2022 GC.

BAHIR DAR UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF LAND ADMINSTRATION
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE I
GROUP ASSIGNMENT

EARLY CHRISTIAN, BYZANTINE AND ISLAMIC

ARCHITECTURE

Sub. To: Inst. Tsegaye Kassa and Inst.

Helen Zeray
EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE
History
• Recent discoveries and studies showed that a truly Christian style
didn’t exist before the end of the second or the beginning of the
third century.
• Churches from the first through the third century took classical
Greek and roman architecture in its most flourished form as its
main influence.
• One of architectural development made by early churches was
the construction of dome on the top of a polygon.
• Early Christian architecture , an integral part of architecture of
the roman empire has three important types
1. Churches
2. Commemorative structures
3. Covered cemeteries
 CHURCHES
• The earliest churches were based on the plan
of the pagan roman basilica or hall of justice
• The plan generally included a nave or hall,
with a flat timbered roof, in which the crowd
gathered;
• One or two side aisles flanking(placed In a
side) the nave and separated from it by a row
of regularly spaced columns;
• A narthex(entrance vestibule at the west
end), which was reserved for penitents and
unbaptized believers;
• An apse(a semicircular projection of a
building, especially the rounded east end of a
church),might also be rectangular and is
reserved for the clergy.
• During the later period, a transept (the transversal part
crossing with right angles to the greatest length, in
between the nave and the choir) was added to the basilica
plan in the form of a wing aligned to the nave on a north-
south axis and projecting from the boundaries of the nave
to form the cruciform.

• Auxiliary altars (flat-topped structure used for religious

rites), dedicated to particular saints were often erected at
each end of the transept.
Characteristics

Early Christian architecture, being part of the roman architecture

exhibit its characteristics. Some of them are:
• Placement of emphasis on the centralized plan, polygonal or
cruciform shape.
• Arches were used to create taller and wider structures and
were also used to support the weight of heavy structures.
• Mainly used marble or limestone
• Use of dome and arches. The dome and arches were often
used to support or create an opening for a roof to let light
inside.
• Clerestory:- high section of a wall that contains windows
above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light and fresh
air.
• Triforium :- is an interior gallery resting on the windows,
opening onto the tall lateral space of a building at an
upper level.
• Pointed arches :- arches with pointed crown which
allowed thinner walls and much more interior space. It
concentrates the stress of a building.
• Piers :- is an upright support for a structure or
superstructure.
External feature of early Christian churches are
• Pinnacle :- is an ornament originally forming the cap or crown
or buttress, some pinnacles were finely carved and served as
decorative elements to the church exterior.
• Buttress :- is a projecting support to a wall. The weight of the
roof was the main reason why buttress was used in church
architecture.
• Flying buttress :- inclined bar carried on a half arch that
extends(flies) from the upper part and carries the thrust of a
roof or a vault or the ground.
• Ribbed vault :- feature for covering a wide space of church
nave composed of a framework or diagonal arched ribs.
 BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE
History
• Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine
Empire, or eastern Roman Empire
• Byzantine architecture was mostly influenced by roman and
Greek architecture.
• The man behind the byzantine architecture movement was
emperor Justinian
• Justinian wanted to realize Constantine’s vision of a united
Christian empire. So he begun an ambitious building project,
constructing churches all over his empire.
Building style (features) of the ideal byzantine church
includes:
1. Central plan
2. The most distinctive feature was the domed roof
3. Focus on structure, lighting, and elaborate decoration
4. Featured soaring spaces and sumptuous decorations;
marble columns and inlay, mosaic on the vaults; inlaid stone
pavements and sometimes gold coffered ceilings.
FEATURES
Features of byzantine architecture; brick roman and oriental elements of
architecture and its decoration
• Greco roman elements:-columns, arches, vault, domes, over squares
bases
• Oriental(eastern) elements:- rich ornamentation, rich use of color,
mosaics, polychrome marble and stone work play of light indoors
CENTRAL PLAN
• The axis was descended away from visitors, which leave no possible active
participation except weakly around a center axis.
DOMED ROOFS
• Byzantine structures can be identified by their peculiar domes. These huge
hemispherical roofs used to be based over a square-shaped foundation.
The construction of one heavy design over another required immense
detailing and perfection. To achieve this, two techniques were resorted to:
1. Use of the squinch.
2. Use of the pendentive.
Pendentives
• This is known to be a revolutionary breakthrough in the
Byzantine architectural style. It is almost like a triangular
segment of a spherical surface.
• These segments fill up all the upper corners of a room.
Therefore, they form a strong circular support at the base of a
dome..
• provided a way to set a circle (dome) atop a square
• a roman invention ,though rarely used
• Byzantines used pendentives very often
• Domes were used to invoke powerfull images of the cristian
heaven
LIGHTING AND DECORATION
• By the middle byzantine period, light was being carefully used
in two ways :-
1. Through management of the levels of natural lighting and
2. Through perspective artificial lighting
• Articulation was very important in byzantine architecture
• No visible surfaces were left in natural state. All was dissolved
in color and light :
- Glowing marble pavement
- Richly veined marble walls
- Extensive mosaic cycles
- Rich patterns of light created by
glass and structural features
SOME FAMOUS EXAMPLES

