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Ancient Greek Architecture

The earliest buildings that were built in Greece, in the  New Stone Age, are small houses or 

huts, and wooden walls around them for protection. Later there are bigger houses, and stone

walls around the villages.

By the Early Bronze Age, we find one bigger house in the middle of the village, and fancier, bigger stone walls.

In the Late Bronze Age, under the influence of Western Asia, and the Minoans on Crete,

there are palaces and big stone tombs, as well as paved roads and bridges, and dams (and

more stone walls).

During the Greek Dark Ages the palaces were burned, and the roads and bridges and dams

mostly fell apart. But at the end of the Dark Ages, with the beginning of the Iron Age and the

Archaic period in Greece, we see a new type of building: the temple for the gods. These

earliest temples are built in the Doric style. There are houses, but no more palaces. But roads

and bridges and stone walls begin to be built again.

In the  Classical period, there are more temples, bigger and with new design ideas: the

Parthenon is built in the 440's BC. People begin to build in the Ionic style. Democracy 

 prevents the Greeks from building palaces or big tombs, because politically all men are

supposed to be equal, and so it would look bad to have a big palace even if you could afford

it. Instead, the Greeks build public buildings: gymnasia, and stoas, where men can meet and

talk.

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By the 300's BC, in the Hellenistic period, there are some new architectural types. Less time

is spent on temples. The new form is the theater , and many theaters are built all over the

Greek world. Also, there is new interest in town planning at this time: streets begin to be laid

out in straight lines, instead of just developing naturally. With the conquests of Alexander theGreat, architecture becomes an important way to spread Greek culture and show who is in

charge in the conquered countries. On the other hand, once the Romans conquer Greece ,

around 200 -100 BC, they too use architecture to show that they are in charge, and suddenly

there is a lot of building in the Roman style. Corinthian architecture became more popular.

About 400 AD, the Greeks convert to  Christianity, and begin to build churches and

monasteries. During the Middle Ages, parts of Greece were taken over by the Normans, who

 built castles, and other parts were still controlled by the  Byzantine Empire, and built in a

more West Asian style. Finally, in 1453 AD, the Byzantine Empire was taken over by the

Turks, and Islamic mosques began to be built in Greece.

 Introducing - History of Indian Architecture

 India's Architectural Heritage

One definition of a great civilization is the magnificence of its architectural legacy, and India

is surely among the foremost. The country is dotted with the remains of ages gone by, many

world famous like the Taj and Qutab Minar, and some still cloaked in obscurity, off the

tourist circuit, waiting to be 'discovered', but architectural gems nevertheless. In a perfect

world, we would all be traveling, exploring and writing for a living, seeing monuments,

marveling at the ineffable genius of builders long dead, imagining our world in the age of 

kings, dreaming of empires long gone and their pomp and glory. For most of us, however,

this is wishful thinking. Fortunately, technology comes to our aid. Through the combined

media of television, books, radio, and recently the web, we can look at images, hear words,

and experience that which we perhaps will never be able to see, feel or touch. Thus, our first

attempt will be to explore, as vividly and clearly as possible, India's immense built heritage.

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 Lessons from the Past 

To begin, it should be pointed out that in the large volume of published work on world

architecture, there is comparatively little on India (of course, the word 'India' here denotes the

sub-continent - including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. These countries, thoughseparated by political boundaries, share a common cultural heritage). This is not surprising -

 by far the majority of authors are Westerners. It has been traditionally difficult for Western

historians to make a correct and unbiased appraisal of Indian architecture - even if they

should choose to do so. One chief cause is that Indian architecture - both Hindu and Muslim -

has been traditionally considered exotic, not subject to the same rules of analysis as Western

examples. Much research still needs to be done - a beginning has been made but the majority

of the Indian vernacular still waits to be dissected.

This is a pity since there are many lessons to be learnt - lessons especially valid today when

modern Indian architects, trained in schools of architecture closely patterned on Western

examples, are lacking in all but the most rudimentary knowledge of their own heritage andthe conditions - social, cultural, political - which spawned it. Valuable insights on building

morphology, use of material and climatic appropriateness - which today are all major issues -

can be gleaned from the ingenious solutions in the vernacular. This section, then, is also an

attempt to strip Indian architecture of its 'exotic' tag, and present it for what it is - an

intelligent, innovative response to local conditions.

  In the beginning... That said, where does one begin? With a past stretching back to 2500

B.C., there are innumerable examples to choose from. It is difficult to select truly

representative monuments - those which clearly typify the spirit of their age and/or usher in a

new style. Equally, it is difficult to decide which ones to omit.

