Questions tagged [architecture]
Process and effect of planning and designing buildings, both in scientific (as a method of creating constructions) or art (as styles throughout ages) ways.
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What's the point of the transept?
(If there is a different, more suitable stack exchange site, let me know.)
I recently visited Bourges cathedral, which does not have a transept, and the interior seemed much cleaner than the usual ...
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Why are the ground floors windows of northern Italian palazzi often barred up?
This is something that I have noticed while traveling many northern Italian cities, e.g. Florence, Genova, Bologna, Milano, ...
These cities are covered with impressive late-medieval / renaissance ...
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Why is this column in Pompeii constructed in two parts?
I found columns like this in Pompeii
The top and bottom are constructed from different materials, and in not quite the same shape.
What happened here? Has it been partially reconstructed? Is this a ...
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Did courtiers of antiquity hold in their pee or did they have common commodes available in the king/queen's court?
Self-explanatory. Did any royal court in history from ancient to medieval times (of any culture) have a public restroom that people who attended court can use, or were they sort of left to their own ...
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Who was the architect of Knutstorp Castle?
Who was the architect of Knutstorp Castle in Sweden, Tycho Brahe's birthplace?
As we learned from helpful comments approaching the topic:
This estate was existing earlier but re-built under Tycho's ...
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Who was the architect of Uraniborg and Stjerneborg?
Who was the architect of Uraniborg and Stjerneborg?
Those were two observatories used by Tycho Brahe on the island Hven in the 16th century.
Thank you.
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What are some examples that show medieval stone construction on top of older foundations?
Are there any more blatant examples that show new construction or repairs on older construction? Buildings like castles or walls With visible differences between the two construction eras? For example ...
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What is the name of a particular architectural structure from a Gothic Church?
I'm sorry if this is not the right forum to ask such a question, but I'm interested in finding out the name of a particular structure from a 15th-Century Gothic Church that is located in Saschiz, ...
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How, just how you can burn down a stone structure? [closed]
I often encounter claims that this or that stone temple or fortress was "burned down" sometime in the past. How this could happen? One example (of many) is the claim that Church of St. Mary ...
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Why do the bases of these pillars have grooves in them?
While exploring the ruins of the city of Perga we saw many things that looked like this:
It looks like the base of a column (though maybe it is a capital?). I am curious why there is a radial groove ...
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What were the dimensions of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem? [duplicate]
I think I remember reading somewhere that the Jewish temple in Jerusalem - either Solomon's temple, the Second Temple, or Herod's Temple - was very tall overall. What I seem to remember was that its ...
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At what height were Gargoyles typically used in Gothic architecture
In terms of the design of gothic buildings, specifically French Gothic, at what height were Gargoyles typically installed / deemed necessary? Or were they installed in most stone buildings regardless ...
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What is the flower-like motif appearing right on top of the arches of structures built by Qutb Shahi dynasty?
This floral motif could be found on almost every structure built by the Qutub Shahi dynasty/ the Deccan Sultanate.
Below image is from Charminar, Hyderabad.
Similar motifs on Qutb Shahi Tombs:
One ...
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Which building is shown on p. 159 of "Roma descritta ed illustrata" (seconda edizione)?
On Wikimedia Commons, the following illustration of a building presumably located in Rome is shown ("p. 159" refers to the pagination of the source PDF file, see below):
Source: The ...
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What was the involvement of the upper social classes of Russia in Kizhi?
Kizhi Pogost, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was built in the 17th - early 18th century in Karelia (north-west Russia). Its architecture is remarkable, and it's quite big. The only personality ...
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Would a house built in 1745 have a water tank in the attic? (up to 1847)
Was looking at the floorplans on this page (picture 43), was wondering if buildings from 1745-1847 were likely to have water tanks in the attic? Would this have been added during a relatively modern (...
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Where were there fractal structures in ancient Rome?
