HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

LECTURE 4
Greek Architecture
Map of Ancient
Greece

Athens

Miletus

Crete
 Between 1200-800 B.C, there was much warfare affecting Crete and
Greece.
Up to and before 6th Century B.C., there is not much evidence of
planned towns in Greece.
From 6th century B.C till 4th century B.C i.e. Alexanders period, a
number of cities were founded and developed on systematic lines and
advanced the cause of civic structure.
Earlier, king was the dominating figure but later power gradually
shifted to the wealthy land owning nobles who became the ruling
class.

GREEK PERIOD: Chronological Development

The ruling class was were dependent on the support of the farmers
and the merchants;
Importance of palace reduced and there was emergence of the
middle class;
During 5th century, democracy took root in city states a new
form of political organization of the community developed.

Government, By law, determined by people.

Discovery of freedom through democracy brought
impetus to search the truth-leading to- development of
philosophy, science, mathematics, logic and law.
Freedom and spiritual values were symbolized in temples;
Freedom of speech led to Houses of People or council
chambers;
The community needs led to Assembly Houses, OATs and the
Agora or the market place;
Geographical situation of Greece with sea on there sides
encourages trade and transportation by sea;
The climate varied between rigorous cold and relaxing heat .

The hot sun and sudden showers were causes for buildings
with colonnaded porticos.
Greece has ample supply of good building stones.
Their religion was based on worship of natural phenomena.
 THE TOWN PLANNING

The ancient Greek towns

were divided into three
parts:

Places for Gods

Administration
Dwelling Houses
The Town had to justify the
requirements of :

Hygiene
Defense
Circulation The heart of the city: Or the central
place was to occupy 5 % of the city
area and comprise of the temple,
Three Classes of people
the assembly hall , the council
chambers, council hall, the Agora
Craftsmen
and the Agora square.
Soldiers
Workers
All major roads were to meet the
Agora Square.
Streets were paved and there were underground drains beneath the
streets.
Maintained reservoirs, but no water distribution system.
Orientation with respect to the climate, Principal rooms faced
the south and opened on private courtyard.

Determinants for
Ancient Greek
city development

Regional
topography
Climate
Construction
Material
Acropolis
Greek City States

Greeks had a clearly defined territorial organization.

Cities emerged as separate city states, instead of a single unified nation.

The disperse nature of fertile area was only available in form of isolated valley,
plains and plateau.
These conditions favored an arrangement of :

1. Urban nucleus.
2. Surrounded by country side
3. Surrounded by subordinated agricultural
village community.
Regional Topography

City State and Polis- Urban and Rural

Polis is more than a city state/ urban / the nucleus
City state is the Greek City ( the Urban Nucleus) with its clearly
defined limits, compact urban form and superficially at least-
integrated social life.
Town and country were closely knit- except in those remote parts of
Arcadia and Western Greece
Greek city states were founded upon agriculture and remained
independent on it.
During warfare notably against Persia city states joined together to face
the common enemy.
Climate

Greece through out the year it was generally both agreeable

and reliable- Greece is one of those countries which have a climate and
not merely weather;
This attractive situation encouraged an open air, communally
oriented attitude to life, which assisted the development of Greek
democracy.

But in direct contrast, however , the

domestic Greek world was that of privacy within the ubiquitous
courtyard house;

Meeting took place in open air, new indoor meeting places such
as assembly hall ( ecclesiasteron), council hall (bouleuterion)
were designed with an advent of advanced
construction Technique;

Large scale open air theatrical ceremonies were also performed initially
at the foot of conveniently sloping natural auditoria.
Construction Material

The ancient Greek architectural characters has a great impact because of

readily availability of high quality marble.

Worked on a fine details, marble was the medium by which Greek

architecture attained standards of perfection seldom reached in
later history.

The importance of civic buildings were conceived as three

dimensional, free standing sculptural objects.

Unlike the civic buildings minimal effort and concern for domestic
comfort.

