Architecture Essay, Research Paper

Grecian Architecture and the Parthenon

Architecture harmonizing to Encarta 99 is the art or scientific discipline of planing and building edifices. There are many different types of architecture, but they all finally trace back to the Greeks and Romans. The Grecian s roots lie in the Aegean civilisation ; nevertheless its peculiar features have made it one of the most constituted influences in Western architecture. One of the most of import and celebrated illustrations of Grecian architecture is the Parthenon located on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.

Grecian architecture is normally broken up into four different periods: the Geometric and Orientalizing periods ( c. 1100 BC to 650 BC ) , the Archaic period ( c. 660 BC to 475 BC ) , the Classical period ( c. 475 BC to 323 BC ) and the Hellenic period ( c. 323 BC to 31 BC ) .

Architecture of the Geometric and Orientalizing periods had more of a simple construction customarily made of clay brick and debris. The program of temples during this period was similar to that of the houses which evolved from round to horseshoe like forms and finally rectangular. They were by and large built on an east-west axis with an entryway and a columned porch at one terminal. In rectangular temples, the two side walls projected beyond the forepart wall to organize a porch. In the suites, a individual row of wooden columns along the chief axis supported the wooden beams of the gable roof. This manner was subsequently replaced with two rows of columns because it shadowed the image of deity.

During the Archaic period Greek society grew non merely geographically, but besides economically. This enlargement led to the development of formal architecture and the usage of marble and limestone. In the seventh century the Greeks started to construct rock temples after the Egyptians, but in their ain typical manner. The temples were rectangular and stood on a low, stepped patio in an enclosure, which was where their rites took topographic point. The smaller temples had a two-columned forepart porch on occasion with a portico in forepart of it. The big temples had front and back porches and sometimes it wold have a six-columned portico in forepart of each porch or else it would be surrounded by a colonnade. This colonnade was supported by a header under the roof.

At this period architects developed two orders or manners of columns called Doric and Ionic. The Doric type columns are shorter and thicker. They had no bases and their capitals were made up of a square slab over a circular shock absorber form. These capitals were highly heavy and spaced rather near in order to back up the masonry. Their weight was distributed by the tapering and fluted shaft. Over every column perpendicular triglyphs were carved and between them were the metopes, which were painted at first, but subsequently they were filled with painted alleviation. The Doric order predominated on mainland Greece and subsequently spread to Western settlements.

Columns in the Ionic manner were derived from the metropoliss on the islands and the seashores of Asia Minor. However, Asia Minor was exposed more to Egyptian and Asiatic influences instead than Greek. Therefore it featured capitals with coiling spirals, a more narrow shaft with reasonably dissimilar flute and an intricate and curvilineal base.

The Classical period consists of three parts, the earlier period, the in-between period and the late period.

The Early Classical period began after the Iranian invasion and Greek triumph, which stimulated much activity in architecture due to the big sum of devastation. Athens, the dominant political and economic power was particularly effected. Most of the temples were in the Doric manner, but floating off from the heavy proportions of the Archaic Doric manner.

The Middle Classical period emerged during the fifth century BC. Architects began polishing their work in order to antagonize

the obvious deformations of position. The temple patio was now curved upwards in the centre, the taper of the columns were made convex, the axes of columns were inclined inward and perpendicular lines were tilted either inward or outward. The Parthenon, one of the most of import temples, was built during this period.

The Parthenon was constructed between 447 BC and 432 BC by the designers Ictinus and Callicrates on the site of two earlier temples, the old Temple of Athena and the older Parthenon which was started in 488 BC and burned by the Persians in 480 BC. The Parthenon was meant to typify the power of the Athenian Empire and in peculiar that of Perikles, a politician who promoted its building. It functioned as a topographic point of worship for about 2000 old ages until 1687 AD when the temple was exploded during the Turk and Venetian war. The Grecian temples were thought to hold an economic map as a bank which guarded to hoarded wealths for the Gods. It was besides used as a topographic point for sacrificial intents, which on the whole took topographic point outside of the temples. The exterior of Grecian temples was by and large considered to be more of import than the interior therefore the outside of the construction consisted of many sculptures. The temples had a big sum of infinite and were made of colonnades, which are rows of columns. The colonnades, located around the interior chamber had a strong contrast of light and dark colour. The temple could be approached from all sides due to this construction.

The architectural design of the Parthenon is known as Doric Peripteral, proposing that it has a rectangular molded floor with a sequence of low stairss and a colonnade of Doric columns. The construction consists of about wholly Pentelic marble from the celebrated preies on Mount Pentelikon, following the design of a typical Grecian temple. It is encompassed by an abnormally big colonnade with eight narrow columns in the forepart and back and seventeen on each side. The ceiling of the colonnade was made of coffered marble. The sanctuary had two subdivisions, which were entered through a shallow porch. The cella, which is the cardinal portion of the temple, contains two inside suites called the naos and opisthodomos. The eastern cella is the largest ; mensurating about 100 pess contained the immense chryselephantine ( gold-and-ivory ) statue of Athena, defender of the metropolis, and was supported by a two-story Doric colonnade on three sides. The smaller western cella was supported by four tall Ionic columns and the outside of the Parthenon has Doric manner columns, which consists of a simple design.

During the Late Classical period the architectural stimulation decreased when the Greeks were defeated in the Peloponnesian War. The temples continued in the Doric manner but the porch in the dorsum was left out. The 3rd and concluding order was that of the Corinthian order which was developed at this clip.

The Corinthian order consists of Ionic capitals, which were decorated with acanthus foliages. This manner was much more adjustment for usage at corners with its four indistinguishable faces which giving it an advantage over the Ionic order.

When the Grecian city states were conquered by Alexander the Great his ground forcess brought the Grecian civilization and architecture to the Middle East, which was the beginning of the Hellenistic period. For little temples the Doric manner continued to be used, nevertheless, for the larger temples the Ionic manner became more popular. By this clip the Corinthian manner had spread doing the Corinthian columns to be more widely adopted by designers.

The art of planing and building something, which is both practical and aesthetically pleasing, is non an easy undertaking. However, the Greeks managed to get the better of all of the jobs which they faced to bring forth an illustration which is admired and followed by non merely the Greeks themselves but by designers and people all over the universe.