INTRODUCTION   Court of the Kings, Monastery of El Escorial, Madrid. Iberian Peninsula has always been the habitat for a great number of civilizations. Archaeological Researchs in Atapuerca (Burgos) and many others have proved that these places were the shelter for development and progress of the first european primates.   Then, these "iberian" human beings constructed spaces to live and share with their relatives and divinities. Every activity had its place: society, family, trade, shelter, Gods... and each one should be different from the other. People had to built for living.   Necessity of limiting, protecting, covering spaces, and doing it in a beautiful way, provoked that Architecture were a main artistic expression. It will indeed condition the others: painting, sculpture, pottery...   We can set a model for basic representation in order to understand architectural design if we adapt a dihedral system to shape of buildings: The plan, or zenith view of several levels of a building, is the consequence of making a horizontal section at the appropriate height -or a view in the case of the cover-. The elevations are graphical representations of lateral views. The section, result of a vertical cut done at a significant part of the building. Plan Elevations Section Graphic representation of the views of plan, elevation and section Press to enlarge.

These are the elements that make us understand the design and current situation of our great masterworks: the buildings in our country.   Many civilizations have lived on these lands naming them in different ways, developping different cultures and leaving a very important artistic treasure. Architecture is one of the most clear evidences of these different artistic manifestations and Iberian Peninsula shows important samples that we try to expose from these pages.   He have made a basic scheme in order to explain and develop "A History of Spanish Architecture":   PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE? PROTOHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE ROMAN ARCHITECTURE PREROMANIC ARCHITECTURE. ROMANIC ARCHITECTURE MUDEJAR ARCHITECTURE CISTERCIENSE ARCHITECTURE GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE MODERNIST ARCHITECTURE CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE