Greek Architecture is
the most important and influential in Western history. Reaching a peak
between 400 and 300 BC, it was developed, some would say vulgarized, by
the Romans and then absorbed into the Byzantine.
The Egyptian palaces
and temples were built for the satisfaction of priests and royalty; the
public at large never penetrated these sanctuaries. Greek society, however
was totally inclusive and stone was used for structures covering uses that
reflected a much wider and more open society in which literature, music,
drama and sport thrived.
Alexander
The Great completed the conquest of Egypt
in the year 333(B.C.) as he drove the Persians out of the country, installing
himself king. He founded the city of Alexandria and went on pilgrimage
to the famous Amoun Temple in Siwa Oasis. After Alexander's death, Ptolemy
- one of his commanders - founded the rule of the Ptolemies (323-30 BC).
During this period, the Greek civilization leaped tremendously forward.
Shown here on the left
is Epidaurus,
an ancient city of Greece on the northeast coast of the Peloponnesus. Its
temple of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, was renowned for its magnificent
sculpture.
The Ptolemies concentrated
on Egypt's foreign trade. A new medical school was also founded in Alexandria
in the year 280 (B.C.). The Ptolemies developed studies in botany and zoology.
In addition, engineering ranked high in mathematics and astronomy advanced
greatly. The Greeks added new styles to Egyptian architecture. They were
illustrated in graveyards, houses and Greek temples. The Greeks were influenced
in their architecture by ancient Egyptian art and ornamentation. On the
other hand, Egyptians preserved their traditional character in decorating
their walls, temples and funerary edifices.
The art of Architecture
throughout the western world has never been disengaged from the theory
and practices concentrated upon the construction of Greek temples between
700-500 BC. Buildings of apperant simplicity, the Greek temples embodied
a develpoment that unfolded over 200 years, and resulted in the highest
refinement of technique and proportion.
As Greek Architecture
presents the peak of pure abstract design, then its greatest single masterpiece
was the
Parthenon, built, or rather rebuilt, after destruction by the Persians,
in about 440 BC. This temple which houses the golden statue of the virgin
Athena, is the dominant building of the Acropolis, a group of temples built
on a hill outside Athens. The majority of early Greek temple were constructed
from Parian marble. This has a smooth, hard and creamy consistency, it
could be tooled easily on either axis, and was capable of taking a fine
polish. Later from about 500 BC onwards, stone was quarried from the Pentelic
Mountains, more readily accessible to Athens.
The precision with which
the stones were cut and laid would be a match for us today. The faces of
the stone which abutted one another were dressed to be concave, facilitating
the close fitting of the hairline joints on the exposed faces of the stones.
In this manner, the stone were so exactly matched that they were set with
dry joints - without any additional setting agents to fill the gap within
the stones.
Click here for some magnificent view of the Parthenon and the Delphi which I had created.
The
Greek used the column, as a pillar to support a building and occasionally
as a freestanding monument. Columns may have a circular or polygonal cross
section and are at least four times taller than they are wide. In classical
architecture, a column is a shaft that usually rests on a base and is topped
by an enlarged section called a capital.
The ancient Greeks developed three distinctive, carefully proportioned styles of columns: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. In all three styles, the surface of the shaft is grooved with shallow vertical flutings.
The Doric column has no base and a heavy shaft; its capital is an undecorated, square slab resting on a disc. The joining method for a Doric column involved square inserts in the center of each block, joined with a pin. Lifting bossed to aid positioning of each block would be cut off when the building was completed. Click here to have a better picture of the Coldrum.
The Ionic column is more tapered than the Doric, slimmer and more elegant. It rises from a richly molded circular base, and is topped with a capital decorated by spiral forms.
The
Corinthian shaft is slender, and the ornately decorated capital is
carved in the shape of an inverted bell.
The Romans added two
types of columns to the Greek orders. The Tuscan is an unfluted modification
of the Doric. The Composite has the Ionic shaft and a more ornate Corinthian
capital.
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