GREEK ARCHITECTURE

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

G OG GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND C C G OU
Much of Greece is mountainous and

rocky terrain with soil that is not fertile as such it is not an agricultural country. Only about one-fifth of the land is su tab e o ab tat o a d a suitable for habitation and farming, g, Because of this, Greece did not develop as early Egypt. ea y gyp

 Greeks have lots of beaches and lots of small islands so most of the people live along the coast or along rivers and coast, harbors Th make th i li i f They k their living from th sea as the fishermen and traders and believed in the God f th G d of the sea to protect them. t t t th Many temples were built and these mark their believe in many Gods.

 Greece is also the home of Philosophers like Socrates and Plato and the design of the Theatre marks their love for the arts arts, music and literature.

Socrates Plato

EGYPT, GREEK AND ROMAN CIVILISATIONS

CIVILISATION

ROMAN CIVILISATION

The Greek civilization can be classified as:

6000-2900BC 2900-2500BC 2500-1500BC 1500-1100BC 1100-800BC Neolithic Period Early Bronze Age Minoan Age Mycenaean Age Dorian Age (The Greek Dark Ages) D kA ) Archaic Period Classical Period Hellenistic Period

800-500BC 500 323BC 500-323BC 323-31BC

ARCHITECTURAL BACKGROUND Greek architecture were recognised at about 450 BC from the Classical Period Period. It then progressed into the Hellenistic Style of architecture and arts when most f hit t d t h t progress were made in arts of sculpture, painting, music, philosophy and lit t i ti i hil h d literature. This supreme architectural achievement has been a great influence worldwide even until now.

GREEK ORDERS/SYSTEM The Greeks had invented sets of orders that determine all aspects of the elevation the shape, the disposition and the proportion of their buildings. There are 3 Greek Orders: (1) Doric Order (2) Ionic Order (3) Corinthian Order

All three stands on top of the Stylobate but Doric Order has no Base The Shaft (column) is topped by a Capital Each Each Order has different designs of the Capital

The shaft supports the Entablature that is divided into Three parts a) Architrave b) Frieze c) cornice Different designs of the Capital and Entablature

COMPARATIVE (GREEK ORDERS)

Doric

Ionic

Corinthian

Has no base Usually has 20 flutes Its height 4 to 6 times the di th diameter of column t f l The Doric style is rather sturdy, masculine, strong & solid g its capital is plain. This style was used in mainland Greece and the colonies in southern Italy and Sicily.

Stands on a base Has 24 flutes Its height 10 times the diameter of column base The Ionic style is slender, elegant and feminine. Its capital is decorated Its with a spiral scroll-like design (a volute). This style was found in eastern Greece and the t G d th islands.

Stands on a base Has 24 flutes Taller than the Ionic Order with larger capital Its capital is very elaborate and decorated with acanthus leaves. The Corinthian style is seldom used in the Greek world, but often seen on Roman temples temples.

SIMILARITY (GREEK ORDERS)

Doric

Ionic

Corinthian

The shaft supports the Entablature. The Entablature is divided into Three parts Architrave Frieze cornice

With these 3 orders the architects could orders, be far more flexible in their designs of buildings than the Egyptians because: Egyptians, There was more than one set of proportion of vertical and horizontal (Doric shaft height is 4 to 6X of the , g base, ionic shaft height is 10X of the base) 3 sets of entablature (architrave, frieze ( , and cornice) and; 3 designs of capitals g p

The Parthenon, Athens (448 - 432 BC)

Cornice Entablature

Frieze Architrave

Capital Column Shaft (with flutes)

Example of DORIC ORDER: Temple of Hera 1, 530 BC, Paestum.

Example of: IONIC p ORDER: Temple of Athena Polias, Priene.

Example of CORINTHIAN ORDER Temple of Z f Zeus Olympius, Athens, 170 BC BC.

Athens

At the centre of Athens. The Acropolis

THE ACROPOLIS II THE AGE OF PERICLES

Acropolis means 'high city'. It is a fortified citadel built on top of a massive limestone hill, 200ft (approx (appro 70m) abo e the cit of above city Athens, Greece. 300 meters long and 150 meters wide. It was the landmark and node of the city. Acropolis was built to house the altar f th G dd lt for the Goddess Ath Athena. After the Persian withdrawal, Pericles intended it to replace the p ( ), old temple (447 BC), to house the old image and to unite the complex in an organized buildings, several shrines and places of religious g significance.

 The Acropolis contains world's most famous structures built in the classical architectural style. There structures were FOUR important buildings: (a) PROPYLAEA (437-432 BC) (b) PARTHENON TEMPLE (438 BC) (c) ATHENA NIKE TEMPLE (421 BC) (d) ERECHTHEUM (421-406 BC) (421 406

(a) PROPYLAEA ( 437- 432 BC )

It was the monumental th t l and ceremonial gateway access of the Acropolis d i A li designed b d by the architect Mnesicles. It comprises a central building and two lateral wings. Interesting feature: It has the Doric Order externally and the Ionic Order within.

 The north wing was the refreshment station for pilgrims with the dining are fully decorated paintings. The south wing was a small chamber that gave access to the Nike temple. The Propylaea opens py p its arms to the pilgrims from the west.

(b) PARTHENON ( 447 437 BC )

The Parthenon means Perfection in form. is the largest of the 4 buildings g g It measures 228 ft by 104 ft and column height of 34 ft Designed by lctinus and Callicrates and the sculptor Phidias. It was the first great temple g p constructed of marble and limestone It was a temple of the Doric order p with 17 columns along its length and is octastyle 8 columns along its width. Th old P th The ld Parthenon was h hexastyle t l (6 columns)

Ionic columns at the rear chamber

 There was a room inside, in which stood the statue of Athena Athena. Along the top of the Parthenon wall, a sculptured frieze more than 160m long and 1m high, showed the great procession that high every year took place at the Parthenon. The Parthenon was a simple building designed to be seen from a distance by the people in the city below.

