Greek Architecture
Theatron
"Seeing place" where the audience sat
Pediment
In classical architecture, the triangular space (gable) at the end of a building, formed by the ends of the sloping roof above the colonnade; also, an ornamental feature having this shape.
Perikles (Pericles)
Sponsor and Patron of the Parthenon, Athens
hypaethral
Structure without a roof, or partly open to the sky
Metope
panel between the triglyphs in a Doric frieze, often sculpted in relief
Athens City Planning
*Athens* •organic urban form •develops over time •largely follows natural topograpy & landscape •later attempts to straighten layout to resemble planned city centers
Paestum City Planning
*Paestum* •Orthogonal planning (grid) •Streets laid out at right angles •Space reserved in center for •Civic areas (public space) •Sanctuaries (religious space)
Propylaia Athens, Greece c. 437-432 BCE (Classical Period)
- ARCHITECT: Mnesikles -Doric Exterior, Ionic Interior -Asymmetrical
Hellenistic period (c. 323-31 BCE)
- Alexander's empire is divided up by his followers - Fallen under political control by Rome (by 31 BCE)
Temple of Apollo Epikourios Plan
- Corinthian Column separates cella and adyton
Temple of Athena Parthenos (Parthenon) Athens, Greece 447-432 BCE (Classical Period)
-Sponsor: Pericles -Architects: Iktinos and Kallikrates -Master Sculptor: Pheideas -Doric, Peripteral (8x17 columns) -4 room interior: pronaos, naos, opisthodomos, and opisthonaos (furthest back) -Optical Refinements: Stylobate Curvature, Column Inclination, Entasis
"Erechtheion" (Temple of Athena Polias) Athens, Greece c. 421-406 BCE (Classical Period)
-West: Sacred Olive Tree of Athena (Contest of Athena and Poseidon) - Most Sacred and Ancient temple on Acropolis • Completely Asymmetrical: Responds to topography and existing shrines -Experimental Frieze Course (dark stone) -North Porch: Where Poseidon struck the ground -South Porch: "Porch of the Maidens" • Caryatids
Statue of Athena Parthenos (virgin) 438 BCE
42 feet tall Pheidias Chryselephantine (ivory and gold)
Corinthian
A Greek column symmetrical on all four sides, with acanthus leaves for decoration.
Triglyph
A channeled block set between metopes in a Doric frieze
Volute
A decorative spiral found in Ionic, Corinthian and composite capitals
Tholos
A dome over a circular plan building or more generally the building itself
Acropolis
A fortified hilltop in an ancient Greek city
Doric frieze
A frieze containing alternating triglyphs and metopes.
Grid plan
A plan that arranges spaces on a pre-defined, regular pattern of points or intersecting parallel lines
Prostyle columns (or prostyle plan)
A portico of columns on the front of a building
abacus
A tablet placed horizontally on top of the capital of a column as an aid in supporting the architrave
Column inclination
An element of entasis found at the Parthenon. Instead of standing straight up, the columns lean slightly inwards.
Acroterion or acroterium (plural = acroteria)
An upright ornament placed at the apex and eaves of gabled roofs in Greek Architecture
9) How (and why) does the plan of a city like Athens differ from that of a city like Paestum or Miletus?
Athens: more organic and was later modified to be more planned Paestum and Miletus: Very orthogonal grid plan
peripteral temple plan
Building surrounded by a single range of columns
in antis columns
Columns between the anta, in the plane of a wall
Dowel
Headless peg, in, or bolt of wood used to fashion two members together by being set into each part
Architrave (or epistyle)
In Classical architecture, the bottom portion of an entablature.
Epistyle (or architrave)
In Classical architecture, the bottom portion of an entablature.
Entablature
In Classical architecture, the part of a building above the columns and below the roof. This part of a Classical temple includes the architrave, frieze, and cornice.
Capital
In Classical architecture, the termination of the column, generally given decorative carving.
Stoa
In Greek architecture, a linear building with on or more rows of columns. Stoas could be used for shops, meetings, or exhibitions.
