architectural development and social cycle theory

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Ybl Miklos Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Budapest

ARCHITECTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL CYCLE THEORY

Budapest

2014

Student SupervisorRadu-Ioan Moisescu Prof. Dr. Rudolf Klein


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1. Introduction

1.1 Study's objective and theme's motivation

Chapter 2. Object of study's definitionsand methods used

2.1 Analyzed terms

2.11Social cycle theory

2.12 Civilization

2.13 Culture

2.14 Architecture

2.15 Spirit

2.2 Philosophy of history

Chapter 3. Listing of analyzed civilizations

3.1 Geographical and historical development

3.2 Architectural development

Chapter 4. Recurring phenomenons

Chapter 5. Conclusions

Bibliography


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ARCHITECTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL CYCLE THEORY

- abstract-

The following thesis reconsiders a recurring theme among historians preoccupations, both national and

international, from the social cycle point of view. It aims to observe how in the course of history of

civilizations architecture plays a fundamental part in what we regard today as human development,

architecture thus being the manifestation of human spirit as G.W.F. Hegel states it, culminating with the

role of an indicator of spiritual values and aesthetic trends, molded throughout history.

The paper is organized in five chapters: Thefirst chapteraddresses the typical introductory matter for

the thesis and observes how several scholars have theorized the matter of civilizations and cultural

patterns with the aim of better understanding the time line of human development. Thesecond chapter

is composed of a list of terms to be defined before understanding the identity of how today's

civilization emerged and the methods by which several philosophers deduce it. The third chapter

covers fundamental notions referring to geographical and historical coordinates specific to the

mentioned civilizations, with the purpose of schematically tracing the development of architecture

through the sociocultural point of view. The fourth chaptercompiles all the data, reviewing recurring

themes throughout history that are ultimately visible in the way people perceive their reality and

translate it into architecture. The final chapter concludes the paper's objective of understanding how

and why historical development emerged and achieved its current state, leaving room for future

research in social cycle theory and ultimately human progress.


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Chapter 1. Introduction

The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own

civilization.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Humanity is in a perpetual conciliation with its existence and strives on achieving immortality.

Standing the test of time, architecture represents the means by which we demonstrate the struggle of

materializing our social and civic values in its reflections of culture. To the question of what is the

purpose of architecture, there lies a simple yet complex answer.

Simply put, architecture exists to create the environment in which people live. Digging deeper we ask

ourselves what makes a built environment, what types of criteria should it fulfill, does it relate to wider

culture and is it influenced by the political, economical and zeitgeist.

In the past century there has been an intense preoccupation on behalf of the western civilization as to

where are we on the time line of human history and towards where are we heading. Writers, historians

and philosophers debating and contributing to the concept of human development had a major theme

that keenly arose, the social theory of cyclic history, in which the interpretation of history as we

perceive it today is bound to be subjected to repeating itself, with possible social progress. The otherpertinent question that lies before is whether we are ready in this process of continuous repetition of

putting to good use the technology with which civilization bestows us without repeating or simply

reacting to forms of the past.

1.1 Study's objective and theme's motivation

The study's main objective is the brief analysis of the civilizations that contributed to giving birth to the

West today, in comparison to other historically notable ones, with the outcome of observing the role of

architecture throughout human development. The analysis has a static part, a description of

geographical and historical structures and their relations, as well as a dynamic one, the evolution in

time in the given conditions and the crystallization of character in an age and its reverberations.

The motivation for choosing this theme is both subjective and objective, wishing to offer a support for

a more complex approach of the concerned context for future architecture projects from the historic

point of view, the paper is addressed both to the large public and to the specialized one.


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Chapter 2. Object of study's definitionsand methods used

Despite the objectiveness with which a definition comes, it must not be removed from its

historical context, the characteristic flavor of the generation it was brought up in. The use of the

following terms will be a recollection of how it was regarded by previous scholars with the endeavor of

bringing it up to date, conveying its present status of how we understand it today. That is why for

example the use of todays word for civilization may be regarded in a different light if we go back to

Spenglers Kultur or how the act of creation and perception of reality may emerge from Hegels

Spirit or Mircea Eliades idea of truth, all valid and having overlapping aspects.

2.1 Analyzed terms

2.11 Social cycle theory

Among one of the earliest social theories in sociology and a branch of sociocultural evolution,

social cycle theory admits that events and stages of society and history are generally repeating

themselves in cycles1,but unlike the theory of social evolutionism where human progress is

compulsory, this not necessarily implies the presence of social progress, although in the course ofworld history mutations have made the world advance to something better, in cycles. The term gives a

better delimitation of the phenomenon of patterns in a civilization, with a basic logic which the model

follows.

Interpretations of history in repeating cycles was also a common belief among ancient cultures, and the

branch of the 19th

century's historiosophy carved the path towards the classical theories of Nikolai

Danilewski, G. W. Friedrich Hegel, Oswald Spengler and later Arnold Toynbee's work on the rise and

fall of civilizations. Today modern social scientist use mathematical models in an attempt to study the

interaction between cyclical and trend components of historical dynamics that lead to the prediction of

civilization collapses during its life-cycle. In addition to its content, cyclic history completes the

definition of how major forces as religion, politics and science that motivate human actions return in a

cycle, periods of prosperity compensating with moments of tension.2

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_cycle_theory

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_history


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2.12 Civilization

The English word civilization has its roots in the 16th

century French form civilisbased on

the Latin civilis, related to civis (citizen) and civitas (city)3. The word meets an extraordinary destiny

in the English, French and German world during the 18th

and 19th

century which concept was to denote

the act of urbanizing a settlement, so as to make a clear delimitation between different types of

societies which encompassed various traditions and beliefs. Thus emerges the conviction that certain

populations, living in certain parts of the world are in a struggle with bringing closer to them marginal

inhabitants (centralization), subduing them to their influence, imposing a certain lifestyle. To this

conviction the idea of continuous human progress arises and its backlash is the phenomenon of

contending states that shifts the center of gravity as we will observe in various geographical spots.

The term evolves and becomes more concrete from the form of a superior culture as marquis de

Mirabeaux states it, to that of culture assigned with specific traditions, language, beliefs, institutions

and technology as indicated by Wilhelm von Humboldt. Still, late up until the 19th

century civilization

and culture remained synonymous nouns. Arnold Toynbee's A Study of History makes the clear

distinction noticing that civilizations represent big assemblies with common features characterized by a

common dynamic and will throughout human history's time line. Recently Neagu Djuvara, Romanian

historian and philosopher, agrees on synthesizing three core aspects that constitute a civilization:

1. A civilization must have covered a relatively large plot of land for its age, embracing multiple

ethnic groups or forms of state.

