ARCH 233 Chapter 4 - The Greek World PDF

CHAPTER 4 The GREEK ARCH 233 - History & Theory of Architecture I WORLD P P R E PA R E D B Y M AYA K A M A R E D D I N E TO PI C H I G H L I GHTS CHAPTER OUTLINE Minoan and Mycenaean Greece...

CHAPTER 4 The GREEK ARCH 233 - History & Theory of Architecture I WORLD P P R E PA R E D B Y M AYA K A M A R E D D I N E TO PI C H I G H L I GHTS CHAPTER OUTLINE Minoan and Mycenaean Greece The Archaic Period: The Greek Orders The Classic Period: The Acropolis The Agora The Hellenistic Period Art, Philosophy and Democracy: From the mid-18th century, Greek temples, statuary, and literature became admired as examples of the highest possible art. It was during the Golden age of Athens that political democracy and the rule of law were established, and the hugely charismatic monuments of the Acropolis, including the Parthenon were built.  The tough, resilient fiber of the Greeks was formed in response to an environment that could change dramatically in an instant, for besides violent thunderstorms, the region is prone to earthquakes dangers seldom encountered by the Egyptians. The agricultural economy of the Greeks was based on small farms individually owned and operated, and both this economy and the rugged landscape prevented consolidation of the many separated Greek city-states into a single centralized nation. Nonetheless, the Greeks shared a common religion and a rich subtle language. The Greeks identified themselves as a whole, whatever their individual city-state allegiance, as Hellenes and their land, as Hellas. Watch: Ancient Greece 101 | National Geographic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bDrYT Greece: The Land of Mountains & Seas XQLu8 Unlike Egypt, where the river and desert encouraged a particularly static culture, Greece’s very different geography and climate influenced a more dynamic culture. Everywhere, the Greek landscape is rough, a corrugated mass of limestone and marble mountain ridges extending into the sea like fingers, sheltering innumerable bays and coves. There is little flat soil except in coastal plains and occasional inland valleys. Farming was always difficult. Travel from one valley or plain to the next was always treacherous; hence, the Greeks turned to the sea very early as their major highway, and this risk-taking on the seas, in turn, bred in the Greeks an adventurousness of spirit, a love of action, and a readiness to put their strength to the test. Minoan and Mycenaean Greece Historians recognize two separate civilizations in the Aegean during the second millennium: that of the Minoans, based on Crete, and that of the Mycenaeans, established at several sites on the mainland of Greece. They share some artistic and cultural traits, including a reliance on trade with other communities in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Cyprus. Both civilizations contributed to the cultural patrimony of classical Greece. Watch: https://youtu.be/tu5mKn3_h7Y The GREEK TEMPLES 1 Greek temples, like Egyptian ones, tended to follow set patterns, which were regarded as ideal forms. 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 2 Variations are few in any given period, tending to reflect the choice of a particular classical order, rather than new and a place to keep offerings. and novel design. A cult image was centrally located within a naos, or cella ( pronounced Kella ). 3 The grandeur and evident expense of a temple can be seen in the number of columns employed. In the mild climate of Greece, ceremonies generally took place outdoors. Even the alter, upon which sacrifices were made, were outside the temple structure. Greek temple types The ORDERS of Architecture 1 The DORIC, the sturdiest was based on the proportions of a man; the IONIC was lighter in character to reflect the During the ARCHAIC PERIOD the original wooden proportions of a woman; and the Corinthian, slenderest of columns were replaced with stone, perhaps to provide all, had a highly decorated capital to suggest the form better support for roof tiles that were significantly and proportions or a young maiden. heavier than thatch. The transition to stone construction was influenced by Egyptian precedent and technology. 2 The Doric originated on the mainland of Greece, while the Ionic developed on the islands of the Aegean and the coast or Asia Minor. The Corinthian order only appeared The Greeks also developed a highly stylized treatment later. for columns, capitals, and the supported members, the entablature. In the sixteenth century CE these were termed the orders of architecture, the term by which we 3 Each order has its own particular combination elements. All columns have a stylobate, a column (post), of know them today. Vitruvius, the Roman architect whose the entablature (lintel) and the pediment on top. first-century BCE writings were based in part on earlier now-lost Greek texts, names three orders. Watch: https://youtu.be/nrRJkzXl4a4 THE CLASSICAL ORDERS  Represents the proportions of a man’s body, its strength and THE DORIC ORDER beauty. Made up of three Guttae elements Stylobate - a podium raised three steps on which the temple sits Column Entablature Had a height of between 5 and 6 times its diameter Shaft is usually divided into 20 shallow flutes.  