Traditions in Architecture Africa, America, Asia, and Oceania DORA P. CROUCH JUNE G. JOHNSON New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2001
Contents Preface xi Notes on the Text, Sources, and Appendix xiii Introduction 1 PART I MULTIPLICITY AND CONTINUITY IN TRADITION 5 1 FORM AND CONTENT. 7 Early Shrines, India 7 Caves: Lomas Rishi, Barabar Hills, and Chaitya Hall, Karli 7 The Stupa Form: Great Stupa, Sanchi 10 Hindu and Jain Shrines, India 14 Kandriya Mahadev Temple, Khajuraho 14 Dilwara Temples, Rajputana 17 Buddhist Shrines, Japan, and Burma 17 Horyu-ji Temple, Asuka, Japan 20 Ananda Temple, Pagan, Burma 21 Suggested Readings 23 2 TRANSFER OF TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURAL KNOWLEDGE 25 Person-to-Person Transfer 25 Community Case Studies 26 Professional Knowledge 33 Documented Knowledge 39 Mandala Diagrams of India 39 Chinese Construction Manuals 42 Suggested Readings 44 PART II PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS 47 3 SURVIVAL: WATER, SHELTER, AND FOOD 49 Water 49 Municipal Water in Kathmandu, Nepal 50
vi Contents Irrigation Systems in Peru 53 River Training in China 55 Shelter 58 Movable Dwellings 58 Stationary Dwellings 65 Underground Houses: Available to Everyone 71 Food Structures 75 Granaries at Mohenjo-Daro 75 Japanese Granaries 80 Floating Gardens of the Valley of Mexico 82 Suggested Readings 86 CLIMATE AND ECOLOGY 89 Cold and Dry 89 Houses of Snow and Skin Inuit Iglus of Northern Canada 89 Summer and Winter Houses in Tibet 94 Hot and Dry: Solar Management in the Middle East 98 Hot and Humid: Big Roof in the New Guinea Rain Forest 103 Suggested Readings 106 MATERIALS, METHODS, AND ARCHITECTURAL FORM 107 Carved-Out Architecture 107 Ethiopian Rock-Cut Churches 107 Cosmic Mountain at Borobudur, Java 112 Assembled Pieces 117 Lashed Polynesian Houses 117 Interlocking Frameworks in Japan 120 One Culture, Two Building Traditions 124 Inka Stone Masonry 124 Inka Roads and Woven Suspension Bridges 129 Suggested Readings 132 PART III PURPOSES OF TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE 135 6 SPACES FOR DAILY LIFE 137 Living in Tight Spaces 137 Houseboats of China 137 Houseboats in Kashmir 141 Use of the Street and the Roof in Nepal 144 Access to Architecture Social Rewards and the Use of Buildings 146 Social Rewards and the Use of Ceremonial Buildings in New Guinea 146 Space and Gender in Islamic Society: Kano Palace, Nigeria 148 Suggested Readings 152
Contents vii 7 RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE A CONTINUUM OF MEANING 153 Space in the Home 153 Japanese Tokonoma 154 Mexican Altar of the Dead 156 Space on the Street 159 Bhaktapur's Street Shrines, Nepal 160 Temporary Temples for Processions in India 163 Spaces Set Apart 164 Special Buildings: North African Mosques 165 Ceremonial District: Teotihuacan, Mexico 169 Without Buildings: Mount Taylor, New Mexico 172 Suggested Readings 177 8 EXPRESSION OF POWER 179 Monumentality 179 Stone Architecture in the Caroline Islands 180 Great Zimbabwe in East Africa 183 Empire Building 188 The Great Wall of China 189 Saqsaywaman Fortress, Peru 192 Colonialism and Native Traditions 195 Inka and Spanish Changes at Cuzco 195 Mughals in India: Red Forts at Agra and Delhi 200 Suggested Readings 205 PART IV PLANNING AND DESIGN 207 9 LAND USE 209 Urban Planning 209 Formal or Organic: Mohenjo-Daro and Toledo 210 Symbolic Creation or Gradual Agglomeration? 