Classical Architecture

Classical Architecture

A Very Brief History

In 7th century B.C. temples were usually a small altar, but sanctuaries (larger temples) were being created. The sanctuaries were larger with a hall and an altar and could also be used for political events. Most temples are being build with stone, wood, and mud-brick. The walls, pillars, ceilings and roofs of temples can be made completely of wood (saves money, weight and is easier to put up).

In the 6th century B.C. Stone is being used more for a construction material (both marble and limestone). Roofing material is now terra cotta (baked clay tiles). Temples are being constructed in large numbers all over Greece. Architectural styles are being developed. Wood is being replaced by stone as a more durable and prestigious construction material on the longer lasting public buildings/temples. As the original designs descended from wood buildings, you see design elements held over from their wooden counterparts as decorative details.

In classical times, buildings would be eleborately painted and trimmed. They were not the dull bare marble you see today. This is the same for Gothic cathedrals in Europe, where they are now undecorated inside. See the Sainte Chapelle for an example of a more original decorated interior.

The Greek architects were also not infalliable. The Parthenon itself has design changes that were discovered during renovations and reconstruction in the 1990s. After removing the entire column, the archeologists found builders marks on the floor and saw that the circle for placing the column had actually been shifted.

Column Design
As they grew more sophisticated, Greek builders began introducing modifying true geometric forms to create optical illusions, especially in the Parthenon. To the eye, a vertical column appears to be narrower in the middle than at either the top or the bottom. To counteract this, every exterior Parthenon column has a very slight bulge in the middle. Also the upper diameter of each is slightly narrower than its base diameter, a practice called entasis. Additionally, these columns slant inward, so that they would meet, were they extended one mile into the sky. The four outside corner columns slant inward diagonally.

Three types of columns can be found in ancient Greece. These are the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. A columns has a base, shaft, and capital, except for the Doric which has no base. The base and capital are carved from a single piece of stone, while the shaft is composed of drum sections. Roman columns, on the other hand, tended to have a shaft made of a single large piece of stone.

Doric Columns

A fluted column with a plain beveled disk for a capital. This is the plainest type of column. They have a square base, a circular capital, and a plain 20 sided shaft. Doric columns were originally shorter compared to their height and diameter but this changed during the course of the 6th century B.C. Doric capitals also evolved from a broad flaring to a more compact form. The black and white line drawing below shows the front of a temple with doric columns, while the colour photo shows a corner of the parthenon with Doric capitals. The early Greek Doric temples show an Egyptian influence and were more squat, powerful looking structures than their more elegant descendants. Doric columns can also be identified by the type of fluting on the column drums as the fluting should come to a sharp point, unlike Ionic columns which have the tips flattened.

A frieze and Ionic columns

The frieze is a diorama of figures in the triangular end-piece of the roof at the front and back entrances to a temple. The Ionic columns are the identified by the two curly rolls (scrolls) at each side of the capitals which cap the columns. Ionic columns were more slender than Doric columns and began using entasis (then Parthenon is an exception combining Doric style columns with entasis). The bases were large and looked like stacked rings.

Detail of an Ionic column, also showing the fluting of the column up close. Unlike the photo above, later architects usually opted for an ungilded or painted appearance to the column capitals. In the photo above, you can see the Ionic capital is painted with gold trim. If you only see a column drum with fluting, you can tell if the drum was from an Ionic column if the fluting comes to a flattened tip instead of a point.

A Corinthian capital of a column

This represents palm fronds and was a very popular style even to the present in more modern architecture.

Corinthian columns are the most decorative and also used entasis. The Corinthian capitals are flowering, leaf-like structures. The shaft has indented sides and the base is a more refined version of the Ionian. Corinthian roofs are flat, unlike the Doric and Ionian roofs, which are slanted.

Column drums

These were typical sections of a Greek column, as the columns were assembled from these cylinders. The Romans on the other hand tended to use columns made of one large section of stone that were round without the fluting. Ever wonder how they got the fluting on the columns so precise? Well, they assembled the column with round blanks and then carved the fluting into them afterwards.