Mayan Architecture Research Paper

Mayan Architecture

The Mayans were one of the most advance and dominant indigenous societies of Mexico and Central America. The great cities of the Mayan civilization were constructed in a rainforest environment. The architecture that the Mayans used to build homes, temples and palaces is something unique considering that despite changes in times the buildings have managed to remain completely intact. The Mayan cities were also built in a disorganized way, so they would not flood during wet seasons.

The classic period of Mayan civilization is the time when they first stared to build great stone cities and monuments (History). They gained inspiration from past tribes in how to build their cities which resulted in a unique form of architecture. The Mayan temples were built of stone with platforms on the top where wooden and thatch structures could be built on. Mayan architects would use local materials in building homes, such as limestone, sandstone, and volcanic tuff (Cartwright). The limestone was used for construction of buildings while the volcanic tuff was used for tools and weapons. The modern-day descendants of the Mayans still use these materials to create their homes.

The Mayan architects-built their structures so well that they have survived centuries of neglection and abuse (Minster).

They have also inspired 20th century architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Robert Stacy-Judd to incorporate elements of Mayan architecture into their buildings (Cartwright). The modest Mayan homes that were built long time ago resemble the homes of present day Mayan descendants. A new concept project designed by architect Sordo Madaleno is to create a luxury hotel in Mexico that has unique architecture based on Mayan elements (Isla). The layout of the Mayan cities is the opposite of the layout in today’s cities. The residential areas radiate out of the city center and grow sparser the further they go from the center in Mayan civilizations

(Minster).
In the cities the temples and palaces were built like pyramids decorated with elaborate reliefs and inscriptions (Cartwright). The Pyramid of El Castillo has remarkable echo qualities that produce animal like sounds(Craven). It is interesting how they thought to build the acoustics into the long stairways and how they managed to make it sound like their sacred bird every single time a person would clap. The ball court at chichen is another example of how they would use acoustics sounds. The walls of the ball court are long and high which would cause the sounds to reverberate so that whispers became amplified to keep players disoriented (Carven). Majority of information we have from the Mayans comes from the remains of architecture, stone carvings, and inscriptions on the buildings and monuments.
The architecture in the Mayan civilization were often built with astronomy in mind some temples would be aligned to the movements of the sun, moon, and the planet Venus (Minster). The pyramid in Tikal faces three other temples and when standing on that pyramid you can see that the other temples are aligned with the rising sun on equinoxes and solstices (Minster). It shows how advance the Mayans were that they could predict where the exact positions of the sun would be before they would even start the project. The Pyramid of Kukulkan was positioned in a way that the sun’s natural light is shadowed off the steps twice a year, and that it creates an effect of a feathered serpent(Craven). In spring and autumn equinox the serpent appears to slither down the pyramids side and the effect stops at the base of the pyramid with the carved head of the serpent (Craven). It shows the amazing capabilities of past architects and how they would predict the movements of the sun in relation to the they would create buildings.

Works Cited
Cartwright, Mark. “Maya Architecture.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, 20 Dec. 2015, www.ancient.eu/Maya_Architecture/.
Craven, Jackie. “Architecture of the Mexican Maya, Past and Present.” ThoughtCo, 26 Nov. 2017, www.thoughtco.com/mexican-mayan-architecture-178447.
History.com Staff. “Maya.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/maya.
“Isla Pasión: Luxury Hotel Inspired Mayan Architecture.” 88DesignBox.Com, 88designbox.com/architecture/isla-pasion-luxury-hotel-inspired-mayan-architecture-813.html.
Minster, Christopher. “What Was Ancient Mayan Architecture Like?” ThoughtCo, 18 June 2017, www.thoughtco.com/ancient-maya-architecture-2136167.