Architecture
Byzantium
followed
in the footsteps of Graeco-Roman antiquity as far as the sciences were
concerned. Contrary to popular belief, the Byzantines were responsible for
numerous technological innovations, particularly in architecture and naval
architecture.
One unanswered question in the former field concerns
whether architects were the creators and supervisors of project implementation
or merely master craftsmen.
We do know that in late antiquity special
schools
attended
by students of architecture operated in Constantinople
and other imperial cities,
but specialized study appears to
have disappeared by the 6th century.
Architects in middle and late Byzantium were not specially trained in
academies. Instead, responsibility for designing and overseeing major building
projects fell to civil servants, graduates of schools in Constantinople
that offered instruction in arithmetic, geometry and practical subjects. They
would also consult books on the construction of siege engines, walls, harbours
and other types of building.
Unfortunately no Byzantine architecture handbook has
come down to us, but there can be no doubt that plans were drawn up, and quite
detailed ones at that. Textual references also tell us that architectural
models or mock-ups were made of wax, wood, or stone, though few have survived.
Architects in Byzantine times did not try to outdo
their peers through their work. Yet their art did not stagnate, as can be seen
in the evolution of architectural types and in the particular use of materials to
improve stability, durability and aesthetics.
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