For the reason that the Parthenon was built to be viewed from afar, architects had to made some changes g so that the building is seen in perfect form and not distorted. This is because they discovered that straight lines in certain circumstances may look curved from the city below. therefore The architect therefore, re-curved the lines in the opposite direction to make them look straight. This is called an Optical lllusion

 The columns and walls were not precisely p y perpendicular to each other but slanted slightly inwards. No two columns were put 100% parallel to each other. Th Those columns at the l t th corner were also thicker and set closer to another column that the column in the middle. This is because the corner columns seen against the sky light look thinner than the columns of the same size.

(c) ATHENA NIKE TEMPLE ( 421 BC )

It was the first altar to Goddess Athena Athena. It was built of Ionic Order. The front and rear has 4 (tetrastyle) ionic orders with a sculptured frieze around the top top. The temple is 18 ft 6 inch wide and 27 ft long. The Architect was Callicrates.

(d) ERECHTHEUM ( 421 - 406 BC )

It is of the Ionic Order. Dedicated to the Gods Athena and Erechtheus Erechtheus. It was built by the architect Mnesicles. The only temple that is not rectangular. The columns on the porch that were decorated with six figures of maiden was called the Caryatid Porch. The Erechtheum was less than half the size of the Parthenon and was sited on the low ground where it could not compete. ld

Building Types
( ) (1) Residential Domus (City dwelling 2 storey units) ( ) (2) Religious Buildings g g Temple ( ) (3) Public Buildings g Agora Stoa Theatre

DOMUS - The Greek House

The houses in Athens were indistinguishable as it were windowless, opening internally into a courtyard. They reflected the general Mediterranean tendency to build around an open courtyard, set near the center of an area defined by an outer walls courtyard of simple rectangular shape.

 A house with a courtyard ( p to the y (open sky) was the general plan. Usually built of mud bricks on top of a small row of stones, and covered in plaster Usually consisted of 4-6 rooms The entrance from the street led directly to the courtyard while the other rooms opened into the courtyard.

The most richly decorated room in the house was the andron - men's room. Couches were arranged around the sides of the room where they would eat and were entertained. The remaining rooms on the ground floor were for storage.

GREEK TEMPLES
Greek life was dominated by y religion (believing many Gods) and so it is not surprising that the p temples of ancient Greece were the biggest and most beautiful. Its purpose: political, celebrate civic power and pride The temple was a shrine built only to house the statue of their God or Goddess Goddess.

Temple of Athena

Temple of Hera

THE GREEK TEMPLE For the Greeks, the ideal temple was one room one storey building or hut, walled with sun-dried bricks with a rectangular floor plan. The rectangular p p g proportion system was y established with the ratio of the width to g length about 4 to 9 (4:9) or 1:2.25

The Parthenon, Athens (448 - 432 BC)

Public Buildings
Agora Stoa Theatre

AGORA
A combination of market place and civic bi i f k l d i i centre. an public open space that would serve as the multipurpose gathering place of the citizens. In Agora they held public speeches citizen Agora, speeches, assembly for social and commercial setting.

Plan of Athenian Agora

Plan of Athenian Agora Hellenistic Period

STOA
The stoa d fi Th t defines Agora served as a viewing p platform to enjoy the j y Agora. It was a freestanding portico serve a numbers of functions example shelter, galleries, shopping arcades etc. etc Most stoa were 2 storey buildings. p It has shops on one side and colonnades on the other sides.

THEATER Greek drama was closely related to the religion and some of the performances were ritual in honour to DIONYSUS the DIONYSUS, wine god. There are no roof at the theatre but open form of auditorium which can fit the landscape and seat about 15000 audiences. E Example Th Th t of E id l The Theatre f Epidaurous (Greece), 300 BC built by architect Polycleitos. P l l it

Theater of Epidaurus (350 BC)

The plan of the theatre consisted of three major elements: (a) The Auditorium (Seatings) shaped like a horse shoe, which always made use of the natural hillside for support. (b) The Proscenium (Stage) usually located the bottom part of the hillside for the performance. (c) The Circular Platform (Orchestra) was for the orchestra or dance hall.

GREEK ARCHITECTURE: KEY CONCEPTS

P Post and beam (column + lintel) construction. db ( l li l) i Structurally articulate / skeletal. Three dimensionality Buildings and art as Three-dimensionality. free-standing, fully-three-dimensional objects (sculpture) rather than as surface. The Three architectural orders Clear development of base, middle and top.

CONSTRUCTION METHODS
The Greeks laid their masonry without mortar y but with joints of metal pins. simple column and lintel were used exclusively The size of a room was limited by the length of material (wood or stone) used for the lintel. lintel Walls were kept to a minimum preferring s e eta a s ade skeletal walls made up o co u s t at a o s of columns that allows sunlight in.

ARCHITECTURAL MATERIALS
Mud-brick stone and wood were used in Mud brick, the 7th century. Marble and limestone were used extensively in the 5th century. R fi i th 6th century was terra cotta Roofing in the t t tt (baked tile)

Ancient Greek Architecture and How We Use It in Design! dH W U

The Lincoln Memorial

Ancient Greek Temple

The Lincoln Memorials architecture was based on the architecture of ancient Greek temples.

Ancient Greek Stadiums inspire Modern Day Stadiums

Ancient Greek Stadium

Beijing Olympic Stadium j y p

The White House We got ideas for the White House from the Ancient Greek columns.

British Museum, London (1847)

THE END