at the top of the castle wall, supported by
when rolled into shaped forms (I beams, H corbeled arches, with openings in the floor
columns, angles, etc.) for structural use. De- through which stones or boiling oil could be
pending on the alloy composition, the melt- dropped on attackers below.
ing point of steel is 2,600 to 2,800° F (1,425 mansard roof (from François Mansart, French Baroque
to 1,540° C). architect, 1598–1666, who employed this roof
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Glossary 719

form extensively) A roof with two slopes on each molding Any carved or modeled band either integral
of its four sides, a very steep and nearly vertical to the fabric of a wall or applied to it. In British
slope on the outside and a gentle, nearly flat slope usage, moulding.
on the top; the steeper outer roof slope may be monitor A form of lantern atop a roof, used to admit
flat, convex, or concave in profile. light to the space below, but wider and usually
martyrium (from Latin and Greek martus, “witness”) square in plan.
A site where events in the life of Christ or an monolithic (from Greek monos, “single,” plus lithos,
apostle occurred, or where the relics of a Chris- “stone”) Made from a single stone.
tian martyr were deposited; also often used to mortar (from Middle English morter, from Latin mor-
identify the building (usually centrally planned) tarium) A mixture of lime with sand and water
constructed over such a spot. used as a bed for setting stones in masonry walls.
mass In architecture, term used to describe the sense In medieval buildings, the lime mortar required
of bulk, density, and weight of architectural oxygen to set properly; modern mortar is made
forms. with Portland cement instead of lime and cures
mastaba or mastabah (from Arabic mastabah, “bench”) without the presence of external oxygen.
Term used to identify ancient Egyptian tombs with mortise and tenon One of the basic wood joining
flat tops and battered sides, built over subter- methods; one member is cut with a rectangular
ranean burial chambers. or square hole (mortise) to receive the other
megalith (from Greek megas, “big,” plus lithos, member, cut with a rectangular or square tongue
“stone”) A stone of great size, moved in prehis- (tenon).
toric times by teams of builders. Megalithic is used mosaic (from Greek mouseios, “of the Muses”) A wall
to describe prehistoric structures. or floor covering made of small cubes (tesserae)
megaron (from Greek megas, “great”) The principal of colored stone or glass, often laid out to form a
reception room of a Mycenaean residence or figural image.
palace; rectangular in plan, with a central hearth, motte (from Middle English and Old French mote,
and entered through a porch with two columns “mound”) A steep mound of earth surrounded
in antis. by a ditch and surmounted by a timber stockade.
melon dome. (See dome.) mullion (from Middle English moniel, from Latin me-
menhir (from Celtic and Breton men, “stone,” plus dianus, “median”) Originally the large vertical
hir, “long”) A prehistoric monument, a megalith, stone divider in medieval windows; later the ver-
consisting of a large single upright stone; some- tical supports in glazed windows; often now any
times set in long parallel rows. support strip, vertical or horizontal, in a glazed
metope (Greek meta, “between,” plus ope, “opening”) window.
In the Classical Doric order, a square stone panel muntin (from French montant, derived from verb “to
placed between the beam ends covered by rise”) In windows, the thin bar used to hold glass
triglyph panels; the metope panel was embel- panes in place; in paneled doors, the vertical cen-
lished with narrative figural sculpture. tral member used to hold the panels in place.
moat (from Middle English and Old French mote, naos (Greek) The enclosed inner chamber of an an-
“mound”) A wide, deep ditch, either dry or filled cient Greek temple.
with water, used for defense purposes. (See also narthex (from Greek narthex, “box”) A vestibule or
motte.) entry lobby in an Early Christian church.
modillion (from French and Italian modiglione, from nave (from medieval Latin navis, “ship”) In a Roman
Latin mutulus, from an Etruscan root meaning “to basilica, the taller central space lit by clerestory
stand out”) A small curved and ornamented windows; in a Christian church, the taller space
bracket used to support the upper part of the cor- in the western arm, lit by clerestory windows.
nice in the Corinthian order; any such small Neoclassicism Beginning in the late eighteenth cen-
curved ornamented bracket used in series. tury, the intentional reproduction of Classical
module (from Latin modulus, diminutive of modus, Greek or Roman buildings in their entirety or in
“measure”) A unit of measurement governing selected details such as orders from specific an-
the proportions of a building. In Classical archi- cient buildings.
tecture, the module was either the diameter or niche (from Old French nichier, “to nest”) A recess
half the diameter of the column at the base of or hollow in a wall, often meant to contain a
the shaft. In modern architecture, the module is statue.
any unit of measurement devised by the archi- non-load-bearing wall A wall that carries no struc-
tect, usually to facilitate prefabrication. tural load from above, but is typically attached
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720 Glossary

to some sort of internal structural frame. Also nine times as high as its diameter; it has a
called a curtain wall. base, twenty-four flutes, and a much more
nymphaeum (from Greek numphe, a female spirit of elaborate capital, consisting of a decorative
woodland and water) A Classical building or band and a circular egg-and-dart molding on
room, decorated with plants and fountains, often which rests the distinctive volute; the volute
located in a garden and intended as a place for in turn supports a thin, flat abacus. The Ionic
relaxation. entablature is about one-fifth the height of
obelisk (from Old French obelisque, from Greek the column.
obeliskos, “spit or pointed pillar”) A tall, narrow 3. The Corinthian order (see 3.17), the most at-
square shaft, tapering and ending in a pyramidal tenuated and richly embellished, was the least
point. used by the Greeks. It is about ten times as
octastyle (from Greek okta, “eight,” plus stulos, “col- high as its diameter, rising from a base, with
umn”) Having eight columns; used to describe twenty-four flutes (but sometimes unfluted,
Classical temples according to the number of as with the Corinthian columns of the Pan-
columns across the short side. theon, Rome) and a tall capital consisting of
oculus (Latin, “eye”) A round window in a wall or at a band from which spread upward three or
the apex of a dome. four layers of curling acanthus leaves ending
ogee (alteration of Old French augive) A double or in tight volutes in the four corners and sup-
reverse S-shaped curve. porting a concave abacus. The Corinthian
ogive (from Old French augive) A diagonal rib in a entablature is about one-fifth the height of
Gothic vault; a pointed arch. the column.
opus incertum Roman concrete faced with irregularly 4. The Roman Doric order is much slimmer
shaped stones. than the Greek prototype, being nearly as
opus quadratum Roman masonry of squared stones. slender as the Ionic order, and, like it, fluted;
opus reticulatum Roman concrete faced with small moreover, it has a short base. Derived from
pyramidal stones with their points embedded in this is the thicker Roman Tuscan Doric
the wall and laid on the diagonal, forming a net- order, which has a base and an unfluted shaft
like pattern. and is about seven times as high as its diam-
opus sectile In Roman architecture, a wall or floor eter; its capital is similar to that of the Greek
covering of stone laid out in a geometric pattern. original but more strongly articulated.
order (from Old French ordre, from Latin ordo, “line” 5. The Composite order was formed by the Ro-
or “row,” possibly from Greek arariskein, “to fit mans by combining the Ionic and Corinthian
together”) Any of the several types of Classical orders, and placing volutes atop acanthus
columns, including pedestal bases and entabla- leaves; this is the most sculpturally elaborate
tures. The Greeks developed three orders, the of all the orders.
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, of which the Ro- oriel (from Middle English and medieval Latin ori-
mans adopted the latter two and added Tuscan olum, “porch”) A projecting bay window, sup-
Doric and the Composite, merging the features ported from below by a corbel or bracket.
of Ionic and Corinthian (see 3.13). palace (from Old French palais, from Latin palatium,
1. The Greek Doric (see 3.15), developed in the Palatine Hill, the site of the residence of the
the western Dorian region of Greece, is the Roman emperors) The official residence of a
heaviest and most massive of the orders. It royal person or high dignitary; hence, any splen-
rises from the stylobate platform without any did or elaborate residence.
base; it is from four to six times as tall as its palazzo (Italian) An urban residence, often includ-
diameter; it has twenty broad flutes; the cap- ing family business quarters as well as facilities
ital consists simply of a banded necking for the extended family and retainers.
swelling out into a smooth echinus, which palisade (French palissade, from Latin palus, “stake”)
carries a flat square abacus; the Doric entab- A fence of stakes forming a defense barrier.
lature is also the heaviest, being about one- Palladian motif (from Andrea Palladio, 1508–1580,
fourth the height column. The Greek Doric who employed this device frequently) A window
order was not used after c. 100 BCE until its or door with three openings, the center wider
“rediscovery” in the mid-eighteenth century. opening having a semicircular arch springing from
2. The Ionic order (see 3.16) was developed the entablature of narrow flanking bays. Since it
along the west coast of what is now Turkey, was illustrated in a treatise of 1537 by Sebastiano
once Ionian Greece. It is generally about Serlio, this motif has also been called a Serliana.
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Glossary 721

parapet (from French, from Italian parapetto, parare, with a hard “tz”). In eighteenth-century England
to shield) A low protective wall at the edge of a and in its colonies, the term acquired a special-
roof, balcony, or other elevated platform. ized meaning (pronounced with a soft “sz”), re-
parti (from French, from prendre parti, “to make a de- ferring to broad residential porches or verandahs.
cision”) A basic compositional scheme for a picturesque (early-eighteenth-century term, from
building plan or group of buildings. Emphasis on French pittoresque, from Italian pittoresco, from
a clear, rational parti was a cornerstone of the in- pittore, “painter,” from Latin pictor. Essentially,
struction of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, dur- “like a painting”) A term defined in the eigh-
ing the nineteenth century. teenth century to describe landscapes or other
pavilion (from Old English pavilon, from Latin papilio, designs characterized by ruggedness, irregularity,
“butterfly,” perhaps because of the resemblance of asymmetry, and a variety of textures and forms.
ornamental tents to butterfly wings) Originally a pier (Middle English per, from Latin pera) A solid
tent, especially an elaborately ornamented shelter; support, often rectangular or square in plan and
later, any portion of a building projected forward thick relative to its height.
and otherwise set apart, or even a separate struc- pilaster (Old French pilastre, from Latin pila, “pillar”)
ture. Much favored in French Renaissance and es- In Classical architecture, a flat protrusion from a
pecially Baroque architecture, and later in Second wall, with ornamental elements corresponding to
Empire Baroque architecture, 1850–1890. one of the Classical orders and having the same
pediment (from a variation of obsolete English, pere- proportions.
ment, perhaps from pyramid) Originally the trian- piles, piling (from Middle English and Latin pilum,
gular gable above the entablature of Greek and “spear”) Heavy wooden timbers or shafts of
Roman temples, enclosed by the horizontal cor- metal or concrete driven into the earth as a sup-
nice of the entablature and raking cornices fol- port for a foundation. Groups of piles may be
lowing the edges of the roof; later, any such driven in a close pattern to support either a
cornice-framed embellishment over a door or spread or raft foundation.
window, either triangular, segmental, broken, or pillar (from Middle English and Latin pila, “pillar”)
consisting of curved broken cornices ending in A freestanding support or column.
volutes. pilotis (French, “stilt”) An extremely thin vertical
pendentive (from French pendentif, from Latin pen- support; used by Le Corbusier to lift his buildings
dens, “hanging”) A curved triangular element free of the ground.
that effects the change from the circular base of place (French) An open public space in a French town.
a dome down to a square plan below; first em- plaza (Spanish, from Latin platea, “broad street”) A
ployed extensively in Byzantine architecture (ex- broad street or an open public space in a Spanish
ample: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey). town.
peripteral (from Greek peri, “around,” plus pteron, plinth (from Greek plinthos, “tile”) Specifically, in
“wing”) Used to designate temples with a single Classical architecture the square slab forming the
row of columns all around. bottom element of a column base; by extension,
peristyle (from Greek peri, “around,” plus stulos, “col- any platform-like base for a building.
umn”) A colonnade surrounding a building, or a polis (Greek) An ancient Greek city-state.
court completely enclosed by an encircling polychromy (from Greek polus, “many,” plus khroma,
colonnade. “color”) In architecture, the use of many building
perpendicular Relating to Gothic architecture, a term materials of contrasting colors.
used to identify the phase of Late Gothic archi- porch (from Middle English porche, from Latin porta,
tecture in England, c. 1330 to c. 1580, charac- “gate”) A covered or roofed entrance to a build-
terized by multiple and emphasized vertical ing, often employing columns to support the roof.
elements. (See also portico.)
piano nobile (from Italian, figuratively “the noble portal (from Latin porta, “gate”) An entrance to a
level”) In a European building, the main living building or enclosure, particularly one that is
level with reception and state rooms, usually the imposing.
first floor above ground level. porte cochère (from French, “coach door”) A covered
piazza (Italian) A public square in an Italian town. area, attached to a house, providing shelter for
From Italian and from Latin plata, “street,” de- those alighting from carriages.
rived from Greek plateia (hodos), “broad” (way), portico (from Latin porticus and porta, “gate”) A cov-
feminine form of platus, “broad.” In Italy, a broad ered entrance, often using Classical columns to
open urban space or square (and pronounced support a pediment or other roof.
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722 Glossary

Portland cement A binding cement made of burned the opening; the tympanum area directly over
pulverized selected limestone and clay, so the window may be filled with brick or other ma-
called because the finished concrete closely re- terial to maintain the rectilinear form of the win-
sembled the high-quality limestone from Port- dow. Brick relieving arches were used in Roman
land, England. concrete work to focus structural forces onto
post and lintel Term used to describe a generic struc- piers, as can be seen on the outside of the Pan-
tural type in which upright columns support hor- theon, Rome.
izontal beams; the structure may be stone, wood, revetment (from Old French revestir, “to reclothe”)
or iron and steel. A wall facing or veneer consisting of panels of
propylaia (from Greek pro, “before,” plus pule, “gate”) stone, marble, metal, or other material.
An entrance gateway; refers to entrance gate- rib A slender arch used in the construction of
ways to Greek temple enclosures. Gothic rib vaults. The principal ribs are the
propylon An entrance gateway, but especially the transverse ribs that run across the nave from pier
large freestanding monumental entrances to to pier, the diagonal ribs that cross over the nave
Egyptian temples. (See also propylaia.) and intersect at the center boss, and the ridge
prostyle (from Greek pro, “in front,” plus stulos, “col- ribs that extend lengthwise and crosswise from
umn”) Referring to a type of temple with a por- the boss along the length of the nave and from
tico of columns running across the front (or the side wall to side wall. The secondary ribs and
rear, as well) but not along the sides. more decorative ribs, used in later English and
pylon (from Greek pule, “gate”) The large, imposing German Gothic architecture, are tierceron ribs,
entrance to an Egyptian temple. which extend from the wall piers to the longitu-
quarry-faced ashlar masonry Masonry built of stone dinal ridge rib; and lierne ribs, which extend from
blocks whose outer faces are left rough and irreg- the center boss to the side walls, or from diagonal
ular, much as they come from the quarry. ribs to other lierne ribs. See 3.30 (p. 52).
quincunx plan (from Latin quinque, “five,” plus uncia, rib vault The medieval variation on the tunnel vault
“twelfth,” or “five-twelfths”) A Byzantine cen- in which the vault surface was divided into mem-
tralized church plan of nine bays in which the branes or webs separated by arch ribs. The ribs
central bay and the corner bays are domed. (See of a bay were built first, forming a skeleton, and
also cross-in-square plan.) the webs then filled in.
quoin (from Old French coing, “wedge”) Originally rinceau (from Middle French rainsel, “branch”) Or-
the structural use of large masonry blocks to re- namental work, often low relief sculpture, con-
inforce the corner of a brick or other masonry sisting of curvilinear intertwining leaves and
wall; but often used as a decorative embellish- branches.
ment in non-load-bearing materials. rosette Stylized circular floral ornament in the form
radiating chapel One of a group of chapels in a Gothic of an open rose.
church arranged around the curved ambulatory round-point (French for “round point”) In French
of the chancel or chevet and seeming to radiate Baroque landscape design and town planning, a
out from the choir. circular plaza on which streets converge.
raft foundation A foundation type developed in Chi- rusticated, rustication (from Latin rusticus, “of the
cago in the early 1880s in which beams of either country, rude, coarse”) Refers to the treatment
wood or steel are laid crosswise over piles and en- of stone masonry with the joints between the
cased in concrete to form a wide but shallow pad blocks deeply cut back; the principal surfaces of
or platform for the base of a structural pier or col- the blocks may be smoothly dressed, textured, or
umn. (See also spread foundation.) extremely rough (quarry-faced).
random ashlar masonry Masonry of cut and finished sacristy A room in a church housing sacred vessels
stones but in which there are no continuous hor- and vestments; also called vestry.
izontal joints; instead, the stones vary in size sanctuary (from Latin sanctus, “holy”) A sacred
vertically. place, such as a church, temple, or mosque, but
refectory (from Latin reficere, “to refresh”) In a especially the most holy part of that place; in a
monastery, a room where meals are served. Christian church, the altar and the area imme-
reinforced concrete (See concrete.) diately around the altar.
relieving arch (also discharging arch) In a masonry, but sash (from French chassis, “frame”) The frame in
particularly in a brick wall, an arch built into the which glass windowpanes are set.
wall over an opening such as a window or door scenae frons (from Latin and Greek skene, “scene,”
to direct the weight of the wall above away from plus frons, “facade”) In a Roman theater, the
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Glossary 723

