LESSON 3 DOSSIER: Urbanism and Architecture
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LESSON 3 DOSSIER: Urbanism and architecture The Greek City The urbanism of the Greek cities was essentially conditioned by, the polis independent character, the mountainous topography of the land, and the introduction of democracy in Athens. The Hellenic polis, were organized inside a walled enclosure, prepared to deal with the usual and subsequent war conflicts. It highlights the highest area, equally fortified that the rest of the city, the Acropolis, place in which all buildings of sacred character were built. In addition, in accordance with the implantation of democracy in some cities, the need to create urban elements of a common social, political and economic type was raised. These new elements were organized around the agora or public square, a place that exemplifies the Greek democratic nature, because different activities were carried out, such as public celebrations, political assemblies, mercantile transactions, justice... The topographer and geometer Hippodamus of Miletus projected the reconstruction of the city of Miletus in 475 BC. after the destruction that he suffered at the hands of the Persians. With an orthogonal layout with rectangular streets that crossed at right angles and betting to integrate politics, urban planning and geometry, this model served to project subsequent cities. It was a space at the service of the citizen, taking into account the scale, functionality, dimensions, perspective and its relation to the space that surrounds them, making urbanism born in classical Greece. Map of the city of Milet Ancient Greek Architecture Of all the ancient architectural styles, Greek architecture has proven to be the most enduring. Sure, the Egyptians built some impressive structures, and the Romans pulled off some amazing feats of engineering. But you don't see us building pyramids anymore - at least, nowhere but Vegas - and even Roman engineering marvels incorporated Greek form and style. Greek architecture is more than just impressive, it is timeless. You don't have to dig in ruins to find Greek architecture; it's all around you. Don't believe me? Go visit a civic structure, city hall, a theatre, a bank, a library, a museum. What do you see? Columns, columns, columns, columns, columns. In short, if you want a Westerner to think something is important, put columns on it - and not just any columns, Greek columns. Orders of Greek Columns Greek columns come in three varieties, or orders: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. All three share the same fluted column, or drum. Where they differ is at the top, what is called the capital of the column. The Doric Order of Greek architecture was the first style of stone temple architecture in ancient Greece. It became popular in the Archaic Period, roughly 750-480 BCE, and replaced the previous style of basic, wood structures. The Doric Order was the first style of Classical Architecture, which is the sophisticated architectural styles of ancient Greece and Rome that set the standards for beauty, harmony, and strength for European architecture. The other two orders are Ionic and Corinthian. Doric Order is recognizable by two basic features: the columns and the entablature. The purpose of the columns was to support the weight of the ceiling. Each order of classical architecture used columns for this purpose, but the columns were differently designed. In the Doric Order, the column shaft is simple and tapered, meaning it is wider at the base than the top. Each column has 20 parallel, vertical grooves called flutes. Columns in the Doric Order did not have a base (a wide flat stone) but rested directly on the pavement of the temple, called the stylobate. The top of a column has a wide, flat section called the capital. The capital of a column directly supports the weight of the ceiling. Capitals in the Doric Order are smooth, without decoration, and are flared, meaning the top is wider than the base. The Ionic Order is one of the three orders of classical architecture, alongside the Doric and Corinthian orders. Classical architecture refers to the architecture styles of ancient Greece and Rome, which set the standards for architecture in the Western world. These ancient civilizations defined what we consider to be architectural beauty. The Ionic order is defined by the Ionic column. In ancient Greece, buildings were made with a number of columns that held up their roofs. The column was the architectural staple of Greece, both from a practical and artistic standpoint. Columns supported the weight of the roof and let the Greeks build larger temples. A column was made up of several parts. The base is the stone platform at the bottom of the column. There are usually multiple layers to the base. On top of the base is the shaft, the long part of the column with groves running down the sides. At the very top is the capital, the decorative stone that bears the weight of the roof. Ionic columns tend to be more slender, but the defining feature of the Ionic order is the volute. The volute is the spiral, scroll-like capital of the Ionic column. Besides a column, the Ionic order also has specific entablature. The entablature is the part of the roof that rests on top of the column and consists of the architrave, the frieze, and the cornice: The architrave is the long beam that supports the weight directly above the column. The frieze is a strip above the architrave. And the cornice is the top weight-bearing part which juts outwards. The cornice in the ionic order has saw-like squared edges. In architecture, the post and lintel system refers to any building in which the weight of the roof is supported by load-bearing upright sections and a horizontal section on top of those. The entablature is a lintel, and the columns are the posts. The entablature was meant to be functional, so it could help support the weight of the roof but was also often carved or decorated. In the Greek Corinthian order, the columns were thin and fluted, meaning they had a series of vertical lines cut into the surface. The style tended to be slender and elegant. The most striking element of the Corinthian order was its very decorative capital with a design of scrolls and unfurled acanthus leaves. The acanthus leaf motif was based on a durable plant with spiked leaves found throughout the Mediterranean. On the Corinthian entablature, the frieze was usually decorated with continual sculptural reliefs, where the figures were raised from the surface but not completely freestanding. Temples Your basic Greek temple is a roofed rectangle surrounded by columns. That's me in front of a particularly old Greek temple in Corinth. What sort of columns are those? That's right, Doric. Well done. Anyway, these temples had a long, angled roof, peaking on the short ends to form a triangle called a pediment. These shallow shelters were filled with life-size sculptures. The roof rested upon an even plane called an entablature, which spanned the gaps between columns to provide a solid surface. As temple-building developed, architects added decorations to the entablature called metopes, separated from each other by three lines called a triglyph. Further developments and bigger temples led to the addition of a second row of columns with a continuous decoration called a frieze running along the top. Inside the temple was a smaller enclosure called a naos lined with its own columns. This was the holiest place of the temple and usually housed an idol of the deity for whom the temple was built. Sometimes the Greeks would switch up column styles within the naos, putting the hefty Doric on the outside and the delicate Ionic or Corinthian within. Perhaps the most famous Greek temple is the Parthenon. The Athenians began building this temple to Athena in 447 BCE and did not complete it until 15 years later. Like all Greek city-states, the Athenians built their most impressive temples atop the highest point in town, called the acropolis (literally 'high city'). The Parthenon had all the elements of a Greek temple: the columns and entablature, the pediment full of sculptures. It even had the extra features: metopes depicting a battle between Centaurs and Lapiths, the second row of columns with their accompanying frieze depicting a civic procession of Athenians in exquisite detail, and, within, the naos, recreated here by the fine folks at Nashville's Centennial Park: big idol of Athena on the inside. Yet these images cannot convey the overall effect of this building. You simply have to be there. Standing among the columns, you see the clever tricks of the eye Greek architects used to make the Parthenon tower imposingly. You can see how they tapered the columns at the top to make the building seem taller, a trick they called entasis. As you examine more closely, you notice that there is not a single right angle or straight line in the entire Parthenon. Yet the mind expects right angles, it expects straight lines. By taking advantage of the mind's expectations, the Greek architects could make the Parthenon appear even larger than it actually was. The overall effect is one of airy grandeur. If we study the Doric temple structure on detail, the entablature is the structure that rests on top of the columns and has three parts. The architrave is the horizontal beam that is directly on the capital of the column and is undecorated in the Doric Order. The second section is the frieze. This is the most distinguishing feature of the Doric entablature because Doric friezes have alternating patterns of triglyphs and metopes as decoration.