Description
[G/C; Ancient/Medieval] The startling discovery of Stonehenge's ancestor 7,000 years earlier in distant Turkey sets the stage for a vigorous rethinking of ancient western architecture. Politics come to the fore: Hatshepsut's flair for propaganda at her mortuary temple, Akhenaten's building a new city, and the Roman emperor's construction of the Colosseum. Practical issues abound: Just how good is mudbrick? Roman concrete? How did the Greeks earthquake-proof their temples? How did the Egyptians raise an obelisk? Religious contention is explored: Christians cannibalizing pagan Roman temples; mosques challenging Christian churches. Non-Western comparisons are drawn: from India's Chausath Yogini Temple to Mali's Great Mosque. The impact of everlasting ancient architecture on the modern world is charted from Pei's Pyramide to Holl's addition to the Nelson-Atkins.