richly embellished wall rising behind the stage Spread foundations can be extended in a line for
area. wall loads. (See also raft foundation.)
section (from Latin sectio, “act of cutting”) In archi- spring line The imaginary line from which an arch
tecture, a drawing showing a slice through a springs or starts to curve.
building, either lengthwise (longitudinal section) spur wall A short wall extending out from a main
or crosswise (cross section), with all horizontal wall.
and vertical lines shown at their full length as in square In architectural planning, an open public
an elevation drawing. In detailed section draw- space in a town, usually surrounded by buildings.
ings the interior is drawn in elevation. steel. (See iron.)
serdab In ancient Egyptian architecture, a closed steeple (from Middle English stepel, from Old English
chamber meant to contain a statue. stepel, related to Old English steap, “high, steep”)
Serliana. (See Palladian motif.) A tall, comparatively thin tower-like building
segmental Referring to a segment of a circle, used to form made up of stacked diminishing compo-
describe an arch that is not a full semicircle, and nents, often culminating in a spire.
also to a pediment, which has a partial circular stele (Greek, “pillar”) An upright stone slab, usually
curved upper part instead of a triangular peak. bearing an engraved inscription and figural relief
setback A recessed upper section of a building; used carving, placed to mark a grave or as a votive
in New York and Chicago skyscrapers of the offering.
1920s as a way of admitting more light and air to stereobate (from Greek sterebates, “solid base”) The
the streets below. total substructure or base of a classical building;
shaft (from Old English scheaft) The main part of a in a columnar building, the top or upper-most
column, between the base and the capital; also level is called the stylobate. Stereobate and plinth
the main part of a pier. (See also order.) are often considered roughly synonymous.
sill course A horizontal course of brick or stone in a stoa (Greek, “porch”) In Classical Greek architec-
masonry wall, usually placed at the window sill ture, a long roofed portico open along one long
level, differentiated from the rest of the masonry, side, most often facing out onto the agora.
often projecting. stringcourse. (See belt course.)
skeleton frame. (See skyscraper construction.) stucco (Italian) An exterior plaster finish similar to
skyscraper construction The method of construction mortar and mixed of lime cement (now Portland
developed in Chicago in which all building loads cement) and sand.
are transmitted to a ferrous metal skeleton, so stylobate (from Greek, stylobates, “column foundation
that any external masonry is simply a protective or base”) The upper layer of the stereobate upon
cladding. (See also curtain wall.) which the columns rest. (See also stereobate.)
soffit (from French soffite or Italian soffitto, based on temenos (Greek) The sacred enclosure around a
Latin suffixus “fastened below”) The exposed flat temple site.
under-surface of any overhead building compo- temple front In Neoclassical architecture, a decorative
nent, whether of an arch, eave, cornice, balcony, facade treatment consisting of columns carrying
beam, or lintel. a pediment and resembling a Classical temple.
space frame A form of truss, made of relatively short tenon (late Middle English, from Old French tenir,
wooden or metal pieces, that extends in three di- from Latin tenere, “to hold”) A tongue-like pro-
mensions and can be supported at virtually any jection carved or cut at the end of a beam or post,
of the points where the members are joined. meant to fit into a matching mortise recess in a
spandrel (from Middle English spaundrell, from Latin girt, sill, or upper plate in a heavy timber frame.
expandere, “to spread out”) In arcuated struc- tension (from Old French and Latin tendere, “to
tures, the wall area between the adjacent arches stretch”) In architecture, a force that tends to
and an imaginary line drawn across their tops; in stretch and pull apart.
curtain wall structures, the panel between struc- terra cotta (Italian terra, “earth,” plus cotta, “baked”)
tural columns. A thick clay material, mixed with crushed baked
spire (from Old English spir) In architecture, an clay, molded and fired; used as a floor, wall, and
elongated, tapering structure that comes to a roof covering.
point. tetrastyle (from Greek tetra, “four,” plus stulos, “col-
spread foundation For a column or pier load, a foun- umn”) A portico of four columns.
dation built like a broad pyramid to spread the thrust (Middle English, from Old Norse thrýsta, per-
weight over a large area. In soft soils, a spread haps related to Latin trudere, “to thrust”) In ar-
foundation may be built over a cluster of piles. chitecture, an outward, oblique, or downward
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724 Glossary

force generated by gravity, wind pressure, or both the intersection of two tunnel vaults at right an-
working together. gles; an annular vault that results when a tunnel
torsion (from Latin torsus, “twisted”) A force that vault is curved into a circle; or a rib vault.
tends to twist; often a problem in large modern veranda, verandah (from Hindi varanda, which is
skyscrapers due to wind pressure. partly from Portuguese varanda, akin to Spanish
trabeated (from Latin trabs, “beam”) Used to describe baranda, “railing”) An extensive open gallery or
a structure consisting of posts and beams, or hav- porch.
ing a frame, in contrast to arcuated. vermiculated, vermiculation (from Latin, vermiculatus,
tracery (from Old French trait, “strap”) Ornamental past participle of vermiculari, “to be full of worms”)
design of interlaced lines or straps, particularly Referring to a decorative carved treatment of
the thin stone interlaces of Gothic windows. stone whose rough surface resembles wood tun-
transept (from Latin trans, “through,” plus saeptum, neled through and eaten by worms (see 15.40).
“partition”) Either of the two lateral arms in a vestibule (Latin vestibulum) A lobby or entrance hall.
Latin cross-plan church. viaduct (from Latin via, “road,” plus ductus, past par-
triforium (origin unknown) In a Gothic church, a ticiple of verb “to lead”) A raised series of arches
narrow arcaded passage between the arcade of carrying a roadway.
the side aisles and the clerestory windows; cor- villa (Italian from Latin) A country house, with as-
responds to the shed roof over the side aisles. sociated outbuildings. In Italy, a villa rustica was
triglyph (Greek treis, “three,” plus gluphe, “carving”) a working farm, whereas a villa urbana was pri-
In the frieze area of the Classical Doric order, the marily intended for recreational purposes.
stone panel cut with three grooves originally used volume (from Latin volvere, “to roll”) In architecture,
to protect the open-grain end of wooden beams. the amount of space contained within a three-
tripartite organization A method of organizing the dimensional enclosure.
large mass of tall skyscrapers, associated with volute (from Latin voluta, “that which is rolled”) A
McKim, Mead & White, Daniel Burnham, Ho- spiral ornament or whorl, best represented in the
labird & Roche, and Louis Sullivan, with a dis- Classical Ionic capital.
tinct base section, a tall mid-section of repeated voussoir (from Old French vossoir, ultimately from
identical floors, and a distinct terminating top Latin volvere, “to roll”) Any of the wedge-shaped
section. blocks that make up an arch or a vault.
truss (from Middle English trusse, from Old French wattle and daub (wattle, a woven lattice of wood
trousser, “to secure tightly”) In architecture, a sticks, plus daub, from Middle English and Old
rigid frame, constructed of timbers or metal French dauber) A rough form of construction in
pieces forming triangular units; this rigid struc- which a woven basketwork of split wood or twigs
ture cannot be deflected without deforming one is coated with mud or adobe plaster; typically em-
of its component members. ployed to fill the spaces between framing
turret, tourelle (from Old French tourete, diminutive members.
for “tower”) A small tower, sometimes corbeled westwork The elaborated western end of Carolingian
out from the corner of a building. and German Romanesque churches, which con-
tympanum (Latin, from Greek tumpanon, “drum”) sisted of western transept arms and towers, a low
The triangular space enclosed between the entrance hall, and an upper room open to the
entablature and the moldings of a Classical ped- nave (example: Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim,
iment; the panel enclosed between a lintel and Germany).
an arch rising above it. wrought iron. (See iron.)
vault (Middle English vaute, from Latin volvere, “to ziggurat (from Assyrian zigguratu, “summit,” “moun-
roll”) A curved or arched masonry (or concrete) taintop”) A temple-tower of multiple stepped-
roof such as a tunnel or barrel vault that has the back stages built by the Babylonians and
shape of a half-cylinder; a groin vault formed by Assyrians.
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Index

Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.

Aalto, Alvar: on austerity of Aedicule frames, 394, 420, 507 Allegheny County Courthouse
Modernism, 587; function AEG Turbine Factory (Berlin), 22, (Pittsburgh), 541, 541
and, 26, 26; Postmodernism 23, 572, 572–573 Almerico, Paolo, 391
and, 585 African architecture, 549–555 Alphand, Jean-Charles-Adolphe,
Aalto, Alvar, buildings of: Baker Age of Enlightenment, architecture 529, 530
House, MIT (Cambridge, of. See Modernism, origins of Altes Museum (Berlin), 507–508,
Massachusetts), 82, 82, 587, Agora, 226, 228, 231 507–509, 566, 587, 626
590; Mount Angel Abbey Agricultural revolution, 463–464 Amalienburg Pavilion
Library (Oregon), 105, 587, ‘Ain Ghazal (Jordan), 185 (Nymphenburg, Germany), 92,
590–592 Air conditioning, 117, 121, 124, 448–449, 450
Abercrombie, Stanley, 22, 607 126, 127 Ambasz, Emilio, 663, 663
Abraxas Apartment Complex Ai Weiwei, 657, 658 American architecture: academic
(Marne-la-Vallée, France), Akbar, 312 eclecticism of, 540–546;
653, 654 Akhetaten (Egypt), 212, 214 architectural education and,
Abu Hureyra (Syria), 184–185 Akkadian period, 189 148–149; eighteenth century
Academic Classicism, 612 Akropolis (Athens), 42, 226, 228, architects, 148; Henry Hobson
Academic Eclecticism, 537–546, 612 229, 234–240, 235–239 Richardson, 149, 540–541,
Acoustical function, 22 Akropolis Palace (Tiryns, Greece), 541–542; industry and urban
Acoustics, 103–115; Disney Concert 222, 223 growth in, 525; nineteenth
Hall (Los Angeles), 643; Alberti, Leon Battista, 141–142, 144, century architects, 148–149;
echoes, 104–105; kinetic 367, 368; on beauty, 373; on planned communities,
energy in sound, 103; musical Brunelleschi’s dome, 370–371; 530–531, 652–653; Richard
developments, 107–110; circle and centralized plans Morris Hunt, 149; Shingle
open-air theaters, 106; opera and, 377; De re aedificatoria, Style, 535, 626; Thomas
houses, 111, 113; ornament 400; error of, 466–467; Jefferson influencing, 489–491.
serving, 93–94; Renaissance influence on Vignola, 417, See also Postmodernism;
theaters, 106–107; scientific 418; Latin cross churches of, Wright, Frank Lloyd
measurements of, 103–104; 379–381, 379–383; setting American Center for Paris (Paris),
symphony halls, 111–115, standard of architecture, 144 642, 642
112–114 Alberti, Leon Battista, buildings of: American Society of Landscape
ACROS Fukuoka building (Fukuoka Palazzo Rucellai (Florence), Architects, 662
City, Japan), 663, 663 388, 390; San Francesco Americas, ancient architecture in
Active solar heating system, 121 (Rimini), 379, 379–380; the, 409–413
Adam, Robert, 465, 469 Santa Maria Novella Amon, temple of (Karnak), 207–212,
Adjaye, David, 554 (Florence), 380, 381, 418; 210, 212–213
Adler, Dankmar, 111, 543 Sant’ Andrea (Mantua), Amon (and Amon-Ra), 197, 198,
Adler & Sullivan, 20, 94, 111, 149, 380–381, 382–383, 417 199, 207
535, 541–543 Albion Grain Mill (London), 493 Amphitheaters, Roman, 266, 268, 269
Adobe construction, 38–39, 117–120, Aldo Leopold Legacy Center Anasazi people (southwestern
119, 151; African architecture (Baraboo, Wisconsin), 659 United States), 118, 118
and, 548, 549, 550, 552, 552, Alexander the Great, 192, 211, 217, Anastasis Dome, 292
555; Egyptian architecture and, 244, 275 Anathyrosis, 242
198–199, 200; Mesopotamian Alhambra Palace (Granada, Spain), Ando, Tadao, 619–620
architecture and, 189 311, 311, 401, 403, 403 Andraut, Michel, 553

725
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726 Index

Andreu, Paul, 658 Architettura civile (Guarini), 431 Avery Fisher Hall (New York City),
Anechoic chambers, 103–104 Architrave, 42, 43 94, 95, 104, 114–115
Angkor Wat (Cambodia), 274, Arcutated structure, 47 Awkwright, Richard, 492
276–277, 278 Arete, 225, 232, 243, 368 Axial plans: Roman, 252–253; Sant’
Animals/nature, 1, 2 Argentarius, Julianus, 289 Andrea al Quirinale, 422–423,
Anthemios of Tralles, 51, 138–139, Aristotle, 22, 143, 224, 225, 226, 425; Versailles, 435
297, 298 244, 342, 367 Azagury, Elie, 553
The Antiquities of Athens (Stuart & Art, Neoclassicism displaying works Aztec people (Mexico), 409, 410,
Revett), 468, 469 of, 506–508, 506–509 411, 412–413
Apollo, temples of, 225, 244, 245, 247 Art and architectural history,
Apollodorus of Damascus, 256, 260 emergence of, 466–469 Babylonian period, 191
Appiani, Guiseppe, 414 Art and Architecture Building Bach, Johann Sebastian, 110
Aqua (Chicago, Illinois), 643–644 (Yale University), 83, 83–84, Badran, Rasem, 649
Aquae Sulis (Bath, England), 271 85, 605 Baha’ al-Din, Shakh, 122
Aqueducts, 46, 47, 252 “The Art and Craft of the Machine” Bai Juyi, 460
Aquinas, Thomas, 342 (Wright), 535 Bailey, 317, 319, 319
The Arab House in the Urban Setting Art Nouveau, 505, 560–561, 571 Baker, Herbert, 553
(Fathy), 649 Arts and Crafts Movement, 531, Baker House (Massachusetts
Arcades, 46, 46, 47 532–534, 533–534; Art Institute of Technology), 82,
Arches, 39; domes, 48–53, 49–51; Nouveau as, 560–561; Frank 82, 587, 590
examples of, 46–47; overview, Lloyd Wright and, 535 Balcony House (Mesa Verde,
46; vaults, 47–48, 48 Arup, Ove, 602, 647 Colorado), 42
Archigram group/archigramists, 609, Asam, Damian Cosmas, 421, 424 Balloon frame, 44, 45
633, 664 Asam, Egid Quirin, 421, 424 Balter, Michael, 185
Architects, 21, 135–151; client, Ashbee, C. R., 535 Baltimore Cathedral (Maryland),
builders, and, 21–22; defined, Asia, megastructures of later 20th 148, 150, 491
136; educating English and century, 633, 636 Banham, Reyner, 603, 605, 626
United States, 148–149; Aspdin, Joseph, 50 Bank of England (London), 148, 149
Egyptian, 135, 137; first plans Aspendos, theater at (Turkey), 106 Banqueting Hall, Palace at Whitehall
of, 135–136, 137; Greek, 136; Asplund, Gunnar, 564 (London), 404, 405
international, 639–640; Assembly Hall (University of Illinois, Baptisteries, 286, 287
medieval, 139–141; nineteenth Urbana-Champagne), 56, 57 Barbaro, Daniele, 144
century, 149–150; patrons and, Associational eclecticism, 491 Barberini, Maffeo, 424
135; Postmodern, 151; Assumption, Priory Church of Barlow, W. H., 523, 523
Renaissance, 141–147; role in the (Rohr, Germany), Baroque architecture: artifice of, 453;
construction, 149–150; during 421–422, 424 Bernini’s churches, 422–424,
Roman Empire, 136–139; Assyrian Empire, 191–192 425–427; Borromini’s churches,
schools for, 147–149, 537–538; Asukadera monastery (Nara, 424–429, 428–430; celebratory
social responsibility of, 150–151; Japan), 499 nature of, 416; color schemes
standards set by Alberti, 144; Athena Nike Temple. See Nike of, 90; criticism of, 415–416;
women as, 151. See also names temple (Acropolis, Athens) derivation of name, 416;
of specific architects Athena Parthenos, 240. See also emotional power of, 418–422;
Architectural Association (London), Parthenon (Athens) English, 438–439, 438–442,
151, 664 Athena Polias, temple of (Akropolis, 441–445; French, 434–438,
Architectural “revolution,” 470–472 Athens), 225, 238, 239, 240 435–437; Guarini’s churches,
Architectural statics, 470 Athena Promachos (statue), 238, 429–431, 431–432; overview,
Architecture: building vs., 1–4, 5; 238 415–416; Rococo ending,
defining, 1, 21; green, Athens, of ancient Greece, 225–226; 447–448; Roman, 272, 273;
658–667; invention of, 185; agora, 228, 231; topographic Roman churches, 417–418,
true economy and, 153–159; map of, 227 419–421; scale of, 431–434;
as unavoidable art, 1–5 AT&T Building (New York City), Second Empire, 516–517;
Architecture As Art (Abercrombie), 614–615, 615 senses and, 416–417; staircases,
607 Auditorium Theater (Chicago), 111 442–447, 446–447; ugliness
Architecture for the Poor (Fathy), 649 Augustus, 136, 256, 259, 264, 266, and, 91
The Architecture of America 272, 275 Barrel vaults, 47, 48
(Burchard & Bush-Brown), Australopithecus africanus, 166 Barrett, Nathan F., 530, 531
158–159 Austrian Travel Agency Barrière de la Villette (Paris), 471, 474
The Architecture of Malaysia (Vienna), 613 Barry, Charles, 13, 510, 511, 512
(Yeang), 664 Avenue of the Dead (Teotihuacán, Bartholomeusz, Noel, 649
The Architecture of the City Mexico), 410, 411 Bartning, Otto, 571
(Rossi), 610 Averlino, Antonio (aka Filarete), 372 Bartholdi, Auguste, 132
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Index 727

