The Use and Abuse of Historical Precedent - Research Paper Example

The Use and Abuse of Historic Precedent Introduction In the past days, people who built houses adhered to certain stipulations in order to attain a specific appearance, length, and/or size of those buildings that they sought to construct. Today, people have come to know those specialists as architectures who are including most of the architectural styles used in ancient buildings in today’s houses. Los Angeles is a good example of the places in which architectures have applied several ancient stylistic designs of construction in building homes, movie theatres, restaurant buildings, and car lots among other places (Roseman 41). Some of the stylistic architectural designs applied mostly in Los Angeles include but not limited to the Ancient Egypt and Japanese architecture. These styles were rampant in the olden days but as time went by, different architectures resolved into reinterpreting them into the modern ways of constructing buildings. This paper will seek to explore how stylistic period in architectural history namely Ancient Egypt and Japanese architecture has been reinterpreted in the buildings found in contemporary Los Angeles. In presenting the reinterpretation, MarYella Hotel, Roman Gardens, Church of Christ Scientist and The Getty Center buildings will be used as as a clear illustration of transformation to modern buildings in Los Angeles. The history of the period and structure of Ancient Egypt The Ancient Egypt was an architectural style used by architects to design buildings, which came to be very influential sites during and after civilization. Studies show that the Ancient Egypt style of construction started and ended in the years between 3050 BC and 900 BC (Nicholson and Ian 45). During this time, architects managed to develop a large and vast array of monuments that ended up being very great, famous, and influential to an extent that the following generations carried the knowledge with them. This style of architecture had a number of characteristics among those who involved themselves with it. First, the architects used two predominant materials during the construction of almost every building, which were stone and sun-baked mud bricks respectively (Roseman 51). Prospects have come to put across that, architects applied the Ancient Egypt construction style mainly because there was advent scarcity of wood. During and after the so-called Old Kingdom, architects had an obligation to reserve stone for building temples and tombs whereas use bricks in building fortresses, royal palaces, and walls of towns as well as temple precincts. In some instances, ancient Egyptians preferred using the Ancient Egypt style of constructions in erecting buildings due to the presence of hot and dry climate that preserved brick structures for a long time. Thus, one could point out that some of the reasons why the Egyptians resolved to build buildings using bricks, which was a major component of construction materials during the Ancient Egypt, include the prevailing climatic conditions. This is clearly illustrated in MarYella Hotel Architecture. Additionally, Roseman argues that the Ancient Egypt stylistic method of construction served as a way of aligning events astronomically (58). For example, the ancient architects who applied this style in building temples ended up recording certain events such as the equinoxes and solstices, which later provided people with the measurement and time when such an event took place. To some extent, this style had some religious significance, which appears to have been presided over by the Pharaoh himself with reference to ceremonials that signified their opening. The Japanese architecture The Japanese architecture is indeed very complex and according to architectural analysts, it had many characteristics. Traditionally, the Japanese architectural style of construction was typified by structures made of wood, slightly elevated off the ground, and thatched with roofs or tiles. Further, Roseman evidences that structures made using the Japanese architecture had sliding doors otherwise known as fusuma in ancient Japan commonly used instead of walls (66). According to researchers of Japanese architectural styles, the Japanese architects used these sliding doors instead of walls purposely for allowing the ability to customize the place with regard to different occasions. Scores of information from the ancient Japanese architectural researchers ascertain that this stylistic form of construction existed mostly during the Han Dynasty, which stretched highly in the sixth century. Web. https://www.google.co.ke/search?q=images+of+buildings+in+Los+Angeles&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb The Japanese architecture was one concrete style of construction that did not compose of many divisions for quite a long time. However, this ended at the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868 where it came to incorporate radical changes due to the occurrence of two vital occasions. Upon enacting the Buddhas and Kami Separation Act in the year 1868 that witnessed the Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples break away from one another, the Japanese architecture experienced significant transformations (Roseman 70). The breaking of this association saw direct and indirect as well as immense damages caused to the country’s architecture. Observations indicate that this system of construction commonly applied by the Japanese in erecting buildings had both traditional and religious significance. The Japanese believed that houses built using this style were adhering to the desires of their gods and it was a symbol of identification. As different dynasties within the country continued to expand, the Japanese spread their identity to different parts using the Japanese architecture in erecting buildings. Visual analysis When one compares the types of houses built during the ancient period with the modern ones, it is very easy to come across as many differences in the styles of construction as possible. For instance, MarYella Hotel is a real representation of transformation form tehancient times to recent actecture. Overly, people in the ancient period built houses following specific knowledge commonly obtained from on site learning whereas today’s architects must undergo specific training which commonly takes place by going to learning institutions. Upon looking at the modern or rather contemporary houses built by contemporary architectures, who seek to follow the steps applied by the ancient architects, Roseman depicts that one is able to spot more than just a few differences (75). With reference to the aforementioned styles of constructing buildings, both the Ancient Egypt and the Japanese architecture erected buildings