Aztec architecture
[4] As Manuel Aguilar-Moreno writes, "Aztec architecture was heavily influenced by the Toltec of Colhuacan, the Tepanec of Azcapotzalco, and the Acolhua of Tetzcoco".
[3] Research into the significance of building alignment in Aztec culture has shown that the dates of sunrises and sunsets along architectural orientation exhibit a pattern of separated intervals that are largely multiples of 13 and 20 days.
It has also been discovered that the dates that occur most frequently in these orientations align with important days in the ritual agricultural cycle of the Aztecs.
[7] Some of the most well-known architecture of the Aztec Empire was located in the capital city Tenochtitlan, which was destroyed after the Spanish conquest in the 16th century.
[3] Other key stylistic traits include the use of "bas-reliefs, walls, plazas, and platforms as media to represent their gods and ideals," according to Manuel Aguilar-Moreno.
[10] Each cardinal direction was represented by a color and ruled by a religious figure, details which were incorporated into Aztec architecture on many occasions.
[14] "Most commonly, the term [tecpan] meant the home of a hereditary lord, and it also took on associated meanings, such as seat of government, place of riches and art, and idyllic retreat amidst scenery and diversions".
The focal point of these structures was a large courtyard near the entrance of the building, surrounded by suites that served various purposes.
[16] The mansions of wealthy nobles were used solely as residences, and were constructed in accordance with Aztec sumptuary laws.
[18] According to Gary Feinman, Mesoamerican temples were typically rectangular structures with one entrance, located on one of its long sides.
The Aztecs built causeways and chinampas in Tenochtitlan due to its location in the Mexico City basin.
The agricultural innovation of the chinampa was a completely unique structure that used small squares of fertile ground that floated on the water as one of the first historical examples of irrigation techniques as well.
Typically, when Aztecs resided in a new settlement construction of a shrine to Huizilopochtli and a ball court directly next to it was among the first things built.
[3] Due to the fact that largest major cities such as Tenochtitlan were built upon small islands with marsh-like terrain, these settlements only had so much clean drinking water.
A. Joyce writes that "[t]he physical geography of Central America was favorable to the rise of the art of building in stone.
[23] Instead of demolishing old temples and building a new one at the same site, the Aztecs sometimes built over the existing structures, which resulted in larger and more detailed pyramids.
In Tenochtitlan, the layout of the city represented the birth of Huitzilopochtli,[24] the Aztec god of the sun and war.