I am looking for some examples of fractal or fractal-like structures and patterns in ancient Rome. I did some research but did not find much. On this topic I only found this article Scipedia.com where ...
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Seeking floor plan of a classical Roman building with 20 to 30 rooms
An offshoot of this question.
I am developing a software product. Very briefly, given a floor plan,
it lets the user edit it, and add information to each "room".
Think of a shopping mall, ...
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What murals and decor might have been present in the earliest Sumerian temples?
So, for the sake of a production I'm working on a lot of digital artwork meant to represent a slightly-fantastic, but based in fact, representation of ancient Sumeria. Think 5000 years+ ago; dawn-of-...
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Does anyone recognize the identity and location of this octagonal structure?
The attached picture is from the video Unique color footage of The Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg - YouTube at about 2:52. It is of an octagonal structure, possibly in Nazi Germany. Not sure if the ...
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Why are the facades of some residential buildings in Paris, France, tilted?
In a major city that has an historical center, the standard list of attractions seldom includes what, in my opinion at least, constitutes the area's most important part: historical residential ...
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When did the terms, 1-point, 2,-point, 3-point, etc... perspective come into use?
It is generally agreed upon that the architect Brunelleschi was the one that discovered the rules for perspective in the early 15th century. I have perused books like "On Painting" by Leon ...
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Is there a British equivalent in architectural history to American cabins?
I've been watching a lot of American horror movies, and a big trope is the characters staying in old, abandoned cabins in the woods. Or if not cabins then lodges, or in Westerns or haberdasheries etc. ...
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What did Japanese architecture look like with heavy materials such as stone, mortar and clay?
In the Wikipedia article on Japanese architecture, it says in the Heian era, and I quote, "Heavy materials like stone, mortar and clay were abandoned as building elements, with simple wooden ...
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Did the Jewish Temple influence Nazi architecture?
It seems to me that the sole building that the most influenced the Nazi architecture was the Temple of Herod. There are numerous Nazi buildings that look very similar or influenced. Is this a ...
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Was there a German re-urbanization plan for after WWII?
Was there a Germany-wide re-urbanization plan for after the WWII? I don't mean a hypothetical Nazi re-building plan, but a real implemented plan.
All these things would get intense resistance in ...
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Where can I find illustrations online depicting Idrisi's coffer in the Queen's chamber in the "Khufu" pyramid
I believe I have found sufficient evidence that points to a block of stone, not necessarily a coffer as stated by Idrisi, being inside the niche in the Queen's Chamber blocking the entrance to the ...
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Why do old townhouses sometimes have a flat, windowless, undecorated wall on one side?
In Oslo, I notice that many townhouses built around the turn of the twentieth century just have a large, undecorated, windowless, completely flat wall on one side.
Here is an example. This building ...
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What was the architectural predecessor of Roman triumphal arches?
Roman triumphal arches (fornix, ianus, then arcus triumphalis) are generally categorized into two main types: those with a single arched opening (e.g. Arch of Titus) and those with three openings (e.g....
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Why are the buildings built in classical style in the first half of the 19th century in Russia so frequently yellow-and-white - coloured?
So many buildings built in neo-classical style in cr. 1800-1850 in Russian empire are yellow (always the same shade of yellow) with white columns. There are some exceptions, e.g. grey or blue of beige ...
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Did the Romans leave any technical instruction manuals behind?
Did Romans write instructional manuals on architecture, building etc.?
I am curious as to why so much of the Roman's knowledge of architecture and construction was lost in medieval times, especially ...
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What did the Musa Dagh monument look like?
There was a monument built by French/Armenians to commemorate the Musa Dagh defense during the Armenian Genocide. The following image shows how it looks like now:
I was curious how it originally ...
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What is the meaning of the quadruple symbols combination on a possibly Roman monumental piece?
During my visit to a village central western part of the Asia Minor I saw monumental pieces. Which were emplaced on some part of the buildings by villagers. I see a sword, sickle (hook), pickaxe, and ...
