became steadily more numerous and complex. They
were designed with concealed rooms which contained
holy relics. The stupa was then built around and on top
of the treasure room, with the sacred objects buried at
its heart. In a finished stupa there was no door, no
inside that could be entered, only an exterior.
Although the walls were extremely thick, they were
not solid but penetrated by a complicated series of
inaccessible spaces and interconnecting vaults. In the
case of the temples, the vaults were often not just
single, but double or treble structures, with voids
between, forming a series of interlocking shells.
All vaults in Pagan, whether accessible or
inaccessible, were built using voussoired arches, with
the faces of the bricks cut to shape and the bricks laid
on edge. Voussoired arches of this type were not new in
South-east Asia: they had been employed in buildings
in the Be-be and Lei-myet-hna gu temples of the old
Pyu capital of Sri Ksetera, dating from the 7th or 8th
century, which had been invaded by Pagan in the 11th
century. It is possible that captured Pyu craftsmen
moved to the capital to work on the new monuments.
The vaults are either barrel-shaped or constructed with
pointed arches. The latter are common throughout
Pagan architecture from at least the 11th century, if
not before, but the cross vault (where two arched
vaults join at right angles), which is a key feature of
Western medieval architecture, does not seem to have
been used. The rooms inside the temples were normally
entered from small tunnels or doorways in the walls
and do not interconnect, a method of planning that
The Medieval World
simplified both setting out and construction.
The forgotten temples of Pagan
Bricks in Pagan are rectangular and average in size
between 370 and 400mm long x 180–225mm wide x
Few sights in the world are more breathtaking than the sun rising over the ancient city
Christianity by five centuries (Siddhartha Gautama
50mm thick. They do not appear to have been inscribed
of Pagan. Situated in the north of Myanmar (Burma), the ancient city once acted as a
lived from approximately 563 to 483 BC) and started as
or stamped and were made from alluvial clay using
crossroads between India, South-east Asia and China. Here, at a bend in the great river
an ascetic movement in India. The stupa, an image of
moulds. Clay deposited by water naturally settles out
the sacred mountain, Mount Meru, was adopted from
with the finer clay being left on the surface and this
Vedic Brahminism. The earliest surviving Buddhist
property accounts for the high quality of the bricks
stupas date from about 250 BC. Virtually all the early
which are very dense and finely grained. No kilns have
the previous 550 lives of the Buddha so that the
Top and opposite View of the
Overleaf A group of
stupas were made from earth and stone where such
been discovered, suggesting that the bricks were
faithful could contemplate them during a ritual
temples of Pagan. Some 2,000
smaller stupas.
Irrawaddy, Buddhists from India mixed with the indigenous peoples, the Mons and Pyu,
to form a new civilization that lasted for over 300 years. The houses of the city that once
covered the fertile plain were made of timber and have long since disappeared, but the
survive in the plain.
temples, which were made of baked brick, remain.The larger monuments rise majestically
materials were available. The largest brick stupa, the
probably burnt in temporary clamps. This has certainly
circumambulation or pradakstina. The whole stupa was
above the plain. Climbing the outside of these, one can sit above the tree tops and take in a
Jetavana Dagoba in the ancient city of Anuradhapura
been the method used for subsequent restoration
surmounted by a convex or concave anda which was
Above Large stupa with tiers
panorama of temples ranged as far as the eye can see. It is thought that there were originally
in Sri Lanka (Ceylon), was constructed by King
works. The present clamps are relatively small and burn
originally covered with plaster lotus petals and brightly
of walkways.
about 5,000 temples in this plain.Today some 2,000 remain, together forming one of
Mahasena in the 3rd century AD. Anuradhapura
palm roots and charcoal, yielding about 50,000 bricks
coloured and surmounted by a tall metal spire. The
the largest collections of ancient brick monuments in the world.
had been founded in the 4th century BC and the
per firing. The resulting bricks were remarkably uniform
smallest surviving stupas in Pagan are only 4 or 5m tall,
Jetavana Dagoba is only the largest in a series of
and were laid in lime mortar. The fine river clay created
while the largest Mingla Zedi is over 50m high.
Under Anawrahta (1044–77) Pagan settled most of
types themselves may not have been new, they soon
stupa. It is 123m high and was constructed in 500mm x
hard bricks with sharp arises that could be laid with
what is today called Myanmar or Burma through a
developed in ways that are peculiar to the place.
