Introduction: The Classical Architecting Paradigm

Introduction: The Classical Architecting Paradigm The recorded history of classical architecting, the process of creating architectures, began in Egypt more than 4,000 years ago with the pyramids, the complexity of which had been overwhelming designers and builders alike. This complexity had at its roots the phenomenon that as systems became increasingly more ambitious, the number of interrelationships among the elements increased far faster than the number of elements. These relationships were not solely technical. Pyramids were no longer simple burial sites; they had to be demonstrations of political and religious power, secure repositories of god-like rulers and their wealth, and impressive engineering accomplishments. Each demand, of itself, would require major resources. When taken together, they generated new levels of technical, nancial, political, and social complications. Complex interrelationships among the combined elements were well beyond what the engineers’ and builders’ tools could handle.