2. A civilization must have realized the idea of unity in terms of technology, arts, beliefs.

3. A civilization must have evolved for an average lifespan of 2000 years and has passed through

an algorithmic phase of social-political evolution.

Today civilization represents any complex society characterized by urban development with social

stratification that is perceived as a separation from the natural environment and is intimately associated

with social-politic-economic characteristics.

Following MacIver we make a clear distinction between the terms culture and civilization, which

in day-to-day talk have become interchangeable. The following points must be noted:

Civilization is bigger than culture because it is a complex aggregate of the society that dwells

within a certain area, along with its forms of government, norms, and even culture.

3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization


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Civilization is always advancing, but not culture.

Civilization is easily passed without much effort to the next generation, but not culture.

Civilization may be borrowed without making any change, but not culture.

Civilization may be similar in variable cultural areas. Variability of cultures may not be

accompanied by variability of civilization at different places. For instance, there is a great

difference between American and Indian cultures but there are many similarities in their

equipment.

Civilization and culture are interdependent.

The object of civilization acquire after some time a cultural aspect.

We may conclude that civilization denotes the utilitarian things used as an apparatus, the mere

instruments, the means by which a specific culture may reach its goals to controlling the conditions of

his life.

2.13 Culture

In the words of British anthropologist E.B. Tylor, culture may represent that complex whole

which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits

acquired by man as a member of society4.The term's first usage can be traced back to Cicero's oratorios

with the metaphor of human development, followed by Immanuel Kant's concept of bildungand

Toynbee's definition of culture as an ensemble of techniques, beliefs and spiritual creations of a specific

ethnic group, that may as well apply to a larger culture (Hochkultur) such as the French, German or

English culture.

The structure of a culture consists of material and non-material substances, all cultures having similar

basic organization, although cultures developed by societies vary from one another.

Components of a culture are the following:

1. Cultural traits: Small units which when put together constitute a wholeshaking hands, taking

one's hat off, shaving one's face etc.

2. Culture complex: A culture pattern is formed when traits and complexes become related to each

other in functional roles. Each culture complex has a role to play in society. It has got definite

4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture


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place within it. The culture pattern of a society consists of a number of culture complexes.

These are:

1. Speech and Language

2. Material traits

Food habits, shelter, transport, dress, tools, weapons, occupations

3. Art

4. Mythology and Scientific knowledge

5. Religious Practices

6. Family and Social Systems

7. Property

8. Government9. War

The evolution of culture is built solely by man. Because man simultaneously inhabits past, present, and

future, he possesses the capacity to vocalize, to respond, to represent, articulate and to learn from the

stimulus-response relationship. These peculiar elements in the makeup of man provided a background

against which culture arose. The rudiments of culture developed by one generation serve as foundation

stone to the next generation which makes its own addition. Man is born in the stream of culture and

must continually swim in it if he is to live as a member of society. We may define culture as an

acquired behavior of the group, a distinctive trait of a nation, a group of a period in history with infinite

variability. The functions of culture serve both the individual and the group, providing solutions for

given situations, traditional interpretations to certain situations, keeping social relationships intact and

creating new needs.In short, we may note some of the important characteristics which a culture

embodies as being the following:

Culture is a social phenomenon, dealing with human needs.

Culture can exist in itself whereas civilization cannot be called a civilization if it does not

possess a certain culture.

Culture has no value in itself but it is a measurement by which we can value other articles of

civilization.

Culture relates to the inner qualities of society like religion, customs, conventions, while

civilization relates to the outer form of society such as technology


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Culture is an end (values and goals) in itself while civilization is a means (tools and techniques)

to an end.

Culture is more stable than civilizationcultural change takes place in years or in centuries but

civilization changes very rapidly.

We may now observe how the difference between the two expressions leaves room for contextual

reading, nevertheless, in this close relationship architecture plays a key role in understanding how

society changes throughout history both in culture and civilization.

2.14 Architecture

Defined as the art and science of designing and erecting buildings5, architecture works in the

material form of buildings is often perceived as a cultural symbol and work of art, civilizations often

being identified in the surviving architectural achievements. Architecture requires the creative

manipulation and coordination of materials and technology and of light and shadow.The practice also

encompasses the pragmatic aspects of realizing buildings and structures, including scheduling, cost

estimation and construction administration6.

In his works Mircea Eliade notes that the importance of sacred experience as being paramount. For the

archaic man, reality is a function of imitating a celestial archetype. Man extracts certain parts from

reality and constructs his own, going from sacred to profane. Architecture thus goes from natural to

constructed and gains the role of an indicator on the time-line of human development whilst playing a

major role in the manifestation of human spirit. As Hegel states it, the process of civilizations is the

attainment of rational freedom and with this in mind we may enter the field of how spirit plays a key

role in attaining this development.

2.15 Spirit

A definition of spirit may be consideredthe force or principle believed to animate living beings7.The

notion of spirit and soul often overlap, both in the sense of contrasting with the body and understood as

5 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/architecture

6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture

7 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/spirit


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the consciousness or personality.

In Hegel's acceptation, spirit is the realization of an ideal being by which, paradoxically, trying to

reach, it alienates itself from it. Spirit begins as a gem of infinite possibility, advancing from imperfect

to perfection, attaining full realization of itself. In this metaphysical context spirit equates to essence,

with the objective of finding a (new) purpose. The highest point, as stated by the author, in

development of a peoples is gaining a conception of life and morality to a level of science. With this

comes the conception of life, time and ultimately death, spirit replacing reality with its own conception

of the universe and creating a new form to its inherent principles.

The spirit of a culture is both an intrinsic and extrinsic element, the inward needs emerging from lusts

that are powered by external factors, such as the natural environment (the Homeric sky) or social

movements.

2.2 Philosophy of History

Considered as one of the most accessible works of Friedrich Hegel, the mains goal of the course

sets on observing the realization of human spirit, which is embodied in freedom, that he considers

henceforth the State, mind objectified. The claim of the world's spirit rises above all special claims and

each member of the state contributes to this principle of development. This marks the Stages of History

as the author states them. Thus, the widest view of history reveals three most important stages of

development:

Oriental imperial - the stage of oneness, of suppression of freedom.

Greek social democracy - the stage of expansion, in which freedom was lost in

unstable demagogy.

Christian constitutional monarchy - which represents the reintegration of freedom

in constitutional government.

The phases of the classification of historic data have to do with the pursue for freedom as stated earlier

and are regarded as different stages in the search for this ideal. These phases represent a continuous

process and are split into distinct 4 distinct parts resembling human life :

1. History's childhood: characterized by a paternal government, non-crystallized, governed by a

form of despotism as described in his chapter of the Oriental world.


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2. Boyhood of history: where more turbulent events happen. This is represented by the

adolescence of the Greek world, where the concept of morality is at its peak.

