GREEK

Location
• Greek civilization occurred in
the area around the Greek
mainland, on a peninsula that
extends into the
Mediterranean Sea.
• It started in cities on the Greek
mainland and on islands in the
Aegean Sea.
• Towards the later or Hellenistic
period, Greek civilization
spread to other far away places
including Asia Minor and
Northern Africa.
 PHYSICAL MAP OF GREECE

• Most of the Greek mainland

was rocky and barren and
therefore bad for agriculture.
• Most Greeks therefore lived
along the coastline or on
islands where the soil was
good for farming.
• The Aegean and
Mediterranean Seas provided
a means of communication
and trade with other places.
 Historical Background
Period

• The period of ancient Greek history can be divided into

four as follows:
• 1100 B. C. – 750 B. C. Greek Dark Ages
• 750 B. C. – 490 B. C. Archaic Period
• 5000 B. C. – 323 B. C. Classical Period
• 323 B. C. – 147 B. C. Hellenistic Period
• The classical and archaic period are sometimes collectively
referred to as Hellenic period
 Political and cultural heights

Full development of the democratic system

Parthenon on the Acropolis

series of wars with Sparta

Fall of Athens

Rise of Macedonia
 Greek City Planning and Design
Planning and Design Principles
• The ancient Greek civilization had established
principles for planning and designing cities.
• City form were of two types:
• Old cities such as Athens had irregular street plans
reflecting their gradual organic development.
• New cities, especially colonial cities established
during the Hellenistic period, had a grid-iron street
plan
• Certain things were common among cities:
The overall division of spaces in 3 parts: acropolis,
agora and the town .
The fortification etc.
 OLD CITY

NEW CITY
Pattern of Athens
Pattern of Messene
 Greek City Planning and Design
Planning and Design Principles
• Towns had fixed boundaries and some were
protected by fortifications .
• Much of the town was devoted to public use.
• The Greek City was usually divided into three
parts; the acropolis, the agora and the town.
• Site planning and design was centered on the
appreciation of buildings from the outside.
• The location of buildings was therefore such that it
could command a good view to it.
Messene City wall
 The Acropolis
• The acropolis in Athens was a
religious precinct located on
one of the hills of the city.

• The artist and architects to build

a new city of temples to glorify
the gods.
• The acropolis combined Doric
orders and ionic orders in a
perfect composition in four
buildings; the Propylea, the
Parthenon, the Erechtheumn,
and the temple of Nike.
The Earliest versions of the Buildings in the Acropolis existed until 480 BC and
was rebuilt in 450 BC.
Greek City Planning and Design
The Agora
• The Agora was the most important gathering place in a Greek
city.
• It started as an open area where the council of the city met to
take decisions.
• With time buildings were constructed to define and enclose the
space
• It also transformed into a place for combined social,
commercial and political activities.
• It emerged as the heart of Greek intellectual life and discourse.
• It was usually located on a flat ground for ease of
communication.
• It was placed to be easily accessible from all directions.
• In many cities, it is also located close to the Acropolis.
AGORA OF ATHENS
AGORA OF MESSENE
Greek City Planning and Design
The Town

• The town was where the people lived.

• This was the domain of women, who did not have any
public role.
• Early Greek towns had an irregular street pattern,
resulting from its organic growth.
• Later Hellenistic towns such as Prienne had a formal
rectilinear pattern.
• The town was made up of only residential houses.
TOWN OF ATHENS
TOWN OF MESSENE
 CULTURE
>TWO CULTURES WHICH INFLUENCED THE
ARCHITECTURAL TECHNIQUES AND STYLE BEING
LOST WHEN THESE CIVILIZATION FELL……

1. Mycenaean culture
2. Minoan culture
• Mycenaean architecture reflects their warring society.
• The Mycenaeans populated Greece and built citadel sites
on high, rocky outcroppings that provided natural
fortification and overlooked plains used for farming and
raising livestock.
• Its people built citadels, fortifications and tombs rather
than palaces, and decorated their pottery with bands of
marching soldiers rather than octopus and seaweed.
• Athenian culture developed the art of logic, and with it
the idea of democracy

Mycenaean culture
1600 BC TO 1100 BC
• The architectural plan
became the basic shape of
the Greek temples.
• The cultural shift as the
gods of acient Greece took
place of the Myceanean

Citadel, Megaron
rulers
BEEHIVE TOMB

 MOST UNIQUE ARCHITECTURE DURING THIS ERA.