The Ionic column is said to represent the shape of a women with its delicacy and feminine THE IONIC ORDER slenderness. The ionic column including the capital and base had a height of 9 to 10 times its diameter It has 24 flutes. One of the limitations of the Ionic order is that it is designed to be seen from the front only IONIC vs. CORINTHIAN CAPITAL  The Corinthian column, the most ornate of the three orders, THE CORINTHIAN ORDER represents the figure of a maiden. This order is similar in its proportions to the Ionic order but has a different capital. The core of the capital is shaped like an inverted bell. The bell-like capital is decorated with rows of carved acanthus leaves Because of its symmetry, the Corinthian capital is designed to be seen from all directions GREEK CITY PLANNING 1 The Acropolis (derived from the Greek words "akron," meaning "highest" and "polis," meaning "city”) was the The most important political contribution of Greek sacred site dedicated to various gods, and where a civilization was the invention of democracy in the polis succession of temples was built. of Athens, spread with particular enthusiasm by Athenians to the cities over which Athens had influence. 2 At the base of the Acropolis, paths leading out to the surrounding farms eventually became streets, and along The polis can be translated into “city-state”. one of these, a roughly triangular, open space was set Most Greek poleis ( plural of polis ) grew gradually, aside as the agora, whose boundaries were defined by focused on and growing around the remains of the surrounding houses and public buildings. Bronze Age citadels. This growth can easily be seen in Athens, that had three main components: the acropolis, which was the great ritual and spiritual core of the city; 3 The agora was the social, economic, and communal heart of the Greek city, the open space where political the agora, which was its economic hub; and the urban trade was carried on, students were taught, and the fabric itself, where one found small shrines and temples. business of the polis (politics) was discussed. CITY PLANNING City of ATHENS CITY PLANNING City of ATHENS ACROPOLIS 1 The overall layout of the Acropolis was designed to enhance the sense of procession. A visitor would first The Classic Period emerge from the eastern portico of the Propylaea to see a great statue of Athena close by, just left off center, The acropolis of Athens sits on a great isolated slab of balancing the majestic Parthenon, which rose farther back limestone accessed from the West. Already fortified with on the right-hand side. a wall by the Mycenaeans, it was held to be invested with divine presences from ancient times. 2 Even though the entrance to Greek temples is placed axially, it was the intention of the architects of the The buildings on the Athenian Acropolis are disposed in Acropolis that visitors should first view the Parthenon a manner that seems almost random yet is actually from below, at an angle where the west pediment and long carefully planned to respond to particular qualities of north colonnade presented the essence of the temple's the site when experienced on foot. volume at a single glance. From the earliest times, the route of the Panathenaic Way from the Agora to the Acropolis crossed a winding, 3 Only experiencing after the stepped path up the western side of the escarpment. (As totality of the exterior most Greek temples face the east, this means the initial would the drama of view one has is of the back sides of buildings.) the interior be unfolded. A variety of architectural forms created a sequence involving anticipation and fulfillment. THE ACROPLOIS City of ATHENS The Journey to the Acropolis The Acropolis planning creates the impression of majesty atop unapproachable heights. Movement up the west slope was not direct (as the Romans later made it), but along a zigzag path that swept back and forth across the Acropolis axis. As one approached the hillside from the southwest, the first clear form was the Temple of Athena Nike on its high platform. It disappeared and reappeared dramatically as one moved up the ramp. At this point, the Propylaea emerged with its twin Doric wings lifting above Athena Nike structure, drawing the visitor toward the monumental center. Through it, one could glimpse the spacious hilltop and the principal Acropolis buildings: three forms vied for attention. The closest was Phidias’s 10m bronze statue of Athena Promachos directly opposite the Propylaea. In the typically Greek way, following an unwritten rule that avoids strictly frontal views of monuments, the statue faced the Propylaea at a slight angle, enough to give a three- quarter perspective toward the Propylaea. This colossal Athena dominated the entrance. To bring either temple into full sight, one had to move on, possibly to the Erechtheion north porch, past the Porch of the Maidens toward the Parthenon, the end of the architectural odyssey, where one would gaze up at the tympanum and other reliefs and peer through the bronze cella door at its east front to catch sight of the other colossal statue, the gold and ivory Athena Parthenos. THE ACROPLOIS City of ATHENS ACROPOLIS: PROPYLAEA 1 The Propylaea, grand entrance gateway to the acropolis, is essentially a Doric portico with two wings. The central distance between the columns is wider than the rest, reflecting the processional way mat passed through the axial colonnaded space into the sacred precinct of the Acropolis. 