ANALOGY IN ARCHITECTURE

PROF. DR. ALY RAAFAT
Professor and Previous Head of the Department of Architecture – Cairo
University
Architecture Nile Award Winner
The artist captures a natural phenomenon and expresses its
variations in circumstances of his imagination past, present and
future. In geography he finds these phenomenon’s in deserts, mountains,
and greeneries and oceans.
Architecture as all arts started with analogy as its source of inspiration of
form. The cave as the first human dwelling was the first source of analogy
in his first created one. The tree trunk leaves and animal skin replaced the
cave when man went down the mountain to live and cultivate valleys.
Pharos built pyramids to imitate mountain where they don’t exist around
Menf. In classic periods builders piled up conical fluted stone drums to
create uprising trees with analogy of flowing capitals. They imitate for their
decorations, egg and tongue, dentals and aquanauts leaves. They even used
women caryatids the replace tree trunks in carrying roofs.