CULTURAL STUDIES 1

ESSAY TOPIC:
What can contemporary architects and engineers learn from the classical language of
architecture?












CHATZITHEODORIDIS VASILEIOS
Introduction
By the term Classical Architecture we refer to the architecture that started in Greece
during the 5
th
century B.C and it had a huge impact on the evolution of the architecture of
the following centuries. During this period of time, Athens after a victorious naval battle at
Salamis against the Persian fleet, manage to gain the leadership of the Delian League which
was composed by the most powerful Greek city-states of this period. After gaining the
leadership, Athens transferred the Leagues treasury from Delos to Athens. That resulted in
the development of Athens in cultural and political level in such a way that the impact of
this development is still visible on the modern Western civilisation. This period is also known
as the Golden Age of Pericles [pic.1] who was one of the most important statesmen of this
period and it was him who with a series of modifications in every possible level led to this
cultural blast.

Pic. 1. Pericles Funeral Oration


Architecture
This whole cultural development had to be expressed in a monumental way. Pericless
response was to build a temple dedicated to the goddess from which Athens was named
after, known as the Parthenon. Its construction began in 447 BCE and was completed in 438
BCE. Due to the fact that this project was being funded by the leagues treasury, Iktinos and
Kallikratis, the architects of the project, had to design a magnificent temple in order to
enlarge Athenss impact and keep it modest in a way that would it would not attract
negative attention from the rest of the city-states of the league. These qualifications were
met by designing a rectangular shaped structure surrounded by supportive columns in
proportions based on the Golden Section [pic 2] along with some of the most impressive
sculptures that were created by Phidias [pic 3] and with the help of the location of the
building, which was the Acropolis hill. The final result was the construction of one of the
most iconic buildings that influenced the architecture of the Western civilization the last
2500 years.

Pic. 2. The Golden Section in Greek art

Pic 3. Parthenons pediment sculptured by Phidias.


A familiar faade
From the Roman era since the beginning of the Gothic style Parthenons faade was the
most adaptable and familiar shape in the world of Architecture. Even after the discovery of
the arc which was more efficient as a supportive mechanism for big openings, the architects
tended to hide those openings behind classical facades, or even whole, column supported,
structures [pic.4]. The reason for this was not that classical architecture was more efficient,
but it was the ideals that a structure like Parthenon represented.

Pic 4. The Pantheon, Rome

The classical language today
Despite some negative issues that someone can raise about classical buildings, such as the
environmental performance or the required amount of money and time needed in order to
complete a structure like that, classical tradition has still a lot to teach to contemporary
architects. If we look back at the history of architecture we can easily realise that the reason
of the architectural development is based on the perfection of the loadbearing structures of
which base is set on the classical architecture. On the other hand environmental factors led
modern architects to analyse structures of an age that natural lighting and heating could not
be artificially replaced. If we take a look around as today we can easily understand that
modern architecture is based on technologically advanced materials that can be produced in
every possible texture, but we can also see a big variety in textures and style in classical
buildings where the materials where eliminated. One of the most fascinating things that can
be taught by classical language is the art of deceit as we can see on the Parthenons optical
corrections where the optical curve of a long straight line is radically straightened by an
opposite structural curve, a technique that can reinforce the power of a simple shape.
Another important feature of the classical architecture is the way that architects were
dealing with the landscape and the surrounding buildings. Every location of classical
buildings was chosen in a way that the solidity of their shape would be reinforced by the
surrounding elements, which is a useful technique to be used today especially when you
build in a citys landscape. Due to the difficulties in construction of a classical building and
due to the lack of construction industry, architects those days realised that by repeating the
same elements on the facades of their design could reinforce even more the power of a
solid surface and it was cheaper too [pic.5]. Finally, we need to understand that every
classical building that was designed those days was built in a way that would project the
historical and political background of its owner, so it was not just a house or business facility
but it was a statement of what its owner was.

Pic 5 San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice by Andrea Palladio

Conclusion
In order to conclude, architects need to understand that every aspect in development of an
architectural design is based firstly on research on buildings of the past and secondly, on
adapting these designs to the technological means of today. Its extremely useful for an
architect to look back and analyse structures that were not based on the technology of
today and managed to deal perfectly with the everyday needs of the their purpose. The
result of that research combined with the knowledge on contemporary technology and
materials are an undisputed recipe for the best possible development of todays
architecture. For example when the architecture community realised that we need more
energy efficient buildings they looked back and they copied the main principles of
bioclimatic architecture that were already used in structures of the previous centuries,
principles such as orientation of a structure, orientation of the openings and materiality.