PART 4:

GREEK
ARCHITECTURE
(TYPES OF BUILDINGS)

History of Architecture 1
GREEK ARCHITECTURE
 Ancient Greek architecture is widely revered for its
formal elements that have come to be called “classical.”

 These include a canon of proportion based on the

human body, symmetry and harmony in terms of the
relationship between all parts and the whole, and a
standardized design created for a variety of building types.

 Greek buildings, made of stone, were highly sculptural,

free-standing monuments of enduring appeal.
 GREEK ARCHITECTURE

 Greek architecture is a very

specific and influential type of
design, which was based off of
the post-and-lintel system.

 A structural system with a

raking, or slanted roof, which
provided for the use of
triangular pediments on either
short end of the rectangular
structure.
TYPES OF BUILDINGS

Greek Architecture
TYPES OF BUILDINGS
 Temples: Temples are the most common type of public
buildings in ancient Greece. The purpose of a temple
was to store a religious statue.

 Greek temples are described according to the number of

columns on the entrance front, the type of colonnade,
and the type of portico.
GREEK TEMPLE SITES
TYPES OF BUILDINGS
 Temples were actually framed in the landscape by a
temenos, or sacred precinct, which could consist of
something as simple as a row of stones but could also be
a built-up wall.
 The temenos was the territory of the deity and had to be
approached in a prescribed manner and entered only at a
special place defined by a propylon (i.e., pro-pylon, or
“before the gate”).
ACROPOLIS PLAN
The PROPYLAEA
at the Acropolis
The PROPYLAEA
at the Acropolis
The PROPYLAEA (437–432 BCE) is approached
by a massive ramp 20 meters wide and 80 meters
long. The central parts are ceremonial and
symmetrical; the outlying spaces serve various
functions. To the left was a banquet hall, or
PINACOTHECA, that reached to the very edge of
the Acropolis wall.
The PROPYLAEA
at the Acropolis
The area to the south led to the Temple of Athena
Nike (ca. 427 BCE), which was the first construction
on the Acropolis following the devastation by the
Persians. It was also the first temple on the Acropolis
to be built in the Ionic style and the first temple built
entirely of Pentelic marble. In this area there was also
a statue to Hermes, a god traditionally associated
with boundaries.
PINACOTHECA
ACROPOLIS, Athens
TEMPLE OF ATHENA
NIKE
Acropolis, Athens, Greece
 TEMPLE OF ATHENA
NIKE
Acropolis, Athens, Greece
PARTHENON, Athens
PARTHENON, Athens
ACROTERION - the figures or ornaments at the
lower angles or apex of a pediment. Carvings that
were placed where the roof and the cornice meet and
at the top of the pediment. They were often statues
or faces of mythological creatures.

Detail of the pediment of the Parthenon

Statue of ATHENA
in the PARTHENON,
Athens
 PARTHENON, Athens
Ictinus, Callicrates and Carpion
(architects of the Parthenon)
Pheidias
(sculptor of the Parthenon)
ENTASIS is a countermeasure that corrects for an optical distortion: numerous parallel
vertical lines appear slightly concave.

Diagram of the curved stylobate and inclined vertical axes of the

perimeter columns of the Parthenon
ERECTHEUM from the south, as it stands today
ERECTHEUM Plan
ERECTHEUM
CARYATID porch, Erectheum, Acropolis
 THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO
was made in the 5th century BC but not finished until the 4th century
The Temple of Apollo at Corinth,
one of the earliest stone-built Doric
temples. Note the monolithic
columns.
THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS
THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS was most recognized as the perfect Doric example.
THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS
TEMPLE OF CONCORD in Agrigento
TEMPLE OF HERA in Segesta
TYPES OF BUILDINGS
 Tholos: a circular temple of Ancient Greece.
 The Tholos at Athens, a building which housed the
Prytaneion, or seat of government, in ancient Athens

 The Tholos at Delphi, a circular building located approximately

800 metres from the main site of the ruined Temple of Apollo

 The Tholos at Epidaurus, a circular building with an ornate

astronomical floor design
TYPES OF BUILDINGS
 Theatres: The theatres were large, open-air structures
constructed on the slopes of hills.
 They consisted of three main elements: the orchestra,
the skene, and the theatron.
The 4th century stone version of the THEATRE OF DIONYSUS ELEUTHEREUS, on the slopes of
the acropolis of Athens. The theatre was orginally constructed in the 6th century BCE.
 THEATRE OF DELPHI
The capacity of the theatre was around 5,000 spectators.
THEATRE PARODOI, Epidaurus
TYPES OF BUILDINGS
 Agora: an open meeting-places for the transaction of
public business, were large open spaces surrounded by
stoa or open colonnades, giving access to the public
buildings, such, as temples, basilicas, stadion (racecourse),
and the palaestrae or gymnasia.
STOA
STOA OF ATTALOS
STOA OF ATTALOS
TYPES OF BUILDINGS
 Bouleuterion: as council house, assembly
house, and senate house, was a building in ancient
Greece which housed the council of citizens (boulē) of
a democratic city state. Remnants of bouleuterion
survive at Athens, Olympia and Miletus, the latter having
held up to 1200 people.
BOULEUTERION at Miletus
TYPES OF BUILDINGS
 Prytaneion: was the seat of government in ancient
Greece. The Prytaneion normally stood in centre of the
city, in the agora. The building contained the holy fire
of Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, and symbol of the
life of the city.
PRYTANEION
TYPES OF BUILDINGS
 Stadion: a foot racecourse found in cities where games
were celebrated, and it came eventually to be used for
other athletic performances.
 Hippodrome: a similar type of building used for horse
racing.
The STADION AT ATHENS, now completely restored, was commenced in B.C. 331, and
finished by Herodes Atticus, and accommodates between 40,000 and 50,000 people.
 HIPPODROME
a racecourse used for horse racing.
TYPES OF BUILDINGS
 Palaestra or Gymnasia: as at Olympia and Ephesus,
were the prototypes of the Roman thermae, and
comprised exercise courts, tanks for bathers, exedrae or
recesses for lectures, with seats for spectators.
PALAESTRA, Olympia, Greece
TOWN PLANNING
 During the late 5th and 4th centuries BC, town planning
became an important consideration of Greek builders,
with towns such as Paestum and Priene being laid out
with a regular grid of paved streets.
 PAESTUM

