The architecture of Tikal is characterized by a predominance of mass over space. For pyramid-temples as for palaces, the rooms are reduced to narrow rectangular spaces closed by walls 2 to 3 times wider than the space and generally have no other type of opening than a central doorway in one of its longer walls or in both when the room communicates with another in front or behind (fig 4). In their organization, the rooms are like huts aligned one behind the other and/or side by side to form a single linear and usually symetrical mass of rectangular, square, "L" or "I" shape divided on the exterior by insets (fig. 5).

Tikal's architecture is impressive but, at the structural level, it can be reduced to a multiplication and accentuation of the basic forms (see domestic architecture). But there are exceptional breaches in some organizational principles. It is the case of centrality for the pyramid-temples (figs. 6a, b) that have for exceptions the forward projection of the stairway and the backward position of the roof crest that create a general backward decentration of the building. Considering the extreme verticality of this type of building (the predominance of height over width), decentration was necessary for these components to be functional; so the stairway would be possible to climb (at an angle of 60 degrees instead of 70) and so the roof crest wouldn't crush the arches (by resting on the back wall). It would thus seem that decentration is a structural compromise in favor of an extreme verticality.

Fig. 4: Palace interior, Central Acropolis.

Fig. 5: Temple exterior, North Acropolis.

The sculpture is concentrated on the roof crest. The emphasis is thus on the verticality of the building. The sculptures generally represent royal characters and sacred elements. As elsewhere in the Maya Lowlands, the components of the building bearing sculpture were probably painted red. Also, the system of insets of the platforms seems to mark the importance of this componant like Temple I in which case the nine levels of its platform represent the domains of the underworld. In fact, the reason why this temple is also called the Temple of the Great Jaguar is because of the jaguar sculpture inside representing the lord of the underworld.

Fig. 6a: Temple I at the end of the 19th century, before restoration. (Miller 1986)

Fig. 6b: Temple I in 2001, after restoration.