3. Manhood of history: represented by the history of the Roman state. Here the individual

perishes as a notion, he may realize his own private objectives, but in so doing it is for the

general aim of the State, universality subduing the individuals.

4. Old age of History: Here spirit is in perfect maturity and strength, its outcomes being religion

and state are situated on the same level, spiritual becoming reunited with the secular and

freedom finding its ideal.

The analysis of the whole development afterward is divided in the aforementioned 4 parts, showing

how the essence of spirit which is freedom finds its course. Here architecture comes as a support in the

argument, which will be regarded in light of the reviewed civilizations.

Chapter 3. Listing of analyzed civilizations

Before listing the main civilizations subjected the review it is worth mentioning a series of

common traits that all have had in common in its phases of evolution:

The first civilizations appear along river valley, as prime economical agricultural centers for

the lifestyle.

All these civilizations require the existence of an urban lifestyle.

The unifying groups is constituted usually by a minority located in the vicinity of the to be

civilized area, afterwords gradually becoming a center for the empire.

In the development of a civilization Neagu Djuvara observes the following main phases:

The first phase (larval stage), in which a latent energy pushes tribes, groups of people or

cultures to move towards a direction. This period is usually followed by violent clashes against

other cultures which they overwhelm and may integrate in their own. By this time there is no

crystallized concept of a civilization and no promises for one to ever appear. There is solely the

united spirit of a group.

The second phase (organization stage), where in a given space a common style arises

subsequently to internal battles, the whole ensemble being animated by a great lust for


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expansion, this giving birth to what he coins as the heroic phase.

The third phase (the blossoming stage), a style emerges in urban centers and starts to organize

public life, this can be seen in clear architectural programs that acknowledges the needs of the

civilization. At this point in time, expansionism is at its peak.

The fourth phase (the contending states) is marked by a period of inner struggles, where the

main lands of struggle for hegemony.

The fifth phase (imperial stage), a winner emerges and peace is restored for a while, followed

by a period of prosperity, stability and uniformity in arts. This period closes the cycle and is

followed by a thickening of the repeated principles that have led to the rise of a civilization,

ultimately followed by a downfall.

In an attempt to give a brief overview of the development of architecture throughout the historical

patterns of civilizations we shall only mention the most major common ones which can be found in

both the works of Hegel, Toynbee and Djuvara, showing how they developed through the mentioned

phases and how architecture also took shape in this process.

The following civilizations are:

Babylonian civilization

Indian civilization

Chinese civilization

Hellenistic civilization

Byzantine civilization

Western civilization


The birthplace of this civilization is in Lower Mesopotamia. During its greatest moments, under

the reign of the Achaemenids, it covers the whole Middle East, Asia Minor and the steppes of western

Asia. Sumerian cities already constituted in small rivaling states appear at the end of the 3rdMillennium

B.C. Babylonian civilization ends abruptly with the conquering of the Persian Empire by Alexander the

Great.


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Indian civilization

Born in the northern Indian subcontinent, it succeeds the Indus civilization, being thus

considered a second generation, a symbiosis of Indo-European settlers and with the existent local

population. The beginning of the Aryan invasion dates back to 1600 B.C. Under Muslim fate it will

face a slow regress only to be reunited in the last 200 years under British authority.


Covers China along with neighboring territories as the Mongols, Korea, Japan and parts of

Indochina. The first writing appear in the 9

th

century B.C. during the Zhou dynasty, at that moment intime having all the characteristics of a medieval society a we may consider it today. The division of the

empire in 220 A.D represents an important moment in its phase and similar to the Egyptian empire it

will be reborn many times.


Blossoms in Greece and on the ruins of the Cretan civilization, spreading to its peak under the

Roman Empire which will gravitate around the Mediterranean sea from Brittany to Mesopotamia. It

begins with the Achaean infiltration in Greece and end with the definite installation of Germanic

barbarians in Western Europe between the IVth

and Vth

century. On its ruins two others will emerge, in

the east the Byzantine and on the other side the Western world.


Born similar as the Hellenic and Babylonian civilization through the contact of new barbarian

settlers with the existing population it lacks the period of a larval stage. With the establishment of the

Eastern Roman Empire at Constantinople oriental arts, religion and institutions will flourish under a

roman emblem. The considerable intake of Slavic barbarians shift it to orthodox Christianity, later to

succumb under the pressure of the Ottoman empire. The process of westernization begins during the

18th

century in Russia and slowly extends to the other states.


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Emerging as mentioned between the clashes between Germanic population and Hellenistic

civilization, we are witnessing its development on a global scale.

3.1 Geographical and historical development


Standing at the crossroads of the middle east, The Babylonian civilization remains unmatched in

terms of number of cultures, diversity and riches, probably to be equaled by the western one in the nearfuture.

Tracing back to the Vth

millennium prosperous settlements are inhabited in Mesopotamia by

Sumerians, Indo-Europeans, Semites and Asians. The birth time of the heroic phase takes place in 3400

B.C. and is described in the Epic of Gilgamesh with vague knowledge of real social-political structures.

From 2600 B.C. onwards in Lower Mesopotamia are found citadels that exhibit striking similarities

with those of Italy's middle ages or ancient Greece. Governed by kings, priests and sovereigns it has a

pyramidal structure, closely resembling to ancient Greece. Toward the end of the XXIVth

century B.C.

a unification of the Mesopotamian culture takes place with the taking over of the kingdoms of Ur and

Uruk by Lugal Zaggisi of Umma, only to be abruptly interrupted by the Sumerian kingdom of Akkad,

which introduces Persian monarchy. Lasting more than one century, the Akkadian empire will be

continuously open to invading peoples and migrations which will throw its development back to a

dark age up until the XXth

century B.C where the emergence of yet another great civilization may be

mentioned, the Egyptians. The following three centuries, considered as the period of contending states,

will be signaling the arrival of Indo-European and Indo-Aryan population. The exodus of barbarian

peoples following in the next millennium will continue the clash between different kingdoms such as

the Assyrians, Hattians and Aleppos only to conclude in a violent struggle between three remaining

major powers, the Assyrian, Egyptian and Elam kingdom. The heroic phase of Sumer inspires and

brings up the Epic of Gilgamesh where courage is the paramount of that time. In the VIIth

century the

kingdom of Babylon achieves sovereignty, only to be topped by the peripheral Persian empire, which

will unite the middle east and influence the three neighboring cultures of Egypt, India and Greece.


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It is worth mentioning that differing from the western civilization in which barbarian invasions result in

the emergence of a new culture, the numerous tribes that have set foot in the middle east are steadily

assimilated and will not change the spirit of that civilization.