Bartolomeo, Michelozzo di, 83, 388 Bertoia, Harry, 593 Brunelleschi, Filippo, 141, 415;
Basilica of Maxentius (Rome), Bibi Kanun Mosque (Uzbekistan), 310 designing Palazzo de’ Medici,
47–48, 48, 259, 380 Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève 388; positive urban space and,
Basilica of Saint Peter’s (Rome), (Paris), 538–540, 538–540 16–17, 18; rationally ordered
27–28, 78, 78, 143, 288–289, Bicycle sheds, 2, 3 space and, 373–377; rhythm
288–289, 292, 317 Big Dipper, 70, 71 and, 79; Roman architecture
Basilicas: acoustics and, 107, 109; of Big Donut Shop (Los Angeles), and, 144
Constantine, 287–288; 4, 5 Brunelleschi, Filippo, buildings of:
defined, 287–288; early “Bilbao effect,” 643 Dome of Florence Cathedral,
Christian architecture and, Biomorphic architecture, 657–658 368–371, 369–370; Foundling
287–291, 288–289; imperial, Birkenhead Park (England), 527, 528 Hospital (Florence), 17, 22, 79,
254, 257–259, 288–289; Birkerts, Gunnar, 60, 60–61 365, 373, 374, 374; Pazzi
resembling form of the cross, Black Death, 350, 362–363, 367 Chapel (Florence), 377; Piazza
288; Romans using as legal Blaffer Trust (New Harmony, Annunziata (Florence), 17, 18;
court, 254, 257, 268 Indiana), 630, 632 Santo Spirito (Florence),
Basilica Ulpia (Rome), 257, 259, Blenheim Palace (England), 438–439, 374–375
260, 288 438–439, 485 Bruni, Leonardo, 367, 368
Bath (England), 478, 481 Blobitecture, 657–658 Brutalism, 553, 603–605
Baths, Roman, 256, 259, 268, Blois, Natalie de, 151 Buddhism, 276, 277–280; Chinese,
270–271, 283; of Caracalla, “Blue Sky” partnership, 646, 646 456; Japanese, 497–498,
155, 248, 270, 270–271, 546; Bofill, Ricardo, 613, 653, 654 499–503; temples, 277–279,
of Trajan, 268 Böhm, Dominicus, 571 279
Bauhaus principles, 90, 573–575 Böhn, Gotfried, 640 Builders, 21–22
Bauhaus school (Dessau, Germany), Boiler House (Illinois Institute of Building: in animal kingdom, 1, 2;
22, 573–575, 575–576 Technology, Chicago), 27, 27 architecture vs., 1–4, 5; new
Bawa, Geoffrey, 151, 649–652, 651 The Book of Tea (Kakuzo), 9, 503 types of, 505–506
Bearing capacity, 33–35, 35 Book of the Courtier (Castiglione), 367 Building materials, chemistry of,
Beauty, architectural, 21 Borromeo, Carlo, 417 131–133
Becket, Welton, 642 Borromini, Francesco, 82, 424–429, Buonarroti, Michelangelo. See
Behavioral space, 9, 11, 12 428–430 Michelangelo
Behrens, Peter, 22, 23, 571–573, 572, Boston City Hall, 71, 73 Burchard, John, 158–159
575, 578 Boston Public Library, 544, 545 Burckhardt, Jakob, 568
Beijing National Center for the Boston Symphony Hall, 111, 114 Burda Collection Museum
Performing Arts (China), 658 Botta, Mario, 612, 617–619, 639 (Baden-Baden, Germany), 628
Beinecke Rare Book Library Boucher, François, 466 Burgee, John, 613, 631
(Yale University), 78–79, 79 Bouffrand, Germain, 448, 449 Burj Khalifa (Dubai), 636, 638, 639
Bellori, Giovanni Pietro, 415 Bouguereau, Adolphe, 525 Burke, Edmund, 488
Belluschi, Pietro, 27, 28, 584 Boulée, Etienne-Louis, 471, 474 Burr truss, 53
Beman, Solon S., 530, 531 Bouleuterion (Greek), 230, 232, 232 Bush-Brown, Albert, 158–159
Ben-ben, 206 Boyle, Richard, 148, 465, 465–466 Butterfield, William, 91
Benedictine Abbey (Ottobeuren, Bradburn, J. H., 63 Byōdōin temple (Kyōto, Japan), 501
Germany), 449–450 Bramante, Donato, 142, 143, 144, Byzantine architecture, 50, 50–52,
Benedict of Nursia, 295, 323 379, 381–388, 385–387, 295–305, 296–300
Benscheidt, Carl, 573 415, 423
Bernhard, Karl, 572 Brancusi, Constantin, 1 Caesaropapism, 295
Bernini, Gian Lorenzo: Borromini Brandt, Carl, 111, 113 Calatrava, Santiago, 61, 633, 635,
and, 424, 426; modification of Breuer, Marcel, 157–158 639, 640, 641
centralized plan and, 422, Brice, German, 415–416 California Academy of Sciences,
422–424, 425–427; use of Bridges: cast-iron, 492–493, 493; green roof, 661–662, 662
light, 87 Pont du Gard Nimes, 46, 47; Calvin, John, 416, 417
Bernini, Gian Lorenzo, buildings of: suspension, 56, 58, 59 Cambiges, Martin, 350
Cornaro Chapel, 418–420, Brise soleils (sun breakers), 123, 582 Cambio, Arnolfo di, 368, 370
422, 594; Louvre (Paris), 145, Brooklyn Bridge (New York City), Campaniles, 12, 290
147; Piazza of St. Peter’s 59, 59 Campanile Tower of Pisa, 34–35, 36
(Rome), 423–424, 426–427; Brown, Lancelot “Capability,” 438 Campbell, Colin, 483
Santa Maria della Vittoria Bruchsal Palace staircase (Bruchsal, Campidoglio, 394, 396, 432
(Rome), 87, 418–420; Sant’ Germany), 444, 447 Canal City Hakata (Fukuoka,
Andrea al Quirinale (Rome), Brückwald, Otto, 111, 113 Japan), 616
422–423, 425; Scala Regia Bruges (Belgium) town hall and cloth Candela, Félix, 55–56, 56
staircase (Vatican Palace), 444 hall, 358–360, 362 Canonic Classicism, 612, 620–623
Bernoulli Principle, 62, 128, 131 Brunel, Marc, 492 Cantilevers, 40–41, 41
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728 Index

Capet, Louis, 342 Centrally planned churches, Christianity, early architecture,

Capitals: Corinthian, 43, 44; 377–379; modified, 422–424 285–293; Constantine’s
Doric, 43, 43; Ionic, 43, 44, 76 Central Park (New York City), churches and, 287–293,
Capitol Building (Washington, DC), 527–528, 528 288–294; map of Europe, 284;
27 Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), monasticism and, 295; music
Capitoline Hill (Rome), 394, 632, 635 and, 107–110; overview,
396, 432 Ceramic tile, 90 285–286; Roman Empire and,
Cappella della Santissima Sindone Chambers, William, 485, 486 283–285. See also Byzantine
(Turin), 431, 432 Chambord, Château de (France), architecture
Caprarola, Cola da, 364, 379 404–406, 405, 434 Churches: Baroque, 417–418,
Carceri (Piranesi), 488, 489 Chapels: Cappella della Santissima 419–421, 422–431, 425–432;
Carnac megaliths (Brittany, France), Sindone (Turin), 431, 432; Constantine’s, 287–293,
177, 177 collegiate, 593–594, 593–594; 288–294; early Christian,
Carolingian “Renaissance,” 315, Cornaro (Rome), 418–420, 285–286, 286; early
316–317 422, 594; Holy Shroud Modernistic, 465, 469–470,
Carrier, Wallis Haviland, 121 (Turin), 431, 432; Medici 471–473; German
Carrowmore megaliths (Ireland), 177 (Florence), 393, 394; Expressionism and, 571;
Carson (William M.) House (Eureka, Notre-Dame-du-Haut German Rococo, 450–453,
California), 92, 93 (Ronchamp, France), 87, 451–452; Gothic cathedrals,
Carter, Howard, 199 594–597, 596–598; Pazzi 342–355; Gothic revival, 512,
Cartuja (Granada, Spain), 92, (Florence), 377; Sainte-Chapelle 514–515; Justinian, 295–300,
418, 421 (Paris), 89, 89; Saint Stephen’s 296–299; Latin cross, 379–381,
Casa del Fascio (Como, Italy), (London), 509; Saint Thomas 379–383; pilgrimage, 328–331,
566, 567 Aquinas (Santa Paula, 331–334, 414, 416, 450–453,
Casa Milá (Barcelona, Spain), 558, California), 623; Santa Maria 451–452; Roman Baroque,
558–559 della Vittoria (Rome), 87, 417–418, 419–421;
Casinos (Las Vegas), 398 418–420; Sant’ Ivo della Romanesque, 326–337; use of
Castiglione, Baldassare, 367 Sapienze (Rome), 427–429, color in, 89; Wren’s plans for
Castillo, Bernal Díaz del, 413 430; Sistine (Rome), 385; London, 439–440, 441. See
Cast iron, 492–493 Woodland Cemetery also Cathedrals
Castles: early medieval, 317–319, (Sweden), 564–565, 565 Churchill, John, 438
317–319; impact of Crusades, Charlemagne, 315, 316, 317, 323 Churchill, Sarah, 485
319–323 Chartres cathedral, 71, 344 Churchill, Winston, 11, 12, 103
Çatalhöyük (Turkey), 183–185, 184 Châteaux: de Chambord, 404–406, Cicero, 136, 253, 263, 264, 367, 397
Catalonia (Spain), Gaudí designs 405, 434; de Maisons, 406, Cinema Impero (Eritrea), 553
and, 558, 558–559 406; de Vaux-le-Vicomte, Circles, in Renaissance design,
Catenary, 59 435, 435 372, 377
Cathedral of San Giovanni, 432 Chattra, 279–280, 456 Circulatory function, 22, 24–26
Cathedrals: Chartres, 71, 344; Chauvet Cave, 170 Circuses, 268, 271; of Domitian
defined, 288; Gothic (see Chevet, 347 (Rome), 268; Maximus
Gothic cathedrals); space and, Chicago: bearing capacity of soil, (Rome), 268
16. See also cathedrals by name 33–34, 35; growth of, 525. Cité de Refuge (Paris), 123, 125, 582
CATIA (computer-aided-three- See also buildings by name Cities: African, 554; Chinese,
dimensional-interactive Chicago City Hall, 661 456–458; Gothic architecture
application), 642, 643 Chicago Spire (Chicago, Illinois), and reemergence of, 338–341;
Cave paintings, 88 639, 640 Greek, 225–226;
Caves, 166, 168, 170–171 Chicago Tribune Tower, 93, 97, 565 Mesopotamian, 188; transition
Cave temples, 16, 17, 276 Chigi, Fabio, 424 from villages to, 182–185.
Caylus, Comte de, 512 Childe, V. Gordon, 183 See also Urban design;
Çayönü (Turkey), 185 Chinese architecture, 455–461; Urban planning
CCTV building (Beijing, China), 647 gardens, 460, 461; pagodas, Citrohan House model, 579, 581
Celer (architect), 263 454, 456, 485, 486; world’s City for Three Million, 579, 581
Cella, 252 tallest buildings and, 636 City Hall (Stockholm, Sweden), 563
Cement, 49–50 Chinese Pagoda, Kew Gardens Classical orders, 42–44, 43–44, 144
Cenotaph for Isaac Newton, 471, 474 (London), 485, 486 Classicism, Postmodernism: Academic
Center for the Visual Arts Chiswick House (London), 148, Classicism, 612; Canonic
(University of Toledo, Ohio), 465, 465 Classicism, 612, 620–623;
642–643 Choirs, in High Gothic cathedrals: in Fundamental Classicism, 612,
Centering, of arches, 46 England, 355; Saint-Pierre 619–620; Ironic Classicism,
Central America, ancient (Beauvais, France), 350, 352; 612, 613–615; Latent
architecture in, 409–413 size of, 347, 348 Classicism, 612, 617–619
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Clay tablets, architectural plans on, Contrasts (Pugin), 512, 513 Davis, Alexander Jackson, 148
136, 137 Cook, James, 652 Davis, Howard, 150
Clériseau, Charles-Louis, 490 Coop Himmelblau rooftop Davis, Robert, 653
Cliff Palace (Mesa Verde, Colorado), remodeling (Vienna), 646, 646 Dead spaces, 103
118, 118 Cordemoy, Jean-Louis de, 467 The Deanery (Sonning, England),
Closure, 70, 71 Corinthian order, 42, 43, 43–44, 534, 534, 562
Cloth hall (Bruges, Belgium), 234, 244 De architectura (Vitrivius), 400
360, 362 Cormont, Regnault de, 344 The Death and Life of Great American
Cluny, monastery at (Cluny, France), Cormont, Thomas de, 344, 354, 355 Cities (Jacob), 610
325–326, 327–328 Cornaro, Federico, 87, 418 deButts, John, 614
Coalbrookdale Bridge (Coalbrookdale, Cornaro Chapel (Rome), 418–420, Deconstructivism, 644–647
England), 493, 493 422, 594 “Deconstructivist Architecture”
Coast View of Delos with Aeneas Cornice, 42, 43, 43 (exhibit), 645
(Claude), 483 Corny, Emmanuel Héré de, 479, 481 Deir el-Medina (Egypt), 135, 215,
Cobb, Henry N., 131 Correa, Charles, 649 215–216
Coeur (Jacques) house of (Bourges, Cortona, Domenico da, 404, 405 Demographic revolution, 463–464
France), 357–358, 360–361 Cosquer Cave, 170 Denmark, national architecture in,
Coffers, 49 Cotton mills (Preston, England), 563–564
“Coke bottle” plan, 94 493, 494 Denver Art Museum, 554, 657, 659
Colbert, Jean Baptiste, 145 Country houses, English, 403–404 Denver International Airport,
Collegiate chapels, 593–594, Cours d’Architecture (D’Aviler), 415 63, 64
593–594 Courtonne, Jean, 448 De re aedificatoria (Alberti), 144, 373,
Collegiate Church of Sant’ Ivo della Cradle of Mankind World Heritage 394, 400
Sapienza (Rome), 427–429, 430 site, 554 Descartes, René, 568
Colonial governments, influence on Creative eclecticism, 516–521, Designing With Nature (Yeang), 664
African architecture, 553, 647 561–563; High Victorian Designs of Chinese Buildings
Colonnades, 566 Gothic, 517–521; Second (Chambers), 485
Color, 87–91 Empire Baroque, 516–517 d’Este, Ippolito, 398
Colosseum (Rome), 268, 269, 388 Creative Postmodern Traditionalism, De Stijl movement, 90
Colquhoun, Alan, 572 623–628 d’Eu, Geoffrey, 344
Column types, classical order, 42–44, Critical Regionalism, 558, 647–652 Deutscher Werkbund, 534, 572
43–44 Cro-Magnon dwellings, 169, Diagonal line, 72–73
Commerzbanc (Frankfurt, 169–170 Dickens, Charles, 527
Germany), 636 Cross-in-square church type, 300 Diderot, Denis, 416, 466, 507
Communication, architecture as, 165 Crown Hall (Illinois Institute of Dietrich, Joachim, 92
Communities, Postmodernism and, Technology), 24, 24 Diocletian, 251, 272, 273, 284, 287
652–655 Crystal Palace (London), 62–63, Diplomatic Reception Rooms
Complexity and Contradiction in 128–129, 521–522, 522, 531 (Washington, DC), 621, 622
Architecture (Venturi), 610–611 Cucuteni Tripolye settlement, 171 Directional space, 16
Composite order, 42, 43, 44, 621, 622 Cultural expression, structure as, Discourses (Rousseau), 485, 487
“Composition in Modern 66–67 Disegno, 144
Architecture” (Nowicki), The Culture of Building (Howard), 150 Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles,
585–586 Curia, 254 California), 643
Computer-aided design (CAD), 642, Curtis, W. J. R., 613 Doesburg, Theo van, 573, 629
643, 644, 657 Curtis, William, 603–604, 622 Dolmens, 179
Computer-aided-three-dimensional- Curved walls, 81–82, 82 Dolní-Věstonice huts, 169
interactive application Cuvilliés, François, 92, 448, 450 Dolphin Hotel (Lake Buena Vista,
(CATIA), 642, 643 Cyclopean masonry, 222 Florida), 615
Conant, Kenneth, 325 Domed cross church type, 300
Conceptual space, 9 Daisen-kofun tumulus tomb Domenig, Günther, 641, 641
Concrete: building shell forms, (Japan), 499 Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem),
54–56, 55–58; Roman use of, Dance, George, the Younger, 148 308, 309
49–50, 259; texture and, 82–83 Dano village school (Burkina Faso), Domes: acoustics and, 105–106;
Confucianism, 277, 455–458 554 Brunelleschi and, 368–371,
Constantina’s mausoleum, 292–293, Danziger, Louis and Dorothy, 642 377; Byzantine architecture,
293–294 Daoism, 277, 456, 503 297–301, 301–303; concrete
Constantine, 143, 251, 259, 273, Daphnis of Miletos, 244, 245 and, 49–50; geodesic, 54, 55;
283, 284–285; churches of, Darby, Abraham, 492–493, 493 overview of, 48–53; Pantheon
287–293, 288–294 D’Aviler, Augustin Charles, 415 (Rome), 48–50, 49; St. Paul’s
Constantinople, 363 da Vinci, Leonardo, 142, 144, 145, Cathedral (London), 442,
Continuity, 70, 71 371, 385, 401 443–445
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730 Index

