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.