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Architecture of the

Americas
Architecture of the Americas
• Began in 569 AD

• A civilization carried
by the different tribes of
the North, Central, and
South Americas

• Architecture is
characterized by
temples sitting on top of
step and steep pyramids
Architecture of the Americas
INFLUENCES:
A. Geographical
 Mountain ranges with tropical rainforests
 Situated in flat lands

B. Geological and Materials


 Walls – stones, rubbles, limestone, adobe, bricks
 Roofs – wattles, poles, thatch, mortar roofing
 Markers, totems (free-standing columns) – wood,
stone
TYPICAL MAP OF EMPIRE
Architecture of the Americas
INFLUENCES:

C. Climate
 Almost tropical to tropical
 Dry and rainy seasons

D. Religion
 Pagan (Jaguar God) – ceremonial temples
 Pre-Christian - Sacrificial areas
Architecture of the Americas
INFLUENCES:
E. Social
 Tribal - villages
 Ruled by kings – palaces (main
structure) and sub- structures
 Ball games and outdoor activities –
open courts

F. Historical
 Unique to themselves
 Pre-Spanish era
Architecture of the Americas
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS:

A. North America – Anazasi and Pueblo


(USA)

 Pyramids grouped in ceremonial plazas


 Rectangular and square plans (sometimes
circular and serpent-like or “totemic” figures
 Ritual areas were hidden
Architecture of the Americas
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS:
B. Meso-America – Olmec, Maya,
Zapotec, Toltec, and Aztec
(Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, etc.)
Temples:
 Had “upper zones”
 Terraces, stairs, insets, outsets, and sculptural
panels
 Painted red masonry or burnished white
 “alfardas” – stair-side ramps
 Use of “tablero-talude” profile
Alfardas
TYPICAL ELEVATION OF A PYRAMID
A FRIEZE - TEMPLE DECORATION ELEMENT
Architecture of the Americas
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS:

Palaces:
 Built as group of buildings around a courtyard
or quadrangles
 Flat beams and mortar roofs
Architecture of the Americas
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS:

C. South America – Inca


(Peru)

 Covered stone and modelled stucco were used


for decorations
 Formal architecture in gridiron plan
 Bureaucratic and institutionalized architecture
Architecture of the Americas
BUILDING TYPES:
1. CEREMONIAL PLATFORMS - A setting for public
ceremonies, in the upper part they had altars,
incense burners, flags and sometimes a tzompantli,
a line of sticks with skulls at the top.

Chichen Itza, Mexico Uxmal, Mexico

Chichen Itza, Mexico


Architecture of the Americas
BUILDING TYPES:
2. TEMPLE – Sat atop pyramids and had plenty of
external decorative designs. They had internal
chambers and a sanctuary, which served as an
altar.

Palenque, Mexico

Chichen itza, Mexico

Tankah, Mexico
Tulum, Mexico
Architecture of the Americas
BUILDING TYPES:

3. PALACES - They were situated—alone or in


groups—over platforms, inside of the ceremonial
centers. They had flat walls, which were decorated
with friezes. Their many internal chambers served
as habitats for the governing class.

Uxmal, Mexico
Kabah, Mexico
Uaxactun, Guatemala
Architecture of the Americas
BUILDING TYPES:

4. TOWERS - Had astronomical functions, serving as


calendar markers that used the Sun and Venus.
Some of them were also observatories.

Chanchen, Mexico
Xlabpak, Mexico Palenque, Mexico

Nocuchich, Mexico Puerto Rico, Mexico


Architecture of the Americas
BUILDING TYPES:

5. PYRAMIDS - The pyramids were composed of step-


like foundations (usually nine), and one central
staircase that communicates with a temple on the
topmost platform.

Coba, Mexico El Mirador, Guatemala Uxmal, Mexico


Architecture of the Americas
BUILDING TYPES:
6. BALL COURTS - A game of cosmic significance.
The field is located at the entrance; at the sides
there are lateral slopes that end in walls, on which
there are rings for the ball to pass through. Above
the walls were platforms for the public and
ceremonial temples.

Zaculeu, Guatemala

Copan, Honduras
Architecture of the Americas
BUILDING TYPES:
7. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE – Houses were made
of perishable organic materials. The house was one
rectangular room with rounded corners, no
windows, and one central door built to face east.

8. TOTEMS – Free-standing columns used as markers


but most of the times used to record past events

9. OTHER TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION - They Maya


often built chultunes (underground cisterns), steam
baths, sewer systems, sacbes (white roads), and
walls that were used to delineate private lots.
Architecture of the Americas

EXAMPLES:

Platform of the Human Sacrifice


Rituals at the Sacrificial Platform
TEMPLES
1.  North Acropolis
2.  Temple of the Grand Jaguar
3.  Temple of the Masks
4.  Temple of the Inscriptions
5.  Southern Acropolis
6.  Plaza of the Seven Temples
7.  The Lost World
8.  Temple of the Grand Priest
9.  Temple of the Bicephalic
Serpent
A Temple Complex, Tikal, Guatemala
A Temple, Tikal, Guatemala
Tikal Temple 1, Guatemala
Templo de los Guerreros (Temple of the Warriors) at Chichen Itza
Temple of the Sun, Palenque, Mexico
BALL COURTS
The Ballcourt at Copan, Hoduras
The Ballcourt at Copan, Hoduras
The Great Ballcourt at Chichen Itza
Pyramid
Monk's Mound, Cahokia
Illinois, USA
The Avenue of the Dead, Teotihuacan, Mexico
Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan, Mexico
Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan, Mexico
Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the Mexican state of Puebla.
The Pyramid of Altun Ha, Belize
The Pyramid of Calacmul, Campache, Mexico
El Caracol, Belize
Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
Pyramid of the Magician, Uxmal, Mexico
The Pyramid of the Magician at Uxmal.
La Gran Pyramide (The Great Pyramid) at Uxmal
Huallamarca Pyramid, Peru
A model of the pyramid structure
Inside of the pyramid
The Governor’s Palace
Uxmal, Mexico
Nunnery Quadrangle
Uxmal, Mexico
Detail of "Nunnery Quadrangle"
facade as drawn by Catherwood
Observatory Tower
El Caracol Observatory Temple
Totem columns
Totem poles at Cahokia
The Atlantes – columns in the form of Toltec warriors in Tula
Square Tower House
Mesa Verde, Colorado 
Taos Pueblo, Arizona, USA (circa 1920)
Machu Picchu, Peru
(Old Peak)
Example of a Maya house in Quintana Roo, Mexico
Structural framework
of the Maya house
Sources:

History of Architecture, Sir Banister Fletcher


The Story of Architecture, Jonathan Glancey
Encarta Encyclopedia
History books and Related Materials
Internet sites and web pages

THE END

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