Orchestra
In Greek theater, the circular floor used for dancing
Entasis
In classical architecture, the slight swelling or bulge in the center of a column, which corrects the illusion of concave tapering produced by parallel or straight lines
Clamp
Large mass of bricks or limestone arranged for burning
Lewis
Make a cutting in the stone so one edge is flat and the other is sloped; fill with bars, sloped fit first, then wedge in a straight on and lift
Greek theater
Open-air structure in which plays were performed. The stage faced the afternoon sunlight to illuminate the performance while allowing the audience to view the action without squinting.
Stylobate curvature
Optical refinement technique used at the Parthenon to combat the illusion of sagging that occurs with rows and columns of straight lines.
Kallikrates *ARCHITECT*
Parthenon
Anathyrosis
Smooth dressing of the margin of ashlar stone or the drums comprising the shaft of a classical column to ensure an accurate masonry joint
Classical period (c. 480- 323 BCE)
The architectural grammar based on the classical orders of ancient Greece and Rome
Ionic
The order that features volutes in the capital; the shaft is usually fluted
Geison (or cornice)
The part of the entablature that projects outward from the top of the frieze in the Doric order and from the top of the frieze course of the Ionic and Corinthian orders; it forms the outer edge of the roof on the sides of a structure with a sloped roof.
Cella (or naos)
The shrine room in the center of the temple
pronaos
The space, or porch, in front of the cella, or naos, of an ancient Greek temple
Cornice (or geison)
The uppermost element of an entablature, which projects beyond the plane of the exterior wall; more generally, the overhanging molding atop any building.
Flute
Vertical grooves incised in the shaft of a classical column
Empolion
Vertical iron dowels for ashlar blocks, wooden empolia for column drums - Mason's marks - Empolian cutting edge • A dowel made of wood and you put it in two columns • Sealed core
Engaged columns
a half-round column attached to a wall
Choragic monument
a monument built to honor the winner of a choral contest in ancient Greece
Caryatid
a pier carved in the shape of a standing woman and used in the place of a column.
Panathenaic procession
a real event which took place every four years, where Athenians gathered in the agora (market place) and, among other things, carried a robe to the statue of Athena
Post and lintel
a structure consisting of vertical beams (posts) supporting a horizontal beam (lintel)
Ashlar masonry
carefully cut and regularly shaped blocks of stone used in construction, fitted together without mortar
Chryselephantine
fashioned of gold and ivory
Sima
is the upturned edge of a roof which acts as a gutter
Anta (plural = antae)
slightly projecting column at the end of a wall, produced by either a thickening of the wall or attachment of a separate strip
Doric
the Greek order that has a fluted shaft no base, and an echinus molding supporting the abacus. Roman Doric columns have a base.
Miletus City Planning
•innovative city design principles to the orthogonal plan •Space reserved for specific purposes (public, private, commercial, religious) •Ideal composition of citizenship (*social planning related to architecture*)
Dentils
A type of cornice molding composed of rectangular blocks set in a row like teeth, hence the name
Temple of Apollo Epikourios (Epicurius) Bassai (Bassae), Greece c. 430 BCE (Classical Period)
-ARCHITECT: Iktinos - Doric Exterior (6x15) -N-S Orientation -Engaged Ionic Columns inside -First Interior Use of Corinthian Capital = possibly represents the deity -Peristyle, 4 room interior (pronaos, cella, adyton, opisthodomos)
10) What are some of the buildings found in a Greek civic center and what are their functions?
-Agora: market place and civic center -Multiple Stoas: shops, meetings, and exhibitions -Tholos -shrine -Theater -Street (Panatheic Way)
Lionhead waterspout
lined the eaves of many Classical Greek buildings, especially those in public areas. Used to channel and control the rainwater runoff from the roof, these spouts funneled the water through the lions' open mouths. Sometimes the spouts were carved in one piece with the sima, the gutter-like element that ran along the edge of the roof.