213 Landscaped Settings 222 Form and Meaning: Taj Mahal, Agra, India 222 Continuity with Setting: Katsura Palace (Villa), Japan 226 Suggested Readings 231 10 BUILDING TYPES AND USES 233 Unique Types 233 Ballcourts of Central America 233 Islamic Educational Buildings 236 Pyramids, Platforms, and Altars 238 Pyramids in Mesoamerica: La Venta, Monte Alban, and Chichen-Itza 240 Oceania: The Tuamotu Archipelago 246
viii Contents Housing Varieties 249 Town Houses, Nepal 250 Stilt Houses in Indonesia 252 Using Space 259 Japanese Floor-Level Living 259 Islamic Floor-Level Living 264 Suggested Readings 264 11 -ORGANIZATION OF STRUCTURES 266 Hollow Centers: Courtyards 266 North Africa and the Middle East 267 China 268 American Southwest 270 Solid Center: Angkor Wat, Cambodia 272 Axial Arrangements 277 Beijing, China: Forbidden City 277 Teotihuacan, Mexico: Street of the Dead 280 Suggested Readings 283 PART V CULTURAL VALUES 285 12 VERNACULAR AND MONUMENTAL COMBINATIONS 287 Water System: Sri Lanka 287 Durbar Square, Patan, Nepal 292 Early Historic Period (Licchavi Dynasty 300-879) 293 Transitional Period (879-1200) and Malla Period (1200-1482) 296 Independent Patan 296 The Seventeenth-Century Builder-Kings 296 The Eighteenth Century 297 Suggested Readings 298 13 SYMBOLISM AND ORNAMENTATION 299 Symbolic Gardens 299 Chinese Gardens 299 Calligraphy as Structural Ornamentation: Islamic Architecture 305 Other Forms of Structural Ornamentation 309 Painted Walls: The Ndebele of South Africa 310 Suggested Readings 314 14 ARCHITECTURE AND SOCIAL RELATIONS 316 Blank Walls for Privacy: Islamic and Chinese Neighborhoods 316 Overt Expressions of Status 319 Acoma Pueblo: United States 319 Great Plains Tipis: United States 324 Royal Buildings: Tikal, Guatemala 325 Suggested Readings 330
Contents ix 15 THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE 331 Theoretical Differences 331 Being and Nonbeing in Chinese Architecture 332 Anthropomorphic Architecture in West Africa 333 Writing Architectural History 335 Class, Gender, and Ethnicity 336 Case Study: Maya Historiography 337 Suggested Readings 340 16 ARCHITECTURAL DECISION MAKING 341 Adaptation 342 Symbols and Concepts A Review 342 Domes of Stone in Islamic Architecture 343 Use and Reuse of Architectural Forms 347 Porticoes of the Old and New Worlds Traditional? 347 Stupas Become Pagodas 351 Originality: The Turkish Architect Sinan 357 Shezade (also Sehzade) Cami (1543-48), Istanbul 358 Suleymaniye (1550-57), Istanbul 358 Selimiye Cami (1569-75), Edirne 361 Suggested Readings 362 17 THE ECONOMICS OF BUILDING 363 Durability: Rebuilding at the Ise Shrine, Japan 363 Construction Costs 367 Economics of Construction 367 Modern Research on Costs 368 Analogies from Ancient Construction 369 Describing Costs of Taj Mahal Construction 371 New Analysis of Costs: Energetics in the Yucatan 372 Suggested Readings 374 Conclusion 375 Appendix 1 Maps of Major Areas of the World 377 Africa North America Central and northwest South America Asia Oceania Expansion of Buddhism Expansion of Islam
x Contents Appendix II Tables of Materials, for Wall Building, for Roofing 384 Glossary 385 Selected Bibliography 391 Credits 419 Index 423