English
The Grand Tour
Travelling the World with an Architect's Eye. Excerpt from the book 'The Grand Tour' by Harry Seidler. Edited by Peter Gössel.
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Egypt
Egypt's antiquity has always stood out as unique in comparison to other cultures anywhere on the globe. What makes it so special are the works handed down to us, their gargantuan size, built millennia ago of solid stone; the pyramids, obelisks, temples, sculptures and artworks. It seems inconceivable to visualise how these enormous works, such as 250 ton stone obelisks, were physically brought into existence, extracted and erected, with the minimal technical means available, 5,000 years ago.
Spread along the fertile Nile River Valley, these great structures are spaced on both sides of the river. It was all developed by people with the longest lasting stable civilisation in antiquity. Ruled over by autocratic kings who were worshipped as divine royalty, they had huge works built as visible memorials, such as burial chambers contained in the great pyramids, colossal statues of their images and left evidence of the enrichment in their lives through luxury articles and solid gold masks found in their tombs.
As an outstanding example, the God-King, Pharaoh Ramses II, built the Temple to the God Amun at Karnak, with closely spaced sandstone columns some 25 m high and 3 m in diameter. The capitals are of Lotus form, covered with incised figures and hieroglyphics in the Hypostyle Hall, which is lit from above through clerestory openings.
The surfaces of depository limestone or sandstone walls and columns have inevitably deteriorated and fretted away with time. The ancient Egyptians must have been well aware of this because when it came to sculpturing the images of their Gods, such as the Falcon Bird Horus, or the heads of Pharaohs, they used igneous stone such as solid granite.
Horus made of Aswan black granite has been standing exposed to the elements flanking the entrance of the Temple at Edfu for the last 3,500 years. It is in perfect condition, with edges sharp and features undisturbed. Whenever today's salesmen of new technology materials claim that their products will stand the test of time, I prefer to believe in the irrevocable evidence offered by Horus in choosing exterior materials for my buildings.
The form language used by the ancient Egyptians in their structures is minimal. The silhouettes read distinctively and powerfully even from a distance. It is only when approaching that one becomes aware of the human figures and hieroglyphics incised in them, which gives richness to the geometric forms.
The characteristic outwardly tapered Temple walls shows evidence of an intuitive response to the need for lateral structural stability and resistance to earthquakes. The benign frost-free climate of Egypt contributes to the remarkable condition in which these structures have survived for millennia.
With the construction of the Aswan high dam in the 1960's, numerous ancient monuments and temples were threatened with inundation. Under the initiative of UNESCO, some of them were saved by being moved and reconstructed on higher ground. The most dramatic of these raisings were the Abu Simbel Colossal sculptures of Ramses II, which were rebuilt against an artificially constructed mountain with a final appearance identical to the original.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4]
Egypt
Egypt's antiquity has always stood out as unique in comparison to other cultures anywhere on the globe. What makes it so special are the works handed down to us, their gargantuan size, built millennia ago of solid stone; the pyramids, obelisks, temples, sculptures and artworks. It seems inconceivable to visualise how these enormous works, such as 250 ton stone obelisks, were physically brought into existence, extracted and erected, with the minimal technical means available, 5,000 years ago.
Spread along the fertile Nile River Valley, these great structures are spaced on both sides of the river. It was all developed by people with the longest lasting stable civilisation in antiquity. Ruled over by autocratic kings who were worshipped as divine royalty, they had huge works built as visible memorials, such as burial chambers contained in the great pyramids, colossal statues of their images and left evidence of the enrichment in their lives through luxury articles and solid gold masks found in their tombs.
As an outstanding example, the God-King, Pharaoh Ramses II, built the Temple to the God Amun at Karnak, with closely spaced sandstone columns some 25 m high and 3 m in diameter. The capitals are of Lotus form, covered with incised figures and hieroglyphics in the Hypostyle Hall, which is lit from above through clerestory openings.
The surfaces of depository limestone or sandstone walls and columns have inevitably deteriorated and fretted away with time. The ancient Egyptians must have been well aware of this because when it came to sculpturing the images of their Gods, such as the Falcon Bird Horus, or the heads of Pharaohs, they used igneous stone such as solid granite.
Horus made of Aswan black granite has been standing exposed to the elements flanking the entrance of the Temple at Edfu for the last 3,500 years. It is in perfect condition, with edges sharp and features undisturbed. Whenever today's salesmen of new technology materials claim that their products will stand the test of time, I prefer to believe in the irrevocable evidence offered by Horus in choosing exterior materials for my buildings.
The form language used by the ancient Egyptians in their structures is minimal. The silhouettes read distinctively and powerfully even from a distance. It is only when approaching that one becomes aware of the human figures and hieroglyphics incised in them, which gives richness to the geometric forms.
The characteristic outwardly tapered Temple walls shows evidence of an intuitive response to the need for lateral structural stability and resistance to earthquakes. The benign frost-free climate of Egypt contributes to the remarkable condition in which these structures have survived for millennia.
With the construction of the Aswan high dam in the 1960's, numerous ancient monuments and temples were threatened with inundation. Under the initiative of UNESCO, some of them were saved by being moved and reconstructed on higher ground. The most dramatic of these raisings were the Abu Simbel Colossal sculptures of Ramses II, which were rebuilt against an artificially constructed mountain with a final appearance identical to the original.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4]
The Grand Tour, Travelling the World with an Architect's Eye
Flexicover 5.5 x 7.7 in., 704 pages
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Harry Seidler’s photo journal of world architecture
Luxor Temple
Gizeh, Pyramids of Cheops, 2250 BC