Kelsey's Aztec's Architecture

From WolfWikis

Map of the Aztec Civilization

1 Aqueducts and Dams
2 The Pyramids: Symbolism and Types
3 The Landscape and Layout of Tenochtitlán
4 Building Materials and Techniques
5 Resources

Aqueducts and Dams

In 1325, the Aztecs built their city Tenochtitlán on a lake where Mexico City presently resides. The lake, Lake Texcoco, was saltwater and Aztec engineers built a large dike across it to seperate the freshwater part from the brine, and they built floodgates to regulate lake levels. They built also built aqueducts to bring additional fresh water to the lake. The Aztecs agriculture developed and prospered due to the infrastructure of dikes, dams, and drainage canals.

Tenochtitlan was built in marshy land around Lake Texcoco, and on these island there were limited supplies of fresh drinking water, Aztecs engineers designed aqueducts to bring freshwater from springs at Chapultepec to the city.

The Pyramids: Symbolism and Types

Example of an Aztec Pyramid/Temple

Symbolism: The cardinal points are religious symbols for the four directions and corners of the Earth (North, South, East, West). They had divine patrons, colors, days, and year signs.

North: was represented by black and ruled by Tezcatlipoca, god of fate, destiny, and night; it was the region called Mictlampa, meaning "place of death," and the associated symbol was a flint knife. South: was characterized by the color blue and ruled by Huitzilopochtli, the solar god and war deity; this was the region called Huitztlampa, the region of thorns, and its symbol is the rabbit. East: was the color red and ruled by Tonatiuh, the sun god; Xipe Totec, the god of fertility and vegetation; and Camaxtli-Mixcoatl, the god of hunting.It was the region called Tlapallan meaning "place of red color;" and also Tlapcopa, the "place of light"; and its symbol was a reed. West: was represented by white and ruled by Quetzalcoatl, the god of the wind, Venus, and wisdom. The west is where the sun goes down into the land of the night and the dead, this region was called Cihualampa, meaning the "place of the women," where the Cihuateteo (deified women who have died in childbirth) escorted the Sun each evening after his journey across the sky; its symbol was a house. Other recurring symbols: The eagle, representing the Sun and the warriors; serpents, symbolizing water or fire serpents, the conch shell, relating to fertility; life and creation. Frogs are also frequent symbols as aquatic creatures.

Pyramid-Temples:The pyramid-temples were the most important part of Aztec architecture because of the religious significance (as evident from the symbols above). They were believed to represent mountains, which were the sources of water and fertility and the home of the spirits of the Aztec ancestors. They also represented the concept of altepetl or the heart of the city filled with fertilizing water. Most importantly however, the pyramid-temples represented the celestial order where the cosmos was divided into 13 sections, each associated with a different superhuman phenomenon. The pyramid-temples were built with 4 platforms, steplike, on top of one another, and were related to the four cardinal directions. The three lower platforms consisted of 12 sections; the 13th section was the small top platform where the dual temples of Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc were built.

Most of the pyramid-temples followed a general pattern that consisted of platforms and long, broad double staircases rising from the center. Sculpted stone blocks and skulls were used to decorate a platform. And they were of course decided with the cosmos in mind, so they always faced west and were situated on the eastern side of the town center/ plaza border. The double staircase also faced west, where the Sun descended into the underworld. The tops of the pyramids had flat plateaus where a temple or sacrificial block was built.

Round Pyramids:These were predominantly found in Calixtlahuaca, in the Toluca valley. They were dedicated to the wind god, Ehecatl. The structures were circular to facilitate air flow. According to Aztec belief, Ehecatl blew wind in the four cardinal directions so that the Earth would be cleansed, thus enabling Tlaloc to send rain.

The Landscape and Layout of Tenochtitlán

Layout of Tenochtitlan

The general layout and architecture of Aztec capital cities were formally planned around a center, with randomly situated homes on the outskirts of town. Buildings were cosmologically oriented. And at the heart of the city, there was a rectangular public plaza with civic and religious buildings along the borders (this is where most of the pyramid-temples and temples were located). The palace and temple in the city were in close proximity to each other which reinforced the link between the earthly realm of the tlatoani and the sacred realm of the gods. The king ruled for the gods, and his political power had supernatural backing. The layout and orientation of the central structures is consistent with the Aztecs' obsession with the east-west passage of the sun and the four cardinal directions.

However outside of the central zone there is no evidence of planning. Houses are scattered everywhere, building did not follow a common orientation, and formal streets and avenues were absent. Homes were often separated by family gardens. And their houses were small and simple structures built of adobe bricks.

Building Materials and Techniques

The Aztecs were builders who utilized chisels, hard stones, and obsidian blades as tools. Many of their tools were the same that were used 2,000 years ago in the Mexica central valley. In Tenochtitlan, they had to worry about building on soft and sinking subsoil. Tezontle, a strong and light volcanic stone became a popular material. It was easy to cut and used as filling in walls and roofing. Another technique the Aztecs used to prevent the city from sinking was to use platforms as foundations or to drive wooden piles into the ground in a close-packed formation. But most building materials used by the Aztecs were found in the region or acquired through trade. They used rubble, plaster, adobe, and lime to make stucco which was commonly used. And outside of Tenochtitlan, people used wood from uninhabited forests for building. Pine and Oak were popular for making support beams and door jams.