Download - Greek architecture
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Greek ArchitectureGreek Architecture
Kevin J. Benoy
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Origins
• Our word “architecture” comes from the Greek architecton, which means “master carpenter.”
• Early Greek architecture therefore employed wood, not stone.
• These early structures, as well as those of mud-brick, have not survived.
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Wood Features in Stone
• By the 6th Century BC, stone replaced wood in the construction of important temples.
• Designs still reflected their origins in wood, however.
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Origins
• The trigyph, which alternates with the metapes, began as wooden beam ends.
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Origins• In moving from wood to stone,
builders had to adapt to the differing properties of their building materials.
• Stone has greater compressive (resistance to crushing) strength than wood, but lacks tensile strength (resistance to bending or twisting). Therefore, while columns/posts might be relatively thin, the entablature/beams, must be quite thick.
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Origins
• Greek temples, like Egyptian temples, used basic post-and-beam construction.
• This is sometimes referred to as trabeated.
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Origins
• Early temples had massive pillars as architects worried about their ability to support the weight above.
• Later temples appear more elegant.
Temple of Hera, Paestum
Hephaistion, Athens
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Origins• Some experts feel that
the entasis, the outward bulging in the middle of Greek columns, may originally have been an imitation of the effect of great compression in wooden posts.
• It also serves as a kind of correction to an optical illusion, however.
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Entasis
• Entasis counteracts the tendency of the eye to reach upward, forcing it to travel up and down the shaft.
• Columns that are straight appear thinner in the middle when seen against light, making the supports appear flimsy.
• The middle bulge counteracts this.• The upper 2/3 of the shafts to the
right are tapered.
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Temples - Purpose• Unlike modern churches or
mosques, Greek temples were not meant to be meeting places for congregations.
• They were homes for the community’s god or goddess and a place to keep offerings
• A cult image was centrally located within a naos, or chapel.
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Temples - Purpose
• In the mild climate of Greece, ceremonies generally took place outdoors.
• Even the alter, upon which sacrifices were made, were outside the temple structure.
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Temple Forms• Greek temples, like
Egyptian ones, tended to follow set patterns, which were regarded as ideal forms.
• Variations are few in any given period, tending to reflect the choice of a particular classical order, rather than new and novel design.
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The Classical Orders
• The three classical orders are:
– Doric
– Ionic
– Corinthian
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The Doric Order
• Doric columns are the heaviest in appearance
• The capital is plain.• The shaft is thick –
though it loses some of its mass over time.
• There is no base.
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The Ionic Order
• These have greater elegance.
• The capital has distinctive volutes.
• The shaft is thinner than its Doric equivalent.
• A base is apparent.
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The Corinthian Order
• This is also a tall, elegant form.
• The capital has distinctive acanthus leaf decoration.
• A base is also employed.
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Parts of a Greek Temple
• There are four distinct parts to a greek temple.– The bottom,
horizontal part is the steps. Most Greek temples had three of them.
– This part is called the stylobate.
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Parts of a Greek Temple• The next section is
vertical and is the column.– Most columns had a
base (though not the Doric), at the bottom, a shaft in the middle, and a capital at the top.
– The shaft may be smooth or fluted.
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Parts of a Greek Temple• Above the column is
the entablature. If the column is the leg, think of this as the tabletop.– It has 3 parts: the
architrave, a kind of base.
– The frieze, a decorated part
– The cornice the top.
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Parts of a Greek Temple• The top section is angled
and is called the pediment.– The sloping top part is
called the sloping cornice.
– The triangular part below is called the tympanum. This is often carved and decorated.
– Sometimes there are caved features sticking up from the room. These are called antifixae or acroterions.
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Plans of Greek Temples• The grandeur and
evident expense of a temple can be seen in the number of columns employed.
• Simple tempes have blank walls around a naos, or chapel. With an open area or porch in front, called a pronaos, with two or four supporting columns.
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Designs of Greek Temples
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Designs of Greek Temples
• Grander temples, like the Parthenon, had both a front and back porch, as well as a colonnade surrounding the entire structure.
• This is called a peripteral temple.
Reconstruction of the Parthenon in Nashville.
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Designs of Greek Temples
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Designs of Greek Temples
• Grander still, and generally from the Hellenistic age, are dipteral temples.
• They have a double colonnade surrounding them.
Artist’s reconstruction of the Temple of Artemis, Ephesus, Turkey
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Designs of Greek Temples
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Important Structures – The Acropolis
• The most famous Greek buildings topped the Athenian Acropolis.
• These include: the Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Parthenon, and the Erectheum.
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The Propylaea
• This is the monumental entry point to the acropolis.
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Temple of Athena Nike
• This is a small temple dedicated to the victorious Athena.
• The ratio of height to diameter of the columns is 7:1 and not the 9:1 or 10:1 generally found in Ionic temples.
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The Parthenon
• This is the most important and perfectly formed temple on the acropolis.
• Dedicated to Athena, it housed an enormous cult image.
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Parthenon
• This building is the culmination of Classical Greek architecture.
• Optical refinements are many, and the result is a building reflecting the Greek concept of arete, perfection.
Click here to see a NOVA video clip on the Parthenon’s optical refinements.
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The Parthenon• One of the Parthenon’s
most impressive features was not seen by most worshippers – the great frieze showing the Panathenaic Procession.
• The colour of this reconstruction is indicative of what much of the structure would have looked like before being bleached by centuries of Mediterranean sun.
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The Erechtheum
• This is a complex building of up to four distinct spaces.
• It is also built on a slope, so its walls are of differing heights.
• It is dedicated to Athena Polias and Poseidon Erechtheus.
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The Erechtheum
• The most distinctive element of this building is the Porch of the Maidens.
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Important Structures – The Great Altar of Pergamum
• This Hellenistic building broke completely with traditional style.
• The frieze was brought down to the level of outside observers.
• The colonnade was raised above it.
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The Greek Heritage
• Greek architecture had a lasting impact on the world.
• The Romans adopted it as an ideal, but modified it to meet their practical needs.
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The Greek Heritage
• Today, elements of Greek architecture surround us everywhere, from the Doric columns gracing local homes to the great Ionic capitals of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
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The Greek Heritage
• Greek forms have become an integral part of the vocabulary of world architecture
The Supreme Court of the United States
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