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The most common composite form in Inca architecture was the kancha, a rectangular enclosure housing three or more rectangular buildings placed symmetrically around a central courtyard. [11] Kancha units served widely different purposes as they formed the basis of simple dwellings as well as of temples and palaces; furthermore, several kancha ...
Construction took most of a century. This is one of numerous sites where the Spanish incorporated Inca stonework into the structure of a colonial building. Major earthquakes severely damaged the church, but the Inca stone walls, built out of huge, tightly interlocking blocks of stone, still stand due to their sophisticated stone masonry.
Some tambos were not modified in any way and therefore feature an architectural style that is distinctly pre-Inca. [18] However, some of these sites were renovated by the Inca, so some pre-Inca sites do feature some Inca architecture. [18] For the sites built in the Inca period, the architecture styles can be divided into three basic categories.
The stone is a great example of Inca knowledge in the evolution of construction. There are other stones with the same vertices but the twelve-angled stone is the most famous. As an example of the Incas' advanced stonework, the stone is a popular tourist attraction in Cusco and a site of pride for many locals.
It has been suggested [10]: 229 That the origin of kanchas may derive from pre-Inca coastal architecture, especially from the Chimú culture, which flourished between 900 CE and the conquest by the Inca emperor Topa Inca Yupanqui around 1470 [1]: 81–84 or from the Wari culture which developed in the south-central Andes and coastal area of modern-day Peru, from about 500 to 1000 CE.
Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, also called Pachacútec (Quechua: Pachakutiy Inka Yupanki), was the ninth Sapa Inca of the Chiefdom of Cusco, which he transformed into the Inca Empire (Quechua: Tawantinsuyu). Most archaeologists now believe that the famous Inca site of Machu Picchu was built as an estate for Pachacuti. [7]
Some of the masonry is well worked imperial Inca style with big blocks, but most of the ushnus have a rustic style, also known as pirca style, with pirca meaning wall in Quechua. [7]: 72 Different authors define the usnhu in different ways. Morris states «ushnus are stone buildings in the shape of a platform or truncated pyramid». [32]
Adobe walls were usually laid on stone foundations and the roofs were usually made of grass or reeds. These grass or reeds were placed on wooden or sugarcane poles, tied together with ropes, and fixed to stone walls with prominent stone piles. [9] Most Inca buildings are simple and formal. They have similar appearance in design.