Development in architecture

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They then survive not only as beautiful objects, but as documents of the history of cultures, achievements in architecture that testify to the nature of the society that produced them. These achievements are never wholly the work of individuals. Architecture is a social art. Examples of such works of art are the Pyramids of Giza, the Lion's gate at Mycenae, the Parthenon, the Colosseum, the Hagia Sophia, and the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Each of these buildings tells the story of the culture that produced it, and by studying the development of architecture; one can see the development of religions, ideas, and beliefs.

The three pyramids at Giza in Egypt, Cheops, Khafre, and Menkaure, are among the most famous pieces of architecture in the world and they are also the first buildings with innovative architecture. Each Egyptian ruler was obsessed with constructing a tomb for himself more impressive and longer lasting than that of his predecessors. Before the 4th Dynasty (begins c. 2680 BC) Egyptian royal burial took the form of the mastaba, an archetypal rectangular mass of masonry.

This evolved into the stepped pyramid and finally into the fully refined pyramid. The development of the pyramid reached its climax during the Fourth Dynasty in the famous triad of great pyramids at Giza, which unlike the older pyramids, were of smooth-sided shape. They originally had an outer casing of carefully dressed limestone, but it has disappeared except near the top of the pyramid Khafre. This pyramid, almost 136 m (446 ft) high, was built without the use of cranes, pulleys, or lifting tackle, and archaeologists are still not certain how this was accomplished.

Cheops, the first to be completed took about twenty years to complete. It was originally 481 feet high, and its base covered over 13 acres. It was made of over two million stone blocks, each weighing two to fifteen tons. The area covered by the Cheops Pyramid can accommodate St Peter's in Rome, the cathedrals of Florence and Milan, and Westminster and St Paul's in London combined. « mai multe referate din Diverse