Hippodamos (Hippodamus) *ARCHITECT*
• (498-408 BCE) • Born in Miletus, west coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) in the 5th century BCE • Hippodemus was credited with "adding" innovative ciy design principles to the orthogonal plan • Space reserved for specific purposes (public, private, commercial, religious) • Ideal composition of citizenship (Social planning related to architecture)
Iktinos (Ictinus) *ARCHITECT*
- Parthenon - Temple of Apollo at Bassai
Miletos (Miletus) *LOCATION*
- Where Hippodamus is from - West coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey)
acanthus
An ambigious flower and a style of plant used for the caps of the corinthian columns
Pergamon (Pergamum) *LOCATION*
Place of Origin of King Attalus II
Mnesikles *ARCHITECT*
Propylaia
Greek Agora
Public square; evolved into market place, courts, and public buildings
Proskenion
The area directly in front of the skene in the ancient Greek Theater
Vitruvius *ARCHITECT*
- Created the orders of architecture and what they portrayed. • Doric=man • Ionic=women • Corinthian=maiden
Architectural Elements of Doric Order
- May have drawn inspiration from Egyptian Architecture. - Some elements/reminiscent of Mycenaean Architecture -ie, Temple of Hera
Lysikrates Monument, Athens Athens, Greece c. 335/334 BCE (Late Classical Period)
-Choragic Monument - Possibly first use of EXTERIOR Corinthian Capital -Ionic architrave with Ionic Frieze of Dionysus and inscription of producer and play that won the monument
Ionic frieze
-Continuous Frieze of Ionic Order
Stoa of Attalus II Athens, Greece 2nd century BCE (Hellenistic Period)
-Donated by King Attalus II, King of Pergamum -In Agora of Athens -Lionshead waterspouts -1st Floor: Doric Exterior (fluted only 2/3 of way down) with Ionic Interior (not fluted) -2nd Floor: Ionic Exterior with Pergamene Interior -Pitched Terracotta roof
Temple of Hera at Olympia ca. 600-590 BCE (Archaic Period)
-Doric -Peripteral (6x16 columns) -3 Room interior (pronaos, cella, and opisthodomos) -Terracotta Acroterion
Temple of Hera Paestum, Italy ca. 550 BCE (Archaic Period)
-Doric Order -Peripteral (9x18 columns) -3 Room interior (pronaos, cella, and *adyton*-the back wall is closed off instead of open to the porch) -Column Entasis -Capital Profile -Flute (groove) + Arris (sharp edge)
Parthenon Exterior
-Doric Order Exterior • Doric Columns • Doric Frieze on all 4 sides • Pedimental Sculpture - East: Birth of Athena - West: Contest of Athena and Poseidon • Doric Frieze: Metope Sculpture - Gods vs. Giants - Greeks vs. Amazons - Greeks vs. Centaurs - Greeks vs. Trojans
Parthenon Interior and Exterior
-Ionic Order Interior • Ionic Columns •Continuous Ionic Frieze - Panathenaic Procession
Temple of Athena Nike Athens, Greece c. 425 BCE (Classical Period)
-Kallikrates? -Non-Peripteral -All Ionic
Theater Epidauros, Greece 4th-2nd century BCE (Hellenistic Period)
-Layout helps acoustics -Best preserved theater -Theatron: Seating Area -Orchestra: playing/acting area -Skene: backdrop where actors would change
Pheidias (Phidias) *SCULPTOR*
-Master Sculptor of the Parthenon
Erechtheion Column Bases
-Modified Doric (Doric Columns don't have bases)
Echinus
In the Doric Order, the round, cushion-like element between the top of the shaft and the abacus. The top slopes down to the bottom.
Skene
The backdrop building in a classical theater
Stylobate
The base, usually having steps, on which a colonnaded temple sets
Opisthodomos
The enclosed room at the back of a Greek temple, often used a treasury
Frieze
The horizontal element above the architrave and below the cornice in an entablature.
Orthogonal plan
The imposition of a strict grid plan on a site, regardless of the terrain, so that all streets meet at right angles. See also Hippodamian plan.