In Arts, the Sumerian is not fully unfamiliar to the later Assyrian one, as it would be the case of the

statuary art forms between roman and Gothic within the Western civilization. Findings show a

continuity in the conventions and process of representation and colors. In terms of architecture the

appearance of enamel as a technique and the porch will be latter carried by the Hellenistic culture to a

more improved form. Land of thousands of gods, religious unity manifests itself at its fullest under the

Islamic spirit. Although it oughtnt be considered a determinant element, just as language, religion

overlaps with the development of a civilization, surpassing it and being encompassed in what Hegel

may call it human spirit. The accessories of civilization such as astrology and pseudo-sciences play

an important role in the development of Mesopotamian temples, giving it it's name of a magic culture

as Spengler defines it.

To the distinct Sumerian, Babylonian, Hittite and Syrian cultures Phoenician and Hebrew may be

constituent parts (as Toynbee states) of the Babylonian civilization that will immediately influence the

Hellenic and later the Western culture.

Indian civilization

Indian civilization proves hard to unravel in light of the contrast between a mystic past and its

violent clash with the western civilization in the last two hundred years, manifesting thus a desire to

refuse the passage of time with a chronological development, as required by the western lifestyle.

Towards the end of the second millennium India exhibits all the traits of a larval stage for a civilization.

In the absence of complex Dravidian literature, research and conclusion are solely based on archeology.

After the Aryan invasion there is a steady conquest of the Indus Valley and the Ganges river. Following

the migration of Aryans in the Indus valley towards the end of the IInd

century BC, old local order

suffers reformation, bringing with the Iranian related pantheon and a Indo-European related language

that will dilute with the existing culture as stated in Rig-Veda and later works. Tripartite social

hierarchy does not differ to initial Indo-European cultures of the Celts and Latins, with the sole

difference that as European hierarchy develops taking different leaner forms,while the Indian one

stagnates or worsens.


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Up until the end of the VIIth

century BC the larval stage exhibits a type of Medieval society according

to the Epic of Bharata which reports the conflicts between Aryan clans. Spiritual evolution drifts away

from the settled Aryan majority population so as to take an autonomous form in the Ist millennium. The

doctrine of Buddha appears as a reaction against traditional formalism of the Brahmas. India will firstly

be reunited by the Mauryan dynasty in the IIIrd

century B.C. and a second and third time in the IVth

and

VIIth

century by the Gupta and Harsa dynasty. Following the long reign of Asoka (262-226 B.C.) the

Mauryan Empire crumbles under the invasion of several peoples from the north north-west such as

Greeks from Bactria, Parthians and Scythians. At the beginning of the IVth

century, the Gupta empire

resembles the peak of cultural civilization artistically and political-wise. Literature evolves and

language develops a sense of place with different dialects like Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati. The concept of

Rajput emerges as a clear indicator of Middle Ages in which again characteristics such as honor and

individual courage are the highlights of heroic deeds in poems. Epic poems also emerge in peripheral

centers of the civilization as Bengal, Assam and Casmir. Feudalization of India continues until the

arrival of Muslims in the VIIth

century. Refusing Indian identity, Muslims will occupy the whole

meridian region until the XVth

century.

The slow permeation of Aryan culture gave India its sense of continuity during the migration of peoples

and contending states and under that mantle literature, philosophy and religion will also flourish.

Covering a diversity of cultures, from its geographic region Indian civilization released works of

literature such as Rig-Veda, Mahabharata and the Upanishads, schools of philosophy such as Yogasaras

and Buddha, all with a strong spiritual sense, if not the highest any culture has witnessed. Following the

epic poems, during the Vth

century in the period of lyric writer Kalidasa, architecture, music and

painting flourishes, soon to be followed by a baroque stage with which western culture today relates

when hearing of Indian civilization. In architecture Persian influences may still be perceived and even

with the passing of time one can still understand the preoccupation for the close contact of man and

nature, the profound floral decoration, a sense of the monumental. Sacred sculptures of Buddha are

qualitatively similar in their representation as the ones in the peak of the Hellenistic age. In the late

period of its development repetition of form arises with an exuberance for flamboyance that will lead to

monotonicity. This is just a clear indicator of Indian civilization blooming towards its Imperial age.

In the following rivalry between French and English colonization, with the endeavor of applying a

western model, Indian culture still finds itself deeply rooted in its beliefs and careful in engaging fully

open in integrating itself to the western lifestyle.


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With fewer archeological artifacts to analyze than in the case of Indian civilization, Chinese

chronicles are abundant of tales of heroic deeds and descriptions regarding its golden age of royalty.

China's center first appears in the writings in Luoyang under the rule of the Shang and later Zhou

dynasty around the XVIth

century B.C. The Zhou empire is stated to be in a cultural decline in light of

the barbaric invasions which will move the center from their original birthplace of Shanxi to Henan

during the VIIIth

century, thus leaving a considerable part of the empire free for grabs in an era of

contending states. The common characteristics of this intermediary period is rendered by the

weakening of central power, territorial grind and overall regress in economic, artistic and spiritual

development.Determining cultural landmarks are the teachings of Confucius and Lao Zi during the V

thcentury and

Taoist doctrines of the IVth

century told by Lie Zi and Zhuang Zi, which develop at the same time with

the Hellenic teaching of ancient scholars Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. In social terms the passing of

power is similar to the one within the roman empire, shifting from a feudal epoch to one of monarchic

absolutism, along with the spiritual mutations that follow.

The empire of Qin Shi Huangdi can be considered the prototype of a unitary state or universal empire

with all its inherent characteristics of inner peace and lack of squabbles, big utilitarian works, a peak in

geographical extension, the existence of a lingua franca and lastly monumental architecture.

Differing from other civilizations in geography, China only suffered casualties at the north-western

borders, casualties which were quickly overwhelmed by the Chinese element. Upon reabsorbing the

barbaric influence, China reconstitutes its unity under the Sui dynasty and later expands under the Tang

dynasty only to be exposed to yet another wave of threats, this time from within marking another

intermediary period. This was marked by social and economic crisis due to the development of

landowning system which resulted in civil riots in 753 and 763, the emergence of hereditary feudalism

and loss of external lands. The second reunification will be made by the Song dynasty in the Xth

century and after three centuries the mongol hordes will contribute to a rebuilding of the empire and a

rediscovering of traditions and style. Restoration will fully bloom under the famous Ming dynasty

between 1368-1644 followed by the Qing dynasty until 1911.China's openness to the west came shortly

after the revolution of Song Zhongshan in October 1911.

Differing from Toynbee's belief of the existence of two distinct cultures before and after the acceptance


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of Buddhism, China's steady development should be considered as having a more profound mark on

the masses by the Taoist religion while keeping in mind that the coexistence of three different religions

(Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism) throughout two millenniums is a rare event in the development

of a civilization.

