INKA ARCHITECTURE

Abstract

INKA ARCHITECTURE, For Inca's Less is More--Much More! Precision, functionality and austerity are the three themes in Inca Architecture. The constructions by Inka stone fitters achieved breathtaking beauty through austerity of line and juxtaposition of masses, their architects clearly esteemed functionality with precision above decoration. Magnificent Material Used by Inca's :-­‐ The buildings are made out of local grey-­‐ white granite. The quality of the stonework varies considerably, and not simply because sacred buildings always displayed greater craftsmanship than residential and other mundane buildings. The largest, megalithic blocks and finest stonework are always found in the lower levels of the buildings. As at other sites, certain structures, or parts of them, undoubtedly predate the Incas. Photo Courtesy:-Sacredsites.com Why Inka doorways, windows, and wall niches are trapezoidal? The dominant stylistic form in Inka architecture is a simple, but elegantly proportioned trapezoid, which serves the dual ends of functionality and severely restrained decoration. Inca walls had numerous design details that helped protect them against collapsing in an earthquake. Doors and windows are trapezoidal and tilt inward from bottom to top; corners usually are rounded; inside corners often incline slightly into the rooms; and "L"-shaped blocks often were used to tie outside corners of the structure together. These walls do not rise straight from bottom to top but are offset slightly from row to row.

Full text

Ar.Shruti H.Kapur
Assistant Professor
School Of Architecture And Design
Lovely Professional University
Phagwara
Punjab
shrutihkapur@gmail.com
INKA ARCHITECTURE, For Inca’s Less is More--Much More!
Precision, functionality and austerity are the three themes in Inca Architecture.
The constructions by Inka stone fitters achieved breathtaking beauty through
austerity of line and juxtaposition of masses, their architects clearly esteemed
functionality with precision above decoration.
Magnificent*Material*Used*by*Inca’s*:5!The$buildings$are$made$out$of$local$grey5
white$granite.$The$quality$of$the$stonework$varies$considerably,$and$not$simply$
because$sacred$buildings$always$displayed$greater$craftsmanship$than$
residential$and$other$mundane$buildings.$The$largest,$megalithic$blocks$and$
finest$stonework$are$always$found$in$the$lower$levels$of$the$buildings.$As$at$
other$sites,$certain$structures,$or$parts$of$them,$undoubtedly$predate$the$Incas.
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Photo Courtesy:- Sacredsites.com
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Why*Inka*doorways,*windows,*and*wall*niches*are*trapezoidal?*
The dominant stylistic form in Inka architecture is a simple, but elegantly
proportioned trapezoid, which serves the dual ends of functionality and severely
restrained decoration. Inca walls had numerous design details that helped protect them
against collapsing in an earthquake. Doors and windows are trapezoidal and tilt
inward from bottom to top; corners usually are rounded; inside corners often incline
slightly into the rooms; and “L”-shaped blocks often were used to tie outside corners
of the structure together. These walls do not rise straight from bottom to top but are
offset slightly from row to row.
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Photo Courtesy:- Sacredsites.com
Various aspects of Inka architecture-- construction methods, design, and
characteristic features
At site of Ollantaytambo number of large cut blocks were abandoned en route to the
site and remain today, known as piedras cansadas or "tired stones". Within the
complex, a stone that was in the process of being maneuvered into its final position
can be seen lying on its emplacement ramp. Other stones exhibit peculiar grooves,
which were meant to be filled with molten bronze or copper to lock two adjacent
stones together.

peculiar grooves Photo Courtesy:- Sacredsites.com
The glory of Inka stonecutting lies in their ability to cut unusual shapes and fit them
tightly together, as exemplified by the famous twelve-cornered stone found in a wall
of the palace of the Inka Roca. It is both a cliché and a verity that the stones are so
closely fitted that a knife blade cannot be jammed between them.
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How did they achieve these amazing resistances shaking through walls?
What the Inkas had achieved is from the finest stonework naturally. Finely hewn
ashlars was constructed in the temple design that gets thinner upwards and also walls
are battered (inwards sloping),. This creates a wall with a wonderfully stable and
pleasing appearance, and which is, in fact, highly resistant to seismic shaking.
Earthquakes are a common building hazard in the Andean region; the walls were
thicker at the base, where the more massive courses were laid, and somewhat thinner
higher up where the courses were smaller.
A different style of wall construction is seen in some of the palaces built for each Inka
ruler-- the famed cyclopean walls of oddly shaped blocks cut like jigsaw puzzle
pieces and fitted together to astounding precision with no mortar, cyclopean walls
contain individual blocks estimated to weigh over 100 tons.

Photo Courtesy:- Sacredsites.com
Beauty of Fountains and liturgical baths : Sparkling streams cascades from stone
spouts and Playful handling of flowing water decorated with carved designs, into
joyfully splashing basins, then flow through quite unnecessarily complex stone
channels to pour into the next fountain water rushes from one fountain to another. It is
not only element of architectural design but this essential fluid by Inkas is evidently
enjoyed demonstrating their perfection..
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Agricultural architecture: The famous and masterpiece of Inca’s Andenes terraces
were formed with stone retaining walls, having lower layer of course rubble and
upper as top soil .The achievement of Inca’s having innumerable sets of agricultural
terraces built

on mountain site. Photo Coutsey:- Sacredsites.com
Architectural values : The Inka civilization has left the world, and Peruvians in.
particular, with an immense architectural values Machu Picchu is certainly one of the
most famous archeological sites in the world, and a visit there can be a mystic
experience.
MISLLANEOUS ABOUT INKA ARCHITECTURE
Detail of drainage canal at the side of
the dry moat, stone nail which was used
to tie the straw roofs, holes through
which removable doors were secured

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Photo Courtesy:- Sacredsites.com
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To end with:
Material culture was the most awe-inspiring of Inca contributions in architecture.
Neither on the profuse ornamentation of the Mayan; nor the emotional impact of the
Aztec; but Inca engineering and structural daring--the grandiose concept of its cities
and the handling of rock mass--finds no rival in either the New World or the Old. A
remarkable portion of what they built is still in use: Inka walls still support the most
important buildings in Cusco, surviving earthquakes that send more recent
constructions toppling to the ground; 500-year old andenes still grow food for
Peruvians.
Perhaps the most renowned aspect of Incan architecture is the use of terraces to
increase the land available for farming. These steps provided flat ground surface for
food production while protecting their city centers against erosion and landslides
common in the Andes. Modern engineers copied this agriculture architecture method,
such as Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Who knows what other
mysteries or answers Inca Architecture will bring us in the future? What is Inca
architecture telling us? If the techniques used by Inca helped us in generating
today’s world? The answer to all this………..
The largest stone in the Wall of the Six Monoliths is about 4.3 m high, 2.1 m wide, 1.8 m thick, and weighs about
50 tonnes. The six monoliths are joined with narrow fillet stones – a style found nowhere else in the Inca empire