Architecture Now Vs Dark Ages Essay, Research Paper
Architectural Designs of Castles Vs. Modern Homes2000-07-03
Is the architectural design of modern homes slowly changing back to
the architectural design of castles in the Middle Ages? If design of
homes is changing back to design of castles is it a reflection on
our society that castles of the Middle Ages were built primarily for
defense. Does this mean that as a society we are tying to pull away
from each other? There are many similar characteristics and features
between modern homes and castles that are incorporated into the
design specifically for defense reasons. Castles in the Middle Ages
were built primarily for defense in war. They were constantly being
attacked so they had to be built very strong and almost
impenetrable. Castles were very large to protect from invaders, but
they were definitely not made for comfort. They were very dirty
inside, but their main purpose was for defense. Castles were built
with very strong walls. Some of the castles had walls that could be
as big as thirty feet thick. They also had multiple walls so that if
invaders got past the outer wall they still had to get past one or
two more, this made defending the castle much easier. The walls were
constructed with narrow, wedge-shaped slits in them for archers to
shoot arrows at invaders. The outer walls also had holes in the
floors for defenders to drop rocks down on invading people who had
gotten through the first wall. These holes were called murder holes.
Inside the castle were many knights, archers, and soldiers prepared
to defend against anyone who breaks all of the way through the walls
and gets inside of the castle. Castles also had very large gates and
gatehouses to let people into the castle. There was a gatehouse for
each wall. Each gatehouse usually had a very large metal and wooden
gate that could be lowered into the opening to stop an enemy from
getting in or it could be raised to let friends in. Besides huge
gates, outer gatehouses also had drawbridges, which could be lowered
across moats to let people into the castle. They were also raised to
prevent people form getting across. Castles were also built in
strategic places so that they could use natural defenses. For
instance, some castles were built on the sides of mountains. Others
were built in places with many trees surrounding them. Some were
built near lakes and rivers, but most of them had moats dug around
them. Moats were man-made ditches that were dug around a castle and
filled with water. All of these defenses; mountains, trees, lakes,
rivers, and moats, were natural defenses, except moats, which kept
the enemy farther away form the castle and limited the amount of
people that could surround it. With less people surrounding he
castle it made it easier for archers to shoot those who were there.
The architectural design of modern homes includes many
characteristics and features designed in defense. Even though homes
aren t built to withstand wars and invaders they do have things
about them set up in defense to keep others away form the owner and
out of their home. Newer homeowners are building their own homes.
First of all they are buying large plots of land where their home
will be built. When they design their home they are generally making
it a large home which is spread out over a lot of land. This seems
to be a status symbol to let other people think you are an important
person with a lot of money. Inside of the homes there is a lot of
room for everyone who lives there. It seems everyone is spread out
away from each other as if even the family that lives in the home
together have set up a defense against each other. Then people are
putting up fences or walls either all the way around their property
or around an area closer to their home. A lot of people have gates
put in at the end of driveway to only allow in who they want. Their
garages have security codes that they have to enter in order to open
the garage door. Their homes have security systems, which set off
alarms if someone breaks into their home when they aren t there.
Modern homes also use natural defenses. People plant trees and
shrubs on their property to hide the location of their homes. They
also use trees and shrubs as a type of fence when they plant them
around the edge of their property. Homes are also being built on
lakes or rivers. Even if it isn t usually thought of as a defense it
can be because it is for the most part restricting anyone coming to
the home to come from only the one side not towards the water.
Modern homes and castles do have a lot of similar characteristics
set up for defense. Castles and homes now both had walls set up
around the area, even though castles walls were much larger, walls
and fences around homes today still serve the general purpose of
defense. Along with the walls are the gates. Both castles and homes
have gates to let people in and keep people out. Most homes don t
necessarily have gatehouses, but a few homes may have a code pad, a
scanable card, or even a guard at the gate to let in who is supposed
to be in. Homes don t have archers to protect the owners, but the
security systems can be just as good because they can protect the
home even when no one is there. They just make others aware that
someone is there that shouldn t be there. Another feature that both
castles and modern homes have for defense is natural features.
Castles were built were there were a lot of trees or near water to
keep people away form the castle. Now people also plant trees all
over their property to hide the location of their home. They also
build near water to keep accessibility limited to one side. Castles
had moats to keep accessibility limited to the gatehouse
drawbridges. Another similarity between castles and modern homes is
that castles were built very large. Homes today are constantly
growing in size. They are being spread out over a large area of
land. The architectural design of modern homes is slowly changing
back to the architectural design of castles in the middle ages.
Modern homes have a lot of similar characteristics with castles.
These similar characteristics are mainly set up for defense. This
can be a reflection on our society. We can be slowly changing into a
society that has a defense set up against each other and who
constantly wants more room for themselves. If people continue to
want to spread out and get away from others we will have to try to
change how people feel about it. The population is only growing
larger and there is only so much room for people to live. If people
keep putting up a lot of defenses towards each other in their homes
it is possibly we change back to living in our own type of newer
castles.