Ancient Greece
A Step Back In Time
Architecture
Art, method and style of
building.
Inception
- Relationship Between Ideal, City and Mathematics Greece was the first
Major civilization
- Mathematics is the Science of Ideal Forms developed in Europe and
its Architecture has the
Ideal – Some kind of Perfection that Does not Exist, e.g. point, essential influence on the
origin of European
Line, etc. It has two Aspects: Architecture.
- Logical Aspect
Bannister
- Metaphysical Aspect ( e.g. Platonic Bed, The Republic) Fletchers
Greek Architecture
- Major Influence is of Mathematics Greeks Developed
- Major Thinkers comprises of Pythagoras, Mathematics to set up a
kind of Scientific Inquiry
Euclidean and Plato in Nature of the Universe
(to prove a point) and to
Source for Greek Mathematics move science further.
- Egypt (Financial transaction) and Babylon (Astronomical Science)
“Abstract Principles from
- Whole Universe is Ordered by Mathematics Logical Observations”
- Mathematical Harmony in whole Universe e.g. Optical Corrections
Rudolf Wittkower
e.g. Pythagoras Observed relationship b/w Mathematical distance
in length & harmony in musical note, etc.
Greek Orders
Columns?
A column was a huge stick that held the roof up.
The first columns were made of wood.
The Greeks ran out of wood.
They had a lot of rock, so they used rock instead of
wood.
Schools of Architecture
There were three schools of Grecian architecture.
Doric
Ionic
Corinthian
Origins
Our word
“architecture”
comes from the
Greek architecton,
which means
“master carpenter.”
Early Greek
architecture
therefore employed
wood, not stone.
These early
structures, as well as
those of mud-brick,
have not survived.
Wood Features in Stone
By the 6th Century
BC, stone
replaced wood in
the construction
of important
temples.
Designs still
reflected their
origins in wood,
however.
Temple Forms
Greek temples, like
Egyptian ones,
tended to follow
set patterns, which
were regarded as
ideal forms.
Variations are few
in any given
period, tending to
reflect the choice
of a particular
classical order,
rather than new
Origins
The trigyph, which alternates with the
metapes, began as wooden beam
ends.
The Doric Order
Doric columns are
the heaviest in
appearance
The capital is plain.
The shaft is thick –
though it loses
some of its mass
over time.
There is no base.
Doric Columns
The top of the
columns are a
square block.
Under the block is
a rounded piece.
The columns are
thick.
The base is a
square block.
Doric
This drawing shows
how the Doric column
was used.
The columns hold up
the roof.
The roof line was very
fancy.
The top of the column
is called the capital.
The capitals were very large.
Doric Columns in the
Parthenon
Doric Columns Today
The Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C.
The Ionic Order
These have
greater elegance.
The capital has
distinctive volutes.
The shaft is thinner
than its Doric
equivalent.
A base is
apparent.
Ionic
Ionic Columns
The Ionic Column
was invented next.
The Ionic capital
looks like a scroll.
The Ionic column is
skinnier.
The base has a
rounded and a
square section.
Ionic
This is a drawing of an
Ionic column.
Notice the capital is
shaped like a scroll.
Notice the column is
skinnier.
This base is square.
Many times the bases
were fancier.
Ionic
This drawing shows
how the Ionic column
was used.
The columns hold up
the roof.
The roof line was very
fancy.
The capital looks like a
scroll.
The base is layered.
Ionic Column in Athena’s
Temple
Ionic Columns Today
Salem City Hall
The Corinthian Order
This is also a tall,
elegant form.
The capital has
distinctive
acanthus leaf
decoration.
A base is also
employed.
Corinthian
Corinthian Columns
Corinthian columns
were the most
decorative.
The capitals were
carved to look like
leaves.
The columns were
the thinnest.
Corinthian Columns
This is a drawing of a
Corinthian column.
Notice the capital
looks like leaves and
flowers.
The column is the
thinnest of all.
The base is the
fanciest of all.
Corinthian
This drawing shows
how the column was
used.
The column holds up
the roof.
The roof line had lots
of parts, but not so
much carving.
The capital is very
fancy and so is the
base.
Corinthian Columns in Zeus’
Temple
Corinthian Columns in the
Olympeian
Corinthian Columns Today
Hall of Columns in the
Capital Building
Corinthian Columns Today
United States Supreme
Court Building
The Three Schools of Grecian
Architecture
UVA Uses All Three Columns
Thomas Jefferson used Doric, Ionic and
Corinthian columns to teach Grecian
architecture.
Designs of Greek Temples
Grander temples,
like the Parthenon,
had both a front
and back porch,
as well as a
colonnade
surrounding the
entire structure.
Reconstruction of the Parthenon
in Nashville. This is called a
peripteral temple.
Designs of Greek Temples
Important Structures – The
Acropolis
The most famous
Greek buildings
topped the
Athenian
Acropolis.
These include: the
Propylaea, the
Temple of Athena
Nike, the
Parthenon, and
the Erectheum.
The Erechtheum
This is a complex
building of up to
four distinct
spaces.
It is also built on a
slope, so its walls
are of differing
heights.
It is dedicated to
Athena Polias and
Poseidon
The Erechtheum
The most distinctive element of this
building is the Porch of the Maidens.
