Symbols in Architecture

On this Page: Armenian Church Middle Eastern Roman

A Breathing of Doors - Brief Essays on Symbolism
The doorknob represents the limited grasp of thought and choice, guided by curiosity and wonder to find light and darkness The life-door is a door going inward and outward at the same time, and either path may have light and darkness.
www.geocities.com/drypress/BriefEssaysSymbolism.html
Art, Mysticism, and Perpetual Motion

Akan Architecture Symbols
Akan architecture is not only elaborate in terms of function and building technology. It also presents, as a reflection of the people and their spirit of independence, a variety of forms and design principles that encode expressive messages which continue to astonish foreign observers.
www.marshall.edu/akanart/akanadansie.html

Ancient Mesoamerican Architecture
Pictures of various ancient Mayan sites, such as PalenqueTikal, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Bonampak, Yaxchilan, etc.
www90.homepage.villanova.edu/lowell.gustafson/maya.htm

Architectural Blossoming of the Lotus
The temples of the Bah�'� Faith are well known for their architectural splendor, and the Temple constructed in Delhi is a continuation of this rich tradition.
www.bahaindia.org/temple/architecture.html

Architecture and Development of New York City
So many skyscrapers began to appear in New York that by the early years of the twentieth century these buildings become the symbol of New York.
nycarchitecture.columbia.edu/0242_2/0242_2_s5_text.html

Architecture, Design and Symbols
The number of sacred monuments (churches, monasteries, chapels, shrines and Khachkars, or stone crosses) is truly mind-boggling. There are more than 5,000 churches, monasteries and chapels in Armenia, and over 20,000 Khachkars in the small territory of the Republic alone.
www.tacentral.com/architecture.asp

Architecture, Meaning and Observation
A Review of Robert Harbison�s The Built, the Unbuilt, and the Unbuildable.
www.wit.edu/Academics/HSSM/context/vol4/shopoff.html

Ancient Symbols in Architecture by Balwant Saini
Symbols have always been an important part of an architect's design vocabulary. In recent years some architects in India have used ancient symbols such as Vedic mandalas as a basis for planning and design of buildings. Let us examine the significance of symbols in Hindu temple architecture and see how valid they are in a secular society.
esvc000070.wic016u.server-web.com/articles/ancientsymbols.html

Buddhist Art and Architecture
Borobodur Temple, The Hill of Sanchi, The Buddha Image, Symbolism of the Stupa/Chorten, Hand Mudras, Symbolism of the Mandala, Tibetan Buddhist Art, Tibetan Thangka Paintings.
www.buddhanet.net/gallery.htm

Illustrated Architecture Dictionary
Images, history, and architectural analysis of more than 300 buildings of Buffalo's historic architecture.
ah.bfn.org/a/DCTNRY/vocab.html

Symbolism from Architecture - britannica.com
Mankind first used indestructible materials to erect large structures not to live in but to worship their gods.
www.britannica.com/ebi/article-196586

Armenian Architecture

Sacred Geometry and Armenian Architecture
Almost literally, geometry meant contact with the gods. It was considered a way of imitating the structure where the sun (probably the first god) and the moon (probably the second god) governed the natural order-- early man believed if he could "map" the universe, he would be able to predict the whims of gods, who sent punishing droughts, floods and pestilence on the land around him.
www.tacentral.com/architecture.asp?story_no=2

Symbolic Forms in Armenian Design
Eastern Christianity inherited, both from the Old Testament and from the earlier pagan cultures, the tradition of the cosmic symbolism of the cross and the number four.
www.tacentral.com/architecture.asp?story_no=4

Church Architecture

Art, Architecture and Symbols in and around First-Plymouth Congregational Church
The building that houses First-Plymouth Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, is one of the architectural gems of Nebraska. It attempts to express visually the Christian faith of the congregation it houses.
www.firstplymouth.org/about/art-symbols_fp.html

Symbolism in Church Architecture
The mediaeval cathedrals and churches of Europe admirably exhibit a combination of art with craft.
www.sacred-texts.com/etc/bb/bb09.htm

Symbolism in Incarnation Church's Architecture
Our house of worship, The Church of the Incarnation, abounds with these early symbols of our faith. Many of their origins are lost in the mists of time, but all possess a power to recall to our minds the many wonderful mysteries of our religion.
www.incaglendale.org/inca/incasymbols.html

Middle Eastern Architecture

Eclipse 1999 - Images of Iran
Emam Khomeini Square, Entrance to the magnificent Masjed-� Emam mosque, Interior wall in the courtyard of the Masjed-� Emam, Hallway inside the Masjed-� Emam, Main dome of the Masjed-� Emam, The Hasht Behesht (Eight Paradises) Palace, Dome inside the Hasht Behesht Palace, The Pol-� Si o S� (Bridge of the 33 Arches), and much more.
www.fourmilab.ch/images/eclipse99/iranimages.html

Military Architecture of Ancient Egypt
For most of Egypt's ancient history, it was a land of fortifications. To some extent, all Egyptian ceremonial buildings, including temples and even funerary complexes, were intended to function as bastions of order and harmony, requiring at least symbolic fortifications to protect them from the surrounding chaos.
www.touregypt.net/featurestories/fortresses.htm

Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture
Architecture as Symbol and Self-Identity. PDF.
www.archnet.org/library/documents/one-document.tcl?document_id=2590

Roman Architecture

Geometry in Art and Architecture
Without symmetry and proportion there can be no principles in the design of any temple...
math.dartmouth.edu/~matc/math5.geometry/syllabus.html
Ad Quadratum, the Sacred Cut, & Roman Architecture

Images of Roman Art and Architecture
She-Wolf of the Capitoline, Cinerary effigy-urn, Temple of Portunus (Fortuna Virilis), Ara Pacis Augustae, Villa of Livia, Maison Carree, Pont-du-Gard aqueduct, Temple of Vesta (Forum Romanorum), House of the Vestals (Forum Romanorum), Arch of Titus, Trajan�s Column, and much more.
www.vroma.org/images/scaife_images/