FACULTY OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND

ARCHITECTURE
PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND
URBAN PLANNING

Essay: “Contribution of the

historical process of Egyptian,
Mesopotamian, Greek, Roman,
Chinese, Indian and Japanese
architecture to the development of
world architecture”

TEACHER: ARCH. ABARCA ANCORI, Amparo

DISCENTE: EST. GUTIERREZ HUANACO, Najaby Iveth

INTRODUCTION:
In this work we will talk about the most important aspects of ancient civilizations and/or
architectures such as those of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Roman, China, India and Japan. We
will recognize the influences that gave the world in its architectural and constructive
development and also how it influenced the thinking of human beings throughout history.
In Egyptian Architecture we will talk about its majestic pyramids, how these still endure in
modern life and also that it has had a great influence in recent years, since we can find similar
buildings in various parts of the world. We will also see that its construction material, which is
adobe, has survived to this day, building houses to inhabit, since it is a cheap and easy material
to make.
In Mesopotamian Architecture we will see about Ziggurats, temples, and their thick walls.
These elements are also important in the development of their civilization, let us not forget the
hanging gardens which are also a very important feature of this civilization.
In Greek Architecture we will see the three orders: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian, which are seen
in its large columns, an obvious influence on the world. This architecture was based on
anthropomorphy, it is representative.
In Roman Architecture we were influenced by concrete, which we use today in different
constructions, since this construction element is resistant and durable. Its walls and walls were
covered with marble. This Architecture is Monumental, they were experts in construction
techniques.
This work addresses the relationship between architecture and environment and explores the
concepts of traditional Japanese urban and architectural space ku, oku and ma; the objective of
which is to conduct an analytical review to find survival patterns and disseminate them in a
sustainable manner.
EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE
The Egyptians knew the arch and the vault but their architecture is characterized by the use of
the lintel, this marked a style of horizontal architecture.
The column is a fundamental and characteristic element of Egyptian Architecture, inspired by
nature with decoration in the form of plants.
When speaking of architecture in Egypt, we must refer to the buildings enjoyed by the pharaohs
and the privileged classes, on the one hand; and on the other, to the funerary character: it is an
art of tombs (mastabas, pyramids and hypogea) and temples, in which everything revolves
around the Afterlife. They studied shapes such as the triangle, the square, the rectangle, etc.;
they applied these disciplines to their large constructions.
The magnificent pyramids of ancient Egypt have had an enormous influence on modern
architecture and their shape still appears in current projects.
Pyramids can be seen atop numerous shopping malls around the world: examples are the
Pyramid Arena in Memphis, the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, Japan's Nima Arena Museum, and
the entrance to the Louvre Museum in Paris is now a large glass pyramid (Figure).
Egyptian architecture is best known for its pyramids, which are by far the best buildings of
ancient times, which have remained until today with great strength, their construction is greatly
admired and appreciated by all.
Among its contributions of Egyptian Architecture to the world, we have its construction
materials that were adobe and stone. Adobe is an easy and cheap material to work with, and was
used to build mastabas and pyramids. Hundreds of houses around the world are built with this
material, as it was obviously a very important contribution to the development of humanity.
This architecture is also characterized by its monumentalism, sculptures in the form of gods and
animals; sculpture influenced Greek culture, this artistic influence of Egyptian art on Greek art
is very evident as recognized by the history of art on Greek statuary in the archaic period. The
statues made in ancient Egypt, where, as in the Greek Kuroi, hieraticism, frontality, and rigidity
dominate, and in both, the statue has one foot forward (the Egyptian ones have the right foot and
the Greek ones have the left foot)
Both the Egyptians and the Greeks developed an explanation of what the passage to the afterlife
was like and what life was like there for the soul of the dead. These two visions of life after
death have a similarity that allowed Egyptian eschatology to influence the Greek vision of “life
after death.” This influence can be found in some of the Greek myths (in this case in the myth of
the Islands of the Blessed) and in their funerary art.
We also have Egyptian influence in the iconography of Imperial Rome, due to its
monumentality, visibility and survival must be the presence of obelisks in the city of Rome.
(Figure)

MESOPOTAMIA ARCHITECTURE
Cuneiform writing was the first written language developed in Mesopotamia, it was developed
on clay tablets to keep palace and temple accounts. Writing was the way in which people in
charge of administration could prove that their behavior was correct, as well as the tool to leave
the rules and the legacy to future administrations.
The Code of Hammurabi is an example of how the city of Mesopotamia was legally governed.
It is one of the most important contributions to society
LeCorbusier's sketches for the Mundaneum in Geneva (2009) exhibited at Summeria are
examples of the use of Mesopotamian forms in modern Western Architecture (fig.)
The construction materials were baked clay, adobe and glazed bricks, mainly as a decorative
element. However, thanks to the lightness of these materials, new architectural forms emerged
such as supporting arches and barrel vaults that were later used by other Mediterranean cultures
and even imitated by the Romans. They replaced the lintel with a semicircular arch and the
lintelled roofs with a vault. To disguise the poor quality of the materials, they covered the walls
with glazed ceramics in bright, vivid colours.