Direct contrast to civic buildings houses were rudimentary and either

grouped by chance or rigidly organized along basic grid line.
Emergence of Greek Civilization
Aegean period till 1100 B.C.
Mycenaean period 1400 to 1100
B.C. Hellenic Period 800 to 323
B.C.
Hellenistic Period 323 to 30 B.C.

Early Greek
Civilization
Contributions in City Planning
Colonizing movement
Use of Grid-iron layout.
Urban form components.
Evolution of:
Acropolis: Religious Centre
Agora: The city center, the multi-purpose everyday heart.
Clear distinction between Developed city districts and
organic growth.

Colonizing Movement

This process involved the Greeks in the creation of new city states.
They imposed a limit on population.
Each colony was an independent city state which was well organized
socially and economically.
Greek urban form component
The Acropolis
The enclosing city wall
The Agora
Residential districts
One or more leisure and cultural area
A religious precinct
The harbors and ports
Industrial district
Urban form component

Priene: Port and Industrial District

Miletus: Acropolis were sometimes situated outside the city limits.
City walls were more demanded.
There was a policy of limiting population by founding new cities.
The agora, shrines, the theatres, gymnasia are occupied site determined
by traditional sanctity and houses filled the rest of the space.
Athens
The Organic Growth
Athens was never planned as a whole;
Destroyed and reconstructed again over the old city;
Two main groups of civic building 1) Acropolis, 2)Agora;

It is considered as the best natural fortress of the ancient world;

It rises some 300 feet above the general level of the plain, irregularly
shaped roughly 350 yards by 140 yards and the long dimension oriented
east-west;

The Athenian Acropolis started as Neolithic Village Nucleus;

Humans have been attracted to the area by the presence of natural
spring and in 1581 BC worship of Athena was established on Acropolis.
Agora area developed from a market and meeting place;
Ancient Athens
Ancient Athens
Prominent
features

A powerfully assertive
landscape influenced the
Urban planning.
The high points of the city
were treated as sacred.
In case of Athens, the
high place was
originally a fortified
hilltop which became
the Acropolis: The site
for the temples of
Gods, their treasures
and artifacts.

The city developed below

Acropolis.
 ARCHITECTURE
Hellenistic period
classical orders
public buildings
geometry and symmetry in
their buildings
Acropolis
Agora
Temples
tombs and house forms.
Aegean period till 1100 B.C.
Mycenaean period 1400 to 1100 B.C.

Hellenic Period 800 to 323 B.C.

Hellenistic Period 323 to 30 B.C.
 Aegean period till 1100 B.C.
Mycenaean period 1400 to 1100 B.C.
Architecture

Mycenaean Period
Also called Pelasgic, Cyclopean or
Primitive period
Rough walling of large stone blocks
Corbel system, true arch evolved

Hellenic Period
Trabeated style developed
Refinement from Mycenaean influence
Slender columns with refined mouldings
Principles of design
Correction of optical illusion
Barrow 4100
To m b s BCE

The first architectural expression

Preserved memories of clan lineage
Served as place for gathering, trade
and rituals

Architecture
Chamber (circular mound) built of
stone slabs
Narrow passageway
In some cases fortified by retaining
walls
An artificial mound created on top
Sometimes side chambers surround
the main chamber
Pre-Mycenaean (Ae 3000 - 1 3 0 0
gean) Period BC
E
Turmoil in Mesopotamia benefitted the economies of
the eastern
Mediterranean (mostly Minoans on Crete island)
Worlds first maritime trading economy
Peaceful trading- hence no defensive installations
Worshipped bull Zeus, the fertility God
Rituals in open landscape or in front of palace
theatre-like setting
Large scale drinking and feasting, joyful festivals
No separate temple (part of Palace)
Largest Palace at Knossos- residences, kitchens,
storage rooms, bathrooms, ceremonial rooms,
workshops
Ground water conduits and basement storage
Pre-Mycenaean and 2000
Mycenaean Period BC
Minoan Palace at Knossos (Crete) E
Three kind of masonry for walls:
Courtyard surrounded by verandas at upper
level in palace 1.Cyclopean- masses of rock roughly
quarried stones
piled on each other, with clay mortar.
The interstices
between the larger stones
were filled with smaller blocks
2. Rectangular- carefully hewn
rectangular blocks
arranged in regular courses, but the joints
between stones in the same course are not
always vertical. Examples at Mycenae - the
entrance passage in tholos or beehive-
tombs
3.Polygonal- many sided blocks accurately
worked so as to fit together.
P a l a c ea tK n
ossos
Mycenaean 2000 - 4 0 0
Period BC
E

