urban design

Greek Ancient
agora civilization
 Unit 2: historic urban form

Team Content

Mohammad yunus History

G.Suganya Timeline
R.Gayathri Urban pattern
R.Poornima Agora - a brief study
City state - Athens and Sparta
Varieties between and within cities
Town and cities - spatial development
 History of greek

Greek CIVILIZATION started around 2000 B.C. By 1600 B.C, the

Greek people had built fortified cities in the major valleys .

Historians divide ancient Greek civilization into two eras, the

Hellenic period (900 BC to the death of Alexander the
Great in 323 BC), and the Hellenistic period (323 BC to 30 AD).

Before the Hellenic era, two major cultures are the

Minoan (c. 2800–1100 BC), and the Mycenaean (c. 1500–1100 BC).

The Minoan - The culture of the people of ancient Crete, known

for decorated palaces, painted with floral and marine motifs.
Mycenaean - Peloponnesus people built citadels, fortifications and tombs .

DECLINE - Due to volcanic devastation and invasion by the Dorian people.

Greecewars, including the Trojan War around 1200 B.C.

During the DARK AGE, knowledge of
writing was lost and most people lived in isolated villages.

Around 477 B.C., two city-states, ATHENS AND SPARTA,

became powers in that region fought each other for power.

Greek culture spread widely, as the Alexander’s conquest of

other lands, and later as a result of the rise of the Roman Empire.

 greek - 900 BC until the 1st century AD
 Access to the sea increased trade & sharing ideas with other cultures Mountains divided the greeks into independent city-states like athens and sparta.rta

black sea

medditeranean sea

Geography

I. Greece is a peninsula surrounded by the Aegean, Mediterranean and Ionian Seas - fishing and trading by sea are major activities.

II. Greece is mountainous

The land is only 20% arable (able to be farmed) because it is mountainous,rocky, and dry. It is hard to travel by land, citystates isolated from each other.

III. Climate

Mediterranean Climate, similar to Central California. It has warm, dry summers and cool rainy winters.
Greeks like sports and doing things together.
The geography of Greece greatly influenced its development.
 Location map

1.GREEK SETTLEMENT AROUND THE WORLD

2.SETTLEMENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

3. THE MAIN CITY & STATES OF THE GREECE

4. THE LARGEST STATES OF THE SETTLEMENT

 Chronology

Their values Timeline

Life ,society and culture Way of life

People

Monarchyrule -by a king or queen Oligarchyrule -by a rich

Democracyrule -by the people Tyrannyrule -by one
Values and attitudes

The Greeks were the pio-

neer of the art form of
drama & statues
Ancient greek
gods - from nature

Greeks found that the

earth was round and the
circumference of the Earth.
Invented Democracy and
Philosophy.
Architecture

propylon
cemetery
acropolis
defensive walls
bouleterion
stoa
temple
shrine
fountain house
statues of heroes,
gods & people
gymnasion
stadion
openair theater
Greek City Planning and Design
A city-state is a geographic area that has one
major central city.The Greek City was
usually divided into three parts; the
acropolis, the agora and the town.

They are of circular shape when

developed around an Acropolis, Athens, or
rectangular if they are built on a peninsula

The built-up city was very small. Even

ancient cities, such as Athens,
have accurate plans and
the average area of the
ancient city was hardly 1.8 sq. km.

Athens,provides one of the first exam-

ples of a city-state in the ancient world
These citystates, called poleis were
consisting of a city and its territory
 The city state- spatial development

Based on 3 ideas:
Geographical territory
Community it represented
Economic independence it produced

The ancient Greek civilization had principles for planning cities

City form were of two types Old cities -

Athens irregular street plans reflect their gradual organic develoment

Colonial cities established during the Hellenistic period, had a grid-iron

street plan

Diagrammatically, we visualize the ancient Greek states as squares of 10

by 10 km., which could be crossed from end to end in 2 hours .

Each family had a plot of 10 by 20 meters, that is to say 200 sq. m

& corresponding public spaces, roads, squares, sanctuaries that were
about 130 sq. m
Ancient Greek City. Evolution of Planning.

