| Greek Architectural Vocabulary |
The Greeks developed a vocabulary of architectural detail in stone that was fundamental to European architecture for more than 2,000 years. The Greek "language of architecture" reached its zenith during the 5th century BC. Classical Greek architecture consisted of three orders--the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Each represented the assembly of the basic components of a simple rectangular building with a pitched roof, that is, column, capital (or column head), entablature (the "beam" connecting the columns), and pediment the triangular gable of the roof). Different proportions and decorative conventions imparted a distinctive character to each order, regardless of the bright colors applied to the original buildings or the subject matter of the sculptured decoration along the frieze or in the triangular pediment (tympanum). The proportions of each order were fixed within narrow limits, and, strictly speaking, the components of each order could be correctly assembled in only one way. The Greeks never mixed different orders on the same building. This, and other rules, were modified in Roman architecture. The Romans created two additional orders, the Tuscan and the Composite, and employed all five orders as decoration for buildings constructed on principles different from those the Greeks used. Abstracted from the Grolier Encyclopedia |
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