pyramid

pyramid. Monumental structure with a square base and steep battered triangular sides terminating in an apex. The form was used in Ancient Egypt for funerary structures: celebrated examples are the pyramids at Giza, near Cairo, Egypt (c.2551–c.2472 bc). Other types of pyramid include the stepped form found in both Ancient Egyptian and Meso-American Pre-Columbian architecture, but in the latter region the buildings were temple-platforms rather than tombs. The best-known stepped pyramids are the Ancient Egyptian pyramid at Saqqara, built by Imhotep for King Zoser (c.2630–c.2611 bc), and the temple-pyramids of the Meso-American Aztec and Maya cultures (c. C6–C16). Pyramids often featured in Neo-Classical architecture (Roman pyramids including that of Cestius (c.12 bc) ), and appealed to designers for their stereo-metrical purity of form, thus responding to Laugier's admiration for an architecture that was primitive and pure. Pyramidal compositions were common in funerary monuments from the time of Bernini, and countless C18 examples exist.

Bibliography

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