Prehistoric Architecture and Interiors

 Prehistoric Architecture and Interiors 


During the prehistoric time interior design and Architecture was based on survival and the materials they had around them. During this time many homes and dwellings were made out of simple and organic materials such as, rocks, mud, and stone. 


In the picture above is a mud and thatch house that was commonly used in the prehistoric ages. This house was made by gathering hatch or straw and hay and binding them together to create a roof that would sit on dried mud walls. 

Another type of architecture found from the prehistoric ages was the Lascaux Caves located in southwestern France. These caves were a combination of caves that formed a village from 17,000 BCE. The interior of these caves showed evidence of human life such as carved figures and hand paintings on the walls of the caves. 

Lascaux Caves


During the Neolithic age, a new city developed called the Catal Huyuk located in southern Anatolia, Turkey. This specific city development is special to interior history because the inside of the houses and dwellings were farm more advanced than any other development during this time. Each house discovered had its own pluming system that desposed waste into the ocean, similar to modern day pluming. 


Pictured above is how one of the Catal Huyuk house interiors would have looked like. The built-in shelves on the wall and figures hung on the wall can be related to the different characteristics we have in our homes and buildings today. The interior design elements we use today such as decoration and room organization can be found in early civilizations like here in Catal Huyuk.

Current Applications:


The house pictured above is a house located in Alwar, India that takes a modern approach to the mud and thatch houses during the prehistoric ages. Even though the exterior walls are not mud the materials used are more organic and can resemble mud. The structure of the house is more developed than what is seen in the prehistoric ages however, the house still uses the characteristics of a mud and thatch house such as the roof and the organic materials. 


The interior space pictured to the left is a house designed by Javier Senosiain. This house is supposed to mimic the space of a cave but takes a lighter and more modern approach. This house can be related to the Lascaux Caves. and the organic shape and nature of the caves and how the people had to live in the caves. 




The house pictured to the left is another modern take on the Lascaux caves. This house is located in Switzerland and uses a cave-like structure much like the early dwelling we saw in prehistoric times. The house not only is located inside a mountain but the exterior showing uses natural stones and rocks that match the terrain of the surrounding area. This house relates back to the prehistoric towns because they use organic material that is found around the area to make the house better blend in with nature. 

One Step Further: 


Javier Sensiaian is a Mexican architect who is known to create organic and natural-style houses with interiors that match the exterior of the building. One of Sensiain's projects was named Casa Organica. The way Sensiain designed was extremely organic following the cave-like forms the people in the prehistoric age lived in. Sensiain was mission in his design was to focus "with man's habitable space in its relationship with nature"(casaorganica.com). I find this mission statement interesting because during prehistoric times they depended on nature for their materials and most of the time the form of their house, therefore, Sensiain's approach to design compares to the design of houses and dwelling places in prehistoric times. 




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