GREEK ARCHITECTURE

Reading: Architecture, chapters one and two, pp. 77-99 and 108--109.

Minoan (c. 2000-1400 B.C.) Chiefly palaces. Destroyed c. 1700 B.C., rebuilt, destroyed again c. 1400. Great palace of the legendary King Minos at Knossos, Crete, featured complex plan around central court, maze-like store rooms, stairways with inverted column and air shafts, painted decoration, indoor plumbing. There is evidence of private houses as well [ 021 votive plaques representing houses].

Mycenean c. 1400-1200 B.C. at Mycenae and Tiryns, Greek mainland. Became dominant culture as Minoan declined c. 1400 B.C. Fortress-like citadels featured cyclopean walls, massive gates.

Greece. Small city states on peninsulas and islands separated by mountain ranges and sea. Sea trade and colonization make for close connections with Asia Minor, the Near East, southern Italy and Sicily.

Doric order: massive members, strongly articulated with particular stress on relation of weight and support. Pronounced curve of echinus, entasis of shaft. Bold, vigorous profiles

Ionic order: highly ornamented with rich mouldings, extensive sculptural decoration. Lighter proportions, more delicate detail.

Early Classic (c. 480-450 B.C.) Overthrow of Tyrants; republican city states. Primacy of Athens. Chiefly Doric order, less extreme curves, more restrained in expression.

Classic (c. 450-400 B.C.) Age of Pericles. Period of peace. Greatest brilliance and wealth of Athens. Synthesis of Doric clarity and simplicity and Ionic delicacy of proportion and line. Use of sculpture.

Representative Buildings:

1. Votive plaques representing houses: Crete, 3rd millennium B.C.

2. Knossos, Crete: palace of legendary King Minos, c. 3000-1450 B.C., in its last phase ca. 1600-1450 B.C. [ 016, 030 plans; 014 view today; 331 reconstructed view]; fig. 57--61.

 

 

3. Tiryns, Greece: citadel with megaron, c. 1500--1300 BC [ 329 reconstructed view of citadel; 028 reconstructed Megaron plan; 029 reconstructed Megaron exterior]; figs. 62, 63.

 

 

4. Paestum, Italy: temples (= basilicas) of Hera I, c. 530 BC [ 022], and Hera Argiva II (or Poseidon), c. 460 BC [ 024]; figs. 67, 711--75.

 

 

5. Aegina: Temple of Athene Aphaia, c. 500 B.C.

 

6. Athens: The Acropolis [ 019 view; 020 aerial view; 015 plan of main structures], with the Parthenon, by Callicarates, reworked by Ictinus, 442-437 B.C. [ 026 plan; 032 restricted view from Proylaea; 023 unrestricted view; 025 diagram of optical refinement; 027 curvature of stylobate]; figs. 77--84.

 

 

 

7. Athens: Erectheum, Acropolis, 421-405 B.C.

 

8. Athens: Temple of Athene Nike, Acropolis, 427-424 B.C.

 

9. Private house plans from Olynthus, ca. 430 B.C.[ 017].

 

10. Miletus city plan, Turkey, attributed to Hippodamus of Miletus, c. 480 B.C. [ 018 buildings in the Agora]; fig. 128.

 

 

 

 

 

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