Traded with Sicily, Southern Italy, Egypt, Sardinia and countries bordering Black
sea
Small kingdom lacked natural defence barriers
Decentralized society- Small but fiercely loyal fighters
Excellent works in ivory, carpentry and metallurgy
Palaces used to be the administrative as well as industrial centres
Eg- Around 550 textile and 400 metallurgical workers along with artisans,
goldsmiths, ivory and stone carvers and potters were employed in Palace of
Pylos
MycenaeanPeriod 2000 - 4 0 0 B C E

Characteristic features
Corbels- horizontal courses of stones were laid, projecting one
beyond the other till the apex was reached
This produced either a triangular opening (found above the
doorways of the tholos tombs) or an apparent arch (found at the
gallery at Tiryns, or a dome-shaped roof (found at the Treasury of
Atreus) in Mycenae

Inclined blocks- triangular headed opening.

Arches
Mycenaean 2000 - 4 0 0
Period BC
E

Megaron The Great Hall in the

Palace of Pylos

A square rooms with 4

columns
A hearth in the centre
Clerestory ceiling
Megaron
Mycenae

1300 - 4 0 0 BCE

1450
BCE- Thick ring walls around
(cyclopean) were built
Mycenae

Entry to citadel through Lion

Gate

Treasury of Atreus-

6-chambered

tombs containing gold,

silver and bronze burial
treasures
(Burial Tholos)
Palace compound on an
elevated level
The Lion Gat
e, Mycenae
Relief carving of two lions facing a central
column
Triangular sculpture supports the load above
entrance.
Ashlar masonry walls on the sides.
Tr e a s u r yo f
At r e u s
Kings were buried outside the cities in
beehive tombs or
tholos monumental symbols of wealth and
power
Circular chamber - 15m high and 15m
diameter; into the hillside.
36 m long and 6 m wide corridor (dromos)
Corbelled dome was covered with earth to
form conical hill
2 half columns and stone lintel above the
entrance.
Tr e a s u r yo f
At r e u s
 ARCHITECTURE

Hellenic Period 800 to 323 B.C.

Hellenistic Period 323 to 30 B.C.
 Hellenic Period 800 to 323 B.C.
Commenced circa 900 BC, (with substantial
works of architecture appearing from about
600 BC) and ended with the death of
Alexander the Great in 323 BC.

Hellenistic Period 323 to 30 B.C.

Hellenic culture was spread widely,
throughout lands conquered by Alexander,
and then by the Roman Empire which
absorbed much of Greek culture.
GREEK COLUMN ORDERS

DORIC
IONIC
CORINTHIAN
 GREEK COLUMN ORDERS
Introduced by a Roman architect, Marcus Vitruvius
Definedcolumn styles andentablature

Order of Architecture
A set or rules or principles for designing buildings.

Classical order of architecture

An approach to building design established in Greece or Rome during
the Classical period, roughly 850 BC through 476 AD.

