Shelter Has Evolved in Relationship to Basic

¶ … shelter has evolved in relationship to basic individual (shelter, security, comfort, social interaction, ritual) and context environmental constraints, character site, building materials, construction technologies, social relationships). In the essay, we will consider the relationship between the buildings as physical objects of a material culture. In terms of the plan/layout, exterior form, interior spaces, structure and materials and as lived in sites, we must realize that architecture serves the particular needs and desires of the users and the larger community in their everyday life. Interestingly, there are some constants through this evolution and that are constant among the many different peoples around the world.

Circular Construction

Of these, the most significant is the basic shape of a building. A circular structure is certainly practical and easy to make. The building can be made out of totally field expedient materials that are readily at hand. The buildings do not take much skill for the novice to build. It mimics many animal shelters. Also, it is easy to defend, giving the ability to defend 360 degrees around. The interior lines of communication between defenders allows easy coordination and resupply during a battle. The simplicity of building seems to have followed over into tomb examples such as the Passage Tomb in Newgrange, Ireland, ca 3000-2500 BC., or stone alignments in Carnac, France, ca 1500 BC., or igloos in the Arctic circle. Also, religious sites or observatories were round, a shape mimicking the heavenly dome. This would play up certain factors such as shelter, security, comfort, social interaction and ritual which can be more readily satisfied in a round building.

In variation, the circle has been used widely from ancient times when ancient Ukrainian dwellings were round during 15,000-10,000 BC. Or an Iron Age round house, Mongolian Yurts or to through classical Greek and Roman examples (polygons) to the present. Of these, the most significant is the basic shape of a building. Architects consider round buildings before others in design. They have ten percent less wall area that is exposed to the elements than a square building of equivalent floor space. 15% savings are realized when comparing round to rectangular shapes of equal area. A circle is also an inherently strong shape, just as we use it today in objects such as garbage cans or rockets where strength and durability is an issue ("Full Circles Shelters Why") .

Round buildings tend to be smaller This would explain why they and other non-rectangular building shapes are more common in smaller buildings, probably due to the architectural issues at hand. And that rectangular buildings are easier to build when larger size and space is an issue.

Building Materials

We should now consider building materials. This is made up of any material that is used for a construction purpose. Many naturally occurring substances to include clay, sand, wood and rocks or even twigs and leaves are being used to construct buildings. Totally apart from naturally occurring materials such as clay bricks many man-made products are in use, though some are more and some less synthetic.

The manufacture of building materials is part of an established industry in many countries. Its use of these materials is typically separated into specific specialty trades. These can include construction jobs as diverse carpentry, plumbing, roofing and insulation work. They provide the makeup of the building materials that make up the buildings.

Rectangular Buildings

Rectangular buildings seem to be easier to build due to environmental constraints, character of the site, building materials, construction technologies and social relationships. The societies and construction technologies to build such buildings would have been geared to large societies that could build a building with cheaply processed materials such as mud brick.

Needless to say, rectangular buildings are the most popular and most used shape. This is especially the case as buildings got larger and more elaborate. They simply deal more effectively with the stresses of gravity and greater weights. This would explain why so many examples of rectangular buildings can be found, such as Iroquois long houses, pueblos in the American southwest, or buildings in Catal Hoyuk, (Anatolia) Turkey.

The majority of standard residential housing designs are in rectangular shapes. They are easy to construct as well as circular buildings. This would especially be the case for a building such as a ziggurat that is made up of multiple stories made of rectangular mud bricks. Step pyramids in places such as Mexico would be similar due to many of the very same issues at hand.

Rectangles and squares are easier to lay out in grids. It also allows the close packing of components in rectangular designs. Rectangular rooms can be easily and readily constructed out of rectangular components of construction . In terms of drawing and designing buildings, rectangles seem to be much easier to draw than circles. This is especially the case in terms of prefabricated buildings that are put together from standardized parts. As affluence would increase, so the number of rooms in a building to accommodate lots of people. This then would favor rectangular construction over other shapes (Steadman 119-120).