GREEK

PREHISTORIC MESOPOTAMIAN EGYPTIAN ROMAN EARLY CHRISTIAN BYZANTINE ROMANESQUE GOTHIC RENAISSANCE MODERN POST-MODERN
AEGEAN HELLENIC HELLENISTIC
Characteristics Caves Monumental temples Belief in afterlife and eternity Perfected proportions, optical corrections (entasis) for visual perfection, humanism Emphasis on public buildings Construction and decoration Focus on church construction Governed by classical traditions Style Ogivale Rebirth of classical art and learning Brought about by the Industrial Age Renewed appreciation for tradition
influenced by Romans
Temporary and permanent shelters Monumental, permanent Rough and massive Mostly religious architecture Civic architecture Monumental and utilitarian Heavy articulated masonry Cathedral, main building type Use of classical orders and proportionFunctional architecture Pluralism
Megalithic structures Axial planning Complex engineering and Mostly church construction, Emphasis on horizontality Heightening and lightening of Emphasis on horizontality Styles have no historical references Use of color, patterns,
construction skills patterned after the Roman basilica structures
Advanced engineering skills New man-made materials and ornaments
Focus on religious structures Emphasis on verticality Skyscrapers Sensitive to context and setting
Structural system/feature Trabeation Arcuated Trabeation Trabeation Concrete, arch, vault, dome Vault or dome Dome Round arches Pointed arch Reinforce concrete
Corbelled Barrel and cross vault Flying buttress Steel framing system
Buttress piers Ribbed vault Curtain wall
Materials Dependent on region Clay and soil (mud bricks) Softstone (limestone, sandstone, Timber, stone, terracotta Concrete Ruins from old Roman temples Masonry Masonry Masonry Dressed masonry blocks Reinforced concrete
alabaster)
Locally abundant Stone and timber Limestone and marble Marble Timber roof Cast iron
Hardstone (ganite, quartite, basalt) Granite Steel
Glass
Distinct features/ornaments/styles Designed in response to lifestyle, Sumerians: mud-brick Column capitals (lotus, papyrus, palmCapitals: abacus, echinus Carpentry in marble, sculptures Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian Orders Round arch Rectangular plan Centralized plan (circular or polygonalLatin-cross plan Pointed arch Rusticated masonry International Style Brutalism
local materials, and climate
Babylonians: mud-brick with glazed Battered walls Cyclopean walls Greek Orders Mouldings Tunnel and cross vault Mosaics Dosseret block Transepts Stained glass Clean and simple silhouettes Art Deco High Tech
Megalith structures imitated nature, tiles Pictographs Corbelled arch Colors Dome Churches built over the burial place Pendentives Narrow openings Tracery Pagan or classical mythological subje Art Nouveau Deconstructivism
resembled mountains of a saint
Assyrians: mud-brick with stone Hieroglyphs Murals Tuscan and Composite Orders Round arches Round arches Pinnacles and spires Sgraffito Bauhaus Green Architecture
Persians: mixed influences Elaborate frescoes and mosaics Barrel vault Rose windows Flat roofs Organic Architecture
Towers Triforium and clerestory Orientation of façade/altar became of De Stijl
less significance
Sparse ornaments Lady chapel Constructivism
Expressionism
Orientation (Religious structures) Faces towards cardinal points (Ziggurat) Corners toward (Pyramids) Sides facing cardinal (Temples) Facade faced east (Temples) Façade faced forum (Churches) Facade faced east (Churches) Façade faced west (Churches, cathedrals) Façade faced (Churches, cathedrals) Façade faced East (St. Peter's Basilica)
points west west
cardinal points West (Florence Cathedral)
Examples Caves and prehistoric dwellings Palaces Mastaba Megaron (house) Parthenon Agora Forum Basilican church Hagia Sophia Pisa Cathedral Amiens Cathedral Riccardi Palace Villa Savoye AT&T Building
Menhir Temples Cult and mortuary temples Palace of King Minos Theatron Theatrum Baptistery St. Basil's Cathedral
Dolmen Ziggurat Pyramids Tholos of Atreus (tomb) Stoa Thermae Basilica di San Clemente
Cromlech Ziggurat of Ur Lion's Gate Prytaneion Curia
Tumulus Bouleuterion Cloaca Maxima
Odeion Pons
Stadion Temples
Hippodrome Circus
Luxor Temple Palaestra Amphitheater
Gymnasion Gymnasium
Stoa of Attalos Basilica
Aqueduct
Triumphal Arch
Domus, insulae, villa
Colosseum
Ishtar Gate Abu-Simbel

Giza