Domestic architecture, 1, 2; African, Economy, architecture and true, Entablature: Doric, 42–43, 43; Ionic,
549–550; Arts and Crafts, 153–159 43, 43
532–534, 533–534; Chinese, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (Bernini), Entasis, 243, 491
458–460, 459; early medieval, 87, 420 Entwürf einer historischen Architecktur
317–319; Egyptian, 212–215, Effner, Joseph, 449–450 (Erlach), 468
214, 216; Gothic, 356–360, Egyptian architecture: architects, Environment, architecture as part of
360–361; Greek, 230, 231; 135, 137; Egyptian culture and, natural, 117–133, 658; air
house for river surveyor, 471, 196–198; Egyptian history and, conditioning and, 117, 121,
475; Japanese, 499, 502; Mario 187, 198–199; eternal nature 124, 126, 127; ancient
Botta house, 618; Roman, of, 217; funerary, 200, 200–206, architecture and, 117–121,
263–265, 263–266 202–205; indigenous, 648, 118–121; glass and sun,
Domus Aurea (Golden House), 648–649; landscape and, 122–123, 123; inappropriate
263–264, 268 194–196; of late period, materials and, 131, 131–132;
Dorians, 223 215–217, 216; map of ancient International Modernism and,
Doric garden pavilion (Hagley Park, Egypt, 195; Modernism and 607; overview of, 117; solar
England), 485, 485 revival of, 512–516; heat management, 117–126,
Doric order, 42–43, 43; Hellenistic Postmodern Critical 118–128; wind exposure,
architecture and, 244; Regionalism and, 648–649; 126–131, 129–130; work of
Parthenon and, 240; temples pyramids at Giza, 202–205, Le Corbusier, 116, 123,
and, 234, 235; use of color, 89 202–206; Temple of Amon 124, 125
Doshi, Balkrishna, 280–281, at Karnak, 207–212, 210, The Epic of Gilgamesh, 192, 194
649, 650 212–213; temples, 4–5, 89, Epidauros, theater at, 106, 232–234,
Douglas House (Harbor Spring, 207–212, 208, 210–213; tombs, 233
Michigan), 628, 629 206–207; villages and houses, Erechtheion, 238–239, 238–240, 244
Dougong system, 456 212–215, 214–216 Eridu, 188, 189
Dover Castle (England), 319, 320 Eiffel, Gustave, 132, 525, 526 Erlach, Johann Fischer von, 468
Downing, Andrew Jackson, 527 Eiffel Tower (Paris), 525, 526 Ermenonville (France), Temple
Drawings, 136–138, 137 8 Spruce Street (New York City), gardens, 487, 487
Drew, Jane, 553 643, 645 Essai sur l’architecture (Laugier),
Dromos, 236 Einstein Tower (Potsdam, Germany), 467, 467
Duany, Andres, 652–653, 653 74, 568–569, 570 Essay Concerning Human
Dubai Financial Market, 658 Eisenman, Peter, 628–630, 645–646 Understanding (Locke), 489
Dubai Performing Arts Center, 658 El Alamillo Bridge (Seville, Spain), Essentialist Classicism, 619–620
Dubois, Félix, 552 633 Ethiopian architecture, 551–552
Dulles International Airport Elevation drawings, 136–137 Europe: expressing nineteenth
Terminal (Washington, DC), Elias of Dereham, 314 century nationalism, 563–566;
59–60, 60, 598 El Kahun (Egypt), 196, 197 industry and urban growth in,
Duncan (Hugh D.) House Ellicott, Andrew, 482 525–526; megaliths, 177–182;
(Flossmoor, Illinois), 124 El-Wakil, Abdel Wahed, 649 megastructures of later 20th
Dura-Europus church (Syrian-Iraqi Ely, Reginald, 356, 359 century, 633, 636; national
border), 286, 286 Emanuele, Carlo, 431 romanticism in, 563–566
Durand, Jean-Nicolas-Louis, 507 Emotional power, of baroque European Central Bank building
Durham Cathedral (England), architecture, 418–422 complex (Frankfurt,
334–337, 339–340 Empire State Building (New York Germany), 646
Dutert, Charles-Louis-Ferdinand, City), 22, 659 European maps: 300–850, 284;
524, 524 Energy use, green building and, 1250–1450, 341; 30,000–5,000
658–659 BP, 167; c.1500, 366; c. 814,
e-architect.co.uk, 663–664 Engaged column, 44, 44 316; seventeenth- and
Early hominids, 165–167 English architecture: architects, 148; eighteenth-century, 417
East Wing addition, National Gallery Baroque, 438–442; Classicism, Evans, Arthur, 221
(Washington, DC), 631 562; gardens, 483–488; Gothic Evry Cathedral (Evry, France), 619
Echoes, 104–105 cathedrals, 350–354, 353–354; Exedra, 230, 231
Eclecticism: academic, 537–546, 612; Indian architecture and, 280; Expressionism: German, 568–571;
associational, 491; creative, Industrial Revolution and, Resurgent Expressionism,
516–521, 561–563; defining, 493, 494; Modernism and, 640–644; structural, 641
489–492; objective of, 506; 463–464; New Brutalism in,
synthetic, 491–492 603–605; planned industrial Factories, 22, 23, 569, 569, 573, 574
Ecodesign, Yeang and, 664–667, towns, 530; Renaissance and, Fagus Factory (Alfeld, Germany), 22,
665–666 403–404 23, 573, 574
École des Beaux-Arts (France), 147, English Garden Park movement, Fahnestock (William F.) House
149, 537–538, 540, 561 438, 455 (Katonah, New York), 15, 16
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Falk House (House II) (Hardwick, Förster, Ludwig, 530 space concept of, 22, 24;
Vermont), 628–629 Fortuna Virilis, temple of (Rome), utilitarian (pragmatic), 22,
Fallingwater (Kaufmann house) 252, 254 24, 28
(Pennsylvania), 5, 12, 14, 41, Fort Wayne Arts Center, 115 Functional Monumentality, 603
83, 84, 85 Forums, Roman, 252–253, 254, 255, Functional Utilitarianism, 571–582
Falster Church (Astrup, Denmark), 256–257, 258; of Augustus, Fundamental (Essentialist)
564 256; of Iulium, 256; of Classicism, 612, 619–620
Fancelli, Luca, 380 Romanum, 256, 258; of Trajan, Funerary architecture: Egyptian, 200,
Fan vaulting, 356, 359 256–257 200–206, 202–205; of
Farnese, Alessandro (Pope Paul III), Foster, Norman, 608, 636, 658 Étienne-Louis Boulée, 471, 474
387, 388, 417 Fouilly, Evrard de, 344 Furness, Frank, 36, 37, 91
Farnsworth, Edith, 603 Foulston, John, 514, 515, 516 Fusionopolis (Singapore), 667
Fascist architecture, 565–566 Foundation, building, 33–34
Fasil Ghebbi (Ethiopia), 551 Foundling Hospital (Florence), 17, G: Material zur Elementum Gestaltung
Fathy, Hassan, 151, 610, 648, 18, 22, 79, 365, 367, 373, (journal), 577
648–649 374, 374 Gabriel, Ange-Jacques, 477–478, 480
Federal Center building (Chicago), Fouquet, Nicholas, 435 Galbraith, John Kenneth, 159
71, 72 Four Books of Architecture (Palladio), Galen Medical Building (Boca
Federal Reserve Bank (Minneapolis), 144–145, 391, 400–401, 465 Raton, Florida), 619
60, 60–61 Fowke, Francis, 105, 105 Galérie des Glaces (Versailles),
Feichtmayr, Johann Michael, 90, Frames: arches as, 46, 46–47; 436, 437
414, 452 balloon, 44, 45; defined, 44; Galicia Cultural Center (Santiago de
Fenellosa, Ernest, 503 domes, 48–53, 49–51; geodesic Compostella, Spain), 630
Fengshui, 458 domes, 54, 55; inflated, 61–64; Galileo, 372, 425, 431
Fentress, C. W., 63 membrane (tent), 61–64, Galla people (Ethiopia and Kenya,
Fentress Bradburn Architects, 62–64; shells, 54–56, 56–58; Africa), 549
63, 64 space, 54; steel, 44, 45; Gandhi Labour Institute
Festspielhaus (Festival Hall) structural, 44, 45; suspension, (Ahmedabad, India), 281,
(Bayreuth, Germany), 111, 113 56–64, 58–60; trusses as, 649, 650
Fibonacci, Leonardo, 76 53–54, 53–55; vaults, 47–48, 48 Gang, Jeanne, 643–644
Fibonacci series, 76, 77 Franco, Francisco, 565, 626 GAPP Architects/Urban Designers,
Ficino, Marsilio, 367, 368 Franklin, Benjamin, 464 554
Figure-to-ground relationship, 71, French architecture: architects, Garden cities, 478, 530–531, 532
71–74 145–147; architectural Garden Cities of To-Morrow
Filarete (Antonio Averlino), 372 revolution, early Modernism, (Howard), 530
Financial revolution, of Modern 470–472; Baroque, 434–438; Garden of the Humble Administrator
epoch, 464 Egyptian revival and, 512; (Suzhou, China), 460, 461
Fink truss, 53 English garden design in, Gardens: Chinese, 460, 461; English,
Finland, national architecture in, 485–487; industry and 483–488; of Gertrude Jekyll,
563, 565 restructuring Paris, 528–531, 534, 562; Islamic, 311, 311;
Finsen, Niels, 87 529–530; megaliths, 177, Kew Gardens, 485, 486; late
Fischer, J. M., 449–450 177–178; New Brutalism in, Italian Renaissance, 397–400;
Fisher, Avery, 94, 114 605; origins of Modernism, texture in, 85–86, 86
Flavian amphitheater (Rome), 464–466; Postmodernism, Gargoyles, 93, 94
268, 269 reaffirming community, 653, Garnier, Charles, 24–25, 25, 504,
Flax Mill (Leeds, England), 521 654; Renaissance influence, 516–517, 517, 525
Flitcroft, Henry, 483, 484 145–147, 401, 404–405; Gates, Bill, 646
Florence Cathedral, 368–371, Rococo, 447–448; urban design Gaudí, Antoni, 56, 59, 558, 558–559
369–370 at start of Modern era, Gaulli, Giovanni Battista, 420
Florence (Italy), 16–17, 366–367 472–483, 475–481 Gaz, 313
Florentine Academy, 368 Freundlich, Erwin, 569 Gedanken über die Nachahmung der
Flutter echo, 104 Frieze, 43, 43, 240, 241, 242 Greichischen Werke . . .
Flying buttresses, 344, 346, Fronserè, Josep, 626 (Winckelmann), 468
348, 350 Fry, Maxwell, 553 Gehry, Frank, 639, 640–643, 642,
Fogong Temple (Yingxian, China), Fuji Pavilion (Osaka, Japan), 63, 64 644–645
456, 457 Fuller, Buckminster, 54, 55, 609 Geiger, David, 63
Fontana, Domenico, 388, 432 Function, 22–31; circulatory, 22, Gelber, Mitch, 667
Forbidden City (Beijing), 456–457 24–26; defining, 22; form and, General Foods Headquarters (Rye,
Form and function, 571, 584–603. 584–603; psychological, 28–31; New York), 618, 617
See also Function restricting to utility, 22, 24; Geodesic domes, 54, 55
Formwork, 50 symbolic, 26–28; universal Gerberettes, 632
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German architecture: architects (see skyscrapers and, 97, 97; architects and, 136; city
Behrens, Peter; Gropius, fifteenth century Italy’s opinion planning and, 226–230, 228–
Walter; Mies van der Rohe, of, 365; Gothic cathedral, 230; color and, 88–89; column
Ludwig; Winckelmann, 342–355; Gothic revival, types, 42–44, 43–44; creative
Johann); Arts and Crafts, 532, 509–512, 514–515; High eclecticism and, 516; domestic,
534; Baroque, 421–422; Victorian Gothic, 517–521; 230, 231; excellence and, 247;
Expressionism in the 1920s, late period, 355–356; map of geography of Greece, 219–220;
568–571; fascist architecture, Europe (1250–1450), 341; Golden Mean and, 74–76,
566; Rococo, 448–453; roof ornamentation and, 355; 75–76; Greek character and,
gardens and, 662 perception of, 36; philosophical 224–225; Hellenistic
German Pavilion (Barcelona), 15, 16, ideal of, 337–338; public, architecture and, 244–247,
63, 63, 90, 577–578, 577–578 356–360, 362; reemergence of 245–246; Henri Labrouste and,
Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums cities and, 338–341; religious 538–539; Le Corbusier and,
(Winckelmann), 468 change and, 341–342; rib 578, 579, 580; map of ancient
Gesú, Church of the (Rome), vaulting and, 337, 345, 349; Greece, 220; Minoan period,
417–418, 418–419 Romanesque vs., 337–338; 220–224; Mycenaean period,
Getty Center II (Brentwood, stained glass and, 344, 345–346, 220–224; Neoclassicism and,
California), 621, 628, 630–631 355. See also buildings by name 506–509; Parthenon, 240–244,
Getty Museum (Getty Villa) (Malibu, Gothic cathedrals, 16, 71, 340–341, 241–243; philosophy and, 22;
California), 621, 621 342–355; Abbey Church at polis and, 225–226, 227; post
Gewandhaus (Garment Merchants Saint-Denis (France), and lintel structure of, 42;
Hall), 111 342–344, 343, 345; Notre- public buildings, 230–234,
Ggantija temple complex (Malta), Dame de Amiens (France), 231–233; revival of, 468–469,
178, 178–179 344–350, 347–349; Notre- 469, 491; temples, 71, 97–99,
“The Gherkin” (London), 636 Dame (Paris), 141, 344, 346; 99–101, 234–244, 235–243,
Ghilandaio, 367 overview, 342; rib vaulting in, 245, 247; theaters, 106, 107.
Ghirardo, Diane, 609 53; Sainte-Chapelle (Paris), See also buildings by name
Giedion, Sigfried, 586 354, 355; Saint-Pierre Greek cross plan, 300, 471
Gilbert, Cass, 27, 29, 97, 97 (Beauvais, France), 350, Green belt, 483
Girard College (Philadelphia), 351–352; Salisbury Cathedral Greenberg, Allan, 621, 622
509, 510 (England), 350–354, 353–354; Green or sustainable architecture,
Glass: Modernism and, 570–571; sun wooden-roofed churches, 658–667
and, 122–123, 123 354–355 Greenough, Horatio, 509
“Glass Architecture” (Scheerbart), Gothic revival, 509–512, 514–515 Green roofs, 661–663
570–571 Gothic ruins, imitation, 485, 486 Griffin, Marion Mahony, 151
Gloucester Cathedral (England), Gounod, Charles, 525 Groin vault, 47–48, 48
355–356, 358 Gourna: A Tale of Two Villages Gropius, Martin, 111
Glymph, James, 643 (Fathy), 610, 649 Gropius, Walter, 584; diagonals and,
Glyptotheke (Greek), 236 Gowans, James, 605 72; Japanese architecture and,
Glyptothek (Munich, Germany), Grand Central Station (New York 497; Modernism and, 609;
506, 506, 507 City), 157–158, 561 principles of, 573–574;
Göbekli Tepe Sanctuary (Turkey), The Grand Louvre (Paris), 631, 634 rationalism and, 568, 569;
162, 174–175, 175 Grand Prix de Rome, 147 social ideals of, 150; on
Goetz Art Gallery (Munich, Grassi, Padre Orazio, 420–421 universality of necessities of
Germany), 620, 620 Graves, Michael, 612, 613, 614, life, 607
Goldberger, Paul, 155, 158 615, 616 Gropius, Walter, buildings of:
Golden Section (Golden Mean), Gravity: post and lintel structure Bauhaus (Dessau, Germany),
74–76, 75–76 and, 39–40; structure and, 573, 575, 575–576; Fagus
Gong Mansion (Beijing), 459, 460 33–36 factory (Alfeld, Germany), 22,
Gongwangfu residential complex Great Mosque at Djenné (Mali), 39, 23, 573, 574; Memorial to the
(Beijing), 459 552–553 March Victims (Weimar,
Gonzaga, Federigo, 394 Great Mosque at Timbuktu (Nubia), Germany), 72, 73
Goodwin, Henry J., 4, 5 548, 552 Ground plans, 136
Goseck Circle (Germany), 176–177 “Great Recession,” effect on erection Gruen, Victor, 642
Gothic architecture, 5, 337–363; as of tall buildings, 639 Grundtvig’s Church (Copenhagen,
architecture of aspiration, The Great Stupa (India), 279, Denmark), 563–564
360–363; Arts and Crafts 279, 563 Guadet, Julien, 540
architecture and, 532; Great Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe), Guaranty Building (Buffalo, New
Bruneschelli’s great dome and, 550–551, 551 York), 542–543, 544
369; color and, 89; domestic, Greek architecture, 219–247; Guarini, Guarino, 415–416;
356–360, 360–361; early acoustics and, 106–107; churches, 429–431, 431–432
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Gudea of Lagash, 136, 138 Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center House II (Hardwick, Vermont),
Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, (Baku, Azerbaijan), 658 628–629
Spain), 641, 643, 644 Higginson, Henry Lee, 111 House of Commons (London),
Guggenheim Museum (New York High Art Museum (Atlanta, rebuilding, 11–12, 13
City), 586–587, 588–589 Georgia), 628 “House of Education” (Ledoux), 616
Guglielmo, 36 High Court Building (Chandigarh, House of Nero, 263
Guild halls, 360, 362 India), 116, 123, 125 House of Pansa (Pompeii), 264–266,
Guild House (Philadelphia, High Renaissance architecture, 393 265
Pennsylvania), 611–612, High Tech architecture, 632–633 House of World Culture (Berlin),
612, 613 High Victorian Gothic architecture, 131, 132
Guimard, Hector, 560–561, 561 517–521, 540 Houses of Parliament (London), 5,
Gunzo, 325, 327 Hindu temples, 274, 276–277, 11–12, 13, 509–512, 511
277–278 House X, 629, 632
Hadid, Zaha, 151, 640, 658, 667 Hines, Gerald, 616, 631 Howard, Ebenezer, 530–531, 532
Hadrian, 251, 257, 259, 398 Hippodamos (architect), 229, 229 Howe truss, 53
Hagar Qim temple (Malta), 179 Hippodrome (Zazuela, Mexico), Hugo, Victor, 144, 154
Hagia Eirene (Istanbul, Turkey), 300, 56, 58 Human ecoinfrastructure, 666–667
300–301 Hirt, Alois, 507 Humanism, 367–368, 406–407
Hagia Sophia (Constantinople), Historical precedents. See Eclecticism Humboldt, Alexander von, 507
50–51, 51, 138, 295, 297–299, Historic preservation, 153–159 Hunstanton School (Norfolk,
297–299, 342, 385 Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, 22, England), 603, 605
Hagley Park (England), 485, 605, 609 Hunt, Richard Morris, 149
485–486 Hitler, Adolf, 566 Hurtado, Francisco, 418, 421
Hall of Supreme Harmony (Beijing), Hittite period, 191 Hurwit, Jeffrey M., 244
456, 457 Hittorf, Jacques-Ignace, 88–89 Huxtable, Ada Louise, 1, 157,
Hal Saflieni (Malta), 178 Hoare, Henry, 483, 484 587, 616
Ham Common apartments Hodgkinson, Peter, 653 Hyatt Regency Hotel (Kansas City,
(London), 605 Holland, Henry, 148 Missouri), 65, 65–66, 67, 610
Hameau (Versailles, France), 487, 488 Hollein, Hans, 613 Hypaethral, 244
Hammerbeam truss roofs, 53 Holy Apostles, Church of the Hypostyle Hall, Temple of Amon
Hammond, Beebe and Babka, (Salonika, Greece), 300–301, (Thebes, Egypt), 4–5, 209, 211,
626–628, 627 302 213, 217, 308, 311
Hamzah, Tengku Robert, 664 Holy Peace, Church of the
Hancock Center (Chicago), 129, (Constantinople), 300, ICOMOS (International Council on
129, 640 300–301 Monuments and Sites), 155
Hansen, Theophil von, 111, 112 Holy Sepulchre, Church of the Igloos, 120–121, 120–121
Hardouin-Mansart, Jules, 436, 437 (Jerusalem), 291–292, 292, 308 Iktinos (architect), 240, 241
Hard Times (Dickens), 527 Holy Shroud, Chapel of the (Turin), Illinois Institute of Technology
Harlech Castle (Wales), 321–323, 431, 432 buildings (Chicago), 24, 24, 27,
322 Holzer, Michael, 646 27, 583, 587, 593, 593
Harold F. McCormick House (Lake Home Insurance Building (Chicago), Imhotep (architect), 135, 200–201
Forest, Illinois), 15–16 542, 543 Imperial forums, 256–257, 258
Harold Washington Library Center Homo erectus, 166–167, 168, 468 Imperial Villa of Katsura (Kyota,
(Chicago), 626–628, 627 Homo habilis, 166 Japan), 86, 86
Harris, Cyril M., 94, 95, 114 Homo heidelbergensis, 166, 167 Indian architecture, 275–281; British
Harrison, Peter, 148 Homo sapiens, 167–171 colonialism and, 280; Buddhist
Hatshepsut, tomb of Queen (Deir el Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (Hong temples, 277–279, 279; Critical
Bahri, Egypt), 135, 136, Kong), 608, 636 Regionalism and, 649;
207, 208 Honnecourt, Villard de, 140, 141 European and American
Haussmann, Georges-Eugene, Horizontal line, 71–72 architects and, 280; Hindu
529, 529 Horta, Victor, 560, 560 temples, 274, 276–277,
Hawksmoor, Nicholas, 438–439, 534 Horus, temple of (Egypt), 196, 277–278; Islamic architecture
Haywah, Raja Ibn, 308 215–217, 216 and, 312–313, 313; Taj Mahal,
Heliopolis, 206 Hōryū-ji Monastery (Japan), pagoda, 280, 312–313. See also buildings
Hellenistic architecture, 244–247, 496, 499, 500 by name
245–246, 249 Hôtel de Matignon (Paris), Indian Institute of Management
Hera, temple of, 234, 235 448, 448 (Ahmedabad), 280, 649
Heraclitus, 224 Hôtel de Soubise (Paris), 448, 449 Industrial office building
Herland, Hugh, 53, 355, 356 Hotel II Palazzo (Fukuoka, Japan), (Völkermarkt, Austria),
Herodotus, 194, 205 619, 619 641, 641
Herzog, Jacques, 620 Hôtels, 447–448, 448–449, 471 Industrial Revolution, 464, 492–493
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734 Index