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What is the origin and significance of karahafu (唐破風)?
The karahafu (唐破風) is perhaps the most instantly recognisable Japanese architectural feature, yet it's origins are not well established in Western literature. Folk etymology suggests that the style ...
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What did typical mid-18th century housing look like in English villages?
There seems to be a plethora of resources available that describe what mid-18th / early 19th century housing looked like in major English cities, particularly London.
But, I cannot find much ...
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How controversial were "updates" of churches in the past?
Following the disastrous fire of Notre Dame de Paris, heated discussions are taking place in France to decide on how to restore our cathedral.
There are many ideas, with two rough camps: the ones ...
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What happened to the cross on the dome of Hagia Sophia?
There are some images that show the cross on the dome of Hagia Sophia.
For example;
Miniature 38 from the Constantine Manasses Chronicle, 14th century: Construction of Hagia Sophia during the reign ...
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What ancient Roman(s) wished houses were made of transparent walls?
What ancient Roman(s) wished houses were made of transparent walls?
source:St. Joseph Cafasso's The Priest: The Man of God: His Dignity and Duties p. 50:
a Roman of ancient times wished his house ...
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Where was Haile Selassie's palace in the Ogaden Desert?
According to Kapuściński's informant W.A.-N., in the former's book about Haile Selassie, The Emperor:
It is true that some excesses were committed. For instance, a great Palace was constructed in ...
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How were medieval castles built in swamps or marshes without draining them?
By this, I mean a castle built without terraforming or draining the swamp; a castle that was built while keeping the swamp intact.
Inspired by Monty Python Since apparently, castles built in marshes ...
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Why in most German places is the church the tallest building?
A coworker from another country asked me today if it is true that we have a law prohibiting any building in a place from being taller than their church.
I told him I don't know if we still have any ...
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Is there a global foot race among religions on the most beautiful churches and when did this start historically?
When you visit multicultural and -national big cities, it often becomes apparent to me how churches of different religions seem to compete on beautiness, height, materials used like gold or colourful ...
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What are good predictors of the construction year of residential buildings? [closed]
I follow a suggestion from a question on meta stackexchange to ask about actual, physical architecture here. I hope that is acceptable.
I am interested in the information and features which a ...
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Was there a continuity in architecture from the Minoan civilisation to classical Greece?
The Minoans used columns in their palaces and the Mycenaeans used columns in their megarons which were inspired by the Minoan column, but were the columns of classical Greek temples and buildings a ...
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In Classical Athens, what did the portico of the archon basileus look like?
In Plato's Euthyphro, Socrates and his titular interlocutor meet at the portico of the archon basileus - or chief archon. I've been looking for an image of the portico but had no luck so far, and am ...
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What were the grooves in the side of the walls at the rear entrance of Harlech and Beaumaris gatehouses for?
The back of Harlech and Beaumaris castle gatehouses seem to have grooves in the side of the wall for a portcullis, but there is no groove above so if there was one was there it could not be raised. ...
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Where in a city would a cathedral be built?
I am creating a medieval style village in a video game I am developing. Trying to be as accurate as possible I have studied the basic form Gothic Cathedrals and come to a pretty good understanding.
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Why is there no Islamic architecture with glass in windows before the 18th century?
Why is there no Islamic architecture with glass in windows before the 18th century? Glass windows frequently appear in gothic architecture since the 11th century but why does medieval Islamic ...
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When and where was the first time moveable bridge?
Transportation of goods on rivers have been important throughout history, all the way back to the earliest civilization in Mesopotamia, the Indus valley, Egypt, China and more (this might not be the ...
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What would the Arch of Titus have looked like painted?
The Arch of Titus is a famous attraction in Rome, built by the Roman Emperor Domitian in 82 CE, in honor of the great military conquest of his older brother, Titus. Perhaps the most famous part of ...
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