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▶ architecture
introduction
Architecture is a human activity that combines a number
of fi elds, including art, design, geometry, engineering, con-
struction, and materials science (the science that studies the
properties of materials, including, for example, their strength
and durability). Architects draw on their knowledge of these
fi elds to create structures for human use. In the ancient world
these structures included not only homes but also a great
many public buildings, including temples, tombs, govern-
ment buildings, pyramids, granaries, theaters, athletic stadi-
ums, and the like.
Archaeologists have few remains of prehistoric architecture
to study, primarily because the earliest human-built structures
were built with nondurable materials, so they have disappeared.
Th e earliest architecture was a haphazard aff air and consisted
of homes that were built with whatever materials lay at hand.
Th us, depending on local geography, prehistoric peoples built
their shelters out of such materials as reeds, mud bricks, poles,
logs, stones, or animal hides, or they found shelter in caves.
Th ese structures tended to be temporary because the earliest
peoples were hunter-gatherers, so they moved about from place
to place in search of food. Th ere was very little “architecture”
involved, and little attention was paid to the aesthetic quali-
ties of the structure. Th e structure served a purely functional
purpose—that of keeping out the wind, rain, and snow while
providing the inhabitants with at least a minimal level of safety
and security and storage for their few belongings.
True architecture did not develop until people began to
lead more settled lives, staying in one place long enough to
make the construction of more permanent and aesthetically
pleasing buildings worthwhile. Only when people turned to
agriculture rather than hunting and gathering for their food
did they begin to gather in ever-larger communities, forming
the fi rst hamlets, then larger towns, and fi nally cities where
architecture fl ourished.
Th us, the development of agriculture had a profound af-
fect on architecture. People gathered in communities began
to develop more formalized belief systems, giving rise to or-
ganized religions and the temples where those religions were
practiced. Further, because so many of the buildings found in
places like Greece, Rome, and the Americas were so immense,
they oft en took generations to build, requiring a settled, stable
population of workers. Surplus food supplies, made possible
only with agriculture, supported a class of priests as well as
others who provided to city dwellers the fruits of civilization.
Included would be poets and dramatists, who needed theaters
for the production of their work.
Also included were classes of bureaucrats and civil ser-
vants, who ran the aff airs of the community out of public
buildings. Th e emergence of hereditary royal families gave
rise to magnifi cent public buildings erected to demonstrate
the power of the ruling class, and elaborate tombs, including
the immense pyramids of ancient Egypt and Central Amer-
ica, ensured that royalty and members of the upper classes
enjoyed a smooth trip into the aft erlife. As society became
more socially stratifi ed, meaning that upper and lower classes
of people developed, architecture became a way for the upper
classes to design and build magnifi cent homes and villas that
became a symbol of their status.
Architecture also provided more practical structures. For
the military it supplied fortifi cations and walls along borders.
For farmers it provided granaries, barns, and similar struc-
tures. For the upper classes, it furnished cookhouses, privies
(toilets), bathhouses, gardens, terraces, and similar structures
that enhanced the quality of life. Architects also learned to
construct and position buildings in a way that in the 21st cen-
tury would be called “environmentally friendly.” As fi rewood
became more and more scarce because of the growth of cities
and populations, architects learned to take advantage of the
sun to provide warmth.
Architecture drew on the skills of numerous people. An
architect had to design a building in a way that guaranteed it
would last. He had to understand the properties of the mate-
rials he used to ensure that they were suitable for the build-
ing. As time progressed and as contact and trade between
cities and empires developed, builders gained access to a wid-
er variety of materials. Where stone was used, miners had to
quarry, cut, smooth, and transport immense blocks. Builders
had to organize masses of laborers to assemble the building,
devise techniques for lift ing heavy materials into place, and
take care of such everyday chores as keeping track of the bud-
get; in many cases they had to oversee slaves, making sure
that they were fed and housed.52 architecture: introduction