Architecturespeaking topic
How did the Incas at Machu Picchu build earthquake-resistant walls without mortar, cutting stones razor-sharp and locking them together?
— Machu Picchu, Inca architecture
practice with this topic
Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.
similar topics
- Why were medieval cathedrals projects that sometimes took 200 years, projects whose builders knew they would never see them finished? What motivated people to commit to that?
- What engineering innovations kept Hagia Sophia's colossal dome standing in the 6th century? Try explaining the pendentive technique.
- Calculating the sail-like shells of the Sydney Opera House was an engineering nightmare that took years. Why was the design worth it anyway?
- Let's talk about the horizontal and vertical lines and pure primary colors of the De Stijl movement and the Rietveld Schröder House.
- Why was the Ottoman Topkapı Palace designed as a sprawling arrangement of courtyards rather than a single grand building?