EGYPTSubmitted byAr. Minakshi Rajput

... where to draw the line between architecture and the vernacular.

… the demarcation between architecture and the vernacular shifts with time, in that aspects of the architecture of one generation may reappear as the vernacular of another, and vice versa.

… It suggests that the rule sets the vernacular designer uses are often tacit, taken for granted in the same way as the rule sets that govern the use of language. They are ideas we think with, rather than ideas we think of.

… Now whatever architecture is, it is clearly not just the transmission and reproduction of social knowledge through building, though it may include that.

… What we mean by architecture surely is not building by reference to culturally bound competences. What we mean, rather, is building by reference to a would-be universalistic competence based on general comparative knowledge of architectural form a functions, and aimed (through understanding of principle derived from comparative knowledge) at innovation rather than cultural reduplication.

…. We may then generalize and say that building is transcended and architecture is named where we note as a property of buildings some evidence not only of systematic intent, but of theoretical intent, at least in embryonic form. In this sense architecture transcends building in the same sense that science transcends the practical arts of making and doing. Architecture introduces into the making of buildings a more abstract concern for the realm of possibility created through theoretical concern. In this sense, architecture is theory applied to building. .

GeographyClimateCultureDwellings (permanent / temporary)Environment and materialsLabour skills

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River.

Egypt has shorelines on the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. It borders Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east.

Egypt, covering 1,001,449 square kilometers of land.Its longest distance from north to south is 1,024

kilometers, and from east to west is 1,240 kilometers. Egypt's natural boundaries consist of more than 2,900

kilometers of coastline along the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Suez, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea.

The narrow valley of Nile ,is rich alluvial soil bounded on each side by the arid desert

Barren land

On the banks the Egyptians sited their villages, cities and crematories

the Nile a majestic , slow flowing river reliable from one year to the next , carrying only 1\5th of the volume of the slit brought down in a good amount by rivers Tigris.

Egypt is rich in building and decorative stone, copper and lead ores, gold, and semiprecious stones.

Embalmers used salts from the Wadi Natrun for mummification, which also provided the gypsum needed to make plaster.

Ore-bearing rock formations were found in distant, inhospitable wadis in the eastern desert and the Sinai, requiring large, state-controlled expeditions to obtain natural resources found there.

There were extensive gold mines in Nubia. The Wadi Hammamat was a notable source of granite,

greywacke, and gold. Flint was the first mineral collected and used to make tools,

and flint handaxes are the earliest pieces of evidence of habitation in the Nile valley.

Nodules of the mineral were carefully flaked to make blades and arrowheads of moderate hardness and durability even after copper was adopted for this purpose.[90]

WarmTemperatures exceeded 38 deg. C , but

rainfall was sparse , and irrigation was required for agricultural production . The heat and humidity were suitable for a wide range of plants .

Close connection between the religion and architecture.

The earthly dwelling house was regarded as the temporary lodging and the tombs as the permanent abode.

Strong belief in life after deathKings were learned, powerful, with unlimited

authorityWorship of animals as personification of Gods

Egyptian society was highly stratified, and social status was expressly displayed.

Farmers made up the bulk of the population, but agricultural produce was owned directly by the state, temple, or noble family that owned the land. Farmers were also subject to a labor tax and were required to work on irrigation or construction projects in a corvée system.

Artists and craftsmen were of higher status than farmers, but they were also under state control, working in the shops attached to the temples and paid directly from the state treasury.

Scribes and officials formed the upper class in ancient Egypt, the so-called "white kilt class" in reference to the bleached linen garments that served as a mark of their rank. The upper class prominently displayed their social status in art and literature.

typical settler lived in a rectangular one- room peasant hut of sun- dried Nile mud.

shelters and huts from reeds and rushes.Initially reeds, papyrus, palm-branch ribs, plastered

over with clay.Bundles of stems placed vertically side by side and tied

to bundles placed horizontally near the top to make walls or fences.

Alternatively palm leaf ribs were planted in the ground at short intervals with others laced in a diagonal network across them and secured with a horizontal member at the top, the whole being finally finished with mud.

lightweight tent like structures with roofs and walls of skins or matting stretched over a rigid frame.