Industry: impact of, 521–525; urban 535; Populist Modernism and, Studies (La Jolla, California),
growth and, 525–531 616; texture and house and 30–31, 83, 603, 604–605;
Infinity Tower (Dubai), 633 garden, 85–86, 86. See also National Parliament building,
Inflated structures, 61–64 buildings by name 280; Yale University Art
Infrastructures, green architecture, Japanese Metabolists, 633 Gallery, 605
666–667 Jarmo (Iraq), 185 Kakuzo, Okakura, 9, 503
International architects, 639–640 Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban (Bengal), 280 Kallikrates (architect), 236, 240, 241
International Finance Centre Jeanneret, Charles-Édouard. See Kandariya Mahadeva temple (India),
(Hong Kong), 636 Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard 276, 277
International Institute for Jeanneret) Kandinsky, Wassily, 569
Appropriate Technology, Jeanneret, Pierre, 582 Kaogong ji, 456–457
648–649 Jefferson, Thomas, 148, 154, 482, Katsura Detached Palace, 502
International Modernism, 69, 150, 489–491, 509 Kaufmann (Edgar) residence
557; color and, 90; defined, Jekyll, Gertrude, 534, 562 (Fallingwater) (Pennsylvania),
609; rise of, 571–582; scale Jencks, Charles, 613 5, 12, 14, 41, 83, 84, 85
and, 78–79; success or failure Jenner, Edward, 464 Keck, George Fred, 123, 124
of, 605–607; tactile texture Jenney, William Le Baron, 542, Keck, William, 123, 124
and, 82, 85; utility and, 22 543, 628 Keeps, 319, 320
International Style, 22, 553, 568, 605 Jensen-Klint, P. V., 564 Kent, William, 465
Interwoven space, 12, 15 Jesuits, 417–418 Kenwood House (London), 469, 470
Inuit igloos, 120–121, 120–121 Jesus of Nazareth, 285 Kéré, Diébédo Francis, 554, 555
Ionic order, 42, 43, 43–44, 76, Jin Mao Tower (Shanghai), 636 Kerloas (France) megaliths, 177–178
234, 244 John Hancock Tower (Boston, Kew Gardens (London), 485, 486
I Quattro libri dell’ architettura Mass.), 130, 131, 610 Key, Lieven de, 401
(Palladio), 144–145, 391, Johnson, Philip: International Style Keystone, 46, 46
400–401, 465 and, 22, 605, 609; Ironic Khafre, pyramid of, 40, 41, 202, 203
Ironic Classicism, 612, 613–615, 653 Classicism and, 613–614, 615; Khaleel-Al-Talhooly house (Ghur
Iron ore, 131–132 l’architecture parlent redux, 616; Memren, Jordan), 648
Ise Jing Inner Shrine (Japan), 498, preservation of Grand Central Khan, Amanat, 313
498–499 Station and, 158; Sculpted Khasekhemwy, palace of (Egypt),
Ishtar Gate, 192, 193 Modernism and, 630–631, 200, 201
Isidoros of Miletos, 51, 138, 297, 298 632–634 Khonsu, temple of (Karnak), 209, 211
Islamic architecture, 306–313; Johnson, Philip, buildings of: Avery Khufu, pyramid of, 202, 203, 204, 205
ceramic tile and color and, 90; Fisher Hall, 94, 95, 114; King post, 53
climate and, 307–308; in Johnson House, 126, 128; King’s Building Works (Paris), 476
India, 312–313, 313; mosque, Seagram Building, 81, 126, King’s College Chapel (Cambridge
308–309, 309–310; pierced 127, 584, 630 University, England), 356, 359
stone screens, 121–122, 122; Jonas Salk Institute for Biological King’s Gate (India), 312, 313
secular buildings, 309–310; Studies (La Jolla, California), Kishi people (Africa), 549
in Spain, 311, 311. See also 30–31, 83, 603, 604–605 Kitto, H. D. F., 226
Mosques Jones, Inigo, 403–404, 405 Knossos, Palace at, 88, 88
Isozaki, Arata, 639 Jon Jerde Partnership, 616 Kohn Pedersen Fox, 636, 639–640
Italy: Baroque architecture in, Julie ou la Nouvelle Héloïse Koolhaas, Rem, 151, 640, 646–647
415–434; fascist architecture (Rousseau), 487 Koshino House (Tokyo), 619
in, 565–566; fifteenth-century, Jupiter, 251, 252 Krak des Chevaliers (Syria), 321, 321
365–367; Romanesque Jupiter, Temple of (Baalbek), 272 Krier, Leon, 653
churches in, 334, 338. See also Justinian’s churches, 295–300, Krohne, G. H., 450
buildings by name; Renaissance 296–299 Kutchera, O., 110
architecture
Itten, Johannes, 573 Kähler, Heinz, 249 Labrouste, Henri, 538–540, 538–540
Iwan, 306, 310, 312 Kahn, Ahb al-Karim Ma mur, 313 Lahauri, Ustad Ahmad, 313
Kahn, Louis I.: on creation of Lake Biskupin (Poland) longhouses,
Jacobs, Jane, 610 building and life, 22, 603; 172, 174
Jahan, Shah, 312–313 defining architecture, 1; Doshi Lake Shore Drive Apartments
Jameh (Friday) Mosque (Iran), working with, 649; light and, (Chicago), 45, 80, 81, 124, 126,
306, 312 87; Mario Botta and, 617; New 129, 583–584, 585–586, 587
Jame Mosque (Riyadh, Saudi Brutalism in work of, 605; on Landscape architecture: English
Arabia), 649 post and lintel structure, 39 gardens, 483–488; of Gertrude
James of Saint George, 321, 322, 323 Kahn, Louis I., buildings of: Fort Jekyll, 534, 562; Kew Gardens,
Japanese architecture, 497–503; Wayne Arts Center, 115; Jonas 485, 486; late Italian
Frank Lloyd Wright and, 15, Salk Institute for Biological Renaissance, 397–400,
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Index 735

399–401; varying texture in, La Tourette monastery (Lyons, Live spaces, 103
85–86, 86 France), 90; Maisons Jaoul Lloyd Lewis House (Libertyville,
Lane Transit District Bicycle Shed (Neuilly, France), 605; Pavilion Illinois), 9–11, 10, 11, 12
(Eugene, Oregon), 3 Suisse (Paris), 582, 585; Lloyd’s Building (London), 636
Langlois, Christian, 612 Salvation Army hostel (Cité de Locke, John, 464, 489
Lantern, of Brunelleschi, 370 Refuge) (Paris), 123, 125, 585; Lodoli, Carlo, 468
Lanyon Quoit (Cornwall, England), Secretariat Building Logarithmic spirals, 76
179, 179 (Chandigarh, India), 81, 81, London: Great Fire of, 439–440;
L’Architecture considerée . . . legislation 280; Unité d’Habitation growth of, 525, 527; plan for
(Ledoux), 472 (Marseilles), 76, 77, 82, 123; rebuilding after fire, 440, 441;
L’architecture parlent, 471–472, 616 Villa Savoye (Poissy, outside Wren’s plan for rebuilding
La Regula delli cinque ordini Paris), 579, 581, 582–584, 595, churches, 440, 441
d’architettura (Vignola), 400 606–607 Longhouses, 39, 171–172
Lascaux (France) caves, 170 Leczinski, Stanislas, 479 Longueil, René de, 406
Lasuén, Fermín Francisco de, 623 Ledoux, Claude-Nicolas, 471–472, Loos, Adolf, 91–92, 92, 606
Las Vegas resorts, 616 474–475, 483, 616, 617 Lorrain, Claude, 483, 484
Late Modernism, 628–630 Lee, Bill, 30, 30 Louis, Victor, 493
Latent Classicism, 612, 617–619 Lee, C. Y., 636, 659 Louis-Napoleon, 516, 529
Lateran cathedral, 288 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Louis VI, 338, 342
Late twentieth century architecture. Environmental Design) Louis XIII, 145, 434–435
See Postmodernism program, 658–659; costs of, Louis XIV, 110, 145, 424, 434–435,
Latin cross churches, 379–381, 665–666 436, 438, 447, 476
379–383 Leeum-Samsung Museum of Art Louis XV, 466, 468, 477, 479
Latrobe, Benjamin Henry, 148, 150, (Seoul, South Korea), 619 Louis XVI, 466, 478
491 Lefuel, Hector-Martin, 516 Louvers, 124, 582, 652, 664
Laugier, Marc-Antoine, 467, Le Grand Menhir, 178 Louvre (Paris), 145, 147, 147, 516,
467–468, 469, 564 Leicester University Engineering 516, 631, 634
La Venta central plaza (Tabasco, Building, 626 Loyola Marymount University
Mexico), 409, 410 Leipzig Gewandhaus, 111 School of Law, 642
Lavoisier, Antoine, 464 L’Enfant, Charles Pierre, 480, 482, Lully, Jean Baptiste, 110
Law, John, 477 482–483 Lumley, Henry de, 166
Le Brun, Charles, 145, 147, 435, 447 Leopold, Aldo, 659 Lunghi, Martino, 418, 420
Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Lepenski Vir (Serbia), 171, 173 Luo people (Kenya and Tanzania,
Jeanneret), 123, 125, 578–582; L’Eplattenier, Charles, 578 Africa), 549
city plans and, 579; color and, L’Esprit nouveau (journal), 578–579 Luther, Martin, 110, 327, 387,
90; concern for housing and, Lever House (New York), 33, 34, 416, 417
575, 579, 582; on 35–36, 65 Lutyens, Edwin, 280, 534, 534,
contemporary house, 22; Lewerentz, Sigurd, 564 562–563, 563
defining architecture, 1; form Libergier, Hugues, 141, 142 Luxor (Egypt), 206, 209
and function and, 571; ideals Libeskind, Daniel, 554, 657, 659 Luxor resort (Las Vegas), 616
of, 579; later work of, 594–598; Libon of Elis, 98, 100, 234, 235 Luzarches, Robert de, 52, 344
light and, 87; Mario Botta and, Liedtke, J. Hugh, 631 Lyon-Satolas TGV Terminal
617; Modulor man and, 76, 77; Life-Cycle Assessment/Life-Cycle (Lyon, France), 635
natural environment and, 116, Cost Analysis, 658
123, 124, 125; new direction The Life of Saint Martin, 140 Maasai, 549
from canonical Modernism Light, 87; Gothic cathedrals and, Ma’at, 198
and, 585; rational analysis and, 343–344, 345; MIT chapel and, Machines: Frank Lloyd Wright and,
568; rhythm and, 81, 81; 593–594, 595; Romanesque 535; Industrial Revolution and,
Richard Meier and, 628, 629; architecture and, 336–337 464, 492–493; reaction to the,
self-expression and Modernism Ligorio, Pirrio, 398, 400 531–537
of, 609; texture and, 82; Lin An Tai residence (Taipei, Machuca, Pedro, 401, 403, 403
universal space and, 24 Taiwan), 459–460 Mackintosh, Charles Rennie, 532,
Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Lin Chin-Neng, 459 534
Jeanneret), buildings of: Lincoln Cathedral (England), 4 Madeleine, Church of the (Paris),
Chapel Notre-Dame-du-Haut Lincoln Center (New York City), 477, 480
(Ronchamp, France), 87, 94, 95 Maderno, Carlo, 418, 423
594–597, 596–598; Citrohan Lintels, 39–42 Magdalen College (Oxford
House, 579, 581; City of Lions Gate (Mycenae, Greece), University, England), 628
Three Million, 579; High 222, 222 Maguin, Joseph-François, 148
Court Building (Chandigarh, Lithic structure, 39–42 Maison Carrée (Nîmes, France),
India), 116, 123, 125, 280; Lives of the Artists (Vasari), 373 252–253, 253, 490
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736 Index