In terms of architecture articulation and bilateral symmetry are the means by which a composition

achieves balance. Enclosed spaces with courtyards or Sky wells have similarities with the traditional

Greek atrium. Gabled sweeping roofs were reserved for temples and palaces.

Apart from Indian influence, Japan is worth mentioning as having a more violent contact in the

development of Chinese culture with the highlight of the Meiji eve. At the beginning of the VIIth

century along with the momentum of Buddhism, Japan manages to skip the phase of an intermediary

period that China stumbles upon, separating completely in the IXth

century, gaining individuality and

having a more open relationship with the western culture during the conquistadors, closing within itself

only to reopen its borders later in the XIXth

century to make up for a lack of cultural exchange for over

more than a century. The process of acquiring western techniques made Japan share two coexisting

distinct worlds for two generations, only to fully immerse in assimilating the western civilization after

the second World War.


The rise of Greek civilization overlaps with the last phase of Cretan civilization. First

migrations date back to the end of the IInd

millennium B.C. and conclude with the conquest of

Achaeans in Peloponnese and the Aegean Sea. At that time the Mycenaean period exhibits social and

political structures similar to those of a Western Medieval Agethe existence of castes and aristocrats

and a whole ensemble of life as described by Homeric poems. Greece art at that time is closely related

to the Middle East, art being the best indicator in this matter if we judge by the polychromatic

sculptures and architecture.

Following the end of the larval stage, with the settling of Dorians, Ionians and Eolians in the islands of

the Aegean Sea, maritime commerce flourishes, colonization spreading as far as Sicily. Social and

political structures change, oligarchic governments replace monarchic ones, epic poems are followed

by the lyric poems of Hesiod. In the Vth

century B.C. Greeks have completely split relationships with

the Orient and are witnessing their cultural peak in architecture, arts, medicine and war. Fractionation


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comes from within in a period of contending states as a backlash of the high level every civilization

reaches. Clash of clans and dynasties become a war for hegemony and a desire for a united civilization.

Alexander the Great's incursions in the Egyptian and Babylonian civilization greatly modify the

downfall of the aforementioned ones, with reverberations as far as the Indian and Chinese civilizations,

only to gain hegemony for a short period of time and leave behind an empire which will dissolute in the

sordid disputes of his generals shortly after his passing. The vast lands that covered this empire seem

premature for an era of contending states in which it developed hastily with sole military development.

At the outskirts of the Hellenic nucleus another civilization will emerge with its center in Rome.

At the beginning of the IIIrd

century B.C. Rome and Carthage confront outside of the Hellenic borders

only to have a common ground in Sicily. Following the diplomatic treaties between Carthage and

Macedonia, Rome intensifies its diplomatic relations with Greece as a protector and peacekeeper

stabilizing its position in the Mediterranean. After the conquer of Carthage, Macedonia and Corinth we

may speak about the existence of a universal empire starting between 168 B.C. with the episode of

Popilius Laenas and 61 B.C. with the triumph of Pompeius. Enjoying a period of exceptional length, if

we take into account its fragile border systems after half a millennium in 476 A.D.,with the

dethronement of Romulus Augustulus by Odoacer, the death of Theodosius in 395 and the barbarian

invasion of the goths, the empire splits in two distinct parts, Western and Eastern Roman Empire. The

west tumbles under the weight of German invasions as the east takes the form of Byzantine civilization.

The Greco-Roman world was still experiencing the manifestations of an inner spirit from its Middle

Eastern origin. From the conquests of Alexander the Great who takes up the Persian suit and manners

to the moment Constantine moved the capital to Byzantium bringing the Roman empire closer to Asia,

oriental influence manifests itself in political institutions, views regarding the monarchy and lifestyle of

Hellenistic courts. Rome is also outnumbered by the influx of foreign merchants, slaves, soldiers,

religious priest and high men. Towards the end of the IInd

century A.D. Rome reaches its geographical

peak, hosting a vast number of colonies with various religions and cults out of which Christianity

becomes the official religion in the IVth

century.

In arts, oriental influence is not so strong. Architecture based on Etruscan technique starts widely using

the dome as a construction method for public purposes along with the use of hydraulics for the

construction of arches, all based on the use of roman concrete as a major discovery that allowed fast

building and longeval use. At this stage, architectural programs are at a peak, describing their role in an

empire with inclination towards expansion under one sign. Amphitheaters, lighthouses, basilicas,


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circuses, forums, thermal baths, temples, theaters, villas, aqueducts, bridges, triumphal arches and

columns testify the complexity and preoccupation towards of military and civil engineering.


Gobineau and Danielvski reject the idea of the Byzantine world being a separate civilization and

Spengler only includes it in the Arab civilizations. Relating more to the way Toynbee grouped

civilizations, even he may err if Byzantines are a separate chapter only due to the Ottoman empire's

unitary state.

In regards to its strong bonds with the Arab culture, Byzantine civilization develops a divergent

thinking in terms of religion, art and architecture, thus drifting away from the Muslim world. Todayottoman history 's contribution to a former christian state may prove hard to read the subtle difference

of Byzantium as a separate civilization. The Ottoman empire should be considered, in its political

aspect, a final stage of a mature multinational society and not intertwine with that civilization itself.

The larval stage takes place in 395 A.D. with the separation of the empire between Arcadius and

Honorius. Just as the frontiers of western civilization coincide with those of early Catholicism so those

of the Byzantine with Christian Orthodoxism also do, under the rule of the patriarch of Constantinople.

The borders between Rome and Constantinople were permeable at the break of Hellenistic civilization.

Romes influence stretched as far as Croatia, Poland, Bohemia and Hungary whilst Constantinople

covered most of the Slavic territories and certain parts of the Mediterranean. Once the borders were

outlined, the clear rupture was made during the schism of 1054, where the battle was taking place

between the Byzantine and the Carolingian Empire.

Between the two emergent groups of the Roman empire the process of acculturation developed

noticeably different. Firstly western civilization led by France and Italy at that time developed

institutions and art forms during the Xth

century, by which time the Byzantine one had already detached

itself for more than four centuries from the Roman empire, already possessing institutions. Germanic

migrations also follow centuries later than the Slavic contact with Byzantium. The period of contending

states develops during the Xth

century between the Byzantines and the Bulgars, whilst in the west its

peak reaches the XVIth

century. Even in its earliest stages, the Byzantine civilization lacks a proper

barbarian invasion, resulting in a less fertilized civilization in terms of variety. This can be clearly seen

in architecture where the detail and the attention spent on the effect that the interior has, may be


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regarded as detrimental to its external form. Drifting away from Greco-Roman sculptures as an art

form, byzantine iconography emerges at the beginning of the Xth

century A.D. as a paramount means of

expression, with inclination towards a frontal view of the characters, the existence of a certain

hierarchy, reverted perspective and an absence of space. Affiliation to the Hebrew culture is also

present in religious music, christian music resulting as a reformed ritual which continued under the

Gregorian style.