 USED CORBEL VOULTING TO CREATE DOME LIKE STRUCTURE
 BUILT INTO THE GROUND.
 LOCATED ALL THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF MYCEANEANS.
Minoan culture
2800–1100 BC
• society benefited from trade.
• art and religious practices were assimilated and adapted to
better express the perhaps more militaristic and austere .
• known for its elaborate and richly decorated palaces, and for
its pottery painted with floral and marine motifs.
• Minoans deified the natural world and found in it a logical
order that allowed man to live in harmony with the natural
environment.
• The natural elements were personified as gods of completely
human form, and very human behaviour.
• Ancient Greek domestic architecture centred on open spaces or
courtyards surrounded by colonnades.
 COMPARISON

THE MODEL OF THE PALACE AT KNOSSOS

THE LION GATE OF MYCENAE
(MINOAN).
(MYCEANEANS)
 NO FORTIFICATON.
 ASHLAR MASONRY WAS USED.
 BUILT WITH SERIES OF ROOMS WHICH
 CYCLOPEAN CONSTRUCTION
OPENS TO COURTYARDS.
 MUCH MORE HEAVILY
 ART IS PEACEFUL, EMPHASISES ON
FORTIFIED .
NATURE AND HAS NO REFERENCES TO
 SENSE OF WARLIKE SOCIETY.
WAR.
 Buildings & Other Arch. Elements
Building Types
• The major architectural element of the Greek civilization is the
order and their principal building type is the temple.
• Greek buildings also feature civic buildings such as theater,
council chamber, stoa, etc
• Greeks invented the classical orders of architecture .
• Their invention of the orders was a result of the search for
rational methods of expressing beauty.
• The orders embody a system of proportion that determines how
the whole building looks.
• An order consist of a column shaft with its base and capital, and
an entablature.
• All its dimensions were derived from the diameter of the
column.
• The entablature is further divided into architrave, frieze and
cornice.
 Materials, Construction & Tech.
Materials

• Examination of Greek architecture points to three common

materials of construction
• These are Stone, timber and clay
• Stone was the most common construction material for buildings
• Greece had an abundant supply of stone, particularly marble
• Stone was used for all types of temple and civic construction
• It was used for all type of building elements.
• The characteristic grey color of the stone of the area is also what
gives most ancient Greek buildings their characteristics color.
Materials, Construction & Tech.
Materials

• Timber was used mainly for roofing.

• It was a very scarce commodity and it also had limited
length.
• This limited its use.
• The limitation in length meant that the width of buildings
was restricted and only very important buildings such as
the Parthenon could go beyond a certain width.
• clay was used mostly in housing construction.
• Clay was made into sun dried blocks for use in
construction
 Materials, Construction & Tech.
Construction and Technology

• Building blocks were not bonded, but are rather held in

position by their weight.
• Then the rough stones were finished to achieve the final
form and treatment of the building.
• Finishing enables the builders to create buildings of a
particular order.
• It is in finishing that the Greeks showed their mastery of
construction.
• Finishing work involved creating the fluting, base and
capital decoration on columns.
• The Frieze and cornices of buildings were also decorated
with appropriate relief carving.
 Principles of Arch. Organization
Ideas about Architectural Aesthetics

• The Greeks believed that mathematical proportion is at the

root of beauty
• They also believed that the human body has the best of
proportions
• Greeks also valued harmony, balance and symmetry in design
• Greeks developed principles based on their believes about
aesthetics
• These principles were refined over time as they are applied in
building
• With time they developed into a standard that is widely
applied
http://classconnection.s3.amazona
ws.com/
http://gallery.nen.gov.uk
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Map_ancient_athens.png

http://www.agathe.gr/image?id=Agora:Image:2008.18.0013&w=800&h=600

http://www.projetsdepaysage.fr/fr/the_construction_of_the_greek_landscape_i
n_the_hellenistic_era

http://www.pausanias-footsteps.nl/english/messene-eng.html

http://www.messinia-guide.gr/?id=235&lang=en

Architecture of the world – Greece by Ed. Henri Stierlin