Maisons, Château de (Maisons, (c.814), 316; monasteries from 24, 24, 27, 27; glass towers of,
France), 406, 406 800–1100, 323–326; revival in 577–578; influence of Prairie
Maisons Jaoul (Neuilly, France), 605 English gardens, 485, 486; Houses on, 15; mechanical
Maitland Robinson Library revival in Houses of Parliament, heating/cooling systems and,
(Downing College, Cambridge, 509–512, 511; Romanesque 124, 126, 127, 582; Modernism
England), 621, 623 churches, 326–337. See also and, 609; as representative of
Makovecz, Imre, 641 Gothic architecture International Modernism, 557;
Maktoum, Mohammed bin Meeks, Carroll L. V., 516 rhythm and, 79, 80–81, 81;
Rashid Al, 639 Megaliths, 176, 177–182 texture and, 85; ugliness and,
Malatesta, Sigismondo, 379 Megastructures, later 20th century, 91; use of color, 90;
Malayan Borneo Finance (MBF) 633, 636 Vielzweckraum (universal
Tower (Penang, Malaysia), 664 Meier, Richard, 566, 621, 628, 639 space), 24
Malkaf (Egyptian), 648 Membrane (tent) structures, 61–64 Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, buildings
Malta, megaliths, 178 Memorial to the March Victims of, 568, 569; Boiler House
Mandan Indians, 120 (Gropius), 72, 73 (Chicago), 27, 27; chapel,
Mannerism, 390, 393–400, 397, 415 Menara Mesiniaga (IBM) Tower Illinois Institute of Technology,
Mansart, François, 406, 406, 416 (Subang Jaya, Malaysia), 124, 27, 593, 593; Crown Hall
Mansart, Jules Hardouin, 476–477 126, 664, 665 (Chicago), 24, 24; Federal
Marine Corps War Memorial Mendelsohn, Erich, 74, 568–569, Center (Chicago), 71, 72;
(Weldon), 72–73 569–570 German Pavilion (Barcelona),
Maropeng (South Africa), 554 Mendelssohn, Felix, 111 15, 16, 63, 63, 577–578,
Marshall Field Wholesale Store Menhirs, 177 577–578; Illinois Institute of
(Chicago), 541, 542 Menkare pyramids (Egypt), 202, 203 Technology (Chicago), 583;
Martyria, 287, 291, 385 Merchant prince palaces, 388–393 Lake Shore Drive Apartments
Masjid-i-Shah Mosque (Iran), 90, Merchant’s house (Cluny, (Chicago), 45, 80, 81, 124,
122, 310, 310 France), 360 126, 129, 583–584, 585–586,
Mason’s Bend Community Center Mesopotamia, 135–136 587; Seagram Building (New
(New Bern, Alabama), 661 Mesopotamian architecture, York City), 81, 126, 127, 584,
Massachusetts Institute of 187–194; Akkadian period, 630; Tugendhat House (Brno,
Technology (Cambridge, 189; architects, 135–136; Czechoslavakia), 577–578;
Mass.) buildings, 54, 82, 82, Assyrian Empire, 191–192; Wieissenhof Siedlung, White
149, 587, 590, 593–594, Babylonian and Hittite periods, House Estate (Stuttgart,
594–595 191; land of, 187; map of Germany), 576, 577
Mastaba, 200, 200 ancient Mesopotamia, 188; Milá, Rosario, 558
Material failure, 131, 610 Neo-Babylonian period, 192; Miletos (Asia Minor), 227, 229, 229
Mausoleum, Constantina’s, 292–293, Neo-Sumerian period, Miller, Sanderson, 485, 486
293–294 189–191; Persian Empire, Milwaukee Art Museum, 633
Maxentius, 259, 284 192–194; Sumerian period, Minerva Medica, temple of
Mayans, 409, 410, 411–412 188–189 (Rome), 369
Mazarin, Jules, 418 Messeturm (Frankfurt, Germany), 636 Minimalism, 619
McCormick Place (Chicago), 54, 54 Metabolists, 609, 633 Minneapolis International Airport
McKim, Mead & White, 33, 111, Metopes, 42, 43 Terminal, 56, 57
114, 149, 152, 155, 156, Métro (Paris), 560–561 Minnesota State Capitol (St. Paul),
543–546, 561, 625, 626 Meuron, Pierre de, 620 27–28, 29
Meat Hall (Haarlem, the Mexica people (Mexico), 411 Minoan period (Greece), 220–224
Netherlands), 401 Meyer, Adolf, 23, 573, 574–577 Miqat Mosque, Al-(Jeddah, Saudi
Media, role in architectural Michelangelo, 142; Campidoglio, Arabia), 649
discourse, 645–646 394, 396, 432; Lorenzo de’ Mique, Richard, 487, 488
Medici, Cosimo de’, 367, 368, 388 Medici and, 367; Mannerism Mitterand, François, 631, 632, 652
Medici, Giovanni de’, 367, 373, 374 and, 393–394, 395–396; Mixtec, 409
Medici, Lorenzo de’, 367 Palazzo Farnese and, 102, 388, Mnesikles, 42, 236–238, 237
(the Magnificent) 390, 391; Pedro Machuca and, Mockbee, Samuel, 661, 663
Medici Chapel (Florence), 393, 394 401; Sistine Chapel and, 144, Modern architecture (1914–1970):
Medici family, 367, 397 385; St. Peter’s basilica as architecture of its own time,
Medieval architecture, 315–363; (Rome), 78, 78, 387, 387–388 557–561; brutalism, 603–605;
architects and, 139–141; Midland Grand Hotel (London), creative eclecticism, 561–563;
Carolingian “Renaissance,” 315, 517, 520, 521 exported globally, 583–584;
316–317; castles, 317–323; Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, form and function and,
domestic architecture, 575–578; architecture and 584–603; functional
317–319; early Middle Ages, industry and, 577; defining utilitarianism, 571–582;
316–337; map of Europe architecture, 1; function and, German Expressionism,
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Index 737

568–571; International (Paris), 462, 465, 469–470, Museum of Modern Art (New York
Modernism and perfect 471–473; “speaking” City), 609, 639
function, 605–607; national architecture, 470–472 Museum of Modern Art (San
Romanticism, 563–566; Modern Traditionalism, 613 Francisco, California), 619, 639
1914–1940 phase, 566–568; Modulor man, 76, 77, 595 Museums, 505–509, 506–508. See
1945–1970 phase, 582–584; Moholy-Nagy, Lazzlo, 573 also museums by name
rise of International Molière, Marinus Jan Granpré, Musgum house (Cameroon), 550
Modernism, 571–582 564, 564 Musikvereinsgebaude (Vienna),
Modern Architecture (Taut), 574 Monasteries, 449–450; Cluny 111, 112
Modernism, development of (France), 325–326, 327–328; Muslim architecture. See Islamic
(nineteenth century), Japanese, 496, 499, 500, 500; architecture
505–547; academic eclecticism medieval, 323–326, 324–328; Mussolini, Benito, 565–566
and, 537–546; Adler & Saint Gall (Switzerland), Muthesius, Hermann, 534
Sullivan and, 541–543; Arts 139–140, 139–140, 323–325, Myceaean period, 220–224
and Crafts architecture, 326, 326–327; Saint-Martin-
532–534; construction failures du-Canigou (French Pyrenees), Nabta Playa (Egypt), 175–176, 176
of, 131, 610; creative 323, 324–326 Nanchan Temple (Shanxi, China),
eclecticism and, 516–521; Moneo, Rafael, 612, 626, 640 456, 458
École des Beaux-Arts and, Monte Alban (Mexico), 411, 412 Nancy (France), urban design in,
537–546; Egyptian revival and, Montefeltro, Federico di, 367 479, 481
512–516; Frank Lloyd Wright Monte Verde (Chile), 38, 165, Naos chambers, 71, 240, 241, 242,
and, 535–537; Gothic revival 171, 172 244, 245
and, 509–512, 514–515; Henri Monticello, 154, 489 Nash, John, 280
Labrouste and, 538–540; Montreuil, Pierre de, 141 National architectural styles, 505
Henry Hobson Richardson “Monumentality, Symbolism, and National Museum of African
and, 540–541; historical Style” (Mumford), 586 American History and Culture
interests of, 557–561; industry Moore, Charles, 90, 612, 613 (Washington, DC), 554
and urban growth, 525–531; Morel, J.-M., 487 National Museum of Roman Art
national vernaculars and, 505; Morgan, Julia, 151 (Mérida, Spain), 626
neoclassicism and, 506–509; Morgan Processing Center, New York National Parliament building
new industrialism and, City Postal Service, 662 (Bengal), 280
521–525; overview, 505–506; Mori, Minoru, 636 National Register of Historic Places,
reaction to machine and, Morris, William, 505, 531–532, 154, 155
531–537. See also 533, 534 National Romanticism, 563–566
Postmodernism Mosque of Córdoba, 626 Nativity, Church of the (Bethlehem),
Modernism, expansion of, 609–655; Mosques, 308–309, 309–310, 310; 291, 292, 308
building communities, African, 39, 448, 548, 552, Natural Energy and Vernacular
652–655; Critical Regionalism, 552–553, 648; color and, 90; Architecture (Fathy), 649
647–652; Deconstructivism, Critical Regionalism and, 649; Nature: Age of Reason and
644–647; High Tech, Indian, 312; Iranian, 90, 122, sensitivity to, 483; garden
632–633; international 306, 310, 310, 312; pierced design and, 485, 487;
architect, 639–640; Late or stone screens, 121, 122; Saudi restorative power of, 527–528.
neo-Modernism, 628–630; Arabian, 649; Umayyad See also Environment,
megastructures, 633, 636; (Damascus), 318. See also architecture as part of natural
Populist Modernism, 615–616; mosques by name Nazi architecture, 566
resurgent Expressionism, Motte, 317, 319 Neanderthals, 167–171
640–644; Sculpted Modernism, Mount Angel Abbey Library (Mount “A Necessity” (Taut), 570
630–631. See also Angel, Oregon), 26, 26, Negative space, 16, 17
Postmodernism 104–105, 587, 590–592 Nemausus temple, 252–253, 253
Modernism, origins of, 463–495; Age Mudhif, 190 Neo-Babylonian period, 192
of Enlightenment and, 463; art Muhammad, 303, 307, 308 Neoclassicism, 506–508, 506–509,
and architectural history and, Müller, Alois, 644 510
466–469; city design and, Mumford, Lewis, 153, 155, 174, 586 Neolithic cities, 183–185, 184
472–483; eclecticism and, Murata, Yutaka, 63, 64 Neolithic dwellings and structures,
489–492; English gardens and, Murcutt, Glenn, 659–660, 663 88, 171–177, 172–176
483–488, 484–488; Industrial Museum of Contemporary Art Neolithic revolution, 183
Revolution and, 464, 492–493; (Barcelona, Spain), 628 Neo-Modernism, 628–630
multiplicity and, 465; overview, Museum of Contemporary Art Neo-Sumerian period, 189–191
463–466; purity of structure (Denver, Colorado), 554 Nepveu, Pierre, 404, 405
and, 467–468; rationality and, Museum of Contemporary Art Nero, 251, 264, 268, 285; house of,
493–495; Sainte-Geneviève (Los Angeles, California), 639 263
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738 Index

Netherlands, national architecture Obelisks, 433 Palais des Machines (Paris), 53–54,
in, 564, 564 Observatory Hill Dining Hall 524, 524–525, 531
Neuerberg, Norman, 621, 621 (University of Virginia, Palazzos: Carignano, 431, 444; della
Neues Gewandhaus, 573 Charlottesville), 624–625, 625 Civilita Italiana (Rome), 566;
Neue Staatsgalerie (Stuttgart, Odo of Metz, 317, 318 del Te (Mantua, Italy), 79–80,
Germany), 626 Office towers, giant, 636–639 80, 394–397, 397; de’ Medici
Neumann, Johann Balthasar: Stair Oikos, 230, 231 (Florence), 83, 388, 389;
Hall (Würzberg, Germany), Oldenburg, Claes, 79 Farnese (Rome), 102, 388,
444, 446, 446–447; Olivieri, Orazio, 398, 400 390, 391; Rucellai (Florence),
Vierzehnheiligen (Franconia, Olmec, 409 388, 390; Vecchio (Florence),
Germany), 16, 90, 414, 416, Olmsted, Frederick Law, 527–528, 528 16, 18
450–453, 451–452, 465 Olumuyiwa, Oluwole, 553–554 Palladian architecture, revival of,
New Brutalism, 603–605 Olympia, temples at (Greece), 465–466
New Caledonian indigenous 97–99, 99–101, 234 Palladio, Andrea, 415; Classical
traditions, 652 Olympic National Stadium (Beijing), theater and, 107; color and,
New Gourna mosque (Egypt), 648 657, 658 90; Four Books of Architecture,
New Grange tomb (Ireland), Opera houses, 24–25, 25, 111, 504, 144–145, 400–401, 465; Inigo
179–180, 180 516–517, 517–519 Jones and, 403–404; Richard
New industrialism, architecture of, Optical instrument factory, 569, 569 Boyle and, 148; Thomas
521–525 Optical texture, 82 Jefferson and, 148, 489
New Longwall Quadrangle (Oxford, “Oration on the Dignity of Man” (Pico Palladio, Andrea, buildings of: Teatro
England), 628 della Mirandola), 368, 393 Olimpico (Vicenza, Italy), 107,
Newman, Charles, 622–623 The Orchard (Chorleywood, 107; Villa Badoer (Fratta
New Saint Peter’s (Rome), 381–388, England), 532, 533 Polesine, Italy), 391, 392; Villa
385–387 Orchestral halls, 111–115, 112–114 Capra (Villa Rotonda) (Vicenza,
Newton, Isaac, 464, 466, 471, 474 Ordish, R. M., 523, 523 Italy), 146, 148, 391–393, 392,
New Urbanism, 531 Ornament, 91–99, 92–101 465; villas of, 390–393
New York Central Building “Ornament and Crime” (Loos), 91–92 Palmanuova (Italy), 372, 373
(Helmsley Building), 614 Osiris, 197 Pamphili, Camillo, 422
New York City: growth of, 525; Ospedale degli Innocenti (Florence). Panini, Giovanni Paolo, 49
Manhattan Schist, 33; public See Foundling Hospital Panofsky, Erwin, 343
parks, 527–528, 528 (Florence) Pantheon garden pavilion
New York City Landmarks Östberg, Ragnar, 563 (Stourhead, England), 483, 484
Commission, 155, 157–158 Ostia (Italy), apartment blocks, Panthéon (Paris), 493
New York-New York Hotel and 264, 265 Pantheon (Rome), 5, 128, 259, 261,
Casino Resort (Las Vegas), 616 Ostraka, 135 262–263, 350
New York Racquet and Tennis Club, Otto, Frei, 63, 63 Parat, Pierre, 553
33, 35 Oud, J. J. P., 150 Parc des Buttes Chaumont
Nike temple (Acropolis, Athens), Outline of European Architecture (Paris), 530
218, 236, 237 (Pevsner), 1–2 Paris: growth of, 525; replanning of,
Nile River, 187, 194–196 Oval line of plan: Bernini, 422–424, 528–531; urban design of, 473,
Nineteenth century architecture. See 425; Borromini, 426, 428; 476–478, 476–480
Modernism, development of Guarini, 431, 431; Mannerism Paris Opéra House, 24–25, 25, 504,
(nineteenth century) and, 394, 396 516–517, 517–519
Nishizawa, Ryue, 151 Owen, Robert, 630 Parthenon (Athens), 36, 71, 219,
Nondirectional space, 16 Ozenfant, Amédée, 578 225, 238, 238, 240–244,
Noritada, 502 241–243, 469, 485
Nôtre, André Le, 85, 435–436 Paestrum (Athens), 36 Passage graves, 179–180
Notre-Dame de Amiens (France), Pagodas: Chinese, 454, 456; in Passive solar heating system, 121,
52, 53, 94, 344–350, 347–349 English gardens, 485, 486; 122–124
Notre-Dame de Chartres (France), Japanese, 496, 499–500; stupas Pasti, Matteo de’, 144, 380
68, 97, 98 and, 279 Patrons, 367
Notre-Dame de Reims (France), 94, Palace Chapel of Charlemagne Patte, Pierre, 477, 479
96, 97, 141, 141, 344 (Aachen, Germany), 318 Paul, Bruno, 575
Notre-Dame-du-Haut (Ronchamp, Palace of Abraxas (Marne-la-Vallée, Pavilion Suisse (Paris), 582, 585
France), 87, 594–597, 596–598 Paris), 653 Paxton, Joseph, 128–129, 521–522,
Notre-Dame (Paris), 141, 344, 346 Palace of Fatehpur Sikri (India), 527, 528
“Novelty Architecture” (Steele), 615 312, 313 Pazzi Chapel (Florence), 377
Novembergruppe, 577 Palaces: Islamic, 309–310, 311, 311; Peabody Essex Institute (Salem,
Nowicki, Matthew, 585–586, merchant prince, 388–393. See Mass.), 460
596–597 also palaces by name Pei, I. M., 130, 131, 631, 634, 640
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Pelli, César, 636, 637, 639, 640 Place de la Concorde (Paris), 478, 617–619; megastructures of,
Pendentives, 50, 50–52, 300 479–480 633, 636; modernism vs.,
Pennsylvania Station (New York Place Louis XV (Paris), 477–478, 611–612; Populist Modernism,
City), 152, 155, 156–157, 157, 479–480 615–616; resurgent
544–546, 545–547 Places des Vosges (Paris), 476, expressionism and, 640–644;
Pennsylvania truss, 53 477, 477 Sculpted (Shaped) Modernism
Pennzoil Place (Houston, Texas), Place Stanislas (Nancy, France), and, 630–631
631, 633–634 479, 481 Post Oak Central (Houston,
Perceptual space, 9, 11, 12 Place Vendôme (Paris), 476–477, Texas), 631
Perceptual structure, 33–36 478 Poussin, Nicolas, 483
Perikles, 226, 234 Plater-Zybek, Elizabeth, 652–653, Power, Richard, 502
Peripteral temple, 234 653 Pozzo, Cassiano dal, 415
Perpendicular Gothic architecture, Plato, 22, 136, 143, 219, 220, 224, Pozzo, Padre Andrea, 421, 423
355–356, 510, 511, 512 225, 226, 367, 371 Pragmatic utility, 24
Perrault, Claude, 145, 147 Platt, Charles A., 15, 16 Prairie Houses, 12, 15, 16, 72,
Perret, Auguste, 578 Pliny the Elder, 244 122–123, 123, 535–537,
Persian Empire, 192–194 Pliny the Younger, 263, 397, 468 535–537
Personal space, 17–19, 19 Pokomo people (Kenya, Africa), 549 Pratt truss, 53
Peruzzi, Baldassare, 364, 379 Pokot people (Kenya, Africa), 549 Précis de leçons données à l’École Royale
Petrarch, 367, 400 Pollitt, Jerome J., 244 Polytechnique (Durand), 507
Petronas Towers (Kuala Lumpur, Polykleitos the Younger, 106, Prefabrication, 653–654
Malaysia), 636, 637 232, 233 “The Presence of the Past”
Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1–2, 9, 534, 595 Pompeii (Italy), 254, 255, 264–266, (Biennale), 613
Philharmonic Hall (Lincoln Center, 268, 468 Priene (Asia Minor), 229–230,
New York City), 93–94, 95, Pont du Gard Nimes (France), 46, 47 230–232
114–115 Pontiac Stadium (Pontiac, Priestly, Joseph, 464
The Philharmonie (Berlin), 115, 598, Michigan), 63 Primary colors, 88, 90
600–601, 602, 641 Pont Neuf (Paris), 473, 476 Primary school (Gando, Burkina
Philosophes, 466, 493 Pope, Alexander, 483, 528 Faso), 554, 555
A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin Pope, John Russell, 562, 562 Prince-Bishop’s Palace, Stair Hall
of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Populist Modernism, 615–616 (Würzberg, Germany), 444,
Beautiful (Burke), 488 Porch of the Maidens (Caryatids), 446–447
Physical space, 9, 12 239, 240 Prince-Ramus, Joshua, 646
Physical structure, 33–36 Porphyrios, Demetri, 620–621, 628 Pritchard, Thomas F., 493, 493
Physiological response, to Porta, Giacomo della, 388, 418, 419, Pritzker Prize, 151, 640
architecture, 4–5 427, 429 Prix, Wolf, 646
Piano, Renzo, 632, 635, 652, Portland Building (Portland, Prix de Rome, 538
661–662, 662 Oregon), 613, 614 Proportion, 74–76, 74–76,
Piazzas: Annunziata (Florence), 17, Portland cement, 50 371–372
18; del Campdoglio (Rome), Portrait heads, Olmec, 409–410 Propylaia (Akropolis, Athens), 42,
394; della Signoria (Florence), Poseidon, temple of, 32, 33 236–238, 237–238, 240,
16, 18; di San Marco (Venice), Positive space, 16, 17, 18 243, 244
12, 13, 14; d’Italia (New Post and lintel system, 39–42, 40, 41 Propylon gate, 222
Orleans), 90, 613; Saint Peter’s Postmodernism, 611–628; Canonic Provident Life and Trust Company
(Rome), 423–424, 426–427 Classicism, 620–623; categories (Philadelphia), 36, 37, 91
Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni, 367, of, 612–613; color and, 90–91; Proximity, 69, 70, 71
368, 393 community and, 652–655; Pruitt-Igoe housing complex
Picturesque, 91, 483, 488, 515, 516 Creative Postmodern (St. Louis, Missouri), 19,
Pilaster, 44, 44 Traditionalism, 623–628; 150–151, 579, 606, 606, 610
Pilgrams, Anton, 134 Critical Regionalism and, 558, Prussian Bauakademie (Berlin), 537
Pilgrimage churches, 16, 90, 647–652; Deconstructivism Psychological function, 28–31
328–331, 331–334, 414, 416, and, 644–647; defined, 612; Public buildings: Gothic architecture
450–453, 451–452, 465 Fundamental or Essential and, 356–360; Greek
Pilgrimage routes (1000–1250), 330 Classicism, 619–620; green architecture and, 230–234,
Piranesi, Giovanni Battista, 488, architecture and, 658–667; 231–233; Neoclassicism and,
489, 512 High Tech architecture and, 506–508, 506–509, 510;
Pisa (Italy), foundations in, 34–35 632–633; initial form of, 613; Roman architecture and,
Pisano, Tommaso di Andrea, 36 international architects of, 266–272, 267–271. See also
Pitiousa (Spetses, Greece), 620–621 639–640; Ironic Classicism, buildings by name
Place Dauphine (Paris), 473, 613–615; Late Modernism and, The Public Buildings Erected in the
476, 476 628–630; Latent Classicism, West of England (Foulston), 514
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Public housing: City for Three planned churches and, 43–44; concrete and, 50;
Million (Paris), 579, 581; Ham 377–379; church music and, domes and, 48–50; domestic,
Commons (London), 605; 107–110; exporting, 400–406; 263–265, 263–266; English
Pruitt-Igoe housing complex fifteenth century Italy and, gardens and, 483–485,
(St. Louis), 19, 150–151, 579, 365–367; humanism and, 484–485; forums and, 252–
606, 606, 610 367–368, 406–407; Italian 253, 254, 255, 256–257, 258;
Public parks, 527–528 gardens and, 397–400; groin vaults and, 47–48, 48;
Pueblos, 120 Mannerist architecture and, Jefferson and, 489–490;
Pugin, Augustus Welby Northmore, 393–394; merchant prince manipulation of space in,
13, 505, 510, 511, 512, palaces and, 388–393; the 257–261, 260–262; map of city
513–515, 532 New St. Peter’s (Rome) and, of Rome, 257; map of Roman
Pullman (Illinois), 530, 531 381–388; Palazzo del Te and, Empire, 250; public buildings,
Pyatok, Michael, 654–655, 655 394–397; patrons and, 367; 266–272, 267–271; religion
Pylon, 209, 211, 217 rhythm and, 79–81; Roman and the temple, 252–253;
Pyramids, 35; Central American, Classical architecture and, 415; Renaissance architecture and,
409, 410, 410–413; theaters and, 106–107; use of 144–145; revival of, 469, 491;
construction of, 205–206; Giza, color, 90; Vitruvius’ ideal form Roman character and,
202–206, 203–204; Khafre, 40, and, 371, 371–373 251–252; Roman history,
41, 202, 203; Menkare, 202, Renaissance Classicism, 145 249–251; Sainte-Geneviève
203; Nubian, 550; purpose of, Repetition, 70, 71 (Paris) and, 465; trusses and,
206; of the Sun (Teotihuacán, Reservoir Building (Barcelona), 626 53; universality and, 272–273;
Mexico), 410, 411; Zoser, Resorts, Las Vegas, 616 urban planning, 254–257,
200–202, 202–203 Resurgent Expressionism, 640–644 255–258
Pyramid Texts, 206 Reverberation time, 103, 104, 106, Roman Empire: invaders, 293–295;
Pythagoras, 74, 372, 373 107, 111 map of, 250; transformation of,
Revett, Nicholas, 219, 468, 469, 491 249–251, 283–285
Qasim, Ustad Abdul, 122 Revivalism, 506; Gothic, 509–512, Romanesque churches, 326–337;
Qasr al Hokm Justice Palace (Riyadh, 514–515; Neoclassicism, Durham Cathedral (England),
Saudi Arabia), 649 506–509 334–337, 339–340; Gothic
Qasr-al-Khalifa, 309 Revivalist, 509 architecture vs., 337–338;
Qeswachaka suspension bridge, 56, Rhythm, 79–82 Italian, 334, 338; pilgrimage
58, 59 Riarjo, Raphael, 397 churches, 328–331, 331–334;
Quarry-faced ashlar masonry, 83 Rib vault, 52, 52–53 Sainte-Foy (Conques, France),
Queen post, 53 Richardson, Henry Hobson, 149, 331–332, 331–333; Saint
Queen Square (Bath, England), 478 540–541, 541–542 Michael’s (Hildesheim,
Quincunx church, 300, 300 Risk, building technology and, 65–66 Germany), 327–328, 329, 332;
Riverbend Sacred Heart Medical Saint-Philibert (Tournous,
R. Kemper Crosby Memorial Arena Center (Eugene-Springfield, France), 332–334, 337;
(Kansas City), 54, 55 Oregon), 28, 30, 30 Saint-Sernin (Toulouse,
Ra, 197, 199, 206, 207 Rōanji Zen Buddhist Temple France), 331, 332, 334–336,
Ramée, Joseph-Jacques, 148 (Kyoto, Japan), 501, 501–502 336; San Miniato al Monte
Ramses II, 199, 207, 209, 211 Robert, Hubert, 487, 488 (Florence), 334, 338
Ramsey, William, 355 Robie (Frederick C.) House Romanesque style, 540–541, 541–542
Raphael, 143, 385 (Chicago), 122–123, 123, Romano, Giulio, 79–80, 80, 142, 394,
Rationality, architecture of, 493–495. 535–537, 536–537 396–397, 398
See also Modernism, origins of Roche, Kevin, 612, 617, 618 Romanticism, 487–488; National,
Rationally ordered space, 373–377 Rococo architecture: Amalienburg, 563–566
Raymond, Eleanor, 151 92, 448–449, 450; artifice of, Rome: Baroque churches in,
Read, Herbert, 5, 165 453; color and, 90; 417–418; Sixtus V plan for,
Recueil d’antiquités égyptiennes, criticism/rejection of, 466, 493; 431–434, 433–434
étrusques, grecques et romaines overview, 447–453; Roof gardens, 581, 584, 661–663
(Caylus), 512 Vierzehnheiligen, 16, 90, 414, Roofless Church for the Blaffer Trust
Red House (Bexley Heath, England), 416, 450–453, 451–452, 465 (New Harmony, Indiana),
532, 533 Roebling, George Washington, 59 630, 632
Reinforced concrete, 41 Roebling, John Augustus, 59, 59 Roofs: green, 661–663; in tropical
Renaissance, 363 Rogers, Richard, 632, 635, 640 architecture, 649–650, 651
Renaissance architecture, 365–407; Roman architecture, 249–273; Rope suspension bridges, 56, 59
Alberti’s Latin cross churches acoustics and, 107, 109; arches Rosenthal, Joe, 74
and, 379–381; architects, and, 46; architects, 136–139; Rossi, Aldo, 610, 612, 619
141–147; Brunelleschi and, “baroque” period, 272, 273; Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 464,
368–377, 369–370; centrally classical orders and, 42–44, 485, 487
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Index 741

