College of Environmental Design
Department of Architecture, UC Berkeley
Architecture Slide Library
Architecture 170 - Fall 1996 - Dell Upton - September 12
I. The Minoan Civilization, ca. 2000-ca. 1200 BCE. The Aegean sea a cultural transmitter. Crete as a focal point: The Bronze Age comes to Crete ca. 2600 BCE. The first great sea power. Easily accessible, undefended settlements. Cretan naturalism: nature religion. Worship in caves, on mountain tops, in domestic shrines. The Great Goddess/Rhea?
II. Knossos. Daedalus, Theseus and the Minotaur.
The Palace of Minos, Knossos, Crete (Knossos plan I; plan II). Built in many stages, beginning ca. 2000BCE. Destroyed ca. 1380 BCE. Note: stone and mud-brick-with frame construction, north-south orientation, approaches, "inside-out" planning around central court, west court, theatral area, magazines, Throne Room, Hall of the Double Axes, ceremonial facade, queeǹs apartment, frescoes. Qualities of procession and movement. The double axes (labrys). The bull sport. (Palace of Minos Exterior Reconstruction;
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III. Mycenanean Culture. Mainland Greece, ca. 1600-ca. 1200 BCE.
The Shaft Graves at Mycenae, ca. 1550-1500 BCE. Circle A, discovered 1876, and circle B, discovered 1952-54. Stone-lined multiple graves marked by stelae and filled with rich grave goods.
The Mycenaean Citadel. Rough terrain, well defended. Cyclopean walls. The citadel at Mycenae, built in stages from ca. 1380-40 BCE to ca. 1200 BCE in its present form. Note: Lion Gate [ca. 1250 BCE], Grave Circle, sally ports, ramp and approach to palace. The citadel and palace at Tiryns, 14C-13C BCE. Note: indirect entry, axial layout ofthe palace itself. The megaron as the unit of Mycenaean domestic building.
The Mycenanean palace. A civil and military installation. Economic and administrative role. The script known as Linear B. The "Palace of Nestor at Pylos" [ca. 1300 BCE; burned ca. 1200 BCE]. Note: 3 blocks, rubble stone foundation, mud brick and rubble stone in wooden frame for upper walls, architectural elements derived from Minoans, decoration, courtyard and megaron. (Palace of Nestor, plan)
The tholos tomb. Used from ca. 1500 BCE. Origins? "Treasury of Atreus" or "Tomb of Agamemnon", Mycenae, ca. 1300-1250 BCE. Note: dromos, entry, facade, corbelled tholos chamber, side chamber, decoration.