Modern Architecture And Ancient Greece

In examining the impact that the ancient world has had on modern Western civilization, the two ancient civilizations which are frequently understood as having had the greatest influence are Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. These two civilizations would eventually come to shape much of what would become the modern European culture, politics and society, and by extension, a vast proportion of global culture and society. In examining the trajectory of modern history in an era of globalization of Western ideas and modes of living, the importance of these civilizations in world history is extensive, contributing to cultural, political and social trends which may well dominate the globe in the future.

For a great many years, architecture has been a breaking point for different artisticeras in history. Some of the most famous “works of art” have been chapels, temples, and tombs. Among the most dominant and influential eras of great architecture are the sophisticated, stoic Greeco-Roman periods and the more mystical, elemental Japanese eras. These two very distinct and very different eras have more in common than you may realize.

Just before you go to sleep, you image yourself taking a ride to the White House. You then notice it's beautiful columns. As you look through columns, this type of architecture is ancient Greek. There are other place to find these Greek columns. Besides architecture, other developments from ancient civilizations have an impact on our world today, such as roads and Gregorian calendar.

The city-states of ancient Greece were at constant strife with each other. They utterly detested each other and were solely independent. However, many factors unified the Greeks, loosely, at all times, and they even brought the Greeks together at times. These factors came to be because of their similarities of traditions and beliefs. Language, religion, and athletics were all results of these factors. Language unified because everyone would understand what was being said by anyone, and athletics would gather the people to one place, allowing for discussion and chances of treaties being made. Also, Religion unified because the Greeks all believed and feared common gods and goddesses.

During war with Persia, Athenians dealt with famine, plague, and the destruction of their city but that was not the end of Athens. Instead, Athens bounced back and thrived entering into the Golden Age. The Athenians began reconstruction after victory with Persia was secure. The new city rose from a plain and as each level went upwards, its functions and architecture became more exalted. At the bottom there was the house of commoners, built from stone and mud with little concern for architectural merit. The fine art and architecture went into public buildings, one of these public institutions being the agora. When redesigned, the agora was made to be more elegant designed for greater comfort and show. Beautiful public buildings and temples

Polykleitos and the “Canon of Proportions” Derived from the Greek word Kanon meaning to measure, rule, or law, Greece’s Polykleitos discusses the ideal mathematical proportions for the parts of the human body and proposes for sculptures of the human figure a dynamic counter balance in his The Canon (Janser). The aim of Polykleitos’ The Canon was to explain the statue Doryphoros through the beauty and perfection it entailed. Polykleitos revealed that the secret of achieving beauty lies in the symmetry of all the parts of the statue to one another and to the whole (Farber). Through The Canon, seen in Doryphoros, Polykleitos not only set the standard for the perfect human form in High Classical Greece, but like the domino effect set the standard

These architects took a philosophic approach to the rules and proportions, and the determining factor in the mathematics of any notable work of architecture at this time was its ultimate appearance. The architects calculated for perspective, for the optical illusions that make edges of objects appear concave and for the fact that columns that are viewed against the sky look different from those adjacent that are viewed against a shadowed wall. They had devised what is known as the Golden mean, and it is an important formula in understanding how we see buildings like the Parthenon. Something interesting that I noted is how the manipulation of space takes place before you even reach the temple, actually starting at what is known as the Processional Path. This path determines how you move through the acropolis and into the temple, causing a sort of separation of

Musicians know that all vibrating objects make sounds. Frequency measure how many times a string vibrates up and down. If a musician changed the length of the string, it also changed the frequency. High frequency will always equal a high pitch. When an octave is increased the frequency will double. Pythagoras discovered different sounds could be made with different weight and vibrations. Due this discovery, they also realized pitch could be controlled by the length of the string.

