1ST SEM MIDTERM: Ancient Greek Architecture

History of Architecture 1

Greece

A country in southeastern Europe known for its rich history, culture, and contributions to art, philosophy, and democracy.

Religion

• plays a significant role in the development of Greek architecture

• architecture started in the service of religion

Geography of Greece

• south-eastern Europe

• Surrounded by three major seas:

  • Ionian Sea (WEST)

  • Aegean Sea (WEST)

  • Mediterranean (SOUTH)

• Mountainous, fertile land

Dorian Tribe

located in the ruins of Sicily and southern Sicily

Ionian group

located at the lands of Asia Minor

Crete

largest island located at the southern part of the Mediterranean Sea

Climate of Greece

intermediate between Cold and Hot

City-States

Independent regions in ancient Greece, each with its own government and laws, such as Athens and Sparta.

Geology in Greece

• Marble (chief mineral in Greece)

• Other minerals found in the mountains:

  • gold

  • iron

  • lead

  • bronze

  • silver

Marble

• chief mineral in Greece

• most monumental and most beautiful of all building materials

Religion in Greece

• Aegean Religion

  • worships nature, priestess rather than a priest

• Greek Religion

  • worship of nature and a group of superhuman Gods and Goddesses

Aegean Religion

• primitive stages

• worships nature

• priestess rather than a priest conducts religious rites

• sacred bull

• horns of consecrations

• sacrificial altars

• Rhea (fertility/mother-goddess)

Rhea

• fertility or mother-goddess

• priestess

• Aegean religion

Greek religion

• based on the worship of nature

• and of a group of superhuman gods and goddesses

• natural phenomena in which a god is personifying

12 Olympians (major gods in Greece)

• Zeus

• Hera

• Athena

• Apollo

• Aphrodite

• Demeter

• Poseidon

• Ares

• Dionysus

• Artemis

• Hephaestus

• Hades

Zeus

King of all Gods

Hera

• wife of Zeus

• representation of an excellent wife and motherly qualities

Athena

• Goddess of Wisdom

• Patron Goddess of Athena

• emerged fully-grown at Zeus’s head

Apollo

• God of light, music, sun, healing, and male beauty

Aphrodite

• Goddess of love and beauty

• bor out of sea foam

Demeter

• mother of nature and earth

• watches over planting and harvest time

Poseidon

• God of the seas

• brother to Zeus

Ares

• God of war and battles

Dionysus

• God of spring

• wine

• gay

Artemis

• Goddess of the forest and the moon

• a huntress

• sister of Apollo

Hephaestus

• Blacksmiths for the Gods

Hades

• ruler of the Underworld

Social Structure in Ancient Greece

1. Upper class (elite)

2. Middle class (professional workers)

3. Lower class (freed slaves)

4. Slaves (prisoners of war, infants of criminals, course slaves)

Upper Class

• the elite

• men who:

  • did not have any jobs that dealt with economics (trading)

  • had slaves

  • had property and material value

• had time for politics, philosophy, leisure, etc.

Middle Class

• professional workers:

  • merchants

  • contractors

  • craftsmen

  • managers

• many were non-citizens (not slaves, but of foreign birth)

Lower Class

freed slaves

Slaves

• prisoners of war

• infants of criminals

• course slaves

• few people were of Greek race

Ancient Greece was peopled by:

• Ionians

• Dorians

• Aeolians

• Corinthians

Ancient Greece Timeline

• Early Periods (3000 BC - 700 BC)

  • Aegean/Minoan - rough and massive

  • Mycenean

• Dark Ages (1100 BC - 500 BC)

• Archaic Period

Aegean/Minoan architectural character

rough and massive

Aegean/Minoan characteristic features

• rough and massive structures

• low pitch / flat roof on multi-storey structure

• stairway for vertical circulation

• capital (square abacus) circular bulbous echinus

• cyclopean walls: large stones without mortar, on clay bedding

• megaron (houses)

• palaces were principal building types

Cyclopean walls

large stones without mortar on clay bedding

3 Major Cultures in the Aegean Civilization

• Cycladic (Venus figurines in white marble)

• Minoan (animal imagery, images of harvest, unwarlike architecture)