Towns such as Paestum and Priene being

laid out with a regular grid of paved
streets.
PRIENE
 GREEK ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTERISTICS
 PLANS
These were simple, well judged, nicely balanced, and
symmetrical, exceptions to the latter being the
Erechtheion and the Propylaea at Athens, and probably
the private houses.
 GREEK ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTERISTICS
 OPENINGS
Door and window openings were spanned with a lintel,
which in a stone building limited the possible width of the
opening.

Temples were constructed without windows, the light to

the naos entering through the door. It has been suggested
that some temples were lit from openings in the roof.
 GREEK ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTERISTICS
 ROOFS
The widest span of a temple roof was across the cella, or
internal space. In a large building, this space contains
columns to support the roof, the architectural form being
known as hypostyle.
 GREEK ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTERISTICS
 COLUMN AND LINTEL
The architecture of Ancient Greece is of a trabeated or
"post and lintel" form, i.e. it is composed of upright beams
(posts) supporting horizontal beams (lintels).
 GREEK ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTERISTICS
 COLUMNS
The Doric is the oldest and plainest of the orders, The
Ionic was more ornate. The Corinthian was little used
by the Greeks. Caryatids and Canephora or carved
female figures which were sometimes used in the place
of columns.
Caryatid Canephora
 GREEK ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTERISTICS
 MOULDINGS
(a.) The cyma-recta (Hogarth's "line of beauty"). When
enriched it is carved with the honeysuckle ornament.
(b.) The cyma reversa. When enriched it is carved
with the water-lily and tongue.
(c.) The ovolo (egg-like). When enriched it is carved
with the egg and dart, or egg and tongue ornament.
(d.) The fillet, a small plain face to separate other
mouldings.This is usually without enrichment.
 GREEK ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTERISTICS
 MOULDINGS
(e.) The bead serves much the same purpose as the
fillet, and approaches a circle in section. When enriched
it is carved with the bead and reel or with beads, which
in fact gave the name to the moulding.
(f.) The cavetto is a simple hollow.
(g.)The scotia is the deep hollow occurring in bases,
and is generally not enriched.
 GREEK ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTERISTICS
 MOULDINGS
(h.)The torus is really a magnified bead moulding.
When enriched it is carved with the guilloche or " plat
" ornament, or with bundles of leaves tied with bands .
(i.)The bird's-beak moulding occurs frequently,
especially in the Doric order, and giving a deep shadow
is very suitable for the English climate.
(j.) The corona, the deep vertical face of the upper
portion of the cornice. It was frequently painted with a
Greek "fret" ornament.
 GREEK ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTERISTICS
 ORNAMENTS
The acanthus leaf and scroll play an important part in
Greek ornamentation.
 COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE
 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF GREEK AND ROMAN
ARCHITECTURE (plan, openings, walls, roof, moulding,
ornament, columns, buildings)
 To be submitted on JUNE 11, 2024 F2F SUBMISSION
UNTIL 8AM ONLY.
 Use Sketchbook, 9”x12”/ A3 Size Paper
 Label your drawings (cover sheet for each drawing topic is
necessary)
 Pen and Ink, may also be rendered.
 Note: More informative presentation, the higher grade you
would get
 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF GREEK
AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
GREEK ROMAN
Ancient Greek architecture is widely • Large-scale undertakings, like
revered for its formal elements that city walls and sewers
have come to be called “classical.” • Draining marshes, controlling
rivers and lakes by using
DORIC ORDER channels
• Without base, directly on crepidoma IONIC ORDER
• Height (including capital) of 4 to 6 • Volute or scroll
times the diameter at the base capital (derived from Tuscan Order Composite Order
• Shaft diminishes at top from 3/4 to 2/3 Egyptian lotus and
of base diameter Aegean art)
• Divided into 20 shallow flutes
separated by arises
 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF GREEK
AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
ROMAN
GREEK • Large-scale undertakings, like city walls and
Ancient Greek architecture is widely sewers
revered for its formal elements that • Draining marshes, controlling rivers and lakes
have come to be called “classical.” by using channels

FORUM
AGORA

RECTANGULAR TEMPLE
Temple of Nike Apteros, Athens Maison Caree, Nimes