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Architecture

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Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, distinct from mere construction, employed to satisfy both practical needs of shelter and expressive or aesthetic ambitions. One of the oldest known instances of monumental, deliberately composed building is Gobekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey, a complex of large circular stone enclosures with carved T-shaped limestone pillars, dated to roughly 9500 BCE and built by mobile hunter-gatherer communities before the development of settled farming. In ancient Egypt, monumental architecture developed through the mastaba, a flat mud-brick superstructure raised over a tomb, first built at Saqqara during Dynasty 3, around 2649 to 2575 BCE; King Djoser's vizier Imhotep then stacked mastabas atop one another and built in stone, producing the Step Pyramid, and pyramid building reached its height in Dynasty 4, around 2575 to 2465 BCE. Structurally, much premodern architecture relied on post and lintel, or trabeated, construction, a system architecture has continually revised through new materials from stone and timber to iron, steel and reinforced concrete.

Facts
Medium
Structural materials suited to enclosing and supporting space, historically stone, mud brick, timber and masonry, and in later periods iron, steel, glass and reinforced concrete, organized through systems such as post and lintel construction. 1
Signature Technique
Load-bearing systems refined from post-and-lintel construction and the arch through to the modern tube structure; Fazlur Rahman Khan's mid-20th-century tube structure let steel-framed buildings rise far higher than earlier masonry systems allowed. 2
Notable Example
Filippo Brunelleschi's dome for Florence Cathedral, completed in the early 15th century, which transformed both the building and the city and, with it, the role and status of the architect as a distinct profession. 2
Disputed
Place of Origin
No single point of origin; monumental architecture arose independently in several early civilizations, building on structural systems, such as post-and-lintel construction, that themselves trace to prehistoric building practice before any written record. 2
The cited source dates the practice of architecture only to the prehistoric era, before writing, without naming one place; historians treat monumental architecture as having arisen independently in more than one early civilization rather than diffusing from a single origin.
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Stained Glass, Art Forms

Stained glass became a defining, load-bearing element of Gothic cathedral design itself, not a decoration added afterward.

Source Wikipedia

Expressed In

Constructivism, Movements
Source Tate
Futurism, Movements
Source Tate
Neoclassicism, Movements
Source Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica editors
Rococo, Movements
Source Tate

Movements

Art Deco, Movements
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Art Nouveau, Movements
Bauhaus, Movements
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Constructivism, Movements
Source Tate
De Stijl, Movements
Source Wikipedia
Futurism, Movements
Source Tate
Gothic Architecture, Movements
Source Wikipedia
International Style, Movements
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Modernism, Movements
Source Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica editors
Neoclassicism, Movements
Source Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica editors
Organic Architecture, Movements
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Postmodernism, Movements
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Prairie School, Movements
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Renaissance, Movements
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Rococo, Movements
Source Tate

Practitioners

Frank Lloyd Wright, Artists
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
John Burgee, Artists
Source John Henry Burgee (Britannica)
Lilly Reich, Artists
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Louis Sullivan, Artists
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Artists
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Michelangelo, Artists
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Peter Behrens, Artists
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Philip Johnson, Artists
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Walter Gropius, Artists

Works In This Form

860-880 Lake Shore Drive, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
AT&T Building, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Barcelona Pavilion, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Fallingwater, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Farnsworth House, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Frederick C. Robie House, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Glass House, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Hagia Sophia, Works
Hollyhock House, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Imperial Hotel (Tokyo, Wright building), Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Johnson Wax Administration Building, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Marin County Civic Center, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Neue Nationalgalerie, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Price Tower, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Research Tower (S. C. Johnson and Son), Works
S. R. Crown Hall, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Seagram Building, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Taliesin, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Taliesin West, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Unity Temple, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Villa Tugendhat, Works
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Architecture, britannica.com/topic/architecture
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Movements: Modernism, entry: Modernism
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Movements: Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Art
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Expressed In: Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Art
2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationArchitecture, Modernism section
Quote, Architecture, Modernism section
Fazlur Rahman Khan's development of the tube structure was a technological breakthrough in building ever higher.
View the Source
2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationArchitecture, Introduction section
Quote, Architecture, Introduction section
The practice of architecture itself, which began in the prehistoric era, has been used as a way of expressing culture.
View the Source
2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationArchitecture, lead section
Quote, Architecture, lead section
In adding the dome to the Florence Cathedral (Italy) in the early 15th century, the architect Filippo Brunelleschi not only transformed the building and the city, but also the role and status of the architect.
View the Source
2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationMovements: De Stijl, De Stijl, opening infobox
Quote, Movements: De Stijl, De Stijl, opening infobox
Major founders included Theo van Doesburg, Piet Mondrian, Gerrit Rietveld, and J.J.P. Oud.
View the Source
2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Stained Glass, Gothic architecture, Early Gothic section
Quote, Associated With: Stained Glass, Gothic architecture, Early Gothic section
The walls were filled with stained glass, mainly depicting the story of the Virgin Mary but also, in a small corner of each window, illustrating the crafts of the guilds who donated those windows.
View the Source
2. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationMovements: Gothic Architecture, Gothic architecture, lead section
Quote, Movements: Gothic Architecture, Gothic architecture, lead section
Gothic architecture is an architectural style prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century
View the Source
Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage Learningchapters on architectural history across periods
Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage LearningMovements: Renaissance, chapters on the Italian Renaissance
Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage LearningMovements: Art Deco, chapter on early twentieth century architecture and design, section on Art Deco
Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage LearningMovements: Prairie School, chapter on early twentieth century American architecture
Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage LearningMovements: Organic Architecture, chapter on early twentieth century American architecture
Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage LearningMovements: International Style, chapter on the International Style and mid-century Modernist architecture
Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage LearningMovements: Bauhaus, chapter on the Bauhaus
Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage LearningPractitioners: Michelangelo, chapters on architectural history across periods, including Michelangelo's design for St. Peter's Basilica
Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage LearningMovements: Postmodernism, chapters on postmodern architecture
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkHeilbrunn Timeline: Egypt in the Old KingdomView the Source
John Henry Burgee (Britannica)
Practitioners: John Burgee
Tate
Tate, United KingdomMovements: Rococo, Art Terms: RococoView the Source
Tate
Tate, United KingdomMovements: Futurism, Art Terms: FuturismView the Source
Tate
Tate, United KingdomMovements: Constructivism, Art Terms: ConstructivismView the Source
Tate
Tate, United KingdomExpressed In: Rococo, Art Terms: RococoView the Source
Tate
Tate, United KingdomExpressed In: Futurism, Art Terms: FuturismView the Source
Tate
Tate, United KingdomExpressed In: Constructivism, Art Terms: ConstructivismView the Source

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