• Mycenaean (gold masks, war-faring imagery, sturdy architecture)

Cycladic

• “Venus” figurines

• carved in white marble

Minoan

• animal imagery

• images of harvest

• light, breezy, unwarlike architecture

• antithesis of the Mycenaean art

Mycenaean

• gold masks

• war-faring imagery

• sturdy architecture

• citadels

• tunnels into the bedrock

Megaron

• Mycenaean

• The Great Hall in the Palace of Pylos

• square rooms with 4 columns

• place for religious rituals

• represents the origin of the Greek temples in the next period

• hearth in the center

• clerestory ceiling

single-storey dwelling with

1. Enclosed porch

2. Living apartment or megaron proper

3. “Thalamus” sleeping room

Thalamus

sleeping room

Megaron Plan: Citadel of Troy

• large rectangular hall

• has a room that’s nearly square

• deep porch formed by extending the side walls

4 Methods of walling surface finishes

• Cyclopean (masonry made-up of huge stone blocks laid mortar)

• Polygonal (masonry with stones having polygonal faces)

• Rectangular (block of stone cut into rectangular shapes)

• Inclined blocks (stones with inclined blocks)

Cyclopean

masonry made-up of huge stone blocks laid mortar

Polygonal

masonry which is contructed with stones having polygonal faces

Rectangular

block of stone cut into rectangular shapes

Inclined blocks

stones with inclined blocks

Typical Minoan Character

• stairways

• light wells

• colonnades

• cypress wood

• drainage & sanitation system

• the planning is chaotic but a result of organic growth

Palace of Minos at Knossos

• minoan character example

Mycenean or Helladic

• end of Bronze age civilization

• advent of the Iron age in Greece

• Pelasgic, Cyclopean or Primitive Period

Mycean or Helladic architectural characteristics

• Rough walling of large stone blocks

• Corbel system, true arch

Palace of Mycenae

Part of the citadel palace of Agamemnon

Lion Gate of Mycenae

Relief carving of two lions facing a central column

Corbels

• horizontal courses of stones were laid, projecting one beyond the other until the apex was reached

• triangular opening (above the doorways of the Tholos Tombs)

• apparent arch (gallery at Tiryns)

• dome shaped roof (Treasury of Atreus)

Treasury of Atreus (Tomb of Agamemnon)

• Mycenaean

• Tholos or beehive tombs (monumental symbols of wealth and power)

• place for gathering, trade, and rituals

• Kings were buried outside the cities in beehive tombs

• Corbelled dome (covered with earth to form conical hill)

• 2 half columns and stone lintel above the entrance

Kinds of masonry for walls in Minoan & Mycenaean architecture

• Cyclopean (rough stones piled on each other, smaller blocks put between larger ones)

• Rectangular (rectangular blocks arranged in regular courses, joints between stones are not always vertical; seen in Mycenaean architecture — entrance passage in beehive-tombs)

• Polygonal (many sided blocks accurately placed to fit together)

• Corbels (horizontal courses of stones laid until an apex is reached; triangular opening and dome shaped roof in Treasury of Atreus)

Cyclopean (masonry in Minoan & Mycenaean architecture)

• rough stones piled on each other

• smaller blocks put between larger ones)

Rectangular (masonry in Minoan & Mycenaean architecture)

• rectangular blocks arranged in regular courses,

• joints between stones are not always vertical;

• seen in Mycenaean architecture

• entrance passage in beehive-tombs

Polygonal (masonry in Minoan & Mycenaean architecture)

• many sided blocks accurately placed to fit together

Corbels (masonry in Minoan & Mycenaean architecture)

• horizontal courses of stones laid until an apex is reached;

• triangular opening in Treasury of Atreus

• dome shaped roof in Treasury of Atreus

Dark Ages to Archaic Period

1100 BC — 500 BC

Dark Ages

• the Mycenaean civilization started to collapse

• it was abadoned and destroyed

• due to climatic and environmental catastrophes

• + due to the invasion of Dorians

Why did the Mycenaean civilization collapse?

