The Americas

The Americas style period is most easily broken down according to the different cultures that inhabited it. As a whole, these empires had a deep connection to the metaphysical world and greatly understood the concept of how to relate buildings to the open space around them. Most of the empires were isolated and usually were ended by Spanish conquers.

Olmecs
The Olmecs were the first known dominant culture of the Americas. They inhabited Southern Mexico from approximately 2000 B.C. - 200 B.C. With religion being a key element of life for this culture, they had a temple oriented city type. Small ceramic figurines and stone carvings also showed the importance of religion. A distinctive feature of the Olmec culture are the colossal stone heads made from boulders that were found in their region.

Mayans
The Mayans were prevalent for almost 1,800 years, from 300 B.C. to 1520 A.D. They were vastly located Central America, among many highlands and lowlands. Chichen Itza was one of the largest Mayan cities. It houses the famous Castillo pyramid. This four-sided step-pyramid reaches 75 feet tall. An interesting fact about this pyramid is that each side contains 91 steps, totaling 365 (the number of days in a year).

Aztecs
The Aztecs lived from 1150 - 1520 A.D. geographically in Mexico. Their population grew from 500,000 to over 3 million and rivaled Rome. Architecturally speaking, the Aztecs are most known for Templo Mayor. Templo Mayor consisted of seven total pyramids. There were two distinct pyramids - one temple dedicated to the god of war and the second to the god of agriculture. These pyramids were made of stone and brick and were destroyed by the Spanish, but were magnificent in their time.

Incas
The Incas were the largest empire of the Americas. They lived in Peru during 1200  to 1572 C.E. They are most known for their architecture. With an emphasis on trapezoid shapes and stone cutting, the Incas had a very unique architectural style. Machu Picchu shows the perfection of their skills. This city contains buildings that were built without mortar and many trapezoid shaped openings.




Modern Examples
The trapezoidal shape of the first picture is a great example of the style that would correlate to the Incas. The way that the structure in the middle picture blends in with its surrounding made me think of how many of the cultures during this time focused on the concept of the buildings and open space. Finally I thought the last picture puts a modern spin on the use of stone that was very prevalent in the Americas style.

Helpful Videos
The Innovation of Aztec Architecture | http://youtu.be/rY5rVgTxU-k
The Mayan Sacred Sites | http://youtu.be/B7hkqwhLIP4

Peer Reviews
Karri | I really liked the video that Karri posted about the tunnel found in the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent. I often get lost in the beauty of the outside of these ancient pyramids that I forget that the insides are just as sacred.
Miryam | I enjoyed the Miryam's current application pictures. I especially liked the first structure that was built from the trapezoid shape.