Hippodameian system
The form of the ancient town was generally simple.
One could easily move from any part of the city to its
center.
The Acropolis usually located on the highest ground.
Other public buildings
such as gymnasia, stadia, and
theaters were generally regarded religious rituals
They are found attached on lower ground to the hills
of the Acropolis
Perfect composition in four buildings; the Propylea,
the Parthenon, the Erechtheumn, and the temple.
ATHENS - variation within city
Athens is the most typical.
Such cities were developed around or near a hill ,
the acropolis.
That is where the god-protector of the town was
worshipped.
At the beginning it was the seat of the ruler.
Propylaea or porch was a monumental entrance
Fountain houses
Stoa: long narrow hall with an open colonnade.
Agora: commercial centre of the city
Palestra or gymnasium, social centre for male citizens
Bouleterion or council chamber
 ATHENS city - spatial development

Acropolis was the core of the city .

The city gradually developed in wider circles near the acropolis.

With this natural spread of the city a second core was formed at its lower part, the Agora.
This was the center of political, commercial and social gatherings.

The agora gradually became its most important element All the main streets of the town
led radically to this main center.

The best example of Greek emphasis on visualization in design and site planning is seen at
the Acropolis at Athens•
All the buildings on the Acropolis are designed to be seen than use•

All the temples on the Acropolis are place at an angle that enables them to be seen on
two sides•If a building cannot see be from two sides, it is completely hidden
 ATHENS - town

The settlement develops along the streets, which radiate from the city street- the agora-
and lead to the more important neighbouring districts .

Streets were broad and straight , mostly at right angles with open space.

The space in the middle, between the colonnades and open to the sky, ought to be
embellished with green things; for walking in the open air.

Towns had fixed boundaries and some were protected by fortifications.

The town was made up of only residential houses.

Houses were usually constructed of mud bricks

Houses were of the courtyard type, with rooms arranged around a courtyard.

Later Hellenistic towns such as Prienne had a formal rectilinear pattern

 THE AGORA

The core of the town was moved from the acropolis to the agora for two reasons:
a. The development of commerce and handicraft.
b. A shifting of political power from the priests and the monarch to the democracy.

The Agora was the most important gathering place in a Greek city
It was both a market, the seat of government, a center of worship, a workspace and a
venue for entertainment.

It was located on a flat ground for ease of communication and placed to be easily
accessible from all directions .

Civic and religious buildings were progressively erected around the perimeter of the
Agora space and central space is open.

Stoa - served to embellish the boundary of the Agora.

Its sacred character prevented some people entering this space, like children, wicked
criminals or outsiders
 THE AGORA

People would be in the space of the Agora carrying out all sorts of activities with the
Acropolis prominent in the background and the gods hopefully looking after them

The agora is the heart of the ancient Greek city, particularly from the 5th century

All public business, trade, administration, worship, the law courts, were i there, and as
ancient Greek cities were small, there was usually no need for more than one center.

Each person must thus have almost 2 sq. metres of open space

Usually they form right angles and integrated with the street network, without forming
a closed system.

The most usual is the P form with stoas along three sides and a street along the fourth.

The agora is occasionally bounded by a stoa along the fourth side.

THE AGORA - organisation

The main typologies in the Greek Agora were:

Temples

Stoas- a portico or a detached colonnade

These provided shelter and were multifunctional

Agora the appearance of a colonnaded courtyard

Administrative building -

a) Bouleuterion was the council house

Had an anteroom and an auditorium

b) Tholos was a circular hall used for dining by the council

Heliaea – courtyard structure on the S- meeting place

Shrine of Theseus – walled enclosure for wall paintings

Fountain houses- colonnaded structures

Mint – public buildings

Altar dedicated to the 12 Olympian gods

IGymnasias ,stadias added later for the public

THE AGORA
 SPARTA

Sparta reached the height of

its power in 404 B.C. after its vic-
tory against Athens in the
second Peloponnesian war. When it
was in its prime, Sparta had no city walls;
its inhabitants, it seems, preferred to
defend it with men rather than mortar.
Sparta is a city in Laconia, on
the Peloponnese in Greece.
In antiquity, it was a powerful citys-
tate with a famous martial tradition.

Four villages -Limnae, Pitana, Mesoa

and Cynosoura, which are located
near what would be the Spartan
acropolis — came togeth-
er to form the early city.
 SPARTA

Spartans are brave and defeated athens and made their territory too big - -
they loved to be martion rather then developing their architecture
even they had too large cities greater than athens
SPARTA - spatial development
Thank you