The walls are thick and not usually smooth, as they have a large number of projections and
recesses, playing with the light; they are decorated with horizontal stripes, some more
prominent than others. The houses were of simple construction, distributed around a central
courtyard. Clay was the most commonly used material for its construction, and cone-shaped
glazed ceramic tiles were embedded in it to give the walls greater hardness.

The hanging gardens were made up of a system of stepped terraces built on slopes and made
from large pieces of stone. The terraces were hollowed out, waterproofed and then filled with
earth where the plantations were made. Various species of trees, shrubs and flowers protruded
from the walls.
The platforms were supported by columns and walls, and had an asphalt cover that isolated
them from the terraces above.

One of the most important palaces is the Khorsabad palace, of colossal dimensions, built on a
raised terrace accessed by ramps and surrounded by a towered wall, whose monumental doors
were decorated with gigantic statues of anthropomorphic winged bulls made of stone. The
Assyrian palaces were the model for palaces (medieval, Byzantine, Arab and Christian). The
palace encompasses the temples within its walls.

Among the most notable temples we have THE ZIGURAT, a large stepped pyramid tower with
several floors, at the top of which there was a sanctuary that was accessed by ramps.

The most important city is UR, MOTHER OF ALL CITIES, the walled city was located on a
mound formed by the ruins of successive constructions, the city had the shape of an irregular
oval. It was surrounded by a huge mud brick wall.

GREEK ARCHITECTURE

The main characteristic of Greek sculpture is that: Man will be the center of Greek sculpture,
anthropocentrism; beauty, expression and movement define the main features of Greek
sculpture.

The Greeks relied on precision and meticulous work when building their most representative
structures. Greek architectural idealism has been emulated by Western societies such as the
United States. Functionality was also present, with examples such as the amphitheater, a space
built in such a way as to maximize its acoustic attributes.

Greek architecture has been a major influence on modern Western architecture today. Greek
architecture has been popular as a symbol of classical elegance and Western strength.
According to Architecture 411 online, architect Andre Palladio was a major influence on Greek
architecture, influencing architecture in Europe and America.

They recovered three architectural orders that were used to construct the columns and buildings,
which are known as Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. The columns have been used in the
construction of several national monuments, museums, churches and the White House. Domes,
vaults and arches were inherited from Etruscan architecture.
The temple is undoubtedly one of the legacies of Greek Architecture to the West. It was in the
form of a rectangular room that was accessed through a portico and columns that supported the
roof.
Other architectural forms that can still be attested are the parade gate (propylon), the public
square (agora), the town hall surrounded by a colonnade (stoa), the floor, the town hall building
(Bouleuterion), the public monument, the tomb monument (mausoleum) and the stadium, not to
mention other very important temples that have survived, such as the Parthenon and Hephaestus
in Athens, the Paestum Group, the Selinus temple complex and the Temple of Agrigento.

ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
The characteristics of this Architecture are that: It is a monumental building, not only because
of the space it occupies but also because of its importance. Imperial ideals also give this point. It
is a functional, utilitarian and practical architecture. The materials used are diverse: cutting the
stone into regular ashlars, then paving it with rope and tack, concrete, brick, masonry, wood...
When the material is poor, it is usually covered with plaster, marble slabs, or decorated with
mosaic or paint. . Typically, the Tuscan orders are used for the ground floor, Ionic is used for
the middle floor, and Corinthian for the upper floor. It is also known for being a dynamic
architecture thanks to the use of certain construction elements such as the arch or the vault.
One of the most widely used construction elements today is concrete, which went down in
history for its great strength. It was noted that the materials used by the Romans to make cement
differed depending on the geographical area required for construction, although the final
product of each city was different, the raw materials were not very different from each other. In
all cases, a mixture of ash and volcanic rock, lime and water is used, and the type of ash or the
type of water (salt water or fresh water) is changed only according to the resources obtained.
The combination of these raw materials and their contact with water make Roman concrete
extremely resistant. When seawater comes into contact, the ash and aluminum present in the
volcanic rock mixture will react chemically, causing the cement to crystallize, which will
eventually crystallize and harden the cement, thus maintaining its structure over time.
You don't have to go to Italy to see Roman architecture. There are several works in Spain that
show the architectural capacity of the Romans, such as the Aqueduct of Segovia, which is 728
metres long and almost 30 metres high, or the Archaeological Park of Segóbriga, people can get
an idea of the layout and functioning of the Roman city.

