Re: Re: architecture

From: Greg Stafford <Greg_at_...>
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 15:01:55 -0800


This is another of those things we plan to put on the web site. If there is a volunteer in Issaries' driving area I'm looking for a volunteer to come in here and scan in my entire files of "A History of Pelandan Art" and "A History of Pelorian Art." it has notes on pottery styles, etc.
It even includes samples of our terrestial art to be used as the basis of visualizing the stuff. For various reasons, modern Lunar architecture is much like classical Greek (actually, like Renaissance, since they are deliberately copying an earlier period).

Here are a couple of notes as guidelines for now. Sorry for their brevity.

Quick synopsis:
Golden Age
Yelm raised the first ziggurat when he touched down: Selshena. It set the standard for temples. They are square based and stepped, usually with a spiralling path giving it its stepped look. All Yelm temples include a temple to Lodril inside their square base and include an altar to Dayzatar on its top.
Likewise all the prehistoric and ancient Lodril temples have a temple to Yelm on its top, but Lodril temples are most often NOT spiralled about with a single path, but are stepped in levels. And of course, inside they are much more complex and reflect the complexity of the inner Lodrilite cults. Cities were geometrically organized, nicely planned with whitewashed multi-story buildings, public works etc. Generally, these were made on a cyclopean scale.
And of course they were just surrounded by the squalor of those ramshackle (square) Lodrilite buildings and (round) Orian superhuts. Note that sacred statuary from this periods is not made by people, but is the precise body that a god took, or exactly the thing a goddess made, etc.

Kazkurtum
Ends all that.

Jenarong Era
The crude ruins and rough approximations of the Mythic Age are reconstructed.

Khordavu
Extensive use of stone buildings, corbelling, Glazed tiles are extensively for freizes, etc.

Nysalor Interlude
A brief experiment at creativity terrorizes Dara Happan architects and artists into a permanent state of conservatism. Nonetheless innovations enter. (almost always from Pelanda, which flaunts its artistry and creativity). The dominant Dara Happan culture always makes up the tale of how they innovated this thing because the gods or heroes told them too, etc. but in fact originality comes from Pelanda

Erzanestyu Era.
Tessuric style temples is column and lintel construction. Pillar towers popular in Yuthuppa. Free standing sculpture.

Desdillan period.
Desdillus was the first sculptor to work in stone, so that it would live during worship. This is a major change in style and materials. Rekalic style architecture is mainly larger, changes in decorative styles.

Then several centuries of something that looks a lot like Greek style architecture whose sequence is broken by the Spolites, dragons and Carmanians at different times.

Early Lunar Period (112,250)
First arched vaults, domes, called Maertanic style.

Later Lunar
Carmanian (ie, Doric) style temples spread during rebuilding after SS, the "Recovery Style."



Greg Stafford
Issaries, Inc. 900 Murmansk St., Suite 5; Oakland, CA 94607 Phone: (510) 452 1648 Fax: (510) 302 0385 Publisher of Hero Wars, Roleplaying in Glorantha See our site at: <www.glorantha.com>

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