Point Foundations

http://www.discusmedia.com/catalog.php?id=24432

Two of the most important design ideas covered in the foundations unit were stacking and linear axis. Some of the most fundamental ideas in early design also included making protective walls or barriers. Outside attackers who wanted to steal their resources threatened many early societies. We also see this sort of protection in the serpent mound in modern day Ohio. It was also a sort of barrier protecting the dead. The first style of stacking we see is at the Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu in Sumer. It was a fortified building complex it served as the administrative center for the city. Built as a display of power it was also used to survey the surrounding landscape.

Near Sumer, further north In Mesopotamia, the site of the first civilization, pharaohs also used stacking as a way to show power. It was also used as a way to point heavenward. Each Pharaohs duty in life was to make the best possible pyramid so that Egyptian culture would continue to thrive. Egyptian society thrived due in large part to the Nile River. It was a mode of transportation and made control of the region much easier. Every year the Nile would flood its banks along Egypt depositing minerals in the soil producing mineral rich farmland for crops and vegetation. The Egyptians used the papyrus plant as a capital on temple columns to symbolize how the Nile has made their society flourish. The Nile was also used as a trade route; it was the primary means of transportation in and out of Egypt. Trade would be conducted above and below with neighboring civilizations. Egyptians believed that they lived at the center of the earth, just as Grecians thought that their society was at the center of the earth. Greece borrowed the use of columns from Egypt. Just as Egyptians used columns in building their temples, so did the Grecians. However, they added a linear plan and placed columns differently. The megaron was started in Mycenaean and evolved over time. Walking into the city, the importance of the column is displayed proudly between two protective and powerful lions. The column was used in all temple forms. Designed crudely at first, the original Grecian style column evolved over time from Doric to Corinthian styles. The city layout was also very important. On the Acropolis in Athens the entire layout is based on a battle between two mythical gods, with Athena being the victor, a temple devoted to her is placed on one side of a central court for people to gather. The Parthenon is the pinnacle of the megaron temple design. It uses for rows of columns, two on the exterior, and two rows on the interior with the statue of Athena in the center. As you move further away from the center of the Grecian empire, styles vary and local flavor is seen added to the basic design central in Athens. Athens is where rules are made. Athens is made up of temple structures and civic complexes, with the city laid out for gathering, discussion and celebration. On the other hand Rome has all the trappings of an empire. The structures in Rome are laid out to distract the people and keep them busy while politics are discussed behind closed doors. The coliseum was the center of entertainment. There, barbaric battles were carried out. The design of the coliseum is still used today. It is the best way to carry sound over a large crowd and it is visually advantageous. Romans also introduced the aqueduct. Through the use of arches, a system for supplying water to the city was built. The baths made use of this water for people to bathe. The Romans used columns for a number of structures even to line roads. The foundations unit makes clear a couple of things. One is that the use of building was used to express spiritual believes and convey a sense of awe of a societies deities and to secure a comfortable afterlife. Another theme that sticks out to me is the idea of building upward to depart from the earth.