Page 227 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

112 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

This photo shows a portion of an adobe house block at Acoma Pueblo in New
Mexico. The architecture combines indigenous design with techniques brought
by the Spanish—mud bricks smoothed with a mud plaster.

Siva (c. 1000) at Khajuraho, in the state of Madhya vided refreshing water, fragrant plants, and soft, indirect
Pradesh, which was derived from a mandala, the mysti- lighting. Rooms had ethereal domes, whose structure was
cal gridded plan of a sacred space. Featuring a sequence veiled by muqarnas, stucco- or woodwork forming open,
of increasingly important spaces, the interior concluded honeycomb-like cells.
at the inner sanctum with its image of Siva. Small inte-
rior spaces reflected the limitations of massive masonry Idealized Plans and
walls as well as the minimal spatial needs of small groups the Renaissance
of worshippers. Seemingly countless voluptuous sculp- Beginning in the fifteenth-century Italian Renaissance,
tures covered the exterior surfaces that climaxed at the men with humanistic educations, not just practical build-
mountain-like tower over the inner sanctum. In China ing experience, aided by familiarity with classical antiq-
and Japan, Buddhist pagodas served similar uses but were uity, mathematics, and orthogonal drawing, won many
characterized by their winged eaves and centralized plans. architectural commissions. Their buildings and publica-
In Europe continued insecurity encouraged the pow- tions argued for the unity of architectural practice and
erful to live in fortified castles. A moat and high walls theory. Filippo Brunelleschi’s Cupola (1417–1434), or
with towers protected inner courts and the main multi- dome and lantern, for the Cathedral of Florence com-
storied residence, called a keep or donjon. By the latter bined a Gothic pointed profile and a Pantheon-like con-
Middle Ages, improved security fostered the development centric grid with his original ideas of a double shell,
of the less-fortified, but still grand, manor house. Its main interlocking brick pattern, and inventive construction
room, or great hall, a multifunctional entertainment mechanisms. Sophisticated uses of Roman ideas also
space, required sturdy roof support in the form of various characterized the work of Leon Battista Alberti, whose
trussed solutions. The Islamic rulers of Spain produced classically grand church of Sant’Andrea (begun c. 1470)
luxurious, sprawling palace complexes, such as the in Mantua, Italy, derived from ancient building types, pro-
Alhambra (thirteenth–fourteenth centuries) in Granada. portional systems, and the classical orders.
The gardens interspersed throughout the complex pro- Efforts to supersede classical accomplishments were