Structure, Form, and Architecture: The Synergy

Lecture 08: Structural Transformation in Architectural History

DR. SHUBHAJIT SADHUKHAN

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE & PLANNING

1
Introduction
• Human needs and desire changed over time

• Spatial Needs changed over time

• Architectural Style changed the form and structural requirements

• Scale of Architecture changed so as the Structure

• New and innovative materials and technology changed the structural

requirements and forms

2
Structural Transformation through Architectural Timeline
→ 11,600 B.C. to 3,500 B.C. — Prehistoric Period
→ 3,050 B.C. to 900 B.C. — Ancient Egypt
→ 850 B.C. to A.D. 476 — Classical Period
→ 527 to 565 — Byzantine
→ 800 to 1200 — Romanesque
→ 1100 to 1450 — Gothic
→ 1400 to 1600 — Renaissance
→ 1600 to 1830 — Baroque
→ 1650 to 1790 — Rococo
→ 1730 to 1925 — Neoclassicism
→ 1890 to 1914 — Art Nouveau
→ 1895 to 1925 — Beaux Arts
→ 1905 to 1930 — Neo-Gothic
→ 1925 to 1937 — Art Deco
→ 1900 to Present — Modernist Styles
→ 1972 to Present — Postmodernism
→ 1997 to Present — Neo-Modernism and Parametricism
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/architecture-timeline-historic-periods-styles-175996

3
11,600 B.C. to 3,500 B.C. — Prehistoric Period
• Pyramidal shape dry stone
compressive structure
• Mud, stone used as material

Bee Hive Hut

Source: http://people.ucls.uchicago.edu/~snekros/2007-
8%20webquests/Structures%2089/structures89.html

4
11,600 B.C. to 3,500 B.C. — Prehistoric Period
• A megalithic structure typically
formed from a large horizontal
stone slab resting on two or more
upright slabs
• Structural Elements frame a
quadrangular space

Dolmen
Source: https://www.ancient.eu/dolmen/

5
11,600 B.C. to 3,500 B.C. — Prehistoric Period

Ġgantija Temples
Source: https://www.visitgozo.com/where-to-go-in-
gozo/archaeological-sites/ggantija-temples/

6
11,600 B.C. to 3,500 B.C. — Prehistoric Period
• The structural
system was post
lintel or post slab

Stonehenge

Source:
https://brewminate.com/prehistoric-
architecture/

7
3,050 B.C. to 900 B.C. — Ancient Egypt
• Monumental Scale
• Form ensures
stability and
symmetry
• Stone as material

Egyptian Pyramid
Sourcehttps://senacatal.wordpress.com/2015/10/07/arc
hitecture-of-the-ancient-egypt/

8
3,050 B.C. to 900 B.C. — Ancient Egypt
• Monumental Scale
• Use of timber beam
• Works of monolithic stone
masonry
• Columns made by single
rock
• The structural system was
post lintel or post slab

Temple of Edfu
Egypt

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_architecture

9
850 B.C. to A.D. 476 — Classical Period • Stone as main materials
Greek Architecture
• Trabeated system (Post
lintel system

• Columns act as vertical

supporting element of
the main structure

• Ornamentation of
Structure with style
(Doric, Ionic and
Corinthian)

Parthenon-Acropolis
Athens, Greece

Source: https://www.ancient.eu/image/6798/parthenon---
acropolis-athens/

10
850 B.C. to A.D. 476 — Classical Period
Roman Architecture
• Structural system: Post slab
and post lintel.
• Column arranged in circular
and rectangular way
• Ornamentation of Structure
with style (Doric, Ionic and
Corinthian)

Pantheon
Rome

Source: https://www.ancient.eu/image/8297/romes-pantheon/

11
850 B.C. to A.D. 476 — Classical Period
Roman Architecture
• Coliseum is a free-standing,
elliptical structure made of
stone and mortar

The Coliseum
Rome

Source: https://historyplex.com/roman-coliseum-facts

12
527 to 565 — Byzantine
• Brick instead of stone, domed
roofs, elaborate mosaics, and
classical forms
• Construction material: limestone
and sand mortar
• Construction system: Wall Slab

