Throughout history. there have been legion factors that have influenced the development of western architecture. The most influential factor of classical architecture was humanitarianism. The political orientation of humanitarianism is an attitude centered chiefly in the values. involvements. and possible of human existences ( Webster’s II New Riverside Dictionary 205 ) . Humanitarianism is what leads to the development of the Classical World as we know it.
In the Classical World. that is ancient Greek and Rome. the political orientation of humanitarianism had a large impact in these civilisations. Humanism strongly influenced these civilisations humanistic disciplines. and particularly their architecture. For illustration. most ancient Grecian edifices have been built to honour the Greek Pantheon. of Gods and goddesses. One of the most of import Grecian edifices is the Parthenon. which was built between 447 and 438 BC. The Parthenon was designed by Phidias. and built by Ictinus on the Acropolis of Athens with the intent to honour the goddess Athena and the people that honored her. Besides. the Parthenons frieze and pediment are farther grounds that prove the huge influence humanitarianism had on Grecian architecture. The Parthenons frieze ( a horizontal set that runs above the room accesss or Windowss. and that can besides be decorated with designs and carvings ) is thought to stand for the Panathenaic Procession ( “Parthenon Frieze” ) .
This was a festival that was celebrated on the twenty-eighth twenty-four hours of a month called Hekatombaion. and everyone in Athens. including non-residents and slaves ( up to a point ) . was able to take part in legion activities runing from musical competitions to athletic competitions where work forces would demo off their abilities. This shows that humanitarianism plays a function even in festivals celebrated in that clip period. This vacation was believed to honour the goddess Athena as the city’s frequenter deity ( Religious Life ) . In add-on. the Parthenons east pediment describes the birth of Athena. and the West pediment describes the narrative of when Athena defeats Poseidon for control over Athens. Furthermore. the Parthenon was turned into a Christian church in the fifth Century AD. The Parthenon was designed to be aesthetically perfect to the human oculus. The aureate ratio is when the length over width peers to about 1. 6. and this forms the aureate rectangle ( “Golden Ratio” ) .
These aureate rectangles can be found between the columns of the Parthenon. These strongly relates to humanism because. even though this temple was built to honour the Gods. the manner it was built was to demo off the human ability that the ancient Greeks had ( Laisne 119-135 ) . Furthermore. the Temple Nike. built to honour the goddess Athena. was built right after the Persian War to observe the triumph of the Grecian city states over Persia. Even the columns of this edifice go more beautiful when humanitarianism gets stronger. The columns on the Temple Nike are from the Ionic order. and they differ from the Parthenons Doric-order columns because they have spirals and are thinner ( Laisne 138 ) . This thought of doing edifices more perfect is the chief influence that the political orientation of humanitarianism had on Ancient Greece. However. this civilisation has non been the lone that was influenced by humanitarianism.
In Ancient Rome. humanitarianism influenced this civilisations architecture. However. when Constantine became Romes Emperor. he accepted Christianity as Romes official faith. and this had a big impact on Romes architecture every bit good. The importance of beauty in the edifices was still critical during this clip period. For illustration. the original Pantheon was built during the first Century BC. by Agrippa. to honour all the Grecian Gods. Subsequently on. their names would be changed to more Roman names. It is besides of import to indicate out that the columns in the Pantheon are from the Corinthian order. which is the more elaborate and flowery out of the three columns.
The painting Interior of the Pantheon. by Giovanni Paolo Panini. gives us an thought of how the inside of the Pantheon looked like when visible radiation came through the eye ( Ramage 219-222 ) . Humanism non merely influenced in the edifice of the Pantheon. but the Roman Baths were besides based in this political orientation. The Roman baths were portion of a daily life in Ancient Rome. The local bath composite was a assemblage point and served a really utile community and societal map. Here people could loosen up. maintain clean and maintain up with the latest intelligence. Besides. the larger baths included statues to the Gods. and many Romans viewed the springs as sacred and threw valuable points into the springs to delight the Gods. However. even though the baths were used to honour the Gods. the thought of doing the baths epicurean and beautiful to the oculus is decidedly done for people to bask. In add-on. communion table was besides built at some baths so that priests could give animate beings to the Gods.
The H2O from the baths gained a repute as being able to bring around unwellnesss ( Ramage 290-292 ) . The architecture. so beautiful and intricate. of these two edifices. shows the strong impact that humanitarianism had in Ancient Rome. The Pantheon and the Roman baths were created non merely to honour the Gods. but to delight the human oculus and serve the Roman citizens. promoting the peoples importance. Furthermore. the political orientation of humanitarianism was non the lone influence in Roman architecture. The rise of Christianity radically changed the development of Romes architecture. First. the Pantheon was turned into a church by the early seventh century. after the autumn of Rome. which is the ground of why it has remained in such a good status.
In decision. legion factors have strongly influenced the development of architecture throughout the ages. Humanism has been the most influential factor in the development of classical architecture. The political orientation of humanitarianism shaped the architecture of the Classical World in a alone manner that has survived all the manner to modern twenty-four hours society.
