B.

ARCH SEM III

HISTORY OF
ARCHITECTURE - I

04-03-2013
GREEK
ARCHITECTUR

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
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GREEK ARCHITECT

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
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LOCATION & CLIMATE

From Central Asia to the
western end
of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Greek Culture followed

the
Minoan Civilization of Crete
and the
Mycenaean Civilization of
Athens,
eventually developing into
the
Classical Greek culture.

Civilization that thrived

around the
Mediterranean Sea from the
3000BC
to the 146 BC .

Known for advances in

philosophy,
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
architecture, drama, 24-09-2012
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SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Ancient Greece consisted of several
hundred
more or less independent city-states
called
Polis.

Society was mainly broken up

between Free
people and Slaves, who were owned
by the
free people.

The social classes applied to men

only, as
women all took their social and legal
status
from their husband or their male
partner.

Majority of Greek states were

governed by
groups of rich landowners, called
Aristocrats. HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
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SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Ancient Greek philosophy focused
on the
role of reason and inquiry. Some
well known
philosophers of Ancient Greece
were Plato
and Socrates.

Ancient Greek society placed

considerable
emphasis upon literature and
theatre,
including tragedies and comedies.

Greek mythology consists of stories

belonging to the ancient Greeks
concerning
their gods and heroes, the nature
of the
world and the origins and
significance of
their religious practices. The main
Greek HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
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ARCHITECTURE - MATERIAL
The mainland and islands of Greece
are
rocky, with deeply indented
coastline, and
rugged mountain ranges with few
substantial
forests.

The most freely available building

material is
stone. Limestone was readily
available and
can be easily worked.

Abundance of high quality white

marble
both on the mainland and islands.

This finely grained material was a

major
contributing factor to precision of
detail,
both architectural and sculptural, HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
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ARCHITECTURE - CHARACTERISTICS
Ancient Greeks had very strong
foundations of architecture,
following the
Minoans, known for their
elaborate and
richly decorated palaces. The
Mycenaean
had
The built citadels,
temperate fortifications
climate led to a
and tombs
lifestyle
rather
where than
manypalaces.
activities could take
place
outdoors.

Ancient Greek architecture is

distinguished
its highly formalised
characteristics, both of
structure and decoration,
particularly in the
case of temples where each
building appears
to have been conceived as a HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
sculptural entity 24-09-2012
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ARCHITECTURE - CHARACTERISTICS
Hence important buildings were
placed on
hilltops, with their exteriors
designed as a
visual focus for gatherings, while
the
naturally occurring sloping site
could be
used as seating areas.

Need for protection from the sun

and
sudden winter storms led to the
development of Colonnades
encircling the
buildings or surrounding
courtyards.

Ancient Greek architecture

responded very
sharply to the availability of clear
light,
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
constructing buildings that were 24-09-2012
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ARCHITECTURE - CHARACTERISTICS
The marble surfaces were smooth,
curved,
fluted, or ornately sculpted to
reflect the
sun, and cast shadows and change
in colour
with the ever-changing light of day.

The architecture of Ancient Greece

is of a
trabeated or "post and lintel" form,
composed of upright columns
(posts)
supporting horizontal beams
(lintels).

There were three schools of

Grecian
architecture based on the column
details.

1. Doric
2. Ionic HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
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PHASES OF DEVELOPMENT
Archaic Age, 800-480 B.C.

Means primitive.

Defined as the "structural

revolution",
meaning a sudden upsurge of
population
and material goods with the
"intellectual
revolution" of classical Greece.

There were no more kings, so

no more
palaces or fancy tombs. Instead,
people
began to build big temples for
the Gods.

The first Greek temples, built

around
800 BC, were made of wood, HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
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PHASES OF DEVELOPMENT
Hellenic Age, 480-325 B.C.

The Hellenic Period is the "classic"

period of Greek culture.

In this period of the conquests of

Alexander the Great, Greece
enjoyed a
cultural flowering and economic
prosperity.

Drama, philosophy and sculpture

all began
or underwent significant
refinement in this
period.

Cities now dominated politics,

society and
economy.

More refined and elegant buildings

emphasizing grandeur and luxury. HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
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PHASES OF DEVELOPMENT
Hellenistic Age, 323-146 B.C.

The Greeks continued to build

temples,
but they also began to build
vast urban
plans and large complexes.

They built many more theaters,

and also
gymnasia and, because this was
a time
with a lot of fighting, also a lot
of forts
were built.

Ornate buildings.

Rather than manipulating

space,
building plans conformed to the
natural HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
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TYPOLOGY
Palaces
Most known to us are the palaces of
Minoan Crete, the Mycenaean
palaces of Peloponnese, and the
Macedonian Palaces of northern
Greece. As Greek society developed
to be democratic during Classical
times, there was no need to build
palaces for the leaders.

Greek Temple
The Acropolis of Athens

Greek Theater
Central place of formal gatherings in
ancient Greece. Not only did the
structure serve as the stage for
Tragedies and Comedies, but it also
provided a forum for poetry and
musical events.

Greek Stadiums
Athletic events provided the HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
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PLAN FORMS
Temples
Celebrated life on earth rather than afterlife Shrines for gods
Depositories of civic and religious treasure.

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ELEMENTS
1. Tympanum : semi-circular or triangular
decorative wall surface over an entrance. It
often contains sculpture or other imagery or
ornaments.

2. Acroterium : architectural ornament placed

on a flat base called the acroter, and
mounted at the apex of the pediment of a
building in the Classical style.

3. Sima : upturned edge of a roof which acts

as a gutter and runs around all four sides of
a building.

4. Cornice : horizontal decorative moulding

that crowns any building. The function of
the projecting cornice is to throw rainwater
free of the buildings walls.

7. Frieze : is the wide central section part of

an entablature and may be decorated with
bas-reliefs.
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ELEMENTS
11. Gutta : is a small water-repelling, cone-
shaped projection used in the architrave of
the Doric order.

12. Taenia : "band" or "ribbon", is the Latin

word for a small "fillet" molding near the top
of the architrave in a Doric column.

13. Architrave : also called an epistyle; is

the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals
of the columns.

14. Capital : forms the topmost member of a

column (or pilaster). It mediates between
the column and the load thrusting down
upon it, broadening the area of the column's
supporting surface.

15. Abacus : is a flat slab forming the

uppermost member of the capital of a
column. Its chief function is to provide a
large supporting surface to receive the
weight of the arch or the architrave above. HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
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ELEMENTS
17. Column or pillar : is an structural element
that transmits, through compression, the
weight of the structure above to other
structural elements below in, other word
column is a compression member.

18. Fluting : refers to the shallow grooves

running vertically along a surface.

19. Stylobate : a continuous base supporting

a row of columns in classical Greek
architecture.

Entablature : refers to the superstructure

of mouldings and bands which lie
horizontally above columns, resting on their
capitals. Entablatures are commonly divided
into the architrave , the frieze and the
cornice.
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ORDERS
In classical architecture, the parts of a building that stand in fixed and
constant relation to each other; distinguishable by the capital.

Doric Ionic
Corinthian
masculine, serious, feminine, light,
and dignified delicate and
elegant. grandiose

The top of the The Ionic capital Corinthian columns

columns looks like were
are a square block. a scroll. the most decorative.
Under the block is a The Ionic column is The capitals were
rounded piece. skinnier. carved
The columns are The base has a
thick. rounded to look like leaves.
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

The columns were24-09-2012

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ORDERS
a. Doric Order b. Ionic Order c. Corinthian Order

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ORDERS

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EXAMPLES
Acropolis & the Temple of
Parthenon.

Epidaurus Theatre.

Stoa.

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