History of Architecture: Minoan, Greek, Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine

OVERVIEW OF ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE TIMELINE AND GEOGRAPHY

• Historical Timeline Context:

  • Pre-Historic Architecture
  • Egyptian Architecture
  • Near East Architecture
  • Greek Architecture
  • Roman Architecture

• Geographical and Geological Factors in Greece:

  • Location: Greece occupies the southernmost part of the Balkan Peninsula. It consists of numerous islands in the Ionian and Aegean Seas, with Crete being the largest.
  • Geology: The most critical mineral for Greek architecture was its unrivaled Marble. Marble was abundant, particularly in the mountains of Hymettus and Penticulus near Athens, and on the islands of Naxos and Pharos. It facilitated exactness of lines and refinement of details.
  • Climate: Intermediate between rigorous cold and relaxing heat. The clear atmosphere and intense light encouraged the love of precise form. Hot summers and sudden winter showers led to the importance of porticoes and colonnades as places for social interaction.

MINOAN ARCHITECTURE ($1800-1300\,B.C.$)

• Civilization Context:

  • A Bronze Age civilization that flourished in Crete.
  • Named after King Minos of Knossos.
  • Decline Theories: The civilization declined by the late 15th century $B.C.$. One theory suggests economic damage caused by the volcanic eruption on Thera (modern-day Santorini). While Thera is 70 miles north of Crete, the eruption (four times more powerful than the 1883 Krakatoa eruption) buried cities and may have led to the Legend of Atlantis described by Plato circa $360\,B.C.$.

• General Architectural Characteristics:

  • Compounds: Unfortified compounds accessed through gate buildings with multi-columnar porches.
  • Construction Materials: Foundation walls, piers, and lintels made of stone; upper walls featured timber frameworks.

• Palace of Minos at Knossos:

  • The largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete; often called Europe's oldest city.
  • Served as the ceremonial and political center of Minoan culture.
  • Key Site Components:
    • Central Court: The core open space of the palace.
    • West Court and Theatre: Public and performance spaces.
    • Royal Road: A major access path.
    • Throne Room: An internal cult and administrative chamber.
    • Specific Workshops: Potter's workshops, stone cutter's workshops.
    • Residential Areas: King's Megaron (Hall of Double Axes), Queen's Megaron, Queen's Bathroom, and Dressing Room.
    • Storage: Extensive storerooms and circular pits.

PHASES OF GREEK ARCHITECTURE

• Aegean Period ($1900-1100\,B.C.$ / Bronze Age):

  • General Features: Rough and massive structures.
  • Capitals: Ornamented with a square abacus and a circular bulbous echinus.
  • Cyclopean Walls: Large stones laid without mortar on clay bedding.
  • Megaron: A single-storey dwelling with a central room, a porticoed entrance (prodomos), a main room (doma), a rear chamber (thalamos), and a central hearth. Columns support the roof.
  • Treasury of Atreus (Mycenae):
    • Also known as the Tomb of Agamemnon.
    • It is a Tholos tomb (beehive-shaped), a symbol of wealth and power.
    • Dimensions: $14.6\,m$ ($48\,ft$) in diameter and $13.4\,m$ ($44\,ft$) high inside.
    • Construction: Made of 34 rings of masonry capped by a single stone. Accessed by an open-sky Dromos ($6.4\,m$ wide, $35.00\,m$ long).
  • Palace of Tiryns: A hilltop citadel with cyclopean walls $7.3\,m$ ($24\,ft$) thick. Features the famous Lion Gate.

• Hellenic Period ($800-323\,B.C.$ / Classical Antiquity):

  • Societal Context: The emergence of the Polis (city-state). Peak of prosperity under Pericles in Athens (educational and cultural center).
  • General Features: Columnar and trabeated construction. Materials included timber, stone, terra cotta, and refined marble.
  • Religion: Gods were personifications of elements or heroes. Temples were built to house large statues of deities.
  • Athearn Acropolis: Known as the "City on the height," it contained the Parthenon, Erechtheum, Propylaea, and the Temple of Athena Nike.

• Hellenistic Period ($323-30\,B.C.$ / Spread of Greek Culture):

  • Followed the conquests of Alexander the Great.
  • General Features: Orderly, symmetrical designs. Diversion from purely religious building types to civic structures (stadiums, theaters).

