Great Wall of China
China’s great wall is one of the longest walls of the globe built during the historical times of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The structure is located in northern China and was built mainly to provide security from invasion by the barbarian nomads and enhance safety during the Silk Road trade. The materials used in the construction process entail rammed earth, stones, and wood. Conversely, in the mining times, bricks were integrated into numerous parts of the wall due to their size and weight which made them easy to incorporate (Rojas 126). The construction is eight meters tall and encompasses watchtowers mainly for surveillance, fortresses used as a commanding area, and the beacon towers that facilitated communication. Furthermore, the structure is divided into south and north lines identified as the interior and exterior walls respectively with the fortresses and gates being located along the walls. The mining great wall composed of six feet battlements containing loopholes, crenel, and a parapet wall (Rojas 127). The fortresses gateways and archery windows were the most impassable structures on the building.
Angkor Wat
The Angkor Wat is found between the East and West Baray reservoirs located in the province of Angkor. The building is considered to serve two purposes: it acts as a Vishnuite temple in its original status and a funeral monument for the Suryavarman II (Fletcher et al. 1394). The masonry framework of the central temple found in the structure entails a sand core embedded in a pyramid of laterite blocks. The sandstone blocks are further capped by carved sandstone blocks to enhance their durability. The primary temple encompasses a cluster of five raised towers, quincunx, and four other towers that surround asymmetrically positioned the main tower. The central tower is located in the middle of an open area and is linked to the western entrance through a fifteen-meter causeway. The construction also includes a fourth enclosure that is 1000 x 815m and is confined by a laterite wall developed during the roofed gateways. Additionally, the building has a flat region placed amid the enclosure wall and the moat (Fletcher et al. 1395). The moat is surrounded by an endless kerb of great, decorated, sandstone slab that covers the sandstone and laterite steps.
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore is a form of sculpture developed into the granite face of the four most famous American presidents. The monument was created and executed by Gutzon Borglum from 1927 to 1941 in the black hills of South Dakota. Mount Rushmore embodies a sixty-foot statue of the heads of the four famous U.S. presidents: Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington (Rollins 19). Dynamite is one of the materials used during the creation of the monument in which the drilling occurred until it reached three to six inches to the final curving region. At this stage, the drillers performed honeycombing an activity used to make holes closely in the granite thereby enabling easy removal of the granite. The mountain elucidates the American ideas and strength during the recovery period of the great depression.
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal building contains a combination of the Persian, Islamic, and Indian architectural designs. The building covers an area of 42 acres spread across the slope of river Yamuna to the north inform of descending terraces (Falakian and Falakian 2535). The primary gateway is located at the close of the extensive watercourse decorated with the Holy Quran verses in a calligraphic manner. The main entrance to the sandstone gateway is established from the solid silver and is vertical to deter individuals from viewing the tomb until they reach the doorway. The central tomb is raised above fifty meters and leveled using dirt to minimize leakage from the river (Falakian and Falakian 2535). Moreover, there are four minarets positioned at 137 feet in each corner of the main tomb to enhance the beauty of the spherical dome which is 58 wide. The western part of the central tomb is the mosque and Naqqar Khan to the east both constructed in red stone (Islam 371). At the major entrance to the building are the written calligraphy materials of the Quran verses and passages which were developed by placing jasper in the white pieces of the sandstone.
Machu Picchu
The Machu Picchu is regarded as one of the greatest architectural plans in the globe containing over 200 structures. The architectural construction of the buildings entails the use of molded pieces of granite stones that are perfectly embedded together. The regular Inca constructions are established from the regular stones with eight corners and six sides. In numerous religious buildings, the architecture involves the integration of polygonal stones with golden panels which are considered to be more durable (Wright 135). Most of the building walls are slanted with rounded curves and L-shaped supportive features. The ground engineering technique is signified by an effective drainage method and terraces that spread across the region to facilitate drainage during heavy rains.
Works Cited
Falakian, Narjes, and Ali Falakian. Study on the Architecture of Taj Mahal. 9th ed., Science Explorer Publications, 2013, pp. 2532-2538, Accessed 30 July 2018.
Fletcher, Roland, et al. “Angkor Wat: an introduction.” Antiquity 89.348 (2015): 1388-1401. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286412358_Angkor_Wat_An_introduction
Islam, Arshad. “The Taj: An Architectural Marvel of an Epitome of Love?” Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences vol. 7, no. 9, 2013, pp. 367-374. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257657431_The_Taj_An_Architectural_Marvel_or_an_Epitome_of_Love
Rojas, Carlos. The Great Wall. Harvard University Press, 2010. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=IaIwmEh-OpsC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=ISBN+978-0-674-04787-7&ots=FbhioeWVbp&sig=FAZiTqLzQjh75i_gLWvQIQQJPBw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=ISBN%20978-0-674-04787-7&f=false
Rollins, Caleb. “Mount Rushmore: A Tomb for Dead Ideas of American Greatness.” (2015). https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/426/
Wright, Kenneth R. “Inca Foundations, Site Preparation, and Drainage at Machu Picchu.” Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction vol. 18, no. 2, 2012, pp. 131-142. https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/%28ASCE%29SC.1943-5576.0000146