LECTURE 5,6

GREEK ARCHITECTURE

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 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
LOCATION
• Most Greeks therefore lived along the coastline or on islands where the soil was good
for farming
• Geology: Marbles, Stones (exactness of lines, refined details and smooth finishes)
• Climate: Moderate, pleasant.
• 90% people live outdoor.
 ARCHITECTURE OF CIVILIZATION
THE ORDERS - INTRODUCTION
• Composed of a base, an upright column or
support with its capital, and the horizontal
entablature.
• Greeks are credited with originating the three
orders of the classical language of architecture,
Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.
 ARCHITECTURE OF CIVILIZATION
THE ORDERS – DORIC ORDER
• The Doric order is made up of three elements; stylobate,
Column and entablature
• The stylobate is a podium raised three steps on which the
temple sits
• The Doric column is further divided into the shaft and a
square capital
• It had a height of between 5 and 6 times its diameter.
• The shaft is usually divided into 20 shallow flutes.
• The entablature is divided into an architrave, a frieze and
the cornice.
• The Doric column represents the proportions of a man’s
body, its strength and beauty.
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on
the capitals of the columns
Frieze is a broad horizontal band of sculpted or
painted decoration, Cornice is generally any horizontal decorative
molding that crowns a building or furniture
element
 ARCHITECTURE OF CIVILIZATION
DORIC ORDER – IONIC ORDER
• The ionic column including the capital and base had a height of 9 to
10 times its diameter
• It had 24 flutes, which is more than that of the Doric column.
• The flutes were rounded at the top and bottom.
• The Ionic order had a capital developed from a pair of volute about
two-thirds the diameter of the column in height
• Ornaments are used to decorate the area between
the capital and the volute
• The Ionic column has a base
• The Ionic column is said to represent the shape of a
women.
 ARCHITECTURE OF CIVILIZATION
THE ORDER – CORINTHIAN ORDER
• The Corinthian order takes its name from the city of Corinth in Greece
• The core of the capital is shaped like an inverted bell.
• The bell-like capital is decorated with rows of carved acanthus leaves
• Corinthian capital unlike the ionic capital is designed to be seen from all directions
• The Corinthian column, the most beautifully ornate of the three orders represents the
figure of a maiden .
 ARCHITECTURE OF CIVILIZATION
THE ORDERS – COLUMN CONSTRUCTION
• Each column was made up of several drums of marble
• The stones were assembled and put together in their rough form
• The capital was also carved out
• After they were put together, the
grooves called flutes were cut up and
down the shaft of the column and all
around it
• This gave the column its slim and
elegant look
• Each huge column was made of
circular stone shaped like huge drum and piled
on top of each other.
 TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
INTRODUCTION
• The most important Greek building was the temple
• It was designed not to hold worshippers, but as symbolic dwelling of the gods
• The temple is usually rectangular in plan
• It is lifted on a podium, and in plan has colonnades on all its external sides
• The number of columns is always even to allow the location of the entrance in the
center; temples with odd number of columns are uncommon
• Temples with 2 columns in front are diastyle, 4-tetrastyle, 6-hexastyle,
8-octastyle and 10-decastyle
 TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
DORIC TEMPLE
• The Doric temple is based on the Doric order
• The Basilica at Paestum 550 BC is an example of early Doric temple
• The columns on the front are 9, while on the sides they are 18
• The Doric columns appear heavy in comparison with later temples
• The capitals are also huge, heavy and very wide.
 TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
DORIC TEMPLE - TEMPLE OF APHAIA
• Temple of Aphaia is much less heavy than Paestum
• The entablature is less thick
• The columns are slimmer with less bulge
• The capitals are also smaller
• This temple is hexa style but has
only 12 flanking columns-early temple
• The temple has triangular pediment on
the Eastern and Western sides decorated
with stories from Greek myths.
 TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
DORIC TEMPLE - TEMPLE OF HERA ARGIVA AT PAESTUM
• It is one of the best preserved of all Greek temples
• The columns are 8.8 meters high
• The temple is hexa-style but with 24 columns on its flank
• It also has a double row of columns in the interior, and divided into two separated by a
stone architrave
• The most perfect of the Doric temples is the Parthenon.
 TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
IONIC TEMPLE - INTRODUCTION
• Ionic temples were built using the Ionic order
• The most famous of the Ionic temples is the temple of Artemis at Ephesus
• It was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient World
• The temple stands on a platform 2.7 meters high
• It had 36 columns in its front
• The best surviving Ionic temples is the
Temple of Athena located at the Acropolis
at Athens
 TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
CORINTHIAN TEMPLE - INTRODUCTION
• The Corinthian order was not widely used during the Greek period
• Earliest known example is inside the 5th century Temple of Apollo at Bassae.
• The temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens was in the Corinthian order
• The Corinthian order became very popular during the Roman period.
 CIVIC ARCHITECTURE
INTRODUCTION
• The theatre and council chamber are examples of civic buildings found in every Greek
city
Theatre Epidarus
• The Greeks invented the theatre design that is still used in movies and auditoriums
today
• Every important Greek city had a theatre
• Their theatre was built into a hilly landscape
• The theatre had a bank of seats steps created
from the landscape
 CIVIC ARCHITECTURE
COUNCIL CHAMBER –BOULETERION, MILETUS
• The Bouleterion is where the Bouleor council of the city state met
• It was a covered chamber fitted with banks of seats like a theater
• The example shown is from the city of Miletus
 GREEK CITY PLANNING AND DESIGN
PLANNING AND DESIGN PRINCIPLES
• The ancient Greek civilization had established principles for planning and designing
cities
• City form were of two types
• Old cities such as Athens had irregular street plans reflecting their gradual organic
development
• New cities, especially colonial cities established during the Hellenistic period, had a
grid-iron street plan
• The Greek City was usually divided into three parts; the acropolis, the agora and the
town.
 GREEK CITY PLANNING AND DESIGN
THE ACROPOLIS
• The Acropolis was the city of temples
• It is the location where all the major temples of a city are located at top of hill
• It was built to glorify the gods
• The Acropolis were usually located on the highest ground
• Other public buildings such as gymnasia, stadia, and theatres were generally
regarded as part of religious rituals
 GREEK CITY PLANNING AND DESIGN
THE AGORA
• The Agora was the most important gathering place in a Greek city at bottom of
hill in between valley.
• It started as an open area where the council of the city met to take decisions
• It also transformed into a place for combined social, commercial and political
activities
• It was placed to be easily accessible from all directions
 GREEK ARCCHITECTURE IN ATHENS
THE PARTHENON
• The Parthenon was the most prominent
building on the Athenian Acropolis
• The Parthenon is the most perfect Doric
temple ever built.
• It also embodies the perfection of the
Greek system of proportioning
• The proportions of the Parthenon are
based on the proportions of a man,
which is seven to one
 GREEK ARCCHITECTURE IN ATHENS
THE ERECHTHEUM
• They killed all the men and brought back the women as slaves
• For revenge the Greeks copied the Caryatid slave women in stone and forced
them to carry the roof the Erechtheum for all time
• The weight of the roof is carried from the top of the head of the caryatid
through their leg
• A larger porch on the northern side has ionic columns
• The ionic columns have all the
characteristics of the Ionic order
 GREEK ARCCHITECTURE IN ATHENS
TEMPLE OF NIKE
• Temple of Athena Nike, meaning victorious
Athena
• The Athenians worshipped Athena Nike in the
hope of victory Greek Architecture in Athens
Temple of Nike
• This is an ionic temple
• It had a pediment that no longer exist
• the temple has an entrance of four ionic columns
on two sides
• The temple looks the same from the front and
back
 ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
MATERIAL.
• Examination of Greek architecture points to three common materials of
construction. These are Stone, timber and clay
• Stone was the most common construction material for buildings
• Timber was used mainly for roofing
• Clay was made into sun dried blocks for use in construction
 ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY
• The Frieze and cornices of buildings were also decorated with appropriate
relief carving
• Pediments were also finished with relief carvings, which in temples depict
stories of the gods
• Full statues of gods were also carved and placed on strategic places on the
outside of the temple and also as the major element in the interior
• The Greeks essentially formalized architectural sculpture and decoration