Foundations :: Summary

In this chapter, the origins of design was established and explained so that the reader could better understand where the foundations of design occurred that influenced our modern day construction of buildings. From the basic building forms and building blocks created by the Egyptian culture, advanced for their time, to the Greek column order structure later borrowed by the Romans, to even the first pass at the basilica form of the Byzantium in modern day Constantinople. All withstanding the test of time and a utilizing the elements of design: commodity, firmness, and delight, to show what truly makes a successfully designed structure.


The first culture in the design history and process explored was that of the Mesopotamians that inhabited the continent of Europe. Key pieces in this beginning puzzle of design and its elements reside in creations like the infamous and mysterious Stonehenge, a circular form of post and lintel stones arranged in a peculiar formation that even today archeologists and designers speculate upon. The structure may hold a form of delight the manner in which the materials contrast with the green hilly landscape but one thing is for sure; the structure does emulate the idea of firmness since it has withstood time from its competition in 3500 BC.
Egyptian culture in the foundations section of our class played a major part in the architecture’s commodity, firmness, and delight. The belief that the afterlife was more important than the life lived before the people and their kings drove designs that could withstand time, house the dead for their trip to the afterlife, and show the glory of the buried royalty and their accomplishments to the people of Egypt even after their death. The pyramids of Giza are the prime example of this religious ideal of celebrating the afterlife of the pharaohs specifically; the massive scale pyramids can be seen for miles on the dry, desert landscape.


Greek and its post culture, Roman, continue to emulate this idea of foundations to architecture through their perfection of the post and lintel system in the form of the temples created to honor their gods and goddesses. The Greeks continue to create and perfect an order of columns: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian; and the Romans take what the Greeks created and perfected it even more along with their own creations of arches, coliseums, and vaults. Along with learning about the different structures and building types we discovered the symbolism behind them such as the ‘bread and circuses’ concept involved in keeping the masses entertained and well to distract from peril or problems in the cities or political power.


The last cultural change and design movement was that of the Byzantium with emperor Constantine, the age where Christianity became a dominant part of religion and also a major influence in architecture and design with the church and basilica form. The Basilica form, the precedent for the future Gothic Cathedrals, visited in the Roman architectural period and was the dominant new building idea of the time. Using the strong structural elements of vault and arches along with the materials of stone and plaster to create firmness, commodity was the basilica to be used as a place of worship and exultation of the religion pairing with delight of the many mosaics that adorned the walls and windows that let light shine through to create amazing patterns of light and shadow.
The design elements of commodity, firmness, and delight were the most important concepts I discovered about past structures. These elements, combined with the precedent that these structures play in present and future structural elements make them critical to the overall understanding of design theory.

::Sources::
Stonehenge picture
Column Order picture
San Vital picture