• Hagia Sofia of Constantinople

• San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy
• San Marco, Venice , Italy
Hagia Sofia of Constantinople

• The largest and most important and still most famous

byzantine church or indeed any building
• Dedicated to the holy wisdom (Hagia Sofia)
• Built in 532-537CE by Emperor Justinian.
• To build his cathedral, Justinian turned to two men named
Anthemius and Isidore the Elder. They built the Hagia Sophia
in great haste, finishing it in less than six years. To put this in
comparison it took nearly a century for medieval builders to
construct the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
 ISALMIC ARCHITECTURE
• Islamic architecture was influenced by existing styles such as Roman,
Byzantine, Persian architecture and Mesopotamian architecture and
other lands which were early Muslim conquered in the seventh
century.
• Buildings mostly associated with the architecture is the mosque. But it
encompasses both secular and religious buildings such as
• Fortresses, Palace, Tombs Madrasas, Sufi hospices
• Public buildings like school
• small scale structures like fountains and public baths and domestic
structures
• Commercial buildings (caravan serais and bazaars)
FEATURES
Gardens
• Gardens and water played an essential role in Islamic culture
for many centuries. They are often compared to the garden of
paradise as it originates from Achaemenid Empire, the first
Persian empire.
• The classical form of the Persian paradise garden or the
charbagh, comprises a rectangular irrigated space with
euvated pathways, which divide the garden into four section
of equal size.
Courtyard
• A sahn is the formal courtyard found in almost every mosque
in Islamic architecture. The courtyards are open to the sky and
surrounded on all sides by structures with halls and rooms
and often a shaded semi-open arcade.
• the use of this space included the aesthetic effects of plants
and water, the penetration of natural light, allowing breezes
and air circulation into the structure during summer heat, as a
cooler space within water and shade, and as a protected and
prescribed place.
• Used for performing ablutions and as a patio for rest or
gathering.
Iwans
• The term iwan denotes a hall that is walled on three sides and
open on one side.
• It is typically covered by a vault although this can vary.
• This feature was present in Sassanian architecture, though its
exact origins are older and still debated.
• It was later incorporated into Islamic architecture.
• For mosques and madrasas, one of the iwans could be
oriented towards the qibla (direction of prayer) and include a
mihrab in order to serve as a prayer space.
Domes
• Most mosques feature one or more domes called qubba in
arabic
• It possesses significance with in the mosque as as a symbolic
representationof the vault of heaven
• Domes can stand upon a rotunda structure, a drum, or a
system of interlocking pendentives.
• The apex of the dome may feature an oculus to permit natural
light inside.
• Different types of domes include:-
• Onion dome
• Braced dome
• Coved dome…etc
Balconies and screens
• Balconies are a common feature of Islamic domestic architecture
due to the warm climates in most countries.
• One of the mosque recognizable types is the mashrabiya, a
wooden lattice screen which projects from the side of a building
and which protected privacy by allowing those inside to look
outside without being visible from outside.
• Another type of lattice screen, not restricted to balconies, is the
jali, which is common to Indo-Islamic architecture and is made of
perforated stone.
Minarets
• Minarets appear as a part of the architecture of Mosques in
the form of towers and it often features one or more
balconies.
• The towers act as visual aids to direct people towards the
mosque, and they also act as focal points during the Islamic
call for prayers.
Muqarnas
• The architectural element of muqarnas developed in
northeastern Iran and the Maghreb around the middle of the
10th century.
• The ornament is created by the geometric subdivision of a
vaulting structure into miniature, superimposed pointed-arch
substructures, also known as "honeycomb", or "stalactite"
vaults.
Ornamentation
• As a common feature, Islamic architecture makes use of
specific ornamental forms, including :-
 mathematically complicated
 elaborate geometric patterns
 floral motifs like the arabesque
 and elaborate calligraphic inscriptions,
• serve to :-
A. decorate a building
B. specify the intention of the
building by the selection of the
textual program of the inscriptions.
Arabesque art
• The Roman, Greek, and Sasanian cultures have inspired Islamic
architecture to use symmetrical patterns.
• Islamic art and architecture commonly feature the eight-pointed star
patterns. The Islamic legends state that it can capture djinns, genies, the
immaterial counterparts to humans.
• All Islamic decorations are symmetrical and usually follow a spiral path
from which leaves and flowers sprout.
• No parts of the seamless Islamic design take visual prominence and the
design mimics an undulating sea through repetition and careful
arrangement of the motifs.