Construction And Environmental Performance Of A Typical Mesopotamian ' Palace And A Roman ' Peristyle ' House

“The Ancient Egyptians believed that there was more to life than just the life they had on earth. Much of their architecture inspired by these beliefs, including the pyramids and the houses they built were based on strict rules of mathematics and geography. (Parulekar pg 1)”. It has beendiscovered that the numbers of pi have been greatly incorporated in the building and design of Ancient Egyptian architecture. The Ancient Egyptians built their homes and monuments very symmetrically and with lots of greenery (Also thought to keep harmony among the people).

The similarities and differences between the design, construction and environmental performance of a typical Mesopotamian ‘courtyard’ and a Roman ‘peristyle’ house

This is proof of the Sumerian architectural abilities. The architecture in Mesopotamia are considered to have been contemporary with the founding of the Sumerian cities, but there was some complexity in the architectural design during this Protoliterate period (c. 3400-c. 2900 BC). This is shown in the design of many religious buildings. Typical temples of the Protoliterate period--both the platform type and the type built at ground level--are, however, much more elaborate both in planning and ornament. The interior was decorated with cones sunk into the wall, covered in bronze. Most cities were simple in structure, but the ziggurat was one of the world's first complex architectural structures.

In 1950, V Gordon Childe drew up a list of traits of to what he considered to be the common characteristics of early civilizations. According to Fagan & Scarre, a recent archaeologist Charles Redman divided Childe’s list into primary and secondary characteristics. The primary characteristics included cities and states, together with full-time specialization of labor, concentration of surplus, and a class-structured society. For the secondary, the characteristics included symptoms or by-products of these major economic and organizational changes: monumental public works, long-distance trade, standardized monumental artworks, writing, and the sciences (arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy)(Scarre and Fagan 2003). One of the most common characteristics involve was a large, dense population living in a city. This essay well state and describe two early cities in Mesopotamia and explore the layouts and characteristics of these two cities. Also, whether each city is unique or share common characteristics with each other. The two cities are Maskan-shapir and Ur.

The closed and reinforced courtyard house is thus a product of cultural polygenesis dating to the Bronze Age, and it has endured in the Mediterranean basin In the form of classical atrium and pastas house to be adopted finally by the Islamised people in the Dar al Islam.

Many centuries before the birth of Christ, the city of Rome grew, prospered, and developed into a thriving Republic. As in most cultures, Rome's buildings became more elaborate and impressive. They developed fantastic building technologies and ideas. The feats of Roman engineers were groundbreaking, and many structures built by this culture still stand today. With knowledge borrowed from the Greeks, Rome made impressive architectural achievements, these were namely major attributes of buildings, colossal structures, and a legacy that would influence later buildings (Cornell and Matthews 11).

The history of Architecture started long time ago. The nomadic were groups of people whom move from one place to another in order find shelter and food to survive. As they progress, their techniques to survive evolve. The need for a permanent shelter became vital for a better stability of the group. This is the time when the first structures that provided protection appeared. Post and lintel were the first forms of Architecture, that satisficed the basic needs. Architecture evolved to be more sophisticated and fulfill the people’s needs. Consequently, Architecture evolved throughout different periods such as: Ancient architecture, Romanesque, The medieval, Renaissance, Early modern, and the industrial age, Modernism and Contemporary

Their ways differed a little bit, Mesopotamia had walls while Ancient Egypt was happy with just the

Many architectural and urban forms and elements that we witness today are largely influenced by how buildings were design and laid in Rome. Not only in terms of its external design that brought upon important messages but the design of interiors and the significance of spatial arrangement of spaces exist within them has created the sense of physical experience in the buildings as well. Rome’s urban development and the rise of architectural movement began during the time of Augustus

To transfer over to the Neolithic period, we see a new kind of housing come about which were sun-baked mud brick on stone. These shelters had

Onto our next subject, we will look at the Greeks and the influence they have had on Architecture in Western Civilization. A simple observation of the Acropolis and you can see familiar designs and influence in western architecture from the columns to the moldings found in buildings today for example, the White House is filled with columns and moldings imitating Greek design. It’s easy to see why we have adopted the strong yet elegant designs of the Greeks, the designs are sturdy

Ancient Roman dwellings evolved architecturally in time from simple huts in the earliest times, to sophisticated and extremely long-lived structures in the later Republic and Imperial Rome following the annexation of the Greek city-states. This is very evident in many Italian and Greek cities where archaeologists have found different occupational levels, with each lower architectural strata being much more ancient (Lavan, Özgenel, & Sarantis, 2007). Typically, however, Roman architecture refers to the period from the establishment of the Roman Republic (6 century BC) to the relocation of the capital to Constantinople in 330AD. An architectural period supported by two great innovations: the cement and the arch.

The plains of the Tigris and Euphrates river basins lacked areas of stone quarries and trees that the Sumerian's could use for building structures. Without wood or stone the Sumerians used mud-brick without the use of mortar or cement to construct their buildings. In time their buildings would deteriorate or if destroyed would require the remaining structure to be leveled and then rebuilt on the same spot. This eventually raised the level of cities above the surrounding plain. They also developed the arch by constructing and linking several arches which enabled them to build a dome. If available Sumerian temples and palaces would use stone and wood in order to build buttresses, recesses and half-columns.

This essay will initially look at the period prior to 620 BC to see if there is any evidence to suggest that the ancient Greeks may have imitated another civilizations designs to create the three architectural orders that Vitruvius wrote about in his Ten Books of Architecture. The next part of this essay will look at each of the three columns to discuss their virtues in relation to proportionality, structure and visual imitation.

As the saying goes “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” however long it took to build the capital, the days, months, years, centuries of work can be viewed as a long lasting landmark which paved the way for new and challenging architecture to come (How Roman architecture influenced modern architecture [sa]). According to Tony Rook (2013: [sp] ch.2) the typical Roman temple shows the Etruscan tradition combined with the Greek one. Although some of their premature concepts were acquired from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, Roman architects transformed the body of architecture for all time to come, offering buildings and structures that has never been before, along the side of public buildings and infrastructure that could be used by