2 Three pairs of Ionic columns line the passageway, because the rising ground level and scale of the space dictated the choice of a more slender order. A second Doric portico terminated the Propylaea's central section. 3 Its northern wing was a megaron, perhaps used as a picture gallery or banqueting hall, while on the south side there was a porch preceding the freestanding Temple of Athena Nike. THE PROPYLAEA ACROPOLIS ACROPOLIS: TEMPLE OF ATHENA NIKE 1 This is a simple sanctuary that housed a wooden image of Athena holding her helmet and a pomegranate, a symbol of fertility. Four Ionic columns create a portico before the eastern entrance, and an identical set is placed at the western (rear) side, which is the elevation seen clearly from below the Acropolis. 2 Built for Athena, the Goddess of war and wisdom, the temple was made of marble and adorned with a sculptural frieze all around that was customary in Greek temple construction. 3 Although it is an Ionic building, the columns are relatively low (7:1 in comparison to the norm of 9:1 or 10:1) probably to align the Nike temple with the massive 5:1 proportion of its large neighbor, the Doric Propylaea. Its side walls incline slightly in a visual refinement common to the Doric order. The Nike Temple is the first element of the Acropolis seen as one approaches. ACROPOLIS: PARTHENON Largest and most famous of the temples was the Parthenon (448-432 BCE), a great temple to Athena Parthenos (“Athena the Maiden”), goddess of war and wisdom, and patron goddess of the city. An earlier temple, known as the Older Parthenon, had been begun but was still incomplete when the Persians destroyed it in 480. The new temple, designed by the architects lktinos and Kallikrates and built of the finest marble from Mount Pentelicus, was erected on the same site, with enlargements, and probably made use of column drums and metopes carved for the older temple. Gold and ivory sculpture of Athena created by Pheidias, who it is believed also supervised all the sculpture carved for the temple. Must watch: https://youtu.be/tWDflkBZC6U  1 The Parthenon is a Doric temple, eight columns wide by ACROPOLIS: PARTHENON seventeen deep (proportional system of (2x + 1)) but is unusual for several reasons: 1. its large size—it measures roughly 30.9 by 69.5 m. 2. Although a Doric temple, it incorporates Ionic attributes, including slender column proportions and a continuous frieze around the exterior of the cella wall. 3. It has eight columns making it the only octastyle peripteral temple built in ancient Greece. (six columns was more traditional). 4. It is double chambered naos. 5. Its sculptures depict for the first time, ordinary mortals, Athenians. Prior to this, only gods and semi- divine heroes were depicted in temple sculpture. 2 The aspects that have made the Parthenon so special from the time of its creation include the extraordinary precision of its construction and the subtleties and refinements used in its design such as Entasis that was used to create a sense of repose. Small adjustments in the horizontal and vertical lines of the structure enhance the perception of orthogonal geometry. THE PARTHENON ACROPOLIS ACROPOLIS: PARTHENON Although the temple was built with the Doric order, massive and austere, benefitting the goddess of war, the roof of the Parthenon chamber was supported by more delicate Ionic columns inside. The temple has two chambers: the larger chamber, housing a huge standing figure of Athena, helmeted and carrying a spear and a shield made of gold and ivory and was created by Pheidias. To the west was the nearly square chamber called the Parthenon (the term was later extended and applied to the entire building), housing a treasury of offerings to Athena including the silver throne from which Xerxes watched his ships go down to defeat in the Bay of Salamis. THE PARTHENON ACROPOLIS THE PARTHENON ACROPOLIS  1 Sculptures adorned both the outside and the inside of the Parthenon. The two end pediments were filled with over-lifesize figures representing, on the east, the birth of Athena witnessed by the gods, and on the west, the contest between THE PARTHENON Athena and Poseidon for control of Athens. ACROPOLIS 2 The metopes contained relief sculptures commemorating the victory over the Persians, and illustrating in various ways the struggle between logos and chaos, between civilization and barbarism. ACROPOLIS: ERECHTHEION Across from the north side of the Parthenon stands the more complex form of the Erechtheion, on the site of the that was also regarded