Royal Academy of Architecture Saint-Maclou, Church of (Rouen, San Ignazio, Church of (Rome),
(France), 147, 537 France), 355, 357 420–421, 423
Royal Albert Hall (London), Saint-Martin-du-Canigou Monastery Sankore mosque (Mali), 552
105–106, 105–106 (French Pyrenees), 323, San Lorenzo, Church of (Florence),
Royal Building Administration, 145 324–326 367, 374, 375, 394
Royal palace at Knossos (Crete), Saint Mary-le-Bow, Church of San Lorenzo, Library of (Florence),
221, 221 (London), 442 394, 395
Royal Saltworks at Chaux (France), Saint Michael’s, Church of San Marco, Church of (Venice), 12,
471–472, 475, 478, 479 (Hildesheim, Germany), 282, 301, 303–304
Rudolph, Paul, 83, 83–84, 85, 605 327–328, 329, 332 San Miniato al Monte, Church of
Ruines de Paestum (Soufflot), 469 Saint Pancras Railroad Station (Florence), 334, 338
Ruins of Baalbec (Wood), 469 (London), 517, 520 Sant’ Agnese, Church of
Ruins of Palmyra (Wood), 469 Saint Pancras Station Train Shed (Rome), 293
Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor (London), 523, 523–524 Santa Maria della Carceri, Church
Diocletian at Spalato Saint Paul’s (London), 380, 440–442, of (Prato, Italy), 377–378,
(Adams), 469 443–445, 491 377–379, 431
Rural Studio, 661, 663 Saint Peter’s Basilica (Rome), New, Santa Maria della Consolazione,
Ruskin, John, 2–3, 91, 153, 158, 380, 381–388, 385–387 Church of (Todi, Italy),
520, 532, 557 Saint-Philibert, Church of (Tournous, 364, 379
Russian Constructivism, 626, 644 France), 332–334, 337 Santa Maria della Divina Providenza,
Rust, 131–132 Saint-Pierre, Church of (Beauvais, Church of (Lisbon), 431, 431
Rusticated masonry, 83 France), 38, 350, 351–352 Santa Maria della Fiore (Florence),
Rustic Temple gardens, 487, 487 Saint-Sernin, Church of (Toulouse, 368–371, 369–370
France), 47, 331, 332, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Church of
Saarinen, Eero: function and, 334–336, 336 (Rome), 87, 418, 422
28, 29; self-expression and Saints Vincent and Anastasius, Santa Maria delle Carceri, Church of
Modernism of, 609; shell forms Church of (Rome), 418, 420 (Prato, Italy), 416
of, 54–55; use of suspension, Sakyamuni Pagoda (Yingxian, Santa Maria Novella, Church of
59–60, 60 China), 454 (Florence), 380, 381, 418
Saarinen, Eero, buildings of: chapel Salam, Yazid Ibn, 308 Sant’ Andrea, Church of (Mantua),
(MIT), 593–594, 594–595; Saline de Chaux (Saltworks at 380–381, 382–383, 417
Dulles International Airport Chaux), 471–472, 475, 478, Sant’ Andrea, Church of (Rome), 394
Terminal (Washington, DC), 479, 483 Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale, Church of
59–60, 60, 598; Kresge Salisbury Cathedral (England), 8, 16, (Rome), 422–423, 425
Auditorium (MIT), 54; Trans 350–354, 353–354 Sant’ Anna dei Palafrenieri, Church
World Airlines Terminal Salk, Jonas, 30, 31, 603 of (Rome), 394, 396, 422
(J. F. Kennedy Airport), 28, 29, Salk Institute. See Jonas Salk Santa Sabina (Rome), 289, 289
54–55, 598, 599, 641 Institute for Biological Studies “Santiago Calatrava: Artist,
Saarinen, Eliel, 565 (La Jolla, California) Architect, Engineer”
Sabine, Wallace, 111 Salt, Titus, 530 (exhibit), 633
Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery Saltaire (England), 530 Santo Spirito, Church of (Florence),
(London), 623, 624 Salvation Army Hostel (Paris), 123, 374–375
Saint-Denis, Abbey church at, 141, 125, 582 San Vitale, Church of (Ravenna), 89,
342–344, 343, 345 San Apollinare, Church of 295, 296, 317
Sainte Anne-la-Royale, Church of (Ravenna, Italy), 89, 107, 109, Sanzio, Raphael, 143–144
(Paris), 415–416 289, 290–291, 291, 293, 295 Scagliola, 452
Sainte-Chapelle (Paris): cathedral, San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Scala Regia, Vatican Palace, 444
354, 355; chapel, 89, 89 Church of (Rome), 82, Scale, 76–79; baroque, 431–434
Sainte-Foy, Church of (Conques, 426–427, 428–429 Scamozzi, Vincenzo, 372, 373
France), 331–332, 331–333 Sanchi Stupa, 280 Scharoun, Hans, 115, 556, 571, 598,
Sainte-Geneviève, Church of (Paris), Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia 600–601, 602, 641
462, 465, 469–470, 471–473, (Praeneste, Italy), 253, 254 Scheerbart, Paul, 570–571
491, 493 The Sand County Almanac Scheeren, Ole, 647
Saint Gall Monastery (Switzerland), (Leopold), 659 Schinkel, Karl Friedrich, 507–508,
139–140, 139–140, 323–325, San Francesco, Church of (Rimini, 507–509, 537, 566,
326, 326–327 Italy), 379, 379–380 575–576, 626
Saint Giles, Church of (Cheadle, Sangallo, Antonio da, the Younger, Schmeiden, Heinrich, 111
England), 512, 514–515 102, 388, 390, 391 Schmidt, Klaus, 175
Saint James, Church of (Santiago de Sangallo, Guiliano da, 377–379, Schminke House (Löbzu, Germany),
Compostela, Spain), 330–331, 416, 431 556, 571
336 Sangath Studio, 649 Scholasticism, 341–342
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Schönborn, Johann Philipp Franz, Sixtus V (Pope), 424, 425, 529; plan Sri Lanka Parliament (Colombo,
447 for city of Rome, 431–434, Sri Lanka), 650–652, 651
Schönborn palace staircase, 447 433–434 St. Mark’s Rest (Ruskin), 3, 557
Schulze, Franz, 603 Skara Brae (Scotland), 182, 182–183 Stadion, 232
Scott, George Gilbert, 105, 105, 517, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 33, 34, Stadiums, Roman, 268
520, 521 79, 79, 129, 557, 584, 636, Staircases: Baroque, 442–447,
Scully, Vincent, 157, 232, 626 638, 639 446–447; Library of San
Sculpted (Shaped) Modernism, Skyscrapers: Empire State Building, Lorenzo (Florence), 394, 395;
630–631 22; expression of character and, Paris Opéra, 504, 517, 519
Sculpture museum, 506, 506–507 97, 97; first metal-framed, Starchitects, 554, 640, 657, 658
Seagram Building (New York City), 542–543, 543–544; glass towers Star observatory, 175–176, 176
81, 126, 127, 584, 630 and, 577–578; megastructures Starratt, William A., 22
Sears Tower (Chicago, Illinois), 640 of later 20th century and, 633, Static space, 12, 15
Seaside (Florida), 652–653, 653 636; Mies and, 577; tropical, Steel, 41
Seattle Central Library (Seattle, 664; wind and, 129–130, Steele, James, 613, 615, 619
Washington), 646–647, 647 129–131; zones of, 25–26 Steel frame, 44, 45
Seattle Public Library, Ballard branch Smith, E. B., 217 Steiner House (Vienna), 91–92, 92
roof garden, 662 Smith, Thomas Gordon, 613 Step pyramid of Zoser at Saqqara
Second Empire Baroque, 516–517, Smithson, Peter and Alison, 603–605 (Egypt), 200–202, 202–203
540 Smythson, Robert, 403, 404 Stereobate, 42, 43
Secretariat Building (Chandigarh, Soane, John, 148, 149 Stern, Robert A. M., 613; American
India), 81, 81, 82 Social Darwinism, International Shingle Style and, 625–626;
Seer, figure of, 101 Modernism and, 607 Creative Postmodern
Sejima, Kazuyo, 151 Social responsibility, of architects, Traditionalism and, 623–624;
Senmut, 135, 136, 207, 208 150–151 on Deconstructivism, 645; on
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Soil, bearing capacity of, 33–35 essentialist classicism, 619; on
66, 67, 639 Solar heat management, 117–126, latent classicism, 617;
Serlio, Sebastiano, 142, 144, 400, 118–128 Observatory Hill Dining Hall,
401, 415 Solaris Building (Singapore), 624–625, 625; Postmodern
The Seven Lamps of Architecture 656, 667 categories, 612–613
(Ruskin), 2–3, 153, 520 Soufflot, Jacques-Germain, 462, Stevens, Gorham Phillips, 238
“Seven Misunderstandings About 469–470, 471–473, 491, 493 Stevens, John Calvin, 625
Classical Architecture” Sound. See Acoustics Stirling, James, 595, 605, 626
(Terry), 621 South African architecture, 553, 554 Stoas, 226, 228, 230
Severus (architect), 263, Space, 9–19; behavior and, 9, 11, 12; Stockholm Public Library
Sforzinda, ideal city of, 372, 372 Brunelleschi and rationally (Sweden), 564
Shanghai World Financial ordered, 373–377; conceptual, Stone, Edward Durell, 121–122
Center, 636 9; directional, 16; Frank Lloyd Stonehenge, 6, 164, 180–182, 181
Shaped modernism, 630–631 Wright and, 9–11, 12, 15; The Stones of Venice (Ruskin), 520
Shapero Hall of Pharmacy (Wayne interwoven, 12, 15; Mies van Stone structures, 39–42, 177–182
State University), 35, 37 der Rohe and, 24; negative, 16, Stourhead (England), English garden
Shells, structure and, 54–56, 17; nondirectional, 16; at, 483, 484
56–58 perceptual, 9, 11, 12; personal, Strawberry Hill (Twickenham,
Shelters of organic materials, 36, 38 17–19, 19; physical, 9, 12; England), 491–492, 492
Shitennō-ji (Japan), 499 positive, 16, 17, 18; Roman Strelice (Czech Republic), clay house
Shoi-ken (Laughing Thoughts manipulation of, 257–261; model, 171, 173
Pavilion) (Katsura, Japan), 15 static, 12, 15; universal, 22, 24 Strickland, William, 148, 509
Shokin-tei (Pine-Lute Pavilion) Space frames, 54 Stroik, Duncan G., 623
(Katsura, Japan), 15 Spain, architecture in: Baroque Structural Expressionism, 641
Shona people (Zimbabwe, Africa), influence, 418; ceramic tile Structures, 33–67; arches and, 46;
550–551 embellishment and, 90; color classical orders of, 42–44; as
Shōsōin (Japan), 499 and, 90; Creative Postmodern cultural expression, 66–67;
Shryock, Gideon, 509 Traditionalism and, 626; fascist domes and, 48–53; inflated,
Shuttering, 50 architecture, 565; Islamic 61–64; membrane (tent),
Sidi Yahya mosque (Mali), 552 influence, 311, 311; 61–64; of oldest architecture,
Siena, Tommaso da, 398, 400 Renaissance influence, 401–402 36–39; physical vs. perceptual,
Simone, Giovanni di, 36 Spandrel, 46 33–36; post and lintel, 39–42;
Singapore National Library, 664, 666 “Speaking architecture,” 470–472, shells and, 54–56; space frames
Sistine Chapel (Rome), 385 616 and geodesic domes and, 54;
Sixth Avenue at 50th Street Speer, Albert, 566, 567 structural frames, 44–45;
(New York), 610 Sri Lankan architecture, 649–652 suspension and, 56–64;
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Index 743