Having its center moved from Rome into the Greek environment, Latin influence slowly shapes

throughout generations. From Constantine's dynasty to Theodosius and to Iustinianus where it already

becomes a foreign language of the empire. Overcoming its larval stage, we may speak of a Byzantine

Medieval period. During the Vth

century, being under the same pressure that the west was devastated

by, the barbarian invasions of Attila and Theodoric, the east starts to fragment. Under the rule of

Iustinianus a revival of the empire begins, but not under roman reminiscence, more likely it gives birth

to a new phase of civilization. Between the IXth

and XIth

century it exhibits its peak, extending as far as

Armenia, Georgia, and Syria, exercising sovereignty over the Bulgars and converting the Russians

under the reign of Vladimir of Kiev in 989. Its whereabouts between two continents confer its status of

a highly important trade route thus increasing the economy and offering stability within the borders for

a period for time.

Later under pressure from three sides, western struggle for sovereignty, Arab settlements in the

Anatolian plains and inner conflicts, it starts to shatter. With the fall of the Byzantine nucleus in the

XVth

century, orthodox culture returns to a medieval eve which will be picked up by the fresh and

dynamic western civilization. Italy with Venice and Padua represent the protective shield for high

Byzantine noblemen at that time, where during the Renaissance cultural exchange with Italy is present.

Along with the mongol invasion on the limes of the roman border new kingdoms develop. Russia will

pick up and even outmatch the Byzantines in artistic fields with works of art of the XVth

century by

Andrei Rubliov and emblematic onion domes seen in religious architecture programs, that have a form

of Asian influence during the XVIth

century, similar to Mughal architecture and Finish influences.

Under the rule of Peter the Great, Russia will be reborn with a new capital and an imposed monumental

neoclassical style of french influence. Later Russia will fully start the process of westernization with

pioneers such as Aleksei Mihailovici during the XVIIth

century, whilst manifesting an orthodox

resistance. Following the alliance of 1756 with Austria and France against Prussia, Russia becomes a

contending state in the battle for hegemony, thus closing the chapter of the Byzantine civilization.


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Western regions that were at the limes of both Byzantine and Roman empire in Europe,

gradually formed distinct groups of peoples throughout centuries and emerged as constituent members

of what we now know today as the western civilization.First direct and continuous contact with the

Germanic tribes date back to the IVth

century A.D. when the majority of the roman empire's army will

be made up of barbarian mercenaries which will later accede to higher social ranks within the roman

world. At the end of the Vth

century Franks, Visigoths, Burundians, Heruli and Vandals will be dividing

the resources of the former western roman empire. From the decline of the Western Roman empire

dating back to the Vth

century up until the XIth

century we are witnessing a dark age. Roman art and

law is revised through Carolingian canon, economy and commerce are reduced to as far as citadels andstrongholds within various lands, scientific developments along with philosophy are at their lowest.

Architecture contains itself with a shy repetition of Romanesque forms. The end of the larval stage is

documented by the Oaths of Strasbourg in 842. Beginning with the XIth

century, Saxon invasions have

finally ended, Christian kingdoms of Spain begin The Reconquista and Western barons begin the

Crusades in the hearth of the Muslim world.

Here art and especially architecture serve as a beacon for the emergence of western civilization. Just as

Byzantine civilization flourishes close to the Greco-Roman world, so does western civilization flourish

on the Rhine valley where contact was optimal with the Roman Empire and subsequently spread in

Germany, Spain and England. In architecture, zoomorphic motifs as well as the ogival arch and the use

of mosaics remain an Oriental influence, only to be adapted and make way for a new style which will

be the highlight of the west, Gothic style. Gothic architecture breaks its bonds with Mediterranean

remembrance, firstly by the skeletal structure it embodies and ground floor plan changes that announce

an accelerated and chronological view towards the elevated and well lit altar. The use of stained glass

and rose of a church amplify as structural developments enhance the bearing capacity of buttresses and

rib vaults, Gothic architecture stating itself as a construction that prizes the use of light and ascension.

The tumultuous development that France evidences will drain its energy and shift the cultural center of

gravity towards Italy. Having exhausted the funds of the crusades and witnessing a demographical fall

due to the hundred years' war along with plagues and natural calamities, northern Italy becomes the

center of civilization. At the eve of the XIVth

century, Tuscany is the pioneer of a new style of painting

represented by Giotto, Cimbaue and Simone Martini of Siena, which will pave the way towards a


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rediscovering of the Greco-Roman arts and influence the development of Renaissance. The notion of

perspective will shape the way painting, sculpture and architecture will change.

Subscribing to Toynbee and Spengler's opinion on the heavy influence of antiquity which is reborn in

the Renaissance, its sufficient to state that architecture emerges from antiquity and will last under the

neoclassical style as an international indicator of inclination towards western civilization and a pawl for

more flamboyant manifestations.

The center of civilization once more shifts in the XVIth

century to Spain, climaxing with the discovery

of new lands were the Anglo-Saxon culture will continue its development. Painting appears to take the

place of sculpture and tragedy as a literary gender has unmatched success under the writings of

Shakespeare and Racine. The discovery of polyphony exhibits success in western music and reaches its

peak in the XVIIIth

century in German countries. During the XVIIth

and XVIIIth

centuries France

becomes once again a nucleus of civilization and culture, displaying one of the most diversified

countries for its time and becoming a diplomatic official language, aside from Latin. At the eve of the

XIXth

century the Britains manifest a strong process of acculturation and develop the institutions to

becoming a colonial power, surpassing France. Germany also estranges France of its political and

cultural valence. This is based on the fact that power gradually shifts from Latin catholic countries to

Anglo-Saxon protestant ones. Thus in the struggle between Rome and Byzantium, a third party arises,

that of protestantism. Roman Catholicism wins in the western Latin speaking countries, while

protestantism spreads in Great Britain, Holland , Northern Germany and Scandinavia, separating the

religious from the rational, the state from the church, with an inclination towards fighting for your

rights, announcing the Faustian man as Spengler states it.Max Weber also bases the birth of

capitalism and scientific spirit on protestantism in an industrial era in which modern society is

developing, drifting away from the Renaissance ideal of Christianity.

In brief, opening at the beginning of the XVth

century, a duel between what was supposed to be France

and Spain in an era of contending states had been adding more and more participants.Nonetheless Paris

remained one of the most relevant cultural center during the XIXth

century and onwards only to be

matched by New York later on, when at the eve of the XXth

century a cultural explosion developed, too

dense to be sketched in the limits of the present paper.The discovery of steel and concrete steel will

shape the way architecture is conceived with emblematic constructions by Louis Sullivan, Otto Wagner,

Adolf Loos, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe, F.L. Wright, The Bauhaus school and so on in a

fast paced era of industrialization.