How Classical Architecture Began

Great buildings were constructed according to precise rules
Marcus Vitruvius (De Architectura, orTen Books on Architecture) believed
Builders used mathematical principles when constructing temples
Without symmetry and proportion, no temple can have a regular plan
 1) Tympanum
DORIC
Basic Order in Greek Architecture used by 2) Acroterion
Spartans
3) Cyma
1. Column height is 7 D plinth, dado and
stylobate 4) Cornice
Shaft20 flutes and arrises
General Inter columnation2 D 5) Mutules
Distinctive Capital Abacus and Echinus 6) Frieze
2. Entablature consists of Architrave, Frieze
and Cornice 7) Triglyph
a) Architrave D, flat moulding called
8) Metope
taenea
Regulashort band with six guttae(small cone 9) Regulae
like blocks)
b) Frieze D, contains Triglyph and Metope. 10) Guttae
Triglyphformed by two V-shaped channels with 11) Taenia
similar half channels on both ends which are
rounded at top. 12) Architrave
Metopessquare shaped space between
13) Capital
Triglyph
c) Cornice D high crowning part, projects 14) Abacus
beyond frieze
Acroteriafor ornamentatal block 15) Echinus
16) Column
17) Fluting
18) Stylobate
 Doriccolumnsstood directly on the flat pavement (thestylobate) without a base
Vertical shafts were fluted with 20parallel concavegrooves
Smoothcapitalthat flared from the column to meet a squareabacus
Carried the horizontalbeam(architrave)
TheParthenonhas the Doric design columns.
IONIC
Named after the Ionians of ancient
Greece
1. Column 9 D, has a base, moulded
base consists of upper and lower torus-
separated by Scotia and fillets
Shaft has 24 flutes diminishes to 5/6 D
at its top.
General Intercolumniations 4 D
Remarkable for its volute(capital)
2. Entablature 2 D
a) Architrave D, triple fasciae(three
beams)
b) Frieze D, either plain or
ornamented
c) Cornice D, similar treatment like
Doric
Rainwater sprouts in the shape of lions
heads
Ionic Order is more ornate than the
Doric grace, refinement of outlines
and elegance as compared to Doric
Order
IONIC
More slender and more
ornate than theDoric style
Scroll-shaped ornaments on
the capital
A pair of volutes
Stands on a base of stacked
disks
Shafts are usually fluted,
but can be plain

Buildings With Ionic

Columns:
The Erechtheum, Athens
The Colosseum, Rome
Doric columns on the first
level, Ionic columns on the
second level, and
Corinthian columns on the
third level
CORINTHIAN
Emerged as an offshoot of the
Ionic style about 450 BCE
Distinguished by its more
decorative capitals
Corinthian capital was much taller
being ornamented with a double
row of acanthus leaves topped by
voluted tendrils.

Typically, it had a pair of volutes

at each corner, thus providing the
same view from all sides
The ratio of the column-height to
column-diameter in Corinthian
temples is usually 10:1 (compare
Doric 5:1; Ionic 9:1), with the
capital accounting for roughly 10
percent of the height.
CORINTHIAN
1. Column 10 D height
Base D high, similar to Ionic
Shaftcircular and tapered to
5/6 D at top
24 flutes separated by fillets
General Inter columnation3 D
Distinctive capital perhaps
evolved from a basket placed on
the root of acanthus plant
2. Entablature 2.25 D high
and bears a close resemblance
to the Ionic Order.
a) Architrave D, divided
into three fasciae
b) Frieze D, ornamented by
continuous sculptures
c) Cornice D, dentils and
corona antefixal ornament
Rarely used by Greeks, more
decorative and delicate
AGORA AND ACROPOLIS
IN ATHENS
The agora was a central spot in ancient Greek city-states. The literal
meaning of the word is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora
was the center of athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the
 The Acropolis
The acropolis is the general term for the original defensive hilltop nucleus
of the older Greek cities and the fortified citadel of many of the colonial
foundation.
Possibly the religious sanctuary of the city like Athens or left
deserted and left outside the city limit, as the Miletus.
If the acropolis is at the centre then, there were no need of city wall.

Acropolis
Athens Agora
Represented the sacred precinct of the city of Athens.
The building of the Acropolis did not have a geometrical/axial
relationship with one another but had a definite visual
relation with one another as well as the natural setting of the
surrounding to be experienced by the human eye and people on
foot.
The natural Panorama was dramatically accented by the
foreground of man made temple- adding mans world to natures.
The building of the Acropolis consisted of one concept of
grouping buildings- as masses articulating space.
The City Wall
In Athens, Priene and Miletus,
the walls are loosely spread
around both unplanned and
planned urban areas, in order
to take maximum advantage of
the terrain.

