College of Environmental Design
Department of Architecture, UC Berkeley
Architecture Slide Library
Architecture 170 - Fall 1996 - Dell Upton - September 3
I. The First Cities. The city as an artifact of the social process: gradual or sudden development? «atal H·y¸k, Turkey, ca. 6500 BCE-5650 BCE. Note: mud-brick houses, shrines to fertility deities. The city defined by boundary and armature. Jericho (Jordan), becomes a city in early 8th millennium BCE. Note: walls, tower, irregular plan. The city defined by its boundary. A city defined by its armature: Khirokitia, Cyprus ca. 5500 BCE.
II. Mesopotamia (Iraq and Syria): geographical and social diversity. Sumer and Assyria.
1 Mesopotamian temples. Naturalistic polytheism. Importance of the temple: Eridu Temple VII, ca. 4000-3500 BCE: note plan, structure and appearance, siting. The temple as an economic and political institution. Changes to the temple: a. becomes part of an elaborate complex. Oval Temple, Khafaje, ca. 2650-2350 BCE, with double enclosure, work buildings, gates, temple raised above courtyard. b. becomes raised above surroundings. The temple mound: White Temple, Uruk/Warka, 3200-2600 BCE.
The temple revamped: The temple mound becomes the temple mountain, or ziggurat: Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu, Ur, ca. 2300 BCE. Note: terraces, indirect approach, temple at summit. The temple precinct: courtyard planning at Ur. (Ur: Plan; private house).
2 The Mesopotamian palace. Temple of Gimil-Sin/ÓPalace of the Governors, Ó Eshnunna/Tell Asmar, 2317-2283 BCE: a temple and palace combined. Palace of Sargon II, Dur Sharrukin/Khorsabad, 710-706 BCE. Note: courtyard planning, reduced importance of the ziggurat.
3. Mesopotamian urbanism. 3d Dynasty version of Ur, ca. 2113-2006őBCE: note walled city, placement of public buildings, courtyard houses, street plan.
III. The Urban Process in Asia. Indus Valley or Harappan civilization, in present day Pakistan. Two major cities known are Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, ca. 2500-1500 BCE. (Mohenjo-daro: Plan, Marshall; Plan, Rowland). Note gridded plan, courtyard houses, relation of buildings to hierarchical plan, incorporation of citadel within larger structure. The city defined by its armature.