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3.2 Architectural development

If architecture follows the spirit of time throughout history, grouping these civilizations in the four

mentioned categories of the historical age as Hegel states them will provide us with the basis needed to

understand its development.

Part IThe Eastern World

The oriental world had been using morality as a law enhancement. By the Chinese use of

theocratic despotism freedom was hindered from its development, resulting in the absence of spirit and

art. The glory of the Oriental conception is the one individual as the substantial being to which all

belongs, so that no other individual has a separate existence, or mirrors himself in his subjective

freedom. All the riches of imagination and nature are appropriated to that dominant existence in which

subjective freedom is essentially merged. The use of the five sacred materials play a key role in

understating the close relationship with nature under the use of moral laws.

Differing from the Chinese, the existence of Indian social hierarchy resemble somehow the theocratic

aristocracy of the Greek states. History passes at this point and only outwardly, that is, without

connection with the previous phase to Central Asia. To carry on the comparison with the individual

man, this would be the boyhood of history, no longer manifesting the repose and trustfulness of the

child, but boisterous and turbulent. The existence of castes shapes the political existence and gives a

glimpse of the possibility of diversity. The spirit set in a dream state still unites both the limited and

unlimited making a clear delimitation hard to define.

Part IIGreece, Rome and Christianity

The Greek world marks the place of the beginning of spirit from the natural environment. By

observing nature they form surmises for their existence. Thus the natural is the beginning of the divine,

natural observation being the starting point and the process of thinking and adapting to it in a subjective

way, leading to the consolidation of morality and human will in a plastic form. By this subjective work

of art, subduing natural elements, man becomes a universe of itself and makes nature both gravitate


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around him and destroy him. The Doric, Ionic and Corinthian have the natural as a departure point and

by the use of human spirit it takes the individual forms of Divinities that manage to restore order by

specializing in natural elements. In this sense the myth of overthrowing the titans should be read as the

beginning of subduing natural elements to human desire, Divinities resembling abstractions that

become individuality, as Friedrich Schiller states While the Gods remained more human, the men

were more divine. Still, Greek preoccupation for beauty by reference to natural elements denies a lack

of subjectivity. The introduction of subjectivity along with the Sophists Man is the measure of all

things marks the decline of the Greek freedom, as Thucydides states it. If Greek democratic

constitution highlighted the freedom of the individual, several points from the Greek republic had to be

abolished. The Consultation of Oracles and sacrifices evaporated with the rise of democracy, as well as

slavery. Greek freedom is also lost in the battle of 168 B.C. by King Perseus against the rising Roman

Empire. The fall of the Greek spirit thus culminates with the idea that the kingdom is consequently true

harmony, a world of the most charming but perishable, or quickly passing, bloom. The individual will

of the subject adopted without reflection the conduct and habit prescribed by justice and the laws and

the individual is, therefore, in unconscious unity with the idea - the social weal, but not free from

nature.

The third phase is the realm of abstract universality, in which the social aim absorbs all individual aims,

it is the Roman state, the severe labors of the manhood of history. For true manhood acts neither in

accordance with the caprice of a despot nor in obedience to a graceful caprice of its own. It works for a

general aim, one in which the individual disappears and realizes his own private object only in that

general aim. The state begins to have an abstract existence and to develop itself for a definite object, in

accomplishing which its members have indeed a share, but not a complete and concrete one, calling

their whole being into play. Free individuals are sacrificed to the severe demands of the national ends,

to which they must surrender themselves in this service of abstract generalization. The Roman state is

not a repetition of such a state of individuals as was the Athenian polis. The geniality and joy of soul

that existed there have given place to harsh and rigorous toil. The interest of history is detached from

individuals.

General elements of Roman spirit are embodied in the myth of Romulus and Remus where there is no

sense of belonging to a family. The basis of Rome's formation lacks good family relations, the wife

being a property of the husband, while he himself must split his activities between being a servant of

the empire and a dominant figure for the family.


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In contrast with the free spirit of the Greeks, Romans unite under the principle of abstract universality,

securing the freedom of spirit by freedom of law. Romans define and complete the separation of right

where consciousness gives itself to subjectivity. Roman civilization extracts and incorporates at first

pantheons from other places under the reason of seasonal activities, need of social cohesion and later

expansion. Ritualism remains an independent activity for purely external aims, this also indicating a

lack of concept of unity within the city as the Greek democracy would have had it.

But when, subsequently, in the historical development, individuality gains the ascendant, and the

breaking up of the community into its component atoms can be restrained only by external compulsion,

then the subjective might of individual despotism comes forward to play its part. The individual is led

to seek consolation for the loss of his freedom in exercising and developing his private rights. In the

next place, the pain inflicted by despotism begins to be felt, and spirit, driven back into its utmost

depths, leaves the godless world, seeks for a harmony in itself and begins an inner life, a complete

concrete subjectivity, which at the same time possesses a substantial that is not grounded in mere

external existence. Within the soul, therefore, arises the spiritual solution of the struggle, in the fact that

the individual personality, instead of following its own capricious choice, is purified and elevated into

universality, a subjectivity that of its own free will adopts principles tending to the good of all, reaches,

in fact, a divine personality. To the worldly empire this spiritual one wears a predominant aspect of

opposition, as the empire of subjectivity that has attained the knowledge of itself its essential nature,

the empire of spirit in its full sense. In architectural programs this division can be clearly observed on

how Romans were mere spectators in events as public games, again differing from the manifestation of

Greek spirit of defeating nature by sports.

Under Roman rule, the idea of unity paves the road to Christianity. The Christian community found

itself in the Roman world, but as it was secluded from this state and did not hold the emperor for its

absolute sovereign, it was the object of persecution. Then it manifested its inward liberty in the

steadfastness with which sufferings were borne. As regards its relation to the spirit, the fathers of the

Church built up the dogma, but a chief element was furnished by the previous development of

philosophy. Here the church takes its most explicit form, that of a concrete constituent representative of

the spirit. The idea of man having a closer relationship to spirit after death find its proximal existence

in the church. And to attain spirituality man must first be absolute self-conspicuous.

The first abstract principles are won by the instrumentality of the Christian religion for the secular

state. First, under Christianity slavery is impossible; for man as man, in the abstract essence of his


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nature, is contemplated in God; each unit of mankind is an object of the grace of God and of the divine

purpose. Utterly excluding all specialty, therefore, man, in and for himself , in his simple quality of

man, has infinite value and by that very fact this infinite value abolishes all particularity attaching to

birth or country. The other, the second principle, regards the subjectivity of man in its bearing on

chance. Humanity has this sphere of free spirituality in and for itself, and everything else must proceed

from it. The place appropriated to the abode and presence of the Divine Spirit, the sphere in question, is

spiritual subjectivity, and is constituted the place in which all contingency is amenable. It follows,

thence, that what we observe among the Greeks as a form of customary morality cannot maintain its

position in the Christian world. For that morality is spontaneous, unreflected wont, while the Christian

principle is independent subjectivity. This transition also overlaps with the period of migrations during

the dark ages and leaves little room for architectural development apart from a repetition of the

Romanesque style. It is after the migrations that we may speak about a spirit that gives birth to a new

architecture that breaks the patterns of the past.