THE GREEK ORDERS AND REFINEMENTS

• Doric Order:

  • Oldest, simplest, and most massive. Developed in the 7th century $B.C.$.
  • Attributes: Fluted columns with no base. Capital consists of a square abacus and rounded echinus.
  • Entablature: Plain architrave, frieze with triglyphs and metopes, and a cornice with mutules on the soffit.
  • Height: Column height is $4-6.5 \times \text{column base diameter}$.

• Ionic Order:

  • Developed in the 6th century $B.C.$ in the Ionian Islands.
  • Attributes: Sculptural spiral volutes on the capital. Columns have molded bases.
  • Entablature: Architrave with three fascias. Cornice uses egg-and-dart and dentil moldings.
  • Height: Column height is $9 \times \text{column base diameter}$. Typically has 24 flutes separated by fillets.

• Corinthian Order:

  • Invented by sculptor Callimachus. More ornate than Ionian.
  • Attributes: Deep bell-shaped capital decorated with two tiers of curly acanthus leaves and a concave-sided abacus.
  • Height: Column height is $10 \times \text{column base diameter}$.

• Optical Corrections (Entasis):

  • Designed to counteract the illusion of columns curving inward.
  • Stylobate curves upward ($23/8\,in$ on front, $411/16\,in$ on sides).
  • Columns taper toward the top and angle inward.
  • Corner columns are thickened (by $1\,in$) because they appear thinner against the light.

GREEK TEMPLE PLANNING

• Core Components:

  • Naos (Cella): Principal chamber holding the cult image.
  • Pronaos: Open vestibule before the cella.
  • Epinaos (Posticum): Rear vestibule.
  • Opisthodomos: Small room used as a treasury.

• Standard Terminology:

  • Distyle in antis: Two columns between antae (wall thickenings).
  • Prostyle: Portico on the front only.
  • Amphiprostyle: Porticoes on both front and rear.
  • Peripteral: Single row of columns on all sides.
  • Dipteral: Double row of columns surrounding the naos.
  • Stylobate: Foundation course for the columns.
  • Crepidoma (Stereobate): The platform forming the floor and substructure.

• Column Counts:

  • Hemostyle: 1 column
  • Distyle: 2 columns
  • Tristyle: 3 columns
  • Tetrastyle: 4 columns
  • Pentastyle: 5 columns
  • Hexastyle: 6 columns
  • Heptastyle: 7 columns
  • Octastyle: 8 columns
  • Enneastyle: 9 columns
  • Decastyle: 10 columns
  • Dodecastyle: 12 columns

• Intercolumniation (Spacing expressed in multiples of Diameter $D$):

  • Pycnostyle: $1.50D$
  • Systyle: $2.00D$
  • Eustyle: $2.25D$
  • Diastyle: $3.00D$
  • Araeostyle: $4.00D$

GREEK CIVIC AND RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

• Civic Buildings:

  • Agora: Market or hub of public life.
  • Theatron: Open-air theatre hollowed from a hillside. Parts include the Orchestra (circular space for chorus), Skene (background building), Diazoma (aisle between seating tiers), and Parodos (side entrance).
  • Stoa: Long colonnaded portico used as a meeting place.
  • Prytaneion: Public town hall/Senate house for citizens.
  • Bouleuterion: Council chamber with stepped benches.
  • Odeion: Roofed theatre for music.
  • Stadion: Venue for foot racing with banked spectator stands.
  • Hippodrome: Arena for chariot and horse racing.
  • Palaestra: Wrestling house.
  • Gymnasion: Center for sports and baths.

• Residential Categories:

  • Prostas: Organized around an open courtyard with principal rooms accessed via an anteroom.
  • Pastas: Features a deep columned veranda (pastas) for access.
  • Peristyle: Luxury home where the courtyard is surrounded by colonnades on all sides.

• Urban Planning:

  • Hippodamian Grid System: Rectilinear town layout with narrow side streets and wider main roads, developed by Hippodamus of Miletus.