as the location of the contest between Athena and Poseidon. The Ionic was chosen as the most suitable order for a temple built on two different levels to accommodate the uneven site. The eastern portico, distinguished by its slender Ionic columns, led to Athena's sanctuary, where an ancient wooden image of the goddess was housed, while the north porch, ten feet lower, gave access to Poseidon's shrine through an even more elongated Ionic portico. Must watch: https://youtu.be/3ebYvMC12HI THE ERECHTHEION ACROPOLIS  Four Ionic columns, partially engaged in the wall, extend across the west facade to the south, where the roof of the splendid porch facing THE ERECHTHEION the Parthenon is supported by the six Caryatid maidens. ACROPOLIS Their pose is graceful, with one knee bent slightly and drapery revealing the form beneath. The base of the caryatid porch is the north foun- dation wall of the destroyed Temple of Athena Polias, and the caryatids look out to the Parthenon across the ruins of the former temple, which were deliberately left exposed as an eternal reminder of the devastation wrought by the Persians. AGORA 1 The agora served Athens as a place of business and discussion, no residential or domestic functions were Greek city, which appears to have haphazard found inside, however, residences were surrounding the arrangement, unfolds before the visitor as a logical area. sequence in an ordered and balanced universe. Planners used surprise and a changing perspective to reveal the 2 The Democratic society of Greece had to have center of their business and new democratic government, and the full drama of the architectural forms. A similar spatial approach to the Acropolis was taken in the layout of the agora became just this. The law courts were located here Athenian Agora. as well as the location for public city council meetings. Aside from temples, and altars, Greek architectural energies were directed also at secular architecture, best 3 Despite the central location and cultural prominence of the agora, the space was not open to all Athenians. Only demonstrated in Athens by the Agora: a combination of land-owning male citizens were permitted into the agora marketplace and civic center. to take part in the various activities found there. AGORA: STOAS As a type, the stoa was the most important component of Greek Agora planning. Giving protection from the elements, yet open, defining both internal and outer sites, the stoa was used for a wide range of public purposes- political, economic, financial, even philosophic. It is deceptively simple. The most basic version was formed by a rear wall, a front colonnade, and a connecting roof. This fundamental type could be expanded in depth to two aisles and in height to two stories; in plan it could be shaped into an L or even a U (but never a completely closed square, a Roman form of total control over space uncharacteristic of Greek design). The stoas were thoroughly urban buildings, providing space for merchants to trade in and inviting citizens to participate in the public life of the city, an important aspect of Greek society. In the colonnaded walkways of the stoas, one had a sense of shelter while at the same time being connected to the larger open space. AGORA STOA One of Socrates's favorite meeting places was, in fact, the Stoa of Zeus. This stoa was only one of several on the Agora. The grandest-the Stoa of Attalus II shown in the pictures. AGORA: BOULEUTERION 1 The bouleuterion was one type, designed to house the boule, or council, of the polis. The bouleuterion of Athens, on the west side of the agora, was larger than most, but the small bouleuterion at Priene, built about 200 BCE, survives in better condition. 2 The bouleuterion was an ambitious project, built on a nearly square plan to accommodate the 500 senators who comprised the elected government of Athens. 3 A columned porch led directly to the senate chamber, with seats in teared rows along three sides of the rectangular space. The columns were pushed back beyond the rear rows of seats (leaving an aisle for circulation behind them), and the larger space was spanned by a triangular/trussed roof whose structure allowed unob- structed seating within a beautifully proportioned and articulated space. Priene bouleuterion THEATRES The largest Greek public buildings were open to the air and included theaters and stadia for athletic contests. A stadion might be used only at certain times of the year, but the theater was nearly as important to civic life as was the agora. Drama productions began as religious rituals for the god Dionysus and, by the time of Pericles, had become an important means of defining and elaborating the ideal of civic and moral integrity. Going to the theater was a celebration of community spirit; the plays were not only entertainment but contributed to the political education. it was fortunate that the Greek climate made it possible to build theaters in the open, because Greeks did not have a practical way to cover a building seating up to14,000 people, the number accommodated in the theater at Epidauros.  