GREEK ARCHIECTURE

The Orders: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian

 The Classical GREEK Orders

 The three classical

orders are:

 Doric
 Ionic
 Corinthian
The Doric Order

 Doric columns are the heaviest in

appearance
 The capital is plain.
 The shaft is thick – though it loses some
of its mass over time.
 There is no base.
 Doric entablature consist of a plain
architrave.
 A frieze of alternating Triglyphs and
Metopes.
 A plain crowning cornice.

Ex: The Parthenon, Athens

Temple of Hera
 The Doric Order
In the Doric order, columns are presented without bases and sit
directly on the stylobate, the uppermost level of masonry on
which the temple is built. To facilitate production, the columns
were built in pieces called drums, as indicated by the faint
horizontal lines in the diagram above. The shallow, concave
grooves that run vertically, flutes, join to form arrises, the sharp
ridges visible as vertical lines running from the bottom to the top
of the column. The necking (or annulet) is located at the top of
the column, just below the capital.
 The Doric Order
The capital of the Doric column is comprised of two separate parts.
The echinus, so named for its resemblance to a sea urchin, serves as a
cushion for the abacus, the square slab that supports the entablature.
Compared to the Ionic and Corinthian capitals soon to be discussed, the
Doric capital is simple in design with no added decoration.

Doric Capital

Key pattern:
A common form of ornamentation used on Doric temples is the fretwork Known as KEY
PATTERN, Greek key design meander or as in this case-labyrinth motif.
 The Doric Order
The entablature, the part of the temple above the columns, is usually
comprised of three parts: the architrave, the frieze, and the cornice. The
architrave is the horizontal slab located directly above the column capital.
More often than not, this area of the temple was kept undecorated. Just
above the architrave are the triglyphs and metopes, the two components
of the Doric frieze. Here, triglyphs, stone blocks having three vertical
decorative channels, alternate with blank, square metopes. The metopes
were sometimes decorated with sculpture. Above the triglyphs and metopes
are decorative additions called mutules and guttae. The uppermost area of
the entablature is the cornice, located just above the frieze.
Guttae in Doric
Architecture
 The Doric Order
On the apex and two
lower angles of the
pediment were introduced
acroteria, sometimes
ornaments of flowers and
tendrils, and sometimes
statues of gods or
Flutes and Arrises: animals. These were
Doric columns are generally carved placed on small
with vertical, parallel channels known pedestals, and offered an
as FLUTES,Which should number æsthetic contrast to the
20. Doric flutes meet in sharp ridge sliding effect which would
called ARRISES. otherwise have been
produced by the oblique
lines of the pediment.

SIMA:
Sima or Cymatium is the term applied to roof gutters
placed along the gables And flanks of building. Those
of both Doric and Ionic temples often had outlets for
rainwater, modeled in the form of Lion’s head.

Acroteria
ANTEFIXAE
 The Ionic Order

 These have greater elegance.

 The capital has distinctive
volutes.
 The shaft is thinner than its Doric
equivalent.
 A base is apparent.
 Femininity, slenderness & beauty.
Ex: Propylaea, Athens(437-431 BCE)
Temple of Athena Polias, Priene(340 BCE)
The Ionic Order
In the Ionic order, the stylobate and columns are separated
by horizontally-fluted bases. The columns remain similar to
the Doric order, but are more slender and have more
vertical flutes running from top to bottom. In later times, a
flat fillet separated flutes, as opposed to the arrises seen in
the Doric order. In the Ionic order, there is no annulet at the
top of the column.

The capital of the Ionic column consists of a band adorned

with a carved leaf pattern topped by a horizontal slab
ending in a pair of volute scrolls. Sometimes a narrow
abacus rests atop the capital to support the entablature.
The architrave of the Ionic order is often separated into
three horizontal planes called fasciae. Above the
architrave, framed at top and bottom by moldings, is the
frieze. Unlike in the Doric order, the Ionic frieze runs
continuously either with carvings of figures or a series of
dentils, small squares resembling teeth. As in the Doric
order, the cornice is located above the frieze.
 Carved triple guilloche on torus of Ionic base.

Ionic Capital (Side View)

Ionic Capital
Volute/ Helix
Flutes and Fillet_ 24 nos.
 Egg& Dart carved molding

Water-leaf carved molding

Double Twist on an Astragal

Entablature
The Corinthian Order

 This is also a tall, elegant form.

 The capital has distinctive
acanthus leaf decoration.
 A base is also employed.
 Elegance and Beauty.

Ex: Temple of Apollo Epicurius, Bassae (429-390 BCE)

Choragic Monument f Lysicrates, Athens (335-334 BCE)
 The Corinthian Order

The Corinthian order is in many respects similar to the

Ionic; both columns are slender, supported by a horizontally
fluted base, and carved with vertical grooves and flat fillets
in between.
The capital of the Corinthian column is the most ornate of
the orders. Volute scrolls, as seen in the Ionic order, are
adorned with acanthus leaves and rosettes. Above these
details is the boss, a piece similar to the above-mentioned
abacus.
The architrave in the Corinthian order is divided into
fasciae, and serves to support a continuous frieze. Dentils
may be present above the frieze as a decorative statement.
Acanthus Leaf
IMPORTANT TERMS

abacus The square-shaped flat slab forming the stop

of a column capital.
acanthus A place, the leaves of which resemble the
principle decorative element of the Corinthian column
capital.
acroterion The ornament at the corner of the roof of a
temple or at the apex of a gable.
apex The highest point (of a temple’s roof).
architrave The course of masonry running above the
column capitals and supporting the superstructure. Also
referred to as the epistyle.
arris The join of the flutes of a column normally
forming a sharp ridge, as seen in the Doric order.
capital The upper, spreading element in a column,
forming a transition between the vertical shaft and the
horizontal elements of the architrave.
cornice The horizontal course of the entablature of a
building immediately above the frieze; either sloping
member of a gable.
dentils Small rectangular blocks used below the Ionic
cornice as decoration.
IMPORTANT TERMS

echinus The lower part of a column capital, as seen in the Doric order.
entablature The horizontal architectural elements forming the superstructure of a building
above the columns; the architrave, frieze, and cornice.
epistyle See architrave.
fascia An undecorated band on an Ionic architrave. Also seen in the Corinthian order.
flutes Shallow grooves running vertically on the shaft of a column.
frieze The architectural course between the architrave and the cornice.
guttae Pendent ornaments attached to the undersides of the mutules of the Doric
entablature.
metope A space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, sometimes filled with a block
carved with relief sculpture.
mutule A projecting flat block under the Doric cornice.
pediment The triangular space formed by the gable at either end of a Greek temple.
pedimental sculpture Sculpture figures, carved either freestanding or in relief, that fill the
triangular space knows as the pediment of a Greek temple.
rosette An ornament shaped like a rose.
triglyph An upright grooved block with three vertical bars in relief seen in the Doric order.
volute A spiral on the face and back of an Ionic capital.
 THANK YOU.

References:

Sir Banister Fletcher- A History of Architecture. (Twentieth Edition)

Emily Cole- The Grammar of Architecture
Louis Hellman- Architecture for beginners

This is just a track line to the subject matter. students are requested to study the recommended books & also go after .