ARCHITECTURE IN ANCIENT GREECE

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ARCHITECTURE IN ANCIENT GREECE
THE TEMPLE
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Why Temples?

• The Temple is arguably the most characteristic
  and recognisable of all Greek buildings.
• To perform the rituals of worship, nothing more
  than an open air altar was necessary.
• So, Why temples?
• When the Greeks began to build statues for their
  deities it followed that they needed to build a
  shelter to protect them.
• Temples were not constructed to house a
  congregation.

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A Simple Temple Plan

• Temples were constructed in brick, wood or
  undressed stone.
• The statue of the deity was housed in the naos.
• The porch of the temple was called the pronaos.
• The foundation was usually stone.

naos
pronaos
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The simple plan evolving...

• A porch at the rear of the temple was added for
  symmetrical reasons.
• This was called the opisthodomos
• It was not possible to enter the temple from the
  opisthodomos.

opisthodomos
naos
pronaos
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The larger temples
peristyle

• Larger temples were built to stand free in a
  clear space.
• Therefore the temple would be visible from many
  points of view.
• They surrounded the naos with a colonnade of
  columns, called a peristyle

pronaos
naos
opisthodomos
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The Greeks varied and modified their temples
based on these four basic floor plans The
simple temple consisting of just naos and
pronaos The evolution of the simple temple,
containing the addition of a back porch purely
for symmetry called the opisthodomos The
peristyle temple with an impressive appearance
from every angle due to the colonnade of columns
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• This is the ostentatious double peristyle or
  dipteral plan, with two colonnades of columns.
• Only the wealthier poleis could build the
  imposing dipteral temples. These structures
  would have been huge and very costly.

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The Parthenon floor plan

• The Parthenon is classed as a Doric order temple,
  although the floor plan is slightly embellished
  compared to the standard single peristyle floor
  plan.

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• The temple was generally built on a platform
  consisting of three steps.
• The top step was called the stylobate, and on it
  stood the columns of the peristyle and the naos.
• A temple would be carefully positioned within a
  sanctuary
• The goal was to ensure that it was possible to
  tell at first glance that the temple was 3
  dimensional.
• The positioning also aimed to ensure that the
  principle dimensions of the temple (length, width
  and height) could all be taken in at the first
  glance.

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The Hephastion, Athens
naos
stylobate
peristyle
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• Greek Temples were constructed by a relatively
  simple post-and-lintel principle.
• Vertical posts (either columns or walls)
  supported horizontal lintels (entablatures or
  ceilings.)
• By the end of the 7th century BCE stone became
  the preferred material.
• Today, the only temples with substantial remains
  were constructed of stone.
• The two main types of stone used were coarse
  limestone and marble.

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• It was not until the final stages of building
  that the columns were fluted - meaning vertical
  channels were carved into the shafts.
• The columns and the entablature were designed so
  that they belonged to one of two orders - the
  Doric order, or the Ionic order.
• In each order the proportion of the elements and
  the scheme in which they were decorated were all
  coordinated with each other.

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The Doric Order
Triglyph and metope
Capital and abecus
Architrave and frieze
Column shafts
The Doric order was characterized by being
strong, simple and massive.
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The Ionic Order
Cornice
Frieze
Abecus and architrave
Volute capitals
The Ionic order is characteristically delicate
and ornate
Column shafts
Column bases
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• Despite minor derivations, each order always
  preserved its own special character.
• At the end of the 5th Century BCE the Corinthian
  capital was invented. It was very popular and
  was as an alternative to the Ionic capital.

DORIC
IONIC
CORINTHIAN
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Elements and Principles of design AESTHETIC
QUALITIES