ROMAN ARCHITECTURE ($300\,B.C. - 365\,A.D.$)

• General Character: Emphasis on monumental public buildings and ostentatious interiors. Exteriors often remained austere. Influenced by Etruscans (arch, vault, dome) and Greeks (columns).

• Roman Orders:

  • Tuscan: Simplified Doric with smooth shafts and a simple base.
  • Composite: Hybrid of Ionic and Corinthian (volutes + acanthus leaves).

• Engineering and Materials:

  • Roman Concrete: Mixture of volcanic ash (Pozzolana), lime, sand, water, and gravel.
  • Masonry Types (Opus):
    • Opus Reticulatum: Meshwork of diamond-shaped stones.
    • Opus Testaceum: Brick-faced concrete.
    • Opus Spicatum: Herringbone brickwork.
    • Opus Isodomum: Regular coursed ashlar.
  • The Arch: Spans openings via axial compression. Components include the Keystone (locks voussoirs), Voussoir (wedge-shaped units), and Impost.
  • Vaults: Barrel (semicircular), Groin (intersection of two vaults), and Annular (ring-shaped barrel vault).
  • Hypocaust: System of underfloor flues for central heating in baths.

• Key Roman Structures:

  • Forum: Public square (e.g., Forum Romanum, Imperial Forum).
  • Basilica: Rectangular meeting place/courthouse; adopted later for Christian churches.
  • Thermae: Public baths with Caldarium (hot), Tepidarium (lukewarm), and Frigidarium (cold).
  • Amphitheater: Oval arena for gladiatorial games (e.g., the Colosseum).
  • Triumphal Arch: Commemorative urban monument.
  • Circus: Arena for chariot racing (Greek hippodrome equivalent).
  • Aqueduct: Bridge for conveying water (e.g., Pont du Gard).
  • Pantheon: Features the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome ($118-126\,A.D.$). Includes an Oculus (circular rooflight).

EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE ($200-1025\,A.D.$)

• General Character: Adoption of the Roman Basilica form. Churches were often built over the burial places of saints. Facades faced East.
• Basilica Components:
  • Atrium: Forecourt for penitents.
  • Narthex: Vestibule before the nave.
  • Nave: Central part flanked by aisles.
  • Bema: Transverse space separating nave and apse.
  • Apse: Semicircular projection housing the Tribune (Bishop's throne).
  • Baldacchino: Canopy over the altar.
• Baptistery: Separate structure or area for baptism, often octagonal (symbolizing the baptism of Christ).

BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE ($300-1450\,A.D.$)

• History: Constantine the Great moved the capital to Constantinople in $330\,A.D.$ ("New Rome").
• Architectural Character: Novel development of the dome on square/polygonal plans using Pendentives (spherical triangles to support the dome) or Squinches. Facades faced West.
• Domes:
  • Simple: Dome and pendentives part of the same sphere.
  • Compound: Dome rises independently above pendentives.
  • Melon Shaped: Fluted to avoid pendentives.
• Capitals: Use of the Dosseret block for transition from square to circular.
• Interiors: Extensive use of mosaics (oxide of tin for opacity) and frescoes. Iconic figures include the Pantocrator (Bust of Christ) in the dome.
• Structural Elements:
  • Iconostasis: A screen of icons separating the nave from the sanctuary.
• Prominent Examples:
  • Hagia Sophia (Istanbul): Masterpiece by Anthemius of Tralles and Isodorus of Miletus ($532\,A.D.$). Features a central dome $102\,ft$ ($31\,m$) across.
  • San Vitale (Ravenna): Octagonal prototype for Hagia Sophia.
  • St. Mark's Basilica (Venice): Greek cross plan with five domes.
  • Saint Basil's (Moscow): Eight-pointed star plan with onion-shaped domes and brilliant exterior colors.

GREEK DEITIES AND ROMAN EQUIVALENTS

• Zeus / Jupiter: Supreme ruler of sky.
• Hera / Juno: Goddess of marriage.
• Apollo / Apollo: God of law, reason, and music.
• Athena / Minerva: Goddess of wisdom.
• Poseidon / Neptune: Sea-god.
• Aphrodite / Venus: Goddess of love/beauty.
• Ares / Mars: God of war.
• Hermes / Mercury: Messenger of the gods.
• Hades / Pluto: God of the dead.