5. 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.
6. Wood Features in Ston
By the 6th Century BC,
stone replaced wood in the
construction of important
temples.
Designs still reflected their
origins in wood, however.
8. 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.
9. Origins
Greek temples, like
Egyptian temples,
used basic post-
and-beam
construction.
This is sometimes
referred to as
trabeated.
10. 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
11. Origins
Some experts feel that the
entices, 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.
12. 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.
13. - Entasis was used by the Greeks while building monuments to correct optical
illusions. Entasis is Greek for swelling or tension and relates to a convex
curve incorporated into upright structures like columns and spires, according to
Encyclopedia Britannica.
If a column does not have entasis it will not appear to be straight particularly in
very large buildings. The Greeks began using entasis with their Doric columns.
The Greeks, in proportioning their Doric columns, arrived at an apparent system of
entasis that is very different from the method the Roman employed with their
columns. No part of the outline of the Doric column is parallel with its axis or
center line. From the very bottom, the shaft slopes in towards the center, this
slope increasing as it nears the neck of the column, in portions of arcs of circles of
a varying though large radius.
The Romans, used a much more simple method for the entasis on their
columns. For the most part - the bottom third of the column in non-tapered or
straight and the tapering begins at for the following 2/3rds of the shaft.
Entasis
14. The Temples: Forms & Elements
The Greeks devised both the
shape and the image of the
“perfect” temple, which lasted
over the centuries until the 19th
century, after its rediscover
at the beginning of the 15th
century.
The most important artistic novelties of Greek architecture were the Three Orders,
They are the whole rules, both geometrical and mathematical, through which every
architectural element of the temple is linked to all the others and to the whole
Building. The three Greek architectural orders are: Doric – Ionic – Corinthian.
The Greek temples are also grouped according to their typology.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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.
22. 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.
24. 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
26. Ionic: Temple of Athena Nike – Acropolis Athens c. 427 BCArchitecture
27. Temple of Athena Nike
Designed by the architect of
Parthenon Kallikrates, it was
probably build at 427 BC in pure
Ionic style from Pentelic marble.
Due to the of lack of money, the
Peloponnesian war and internal
political strife's the temple was not
build at once. The thorakion with
the victories was constructed
around 410 BC, after the war
victories of Alkibiades. It was
damaged in the explosion of 1645
AD, and the columns were
restored, as close as possible, to
the originals.
41. The Ionic Order
These have greater
elegance.
The capital has
distinctive volutes.
The shaft is thinner
than its Doric
equivalent.
A base is apparent.
42. The Corinthian Order
This is also a tall,
elegant form.
The capital has
distinctive acanthus
leaf decoration.
A base is also
employed.
43.
44. References:
Sir Banister Fletcher- A History of Architecture. (Twentieth Edition)
Emily Cole- The Grammar of Architecture
Louis Hellman- Architecture for beginners
THANK YOU.
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