technology and risk of, 65–66; Temples: Buddhist, 277–279, 279, Torroja, Eduardo, 56, 58
trusses and, 53–54; vaults and, 456, 457–458; cave, 16, 17, Toshihito, Hachijo, 502
47–48 276; Egyptian, 4–5, 207–212; Tower Apartments (Rohnert Park,
Strutt, William, 493 Hindu, 274, 276–277, California), 654, 655
Stuart, James, 219, 468, 469, 485, 277–278; Japanese Buddhist, Tower of Babel, 192
485, 491 499–502; Maltese, 178, Town, Ithiel, 148
Stubbins, Hugh, 131, 132 178–179; Roman, 252–253 Town halls, 358–360, 364, 553,
Stupa, 279, 279, 280, 456 Temples, Greek, 225, 234–244, 564, 564
Stylobate, 42, 43, 242 235–243, 247; Hellenistic, Town Library (Devonport, England),
Suger (Abbott), 337, 338, 244–247, 245; at Olympia, 514, 515
342–344, 345 97–99, 99–101, 225, 234, 234; Townsend, Charles Viscount,
Sullivan, Louis, 20, 25–26, 542–543, pictorial imagery in, 97–99, 463–464
557–558, 571 99–101. See also temples Town truss, 53
Sumerian period, 188–189 by name Trabeated system, 40
Summerson, John, 155 Ten Books on Architecture (Vitruvius), Train stations/sheds, 128, 516,
Suspension structures, 56–64 371, 400 522–525, 523–524; Grand
Sustainability, architecture and, Tennessee State Capitol Building Central Station (New York
658–667 (Nashville), 509 City), 157–158; of Hector
Sweden, national architecture in, Tenochtitlan (Mexico), 412–413, Guimard (Paris), 560–561,
563, 564 413 561; Lyon-Satolas TGV
Swiczinsky, Helmut, 646 Tent structures, 61–64 Terminal (Lyon, France), 633,
Sydney Opera House (Australia), Teotihuacán, 410–411, 411 635; Palais des Machines
602, 602, 641 Terra Amata (Nice, France), 38, (Paris), 53–54, 524, 524–525,
Symbolism, 5, 26–28, 165 166–167, 168, 468 531; Pennsylvania Station
Symphony halls, 111–115, 112–114 Terrace Gardens, 192 (New York City), 152, 155,
Synthetic eclecticism, 491–492 Terrace of the Hundred 156–157, 157; Saint Pancras
Fountains, 398 (London), 517, 520, 523,
Tactile texture, 82, 85 Terragni, Giuseppe, 566, 567 523–524
Tagore, Rabindranath, 158 Terry, Quinlan, 612, 621–622, 623 Trajan, Forum of, 251, 256–257
Taipei 101 (Taipei, Taiwan), 636, Texture, 82–86 Transportation revolution, 464
639, 659 Thales of Miletos, 224 Trans World Airlines Terminal
Taj Mahal (Agra, India), 158, 159, Thamugadi (Algeria), 256, 256 (JFK Airport, New York), 28,
280, 305 Theaters, 106–107; Aspendos 29, 54–55, 598, 599
Talenti, Francesco, 368, 370 (Turkey), 268; Bernini’s “The Treasury” (Petra, Jordan),
Taller de Arquitectura, 653 Cornaro Chapel resembling, 246, 247
“The Tall Office Building Artistically 419, 422; Greek, 232–234, “Tres Grande Vitesse” rail line
Considered” (Sullivan), 542 233; Marcellus (Rome), 266, (Lyon-Satolas, France), 633,
Talud-tablero method, 410–411 267; Roman, 266–268, 635
Tange, Kenzo, 636 267–268 Triglyphs, 42, 43
Taniguchi, Yoshio, 639 Théâtre-Français (Paris), 493 Trilithons, 180; Stonehenge, 6, 164,
Taos Pueblo structures, 39, 40 Thebes (Egypt), 199, 207, 209, 180–182, 181
Tassel House (Brussels, Belgium), 212, 215 Trissino, Giangiorgio, 144, 390
560, 560 Thomas Jefferson Memorial Tropical skyscrapers, 664
Taut, Bruno, 22, 69, 497, 570, 574 (Washington, DC), 562, 562 Trusses: cast-iron, 492–493, 493;
Taut, Max, 150 Thomaskirche (Leipzig, Germany), overview, 53, 53–54; Palais des
Tax tollhouses (Paris), 471 110, 110 Machines (Paris), 53–54, 524,
Tea, interest in “Chinoiserie” Thorvaldsen, Bertel, 507 524–525; space frames, 54;
and, 455 Tierney, Todd, 30, 30 wooden-roof churches,
Teahouses/tea ceremony, 502–503 Tikal (Guatemala), 408, 411–412 354–355
Team Disney Building (Burbank, Tipi, 62, 62 Tugendhat House (Brno,
California), 615, 616 Tiryns (Mycenae), 222 Czechoslovakia), 577–578
Teatro Olimpico (Vicenza, Italy), Titanium, as building material, 643 Tull, Jethro, 464
107, 107–108, 390 Tjibaou, Jean-Marie, 652 Tumulus tomb, 499
Technology, risk and, 65, 65–66 Tjibaou Cultural Center (New Tunnel vault, 47, 48
Tel el Amarna (Egypt), 212 Caledonia), 652 Turning Torso tower (Malmo,
Temenos (Greek), 234, 235 Tokyo City Hall towers, 636 Sweden), 633
Tempietto of San Pietro (Rome), Tomb of Hatshepsut, 207, 208 Tuscan Doric order, 42, 43, 44,
383, 384 Tombs: Constantina’s, 292–293, 394, 625
Temple I (Tikal, Guatemala), 408 293–294; Egyptian, 206–207, “The Tuscan Doric Order”
Temple of the Cross (Guatemala), 208; western European, 177, (Vignola), 145
411–412 179–180, 180 Tutankhamen, 199, 207
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Übelhör, Johann Georg, 90, 414, 452 Uruk, 188, 189, 190 394, 396, 422; Villa Lante and,
Ugliness, 91 Utilitarian function, 22, 24, 28 397, 399
Umayyad Mosque (Damascus), 308 Utilitarian utility, 24 Villa Badoer (Fratta Polesine, Italy),
Union Buildings (Pretoria, Utility, restricting architecture to, 391, 392
South Africa), 553 21, 22, 24 Villa Capra (Villa Rotonda)
Unité d’Habitation (Marseilles), 76, Utzon, Jørn, 602, 602, 609, 641 (Vicenza, Italy), 146, 148,
77, 82, 123, 594 391–393, 392, 465
United Nations, historic preservation Valley of the Kings (Egypt), 135, 199, Villa dei Papiri (Roman), 621
and, 154–155 206, 215 Villa d’Este (Tivoli, Italy), 398,
United States: architectural Valley Temple (Giza, Egypt), 40, 41, 400–401
education, 148–149; historic 44, 132–133, 204 Villages: Egyptian, 212–215;
preservation movement, 154; Vanbrugh, John, 438–439, 485, 534 transition to cities, 182–185
Modernism in, 609; planned van Heemskerck, Maerten, 386 Villa Lante (Bagnaia, Italy),
communities, 652–653; Vanna Venturi House (Chestnut 397–398, 399, 436
planned industrial towns, Hill, Pennsylvania), 611, Villard, Henry, 157
530–531; urban renewal in, 611, 613 Villas: Mannerist, 398; of Palladio,
150–151. See also American Vasari, Giorgio, 365, 373, 394, 415 390–393; Roman, 263–265,
architecture Vast, Jean, 350 263–266
United States Pavilion (1967 World’s Vatican Palace, 143, 444 Villa Savoye (Poissy, France), 579,
Fair), 55 Vau, Louis Le, 145, 147, 435, 581, 582–584, 595, 606–607
US Courthouse and Federal Building 436–437 Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène-Emmanuel,
(Islip, New York), 628 “Vaulted” house, 189, 190 89, 154, 354, 357, 557
US Green Building Council, 658–659 Vaults, 47–48; barrel, 47, 48; fan Virgil, 251, 263, 367, 397, 483
Universal space, 22, 24 vaulting, 356, 359; groin, Virginia State Capitol (Richmond),
University Library at Salamanca 47–48, 48; rib, 52, 52–53 489, 490, 491, 509
(Spain), 401, 402 Vaux, Calvert, 527, 528 Virgin Mary, veneration of, 338, 341
University of Houston School of Vaux-le-Vicomte, Château de, Visconti, Louis, 516
Architecture, 616, 617 435, 435 Visual perception, 69–74, 70–71
University of Phoenix Stadium Veduta (Piranesi), 488 Vitra International Furniture
(Glendale, Arizona), 630 Velarium, 106 Company (Weil-am-Rhein,
University of Rome, chapel of Venetian Resort Hotel Casino Germany), 642
Sant’ Ivo della Sapienze, (Las Vegas), 616 Vitruvian formula, 69
427–429, 430 Venice, Byzantine architecture Vitruvius (Marcus Vitruvius Pollio),
University of Salamanca (Spain), and, 301 466; on economy and
401, 402 Venturi, Robert, 610–612, 611, architecture, 153; elements of
University of Virginia, 613, 623–624 architectural design, 21; on
Observatory Hill Dining Hall Venus, temple of (Baalbek), 272, 273 forum, 254; on Greek columns,
(Charlottesville), 624–625, 625 Venus Genetrix, temple of, 256 243; Greek sources, 136; Greek
Ur, 189, 191 Versailles, 85, 145; aerial view of, temples and, 234; ideal form
Urban design, 472–483; defined, 473; 437; Baroque architecture at, and, 371, 371–373; on
emptiness of Modernist, 610; 434–438, 436–437; gardens of, inappropriate building
in England, 478, 481; in 85, 487, 488; Hall of Mirrors materials, 131; on proportion,
France, 473–478, 475–478, at, 437; music of, 110; Rococo 74; Ten Books on Architecture,
479–480, 479–481 architecture vs., 447–448 400; translations of, 144
Urban growth: industry and, 525–531; Vers une architecture (Le Corbusier), Von Klenze, Leo, 506, 506–507
nineteenth century, 464 579, 580 von Moos, Stanislaus, 595
Urban planning: Baroque Roman era, Vertical line, 72 Voussoirs, 46, 46, 308, 309
431–434, 433–434; classic Vespasian, temple of, 383 Voysey, Charles Francis Annesley,
Greek era, 226–230; defined, Viceroy’s House (New Delhi), 532–534, 533
473; early Roman, 254–257, 562–563, 563
255–257; industrialism Vielzweckraum, 24 Wagner, Otto, 613
and, 528–531, 529–531; Vienna, replanning of, 529–530 Wagner, Richard, 111
Le Corbusier, City for Vierzehnheiligen (Franconia, Wainwright Building (St. Louis,
Three Million, 579, 581; Germany), 16, 90, 414, 416, Missouri), 20, 26, 94
Postmodernism, reaffirming 450–453, 451–452, 465 Walhalla (Von Klenze), 509
community, 652–655; Vignola, Giacomo Barozzi da, 415; Walker, Robert, 157
rebuilding city of London, 440, Church of the Gesú (Rome), Walpole, Horace, 487, 491–492, 492
441; of Washington, DC, 417–418, 417–418; on classical Walter, Thomas U., 148, 509, 510
480–483, 482; Yeang and, 664 orders, 144, 145, 400; Sant’ Wang Shu, 640
Urban renewal, 150–151 Andrea (Rome), 394; Sant’ Wang Xiancheng, 460
Urban space, 16 Anna dei Palafrenieri (Rome), Warren truss, 53
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Index 745

Washington, DC, plan for, 344, 345–346, 355; towers of Kaufmann (Edgar) residence
480–483, 482 Mies van der Rohe, 577, (Fallingwater), 5, 12, 14, 41,
Wastell, John, 356, 359 583–584, 585; Tugendhat 83, 84, 85; Lewis (Lloyd)
Water Temple (Awaji Island, House (Brno, Czechoslovakia), House, 9–11, 10–11, 12;
Japan), 620 577–578; variation in size Prairie Houses, 12, 15, 16, 72,
Webb, Philip, 532, 533 (Boston City Hall), 71, 73 122–123, 123, 535–536,
Weimar Academy of Fine Arts Wiseman, Carter, 646 535–536; Robie (Frederick C.)
(Germany), 573 Wölfflin, Heinrich, 416, 568 House, 535–357, 536–537;
Weisman Art and Teaching Museum Wollaton Hall (England), 403, 404 Willits (Ward) House, 535, 535
(Minneapolis), 643 Women, as architects, 151 Wrought iron, 41, 492
Weissenhof Siedlung (Stuttgart, Wood, as building material, 41; in
Germany), 576, 577 Japanese architecture, 499–500 Xochimilco restaurant (Mexico),
Weldon, Felix W. de, 74 Wood, John (the elder and the 55–56, 56
Wells Cathedral (England), 314 younger), 478, 481
Westcoast Transmission Building Wood, Michael, 196 Yale University buildings, 59, 78–79,
(Vancouver, Canada), 61, 61 Wood, Robert, 469, 470 79, 83, 83–84, 85, 605
Westminster Hall (London), 53, Wooden-roofed churches, 354–355 Yamasaki, Minoru, 579
509, 510 Woodland Cemetery chapel Yeang, Ken, 124, 126, 649, 656,
Westminster Palace (London), (Sweden), 564, 565 664––667, 665–666
355, 356 Woolworth Building (New York), Yevele, Henry, 53, 355, 356
Whipple truss, 53 97, 97 Yin Yu Tang (Anhui, China), 460
White Temple at Uruk (Iraq), World Trade Center Towers (New Yorimichi, Fujiwara, 501
189, 190 York City), 4, 66, 67, 639
Wigley, Mark, 645 World War I, 568, 569–570 Zapotec, 409, 411
Wigwams, 38, 39 World War II, 582–583 Zen Buddhism, 501–503
Wilgus, Wilbur, 561 Wotten, Henry, 21, 69 Zenobius, 291–292, 292
Wilkins, William, 621 Wren, Christopher, 380, 416, Zeno of Theodorus (architect), 106,
Wilkinson, John, 493, 493 439–442, 491, 553 266, 268
Williamsburg (Virginia), 154 Wright, Frank Lloyd, 532, 535–537; Zeppelin Field stadium (Nuremburg,
Willits (Ward) House (Highland Arts and Crafts and, 535; Germany), 566, 567
Park, Illinois), 535, 535 cantilevers and, 41; Japanese Zeus, temple of: at Baalbek, 298; at
Willoughby, Francis, 403 architecture and, 15, 497, 503; Olympia, 97–99, 99–101, 225,
Winckelmann, Johann Joachim, passive solar heating and, 234, 235
468, 507 122–123; scale and, 76, 78; Zevaco, Jean-François, 553
Wind exposure, 126–131, 129–130 sculptural power of Ziggurats, 189, 191, 191
Windows: Crystal Palace (London), architecture and, 586–587; Zimmermann, Dominikus, 450
521–522, 522; heat-gain space and, 9–11, 12, 15; spiral Zimmermann, Johann Baptist,
problem with, 122–123; helix and, 586–587, 588–589; 92, 448
modern architecture and, texture and, 83, 84, 85 Zion Lutheran Church (Portland,
570–571; modern construction Wright, Frank Lloyd, buildings of: Oregon), 27, 28
failure, 131, 610; rhythm and, Guggenheim Museum (New Zoser, step pyramid of, 135, 200–202,
79, 80–81, 81; stained glass, York City), 586–587, 588–589; 202–203