with a religious significance. An example is the Karnak Temple, which was considered the most superb and extensive work of architecture. The figure below shows a pictorial illustration of the temple. http://www.touregypt.net/images/touregypt/con3.jpg Most buildings in Los Angeles have no religious significance except churches, mosques, and temples for which bearing in mind that such buildings are not in plenty is substantial, however, a building like Roman Gardens shows that modern buildings in Los Angeles still follow the religious structure. A good example is the The Getty Center. Moreover, the current houses set in Los Angeles bear certain intensified construction materials as opposed to those used in the Ancient Egypt buildings. It is arguable that houses built in the ancient Egypt were categorized in many ways (Roseman 82). This is with reference to the use of different technologies. Comparing the ancient religious building with the present ones, the difference is evident in that A closer outlook into the Ancient Egypt style of construction and its manifestation in the modern construction particularly in places like Los Angeles shows that there are typical differences especially in the side of observing the measures taken in order to produce a pyramid form in every building as evident in Church of Christ Scientist. Similarly, ancient houses built using the Ancient Egypt style of construction composed of angled battered walls. As of today, just a few houses built in Los Angeles that have resolved to reinterpret the style of Ancient Egypt which considered angled battered walls as special since their significance varied in many lengths. Certain buildings within the city seem to have some basis of steps commonly followed during the construction of houses that had angle battered walls but this does not necessarily indicate that they have considered this aspect during their erection (Roseman 86). Hence, it is deducible that the style is there but not many architects have been able to follow it to the letter. On the other side, the ancient Japanese architectural style is common among places with a considerable amount of people of Japanese decency but it is clear that Los Angeles is a bit behind in terms of these considerations. Pertinently, Japanese constructed their houses using wood and lifted them above the ground with some reference to some grid. In the modern Los Angeles it is agreeable that wood is a scarce product and even, if it were available it would be very expensive and hard to get. This indicates that most of the houses built in the modern Los Angeles are different from those built in ancient Japan that followed the Japanese architectural style (Roseman 89) like the MarYella Hotel. Nevertheless, it is of great essence to acknowledge the presence of the Japanese architecture in modern Los Angles buildings. It is seeable that in ancient Japan where architects built houses using the Japanese architectural styles, they used tiles or thatch to cover their homes. As of now, most Los Angeles houses have their roofs covered in tiles. This is a style carried from a generation to another and is today common among architects including those erecting houses in Los Angeles. On the other end, the Ancient Egypt style is still common among the modern architects given that some of the buildings in contemporary Los Angeles follow the steps adhered to by architects of this period. As described by Roseman, the Egyptians opted to build houses using the sun-baked bricks mainly to the absence of wood (Nicholson and Ian 67). As such, it was hard to see a house built using wood or rather timber, as it was a rare commodity. Things are not that much different in modern Los Angeles where most of the architects depend of bricks to build houses. Houses built using bricks are common in modern Los Angeles and this shows that this style of building homes, working houses, and other buildings used in the ancient Egypt is rampant in modern cities. A good example that can be illustrated is the Temple of Horus at Edfu, an ancient Egyptian architecture and Bakar 88, a modern work of architecture in Cairo. This is represented in the Roman Gardens a modern building in Los Angeles. This house is a modern day building in Los Angeles. It manifest most of the Japanese architecture with its roof covered with tiles and built mostly using wood. Nonetheless, it has a very significant platform that explains the little lack of the real feeling of an ancient Japanese building. This is so because it lacks a very fundamental aspect of the old Japanese houses where they had sliding doors that took the place of walls. These sliding doors were very special as they allowed the owners of the house to use it for several yet different ways (Roseman 97). People could use the same house for different occasions since they had the ability to interchange a few slides and the house would fit the occasion. Commonly referred to as tea houses, the Japanese ancient houses were symbolic and facilitated many occasions. Both the Ancient Egypt and Japanese architectural styles like the Matsumoto Castle in Japan and Egyptian’s Temple of Horus at Edfu applied wood, bricks, and thatch in building houses. They depended mostly on these construction materials in erecting buildings. Today, things are different as modern Los Angeles architects apply the use of tiles and glasses and other sophisticated materials in building houses. This is evident in The Getty Center. This diversity is common and shows that, as much as modern architects would like to manifest the ancient styles of construction, times and the prevailing conditions or rather circumstances tend to fail them. For example, the Japanese depended much in building houses using wood mainly because it was available. The Egyptians resolved to use sun-baked bricks since there was lack of wood (Roseman 102). In conclusion, it is evident that most Los Angeles buildings follow certain construction styles predominantly due to either lack or availability of any of the required materials in constructing a house by use of a certain style of construction. Evident further, modern Egypt and Japanese buildings have a whole lot of houses built using both their Ancient architectural styles. In fact, from the above findings, it is arguable that current houses built within the city applied the Egyptian hieroglyphics tidbits, and incorporated the lotus, and/or papyrus capitals. Works Cited Nicholson, Paul T, and Ian Shaw. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000. Print. Roseman, Curtis. The Historic Core of Los Angeles. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2004. Print. Appendix The Getty Center Web. 1 April 2013. Church of Christ Scientist Web. 1 April 2013. MarYella Hotel Web. 1 April 2013. Roman Gardens Web. 1 April 2013. Read More