The best way is to start chronologically, from the very beginning. The Indus and its

tributaries were one of the earliest cradles of civilization. Here, at least, there is no ambiguity

- the cities of the Indus Valley Civilization are the first surviving evidence of 

architecture/town planning in the sub-continent. The life and times of the Indus Valley people

make for a fascinating study. Thus, the Harappan Culture will form the basis of the first

article.

 The Taj Mahal—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—in Agra was built by Shah Jahan 

as memorial to wife Mumtaz Mahal.

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Detail from the Jain temple at Ranakpur dedicated to Adinatha.

Mauryan architecture in the Barabar Mounts, Bihar. Grotto of Lomas Rishi. 3rd

century BCE.

Excavated ruins, Mohenjo-daro, modern-day Pakistan.

 The Great Stupa at Sanchi (4th-1st century BCE). The dome shaped stupa was

used in India as a commemorative monument associated with storing sacred

relics.

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Grand Anicut dam on river Kaveri (1st-2nd Century CE) is one of the oldest

water-regulation structures in the world still in use.[7]

 The temple complex at Khajuraho—adhering to the shikhara temple style

architecture—is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ornate lintel over mantapa entrance, Belur temple.

Qutub Minar a prominent islamic architecture in India

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Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (completed 1897) , formerly Victoria Terminus.

The Sé Cathedral of Santa Catarina —located in Old Goa —is a cathedral dedicated to

Catherine of Alexandria.

The famous jaali from the 16th-century Sidi Saiyyed mosque built by Ahmed Shah of 

Gujarat, in Ahmedabad

The North Block  in New Delhi houses key government offices, built along with Lutyens'

Delhi.

Chandigarh Secretariat designed by Le Corbusier .

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Indian Architecture - Residential

A Toda tribal hut

A village hut in West Bengal

House in Agumbe

House with verandah in Ettayapuram

Traditional home, Manali

Indian vernacular architecture is the informal, functional architecture of structures, often

in rural areas, of India, built of local materials and designed to meet the needs of the local

 people. The builders of these structures are unschooled in formal architectural design and

their work reflects the rich diversity of India's climate, locally available building materials,

and the intricate variations in local social customs and craftsmanship. It has been estimated

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that worldwide close to 90% of all building is vernacular, meaning that it is for daily use for 

ordinary, local people and built by local craftsmen.  The term "vernacular architecture" in

general refers to the informal building of structures through traditional building methods by

local builders without using the services of a professional architect. It is the most widespread

form of building. Indian vernacular architecture has evolved organically over time through

the skillful craftsmanship of the local people. Despite the diversity, this architecture can be broadly divided into three categories.

kachcha

A kachcha is a building made of natural materials such a mud, grass,  bamboo, thatch or sticks

and is therefore a short-lived structure. Since it is not made for endurance it requires constant

maintenance and replacement. The practical limitations of the building materials available

dictate the specific form which can have a simple beauty. The advantage of a kachcha is that

construction materials are cheap and easily available and relatively little labor is required.

pukka

A pukka is a structure made from materials resistant to wear, such as forms of stone or brick,

clay tiles , metal or other durable materials, sometimes using mortar to bind, that does not

need to be constantly maintained or replaced. However, such structures are expensive to

construct as the materials are costly and more labor is required. A  pukka may be elaborately

decorated in contrast to a kachcha.

semi-pukka

A combination of the kachcha and pukka style, the semi- pukka, has evolved as villagers have

acquired the resources to add elements constructed of the durable materials characteristic of a

 pukka. Architecture as always evolves organically as the needs and resources of people

change.

Regional variation

Building material depends on location. In hilly country where rocky rubble, ashlar , and pieces

of stone are available, these can be patched together with a mud mortar to form walls. Finer 

stonework veneer covers the outside. Sometimes wood beams and rafters are used with slate

tiles for roofing if available. Houses on hills usually have two stories, with the livestock living on the ground floor. Often a verandah runs along the side of the house. The roof is

 pitched to deal with the monsoon season and the house may sit on raised plinths or bamboo

 poles to cope with floods. On the flat lands, abodes are usually made of mud or sun-baked

 bricks, then plastered inside and out, sometimes with mud mixed with hay or even cow dung

and whitewashed with lime. Where bamboo is available (mainly in the north and northeastern

states) it is widely used for all parts of the home as it is flexible and resilient. Also widely

used is thatch from plants such as elephant grass, paddy, and coconut. In the south, clay tiles

are used for  pukka roofing while various plant material such as coconut palm is common for 

kachcha.

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Urban vernacular 

Chennai suburb Old part of 

Ahmedabad

 

Bridge in the middle a slum in Calcutta

of town, Manali

 

Commercial vernacular 

Restaurant in KulluRestaurant in BengaluruBazaar in Bangladesh Northern Pakistan

Hill houses

Darjeeling Concrete/brick and timber hill houses

Roofs of the cottages at

Ponmudi

Hill Station in Tamil

 Nadu