The Brief History of World Architecture

世界建筑简史

Architecture is the practice of building design and its resulting products；customary usage refers only to those designs and structures that are culturally significant. Architecture must satisfy its intended uses, must be technically sound, and must convey aesthetic meaning. The best buildings are often so well constructed that they outlast their original use, surving not only as beautiful objects, but as documents of the history of culture.

建筑是修建设计的实践和最终产物；风俗习惯仅指具有文化重要性的设计和结构。建筑必须要满足其使用目的，必须有技术上的感觉，而且必须传达美学意义。一些最为杰出的建筑物通常修建巧妙，以至于已经超出了其最初的使用目的，不仅仅作为一件美丽的物体从在，还记载了文化历史。

For Western readers, the architecture of the ancient world, of the Orient, and of the pre-Columbian Americas may be divided into two groups: indigenous architecture and classical architecture. Indigenous architecture includes ways of building that appear to have developed independently in isolated, local cultural conditions. Classical architecture includes the systems and building methods of Greece and Rome.

对西方读者来说，源于古代、东方，以及哥伦布到达美洲以前的建筑可以分为两类：本土建筑和古典建筑。本土建筑包括看上去似乎在孤立的地方文化条件当中独立发展出的一些修建方式。古典建筑则涵盖了希腊和罗马的建筑方式及体系。

The oldest designed environments stable enough to have left architectural traces date from the first development of cities. The Assyrian city of Khorsabad, built during the reign of Sargon II (722-705 BC) and excavated as early as 1842, became the basis for the study of Mesopotamian architecture. Over a long period, the urban culture of Egypt erected the most awesome of the world’s ancient monuments. The largest and best preserved pyramids-used for rayal tombs-are those of Khufu(2579 BC) and Khafre (2530 BC) at Giza.

最早的人造环境相当稳定，保留了自最早城市发展以来的建筑痕迹。霍萨巴德的亚述城建立于萨尔贡二世在位期间（公元前722-705年）并于1842年被发掘，成为了研究美索不达米亚建筑的基础。很长一段时间，埃及城市文明树立起世界古代遗址最令人敬畏的丰碑。现存最大最完整的金字塔—皇家墓葬—分别属于胡夫（公元前2579年）和吉萨的哈夫拉（公元前2530年）法老。

Early Indian stone architecture, which was elaborately carved, was more like sculpture than building. At sites such as Ellora and Ajanta, northeast of Bombay, are great series of artificial caves, sculpted out of the solid rock of cliffs. The Chinese house, built in rectangular and symmetrical fashion, reflects a traditional focus on social order. Japanese house design is more concerned with achieving a satisfying relationship with earth, water,rocks, and trees. This approach is epitomized in the Katsura Detached Palace (17^th century). 早期的印度石建筑通过精心的雕刻更像是雕塑而非建筑。在诸如埃罗喇和阿謇陀景点就有大量的人工的洞穴挖掘在土层外的峭壁岩石上。中国房屋以长方形对称结构方式修建，反应了以社会次序为传统中心。日本的房屋设计更注重达到与土地、水流、岩石以及树木和谐相处的关系。桂离宫便是这种方法的集中体现。

The Teotihuacan culture (100 BC-AD 700) of Mexico contained two immense pyramids embedded in what was a vast city. The Mayan civilization’s greatest building periods fall within the 4^th to the 11^th century. The Maya created impressive structures through extensive earth moving. Their bold architectural sculpture is either integral with the stone monuments or is added as stucco ornamentation. The Inca Empire was centered in the Peruvian Andes and flourished from about 1200 to 1533. Inca masonry craftsmanship is unexcelled; enormous pieces of stone were transported over mountainous terrain and fitted together with precision. 墨西哥提奥帝华坎文化（公元前100年到公元700年）拥有两座金字塔镶嵌于一座庞大的城市当中。玛雅文明最伟大的建筑时期是公元4世纪到公元11世纪。通过大范围的迁徙途中，玛雅人创造出了许多令人印象深刻的建筑物。他们粗犷的建筑雕刻中既有整体岩石雕琢也有涂以灰泥为装饰。印加古国位于秘鲁安第斯山脉中心，繁荣于1200年至1533年这段时期。印加石匠们的技艺无可比拟；巨大的岩石穿过崇山峻岭被运来而且精确的被组装起来。

The building systems and forms of ancient Greece and Rome directly determined the course of Western architecture. Forms of the Greek temple, the archetypal shrine of all time, range from the tiny Temple of Nike Apteros(427-424 BC) of about 6 by 9 meter (about 20by 30 ft), on the Acropolis in Athens, to the gigantic Temple of Zeus (500? BC) at Agrigento in Sicily, which covered more than one hectare (more than two acres). Two Greek architectural orders developed more or less concurrently. The Doric order predominated on the mainland and in the western colonies. The acknowledged Doric masterpiece is the Parthenon （447-432 BC），which crowns the Athens Acropolis. The lonic order originated in the cities on the islands and coasts of Asia Minor. It featured capitals with spiral volutes, slender shafts, and elaborate bases. The Corinthian order, a later development, introduced lonic capitals detailed with acanthus leaves.