The building borrowed from mainly large scale ancient Roman buildings. One of the most principle design was the longitudinal axis as the building now had the focus of attention to the opposite end to the entrance. This was because it was a church thus that design enabled number of people to gather for the liturgy with an inward focus on the altar. Another principle design is the series of arches/pillars on both sides, that are continuous throughout the side of the church. The purpose of that is to again lead your eyes into the critical point of the church, the altar. Note that the pillars are in corinthian style. Another notable design is the wooden door in the entrance which it has carved imageries of scenes from the Bible, basically a frieze but on wood. There is also, inside the church one aisle on each side behind the arches/pillars, and the central naive which has a wide open space. Also opposite of the church there is the altar which is in a semi-circular space. Above the altar there is a beautiful painting, probably a frieze, above the altar which is highly polychromed, even using rare colors like blue. Another notable feature was the use of clerestory which lit the church with sunlight softly

As the saying goes “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” however long it took to build the capital, the days, months, years, centuries of work can be viewed as a long lasting landmark which paved the way for new and challenging architecture to come (How Roman architecture influenced modern architecture [sa]). According to Tony Rook (2013: [sp] ch.2) the typical Roman temple shows the Etruscan tradition combined with the Greek one. Although some of their premature concepts were acquired from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, Roman architects transformed the body of architecture for all time to come, offering buildings and structures that has never been before, along the side of public buildings and infrastructure that could be used by

The two ancient civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome were the best of the best during their time periods. Ancient Greece began around 2000 B.C. by the inhabitants known as the Mycenaean’s, followed by the Minoans. The Minoans built the foundation of Greece. The Roman Empire was founded around 753 B.C. by the two twins, Romulus and Remus. Romulus ended up killing Remus and built the city of Rome on one of seven rolling hills. Architecture was very important to both civilizations and they were always trying to out due the other. The architectural style of the Ancient Greeks and Romans was overall constructed and used differently.

One of the earliest discoveries of how string function comes from the Greek philosopher, Pythagoras. The wavelength and pinches between strings are what differentiate the varying notes. As shown in Diagram 1, the wavelengths have specific spacing in between, which are directly related to mathematics. Nodes, or pinches, are strategically and mathematically placed to resonate precise pitches, and particular ratios are able to be derived from these intervals. For example, an octave describes two notes that are eight notes apart. In order to create the perfect first octave, the string is pinched into perfect halves, making the mathematical ratio , as 2 parts are created from the whole with one pinch. By pinching the string in half, the frequency becomes twice as fast , producing a higher tone of the same note. One octave higher than an A

The History of Greek Architecture The architecture of ancient Greece is represented by buildings in the sanctuaries and cities of mainland Greece, the Aegean islands, southern Italy and Sicily, and the Ionian coast of Turkey. Monumental Greek architecture began in the archaic period, flourished through the classical and Hellenistic periods, and saw the first of many revivals during the Roman Empire. The roots of Greek architecture lie in the tradition of local Bronze Age house and palaces. The following paper will cover the basic forms of Greek architecture.

From the beginning of time, architects and engineers alike have referenced past buildings and structures and used them to influence new buildings and structures through the advancement of time. Many of the new buildings retain styles that were used by their predecessors, while adding slight modifications that the architect may think looks better, or better represents the thoughts of their time. This is standard practice in the field of architecture and has been for many centuries. Sometimes, the styles of one or a few people become timeless as they were so well thought out that they remain applicable to different societies, cultures, and time periods, sometimes for thousands of years. Little did the people in ancient Rome know, the Pantheon would become one of those buildings. It was commissioned and designed during the transition period between BC and AD by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus, and was formally completed by the emperor Hadrian in the year 126 AD. In the end of the 13th century, three men—Arnolfo di Cambio, Filippo Brunelleschi, and Emilio De Fabris—began designing what was originally known as the Il Duomo di Firenze but now referred to as the Florence Cathedral. Their goal was to design a massive basilica that would replace and engulf the original church, complete with a massive dome which could likely not have yet been possible if not for the Pantheon in Rome. As stated before, a lot of the original designs of previous structures are kept, while

In general, 'Order' is divided into three parts: the capital, the column, and the base. Each 'Order' does not only have its special form and decoration, column diameter also is the standard dimension that to form the proportion of column height and pillar even the size of the whole building. It is easily identified by means of the proportions and profiles and different aesthetic details as well.