The Greek City State / 700-200 BCE

The Greek City State

Ancient Greek architecture that highly effect on Western architecture, include simplicity, perspective, proportion, balance ant etc. The stadiums, temples, theatres that emphasized columns, pediment became the foundation character. It exists  with the cultural diversity. Also, classicism made alive both the beauty and forms of Greek architecture.

In ancient Greece, democracy(There was no social differentiations), political issues became important. So actually their architecture mostly started to base on the political process. The buildings came from the necessity to spaces that are in a dialogue.

 

The Greek Polis: The City of Public Space

The peripheral formation of the city brings unique democratic government so the idea of public aggregation. It means apart from the other periods, they create open public spaces. They cling to the ide of ‘living together’ that brings along the open reachable buildings.

 

Acropolis was an ancient citadel which has a meaning of high city, was both home for the God and place for people. It contains number of ancient buildings.It harbour both military because of the citadel feature and religious point.

 

Apart from that, Agora that was an open and interactive public area at the center of the city that surrounded by public spaces, temples. It was like a gathering  point of the citizens for various activities, ceremonies, theatre performances and etc. As a subtitle, Athenians had a theatrical culture that arise from festivals. They built open-air public theatres that sat on natural topography and used wooden blenchers in Agora (until the theater made up stone).

As I mentioned before, the political complications reflect to the structural process. For instance, a cylindrical tholos structure, square-shaped house that the council of citizen and etc. (Bouleuterian)

On the other hand  stoas was a common type in buildings that provide safity, protected atmosphere to meeting spaces. Royal Stoa( not open to public) and Painted Stoa located in the Agora.

Greek Colonies and Orthogonal Planning

In 7th century, the Greek grid that was to form, control, organize and divide structures. This revealed “the orthogonal planning” (Orthogonal planning was already seen in Egypt). They benefit from the scheme that called per strigas(refer to division of land).

Hippodamus was an ancient Greek architecture and urban planner who involved the division of the land (for public, private, sacred use) system with considering differences for ideal city-state. His system structured the grid in geometric formula.

Aristotle: “ Hippodamus invented the art of planning cities.”

His system effect the ancient Greek cities. For example: Hippodamus name was associated with the Miletus and Priene that are orthogonally planned towns.

Miletus was the colony on Ionian cost, the fine example of the grid plan and where the geometry was born. The city had plaza, courtyard, temples and etc. to enlarge public spaces. Began with L-shaped Harbor Stoa. Besides, Priene that was the primary source of Greek town planning, had more integrated city plan. The spaces, temple, theatre etc. adapted into a geometric pattern. additionally, it placed on a slope therefore inclined relations were seen between the parts. In conclusion, this orthogonal geometric planning, the gridal system helped the city creation.

Hippodamus of Miletus (5th cen. B.C.), the first to theorize the gridded city plan. Priene

Olynthus rebuilt within orthogonal planning and because of the equality in society, the houses were uniform, built without distinction. The oikos that is a basic unit in the Greek cities, revealed the modernization of traditional houses that are well-organized.

Greek Temple

The Greek temple had an exterior that surrounded by columns and mostly located in distant from the city. (For instance Panthenon that was the most famous, simplest temple in Greek architecture.) On the other hand, the temples were made of wood, however the wooden architecture transferred to the stone architecture. moreover, The Classical Greek architecture was divided into three order; style of Doric, Ioniz or Corinthian. These orders governed the proportion, form, relationships of the column and etc. Doric order was the first and simplest order and western colonies mostly preferred. In Doric order, columns are associated with narrow intercolumniation.

Parthenon

Plans of Greek Temples that include stone Doric columns.

Apart from that, Ionic order had different proportion on columns, intercolumniations and entablature( entablature is the architectural feature that sits above the columns.) The entablature narrower and less heavy than Doric order temple. The Temple of Artemis can be an example of the largest ionic temple.

The Corinthian order was the most ornate of three orders and characterized with a columns that are slender fluted. It had similar proportions with Ionic order. Temple of Apollo is an oldest known example of it.

In addition, to create an ideal temple, object, perspective was important for them. To form an architectural illusion for perfection, they benefited from the perspective distortion. moreover, to strengthen the visual relation and observation from multiple direction, they placed every object at an angle with relational and perspectival planning.

 

When we look at the present day, we can see several building that have the idea of ancient Greek cities structure. For example, The Second Bank of the United States like a replication of Parthenon. Some facades were designed in Doric order.

Besides, St Gervais et St Protais Church in Paris is an example that include the three column orders. At ground floor Doric, at second floor Ionic and at third floor Corinthian order can be observed.