Incan Architecture

The essence of Inca architecture cannot be distilled into a single word. Three themes demand recognition: precision, functionality, and austerity. The Inca stonefitters worked stone with a precision unparalleled in human history; their architects clearly esteemed functionality above decoration; yet their constructions achieved breathtaking beauty through austerity of line and juxtaposition of masses. The Inca people seem to have presaged Mies Van der Rohe's philosophy of "less is more".

The dominant form in Inca architecture is a simple, but elegantly proportioned trapezoid just like the other pyramids from the Maya and Aztec. It serves the dual ends of functionality and severely restrained decoration. Trapezoidal doorways, windows, and wall niches are found in Inca constructions of all types, from the most finely wrought temples to crudely built walls in unimportant buildings. The doorways and windows are obviously functional, and the niches probably served a variety of functions as yet unidentified by the archeologists. Placement of these trapezoidal openings was primarily functional, but occasionally, esthetic arrangements might dominate the placement of the trapezoids, if there was no conflict with functionality.