Sun-dried mud-bricks

Made of alluvial soil mixed with chopped straw and sand, sun-dried, very long lasting

Large brick size – 14”x7”x4”

Battered wall for stability

Reed matting used between mud-brick courses

Stone

Stone not much employed before beginning of 3rd dynasty except as rubble or as stiffener or as foundation to solid mud walls

Later it became the primary building material for religious buildings

Abundant labour was available for transportation of stone blocks from quarry to building site

Timber

Once abundant become scarce by the dynastic times but never went totally out of useDate palm used mainly for roofing (in

Mesopotamia also)Imported cedar wood for building, coffin,

and ship-building though papyrus was the local material

Timber and matting lining was used in grave construction

simple dry stone techniques to a limited extent, but buildings were predominantly in mud bricks.

One can still see the finger – grooves put in the brick faces by the master builders(muallims) fifty centuries ago in order to increase the friction and adhesion between them.

• Egyptian architecture began with mud bricks, wood, reeds- Imhotep used cut stone masonry

• style was similar to less enduring material- columns are always engaged rather than free-standing- just like bundles of reeds

• now columns had an expressive purpose rather than just functional-had a profound impact on Greek architecture

• tapering fluted columns were designed for harmony and elegance, not just to hold things up

• Papyrus columns are linked with lower Egypt

Simple boats made of reeds sailed on the Nilepermanent dwellings with provision for grain,

cattle, and toolslightweight tent like structures with roofs and

walls of skins or matting stretched over a rigid frame.

Reeds and papyrus stems tied or woven together to form walls and bundled together to form light supports for the roofing

The roof was flat and originally consisted of palm trunks laid side by side

Another hut with semicircular roof, above which two corner posts appear to project, must be interpreted as a structure consisting of bundled reeds and matting.

a brick enclosure, and within it were the residences of the king, the shrines of the gods, and the government buildings of the two lands. Walls reinforced with projecting buttresses were characteristic feature.

Ancient Kingdom (3200-2130 BC) (Dynasties I-X)

Archaic period (I-II)Old kingdom (III-VI) 3100-2185 BC First intermediate period (VII-X) –

dark age

• Part of a huge funerary district with temples and other buildings, scenes of religious celebration before and after death-both symbolic and practical

Designed by Imhotep-1st known artist in recorded history

A mastaba is a type of Ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with outward sloping sides that marked the burial site of many eminent Egyptians of Egypt's ancient period.

Mastabas were constructed out of mud-bricks or stone.

The mastaba was the standard type of tomb in early Egypt (the predynastic and early dynastic periods) for both the pharaoh and the social elite.

“The mastaba was the first phase in the evolution of the pyramid.

located along west side of river Nile in Lower Egypt

the pyramid complexes built during the fourth dynasty by Chephren and Cheops at Giza, where use of hard stones, granite and basalt, and alabaster as building materials.

the pyramid was built as a tomb for Fourth dynasty Egyptian King Khufu (Cheops in Greek) and constructed over a 20 year period concluding around 2560 BC.

The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years.

Originally the Great Pyramid was covered by casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface, and what is seen today is the underlying core structure.

Some of the casing stones that once covered the structure can still be seen around the base. There have been varying scientific and alternative theories regarding the Great Pyramid's construction techniques.

Most accepted construction theories are based on the idea that it was built by moving huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them into place.

The Bent Pyramid is a unique example of early pyramid development in Egypt. This was the second pyramid built by Sneferu, his first pyramid having suffered catastrophic collapse.

The lower part of the pyramid rises from the desert at a 55-degree angle, but the top section is built at a much shallower angle of 43 degrees, giving the pyramid its “bent” appearance.

• Next to pyramids (closest to Chefron)-serves as guardian

• 65 feet tall, carved from one stone• Damaged during Islamic times, but had features

of Chefron• End of the period of huge scale monuments

palm trees and bundles of papyrus and lotus stalks supported the roofs of the porticoes

Middle Kingdom (2130-1580 BC) (XI-XVII)

Middle kingdom (XI-XII) 2133-1786 BC

Second intermediate period (XIII-XVII)

The Tombs; Beni Hassan, 2130-1785BC; Thebes, 1500-1050BCSome tombs have:

Slightly vaulted ceilings

Supported on fluted or reeded columns, and walls in general were slightly painted with pastoral domestic and other scenes

New Kingdom (1580-332 BC) (XI-XXX)