古代希腊和罗马的建筑体系以及建筑形式直接决定了西方建筑的进程。希腊庙宇的形式，所有时期的典型神殿，范围从位于雅典卫城的小到6至9米的胜利女神神庙，到西西里岛阿格里琴托城大到1公顷（相当于2英亩）的宙斯神庙。希腊的两大结构几乎在同一时期发展起来。多利斯柱型在大陆和西方殖民的占主导地位。帕台农神庙被公认是多利斯柱型建筑风格的代表作，使雅典卫城达到了顶峰。爱奥尼亚风格起源于岛屿和小亚细亚沿岸的城市。它以螺旋涡行的柱顶，细长的柱身以及精致的底座而著称。科林斯式柱型风格，较晚出现，采用带叶形饰的钟状柱顶。

Rome became a powerful, well-organized empire, marked by great engineering works-roads, canals, bridges, and aqueducts. Two Roman inventions allowed for greater architectural flexibility: the dome and the groin vault-formed by the intersection of two identical barrel vaults over a square plan. The Romans also introduced the commemorative or triumphal arch and the colosseum or stadium. Rome was noteworthy for grandiose urban design, demonstrated through the forum, complete with basilica, temple, and other features. The most remarkable forum is Hadrian’s Villa (125-132) near Tivoli.

罗马成为实力强大，组织完善的王国，以大量的工程作品著称：道路、运河、桥梁以及高架渠。两组罗马特色的发明使得建筑更加灵活起来：穹顶以及通过两个独立筒形拱顶交叉于一个正方形设计上的交叉拱顶。罗马人还创造了作为纪念而建造的凯旋门、用于公开讨论的广场和露天竞技场。罗马值得注意的有宏伟的城市设计，用于集会的广场，完美的教堂，庙宇以及其他特色建筑。最著名的广场是位于提沃利的哈德良寝宫。

In the 4^th century, Roman Emperor Constantine the Great converted to Christianity and created a Christian empire, prompting the building of many new churches. The surviving basilicas in Rome that most clearly evoke the Early Christian character include Sant’ Agnese Fuori le Mura (rebuilt in 630 and later) and Santa Sabina (422-432). Byzantine churches, domed and decorated with mosaics, proliferated throughout the Byzantine Empire; most notable is the Hagia Sophia (532-537), built by Eastern emperor Justinian I at Constantinople.

公元4世纪，罗马国王康斯坦丁大帝皈依了基督教，并且建立了国教为基督教的王国，兴建了许多新式教堂建筑。拜占庭风格的教堂有穹顶并装饰有马赛克并在拜占庭帝国迅速打量的产生；最著名的有圣索菲亚大教堂（532-537年），由东罗马帝国国王查士丁尼一世在君士坦丁堡修建。

The basilican plan was elaborated in Romanesque architecture. Some greatest monastic Romanesque churches did not survive the French Revolution (1789-1799) but has been reconstructed in drawings. Its design influenced Romanesque and Gothic churches in Burgundy and beyond.

长方形廊柱大厅式建筑风格在罗马式建筑风格中变得复杂起来。一些最伟大的罗马修道院在法国大革命期间没能幸免于难，但是人们根据绘画作品进行了重建。其设计对位于勃艮地以及更远地区的罗马和哥特式教堂产生了影响。

At the beginning of the 12^th century, Romanesque was transformed into Gothic architecture. Although the change was a response to a growing rationalism in Christian theology, it was also the result of technical developments in vaulting. About 1100, the builders of Durham Cathedral in England invented a new method that gave a new geometric articulation-the ribbed vault.

12世纪早期，罗马建筑变化成了哥特式建筑。尽管这种改变回应了在基督教神学理论中成长起来的理性主义，它也是共性结构技术发展的结果。大约在1100年，度英国汉姆大教堂的修建者们创造了一种新的几何连接方法，即肋拱。

Other developments were the pointed arch and vault, and the flying buttress, which allowed construction of more elegant, higher, and apparently lighter structures. The major French Gothic cathedrals include those at Paris, Chartres, Reims, and Amiens. The English Gothic cathedrals include Canterbury, Lincoln, York Minster, and Exeter.

其他新发明主要是尖券和尖拱，以及飞券，他们使得建筑物更加美观，高大，而且结构明显更加轻巧。法国主要的哥特式大教堂包括位于巴黎，夏特尔，兰斯，以及亚眠等地的教堂。英国哥特式教堂包括坎特伯雷，林肯市，约克以及艾克赛特大教堂。