Hagia Eirene
Turkey

Source: http://www.readntravel.com/istanbul/3005/

13
800 to 1200 — Romanesque
• Transitional
architecture, with a
Byzantine-domed apse
and an added Gothic-
like steeple
• Constructed of stone
and brick

The Coliseum
Rome
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint-Sernin,_Toulouse

14
1100 to 1450 — Gothic
• Structural system: post-lintel
• Pointed Arches, Flying Buttresses,
and Ribbed Vaulting
• Use of non-supporting stained glass
• Tall Structure

Notre Dame de Chartres

France

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Notre_Dame_de_Chartres_crop.jpg

15
1400 to 1600 — Renaissance
• Symmetry
• Structural system: post-
lintel
• Dome, Arch

Villa Rotonda
Italy

Source: https://www.castagnahotel.it/en/places/villa-
almerico-capra-known-as-la-rotonda/

16
1600 to 1830 — Baroque
• Complex shapes,
extravagant ornaments,
opulent paintings and bold
contrasts
• Vaults, Arches, Buttresses

Palace of Versailles
France

Source:
https://fthmb.tqn.com/HoftTu1gBjnhWq87dQai8gmSOFo
=/versailles-680783213-crop-
5825fc173df78c6f6ac1fc84.jpg

17
1650 to 1790 — Rococo
• Decorative designs
with scrolls, vines,
shell-shapes
• Delicate geometric
patterns
• Ornamentation of
Structure

The Helblinghaus
Austria Source: https://historyplex.com/roman-coliseum-facts

18
1730 to 1925 — Neoclassicism
• Symmetry

• Structural
system: post-
lintel

• Dramatic use of
columns,
preference for
blank walls

• Dome, Arch
United States Capitol
USA

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uni
ted_States_Capitol

19
1890 to 1914 — Art Nouveau
• Ornamentation of Structure
• Asymmetrical Shapes, Arches, and
Decorative surfaces

Hôtel Lutetia
Paris, France

Source: http://art.nouveau.world/hotel-lutetia

20
1895 to 1925 — Beaux Arts
• Ornamentation of
Structure
• Order, symmetry, formal
design, grandiosity, and
elaborate ornamentation
• Arches, and Decorative
Columns

Palais Garnier Opera House

Paris, France

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_Garnier

21
1905 to 1930 — Neo-Gothic
• Gothic Revival applied to modern skyscrapers
• Strong vertical lines and a sense of great height
• Arched and pointed windows with decorative tracery
• Ornamentation of Structure
• Framed Structure with Post and Beam

Woolworth Building
New York

Source: https://stephentravels.com/come-inside/woolworth-building/

22
1925 to 1937 — Art Deco
• Framed Structure
• Ziggurat, terraced pyramid shapes with each story smaller than the
one below it
• Steel and Concrete as materials
• Highrise structure

Chrysler Building
New York
Source: https://www.trover.com/d/pRks-chrysler-building-new-york-city-new-york

23
1900 to Present — Modernist Styles

Glass House Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_House

New Canaan, Connecticut

United Nations Secretariat Building • Framed Structure

Manhattan, New York City
• Reinforce Concrete and
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Secretariat_Building Steel

24
1972 to Present — Postmodernism
• Shell Structure
• Reinforce Concrete
• Large Span Structure

Sydney Opera House

Austrelia

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sydney_Opera_
House_Sails.jpg

25
1997 to Present — Neo-Modernism and Parametricism
• Shell Structure
• Reinforce
Concrete and
steel frame
• Large Span
Structure

Heydar Aliyev Source: http://natatthemuseum.com/architecture/

Baku

26
Source:
https://www.thoughtco.com/archi
tecture-timeline-historic-periods-
styles-175996

27
Further Reading
• Charleson, A. W., 2005, Structure as Architecture, 2005, Elsevier

• Ching, F. D.K., Architecture: Form, Space & Order, 2nd ed, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1996

• Salvadori, M and Heller,R. A., 1986, Structure in Architecture, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall

• Schodek, D. and Bechthold, M., 2013, Structures,7th ed., Prentice Hall

28
Lecture 09: Factors affecting the Structural Forms

29
Thank You

30