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE
Chinese architecture is very important, it is considered a fundamental component in World
Architecture. Since it achieved its own architectural style based on structural elements such as
wood and brick, constructions with rammed earth, the great walls, the Mausoleums. This had a
structural directness that was at odds with Roman architecture. They had two decorative styles:
Hexi, which was naturalistic and vegetal; and Suzhou, based on geometric shapes alternating
with nature.
Most traditional Chinese houses or temples are decorated with bright colours or elaborate
carvings on wooden roofs. A pagoda roof is shaped somewhat like a mountain top, with peaks
and levels.
Ancient Chinese architecture was based mainly on wood. On the other hand, walls are used as
room dividers, but their special feature is that they do not actually support the weight of the
entire building like other buildings. It is also worth mentioning that the particularity of wood
requires anti-corrosion methods to turn China's unique decoration into architectural paintings. It
should also be said that the design of the courtyard house is unique in China. What is more
interesting is that the overall design of this building is symmetrical. If you compare it with the
European architectural style, you can easily notice that the Chinese architectural style is open
and closed, and the terrace is like an extension of the work that the painting needs to implement
little by little. Similarly, inside a building, no two windows are the same.

INDIAN ARCHITECTURE
Indian Architecture was one of the greatest establishments of cultural wealth in the world. From
the civilization of India, its architecture was urban, its construction is built of adobe bricks with
multiple floors. The trigonometric combinations of its structures are also admired everywhere.
The splendor of its architecture is one of the reasons that attracts most tourists to India.
One of the most popular buildings in India is the amazing Taj Mahal, a complex of buildings
built between 1631 and 1654 in Agra by an emperor, Shah Jahan, King of the World, as a
mausoleum for his favorite wife. With large patios and gardens, its marble walls are decorated
with precious stones.
Indian artists are inspired by figures such as lions, water, female figures, elephants and trees.
Hindu art is one of the most respected in the world, especially in its composition, processing of
light and shadow.

JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE
Traditional Japanese architecture can be divided into three categories: shrines, temples, and
houses (although it can also include castles, theaters, and schools). As for sanctuaries, sacred
places have existed since ancient times. Since ancient times, worship has become a part of
people's lives in Japan and other civilizations. The first forms of sanctuary architecture appeared
in the late 8th and early 9th centuries. Later, when Japan began to feel the influence of
Buddhism and Confucianism, the architectural style began to change.
Traditional Japanese architecture's reliance on wood as a building material has been widely
developed to cope with the country's humid climate, especially in the hot and humid summer.
Raised floors and open spaces provide adequate ventilation to resist toxic mold growth.
Structures with wooden columns and beams are also very useful for designing typhoon and
earthquake resistant structures.

CONCLUSION:
Ancient Mesopotamian architecture only becomes present in the modern world through the
mediation of the recomposition and interpretation of its fragments by archaeologists and
architects.
The characteristics of ancient Greek architecture are its highly formalized features, including
structure, decoration, and beauty. This is especially true of temples, where each building seems
to stand as a sculptural entity in the landscape, usually elevated on high ground so that the grace
of its proportions and the influence of light on the surface can be seen from all angles.
It has a utopian idea of a future city inhabited by a mass society, which is characterized by a
large-scale, flexible and expandable structure, and its growth is similar to organic growth. The
basic idea of metabolism is that structure should not be static, but can be changed. These
architects did not consider form and function as fixed, but were concerned with the building as a
system composed of parts, especially the core, structure and capsule, which can be used,
changed or replaced at different "metabolic" times. They understand architecture as a system in
constant change, an organism that can integrate new "living" spaces. These peculiar capsules
were created for reconstruction due to overcrowding, heavy traffic and insufficient space.

However, even when studying the principles formulated by Japanese architects, one can see that
the influence of the West on Japan is obvious. These principles formed the so-called
International Style in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, and were countered by the "fathers" of
modern Western architecture. The aspects of Japanese tradition that have been absorbed and
merged into new principles have not been thoroughly studied and will also irreversibly change
the way many architectural views are the most important and relevant Western figure.

Fig. 3. Chaldean Church, Aleppo, Syria.

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