250mm x 50-mm bricks set in mud mortar, the mud
great precision and joints of as little as 5mm are not
Temples
containing a high proportion of silt and gypsum.
uncommon.
The second major structural building type in Pagan is
series of military operations mounted against the
existing Mons and Pyu tribes. Thus by 1100 Pagan
Stupa
had become the capital of a significant kingdom.
Of the two, the stupa is the first and perhaps most
important building type. The stupa was the most basic
form of Buddhist architecture. Buddhism pre-dated
There are two main types of religious structure
surviving in Pagan: the stupa and the temple. While the
82 THE MEDIEVAL WORLD
Externally Pagan stupas came in many forms, but
the temple or gu. Like the stupa it often held a secret
Burmese architecture was no doubt influenced by the
the typical ones had three or five terraced levels linked
treasure chamber at its heart, but the temple also had
older tradition, but, while the Ceylonese stupas were
by staircases. Around these terraces glazed terracotta
other internal rooms which were intended to be
relatively simple, the Pagan stupas and temples
plaques were set in the walls on each level depicting
accessible by the faithful. The simplest form of temple
From 1060, Pagan had trading links with Ceylon and
THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 83
Into the 20th Century
Dudok and Hilversum Town Hall
Hilversum Town Hall is one of the most influential buildings of the 20th century.
Built in the late 1920s, it was the masterpiece of Willem Marinus Dudok (1884-1974),
municipal architect of the town. Judging by its design, with its dominating planar surfaces
and abstract composition, it is easy to presume that Dudok was a member of the De Stijl
movement. In fact for much of his career he had been more interested in the
Amsterdam School and Berlage.
The De Stijl movement which opposed the Amsterdam
Hilversum Town Hall, one of most significant buildings
School from 1917 to 1930 took its name from a
in this style, came from outside the movement.
magazine edited by Theo van Doesburg (1883–1931).
It obeys De Stijl principles of composition but Dudok
The first issue appeared in October 1917. The
had shown no particular interest in their theoretical
movement included the artist Piet Mondrian, and
debates and felt free to build in any material he chose.
architects Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud (1890–1963)
Dudok was born in Amsterdam and studied at the
and Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (1888–1964). They stood
military college in Breda. After graduating he did some
for a search for universal values in art. This universality
work for the army before taking up a temporary
was linked to idea of mass-production, which was
appointment as Director of Public Works in Leiden
seen as holding the possibility of breaking down class
from 1913 to 1915. Here he collaborated with Oud on
barriers and making way for a utopian vision of the
a small housing complex built in a traditional style
but work was further delayed by financial constraints
future. In architecture this translated into an interest
reminiscent of the architecture of the Amsterdam
so that the foundation was not laid until March 1928.
in making buildings that had no stylistic or regional
School. He left Leiden to take up the post of
Dudok’s vision was for a magnificent town hall set in a
references but were instead composed of rectangular
Director of Public Works in Hilversum, a town with
beautiful park. The visitor approaching it first sees the
planes of simple colours. The main materials used
a population of 100,000 about 30km south-west
building across the lake with the tower in the
were deliberately modern: concrete, steel and glass.
of Amsterdam.
background.
The most obvious example of this type of architecture
Initial designs for a town hall for Hilversum began
After such a long gestation, the architect had been
is the Schröder House in Utrecht. Ironically they chose
soon after Dudok’s appointment in 1915. In the
given ample time to consider the materials to be used.
to ignore brick, despite being the most obviously
following decade various sites were discussed and
He had a number of sample walls constructed using
mass-produced material in use at the times. The
rejected until eventually the council managed to buy a
standard bricks but rejected each, eventually settling
reasons for this were simple: the use of brick in
large area of land on the edge of the town yet close
on a purpose-made 233 x 113 x 43-mm yellow brick
traditional architecture was seen as being an
enough to the centre to be practical. The final design
(thereafter called the Hilversum brick) produced by
undesirable link with a degenerate past.
was accepted by the town council in November 1924
Alfred Russel in Tegelen. Some 680,000 were ordered.
Above Close-up of the top of
Opposite The ceremonial
the tower which sits over the
entrance. Newly married
main staircase.
couples emerge from the
Town Hall and descend down
Left The view across the lake.
this staircase flanked by their
guests. Note the large glazed
coping blocks which were
especially made for the
Town Hall.
262 INTO THE 20TH CENTURY