Part IIIThe Germanic World

The Greeks and Romans had reached maturity within and they directed their energies outwards.

The Germans, on the contrary, began with self-diffusion, deluging the world, and breaking down in

their course the hollow political fabrics of the civilized nations. Only then did their development begin,

kindled by a foreign culture, a foreign religion, civil order, and legislation. The process of culture they

underwent consisted in taking up foreign elements into their own national life. The German world took

up the Roman culture and religion in their completed form. The Christian religion which it adopted had

received from councils and fathers of the Church, who possessed the whole culture, and in particular

the philosophy of the Greek and Roman world, a perfected dogmatic system. The Church, too, had a

completely developed hierarchy. To the native tongue of the Germans the Church likewise opposed one

perfectly developed, the Latin. In art and philosophy a similar alien influence predominated. The same

principle holds good in regard to the form of the secular sovereignty. Gothic and other chiefs gave

themselves the name of Roman patricians. Thus, superficially, the German world appears to be a

continuation of the Roman. But there dwelt in it an entirely new spirit, the free spirit which reposes on

itself. Roman Christianity continued under Frankish Kingdom, but it's during the Middle Ages where

the foundation of schools is promoted, military architecture and civic programs as manor houses, town


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halls and almshouses. The rupture of church with the secular resulted in a lack of layman to directly

applying the divine being, saints, and thus church takes the place of conscience, a role of the mediator

between man and deity. Castles, churches and monasteries are built as centers of protection with main

elements like the tower bell for meetings, municipal government for taxing, walls for defense and

guilds. Following the events of the crusades, church reaches concrete authority and with the end of

monastic orders and orders of knighthood science begins the development of thought. In this transition

from Feudalism to Monarchy the notion of the state and a king reassesses its position and human spirit

may now stand on its own basis, with self consciousness and no revolt to the divine, art thus

transcending church. Thisthird epoch may be compared to the Roman world. The authority of national

aim is acknowledged, and privileges melt away before the common object of the state.

Part IVModern Times

Spirit at last perceives that nature, the world, as an embodiment of reason. An interest in the

contemplation and comprehension of the present world became universal. Thus experimental science

became the science of the world; for experimental science involves, on the one hand, the observation of

phenomena and on the other hand, also the discovery of the law, the essential being, the hidden force.

Intellectual consciousness was first extricated byDescartes from that sophistry of thought which

unsettles everything. As it was the purely German nations among whom the principle of spirit first

manifested itself, so it was by the Romanic nations that the abstract idea was first comprehended.

Experimental science, therefore, very soon made its way among them, in common with the Protestant

English. The human eye became clear, perception quick, thought active and interpretative. The

discovery of the laws of nature enabled men to contend against the monstrous superstition of the time.

The concept of free spirit flourishes along with the free will and here Catholic spirit falls behind the

spirit of the age, as the reformation trend emphasizes that man in his nature is destined to be free,

destroying the dichotomy of religion and life. The rational is in no contradiction with religion. Spirit is

now freedom and is represented in the secular form, that of architecture, as an embodiment of the truth.

Here industry emerges as a recognized value and help the development of society making the last 200

years an extremely seething period with a story of its own in the pursuit of the idea of freedom.
http://sqapo.com/descartes.htmhttp://sqapo.com/descartes.htm


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Chapter 4. Recurring phenomenons

In light of the discussed chapters, historical patterns may be observed as main events

that have happened in every civilization and formed an algorithm on which we may also understand

architectural development.

With a lifespan of around 2000 years, the first civilizations that emerge are on river

banks in close relationship to the essential resource of water.

Civilizations that emerge out of the compilation of a former one with new settlers

usually lead to a regress in term of Architecture, as the lack of ornamentation in the dark

ages.

Any civilization has the vocation of unity under a different name.

In terms of internal dynamics of civilization changes, at first, of foreign culture is done

by the noble classes and then gradually to the masses and the incubation period last

for more than one generation.

Material features like clothes and instruments change slower than cultural aspects as

language, religion, traditions and are urged by architectural achievements.

A lingua franca of architecture develops in a civilizations peak, followed by a

repetition of forms.

Geography may prove independent of the success of a civilization.

In every civilization the ascension of the peripherals are followed by a retirement of the

ones forming the center, resulting in a shift of the centers of gravity and the redrawing of

the map.

With each generation, civilizations spread out covering more and more terrain.

The phases through which a civilization pass are irreversible. The collaboration of cultures under one ideal enhances spreading, however their

unification reduces their chances of individual progress.

A civilization is infinitely improvable.


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Chapter 5. Conclusions

Over the past centuries designing proved to be manipulating how we should live within a

civilization. Today, the west being in search of a new model is orienting itself to neighboring cultures.

The approach that more than one answer is possible in terms of architecture responds more to how

shaping the environment can improve our needs in different situations rather than just forcing to align

to only one solution. Listening becomes the paradigm of architecture in an age of international

collaboration.

One of the biggest feats is maybe understanding and achieving a cultural identity within the given

civilization. Intertwining aspects like infrastructure with the urban landscape, rather than just building

signature emblems, may prove to meet real social needs. Repeating the same form within an era is the

harbinger of a bygone era. If world history is the development of human freedom, the question we may

ask ourselves is not where are we on the time-line of civilization, but rather where our spirit will lead

us and how will that be manifested in architecture.


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Bibliography

Hegel, G. W. F..Reason in History, a General Introduction to the Philosophy of History. New York,: Liberal Arts

Press, 1953.

Hegel, G. W. F..Phenomenology of Spirit. Trans. A.V. Miller. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.

Toynbee, A. J..A Study of History, 12 vols. Oxford University Press, 1956.

Gombrich , Ernst H..A Little History of the World. Yale University Press, 2008.

Djuvara, Neagu. Civilizations and Historical Patterns. Humanitas Publishing House, 1999.

Curinshi, Gh. Vorona.History of world Architecture. Ed.Tehnica Bucuresti Publishing House, 1976.

Eliade, Mircea. The History of Religious Ideas. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1985.

Eliade, Mircea. 'Symbolism of the Centre' in Images and Symbols. Princeton, 1991.

Spengler, Oswald. The decline of the West. Oxford University Press, 1991.

architectural development and social cycle theory

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