Athens
Agora

Agora is a public space in Greek cities contained sustained or intense concentration of varied
activities.
The Agora was in fact not only a public place, but the central zone of the city- its living heart.
A ground for social life, business and politics.
Being ideally positioned between the main gate and entrance to the acropolis serves as a
focal point of a planned city.
The Agora

The Agora was the political

and commercial heart. It was
the CBD which developed at the
foot of the Acropolis.
There was a stress on a finite size
for all things.

Ideal size of a city-polis:

10000-20000

The Greek towns attempted to fit

in as another component of
nature.

Architectural massing and

detailing of building always gave
a sense of human measure.
OPTICAL CORRECTIONS
Please refer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=vzhA3yiEofI
TEMPLES
Classification
Classification is based on:
- the number of columns on the entrance
front
- Type of collonade surrounding the naos
- Type Of Portico
Greek Temple Plans

Typical floor plan incorporated a colonnade of columns (peristyle) on

all four sides; a front porch (pronaos), a back porch (opisthodomos).

Categorized based on their ground plan and the way in which the
columns are arranged.

1.Prostyle temple is a temple that has columns only at the front

2.Amphiprostyle temple has columns at the front and the rear.

3.One of the more unusual plans is the tholos, a temple with a circular
ground plan

4. Temples with a peripteral arrangement have a single line of columns

arranged all around the exterior of the temple building.

5. Dipteral temples simply have a double row of columns surrounding

the building.
Characteristics
ORIENTED TOWARDS THE EAST
NAOS (it refers to theCella, i.e. the inner chamber of atemplewhich
houses acult figure)
PRONAOS (is the inner area of the portico of aGreekorRoman temple,
situated between the portico's colonnade or walls and the entrance to
thecella, or shrine)
AND EPINAOS (OPISTHODODMOS) - a room in the rear of the cella of an
ancient Greek temple
SURROUNDED BY OPEN COLONNADE
ENTRANCE DOORS on the east and west walls
WINDOWS WERE RARE
PEDIMENT
TYMPANUM
TIMBER ROOFS covered with MARBLE OR TERRACOTTA TILES
ANTIFIXAE ORNAMENT at the end of the roof tiles
 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.

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.
Parthenon
Built in pentelic marble.
On the high grounds of the Acropolis, south of temple Athena.
Architects Ictinus & Callicrates ; sculptor Pheidias.
Rectangular plan measuring 71m X 32m.

Stands on a crepidoma of 3 steps with tread 70cm & rise 50cm.

Designed in octal-style, eight columns in front & back, columns
having base d = 1.9m, h = 10.4mand of the Doric order.

The entablature is 3.4m high and curve up in the middle.

Architrave was ornamented with bronze shields.
Sculptured metopes are about 1.34m X 1.34m, 14 in on front, 32
on south and north.
The frieze lean outward slightly.

The pediment inclined at 13 30 mins.

It has floral decoration called Acroteria about 3m high.

The sloping cornices

of the pediment has ornamentations.
The Tympana had fine sculptures in bright colors.
The Erechtheion (421 B.C -406 B.C)
Reconstructed West
Elevation

The Erechtheion (421 B.C -406 B.C)

Plan

The Erechtheion (421 B.C -406 B.C)

Plan

The Erechtheion (421 B.C -406 B.C)

Caryatid porch

The Erechtheion (421 B.C -406 B.C)

 West South
elevation elevation
& &
East Elevation North
Elevation

The Erechtheion (421 B.C -406 B.C)

East portico

The Erechtheion (421 B.C -406 B.C)

RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS
Residential
Districts
Residences were either grouped
together, in organic growth
districts or rigidly organized
along basic grid-iron lines.

There was a contrast

between the splendor of
civic areas and squalor of
housing.

Communal activities were

more important than
Home life.

Individual dwellings
within the same grid block
were of different sizes
and plans.
Ancient Athens Priene City Block
Ancient Athens Houses
Houses in Priene