• due to climatic and environmental catastrophes

• due to the invasion of Dorians

Archaic Period

• revival of Greece

• city states were developed

• rise of aristocratic families

• marks the beginning of Greek monumental stone sculpture and architecture

Polis / city state

• cities which are ruled as independent nations

• emerged as the natural and desirable political entity

Early examples of city states

• Mainland

  • Athens

  • Corinth

  • Argos

  • Sparta

• Eastern Aegean

• Samos

• Chios

• Smyrna

• Ephesus

• Miletus

Classical Period & Hellenistic Period

650 BC - 30 BC

Classical, Hellenic period

• golden age of Greece

• culmination of Greek arts and architecture

• before the time of Alexander the Great

• columnar and trabeated; carpentry in marble

• timber, stone, and terracotta

• structures were ornamented with sculptures, colors, and mural paintings

• the temple became the chief building type

• humanism

Materials used during the Classical, Hellenic period

• timber

• stone

• terracotta

Type of architecture the Classical, Hellenic period

• columnar and trabeated

• carpentry in marble

the temple

• classical, hellenic period

• became the chief building type

• admired from the outside, not intended for internal worship

• sculptures for deities to whom they were dedicated

Plan of a Temple (Classical, Hellenic period)

• stood upon a crepidoma of three or more steps

• NAOS - contained statues of gods and goddesses

• PRONAOS - front portico

• OPISTHODOMOS / EPINAOS - rear portico

• sometimes there are treasury chambers

• the smallest buildings were surrounded by colonnades

NAOS (Temple, Hellenic period)

contained the statues of gods and goddesses

PRONAOS (Temple, Hellenic period)

front portico

OPITHODOMOS / EPINAOS

rear portico

Elevation of a Temple (Classical, Hellenic period)

• double colannades to carry the roof (made of timber, covered with terra cotta)

• light was let in through cut-holes on the large tiles of the roof

• triangular-shaped pediment and tympanum on the ends of temples (terminates roof span)

• doors were placed within the pronaos on the east front

• windows were rare in temple buildings

Eaves in the Temples (Classical, Hellenic period)

• antefixa

• antefix

• antifixae

3 sections from the ground up in a temple (Classical, Hellenic period)

• platform

• colonnade (columns)

• superstructure (what rests on the columns)

Temple as described according to:

1. Number of columns on the entrance front

2. Arrangment of the exterior columns in relation to the naos

Number of columns on the entrance front

• Henostyle - 1 column

• Distyle - 2 columns

• Tristyle - 3 columns

• Tetrastyle - 4 colums

• Pentastyle - 5 columns

• Hexastyle - 6 columns

• Heptastyle - 7 columns

• Octastyle - 8 columns

• Enneastyle - 9 columns

• Decastyle - 10 columns

• Dodecastyle - 11 columns

Number of columns in front + 1 by the side

a hexastyle temple = 6 columns in front, 13 on the side

stylos

• “style”

• Greek word for column

Arrangement of exterior columns in relation to the naos (temple)

• prostyle: columns across the front porch only

• amphiprostyle: columns across the front and back

• peristyle: columns around the cella

  • dipteral: double rows of columns around the cell

  • pseudo dipteral: only an outermost row of columns

• anta: posts/pillars on either side of a doorway or entrance

prostyle

columns across the front porch only

amphiprostyle

columns across the front and back porch

peristyle

columns around the cell

Variations of Peristyle

• peripteral

• dipteral

peripteral

single row of columns around the cell

dipteral

double rows of columns around the cell

pseudodipteral

temples with a room behind the naos (cella)

pseudoperipteral

temples, the naos room is closed by walls from four sides

Anta

posts or pillars on either side of a doorway or entrance of a Greek temple

Humanism

• classical, hellenic period

• a belief in the worth, significance, and dignity of an individual

Structure decorations in the classical, hellenic period

• sculptures

• colors

• mural paintings

Highest achievements in the Classical, Hellenic period

• Temple of Zeus at Olympia

• Parthenon in Athens

Hellenistic period

• after Alexander the Great’s death

• modified by foreign elements

• diversion from religious building types

• civic structures

• inspiration for Roman architecture

• symmetrical and orderly design and layout

• moldings for decorations

Structure decorations in the Hellenistic period

• moldings

Important Features of Greek Architecture

• mouldings

• intercolumnation