DORIC REFINEMENTS 1.

Refinements or niceties are tricks used by architects to affect our perception of a building and to make it more attractive. 2. It is generally accepted that the high point of Greek architecture in the perfection of the Doric Order is in the Athenian buildings of the mid-5th century BC., especially in the Parthenon. 3. Here there was a combination of the climax of the use of rules of procedure and proportion and a remarkably high standard of workmanship. 4. We know that Iktinos, one of the two Parthenon architects wrote a book on the building and the measurements considered to be perfect would have been known to the Greeks. 5. But not everything could be a question of a mathematical formula. Each temple was different and each site created its own challenges. 6. Early variations can be put down to trial and error (the Temple of Apollo at Syracuse where there is a variation of up to a foot in the diameter of the columns), but even later on variations were incorporated for visual effect. Though in the Parthenon the errors in the layout of the building total one quarter of an inch. Often it seems to have been a way of avoiding monotony or was simply unavoidable. 7. Although at first glance a Greek temple looks to be made up of geometric shapes, in fact this is not so. From early on lines were deliberately curved out of true. 8. Among the earliest of these distortions is the refinement called "entasis" which involved building in a convex curve into the column shaft. This is a corrective device to an optical illusion in a straight-tapered column whereby it appears to be skinnier in the middle than at top and base. It also gave the column "vitality and elasticity" (Lawrence) and causes the eye to travel up and down the shaft rather than just upward. 9. Tapering varied a lot also. Early buildings probably used it in an echo of the tree trunks originally used as columns. Its main effect is to increase apparent height. It also reduces the effect of strain which a straight shaft

gives. 10. Another refinement is the fact that columns tended to slope slightly inwards which in conjunction with the other refinements gives almost a pyramidal effect, one of "repose and power"(Lawrence). 11. We do not know exactly how the Greeks measured entasis, the column curve, but in the Ionic Temple of Apollo at Didyma in Turkey exist drawings on the wall which appear to be a sort of pattern for the carving of the columns. 12. Some columns have a very obvious entasis but at its most successful (eg. the Parthenon) it is barely noticeable at a glance. The Temple of Poseidon at Sounioun has no entasis at all. 13. Refinements were expensive and were made possible to such a degree in Athens by the enormous tribute money extracted from Athens's allies. The extensive use of marble also had more potential for refinements. It could show more delicate carving and its surface was more lively compared with stone which is duller and more matte. 14. Also marble was stronger and using it architects could make slighter columns. They could also achieve greater definition with sharper angles and more polished surfaces. Lawrence calls the effect both "smooth... and crisp...with brilliant highlights and shadows". 15. In the 5th century BC. there was much discussion of perspective, the idea that you can make something look perfect by visual tricks, or optical correction. 16. Basically the Parthenon has no straight lines. The Parthenon Refinements: A. There is a convex curve at the base of the building of a total of 4" and also an inward slant so that the floor is slightly domed. B. All columns slant inwards by about 3" (they would meet if they were a mile high). C. The corner columns are on a diagonal slant and they are a few inches thicker than the rest.

D. The entablature of the building also carries the curve. E. The abacus faces lean outwards slightly. F. Even the fluting has a refinement, it is deeper towards the top of the shaft. NOTE THE HUGELY COMPLICATED NATURE OF THE WORK CREATED BY THESE REFINEMENTS, EG. PLACING A SLANTING COLUMN ON A CURVED STYLOBATE. RUSKIN: "THE EYE IS MOST INFLUENCED BY WHAT IT DETECTS LEAST".