THEATRES Multiple theatres were constructed in many Greek cities. There were three basic parts: the theatron (“seeing place”), or the spectators’ seating area built into the side of a hill carved out to form a bowl; an orchestra (“dancing place”), the circular floor, where the actors orated and the chorus sang and danced, and the skene , a low structure forming a backdrop behind the orchestra. Most remarkably, the acoustical design worked so well that words spoken in a normal voice from the orchestra In Greek theaters projected intelligibly to all seats. (as distinct from Roman examples), the seating formed Greek theatres were part of the natural landscape, and the more than a half circle (about 200°), skene was relatively low so that the audience members and the skene could raise their eyes to look out from the theater over structure was little more than one the landscape of their polis. story high. THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD The close of the Classical age in Greece is generally associated with the reign of Alexander the Great. 1 As the Doric order was intimately connected with the mainland of Greece, its use diminished in favor of the more ornate Ionic order, which reflected an oriental The term “Hellenistic" is applied to the art and architec- exuberance typical of the Ionian colonies. ture associated with the extended empire of Alexander and his successors, including the Seleucids, who ruled the area stretching from Anatolia to the Indus, and the 2 The meticulous sculptural ornamentation and coordination of column spacing required by the Doric were Ptolemies, who ruled in Egypt. not part of either the Ionic or Corinthian orders, and to simplify the carving, the frieze runs continuously without Hellenistic architecture differs from that of the Classical metopes or triglyphs. period by shifting away from serious traditions associated clearly with the region around Athens in favor of showier and freer interpretations as found along the western coast of Asia Minor. TEMPLE OF APOLLO The Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassai designed by Iktinos, employs all three orders: the Doric for the external colonnade, the Ionic for the cella side columns and the Corinthian for the single axial column placed at the end of the cella. A statue of Apollo was set adjacent to this column so that it faced to the east through an opening in the cella wall. Among Greek temples, this one is unusual for its orientation; the main entrance faces north, rather than east. The. temple at Bassai is the first known use of the Corinthian order, and also marks the first time the Ionic was used for a cella interior.  The tholos is a circular building approximately seventy-two feet in diameter. Epidauros was dedicated to the son of Apollo. It is part of a large complex dedicated to healing through exercise, diet, and medical care. The tholos is a small part of a site that included a stadium, gymnasia, a THOLOS theatre, altars, fountains and baths, temples, and accommodation for patients. Its external colonnade was composed of 26 Doric columns, and there were fourteen freestanding Corinthian columns in the inner circular colonnade fitted into a black-and- white rhomboidal flooring pattern. The ceiling had ornate coffers with floral decorations. THE HELLENISTIC CITIES 1 Hippodamus of Miletus is often regarded as the father of city planning. His contribution seems to have involved Greek city planning was not always as asymmetrical and merging the religious, social, and commercial elements of evolutionary in form as the Agora in Athens. The Greeks the city center with regular blocks of houses adjusted to were perfectly capable of producing regular, orthogonal fit the particular circumstances of the topography. town plans and frequently employed them for colonial cities such as cities as Priene in turkey, and Alexandria in egypt, which had a street pattern that produced 2 Hippodamus's design went beyond specifying the location of civic buildings, the layout of streets, and the greatly elongated rectangular blocks. positioning of open spaces, to encompass design of typical single-family houses for an estimated population While many cities grew organically over time, others of 15,000 to 20,000. Houses were consistently oriented were rebuilt, often after suffering war damage, with their major rooms opening to the south, and the according to the new, more regular town-planning megaron form already familiar from Mycenaean times was principles. used again as the basic living unit of the house. CHAPTER REFERENCE & READINGS What’s next? All the information listed in this chapter along with images, unless listed differently, are based on the book: Roth, L.M. & Clark, A.C.R. 2014, Understanding architecture: its elements, history, and meaning, Third edn, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado. Chapter 11 Fazio, M., Moffett, M., & Wodehouse, L. (2009). A world history of architecture Chapter 2 Glancey, J., (2006). Architecture: Eyewitness companions. Fletcher, B., A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method.