Program > By author > Haklay Gil

We argue that the roots of architectural planning are well planted in prehistoric times, and that in the Levant, the fundamentals of architectural planning have developed since the Late Epipaleolithic (Natufian culture) and during the Early Neolithic period. In this lecture we will present evidence for architectural planning principles and methods (such as the use of geometry, the formulation of floor plans as an external planning device, and the standardization of measurement units) identified through formal analysis of architectural remains in key sites (such as Eynan, Göbekli Tepe and Çayonü) dated to these periods. Architectural formal analysis studies the forms of built spaces and is used to trace back aspects of architectural planning processes by discerning geometric regularities and identifying the spatial principles and compositional laws governing the generation of the structure's form. Together, these case studies form a quest into the origins and history of architecture from the perspective of architectural planning. Viewed as an example of Neolithic dynamics of cultural changes, these cases suggest that architectural transformations during these formative times (the transition to rectangular architecture included) were top-down process, based on theoretical knowledge, carried out by specialists and ultimately derived from a change in man-world (culture-nature) relationship and a new perception of the environment