Temple of Hatshepsut, ThebesBuilt by Hatshepsut, the first great female

ruler-often portrayed as a man in portraits• dedicated to Amun- Ra• great example of architecture within natural

setting- ramps echo shape of cliffs

an immense enclosure along with other temples and a sacred lake surrounded by a girdle wall 6.1-9m thick and connected with a avenue of ram-

headed sphinxes with the Temple of Luxor

Temple at Luxor, 1390 BC• Dedicated to Amun, supreme God• An example of the form of most New Kingdom Palaces• Entrance is a Pylon• Closed off by walls• Faces the Nile

• Columns made much heavier than needed and were elaborately carved

Rock-hewn temple

In front of the pylon are 4 seated statues of Rameses, over 20m high

The hall beyond 9m high, has 8 Osiris pillars and vividly coloured wall reliefs

Temple of Horus, Edfu, 237-57BCCult templeFoliated or palm capitals in hypostyle hallInner rooms completely dark and

windowless

Buhen was an ancient Egyptian settlement situated below the Second Cataract. It is well known for its fortress, probably constructed during the rule of Senusret III, around the year 1860 BC (12th dynasty). The site may have been first established as an outpost in Nubia during the reign of Sneferu (4th dynasty). Graffiti and other inscribed items from the site show that the Egyptians stayed about 200 years, until late in the 5th dynasty, when they were probably forced out by immigration from the south.

It is a tall, narrow, four-sided, tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top. Ancient obelisks were often monolithic whereas most modern obelisks are made of individual stones, and can even have interior spaces.

Hassan Fathy, who was born in Alexandria in 1900 and died in Cairo in 1989, is Egypt’s best known architect .

Hassan Fathy was strongly against Western techniques and materials like reinforced concrete and steel which he found inappropriate for Egypt's climate and the craftsmen's limited skills.

Hassan Fathy is considered one of the 1st egyptian architect in the 20th century who didn’t import architecture ideologies from the west, on contrary he exported new ideologies to the world after discovering the marvels of our heritage then blended them by the actual need of people.

As an architect, he was influenced the most by the monumental architecture in the Pharaonic period also, strongly influenced intellectually by the concept of the vernacular arch. of the Nubians.

Hassan Fathy’s main purpose was housing the poor in developing nations by applying the concept he was strongly influenced by which is the vernacular architecture of the Nubians which opened up his mind to discover the true essence of the heritage and being inspired by the ancestor’s work.

His goal was to combine between a comfy descent housing & being poor, because after all, home is where the person should feel comfy at ease serene and cool no matter what was the temperature and the circumstances outside.

Since concrete buildings proved over the time that they’re energy & heat consumers of 100%. In addition they proved their endurance in unstable conditions.

So based on the structure massing of ancient buildings, he incorporated dense brick walls & traditional courtyard forms also the ceiling to be formed in a dome shape to produce passive cooling without the need of an A.C & guaranteeing a maximum space, comfort ability: 1-at a minimal cost by using local materials & innovative building techniques 2- without using the heavy & expensive machinations of steel & concrete

The Roof of the Mosque shows the use of domes for cooling

"Matchbox houses" were too hot in the summer and too cold in winter.

Nubian craftsmen were masters at constructing domed and vaulted roofs of mud brick which they also used for the walls.

One would enter a home made out of local natural resources with dome shaped ceilings and no electrical air-conditioning, to find a sudden descent of peace and calm within a cool atmosphere.

Hassan Fathy developed his own ideas, inculcating traditional Arab styles like the malkhaf (wind catcher), the shukshaykha (lantern dome) and the mashrabeya (wooden lattice screens).

He designed complete communities including utilities and services, country retreats, and special projects and homes. Hassan Fathy had already worked for decades in his beloved Egypt before he designed and built for the homeless community of Gourna, Upper Egypt, which attracted international acclaim.

traditional lamps, marhabeya screens, domes and coloured glass let in silvers of light through.

elements from vernacular Arab urban architecture, such as the malkaf (wind catch), shukshaykha (lantern dome) and mashrabiya (wooden lattice screen), could be combined with the mud-brick construction

The mashrabeya

Vernacular architecture is a wise thought of generation moulded by culture and region in which it flourishes. It is region specific and culture specific.

Vernacular design is seen as a limitation imposed by the guide lines of region and culture or is it learning to live with these limitation by utilization of its potentials to the maximum.

Therefore, vernacular architecture is a result of factor that frame it.