Name: Ortega, Vicheecko B.
3
Course: AR 543
Greek Architecture
Greek architecture is distinguished by its
highly formalized characteristics, both of
structure and decoration. This is particularly
so in the case of temples where each
building appears to have been conceived as
a sculptural entity within the landscape, most
often raised on high ground so that the
elegance of its proportions and the effects of
light on its surfaces might be viewed from all
angles.
Greek architecture was essentially
columnar and trabeated (trabs=a beam), and
this gave it that simple straightforward
character in which the constructive system is
self-evident. Greek columns and their
entablatures were at first entirely of timber with
terra cotta decorations in the upper
trabeation, but were converted into stone quite
early in the period about 600 B.C., timber
being imitated in stone.
The Hellenistic period provided much of the
decorative inspiration of some of Roman
building types. Greek Hellenic architecture
mostly had been of a religious character, but
from the 4th century B.C. onwards, public
buildings multiplied in type and number and
passed into permanent form. They were
dignified and gracious structures.
Roman Architecture
Roman architecture adopted the external
language of classical Greek architecture for
the purposes of the ancient Romans, but
differed from Greek buildings, becoming a
new architectural style. The two styles are
often considered one body of classical
architecture. The Romans only began to
achieve significant originality in architecture
around the beginning of the Imperial period,
after they had combined aspects of their
original Etruscan architecture with others
taken from Greece, including most elements
of the style we now call classical architecture.
The Romans adopted the columnar and
trabeated style of the Greeks, and developed
also the arch and the vault from the beginnings
made by the Etruscans. This combined use of
Assignment No.
Time: Tuesday 3:00 6:00
column, beam and arch is the keynote of the
Roman style in its earliest stage.
The Etruscans, who were the early inhabitants
of West-Central Italy, were great builders, and
their methods were taken over by the Romans.
They made remarkable advances in the
organization of large scale undertakings, such
as the construction of city walls and sewers.
The formal vocabulary of ancient Greek
architecture, in particular the division of
architectural style into three defined orders:
the Doric Order, the Ionic Order and
the Corinthian Order, was to have profound
effect on Western architecture of later periods.
Early Christian Architecture
The early Christians as Roman craftsmen,
continued old Roman traditions, but prosperity
was declining and it was natural that for their
new buildings, they should utilize as far as
possible the materials from Roman temples
which had become useless for their original
purpose. Further in their churches, modeled on
Roman basilicas, they used old columns which
by various devices were brought to a uniform
height.
Early Christian style places emphasis
on symmetry, proportion, geometry and the
regularity of parts as they are demonstrated in
the architecture of classical antiquity and in
particular ancient Roman architecture, of which
many examples remained.
Orderly arrangements of columns,
pilasters and lintels, as well as the use of
semicircular arches,
hemispherical domes, niches and aedicule repl
aced the more complex proportional systems
and irregular profiles of medieval buildings.
Throughout the ages the Greek, Roman, and
Early Christian architecture adopts a style that
the previous era possess and improve it
creating their own architectural characteristics.