Ancient Greece

Art, method and style of

building.
Prehistoric buildings were usually one room
houses.
Then people put in a wall to make two rooms. One
room was for sleeping. The other room was for
family activities.
The houses were very small.
The Greeks wanted bigger houses.
The Grecian homes had a living room, several
bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathing room, a mens
dining room, and a womens sitting room.
The rooms were built in a square around a
courtyard. The courtyard had no roof.

The Greeks had to find a way to support their
bigger houses.
To build a bigger house the prehistoric way would
have meant the house would have fallen down.
The Greeks used columns to support their houses.
A column was a huge stick that held the roof up.
The first columns were made of wood.
The Greeks ran out of wood.
They had a lot of rock, so they used rock instead
of wood.
Marble is a kind of rock.
It comes in many colors and is beautiful.
There was a lot of marble in Greece.
Most of it was a creamy white color.
Many Grecian buildings are made of marble.
There were three schools of Grecian architecture.
Doric

Ionic

Corinthian
The top of the
columns are a
square block.
Under the block is a
rounded piece.
The columns are
thick.
The base is a
square block.
This is a drawing of a
Doric column.
Notice the square
block at the top.
Notice the rounded
piece under the block.
The column is thick.
The base is made of a
square block.
This drawing shows
how the Doric column
was used.
The columns hold up
the roof.
The roof line was very
fancy.
The top of the column
is called the capital.
The Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C.
Old Supreme Court
Chamber
The Ionic Column
was invented next.
The Ionic capital
looks like a scroll.
The Ionic column is
skinnier.
The base has a
rounded and a
square section.
This is a drawing of an
Ionic column.
Notice the capital is
shaped like a scroll.
Notice the column is
skinnier.
This base is square.
Many times the bases
were fancier.
This drawing shows
how the Ionic column
was used.
The columns hold up
the roof.
The roof line was very
fancy.
The capital looks like a
scroll.
The base is layered.
Ionic Columns Today
Thomas Jefferson
National Memorial
Salem City Hall
Corinthian columns
were the most
decorative.
The capitals were
carved to look like
leaves.
The columns were
the thinnest.
This is a drawing of a
Corinthian column.
Notice the capital
looks like leaves and
flowers.
The column is the
thinnest of all.
The base is the
fanciest of all.
This drawing shows
how the column was
used.
The column holds up
the roof.
The roof line had lots
of parts, but not so
much carving.
The capital is very
fancy and so is the
base.
Hall of Columns in the
Capital Building
United States Supreme
Court Building
Thomas Jefferson used Doric, Ionic and
Corinthian columns to teach Grecian
architecture.
Comparative Civilizations 12
K.J. Benoy
As with sculpture, the
Romans borrowed
heavily from two
cultures that they
conquered the
Etruscans and the
Greeks.
Model of an Etruscan Temple
Elements of Roman architecture show very significant
Greek influence.
However, Roman functional needs sometimes differed,
resulting in interesting innovations.
The Romans were less attached to ideal forms and
extended Greek ideas to make them more functional.
Romans needed interior
space for worship,
whereas the Greeks
worshipped outside.
Their solution was to
extend the walls
outward, creating
engaged columns, while
maintaining the same
basic shape.
To the original Greek
orders, the Romans
added two:
The Tuscan order.
The Compostite order.
Tuscan Order:

Like the Doric, except
this one has a base.
The Composite order
combined elements
of both the Ionic and
Corinthian.
It appears to be
Corinthian acanthus
leaves, supplemented
with volutes.
The Romans were the
great engineers of the
ancient world.
Their structures,
particularly of public
works, were often
massive in scale.
Ruins of the
Basilica of
Constantine
The Roman ability to build massively was largely
determined by their discovery of slow-drying
concrete, made with pozzolana sand.
This allowed not only bases, but also walls to be
constructed of mainly concrete or concrete and
rubble.
Facings could be made of more expensive stone or
inexpensive brick.
The result was strong structures that could be
formed in any desirable shape.
The Temple of
Fortuna Primigenia
was a massive
structure, made
possible by concrete
construction.
Roman baths were
the recreation centers
of Roman cities,
incorporating pools,
exercise facilities and
even libraries.
They could serve
hundreds or
thousands at a time.
Romans did not
invent this form,
but they used it
well in bridges,
within buildings,
and to allow
aqueducts to span
rivers and gorges.
Note the use of a
brick outer facing
and a fill of concrete
and rubble.
The Romans transported
water from far away to
cities via aquaducts.
Cities themselves were
plumbed, providing
private water for the rich
and for baths and
communal supplies for
poorer neighbourhoods.
Public spectacles be
they gladiatorial combat
or theatrical were given
public venues.
Theatres and arenas were
built to hold multiple
thousands of people and
were engineered so as to
allow quick and effective
entry and exit.
The magnificent
interior space of the
Pantheon was
achieved by:
Employing a dome
over a drum.
Coffering the dome to
reduce weight.
Placing an occulus to
allow light to enter.

Large
apartment
buildings
housed most
of the
population of
a Roman city.
The need to move
legions and trade
goods in all weather
led to the
development of the
best roads in the
world (to the 19
th

century).
Basilica were first
built to house
audience facilities for
government officials.
When Christianity
became the state
religion, this kind of
building was adapted
to Christian worship.
A large nave is
flanked by side
aisles behind a row
of supporting
piers.
An Apse draws
attention in the
direction of the
altar.
The Romans were
brilliant engineers.
Their innovations
form the basis of
much of our civil
engineering today.